#samuel mudd

[theballadofczolgosz]

the Lincoln assassination as The Onion headlines

[jamescanningauthor]

Hi I am employed now (kind of) so if I'm inactive don't worry like before. Temp/gig work for an app and delivery for a different app. But I finally got to go to the mudd, surratt houses and Ford's, as well as the civil war medicine museum in Frederick! I will post the photos of this and Tudor Hall as soon as I have time to edit them!

[todaysdocument]

Draft letter to Dr. Richard Mudd from Jimmy Carter

Collection JC-COUNSL: Records of the White House Office of Counsel to the PresidentSeries: Robert J. Lipshutz's FilesFile Unit: Mudd, Dr. Samuel (deceased) 5/78-9/79

February 22, 1979 [Draft] Dr. Richard Mudd 1001 Hoyt Avenue Saginaw, Michigan 48607 Dear Dr. Mudd: I have for some time been aware of your efforts to clear the name of your grandfather, Dr. Samuel Alexander Mudd, the physician who set the broken leg of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Boot [spelling error], and who was subsequently convicted as an assassination conspirator. Your tireless efforts for more than half a century to unearth and publicize the facts in the case and the questionable circumstances surrounding Dr. Mudd's conviction are commendable. Such persistence and faith are a tribute to the strength of familial love and dedication and are a credit to the great principles upon which our Nation was founded. That Dr. Mudd's conviction is questionable was clearly demonstrated by President Andrew Johnson who, on February 8, 1869, issued a full and unconditional pardon of Dr. Mudd. As President Johnson stated in issuing the pardon; "the circumstances of the surgical aid to the escaping assassin and the imputed concealment of his flight are deserving of a lenient construction, as within the obligations of professional duty, and, thus, inadequate evidence of a guilty sympathy with the crime or criminal." Furthermore, President Johnson concluded: "in other respects the evidence...leaves room for uncertainty as to the true measure and nature of the complicity." I have reviewed your petition and the petitions on behalf of your grandfather submitted to me by various members of Congress, several state legislatures, historians and private citizens asking that I, President, vacate the conviction of Dr. Samuel Mudd. I have requested and reviewed investigations by both the Department of Justice and the Office of the White House Legal Counsel to determine the authority of Dr. Richard Mudd February 22, 1979 Page Two the President of the United States to act in a case in which a civilian was convicted by a military commission of a crime against the Commander-in-Chief. After reviewing all issues and legal precedents relating to this case, I must conclude, regrettably, that it is not within the power of the President to make such a declaration. However, the case of Dr. Samuel Mudd is unique. In no other instance has so much been written, have so many voices been raised and have so many individuals endeavored to establish the innocence of Dr. Mudd and to seek his exoneration. In light of the evidence which has been amassed in the 113 years since his conviction, the injustice to Dr. Mudd and his family is clear. The phrase "your name is mud" has too long been used unjustly as an expression of contempt and scorn. The name of Mudd should be able to be borne proudly by all those who are descended from him. It is because of your unceasing efforts to clear your grandfather, and to restore to his name the dignity it deserves and that should be enjoyed by you and all the Mudd descendants, that I am writing to you to express my personal belief in the innocence of Dr. Samuel Alexander Mudd. For the sake of setting history straight, the name of Mudd should be cleared, once and for all, of any negative connotation or implied lack of honor. Sincerely, Jimmy Carter

[theamericanparlor]

Boot Worn By Lincoln’s Killer

The above boot and spur were worn by John Wilkes Booth the night of April 14, 1865

Booth arrived at Dr. Samuel Mudd’s house early the next morning in need of medical care for an injured leg. Mudd cut the boot and removed it from Booth’s swollen ankle. Five days later investigators arrived at Mudd’s house and found the boot.

[todaysdocument]

Samuel Mudd’s wife Sarah gave a reason for Mudd’s delay in reporting John Wilkes Booth’s location to the authorities, 6/17/1865: 

“That she then became very much alarmed for his personal safety should he take so direct a step against those men....”

