The Booth Brothers

While Junius Brutus Booth Sr., the patriarch of the illustrious acting family had long been dead, three of his sons reached genuine stardom in the days preceding the Lincoln assassination.

Junius Brutus, Jr. (the eldest) was considerably older than his younger thespian brothers, (at least three in-between siblings had died as children). He was considered a fine actor, had enjoyed some success, but gravitated to the “business management” side of theater. He had gone west in his youth, and mostly stayed there. 

Edwin was more than a decade younger, and considered the finest actor in the family. He reached success early, traveled and performed extensively, and by 1865, at 35, was the foremost Shakespearean tragedian in the country. He resided in New York City, and was a co-manager of the Winter Garden Theater. 

John Wilkes, the third surviving son, was by far the handsomest. Virile and athletic, he possessed the family gift of quick study and memorizing lines. He was devoted to his mother Mary Ann, and his sister Asia. 

JWB had boyhood friends, a reasonably good education, and like his brothers, gravitated to the stage early. But his acting was more physical, with sword fights and huge leaps and acrobatics. His colleagues smiled at the failings of his youth, but recognized his talents and expected him to mature with age. 

In 1864, the three Booth brothers performed onstage together for their first and only time: a single performance of Julius Caesar in New York. It was a benefit to raise money for a statue of Shakespeare in Central Park. It sold out. 

An Important Political Aside 

When Abraham Lincoln became President in 1861, Maryland was a slave holding state, with a fair percentage of Confederate leaning citizens. Lincoln took immense care to keep them in the Union.

The Booths were ardent Unionists, and Lincoln supporters.

How and why young John Wilkes became obsessed by his southern sympathies and slavery is a subject for another time. But his passions were high and they escalated. The only “condition” he agreed to (supposedly) was promising his mother NOT to join the Confederate Army.

The Assassination and Its Aftermath: Short Version

Even as Lincoln breathed his last, John Wilkes Booth was identified as the assailant by many who were present at Ford’s Theater. Within hours, a conspiracy to assassinate other government leaders had become known.

The telegraph blazed the news across the country. By morning nearly every city-dweller in the country had learned of the horrific deed, whether by wire, newspaper or word of mouth. Throughout the east coast, police were alerted to activate all resources. 

Booth had escaped, as had some of his fellow conspirators. In two weeks, he would be dead. Others would be arrested. Many more were questioned and interrogated.

The Tragedy of Being Booth

John Wilkes Booth was well known, and scores of people knew him intimately. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton had taken charge of the manhunt immediately, and left few stones unturned. 

Some of those stones led to the Booth family of Maryland – and elsewhere. They were all horrified that their brother – black sheepish though he might have been – was capable of such a deed. 

Just days befor, JWB had committed himself to assassination and knew he might be on the run – or dead. He wrote affectionate letters to his mother and his sister Asia.

Edwin Booth, the “star” of the family, was living and performing in New York City the night of the assassination. The next morning, the theater manager told him the news, and that the theater was closed indefinitely. He suggested that Edwin Booth seclude himself.

He was devastated, and fell into a deep depression for several months. He had voted for Lincoln, and was a patriotic Unionist. His ties with JWB had always been cordial, and he could barely believe that his brother was responsible for such a heinous deed. It was also a blow to their profession. The actor was convinced he would never perform onstage again. It was nearly a year before he could he show his face publicly and resurrect his career.

Junius Brutus Booth, Jr. had been performing in Cincinnati the night of the assassination. He also learned of the deed the next morning, and secluded himself in his hotel room for three days before taking a night train to Philadelphia. Only a few months earlier, he saw JWB for the first time in ten years and had counseled him against joining the secessionists. Pleasant correspondence followed, and only two days before the assassination, Junius wrote a hurried note to JWB, hoping they might see each other in New York.

More Tragedy…

Mary Ann Booth had been in New York with her son Edwin on the night of the assassination. The following day, she was summoned to Philadelphia where her devastated daughter Asia and her husband John Clarke were living.

Later that night, Asia remembered that when she last saw her brother, he had given her a packet, saying “if anything should happen to me, open the packet alone, and send the enclosures as directed…” They carefully placed the packet in a locked safe.

Asia opened the packet – alone. She kept the envelope with her name on it, and gave her husband the rest of the correspondence, which included bonds and investments for his brother Junius Brutus and his younger sister Rosalie. There was a heart wrenching statement of his uncontrollable motivation and a confession to his dearly beloved mother, pleading for her prayers and forgiveness – and his belief in the rightness of his cause.

The letters JWB had sent to his sister Asia was not incriminating other than her “knowledge” of JWB’s sympathies.

When Junius Brutus showed up in Philadelphia, it was a red flag. He was innocent of everything, but the brothers’ correspondence had been published in the newspapers. Junius was arrested and imprisoned at the Old Capitol Prison for eight weeks.

John Clarke, Asia’s husband was arrested and imprisoned for several weeks for little more than allowing his brother-in-law to come to their home – months before the assassination.

Asia eventually left the country and went to England. Her marriage had disintegrated because of the Booth connection. She remained stoic, and proud of the Booth name. She never returned to the US, but she eventually wrote biographies of her father, Junius Brutus Booth, Sr., and her brother Edwin.

Her biography of her brother John Wilkes Booth was not published until 1938.

Sources:

Pitch, Anthony K. – “They Have Killed Papa Dead!”: The Road to Ford’s Theatre, Abraham Lincoln’s Murder, and the Rage for Vengeance: Steerforth, 2009

Swanson, James L – Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer – Mariner Books, 2007 (reprint)

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edwin-Booth

https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Wilkes-Booth

https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/abraham-lincoln-assassination