 Sam was a successful young doctor
who was tried for conspiracy to commit one of the most well-known
murders in American history. He was convicted and sentenced to life
in prison, missing the death penalty by one vote.
Prior to that, he was also involved in planning a kidnapping that
never materialized. He also had shot one of his slaves.
Other than that, he was a good guy. But his name received a bad
rap throughout history ever since that one fateful day in April of
1865.
Sam was born in 1833 in Charles County, Md., as one of 10
siblings. A year after graduating from medical school, he married
his childhood sweetheart, Sarah Frances Dyer. Sarah's family and
friends called her "Frankie" or "Frank" for short.
If a girl can be named Frank, and since Sam is also a girl's
name, could you say that Sam and his wife could have been known as
Frank and Samantha instead of Sam and Frances? Probably not, but I
was just wondering out loud how that would sound.
Meanwhile, in 1864, a well-known actor in the area was planning
on kidnapping President Lincoln. When the attempt never happened due
to Lincoln changing his plans that day, the actor decided to
assassinate him the following year. That actor, as we all know, was
John Wilkes Booth.
On that fateful, history-making day of April 14, 1865, Booth
broke a bone in his leg when he landed on the stage at Ford's
Theatre after shooting Lincoln. He then rode his getaway horse to
Dr. Sam's house in Bryantown, Md., about 15 miles south of
Washington, D.C.
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 So who was Sam Mudd and why was he arrested for conspiracy to
commit murder?
His full name, along with his title, was Dr. Samuel Mudd. The
same Dr. Mudd who set the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth the day
after Booth assassinated President Lincoln. As a result of Mudd's
cooperation, Booth was able to continue his escape.
Mudd was a Confederate sympathizer and slave owner. We were
taught in history class that he did not know when he set the broken
leg that Booth was the person who shot President Lincoln -- meaning
that he inadvertently helped a murderer escape.
It's not that simple, though, because the truth is that Mudd did
know Booth as far back as November of 1864, when he was involved
with Booth and seven others in planning the kidnapping of the
president. After Lincoln was assassinated, Mudd denied knowing Booth
to avoid being prosecuted.
Mudd served nearly four years in jail, but he was later pardoned
by Lincoln's successor, President Andrew Johnson, in 1869. Mudd and
his wife went on to have the final five of their nine kids together
after he was released from prison.
Anyway, now you know where the "My name is mud" saying comes
from. Seriously.
[By
PAUL NIEMANN]
Paul Niemann may be reached at
niemann7@aol.com.
Copyright Paul Niemann 2008
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columns)
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