John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838 – April 26, 1865) was an American actor infamous for assassinating Abraham Lincoln. An extremely popular professional stage actor of his day, Booth was a Confederate sympathizer who was dissatisfied with the outcome of the American Civil War.
Background and early life
Booth was born in 1838, on a farm near Bel Air, Harford County, Maryland. His childhood home was called Tudor Hall and was purchased by Junius Brutus Booth in 1822. The house still stands today and is no longer open for visitation after being sold as a private home. However, it was recently purchased by Harford County, MD and is expected to become a memorial to the Booth family and their influence on Shakespearean acting in 19th century America. His parents, Junius Brutus Booth and Mary Ann Holmes moved to the United States from England in 1821. He was named after the famous British revolutionary John Wilkes, whom the family claimed as a distant relative. Junius himself was an actor, as were his other sons Edwin Booth and Junius Brutus Booth Jr.
Booth appeared to have led a happy childhood. He received an education in the classics and in particular Shakespeare. In 1850-1851, he attended Milton's Boarding School for Boys located in Sparks. As described by Booth's sister in her book entitled "The Unlocked Book," the future actor met an old gypsy woman in some woods near the school who gave him a grim assessment of his life and said he would die young. In 1851, at age 13, Booth attended St. Timothy's Military Academy in Catonsville, near Baltimore, Maryland. It was there that he met Samuel Arnold and Michael O'Laughlen, both of whom would later become involved in Booth's attempt to kidnap and, later, assassinate Lincoln.
Theatrical career and Civil War
Booth made his stage debut in August 1855, at the age of 17, when he played the Earl of Richmond in Shakespeare's Richard III. At his request he was billed as "J.B. Wilkes", a pseudonym meant to divert attention away from his famous thespian family. In 1858 he became a member of the Richmond Theatre, and his career started to take off. He was referred to in reviews as "the handsomest man in America." He stood 5 feet, 8 inches tall, had jet-black hair, and was lean and athletic. He was also an excellent swordsman. His performances were often characterized by his contemporaries as acrobatic and intensely physical. A fellow actress once recalled that he occasionally cut himself with his own sword, and routinely slept covered in steaks to tend to the bruises inflicted on the stage.
In 1859, Booth happened to be preparing for a theatrical engagement in Richmond, Virginia, a few weeks before the scheduled execution of the famous abolitionist John Brown. In October, Brown had raided the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (in present-day West Virginia) in an unsuccessful attempt to start a state-wide slave insurrection. Upon hearing of the verdict, Booth headed to Charles Town, bought a Richmond Gray militia uniform from state officers, and stood guard along the gallows as Brown was hanged.
When Abraham Lincoln was elected president on November 6, 1860, Booth wrote a long speech that decried what he saw as Northern abolitionism and made clear his strong support of the South and the institution of slavery. On April 12, 1861, the Civil War broke out, and eventually 11 Southern states seceded from the Union. Booth's family was from Maryland, a border state which remained loyal to the Union during the war despite a slaveholding population that was strongly sympathetic to the Southern cause. Along with the fact that Maryland shared a border with Washington, D.C., Lincoln had declared martial law in the state, a move that many, including Booth, viewed as unconstitutional and an abuse of executive power. [citation needed]
Booth, like many in Maryland, came from a divided family. Most of his family were staunch Unionists, but Booth considered himself a Southerner, and he made an early promise to his mother that he would not enlist in the Confederate Army. Instead he lived out the war mostly in Washington D.C., travelling North and South as a performer and as far west as Indiana. Booth was outspoken in his love for the South, and equally outspoken in his hatred for Lincoln. In early 1862, Booth was arrested and taken before a provost marshal in St. Louis for making anti-government remarks.
Booth and Lincoln crossed paths on several occasions. Lincoln was an avid theater-goer and especially loved Shakespeare. On November 9, 1863, President Lincoln saw Booth playing Raphael in Charles Selby's The Marble Heart at Ford's Theatre in Washington. At one point during the performance, Booth shook his finger in Lincoln's direction as he delivered a line of dialogue. Later, Lincoln requested to meet the actor after the play but Booth refused. Lincoln sat in the same "presidential box" in which he would later be assassinated. Booth made only one other acting appearance at Ford's. That occurred on March 18, 1865, when he played Duke Pescara in The Apostate in what was the last appearance of his career. However, Booth's family was long time friends with John T. Ford, the theater's owner, and Booth was in and out of the theater so often during the war that he even had his mail sent there. This granted Booth complete access to Ford's Theatre, day and night.
