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.Refuted by many competent historians,the theory nevertheless refused to die and, like Lazarus of old, kept risingfrom the grave.Lazarus, or rather Stanton, walked across the assassinationlandscape with blood dripping from his fingers, thanks to Eisenschiml.Itwas an undeserved libel on a great American patriot who helped save theUnion in its hour of greatest peril.In 1975, the assassination community was stunned to learn that themissing pages had surfaced in the possession of a Stanton descendant.Anindividual who identified himself as Mr.X acted as a go-between forthe descendant and certain individuals interested in the missing pages. Mr.X eventually identified himself as Joseph Lynch, a dealer in rare booksand Americana living in Massachusetts.According to Lynch, he had beencontacted by a member of the Stanton family to appraise the material inthe descendant s possession.At some point, Lynch acquired copies of themissing pages.131 Edward Steers Jr.A movie company, Sunn Classic Pictures, learned of the missing pagesand contacted Lynch in an effort to obtain the rights to the pages for a movie.After Sunn Classic acquired the rights to a transcription of the alleged miss-ing pages, a movie and a book, both titled The Lincoln Conspiracy, were re-leased in 1977.The book, written by David Balsiger and Charles E.Sellier Jr.,and movie, directed by James L.Conway (screenplay by David Balsiger andJonathan Cobbler), relied heavily on the information in the missing pages.Both the book and the movie were sensational, to say the least.Once again,Edwin Stanton became the dark angel of death, plotting with high-rankinggovernment officials and powerful businessmen to remove Lincoln fromoffice.With Lincoln out of the way, his assassins were free to plunder theSouth and reap fortunes from Southern cotton and land deals.Enter James O.Hall, the dean of Lincoln assassination researchers.Duringthe period between the alleged discovery of the missing pages and the releaseof the book and movie, Hall attempted to track down the missing pages andtheir owner.He worked closely with Richard E.Sloan, past president of theLincoln Group of New York and the publisher and editor of an informativenewsletter that specialized in Lincoln s assassination, The Lincoln Log.Sloan doggedly pursued the rumors and made contact with Lynch, eventu-ally gaining his trust.1 Lynch told Sloan that he discovered the missing pagesin 1974 in the possession of one of Stanton s great-granddaughters, who alsoinsisted on anonymity.As the story unfolded over a period of several months,Sloan kept his subscribers to the Lincoln Log informed with the latest news,as it became available to him.2Hall, in the meantime, had contacted the known Stanton descendantsand came up dry.None knew of missing pages, nor had they ever heard anyfamily stories or suggestions that such pages ever existed.3 On informingLynch of Hall s inability to locate a Stanton heir with knowledge of the miss-ing pages, Hall and Sloan were told that the mysterious heir was descendedfrom an illegitimate son of Stanton s whose identity was kept secret fromfamily members.It was the illegitimate son who had come into possessionof the missing pages after his father s death.The two Lincoln sleuths had hita wall.They needed to see the pages, or at least a typescript of them, beforethey could pass judgment on their authenticity.Sunn Classic Pictures included excerpts from these missing pages in thefilm s press kit.Sloan published them in the March-April 1977 issue of hisnewsletter, along with a brief history of the diary.4 The transcript revealeda wide conspiracy involving Senator John Conness of California, Northernfinancier Jay Cooke, Confederate Secretary of State Judah Benjamin, NewYork political boss Thurlow Weed, U.S.Senator Zachariah Chandler, Con-federate Secret Service commissioner Jacob Thompson, U.S.Secret Service132 Tell Me What You Want to BelieveChief Lafayette Baker, Col.Everton J.Conger [member of Baker s agency wholed the posse that killed Booth], and several others. 5Toward the end of the entries, Booth wrote: By the Almighty God, I swearthat I shall lay the body of this tyrant [Lincoln] dead upon the altar of Mars[Mars was Lincoln s nickname for Stanton].And if by this act, I am slain,they too shall be cast into Hell for I have given information to a friend whowill have the nation know who the traitors are. 6After carefully examining the typescript, Hall formally told Sloan, Iwould not stake my life on the missing pages being forgeries, but.noresponsible researcher can say that they are authentic until they are releasedfor scientific study.Booth could have made the whole thing up to damage thehated Radicals and Baker. 7 Privately, Hall confided to him that he believedthe missing pages a clever hoax.8In the same issue of the Lincoln Log in which Sloan published the excerpts,a notice appeared announcing a guided tour along John Wilkes Booth s leg-endary trail
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