Canadian born Edward Doherty moved to New York City just as the American Civil War began and promptly enlisted. He was taken prisoner at the First Battle of Bull Run, then went on to become a captain in the Corcoran Legion, formed by a fellow prisoner, the Irish-American Gen. Michael Corcoran, reportedly a close confidant of President Lincoln.
Assigned to Hunt Down John Wilkes Booth
Doherty was serving as a First Lieutenant in the 16th New York Cavalry, which was assigned to the defense of Washington, when President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. A few days later he was summoned to the War Department and received orders from the intelligence chief to take two detectives and his men and hunt down assassin John Wilkes Booth in the Virginia countryside.
Doherty and his men captured and killed Booth in a Virginia barn within two days, returning to Washington with Booth’s body and accomplice David Herold, who was tried and hanged. Detailed first hand accounts are given at an Arlington Cemetery web page and in an interview with Doherty which appeared in the Aug. 18, 1879 edition of the New Orleans Picayune.
Following the war, Doherty went to New Orleans, where he was a government contractor, then in 1886 this man who had faced down Lincoln’s assassin at age 25, returned to New York City, where he was Inspector of Street Pavings.
A Monument for Doherty in Ireland
Under the title of “The Tombstone Mystery”, the Seattle Genealogical Society Bulletin (Spring, 1995) told of members Missy and Dick Malm finding a gravestone inscription in the Town Cemetery of Sligo in Ireland. It referred to “Captain Edward P. Doherty the brave avenger of President Lincoln.” They wondered what it meant.
The monument read “To the Beloved Departed” and listed Henry Doherty Esq. and Elizabeth Crawford Crispin, his wife, their son Joseph, and Joseph’s three sons, Michael, Col. Henry J. Doherty and the Capt. Edward Doherty that piqued their curiosity. It also named the couple's youngest daughter, Catherine Teresa, and finished with “to the memory of their eldest daughter, Mary Anne Elizabeth Doherty, who in fond remembrance has erected this monument in the year 1887.”
How, they wondered, could someone from Ireland have avenged the shooting of Lincoln? Back in Seattle, they tried to research Doherty, but didn’t discover him. Eventually another SGS member found the story of Booth’s capture, which recapped the entire event, noting that Doherty had received $ 5,250 as his portion of the reward for capturing Booth. The Bulletin story ended there.
Doherty’s Gravestone in Arlington National Cemetery
Records of Arlington National Cemetery report that Doherty was buried there following his 1897 death, as is his wife, Catherine, who died in 1921. The gravestone there gives his birth and death dates plus his military ranks as “Capt. 16th NY Cavalry” and “1st Lt. 5th US Cavalry”.
There is no doubt that the Doherty buried at Arlington Cemetery is the man who captured Booth. So, is he also the man mentioned on the cemetery monument in Ireland, or is that another man with the same name who was confused with the Doherty buried in Arlington?
1880 Census Sheds Light on Doherty Background
Edward and wife Catherine are located in the U. S. 1880 census of New Orleans. Edward says he was born in Canada, but that both parents were born in Ireland. His wife, Kate, was born in Canada; her father was born in France and her mother in Ireland.
This tracks with the large migration from Ireland in the 1840s when the Port of Quebec had so many arrivals that the government had to set up a quarantine station on an island several miles down the St. Lawrence River. Many of these immigrants arrived starved and sick. Hundreds of children who lost their parents were adopted by Quebec families.
Rosemary E. Bachelor - Rosemary Bachelor, a prize-winning journalist, has had a career as an editor, feature writer, magazine publisher and author. Her latest ...
