2024: A PEEK INSIDE THE WALLS SUPPLEMENTS 1, 2 & 3 – FREE SHIPPING

February 06, 2024: Barry Cauchon

     

Hi all:

At the beginning of every year, I like to repeat an offer to my blog followers that I started in 2015. It is in regards to the three printed supplements from A Peek Inside the Walls series that my research partner, John Elliott and I wrote and published. When you order any or all of these three supplements, I now include FREE SHIPPING to anywhere in the continental United States. Shipping costs to Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, Mexico and other international locations can be quoted upon request.

See supplement descriptions and ordering instructions below.

Thank you and have a great 2024.

Best

Barry

barryssentials@hotmail.com

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SPECIAL PRICES

One supplement = US $8.50 (includes any one supplement of your choice) + FREE SHIPPING = Total US $8.50.

Two supplements = US $8.25 each (includes any two supplements of your choice) + FREE SHIPPING = Total US $16.50.

Three supplements = US $7.50 each (includes any three supplements of your choice) + FREE SHIPPING = Total US $22.50.

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SUPPLEMENT DESCRIPTIONS:

No. 1: 2011 Supplement

No. 1: 2011 Supplement

Released in March, 2011, A Peek Inside the Walls: The Final Days of the Lincoln Conspirators (maroon cover)(24 pages). This was our first published booklet in the “A Peek” series and was meant to compliment our 2011 live presentation given at the Surratt House Museum and Surratt Society Lincoln Assassination conference. It was a ‘supplement’ for that talk. Since then, each publication in this series has been called a supplement.

This supplement features a chapter called Who Gave the Signal to Spring the Traps? in which our research challenged a long-standing historical belief that the man dressed in white, seen standing on the scaffold in the Alexander Gardner conspirator execution photos, was Christian Rath, the executioner. After conducting a thorough photographic analysis of the evidence and an extensive review of many first-person eyewitness accounts and resources, this belief was proven to be inaccurate. Due to poorly made assumptions, early misidentifications and, in one case, blatant fraud, our research led us to the solid conclusion that accepted history on this subject was wrong. The man in white was NOT Christian Rath. If you are like us, you’ll find the trail of evidence to be fascinating and the conclusions credible.

When the content of this supplement was first presented to the public at the 2011 conference, renown Lincoln Assassination expert, Dr. Terry Alford, Professor of History at Northern Virginia Community College, was in attendance. After our presentation, Dr. Alford addressed the audience and offered the following statement: “It’s very difficult to do anything original and you guys have done it.  I think you deserve the highest praise for it because it’s truly remarkable”.

The research in this supplement has continued to receive enthusiastic acclaim from the Lincoln Assassination Research Community and the public and has been written up in articles for the Surratt Society Courier and the Lincoln Herald (the oldest Lincoln-related publication in print today).

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No. 2: 2012 Supplement (revised Fall 2013)

No. 2: 2012 Supplement (revised and updated in Fall 2013)

In March, 2012, we published our second conference supplement called A Peek Inside the Walls: The Final Days of the Lincoln Conspirators. 13 Days Aboard the Monitors: The Early Incarceration of the Conspirators, the Mug Shot Photo Sessions and the Truth about the Hoods (blue cover)(28 pages). It’s a long title but this supplement is packed with great information featuring the facts, tales and plausible theories surrounding the early incarceration of the conspirators aboard the U.S.S. Saugus and U.S.S. Montauk prior to being sent to the Arsenal Penitentiary. This supplement was revised in the fall of 2013 when additional information came to light.

Part 1: The Early Incarceration of the Conspirators. For thirteen days in April of 1865, the Union Navy, under the direction of the War Department, became an unexpected participant in the story of the Lincoln conspirators. From April 17 to April 29, eight men suspected in the attacks on President Lincoln and Secretary of State William Seward, were sent to the Washington Navy Yard for confinement aboard two ironclad monitors anchored offshore. Kept below decks under intolerable conditions, these prisoners were forced to wear iron restraints on their wrists and ankles, as well as hoods over their heads. They were interrogated and photographed, but mostly just left to sit in silence for endless hours of isolation to contemplate their fates.

Part 2: The Mug Shot Photo Sessions. Twenty-six famous, or infamous, ‘mug shot’ photographs of these prisoners were taken by Alexander Gardner during the prisoners’ time on the monitors. History has allowed many people to believe that all twenty-six images were shot during a single photo session on April 27. However, solid evidence, partnered with photographic analysis, suggests that multiple sessions were conducted. The results offer an intriguing and plausible alternative to the long-held ‘single photo session’ belief.

