Existing comment:
Port Royal: Booth Turned Away:
In front of you is the Brockenbrough-Peyton House where fugitives John Wilkes Booth and David Herold accompanied by three former Confederate soldiers arrived about 2:30pm April 24, 1865, ten days after Booth shot Lincoln.
The owner, Randolph Peyton, was not at home when the group arrived. His sister, Sarah Jane Peyton, admitted the men. Booth was described as a wounded Confederate soldier looking for a place to stay.
Booth made himself at home in the parlor, but Miss Peyton soon reconsidered and told the group that it would be improper for them to stay when the man of the house was not at home. She directed them to the Garrett Farm.
The Brockenbrough-Peyton House was built in the mid-1700s and was considered one of the finest homes in Port Royal in its day. The entry hallway, where Booth briefly stayed, had ornate woodwork which was sold to the Nelson-Atkins Art Gallery in Kansas City, Mo., where it is now displayed. |