ALS signed “Henry Perkins,” one page, 6.5 x 8, United States Sanitary Commission letterhead, May 1, 1865. Handwritten letter to his cousin, written from "Hospital No. 14, Ward 6, Nashville," in part: "The President's assassin is dead and beyond mortal sight in the Ocean, they have taken him out to bury him in the middle of the sea…You may expect me up there by the fourth of July there has been an order issued by the sec. of war to discharge all soldiers in hospitals not under medical." He additionally offers some updates on his correspondence. In fine condition.
After Booth was killed at Garrett's farm in Virginia, his body was taken aboard the ironclad USS Montauk and brought to the Washington Navy Yard for identification and an autopsy. Fearful of what the public would do if the location of Booth's body were known, authorities staged a burial at sea, then buried the body in a secret location before releasing it to the family in 1869. Today, Booth's body resides in an unmarked grave at Green Mount Cemetery in Maryland.