Part 3: The Truth about the Hoods. Much misinformation has been published about the hoods. In an attempt to clear up the confusion, this supplement offers a simple presentation of the facts concerning the following: 

•How many hood types were created?

•Who did, and did not, wear the hoods?

•When and where were each type worn?

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No. 3: 2013 Supplement

2013 Supplement

In August, 2013, we published our third supplement called A Peek Inside the Walls: The Final Days of the Lincoln Conspirators. The Mystery of John Wilkes Booth’s Autopsy Photo (sepia cover)(24 pages).

Often considered the Holy Grail of Lincoln assassination relics, John Wilkes Booth’s autopsy photo, presumed lost since 1865, has captivated the interest of countless researchers and historians, who believed that one day it would be found. Now, recently discovered evidence suggests that this prized photo may never have existed at all.

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PURCHASE INFORMATION

To purchase any of these supplements, please contact me by email at barryssentials@hotmail.com and indicate which supplement(s) and the quantity of each you wish to have. Also, please include your shipping address.

If you would like me to sign the supplements I am happy to do so…just ask. At present, John is unable to sign these as he resides in San Antonio, TX. These supplements ship from Corning, NY.

PAYMENT: Upon receiving your email, I will send you a confirmation quotation with payment options. I accept PayPal, checks, money orders or bank drafts. Please include your shipping address and indicate which payment method you wish to use so I can be on the look out for it.

All supplements are mailed from Corning, NY by USPS (United States Postal Services).

AVAILABILITY:  All three supplements are presently available. If the inventory becomes depleted, I will reprint as required. I will let you know prior to your payment of any delays you may be facing.

Thank you for considering A Peek Inside the Walls.  If you have any questions, please email me at barryssentials@hotmail.com. I’ll be happy to help assist you.

Best

Barry

barryssentials@hotmail.com

   

ABOUT BARRY & JOHN – Barry Cauchon and John Elliott have been active members in the Lincoln Assassination research community since 2009 and specialize in the incarceration and punishments of the Lincoln Conspirators. Their research has been published in the Lincoln Herald, Surratt Society Courier and are credited in numerous assassination-related books. Both have presented their work at several Surratt Society Lincoln Assassination annual conferences and have advised on film and documentary projects such as Robert Redford’s “The Conspirator” (2010) and National Geographic’s “Killing Lincoln” (2013). John and Barry have jointly written and published three supplements (booklets) under the series name “A Peek Inside the Walls: The Final Days of the Lincoln Conspirators”.

MYSTERY OF THE BOOTH AUTOPSY PHOTO SOLVED?

May 30, 2013

Barry Cauchon

Hi all: Well, here is the discovery that I alluded to in my posting from yesterday. It is creating a huge buzz in the Lincoln assassination research community. We hope you find it interesting as well.

The following was written by my research partner, John Elliott who discovered the information about the Booth Autopsy photo.

Enjoy.

Barry

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MYSTERY OF THE BOOTH AUTOPSY PHOTO SOLVED?

Every now and then a discovery gets made that can’t be suppressed or selfishly withheld from the public in order to help sell a book.
I’ve been across the country from Andersonville, GA to Harrisburg, PA and all the way to the middle of the Gulf of Mexico in search of new discoveries that will help forward Lincoln assassination studies.  Most of the time, I’ve come up short but at least I know …I checked and can cross things off my list of unknowns.
Recently, the research Gods threw me a bone and practically rewarded me for my past efforts and time.  While searching for eyewitness accounts of John Wilkes Booth’s burial, I discovered a newspaper  article that has been hidden and/or overlooked by researchers for nearly 125 years.
The article definitively answers the question “Where is the John Wilkes Booth autopsy photo?”
In the following days, a press release  will be issued detailing this latest discovery but we’d like to share it with you here first.  We will also be selling a supplement, similar to our two others, that will provide more details, interesting tidbits and supporting evidence of our new find.

EXCITING DISCOVERY:
In 1891, a story was printed in a major newspaper stating that a Rev. Armstrong of Atlanta was believed by many to be John Wilkes Booth.  Not only did he look like the actor, Booth’s brother Edwin often visited and spent time with him.
In response to this article, an eyewitness to Booth’s autopsy stepped forward and denounced the silly claim by stating undeniably that John Wilkes Booth was dead.  The eyewitness was none other than Lawrence Gardner, the son of Alexander Gardner.

