Dr. Mudd's slave who cooked breakfast for JWB and David Herold

[L Verge]

(03-02-2018 03:12 PM)Gene C Wrote:  I have a difficult time trying to understanding Booth's actions. (mainly because I don't want to put my self in his position)

But since you mentioned it, I will start a new thread about understanding Booth.

There are many, many people in history that we will never fully understand on an individual basis, but we can understand their times and the area and culture around them.

Booth is not the only villain in history, and personally, I can understand his motives based on his era and the turbulence that had swirled around the U.S. for over a hundred years much more than I can understand the motives of some of the lunatics we are dealing with today.

Our descendants, however, may be able to look back in fifty years and understand what drove folks to the shootings in Las Vegas, Parkland, etc. In fact, there are elements in our society today who are so upset with our leaders and Congress that they could be in position to become the next John Wilkes Booth -- thinking that they, too, can save the country/world.

And while I'm on a roll, why don't we spend this much time trying to analyze the other presidential assassins? Why do we just write them off as mentally deranged or disappointed office seekers and turn the page? The men they killed, or attempted to kill, were good individuals. It just so happens that we admire Lincoln more and that there was a national crisis to consider.

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(03-02-2018 04:02 PM)Steve Wrote:  Many thanks to Laurie for posting this interview! I just want to point out a couple things:

1. I checked the Mudd family in the 1870 census and Lettie Hall's age is listed as 17 (probably provided by a member of the Mudd family), meaning she was likely 12 or 13, not 15 or 16 when Booth and Herold arrived at the house. Lettie probably guessed her age then from how old she thought she was and counted the years back to 1865:


2. There is NO contradiction between the time estimates by Mrs. Mudd and Lettie! Mrs. Mudd said Booth arrived "about 4 am", which could roughly include any of the preceding half hour before (or after) 4 am. Lettie said "about 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning", which is two whole hours. Now, it is possible one of the women is mistaken in her estimate, but I just want to point out both accounts overlap in part of the 3 o'clock hour time frame.

I found it interesting that Lettie declared that Dr. and Mrs. Mudd were against slavery! Obviously, she did not know the good doctor's reputation. When I first read this article, I immediately thought that Lettie and Louisa were not necessarily orphans, but the products of a slave auction where a family was split apart and Dr. Mudd, or his father, one of his brothers, or in-laws, bought the two young girls because they would soon be of breeding age.

Lettie also mentioned living in Chester County, not Charles County. Maryland does not have a Chester County, but it does have a town by that name on our Eastern Shore. Maybe that's where she came from originally via the auction block? Pennsylvania, where she lived at the time of the interview, does have a Chester County. Perhaps she just was confused.