James William Boyd James William Boyd (Sept. 14, 1822,
Hopkinsville, Kentucky - Jan. 1, 1866, Tennessee) was an officer
in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War,
and who later came into prominence as a double for Lincoln
assassin John Wilkes Booth according to several conspiracy
theories. Not much is known of Boyd; what is known was that his
wife was named Caroline, and he was the father of seven children
prior to the outbreak of war. He had served in the 6th Tennessee
Infantry and risen to the rank of captain. Boyd was captured in
December, 1864, and Caroline died soon after. Secretary of War
Edwin M. Stanton signed off a petition authorizing his release
from prison on February 14, 1865, enabling Boyd to return to
Jackson, Tennessee and care for his children. It is from that
point that he disappears from history. During the 1930's Otto
Eisenschiml, a former chemist-turned amateur historian,
presented a theory in which the Lincoln Assassination was
carried out by the highest levels of gove