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John Wilkes Booth. 1838 – 1865.  
Was a famous American actor who assassinated President Lincoln, he was born on May 10th 1838 on a farm near Bel Air, Maryland, about 25 miles from Baltimore.  
 
Booth arrived in Montreal on October 18th 1864 to join many of the confederate Spies and sympathizers who were hiding out in Canada while the American Civil war was raging in the United states, and to meet with his particular group of fellow confederates.  
 
The Confederate Secret Service headquarters in Canada were located in the St. Lawrence Hall Hotel in downtown Montreal. Their purpose was to plot to involve Canada in the war against the Northern States.  
 
They had supported 25 men to make a raid from Montreal into Vermont as a way to disrupt the north.  
Booth checked into the Hotel under the guise of an Oil Speculator, but the Actor in him also planned some performances and dramatic readings.  
 
The real reason for his visit to Canada was to discus plans to Kidnap President Lincoln, and take him to Richmond, Virginia. By the end of the month Booth had left Montreal, but returned there again in December.  
 
It was about four months later on Good Friday, April 14th 1865 when John Wilkes Booth shot and killed the sixteenth President of the United States. He escaped from the scene with a broken leg, but after an intense “man hunt” he was himself shot and killed.  
 
Among the possessions found on his body was a “Bill of Exchange” from the Ontario Bank in Montreal. Booth had opened an account during his October visit, and it is believed that none of Booth’s heirs ever laid claim for the money deposited there.  
 
Source: http://home.att.net/~rjnorton/Lincoln72.html  
 
This may not have a Brandon connection, but I have included it because he is my name sake. This story might be why Americans are always saying we are a safe haven for their fugitives, and dissidents.