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(Continued from Page 1) in the ministry, and as a pioneer preacher was known far and near. Judge Conger was their sixth child. He was educated at Milan, Erie county, Ohio, and at the West ern Reserve college, after which he learned the machinist's business at night,” said Judge Conger, in his own recital of those history making events, “when the news reached the garrison. I knew something has hap pened, but didn’t know what it was. I thought that Lee had broken out again, or that the confederates ,had gone on another rampage. It was an hour before I could get definite in formation. Next morning I ordered my clerks to close up their work at once and I went with the marshal of the District of Columbia to Wash ington. Conger Enlists In April, 1861, in answer to Pres ident Lincoln's call for three months volunteers to put down the rebellion, he enlisted in Company A, BHighth Ohio Volunteer infantry. He was transferred to the tenth, in which he served some time, and then under the direction of General Rosecrans headquarters. They were mustered in at Wheeling as independent com panies, and Mr. Conger was elected captain of Company A... In that posi tion he continued until the fall of 1861, when he became one of Gen eral Rosecrans’ staff officers. Later he was on the staff of General In galls. In the fall of 1862 he was sent out on a scouting expedition, and while in that service received a shot in his side which laid him up until the following April. He was then promoted to major and went to Washington to take charge of the First regiment District of Columbia cavalry, his commission being re ceived from Secretary Stanton. He went with his regiment to Fortress Monroe under General Butler, and also operated in the opening of the James river. He continued in this connection until the expedition on the Danville railroad. At Stanton he received a gunshot wound through the hips, and was sent to the hos pital at City Point, and hence re turned to his home in Ohio. Upon his recovery he returned to his com mand, and was at the surrender of Petersburg. He continued with the army until the close of the war, a part of the time on detached detec tive service for secretary stanton, and with his regiment he participated in the grand review of the victorious army at Washington. The night President Lincoln was assassinated Mr. Conger was in Rich mond. As soon as he received news of the sad event he immediately started for Washington. At City Point he met United States Marshal Lemon and they went together. After the war Mr. Conger returned to Ohio, resumed the study of law, and in 1869 was admitted to prac tice in Illinois. On the 9th of March, 1880, he received fom President Hayes the appointment of associate justice of the territory of Montana. His district included Madison, Gala tia, Jefferson and Custer counties, and he resided in Virginia City. This position he filled in a most satisfac tory manner until the administration of Mr. Cleveland in 1887, at which time he came to Dillon and resumed the practice of law. Here he was soon elected prosecuting attorney of Beaverhead county for the years 1887, 1888 and 1889, up to the ad mission of the state into the Union, and again in 1892 he was elected to that office. He resided in Dillon un til just a little over a year ago, when he accompanied Judge Poindexter and family to Honolulu to make his home. Judge Conger was married Octo ber 16, 1861, to Miss Emma K. Boren, a native of Freemont, Ohio, and daughter of Levi Boren of that state. To the union four children were born, three boys and a girl. They were Charles, Margaret D., Ray S. and Omer Dwight. The oldest son, Charles, died a year ago at his home in this city The only girl wa married to Judge J. B. Poindexter, at present federal judge of the Ha waiian Islands, and she died in Hon olulu last spring. Ray S. Conger re sides at Lewistown, Mont., and the youngest son, Dwight, now lives in Portland. Mrs. Conger passed away in this city a number of years ago. Hight grandchildren all survive. They are Mrs. Harris Opp, Mrs. Fred Hale and Gordon Conger, children of Charles W. Everton and Helen, children of Judge and Mrs. Poindex ter, and the three small children of Mr. and Mrs. Ray S. Conger. Story of Booth’s Capture There are very few who are not fa miliar with the incidents relative to the capture of Booth, the slayer of Abraham Lincoln, but the story told in Mr.Conger’s own words and pub lished in the Dillon Examiner two years ago will be most interesting to his hundreds of friends throughout the state . “It was between 12 and 1 o'clock Arrest of Mrs. Surrat “T learned then that a Mrs. Sur rat had been harboring Booth and that he had been seen later at her home, shortly before the murder, so that officers had gone there after the murder and arrested her along with a man disguised as a laborer. It later developed that he was one of the party who, in making their es cape, had turned down the wrong street and had fallen into an exca vation with his horse. I reported to Secretary Stanton and was assigned to duty under Col. Baker, who had headquarters on Pennsylvania ave nue and was in charge of the search. “Baker sent me down to Surrat ville to search the houses and then to Port Tobacco, where we found a Dr. Mudd, who had set Booth’s leg . We also learned that Booth