Life span: 12/21/1833 to 01/10/1883TabsLife SummaryFull name: Samuel Alexander MuddPlace of Birth: Charles County, MDBurial Place: Bryantown, MDBirth Date Certainty: ExactDeath Date Certainty: ExactGender: MaleRace: WhiteOrigins: Slave StateNo. of Children: 9Family: Henry Lowe Mudd (father), Sarah Ann Reeves Mudd (mother), Sarah Frances Dyer (wife) Education: OtherOther Education: Frederick College, MD; Georgetown College; Baltimore School MedicineOccupation: Farmer or PlanterDoctor, Dentist or NurseRelation to Slavery: SlaveholderPolitical Parties: Democratic Note Cards Samuel Alexander Mudd (American National Biography) ScholarshipSince Mudd's death, historians have argued over Mudd's innocence, and many of his descendants have tried to restore his reputation. In 1990 the doctor's grandson Richard Dyer Mudd requested that Mudd's case be reviewed by the Army Board of Correction of Military Records, which two years later recommended that the conviction be removed from army records because he was tried improperly, before a military commission instead of in civilian court. The recommendation was rebuffed by army administration, and in 1997 Richard Mudd brought the issue before the U.S. District Court in Washington, which again left the decision with the army. In March 2000 the army ruled that the military commission was justified in trying and convicting the alleged conspirator, citing Ex Parte Quirin (1942), which held that a "military trial was justified . . . [for] those accused of committing offenses against the law of war" (Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States, ed. Kermit L. Hall [1992], p. 697). Mudd's case fit this definition, they ruled, because the assassination of the president was essentially a military act and the city of Washington, D.C., was at the time under "threat of invasion." Unfortunately the army's ruling shed no new light on Mudd's guilt or innocence, and the movement by Richard Mudd to clear his grandfather's name continues: two newsletters devoted to the efforts to exonerate Mudd still regularly circulate. But, as the truth ostensibly remains unrevealed more than a century later, what role, if any, Mudd played in the assassination of the president who held the country together during its most difficult time will likely never be known for certain. Stacey Hamilton, "Mudd, Samuel Alexander," American National Biography Online, June 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/20/20-01833.html. Events Date span begin Life span End Event 04/15/1865 04/15/1865 Fugitive John Wilkes Booth rides into Maryland and reaches the farm of Dr. Samuel Mudd at four a.m. 04/16/1865 04/16/1865 John Wilkes Booth and David Herold continue their flight across Maryland then hide in a remote thicket 04/21/1865 04/21/1865 Doctor Samuel Mudd, who treated and sheltered John Wilkes Booth, is arrested at his Maryland farm 04/29/1865 04/29/1865 In Washington, John Wilkes Booth's accused fellow plotters are transferred to the Old Penitentiary for trial 05/01/1865 05/01/1865 In Washington, President Johnson orders a military trial for John Wilkes Booth's accused fellow plotters 05/06/1865 05/06/1865 In Washington, the officers of the military court for John Wilkes Booth's accused fellow plotters are named 05/09/1865 05/09/1865 In Washington, membership of the military court for John Wilkes Booth's accused fellow plotters is adjusted 05/10/1865 05/10/1865 In Washington, the accused Lincoln Assassination plotters all plead not guilty before their military court 05/12/1865 05/12/1865 In Washington's Old Penitentiary, the taking of evidence in the Lincoln conspiracy trial begins 05/13/1865 06/13/1865 In Washington's Old Penitentiary, the taking of evidence in the Lincoln conspiracy trial continues 06/14/1865 06/14/1865 In Washington's Old Penitentiary, the taking of evidence in the Lincoln conspiracy trial concludes 06/15/1865 06/28/1865 In Washington's Old Penitentiary, final arguments are being made in the Lincoln conspiracy trial 06/29/1865 06/29/1865 In Washington's Old Penitentiary, the Commission in the Lincoln conspiracy trial begin their deliberations 07/05/1865 07/05/1865 In Washington, President Andrew Johnson approves the sentences passed down to the Lincoln conspirators 07/06/1865 07/06/1865 In Washington's Old Penitentiary, the Lincoln conspirators are told their fate in their cells 07/15/1865 07/15/1865 President Johnson orders the surviving Lincoln conspirators to serve their sentences off the coast of Florida 09/25/1865 09/25/1865 Samuel Mudd makes a vain attempt to escape from his life imprisonment at Fort Jefferson off the Florida coast Documents Subject Docs Date Title 05/08/1865 Charges and specifications against the Lincoln Conspirators on trial in Washington, D.C., May 8, 1865 07/05/1865 Official Verdict of the Military Commission trying the Lincoln Conspirators, as endorsed by President Johnson, July 5, 1865 Images Samuel Alexander Mudd Samuel Alexander Mudd, detail Samuel Mudd, photograph Samuel Mudd, photograph, detail Bibliography
Samuel Alexander Mudd (American National Biography) ScholarshipSince Mudd's death, historians have argued over Mudd's innocence, and many of his descendants have tried to restore his reputation. In 1990 the doctor's grandson Richard Dyer Mudd requested that Mudd's case be reviewed by the Army Board of Correction of Military Records, which two years later recommended that the conviction be removed from army records because he was tried improperly, before a military commission instead of in civilian court. The recommendation was rebuffed by army administration, and in 1997 Richard Mudd brought the issue before the U.S. District Court in Washington, which again left the decision with the army. In March 2000 the army ruled that the military commission was justified in trying and convicting the alleged conspirator, citing Ex Parte Quirin (1942), which held that a "military trial was justified . . . [for] those accused of committing offenses against the law of war" (Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States, ed. Kermit L. Hall [1992], p. 697). Mudd's case fit this definition, they ruled, because the assassination of the president was essentially a military act and the city of Washington, D.C., was at the time under "threat of invasion." Unfortunately the army's ruling shed no new light on Mudd's guilt or innocence, and the movement by Richard Mudd to clear his grandfather's name continues: two newsletters devoted to the efforts to exonerate Mudd still regularly circulate. But, as the truth ostensibly remains unrevealed more than a century later, what role, if any, Mudd played in the assassination of the president who held the country together during its most difficult time will likely never be known for certain. Stacey Hamilton, "Mudd, Samuel Alexander," American National Biography Online, June 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/20/20-01833.html.