Throwing more Mudd in the game

[L Verge]

As many of you know, I have a personal theory (that will likely always remain a theory) that Booth and Herold intended all along to head to Dr. Mudd for shelter - broken leg or no broken leg. His home was isolated, it was within a decent distance of hard riding to rest horses in a protected stable with hired hands to help, and Dr. Mudd was known to them as well as to others along the escape route. His services - medical or non-medical - were useful to the fugitives.

I have based my theory solely upon the fact that Herold was in Southern Maryland on April 13 (and possibly the afternoon of the 12th) and could very likely have been passing the word that something big was coming down pdq.

I have taken some very hard slaps from certain people (not on this forum yet) for my beliefs. Since I continue to get slapped, I am going to throw extra Mudd into the game - and I hope that Bob Summers (who runs an excellent website on his ancestor, Dr. Mudd, will chime in). The questions and statements below are strictly things that have run through my mind over the years, and I can give no citations whatsoever and freely admit that.

I remember years ago being surprised when I read that Dr. and Mrs. Mudd were in a downstairs bedroom when the knock came on the door. It was certainly an age-old custom for the master bedroom to be at the front of the house so that one had a view of who was coming up the driveway. In a two-storey house, that room was usually upstairs.

It would also be unusual for the mistress of the house to be sleeping downstairs when she had infant children upstairs. The Mudds had been married in 1859, I believe, and had four children at the time of the assassination - one of which was a baby. Did the children all sleep in the back bedroom upstairs as currently shown in the museum? Did they have a nanny (especially since one was an infant) who slept with them? The Mudd slaves had been freed, but there were two young orphan girls who continued to live there, and the Mudds hired some others. Do we know who a nanny might have been - if they had one?

Four children, their belongings and toys, and a full-sized bed for a nanny made for a cramped room, I would imagine. Why was there (conveniently for Booth) a large, spare bedroom awaiting anyone who wandered to the door in the middle of the night? The third room on the upstairs was the doctor's office. If there was no nanny, why didn't Dr. and Mrs. Mudd sleep in a room adjoining the children's room? Or, did they usually sleep there and "just happen" to be sleeping downstairs in order to keep that room vacant for awhile?

And then there is the issue of Dr. Mudd supposedly asking his wife to go to the door when the knock came around 4 am on April 15. No decent lady of the day would be asked to open the door to strangers while still in night attire - and robes counted as night attire! Also, the doctor testified that there was fear about the guerrilla Boyle and others roaming the countryside. So you ask your wife to open the door?

As the youngsters would say, "I'm just saying...". I have no grudge against the Mudds (even though I have been accused of it by certain people). They were kindred spirits with my ancestors at that time and held the same beliefs and came from the same social level as my ancestors and were in the same age bracket. They did what they felt was right for their way of life at that time -- despite those who hold that they were evil because they owned slaves and feared a large, centralized government.

As I said, these are strictly questions that have crossed my mind that I am sharing in hopes of getting feedback. Just give me historical feedback, not slaps across the face, please!