Road trip day 8

 

The more famous version … notice the change in the lyrics.  Baez learned the song from listening to The Band’s album, and never saw the printed lyrics.  Now she sings the song as written.

So you know that today was more Civil War stuff.  More specifically, The Dr. Samuel A. Mudd House.

We all know that John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865, and that Lincoln died the following day.  But how many people know the whole story, or the role played by Dr. Samuel Mudd?

Before the Civil War, Southern Maryland was very much like Northern Virginia … tobacco plantations, slaves, and a lot of Confederate sympathizers. Dr. Mudd was a gentleman farmer, he owned a 200 acre plantation, and he was also a medical doctor.

John Wilkes Booth visited the area several times in 1864, looking for support for a plan to kidnap Lincoln and to force the Union to exchange Confederate prisoners for the President.  It is unknown as to whether Dr. Mudd was part of the conspiracy, but he met with Booth twice in Maryland and once in Washington.

With the war over and the South in defeat, Wilkes’ plan turned to assassination.  Lincoln and his wife attended a play at Ford’s Theater.  Booth was able to sneak into Lincoln’s box and shoot him.  Then Booth leapt from the box to the stage, breaking his leg in the process.   Nevertheless Booth and a companion were able to escape into Maryland, and made their way to the home of Dr.  Mudd.

Dr. Mudd treated Booth and allowed him to stay in the Mudd home for short time, then Booth and his friend continued on their escape route. Ultimately Union troops located Booth at a nearby farm, and he was shot and killed while trying to escape.

Dr. Mudd neglected to tell the Union soldiers about Booth’s visit for several days.  When questioned he denied knowing who Booth was, though they’d met several times.  He gave conflicting accounts of his encounter with Booth.  Ultimately he was put in trial before a military tribunal, and was convicted of abetting a murder.

Dr. Mudd was given a life sentence and sent to prison in the Dry Tortugas.  There was an outbreak of Yellow Fever at the prison, and when the prison’s doctor died, Dr. Mudd volunteered to help.  He was credited with saving many lives.  

In 1869 he was granted a full pardon by outgoing President Andrew Johnson, and returned to Southern Maryland and his life as a gentleman farmer.

The house is lovely.  We visited in the rain, so no exterior shots …

They had their own well, it could be seen from the porch.

The antiques in the house were mostly owned by the Mudd family.

This is the bed used  by Booth.  Notice the photo on the bed, it’s a picture of a boot.

When Dr. Mudd treated Booth, he had to cut the boot off of Booth’s foot because of swelling.  The boot was marked with the owner’s name.  It was found under the bed when Union troops were questioning Dr. Mudd.  The boot is now in Ford’s Theater.

The master bedroom was on the first floor.  That way, if someone needed a doctor in the middle of the night, they could knock on the window and not wake the entire household.  Like many in the area, the Mudd were Catholic.

From the doctor’s office.

Mrs. Mudd played the piano.

The original kitchen was in a separate building from the rest of the house.  Mrs. Mudd added an indoor kitchen after the war

We wanted to go to the nearby Surrat  house — Mary Surrat was also convicted for her role in the conspiracy and was the first woman executed by the United States government.  But the Surrat house was closed.