As an aside, Lawrence Gardner stated the following:

“The object of my father’s visit to the Monitor was photography, and the body in question was to be the subject.  Did we take a picture? No.  After everything had been prepared Gen. Eckert concluded that inasmuch as there was so little likeness in the remains to the photograph in existence of Booth, perhaps it would be best not to make the picture, and the plan was abandoned for that reason.”
Other than a statement made by Alexander Gardner himself, there can be no better source than his son, to definitively say what happened to the Booth autopsy photo.
Lawrence Gardner was only 17  when he assisted his father on the Montauk.  He would later go on to have a very successful career in politics and was a well respected, prominent citizen of Washington D.C.  At the time he made his statement regarding the Booth autopsy, he was 42 years old and of sound mind.
Among the other revelations in the article, Gardner claims that Booth’s tattoo was surrounded by a wreath of stars.   Lawrence’s involvement also challenges Osborn Oldroyd’s claim that Timothy O’Sullivan was Alex Gardner’s assistant at the Navy Yard.
I’ve been asked by a couple of people if I am disappointed  there is no photo to be found.   Truthfully, I was beginning to doubt that it ever existed and this article supported my beliefs.
For the past few months Barry and I had been looking further in to this area and we both started doubting and challenging quite a few things that supposedly occurred on the Montauk.
We will continue to look for amazing new discoveries to share with you all in the future.  For the time being, thanks again for all your support.  We sincerely appreciate it.
John

THE BOOTH AUTOPSY PHOTO: A MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT COMING THIS WEEK

May 29, 2013

Barry Cauchon

As many of you know, my research partner, John Elliott and I have been working on our book, “Inside the Walls: The Final Days of the Lincoln Conspirators” which is due for release at the end of this year. On May 17, John was investigating aspects of photographer Timothy O’Sullivan’s involvement in the Lincoln conspirator photo sessions conducted aboard the Union monitors Saugus and Montauk. During his search, John discovered a major find of historical importance related to the John Wilkes Booth autopsy photograph.

For those of you not familiar with the story of John Wilkes Booth’s autopsy photograph and the significance of what will be presented here and on our Facebook page “Inside the Walls”, I will quickly summarize what this is about.

On April 26, 1865, after twelve days of being on the run following Lincoln’s assassination, John Wilkes Booth and his accomplice David Herold were tracked down by Union soldiers in Bowling Green, Virginia. After a short standoff, Herold gave himself up but Booth, refusing to surrender, was shot and died on site. Herold and the body of Booth were transported back to Washington and in the early morning hours of April 27, delivered to the USS Montauk, a Union monitor anchored 100 yards offshore from the Navy Yard. Moored next to the Montauk was a second monitor, the USS Saugus. The two ships were heavily guarded and received Herold, who joined seven other prisoners suspected of being involved in the plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln and other government officials. Booth’s body was placed on a carpenter’s bench on the deck of the Montauk. Later that morning, photographer Alexander Gardner, who had visited the ships over the previous week and a half for the purpose of photographing some of the prisoners, was called upon again. Gardner and an assistant were summoned to photograph the autopsy of John Wilkes Booth. According to a letter written by Detective James A. Wardell published in Mark Katz’ 1999 book “Witness to an Era: The Life and Photographs of Alexander Gardner”, Wardell reported that he was instructed to collect Gardner and his assistant (Timothy O’Sullivan) and escort them to the Navy Yard for the sole purpose of photographing Booth’s autopsy. Only one photograph was to be taken and he was instructed to personally accompany the assistant back to the studio to obtain one print from that negative. He was then to deliver the negative and print to Secretary of War Stanton at the War Department. Based on Wardell’s letter, he did as he was told and went to the War Department where he met Col. Lafayette Baker just outside of Stanton’s office. Wardell gave Baker the envelope containing the negative and print. Once satisfied with its content, Baker dismissed Wardell. The photograph has never been seen since.

In the world of Lincoln Assassination research circles and Civil War photography investigators, this photograph is considered to be one of the Holy Grails of relics associated with this tragic event.

Besides the Wardell letter, other clues point to its existence. A NY Tribune article published on April 28, 1865 stated that a photograph was taken. Then in May, two woodcut illustrations were published (one in Harper’s Weekly and one in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper). Both drawings looked similar in detail and supposedly were based on Gardner’s actual photograph (a practice often employed by the newspapers since printing technology to reproduce photographs didn’t exist at that time). To further add to the belief that the photograph existed, in 1952, a fourteen year old boy name Ron Rietveld discovered an authentic photograph of Abraham Lincoln in his coffin. This photograph had originally been confiscated by Secretary of War Stanton and was thought to be destroyed. The belief was that if Stanton held onto this photograph, then in all likelihood he kept the photograph of Booth’s autopsy as well.

This week, John and I will publish one of the biggest finds we’ve ever made since we began investigating and researching the story of Lincoln’s assassination. And it will shed new and very exciting information about the Booth autopsy photograph. Stay tuned.

Best

Barry