The Lincoln Conspiracy

Today in the Lincoln Conspiracy:  June 6

What did Dr. Samuel Mudd know and when did he know it? For a century and a half, that question had been hotly debated among Lincoln conspiracy scholars.  An old friend of the doctor's made a damning assertion about Mudd's knowledge at the Lincoln conspiracy trial.

Dr. Samuel Mudd

Daniel J. Thomas, who claimed he had known Mudd since they were children, told the military tribunal that in March of 1865, he had a conversation with the doctor at the home of one of their neighbors in Bryantown, Maryland.  Thomas said that during the course of the conversation, he mentioned that South Carolina had fallen to Union forces and it appeared the Civil War would soon be over.  He said Mudd rejected the contention, then added, "the President, Cabinet, and other Union men in the State of Maryland would be killed in six or seven weeks."  At the time, Thomas thought Mudd was deadly earnest in his pronouncement.  He went so far as to send a letter to a local military commander recounting the conversation.  Over the next few days, however, he convinced himself Mudd was joking, since he had been a kidder all his life.

On June 6, 1865, Thomas faced blistering cross examination from the defense.  He denied that he had tried to claim a reward for providing information that led to Mudd's arrest.  He rejected a defense contention that he had asked soldiers to sign certificates that he had passed along the details of his conversation with Mudd before the doctor's arrest so he could collect $10,000 -- or even $25,000.  Under repeated questioning, however, Thomas did admit he told two soldiers they should sign certificates to that effect so he could cash in.  But, Thomas insisted, he was just joking.