Scope and Contents The Richard D. Mudd Papers contain the extensive research files of Richard D. Mudd, whose grandfather, Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, set the leg of Abraham Lincoln's assassin John Wilkes Booth as Booth attempted to escape the scene of the crime through southern Maryland. Samuel A. Mudd went to prison for setting Booth's leg, but Richard D. Mudd decades later contended that his grandfather was simply doing his duty as a medical doctor. Although he was released from prison by President Andrew Johnson,...

Collection-level Scope and Content Note The bulk of the Barbee Papers concerns his research, accomplished primarily between the years 1928-1958. The Papers are organized according to provenance into seven series, out-lining his historical interests. The series are: I. Abraham Lincoln; II. Death of Lincoln; III. Lincoln and Booth; IV. John Wilkes Booth; V. Conspirators; VI. Rose O'Neil Greenhow; and VII. American History. Because the collection is largely subject-oriented, due to the inter-relatedness of topics the same subject...