Who was Thomas "Boston" Corbett?

Who was Thomas "Boston" Corbett?

A) A podiatrist from Des Moines who died in World War two...
B) A relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in the early 1960's...
C) A history teacher from Kalamazoo, Michigan in the 1930's...
D) The man who shot Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth...

  We're almost exactly a week from when we heard that we'd killed Osama Bin Laden in a residential compound in a town called Abottabad, Pakistan. The event has been analyzed from all sides, with unanimous praise for Seal Team Six. (Except from pro Bin Laden types, I suppose.) Tradition suggests we as a people will never know the names, faces, stories of the members of  Team Six. What we do know about them is that they are regarded as "the best of the best" or "the A team." It would be fascinating to hear about that mission from the soldier who fired the shot that killed Bin Laden, but neither the Seals nor Bin Laden are doing much talking these days.

  What other famous manhunts in our nations history could compare? There has been a handful of very high profile cases including Bruno Hauptmann in the 1932 Lindberg baby kidnapping/murder, Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who killed JFK, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols in the Oklahoma City, Federal Office building bombing in 1995 and Ted Kaczinski a/k/a/ "The Unabomber" from the late 70's to 1995 when he was finally caught. As big as those pursuits were, I don't think ANY match the hunt for the killer of our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, actor John Wilkes Booth. The search finally ended in an old tobacco barn in northern Virgina twelve days after he shot Lincoln in Ford's Theater.

 We do know quite a bit about the man who shot and killed Booth. His name was Thomas "Boston" Corbett.

  Corbett was born in 1832 in London, England. His family immigrated to America, where he worked as a hat maker. He married, but lost his wife during childbirth of their first child. After her death, he relocated to Boston, where he joined the Methodist Episcopal Church and found Christ. It was at this time he changed his first name to "Boston" in honor of the city of his rebirth. We know he grew his hair long in order to imitate Jesus Christ. We also know that in order to overcome the temptations of local prostitutes, Corbett castrated himself with a pair of scissors. Immediately afterwards, he had dinner and then attended a prayer meeting before seeking medical attention.

  In April of 1861, he enlisted in the Union Army and re-enlisted in September of that same year. Captured by the Confederacy, he was "exchanged" back to the Union side in November 1864. He was promoted to Sergeant. He then served in the 16th New York Cavalry Regiment who were assigned to assist in the search for John Wilkes Booth. Finding Booth and his accomplice David Herrold in a barn on the old Garret farm, soldiers surrounded the structure. Herrold surrendered, leaving only an already injured Booth inside the barn. Soldiers set the barn on fire in an attempt to force Booth out but he stayed inside defying the Union troops.

  There was no realistic hope for escape for Lincolns killer. Soldiers peered through the openings in between the slats that formed the sides of the barn. Booth, leaning on a cane because of his broken leg, held a pistol  in one hand and surveyed the situation. Thinking that Booth had pointed his weapon at the soldiers, despite orders that had been given to NOT fire upon him, Corbett fired a single shot into the back of Booth neck, where it passed through his throat, exiting on the other side. Booth was immediately paralyzed and fell to the ground.

  Corbett was arrested immediately for violation of his orders, but ultimately found not guilty. He served no prison time and was awarded a share of the reward money, $1653.84. After the investigation, Corbett then explained why he shot Booth with the answer, "Providence directed me."

  After leaving the Army in 1865, Corbett returned to both the Northeast and the making hats. Twelve years later, he took at job as the assistant  doorkeeper at the Kansas State House. After hearing someone mock the opening prayer one day, he brandished a pistol and waved it around the chamber threateningly. He may also have felt that various men from Topeka were out to get him. He was arrested for his actions in the House chamber and put on trial. He was found to be insane and was sent to the Topeka Asylum for the Insane. Corbett would escape from this facility 1888. Some historians believe Corbett had been poisoned by working with mercury during the hat making process. This is where the expression, "Mad as a hatter" comes from.

  No one is sure what happened to Boston Corbett after the escape. Some say he hooked up with a fellow prisoner of war from the Civil War time for a short while.The consensus is that he traveled to Minnesota and lived in a cabin he built himself. While no conclusive evidence exists, there is a Thomas Corbett on the dead and missing list of the Great Hinckley Fire of September 1, 1894. He would've been sixty-two years old.

  When asked about their friend Thomas Corbett, acquaintances said he was, "different."


Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy_SEALs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Corbett
http://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln32.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hinckley_Fire