DR. SAMUEL MUDD

 

Back in 2016, I was on my way to the Military Bowl in Annapolis, Maryland when I saw one of those Brown Signs. Well, you know me and those Brown Signs so off I went. A few minutes later I found myself at the home of Dr. Samuel Mudd. 

Now, most of us know that on April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered the Presidential Box at Ford’s Theater and fired a single shot into the back of President Abraham Lincoln’s Head. Booth leaped from the Presidential Box onto the stage, breaking his leg in the process. In the confusion Booth managed exit the theater and mounted a horse he had waiting in the ally and fled across Anacostia River into Maryland.

A few Hours later Booth arrived at the home of Dr. Samuel Mudd seeking treatment for his Broken Leg. Dr. Mudd treated Booth and sent him on his way.  Mudd wouldn’t learn of the Lincoln Assassination for several hours after Booth Left.

A few days Later Dr. Mudd was interviewed and later arrested as a conspirator in the assassination of President Lincoln.  After a lengthy trial he was found guilty on June 26, 1865. Mudd escaped the hangman’s noose by one single vote and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Four other defendants Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt were sentenced to death and hanged on July 7, 1865.

Dr. Mudd was sent to Fort Jefferson an isolated fort about 70-miles west of Key West. Florida to serve his sentence. In the fall of 1867, the story takes a tragic turn as the fort was ravaged by Yellow Fever.

The plaque claimed the Prison Doctor and Dr. Mudd immediately took over, treating guards, prisoners, and staff. He saved countless lives and due to his efforts, the disease was eventually stopped. Over the Next few month many of the soldiers, guards, and staff wrote to President Andrew Johnson asking that Dr. Mudd be pardoned.

Finally, in February 1869, President Johnson signed the Pardon and Dr. Samuel Mudd was release on March 8, 1869.  He returned to his Maryland home where unsuccessfully dabbled in politics. He did not return to an active medical practice but did operated a successful farm.

For the next 14 years, Dr. Mudd lived quietly here at his Maryland Farm.  On January 10, 1883, Dr. Mudd died of pneumonia and was buried in the St. Mary’s Catholic Church. 

Ironically, it was at this church that Dr. Mudd first met John Wilkes Booth and helped the future assassin buy a horse from a local farmer. Booth and Mudd met several more times before Booth showed up at the Mudd Home on the morning of April 15, 1865. While authorities considered these meetings, suspicious there is no real proof that Mudd participated in or knew of the plan to assassinate President Lincoln.

If, you have every heard the saying, “Your name is Mud,” well you can thank Dr. Mudd for that. The Dr. Mudd Home is a seasonal site and was close during my visit, but I did get to walk around the grounds and after leaving the home I made the short drive to St. Mary’s Church where I had no trouble finding Dr. Mudd’s Grave.

Once again one of those Brown Signs has led me on another interesting adventure.