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

[L Verge]

A little background here: The late-John E. McHale was a fine gentleman and very supportive of the Surratt House Museum and the Surratt Society. He was also married to the daughter of Dr. Richard D. Mudd, who is best-known for his lifelong struggle to "clear" the name of Dr. Samuel A. Mudd (and, as writer James Swanson stated, managed to do a great disservice to accurate history in pursuing his goal). To this date, all efforts in that direction have been defeated.

While this article attempts to discredit the wonderful work of James O. Hall, Mr. McHale should also have included most of the best historians in the field; they too felt/feel that Dr. Sam was on the periphery of the kidnap/capture scheme. One of the leading proponents on the guilt of Dr. Mudd is a member of this forum. Dr. Edward Steers wrote a seminal study on the Mudd case and published it under the title of His Name Is Still Mudd. Subsequent works like his Blood on the Moon also state the case against Mudd. I hope that Ed will weigh in on this.

Other authors who understand the government's case against the doctor have been Hanchett, Turner, Swanson, Tidwell, Lattimer and others. If you were to take a tour of the Dr. Mudd museum today, you would notice that the current field of docents agree that Dr. Mudd was likely part of the original plotting. And, at Surratt House, we make note that it was Dr. Mudd who went outside of his parish to attend church in November of 1864 at the bidding of one of the leading citizens in the underground movement in Charles County. It was also Dr. Mudd who met with Booth in DC on December 23, 1864, and introduced the actor to the Surratts.

As for slave testimony during the trial: Please bear in mind that those who made statements regarding the Mudd family were now free -- but the government had not guaranteed them a home of their own, a job, or food for their families. The likelihood was that Dr. Mudd's former enslaved workers would be returning to Dr. Mudd's property for jobs and security. Perhaps some felt that it was better to be safe than sorry when speaking against their former master?

Finally, I have posted before on this forum regarding how David Herold came to spend the night of April 13, 1865, in my great-grandparents' home in T.B. (the home that I was raised in). It is my belief that, after hearing Lincoln's speech on April 11, Booth made hasty plans to change things to murder. He sent Herold into Southern Maryland to alert the underground -- and Dr. Mudd's farm was just a short distance into Charles County. Herold may not have told Mudd about the plans changing drastically, but I would bet he told him to spread the word to others who were along the route. And yes, I believe that supplies had been sent ahead to Mudd, just as Atzerodt stated.

P.S. The Maryland Independent that carried John McHale's article is a hometown newspaper published in Charles County. U.S. Representative Steny Hoyer still represents that county and depends on votes. The county demographics have changed drastically over the years, but a good number of the voters are still named Mudd or have married into the Mudd family...