Hatching the plot
By 1864, the tide of the war had shifted in the North's favor. The North halted prisoner exchange in an attempt to dwindle the size of the Confederate Army. Booth began devising a plan to kidnap Lincoln from his summer residence at The Soldiers' Home outside of Washington, smuggle him across the Potomac and into Richmond. He would be exchanged for the release of Southern soldiers held captive in Northern prisons. He successfully recruited his old friends Samuel Arnold and Michael O'Laughlin as accomplices. At this time, Booth had been also speculating in oil in Pennsylvania.
Possible ties to the Confederacy
In the summer of 1864, Booth met with several well-known Confederate sympathizers at The Parker House in Boston, Massachusetts. In October 1864 he made an unexplained trip to Montreal. At the time, Montreal was a well known center of clandestine Confederate activities. It is known that he spent ten days in the city and stayed for a time at St. Lawrence Hall, a meeting place for the Confederate Secret Service, and met at least one blockade runner there. It is possible that it was here that he also met Confederate Secret Service director James D. Bulloch as well as George Nicholas Sanders, a one-time US ambassador to Britain.
There has been much scholarly attention devoted to why Booth was in Montreal at this time, and what he was doing there. No solid evidence has ever linked Booth's kidnapping or assassination plot to a conspiracy involving any elements of the Confederate government, although this possibility had been explored at some length in two books; Nathan Miller's Spying For America and William Tidwell's Come Retribution: the Confederate Secret Service and the Assassination of Lincoln.
The kidnapping attempt
Booth began to devote more and more of his energies and finance to his plot to kidnap Abraham Lincoln after his reelection in early November, 1864. He assembled a loose-knit band of Southern sympathizers, including David Herold, George Atzerodt, John Surratt, and Lewis Payne. They began to meet routinely at the boarding-house of Surratt's mother, Mary Surratt.
On November 25, 1864, John Wilkes performed for the first and only time with his two brothers, Edwin and Junius, in a single engagement production of Julius Caesar at the Winter Garden Theater in New York. The proceeds went towards a statue of William Shakespeare for Central Park which still stands today. The performance was interrupted by a failed attempt by clandestine Confederate forces to burn down several hotels, and by extent the city, with Greek fire. One of the hotels was next door to the theater but the fire was quickly extinguished. The following morning, Booth argued bitterly with his brother, Edwin Booth, about Lincoln and the war.
Three months later, Booth attended Lincoln's second inauguration on March 4, 1865 as the invited guest of his secret fiancée Lucy Hale (Lucy's father John P. Hale was Lincoln's minister to Spain). In the crowds below were Powell, Atzerodt, and Herold. There seems to have been no attempt to kidnap or assassinate Lincoln during the inauguration. Later, however, Booth remarked about "what a wonderful chance" he had to shoot Lincoln had he so chosen.
On March 17, Booth learned at the last minute that Lincoln would be attending a performance of the play "Still Waters Run Deep" at a hospital near the Soldier's Home. Booth rounded up his team on a stretch of road near the Soldier's Home in the attempt to kidnap Lincoln en route to the hospital, but the president never showed. Booth later learned that the President had changed plans at the last moment to attend a reception at the National Hotel in Washington, which ironically was where Booth lived.
The assassination and aftermath
On April 10, after hearing the news that Robert E. Lee had surrendered at Appomattox Court House, Booth told Louis J. Weichmann, a friend of John Surratt, and a boarder at Mary Surratt's house, that he was done with the stage, and that the only play he wanted to present henceforth was Venice Preserv'd. Although Mr. Weichmann didn't understand the reference, Venice Preserv'd is about an assassination plot.
On April 11, Booth was in the crowd outside the White House when Lincoln gave an impromptu speech from his window. When Lincoln stated that he was in favor of granting suffrage to African-Americans, Booth turned to Lewis Powell and urged him to shoot the president on the spot. Powell refused. Booth claimed that it would be the last speech Lincoln would ever make.
On the morning of Good Friday, April 14, 1865, Booth heard that the President and Mrs. Lincoln, along with General Ulysses S. Grant and his wife, would be attending the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theater. Booth immediately set about making plans for the assassination and an escape route. Booth informed Powell, Herold and Atzerodt of his intention to kill Lincoln. He assigned Powell to assassinate Secretary of State William H. Seward and Atzerodt to assassinate Vice-President Andrew Johnson. Herold would assist in their escape into Southern territory. By targeting the President and his two constitutional successors to the office, Booth seems to have intended to decapitate the Union government and throw it into a state of panic and confusion. With any hope, the Confederate government could then reorganize and continue the war.
