Booth JW
Full Name: John Wilkes Booth
Achievements: Assassinated President Abraham Lincoln
Born: May 10, 1838; near Bel Air, Maryland
Died: April 26, 1865; near Port Royal, Virginia (Aged 26)
Field & Discipline: Art; Theater; Actor
Language: English
Father: Junius Brutus Booth
Mary Ann Holmes
Siblings: 2 half-siblings: Amelia; Richard Junius. 9 full siblings, of whom: Asia; Edwin Thomas; Junius Jr.
Spouse: None
Children: None
Education: Unknown
Major Work:
Popular, though not very good, actor and member of a distinguished American acting family
Life & Times:
The ninth of 10 children, Booth decided to go on the stage, following in the footsteps of his father, a famous actor, and two older brothers . At the age of 17 in Baltimore, Booth bungled his first role as Richmond in "Richard III", and for the next three years played minor parts in Philadelphia, then the theatrical center of America. As he got older, he began to charm audiences with his looks and personality, but constantly overacted and had flawed elocution.
In 1858, at age 20, Booth joined a Shakespearean stock company in Richmond, VA, but quit at the beginning of the 1859 season to attend the trial of abolitionist [attended trial of]John Brown* at Charles Town. A Southern sympathizer, Booth witnessed Brown's execution, and later falsely claimed to have helped capture Brown. In 1860, calling himself J. Wilkes Booth he appeared in a widely acclaimed tour of the Deep South, often in roles made famous by his father.
As the Civil War approached, theatricals in the South decreased, so Booth joined a northern tour in late 1860. Booth believed the South was being unjustly oppressed and was outspoken in his support of slavery and in his hatred of assassinated[] Lincoln*. He continually denounced Lincoln and the North during the Northern tour. In Baltimore, he joined a secret rebel society called the Knights of the Golden Circle. He engaged in smuggling through the blockade, including medicinal quinine.
In early 1864, he concocted a plot to kidnap Lincoln and enlisted the help of two boyhood friends, Michael O'Laughlin and Samuel Arnold. The abduction was planned for March 20, but Lincoln did not appear as expected. Soon after, Booth recruited David Herold, George Atzerodt, and Lewis Payne. to assist in the plot. Along the way, he also met two sympathizers, the young John Surratt, and his mother, Mary Eugenia, who ran a boarding house in Washington and allowed Booth and his fellow conspirators to meet there. During the winter of 1864-65, the group mapped out a number of alternative abduction plans, but abandoned the idea of abduction when Richmond fell and the war ended on April 9, 1865.
When Booth learned that President Lincoln planned to attend a production of "Our American Cousin", starring Laura Keene, at Ford's Theater in Washington on April 14, 1865, he decided it was a grand opportunity for multiple assassination. He assigned Atzerodt to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson, Payne to kill Secretary of State [plotted to kill] Seward*, and decided that he, himself, would kill Lincoln. The three assassins arrived at the theater during the third act, and forced their way into the president's box. Atzerodt lost his nerve and made no attempt on Johnson. Payne severely wounded Seward and several others who tried to defend him. Booth fired a single .44-caliber bullet point blank into the back ofLincoln's head, shouting, "Sic semper tyrannis!" ("Thus always to tyrants!", the motto of the state of Virginia) and "The South is avenged!"
Parrying an attempt by Major Henry Rathbone to stop him with a dagger, Booth leaped the 12 feet from the presidential box onto the stage, breaking his left leg, and made his way to a waiting horse, on which he and Herold fled the city.
The fugitives stopped at the home of Dr. Samuel A. Mudd in Bryantown, MD to have Booth's leg set, then hid in neighboring woods for the next six days. By April 23, Booth and Herold had reached the farm of Richard H. Garrett, 78 miles from Washington. Garrett hid the pair in a tobacco barn, but early on April 26, soldiers arrived and surrounded the barn. Herold surrendered immediately, but Booth refused, offering to fight the soldiers one by one.
The soldiers set fire to the barn, and Booth was shot, but whether by himself or by one of the soldiers is still a mystery. Booth died that evening, his last words apparently being, "Tell Mother I died for my country."
The body was returned to Washington and secretly buried at the Arsenal Grounds. A hasty and disorganized trial, led by Lincoln's Secretary of War, [trial organized by] Stanton*, ensued. Herold, Payne, Atzerodt, and Mary Surratt (who may not have known of the plot) were hanged. Dr. Mudd, Arnold and O'Laughlin received life imprisonment.
Extra Connections: Used a code developed by [used code by] Vigenere*
After he died in 1852 the poet Walt Whitman wrote, "There went the greatest and by far the most noble Roman of them all."
Assessment: The first presidential assassin in the United States
Oneliner: John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln
Bibliography:
- American National Biography.
- Encyclopedia Britannica.
- Smith, Gene,American Gothic: The Story of America's Legendary Theatrical Family, Junius, Edwin, and John Wilkes Booth, 1992.