It was "Boston" Corbett who standing outside the blazing Garrett barn, fired the fatal shot that killed John Wilkes Booth, President Lincoln's assassin. Historical accounts indicate that Corbett, whose given name was Thomas P. Corbett, achieved considerable fame after the shooting in 1865.
Several years
later, he moved to Kansas where he was chosen as assistant doorkeeper at the
Kansas State Capitol. This job appealed to him and he proudly appeared for
duty with his army cap and .38 "hot leg" strapped to his Civil War belt. He
relished the attention this brought him and, when asked gladly led in prayer
at the beginning of legislative sessions. But on
February 15, 1887, when the raucous legislators were embroiled
in an especially boisterous session and one legislator shouted
mockingly to Corbett to lead them in prayer, Corbett was so
incensed by the blasphemy he drew his gun and shouted,
"Legislature is adjourned!" He was promptly arrested, tried,
pronounced insane and sent to an asylum in Topeka.
On May 26,
1888, he escaped on horseback, taking a horse that had
been ridden up to the asylum by a young boy who was visiting the
grounds. Corbett, in company with a number of inmates, saw the
horse tied to a post and sprang from the ranks, mounted the
horse and rode away. It is believed he disappeared to the
remote forests of Hinckley, Minnesota. There he settled
in a small cabin just east of town, earning a living
supplying venison for a logging camp near the
Kettle River. On September 1, 1894, the final
chapter of Corbett's eventful life was written as
he was found to be included on the certified
list of those that perished in
the Great Hinckley Fire.
 |
|||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||
 |
|
 |
 |