Thomas H. "Boston" Corbett [THREAD]. Born in London, to NYC in 1840, learns profession of milliner (hat-making) where he is exposed to mercury nitrate treating the fur for womens' hats. This may explain some later behavior.

He marries and they are expecting, but both wife + child die during childbirth. Circa 1855, Corbett moves to Boston, becomes deeply depressed, and begins to drink himself to death. He loses jobs, becomes homeless.

Drunkly stumbling through the city one night, he is stopped by a Methodist street preacher whose pitch is so powerful it immediately converts Corbett who gets baptized, gets sober, and changes his name to Boston.

Thomas H. "Boston" Corbett. He grows his hair long, like Jesus.

It's back to hat making, now on Washington St in Boston, where he's preaching in the shop, constant prayer breaks, yelling at his boss for cursing. He starts street preaching himself, too. His local reputation as an extreme eccentric grows.

July 16, 1858. Boston is propositioned by 2 prostitutes, deeply disturbed by the encounter, returns to his boarding house and reads the bible. In the book of Matthew he reads about eunuchs who become eunuchs to serve the kingdom of heaven.

Boston castrates himself with scissors.

He eats a meal, attends a prayer service, and *then* goes to Mass General where they treat the area where his testicles used to be; remains there for two weeks.

In 1861, a deeply divided nation enters a Civil War. Boston enlists, but his eccentric behavior carries over into the military. When his superiors "go against God's will," he lets them know it.

This behavior escalates and he is court martialed & sentenced to be shot.

For reasons that are unclear, Boston's sentence is reduced and he is discharged in August of 1863.

He immediately re-enlists.

Not long after joining Company L, they are captured in Culpeper, Virginia by John S. Mosby's men. Boston spends five months as a prisoner of war. He became a hero to his company for disobeying his captors' orders and giving water to a wounded prisoner. (Pictured: Mosby).

Andersonville Prison is a living hell, "stalwart men, now nothing but mere walking skeletons, covered with filth and vermin." When Boston is released in November 1864 he is treated for scurvy & malnutrition.

For his dedicated service, he is promoted to sergeant.

Later, Boston testifies at the trial of Andersonville's commandant, Henry Wirz.

"Wirz was tried and executed for conspiracy and murder relating to his command of the camp, and was one of only two people convicted for war crimes during the American Civil War."

On April 14, 1865, President Lincoln decides to see what all the fuss is about: he & Mary attend a performance of Our American Cousin, a three-act "eccentric comedy" by a British playwright named Tom Taylor.

John Wilkes Booth is a decent stage actor, but his brother Edwin is wildly famous, lauded as one of the all-time greats. So, just think about that: this would be like if Meryl Streep's sister assassinated a president in a movie theater sometime in the last twenty years.

In fact, the three Booth brothers--including John--all performed Julius Caesar together earlier that same year. The show was a benefit, proceeds of which funded the creation of a statue of Shakespeare which still stands in Central Park today!

"Booth, a famous American actor, used his knowledge of the play (Our American Cousin) to shoot Lincoln at a point in the play that he knew would get a loud laugh and mask the report of his pistol."

A damning indictment of comedy, certainly.

I have digressed from the story of Boston Corbett and for that I apologize.

4/24/65. Corbett's regiment is sent to apprehend John Wilkes Booth.

Now if you didn't know already or look it up while reading this, at this point you should be like, "whaaaaaaaat?"

“It has always been one principle of my religion to entertain strangers, especially any that seemed to be suffering,” said Richard Garrett, owner of the barn where he allowed Booth and David Herold to shelter.

(seen here: remnants of the farm house in 1937).

4/26, Boston's regiment surrounds the barn. Herold surrenders. Booth yells, "I will not be taken alive!" Sec. of War wanted Booth captured alive, but was perhaps unaware of the bat-shit crazy, castrated, mission-from-god fella whom was part of the group he sent to make it happen.

Boston Corbett shot Booth in the back of the head with his Colt revolver through a space between two slats of wood in the barn. Two hours later the actor/assassin died, his final words: "Useless ... Useless."

When they asked Boston why he disobeyed orders, he replied, "Providence directed me."

Uh-oh, it's Court Martial # 2 for you, Mr. Corbett!

Sec. of War Stanton questions Boston Corbett. He claims he didn't intend to kill Booth & was acting in self-defense.

Stanton declares: "The rebel is dead. The patriot lives; he has spared the country expense, continued excitement and trouble. Discharge the patriot."

Holy shit.

"Upon leaving the War Department, Corbett was greeted by a cheering crowd. As he made his way to Mathew Brady's studio to have his official portrait taken, the crowd followed him asking for autographs."

Corbett moves back to Boston (!), resumes making hats (!), and worships at the Bromfield Street Church. But his fanatical, erratic behavior prevents him from keeping any one job for too long, so he begins lecturing and preaching as "Lincoln's Avenger."

Boston tells a reporter, "Were the ghosts of 20 assassins to arise against me, they could not disturb a calm Christian spirit.”

He receives regular threats from confederate sympathizers, becomes intensely paranoid, and begins preaching with a pistol in his pocket.

An old friend from Company L puts Boston up on occasion, but notes "after he says his prayers he lies down at night with a loaded revolver under his pillow and moans pitifully in his sleep. It almost seems my house was haunted while he was there.”

Boston loses it when people question the story of how (and IF) Booth died. He lands a job at the Kansas House of Representatives in Topeka, but soon there's another pistol brandishing meltdown and he's committed to an asylum for the insane.

Boston Corbett promptly escapes from the asylum on horseback and the last anyone hears from him, he claims he is headed to Mexico.

And then, Boston Corbett completely vanishes.

While his final fate is still unknown, there is the name "Thomas Corbett" listed in the tally of the the Great Hinckley Fire of 1894. Some think that's Boston. Over the years several imposters claimed to be Corbett, and their ruses always fell apart.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hinckley_Fire

"On December 1, 1941, the U.S. Public Health Service banned the mercury process in hat making."

[End Thread]