The Man Who Took Lincoln’s Life Came From A Very Famous Family In America
Today, John Wilkes Booth is remembered as the man who assassinated Abraham Lincoln, sending a nation into mourning and changing the course of history for good. But before he pulled the trigger and achieved instant notoriety, his family enjoyed a different sort of fame. And ironically, the story starts and ends with the American stage.
The Booth family
In fact, both Booth’s brother Edwin and father Julius were among the most renowned actors of their day. For the future assassin, though, that meant a lifetime of high expectations. And when he struggled to live up to the family name, his bitterness would lead him down a dark and destructive path.
One fateful night
Despite their various successes, the Booths were plagued by tragedy; this unlucky streak came to a head with Lincoln’s assassination. And for years afterwards, John Wilkes’ brothers and sisters were haunted by his actions in the Ford Theater that fateful night. But that wasn’t their only run-in with the presidential family.
John Wilkes Booth
To most, the connection between the Booths and the Lincolns is straightforward, if brutal. A staunch pro-Confederate during the American Civil War, John Wilkes — a stage actor like his father before him — vocally opposed the policies of the Union. And with the South failing fast, in March 1864 he conceived an ambitious plan to help turn the tide of the conflict.
Kidnap plot
Initially, John Wilkes planned to kidnap Abraham Lincoln and force the Union troops to hand over prisoners of war. But when that approach failed — and the Confederacy continued to collapse — he hit on a more desperate idea. After attending a speech on April 11 in which the President argued former slaves should be allowed to vote, he vowed to take deadly revenge.
