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.