John Wilkes Booth: April 2011

Early Life

John Wilkes Booth was born on May 10th, 1838 in Bel Air, Maryland. His father was Junius Brutus Booth and his mother was Mary Ann Holmes. He was the ninth of ten children. He lived in Tudor Hall during the summer and Exetor Street in Baltimore in the winter. As a young boy he was popular and very much into sports and was good at sports. When Booth was 14, his father died and he dropped out of school. Also at the age of 14, Booth was baptized into St. Timothy's Protestant Episcopal Church. Later at the age of 16, he became interested in politics and theatre. He wanted to follow the footsteps of his father and brothers, Junius Brutus, Jr. and Edwin. He started practing Shakespearean plays around Tudor Hall.

Theatre

By the age of 17, he started playing in Shakespearean plays and other plays. At first his audiences didn't like him very much, but once he became more comfortable, he made them laugh, become hypnotized, cry, and just all around fall in love with him. He was described many times as a handsome, muscular, perfect man. By the 1850s he was making about $20,000, which is the equivalent to about $532,000 today!!! On May 12, 1861, he was remarked as "the most promising young actor on the American stage." Every day, Booth received fan mail from obsessed and intoxicated women.

Civil War

Booth was very much for slavery and was very much against abolotionists. He even attended the hanging of an abolotionist! He made clear who he was siding with VERY clearly and made sure people knew he strongly supported the South. Booth's family, just like America, was divided between their support of the North and the South. Some supported the Union and some supported the Confederation. Edwin had finally had enough of John W. Booth's ranting about how "wrong" the Union and Lincoln were and told him that he refused to listen to it for one more second. In 1863, Booth was arrested in St. Louis for saying that he "wished the President and the whole damned government would go to hell." He was charged with talking similar to treason and was sent to jail. He was released only when he took an oath of allegiance to the Union and payed a really big fine.

The Plan Against President Lincoln

With President Lincoln's chance of re-election very high, Booth became more enraged with President Lincoln. The North's chances of winning were much higher than the South's chances. He began planning to kidnap President Lincoln from his summer home and take him to Richmond. He would use him to exchange prisoners that the North had taken. Now, as John W. Booth was pro-slave and anti-Lincoln, amd his brother Edwin was anti-slave and pro-Lincoln, they were fighting so much and angrily that Edwin told John W. Booth that he was no longer welcome at his home. Now as their plan for President Lincoln's capture was there, the night that they were waiting for him, he never showed.

The Assassination of President Lincoln

On April 12, 1865, Booth learned of Robert E. Lee's surrender and stated to his friend that he was done with his stage career and only wanted to perform Venice Preserv'd. Little did his friend know that Venice Preserv'd is about assassination. The day before, President Lincoln gave a speech saying that he supported giving former slaves the right to vote. Booth vowed that that would be the last speech he ever made. It was. Two days later, Booth received information that President Lincoln would be attending Ford's Theatre to see Our American Cousin, which coincidently Booth was premiering in. Booth immediatly set for Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Azterodt. He had Azterodt assigned to assassinate Vice President Andrew Jackson, Herold assigned to help with their escape, and Powell assigned to assassinate Secretary of State William H. Seward. Booth planned to leave the Union in a frenzy and to be confused and lost. At about 10:00pm, Booth slipped into the Presidential Box and shot President Lincoln in the back of the head with a .44 caliber Derringer. Rathbone, startled, lurched at Booth, only to be stabbed. First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln and Clara Harris were unhurt. Booth then leaped from the box and shouted, with the knife he used against Rathbone raised, "Sic Semper Tyrannis!" or "Thus Always to Tyrants!" Others say he also added "I have done it, the South is avenged!" Booth was the only one of three assigned assassinations to be carried out. Powell only managed to stab Mr. Seward, and Azterodt never even attempted to end Mr. Jackson's life. Instead, Azterodt spent the night heavily drinking.

The Escape of J.W.B.

He fled through the doors to the horse he used for his escape. At midnight, they arrived at Surratt Tavern, where they gathered their guns, weapons, and ammunition. The next morning, on April 15, they got to Samuel Mudd's house. Samuel Mudd fixed Booth's leg, and later said that Booth told him that he injured his leg when his horse tripped. After that, they moved on to Samuel Cox's home. There, they hid in the woods for 6 days. When they left, they accidentaly ended up at Colonel John. J. Hughes's home. There, they received shelter and food, and then they attempted to cross the river to Virginia once more. After crossing the river, the traveled to Lucas's farm and stayed the night. They showed up at the Garrett's farm then, and hid in the barn for almost 3 days.

Booth's Death

On the morning of April 26, 1865, soldiers caught up with Booth and Herold. After cornering Booth and Herold in the tobacco barn, Herold was given a chance to surrender. Herold did surrender. When J.W.Booth was given the chance for surrender he said, "I prefer to come out and fight!" At that, the soldiers set fire to the barn. As Booth was moving about in the barn, Sergeant Boston Corbett shot him in the neck, later claiming that he saw him raise and aim his pistol at them. Fatally wounded, Booth was dragged to the porch by the barn. In his dying moments, he asked if he could see his hands. While looking at his hands, he murmered, "Useless, Useless." He died merely three hours later, at the age of 26, right as the sun was rising. While soldiers were checking his body, they found a compass, a candle, pictures of five women (one of them being his fiance, Lucy Hale), and his diary. In his diary, he had written of President Lincoln's death saying, "Our country owed all her troubles to him, and God simply made me the instrument of his punishment."