Booth's son needs a name change.

 

John Wilkes Booth and Izola were married in 1859. John and Izola had an open marriage. Sex outside their marriage did not cause them any problems. Any children born to Izola during their marriage belonged to John, no matter who the real father was. 

If Izola got pregnant by another man, the child would be raised as the son or daughter of John Wilkes Booth. The child would call John Wilkes Booth "father." To all, John was the child's father, even though he was not the biological father.

On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln. Contrary to our history books, John successfully evaded soldiers and went to his wife and farm near Harpers Ferry. Izola took care of his broken leg.

On April 21, 1868, John and Izola left for India. Izola tried to adjust to living in India, but it was too difficult. After a short stay, they decided to return to the U.S. On their return, Izola informed John that she was pregnant with another man's baby. This new information did not cause any difficulty for John. They had an open marriage, and such things did happen.

As the ship neared San Francisco, the crew mutinied. Booth was hit on the head and thought dead. The crew put Izola in a rowboat and set her adrift. After she made her way to San Francisco, she wired John Henry Stevenson in Sacramento and asked him to come and get her. On October 5, 1869, John Stevenson arrived in San Francisco.

John Stevenson asked Izola to marry him. Dumbfounded, she told him that she was pregnant and wanted to go home to be with her family. John Henry Stevenson took Izola to Baltimore.

Izola gave birth to a boy on February 22, 1870. Once again, John Henry Stevenson began planning to marry Izola, and he took it upon himself to name the baby. John Henry Stevenson named the baby John Harry Stevenson.

A year later, Rosalie Booth came to visit. Rosalie expressed concern that John was the wrong name to give this baby. She believed the name John invited some snoop or investigator to link the baby to John Wilkes Booth. Rosalie suggested they change it.

Izola realized that an investigator might think that John Wilkes Booth was the father of her son. Izola was afraid that authorities would arrest her for assisting Lincoln's killer. She agreed with Rosalie that they needed to change the baby's name.

Rosalie only had one lover in her entire life. He was a circus lion trainer. The Booth family disapproved of this relationship and refused to allow Rosalie to see him. She obeyed her family's wishes, but her heart was broken. Rosalie never seemed to be able to start a new relationship. She suggested to Izola that they name the baby after her lover, Jerome Dresbach.

Izola's favorite name was Harry, after her first love, Harry D'Arcy. Rosalie and Izola decided to rename the baby Harry Jerome Dresbach Stevenson.

Rosalie's comment about the need to separate the baby from John Wilkes Booth got Izola thinking. Harry Jerome Dresbach Stevenson's birth date was February 22, 1870. She became concerned that if anyone counted back nine months, that person might realize her conception occurred while away on her trip.

Izola didn't want anyone asking questions about that trip and realized that she needed to change Harry's birth date. In all her correspondence and documents from that day forward, she would say that Harry Jerome Dresbach Stevenson's birth date was February 27, 1871.

For the rest of her life, she would do everything she could to separate her family from John Wilkes Booth. In all her letters and written documents, she began using phony names, dates, and places—no one would be able to figure out the truth. She refused to let anyone talk about John Wilkes Booth in her home. She wanted him forgotten.

In her journal, she wrote,

“Keep your own secret; do not reveal it to anyone. He that makes his secret known is no longer its master. If thy own breast cannot keep thy counsel, how can you expect the breast of another to be more faithful?”

 In 1883, John Wilkes Booth wrote a will to give his money to his wife, lovers, friends, and children.

He wrote:

"Firstly, to Ogarita Rosalie Wilkes, Natural heir of my body, I bequeath the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars in United States currency.

Secondly, to Harry Jerome Stevenson, I bequeath the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars in United States currency."

Notice that he did not say that Harry was the "natural heir of my body." He didn't include that because Harry Jerome Stevenson was not his biological son.