File Unit: B-596, Samuel A. Mudd, 1865 - 1931

Series: Pardon Case Files, 1853 - 1946

Record Group 204: Records of the Office of the Pardon Attorney, 1846 - 1989

Transcription:

I hereby certify that some time after the arrest

of Dr. Samuel A. Mudd I was at his house

in Charles County and in the course of

conversation with his wife Sarah F. Mudd

in which she bewailed the trouble her husband

Dr Samuel A Mudd was then suffering,

I heard from her substantially the following

statement.

That when Dr Samuel A. Mudd

returned from Brantown on Saturday

evening the 15th of April and heard from

her of the suspicious conduct of those men

who had just left his house - He expressed

a determination to return immediately to

town and give information to the Military

Authorities of the fact of those two men having

just left his house. That she then

became very much alarmed for his personal

safety should he take so direct a step against

those men in giving immediate information

of their presence and entreated him not to go.

That she reminded him of the report that

certain desperate men were then lurking in

the neighborhood. She called his attention to the

fact of its being ["late" crossed out] nearly night and that she

was afraid under the circumstances to be left alone.

She recalled to him the fate of Capt Watkins

and entreated him to wait until the next

day, Sunday, and give the information indirectly

that he might tell Dr George Mudd or some

one from Bryantown and get them to tell

the Authorities and that he finally yielded

to her fears and entreaties

[round blue stamp]THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES...

I also certify that in making this statement

Mrs Mudd seemed to actuate soly with the

[ami-ven]

Happy National Mudd Day!

[todaysdocument]

“Dear Sir, It is with regret I am forced again to intrude on your valuable time. I know you have but little to devote to individuals. After long weary weeks watching and waiting I have just received a letter from my husband, Doctor Mudd, he says he is very weak and nervous and general health yielding to long and close confinement and improper food. The chains were taken off in December. Since the he has been kept under close guard…”

Letter from S. F. Mudd to President Andrew Johnson, 6/28/1866

File Unit: B-596, Samuel A. Mudd, 1865 - 1931. Series: Pardon Case Files, 1853 - 1946. Record Group 204: Records of the Office of the Pardon Attorney, 1846 - 1989

In this letter to President Andrew Johnson, Sarah F. Mudd, wife of Dr. Samuel Mudd, pleads for clemency for her husband and reports on his living conditions while he is imprisoned.

The day after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, Dr. Samuel Mudd set the leg of President Lincoln’s assassin John Wilkes Booth, allowing Booth and his accomplice David Herold to sleep at his house on April 15, 1865.  Dr. Mudd was convicted of conspiring to help Booth escape because he did not alert the authorities to Booth’s presence at his farm.  He was given a life sentence, but was eventually pardoned by President Andrew Johnson on February 8, 1869 following his efforts during a yellow fever epidemic at Fort Jefferson where he was imprisoned.

See Mudd’s application for a pardon from January of 1866, and also Sarah Mudd’s affidavit, testifying that she saw Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth in the fall of 1864 and again on April 15, 1865.

Special thanks to the Citizen Archivists who have helped to transcribe Sarah Mudd’s letter in the National Archives Catalog, it’s now more searchable and accessible!

Read about another “virtual volunteer” who spends his retirement helping to transcribe items in the National Archives Catalog: Virtual Volunteering, Retirement Project 2.0

Learn how you can get started transcribing as a Citizen Archivist:

[todaysdocument]

Case of Dr. Samuel Mudd, Application for Pardon, 1/6/1866

File Unit: B-596, Samuel A. Mudd, 1865 - 1931 Series: Pardon Case Files, 1853 - 1946 Record Group 204: Records of the Office of the Pardon Attorney, 1846 - 1989

The day after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, Dr. Samuel Mudd set the leg of President Lincoln’s assassin John Wilkes Booth, allowing Booth and his accomplice David Herold to sleep at his house on April 15, 1865.  Dr. Mudd was convicted of conspiring to help Booth escape because he did not alert the authorities to Booth’s presence at his farm.  He was given a life sentence, but was pardoned by President Andrew Johnson on February 8, 1869 following his efforts during a yellow fever epidemic at Fort Jefferson where he was imprisoned.

See also the affidavit of Sarah Mudd, wife of Dr. Samuel Mudd, testifying that she saw Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth in the fall of 1864 and again on April 15, 1865.