Dr.Richard Mudd

[bob_summers]

Dr. Richard Mudd is best known for his efforts to clear the name of his grandfather Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, but his real enduring legacy is his 2-volume 1835-page genealogy entitled The Mudd Family of the United States. The first edition was published in 1951, followed by the second edition in 1971. It was his very serious life-long hobby, spanning many decades. To my knowledge, his 2-volume work is the largest, most detailed genealogy of any American family. I have been to the genealogy room of the Library of Congress several times, and have never seen any published genealogy of similar size and detail.

When Dr. Richard Mudd died a few years ago, his son Tom Mudd invited the Latter Day Saints folks in to microfilm his father’s files. They told Tom it was the largest microfilm job they had ever done. Afterwards, Tom donated his father’s genealogy files to the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis. There are no bombshells about Dr. Samuel Mudd in these files, but there are a number of “wow” items there, such as the letter from his daughter Stella who was at her father’s bedside when he died and spoke his last words to his wife Sarah Frances. If anyone is ever interested in looking at these files, it is best to call the Archives ahead of time and make an appointment. Some of the files are on-site in Annapolis, but most have to be pulled from storage in Baltimore.

Dr. Richard Mudd also donated a number of non-genealogy documents specifically about Dr. Samuel Mudd to the Special Collections division of Georgetown University’s Lauinger Library. These are also worth reviewing, but I have found the records at the Maryland Archives far more interesting.