# Sources

## Official-history anchors

- Ford's Theatre, "Lincoln's Assassination": https://fords.org/lincolns-assassination/
- National Park Service, Ford's Theatre National Historic Site history materials: https://www.nps.gov/foth/learn/historyculture/index.htm

Use these as the official-history frame: Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, fled Washington, was found in Virginia, and died in April 1865. The public page also follows the accepted-history frame that the body examined aboard the USS Montauk was identified as Booth's body. A preferred direct official web citation for the Montauk/body-identification sentence should still be pinned if located.

## Local-lore anchor

- HottyToddy, "John Wilkes Booth's Escape To Mississippi - Just a joke?", page by Jack Lawton with commentary by Dick Gentry, May 13, 2014: https://www.hottytoddy.com/2014/05/13/john-wilkes-booths-escape-to-mississippi-just-a-joke/

This is the currently available public retelling for the Guntown legend. It connects the story to Emma Emily Epting Pressey, Dr. John Fletcher Booth, Jennie Booth Epting, Smith Cemetery, a claimed Booth marker, and other family or artifact stories.

## Primary source target

- Tupelo Daily Journal / Phyllis Harper interview with Emma Emily Epting Pressey, reportedly from 1995.

Status: not located in public web search during this pass. Searches targeted the names Phyllis Harper, Emma Emily Epting Pressey, Emma Pressey, Jennie Booth Epting, Dr. John Fletcher Booth, Smith Cemetery, Guntown, Tupelo Daily Journal, and John Wilkes Booth.

Until this is found, the attic/girl story should be attributed to later reported local/family lore.

## Public-domain survival-legend texts

- Finis L. Bates, *The Escape and Suicide of John Wilkes Booth*, 1907. Local copy: `/assets/documents/escape-and-suicide-of-john-wilkes-booth-1907-bates.pdf`
- William Parker Campbell, *John Wilkes Booth: Escape and Wanderings*, 1922. Local copy: `/assets/documents/john-wilkes-booth-escape-and-wanderings-1922-campbell.pdf`

These are not proof of the Guntown tradition. They are included as historical examples of broader Booth-survival legend literature.

## Image and archive references

- John Wilkes Booth portrait, Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John-Wilkes-Booth--portrait.jpg
- Booth wanted poster, Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Wilkes_Booth_wanted_poster.jpg
- Ford's Theatre 1865, Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fords_Theatre_1865.jpg
- Ford's Theatre playbill, Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fords_Theatre_Playbill_1865-04-14.png
- Library of Congress reward poster record: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2013648743/