As a famous and popular actor, Booth was a friend of the owner of Ford's Theater, John T. Ford, and thus had free access to all parts of the theater. Boring a spyhole into the presidential box earlier that day, the assassin could see if his intended victim had made it to the play. That evening, at around 10 p.m., as the play progressed, John Wilkes Booth stole into Lincoln's box and shot him in the back of the head with a .44 caliber Deringer. Booth's escape was almost thwarted by Major Henry Rathbone, who was present in the Presidential box with Mrs. Mary Todd Lincoln, and his fiancée, Clara Harris. Rathbone momentarily grappled with Booth after the fatal shot was fired, but was stabbed and slashed by a dagger that Booth had carried with him in addition to his pistol.
Booth then jumped from the President's box and fell to the stage, reputedly breaking his leg after it was snagged by an American flag bunting used as a decoration. At least one researcher, Michael Kauffman, now believes, however, that Booth actually broke his leg when his horse fell on him later in the escape, and that Booth's "diary" entry claiming it occurred jumping to the stage is a typical Booth dramatization (though it is unlikely Booth would have fabricated that it was due to being thrown off-balance by an American flag). Some witnesses said he shouted "Sic semper tyrannis" from the stage, while others said he shouted "The South is avenged." He fled to the home of Dr. Samuel Mudd, who treated the broken leg. Mudd was convicted of treason before a military court and sentenced to life in prison at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas region of Florida, but released early for his efforts in stemming a yellow fever epidemic. Interestingly, one of the other plotters and fellow prisoners, whom he took into his care when he returned home, survived him.
Booth was pursued by Union soldiers lead by Lieutenant Edward P. Doherty (the unit was from the 16th New York Cavalry Regiment) through Southern Maryland and across the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers to Richard Garrett's farm, near Bowling Green, Caroline County, Virginia. He had been housed in the barn with the assistance of Captain Willie Jett, of Mosby's Command (Virginia Partisan Rangers). Early in the morning of April 26, 1865, the soldiers caught up with Booth. Trapped in a tobacco barn owned by Richard H. Garrett, David Herold surrendered. He was tackled by soldiers and tied to a tree. Booth refused to surrender and Everton Conger ordered the soldiers to set the barn ablaze. Sergeant Boston Corbett, against orders, fired at Booth and fatally wounded him in the neck. Booth was dragged from the fire and he died on the porch of the farmhouse. The bullet had severed his spinal cord and he was paralyzed. His last words were spoken as he stared at his hands and reportedly muttered, "Tell mother, I died for my country. . . . useless . . . useless . . ."
Booth's body was taken to the ironclad USS Montauk at the Washington Navy Yard for identification and an autopsy. His cousin, actress Blanche Chapman, was among the people to identify him. The body was then buried in a cell in the Old Penitentiary at the Washington Arsenal. In 1867, the body was exhumed, placed in a pine box, and locked in a warehouse at the prison. In 1869, the body was once again identified before being released to the Booth family, where it was buried in an unmarked location in the family plot at Greenmount Cemetery in Baltimore.
"Booth escaped" theories
Some believe that Booth escaped the tobacco barn at Garrett's farm, with a look-alike double agent named James William Boyd dying in his place, and the government going to great pains to cover up the blunder. These theories remain unproven and are regarded by most historians as having no substance.
The Lincoln Conspiracy (ISBN 1-56849-531-5) details the assassination, the Boyd plot, and Booth's escape to the swamps. The Curse of Cain: The Untold Story of John Wilkes Booth (ISBN 1-58006-021-8) continues with the claim that Booth escaped, sought refuge in Japan and eventually returned to the United States where he died in Enid, Oklahoma in 1903. Another is that a man claiming to be Booth lived into the 1900s in Missouri. In recent years, attempts to exhume the grave where Booth is presumed buried in order to compare it with DNA of living relatives have been blocked by both Baltimore county judges and members of the family, leaving the question of escape open to theory.[1]
Booth in popular culture
Booth is a critical character in the musical Assassins by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman. He is referred to as "the pioneer" of presidential assassinations. He is portrayed as being more sane than the other Assassins, and he successfully leads them against the Balladeer in Another National Anthem. His own song, the Ballad of Booth, is a traditional Civil War song, a slow and almost saddening rendition that contrasts sharply with the later ballad which the Balladeer sings for Booth's friend Czolgosz. He argues with the Balladeer (who refers to him as "Johnny" throughout the song), and later kills himself.
Stopping Booth's assassination of Lincoln is also a popular theme in time travel-related fiction. Examples include an episode of The Twilight Zone (Back There), the Robert Silverberg short story "The Assassin", and the card game Chrononauts. A brief headline in the satirical newspaper The Onion made light of this, stating "President Lincoln Sick Of Time Travelers."
