Dr. Samuel Alexander Mudd, a name forever linked with the infamous assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, was born on December 20, 1833, in Charles County, Maryland. He was the fourth of ten children born to Henry Lowe Mudd and Sarah Ann Reeves, growing up on the family’s “Oak Hill” plantation, a sprawling estate located roughly 30 miles from the bustling heart of Washington, D.C. His early education began at Frederick, Maryland, where he spent two years at St. John’s College before furthering his studies at Georgetown College in Washington D.C. in 1851. Driven by a desire to heal, he enrolled at the University of Maryland Medical Department, culminating in his graduation with a medical degree.
Returning to his roots in Charles County, Doctor Mudd embraced his calling as a physician and married his childhood sweetheart, Sarah Frances Dyer, on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1857. Sarah, affectionately known as “Frank” to avoid confusion with a similarly named sister, became his lifelong partner. Their union was fruitful, blessed with nine children and eventually expanding to include 33 grandchildren, establishing a lasting family legacy.
Around the time of his marriage, Doctor Mudd received a significant gift from his father: the “St. Catharine” plantation. This estate, encompassing 218 acres, 1 rood, and 13 perches of land, held deep historical roots, having remained within the Mudd family for over two centuries. Originally part of the larger Oak Hill plantation, St. Catharine’s history traced back to Thomas Mudd, an early American settler of the 1640s. Construction of the main house commenced in 1857, and by 1859, the family had settled into their new home. The plantation’s economy was primarily based on tobacco cultivation, and historical records indicate that the Mudds enslaved eleven individuals who lived in the kitchen, a cabin on the southern hill, and possibly within the main house itself. Doctor Mudd himself, alongside Baptist Washington, contributed to the house’s expansion in 1859, adding two rooms to the central structure.
In April 1865, Doctor Mudd was a 31-year-old country doctor, already a father to four children – Andrew, Lillian, Thomas, and Samuel A. Mudd II. The tranquility of his rural life was shattered by the earth-shattering news of President Lincoln’s assassination at Ford’s Theatre on Good Friday, April 14th. In the chaotic aftermath, John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln’s assassin, fractured his leg while escaping the theater. Seeking refuge and medical assistance, Booth, accompanied by David Herold, arrived at Doctor Mudd‘s doorstep in the pre-dawn hours of April 15th, around 4 a.m. Unaware of the horrific crime Booth had committed, Doctor Mudd provided medical aid, setting the broken bone and allowing the weary travelers to rest in an upstairs bedroom. Later that afternoon, Booth and Herold departed, continuing their escape via a dirt road towards Samuel Cox’s house in Bel Alton, Maryland. Their journey eventually led them across the river to Virginia and finally to Garrett’s farm near Bowling Green. It was there, in the early morning hours of April 26th, two weeks after Lincoln’s death, that Union cavalry cornered Booth in a tobacco shed. In the ensuing confrontation, Booth was fatally shot while attempting to flee the burning shed, bringing an end to his desperate flight and forever intertwining Doctor Mudd‘s name with one of American history’s most tragic events.
