Where John Wilkes Booth Died Historical Marker

On April 14, 1865, the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, was shot in Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. He would later die from the wounds he sustained that night. One of the most tragic nights in American history came at a time when the Union had much to celebrate. Confederate General Robert E. Lee had recently surrendered at Appomattox, and the civil war was coming to an end. The attacker was nearly immediately identified as actor and Southern sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. The way in which Booth was tracked by Union troops and killed is a very interesting and unusual story. 

John Wilkes Booth was born on May 10, 1838, in Harford County, Maryland, the ninth of ten children to Junius Brutus Booth and Mary Ann Booth. His father was an accomplished actor, as was his older brother. When Booth was 14, his father died, and he quit school to work on the family farm, a job he worked for three years. John Wilkes Booth dreamed of following in his father’s footsteps and becoming an actor. On August 14, 1855, at the age of 17, Booth made his first appearance on a professional stage, in Baltimore, Maryland.

Between 1858 and 1860, Booth was a resident actor at the Marshall Theatre stock company in Richmond, Virginia. By the end of his residence, John Wilkes Booth was an established theatrical star. Booth very quickly endeared himself to audiences across the United States due to the enthusiasm he put into each of the characters that he played. He was particularly loved in the Southern United States, as many Southerners shared similar political views, especially on issues of slavery. His star rose quickly, and he became one of the most successful actors in the United States.

Booth was a strong supporter of the Confederacy. As the war entered its final stages, Booth hatched a conspiracy to kidnap the president. He enlisted the aid of several associates, but the opportunity never presented itself.

After the surrender of Robert E. Lee’s Confederate army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, Booth changed the plan to a simultaneous assassination of Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William Seward. Only Lincoln was actually killed, however. Seward was stabbed by Lewis Paine but survived, while the man assigned to kill Johnson did not carry out his assignment.

After shooting Lincoln, Booth jumped to the stage below Lincoln’s box seat. He landed hard, breaking his leg, before escaping to a waiting horse behind the theater. Many in the audience recognized Booth, so the army was soon hot on his trail. Booth and his accomplice, David Herold, made their way across the Anacostia River and headed toward southern Maryland. The pair stopped at Dr. Samuel Mudd’s home, and Mudd treated Booth’s leg. This earned Mudd a life sentence in prison when he was implicated as part of the conspiracy, but the sentence was later commuted. Booth found refuge for several days at the home of Thomas A. Jones, a Confederate agent, before securing a boat to row across the Potomac to Virginia.

After receiving aid from several Confederate sympathizers, Booth’s luck finally ran out. The countryside was swarming with military units looking for Booth, although few shared information since there was a $20,000 reward. While staying at the farm of Richard Garrett in Port Royal, Virginia, Federal troops arrived on their search but soon rode on. The unsuspecting Garrett allowed his suspicious guests to sleep in his barn, but he instructed his son to lock the barn from the outside to prevent the strangers from stealing his horses. A tip led the Union soldiers back to the Garrett farm, where they discovered Booth and Herold in the barn. Herold came out, but Booth refused. The building was set on fire to flush Booth, but he was shot while still inside. He lived for three hours before gazing at his hands, muttering “Useless, useless,” as he died.

Later evidence confirmed that Booth was a part of a larger conspiracy that had plotted to uproot the highest levels of the United States government by attacking Abraham Lincoln, Vice-President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward. John Wilkes Booth was killed when Union soldiers tracked him to a Virginia farm 12 days after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. Booth was one of the most famous actors in the country when he shot Lincoln during a performance at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., on the night of April 14

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