20. The missing pages from Booth’s diary
Booth’s diary, which was in his pocket as he died, arrived at Stanton’s house in Washington before his body reached the capital, carried there by Baker and Conger. There were also photographs of five women, which led to each of them being questioned to determine if any had prior knowledge of the assassin’s plans. Stanton, in a letter written to President Johnson in 1867, claimed that several pages had been removed from the book, which was an appointment book, cut out by a knife. Stanton’s examination of the diary was witnessed by Assistant Secretary of War William Eckert, who confirmed Stanton’s description of the condition of the diary when it came to his hands.
The missing pages from the diary gave rise to often-repeated myths that the pages had been removed while the diary was in Stanton’s custody, implicating the Secretary of War in the plot to kill the President. Others have claimed the pages were removed because they contained material which would have exonerated Mary Surratt. The pages have never been found. What they contained, or if they contained anything is unknown.