During an episode of Diff'rent Strokes, Arnold played Abraham Lincoln during a school pagent. When someone remarked that Abraham Lincoln would be black that time, Arnold retorted that the boy playing "John Wilkes Booth is Chinese".
A comic book series based on The Wild Wild West TV series featured the Knights of the Golden Circle enlisting the aid of Dr. Miguelito Loveless to assassinate President Grant and the president of Brazil during the Philadelphia Exhibition of 1876.
John Wilkes Booth was portrayed as a former agent of the Golden Circle who had spent years in England under another identity and returned to America to blackmail his former colleagues.
The four-part serial entitled "The Night of The Iron Tyrants" was published in 1990-91, scripted by novelist Mark Ellis, penciled by Darryl Banks.
The plot of the series was optioned for motion picture development.
In the 1993 movie "In the Line of Fire," John Malkovich's character (Mitch Leary, wanna-be assassin) adopts the moniker "Booth" when baiting Clint Eastwood's character (Frank Horrigan, secret service agent).
He is also referenced in the comedy film Zoolander as the first "actor/model" in a line of noted assassins, part of an ongoing conspiracy to keep clothing manufacture prices low.
Rob Morrow stars as John Wikes Booth in the 1998 made-for-television movie The Day Lincoln Was Shot while President Lincoln is played by Lance Henriksen. This movie, based on the book of the same title by Jim Bishop, also shows Payne's stabbing of Secretary of State William Seward and Atzerodt's abortive attempt to shoot Vice-President Andrew Johnson during that same fateful night, as well as Lincoln's final few hours and Booth's own end, more than a week later, at the burning barn.
In an episode of The Simpsons, the Springfield Elementary School performs a stage play about Lincoln's assassination. Bart Simpson, playing the role of Booth, steps onto the stage wearing a black leather jacket and sunglasses, and shouts "Hasta la Vista, Abie" before shooting. This is a clear reference to the film Terminator 2: Judgment Day. In a different episode, Homer fantasizes about saving Lincoln. He yells "Duck, Mr. President!" and karate chops Booth as he enters the box. Later in the episode, Homer and Lincoln attack Lee Harvey Oswald before he can shoot John F. Kennedy.
During Manhunt (Prison Break episode), the season premiere of Prison Break, FBI Agent Alexander Mahone opens a press conference by talking about John Wilkes Booth; how he was captured in twelve days. Agent Mahone said Booth's journal stated that "that the shadow was his friend, the night his domain. He acknowledged that whatever neuroses drove the criminal to commit the original crime is compounded, magnified by flight, by the sounds of dogs at his heels. Fear becomes paranoia, paranoia ultimately psychosis."
In the Television Series "Bones", Special Agent Seeley Booth of the FBI is the great-great-grandnephew of John Wilkes Booth.
On the short-lived TV show "Police Squad!" , a running joke during the opening credits of each episode had Lincoln (played by a fictional actor named Rex Hamilton) being fired upon by Booth, only to have him get up and return fire.
In the movie Bedazzled, Elliot (Brendan Fraser) wishes to be President, only to find himself as Lincoln on the night of his assassination. Just before Booth can fire on him, Elliot manages to use his pager to return to the real world.
In the South Park episode Super Best Friends, a tyrannical David Blaine brings the Lincoln Memorial statue of Abraham Lincoln to life. Religious leaders, working together to bring down Blaine, create a giant John Wilkes Booth to destroy the giant Lincoln.
Trivia
- Booth's uncle Algernon Sydney Booth is the great great great grandfather of Cherie Blair (née Booth), wife of the current British Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
- Booth's brother, Edwin Booth, saved the life of Lincoln's son, Robert Todd Lincoln, when the latter slipped on a train platform in Jersey City and nearly fell into the path of an oncoming train. [1]
- John Wilkes Booth was in a Family Guy episode featuring in one of the commercials on TV. He was shown about to assasinate Abraham Lincoln, but shoots through his top hat, and they both smile at each other as they both consume a 'Mintos', a parody of 'Mentos'.
See also
Booth was named after, and claimed to be related to John Wilkes, an Englishman noted for fighting court battles with agents of the crown in the 1700s.
External links
- The Life and Plot of John Wilkes Booth
- Open Directory Project: John Wilkes Booth
- A History of John Wilkes Booth on National Park Service
- First Edition Report on the Lincoln Assassination, and Biography of John Wilkes Booth
- Booth's escape route (Civil War Trails)
- Booth's grave site
- Booth Legend - Oklahoma Historical Society page that describes the legend that Booth died in Oklahoma
- ^ Francis J. Gorman. "Exposing the Myth that John Wilkes Booth Escaped".