had sought to disguise himself by cutting off his mustache. I again led a search party to Surratville and on returning to Pennsylvania avenue I was told that an old colored woman was in another room and had information of value. She told of having seen two men cross the Potomac and when I showed her Booth's picture she positively identified him, , The Start ‘T asked for a guard of twenty five cavalrymen and we set out in a tug down the river. We landed at Aguia creek, opposite Frederickburg on the Rappahannok. Then we struck diagonally across the country to a point near Port Tobacco. Posing as confederate soldiers, we rode through the night, stopping at each farm house to ask if there were any soldiers there who needed assistance to escape to the south. At day break with no eclues we divided into two parties to reconnoiter up and down the river. We finally located a farmer who testified that the day be fore he had been offered $10 by Booth and a man named Harold to haul them twenty miles to Bowling Green near Richmond. Later they had met three confederate soldiers who took charge of the two. On the Trail .We ferried across the river and in the dusk of evening galloped to Bowling Green. Five miles down the road we passed the Garrett planta tion, where Booth was later killed. Farther on we located fresh horse tracks. Giving my horse free rein I went ahead, hoping to overhaul the fugitive, but finally lost the hoof prints. He had heard me and cut across into the woods, but I got so close that the dust from his horse was still flying in the road. At Bowling Green we captured Jett. ‘I know what you want,’ said Jett, ‘you want Booth and if you won’t hurt me I will tell you where he is. He is at the Garrett plantation, because his leg hurt him so bad he couldn’t go any farther.’ Booth Finally Located .Hurriedly forcing Jett to dress, we forced our weary horses over the 18 miles to Garrett’s. We arrived just before dawn and entered from several directions, my party going down a long lane and over a board bridge into the yard. Old man Gar rett poked his head out of the window and began to shout that the men were not his guests, but had forced themselves upon him. I told him that I didn’t care about that, but wanted to know where they were. He said he didn’t know. Then a young fellow came out of the house and told on condition that I wouldn’t punish his father, that they were hiding in the tobacco house. We threw a guard around the place in the dark ness and I tried to force the door. Booth woke up and wanted to know who was there. I called to him to surrender. He answered that if we would withdraw forty yards ,he would come out and fight the bunch of us. I told him that we were not there to fight, but to take him a prisoner. ‘Well,’ he answered, ‘there is a fellow in here I want to consult with and you give us five minutes to con sider matters in.’ , “YT agreed and after five minutes Harold came out, followed by cries of ‘coward’ by Booth. When we asked him to bring his carbine with him, Booth said, ‘It’s mine and it won't come out. Then he shoued: ‘Boys, you can prepare a stretcher for me. I won’t come out and I‘ll never surrender.’ “T then ordered one of the Garrett boys to pile some ping fagots against the barn and fire them. Booth warned him that if he laid another there he would bore a hole through him. The boy told me that there was some straw in one corner of the barn and directed me to that part. I pulled some out lit it and threw it back on the pile. As the flames leaped up, illuminating the interior of the cabin, I could see Booth stand ing full before me with his carbine ready to shoot. Then he turned with his profile towards me and tried to extinguish the flames which were al ready up to the eaves. Booth's Death “T started around the barn with my loaded revolver in my hand. Then a shot rang out and as I entered the door I saw Booth lying on his right side, face downward. I said, ‘well, he shot himself,’ but a lieutenant said that Sergeant Corbett, aiming through one of the holes had shot him, and I found that the ball en tered the neck from behind. “We carried him out and he was still able to walk. He asked me to take this message to his mother: ‘I died for my country. Tell my moth er that what I did was for the best.’ “We carried him to the porch and had some whiskey given him. He asked the woman, who had come out to nurse him, but when they tried to raise his hands they found them to be paralyzed from the effects of the wounds. He died thirty minutes later. , Buried in a Cell .The body was taken to a two tur ret monitor lying out in the river and an investigation held to prove its identity, which was easily accom plished. I think that in an old date of Leslie’s you will find a picture of a boat far out at sea with men in it throwing a body overboard. A line underneath suggests that this is the end of Wilkes Booth. However, I turned the body over to a keeper of an old government prison. He took up stones from a cell and thus pre pared a grave. Later 100 pound blank shells were tamped into the cell to prevent anyone from tamper ing with the grave. Years later, I understand permission was come to members of the assassin’s family to remove the remains.”
Newspaper Details
Dillon Examiner
Dillon, Montana, US
Wed, Jul 17, 1918
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Janell S.
