Browns re-enact hunt for John Wilkes Booth

Two members of Rainbow’s Brown family participated in a re-enactment of the search for John Wilkes Booth as part of a History Channel documentary aired December 23.

Jerry Brown played William Rollins, a Virginia fisherman and farmer who encountered Booth and David Herold while the manhunt for President Abraham Lincoln’s assassin and the co-conspirator was taking place. Jerry’s wife, Colleen, played Rollins’ wife, Betsy.

Colleen also appeared at a party prior to Lincoln’s assassination in “The Hunt for John Wilkes Booth,” and her hands but not her face were shown in the scene accompanying Mary Lincoln from Ford’s Theater to the Petersen House.

“It brings history alive to us,” Jerry said. “It’s kind of like taking a history lesson.”

Not only did Booth shoot Lincoln at Ford’s Theater on April 14, 1865, but he also initiated a plot to kill two other high-ranking figures. The plan called for George Atzerodt to shoot Vice-President Andrew Johnson in the hotel where Johnson was staying, but Atzerodt unilaterally backed out of the killing.

Lewis Powell was supposed to kill Secretary of State William Seward, after which Herold was to guide Powell out of Washington, but Powell’s gun misfired and his efforts to stab members of the Seward family and a nurse to death were unsuccessful.

Herold fled at the first screams while Powell left Seward’s Washington residence on foot.

Although Atzerodt was a Confederate sympathizer, the Prussian immigrant had no long-standing ties to the South and several of his relatives in the area were Union loyalists.

During a conversation about the assassination rumors, Atzerodt mentioned that General Grant’s assassin would have been on the same train. Atzerodt was deemed by the others to have known too much to be uninvolved, and he confessed when arrested in his boarding house.

Powell arrived at Mary Surratt’s boardinghouse while Surratt was being interrogated and gave an identity different than who Surratt told the investigators he was. Seward’s son and nurse identified Powell as the assailant.

While Booth had purchased his getaway horse weeks before, Herold had rented his horse.

Stableman John Fletcher encountered Herold with the overdue horse, but Herold provided a reasonable explanation to cross the Navy Yard bridge (the guard was unaware of the assassination) while Fletcher – also unaware of the assassination activities – was told that he could not return if he crossed.

Booth’s plan was to escape to the Deep South, where Confederate sympathizers would welcome his deed. His broken leg acquired by jumping from the balcony forced him to seek treatment from Dr. Samuel Mudd, and by the time he left the Mudd house the following night he was a wanted man.

Booth and Herold were hidden in a thicket for five days before literally the coast was clear and they were provided with a rowboat to cross the Potomac River into Virginia.

William Lucas, a black man who often transported for hire, was unaware of Booth’s identity but was convinced by Booth’s knife and money to have Booth and Herold taken to Port Conway.

Lucas’ son Charlie arrived at Port Conway on April 24, 1865.

Booth told William Rollins that he was a wounded Confederate soldier and asked if Rollins could transport them across the Rappahannock River to Port Royal.

Rollins offered to make the journey for the same ten-cent rate the ferry charged under the condition that he place his fishing nets out first. Booth wanted to go immediately.

While Booth and Herold were waiting they encountered Confederate soldiers Mortimer Ruggles, Absalom Bainbridge, and Willie Jett.

Herold revealed Booth’s identity to the three soldiers, and although Rollins was ready to take Booth and Herold the conspirators instead waited for the ferry where they traveled across the river with Ruggles, Bainbridge, and Jett.

Booth and Herold then sought refuge at Richard Garrett’s farm, where eventually their behavior caused Garrett’s sons to lock the fugitives in the farm’s tobacco barn.

The Sixteenth New York Cavalry regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Edward P. Doherty, went to Port Conway accompanied by detectives Luther Baker and Everton Conger.

On the afternoon of April 25, 1865, Baker asked Rollins if any strangers had crossed the river from Port Conway to Port Royal. Rollins responded that several people had taken that journey, and Baker then asked if any of them had a broken leg.

Rollins responded that there was a man with such an injury, noted that he had crossed the river the day before, and revealed additional details of the encounter.

Rollins was then shown photographs obtained for Booth, Herold, and John Surratt; he responded that he did not recognize Surratt but that the other two were the men he had seen. Rollins also confirmed that Booth had shaved off his mustache.

Rollins also identified one of the Confederate soldiers as Jett. Betsy Rollins identified the other two soldiers and added that Jett was courting a woman whose father owned the Star Hotel in Bowling Green.

William Rollins provided a written statement to Conger and also agreed to join the Union soldiers after being placed under temporary arrest so that his help wouldn’t anger his Southern neighbors.

Rollins accompanied the group to the Star Hotel, where Jett revealed Booth’s whereabouts at Garrett’s farm. Rollins and Jett then went to the Garrett property, where they stayed at the gate with a guard as the rest of the troops proceeded to the farmhouse.

(The historical information was derived from James L. Swanson’s book “Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer,” published by HarperCollins in 2006.)

Some of the full details were consolidated for the two-hour documentary, and the Browns appeared as the Rollins couple for about 30 seconds.

“We got what I thought was pretty good press,” Jerry said.

“You also get to learn a little more about history,” Colleen said.

Rather than travel to Virginia and Maryland to film the documentary, the filming took place on May 16 at Fort Tejon in northern Los Angeles County.

Fort Tejon, a former dragoon post built in the 1850s, is now a state park. The lack of electrical wires allows it to be used to replicate life in the 19th century.

“It makes it a perfect location to go back in time and film,” Colleen said.

The Browns had never previously been to Fort Tejon. “That was an interesting place with the buildings,” Colleen said. “We had an enjoyable day.”

The morning arrival time would have required the Browns to be delayed in Los Angeles traffic had they not left Rainbow at about 4 a.m., so they arrived at Fort Tejon early.

“We get there and then we can relax,” Jerry said. “It was an interesting day. Long drive for us.”

The Browns are members of the Spirit of the West Riders, whose activity in parades includes clothing, saddles, and bridles which replicate those used by men and women who rode the frontier between 1840 and 1920 (historical accuracy is waived to allow the use of breast collars for safety).

Phil Spangenberger, the leader of the Spirit of the West Riders, is also a film consultant.

“If there’s something I can bring the Browns in for, I always look forward to working with them,” Spangenberger said.

In the past Spangenberger has also used the Browns’ daughter, Lori, although finals that week at Cal State University San Marcos precluded Lori from being a part of the filming.

“I wanted to use Lori as well,” Spangenberger said. “They always do a good job. I was happy to have them.”

Although Lori wasn’t part of the filming, she made her parents’ costumes.

“They have good costumes. A lot of it they bring themselves,” Spangenberger said of the Browns. “They’re fun to be around because they’re just basically good people.”

Most of the Browns’ past film reenactments have set them in the American West, although one documentary on the hunt for Butch Cassidy placed their characters in South America.

The John Wilkes Booth manhunt took place in a more settled part of America. “The format was all the same for us,” Colleen said.

The timeframe was similar. “We recreate the 1860s,” Spangenberger said.

With a few exceptions to account for equestrian usage, the clothing was similar in the West and in Virginia. “There was no such thing as Western clothing stores in those days,” Spangenberger said.

Spangenberger added muttonchops for Jerry’s face. “It made him look completely different,” Spangenberger said.

The Browns were not on horseback for the documentary. Colleen’s red dress can be identified at the party, although she was not shown close-up. Only Mary Lincoln’s face was shown when the President was being moved to the Petersen House.

“They always add their flair to it and always make for interesting characters,” Spangenberger said of the Browns.