The name of John Wilkes Booth conjures up a picture of America's most infamous assassin,the killer of perhapsthe greatest president of the United States. However, J. Wilkes Booth led a very prominent life as an actor in the years preceding the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. This period of his life is often forgotten or overlooked. The booth family name in the nineteenth century was strongly identified with the American theater scene; there was no …showed first 75 words of 552 total…

…showed last 75 words of 552 total…intention of witnessing the December hanging of the fiery abolitionist John Brown in Charles Town, Virginia. Soon after witnessing Brown's hanging, Booth left for Richmond where he was discharged. During the Civil War , Booth said he promised his mother that he would not join the Confederate army. Booth did however, undertake some action to support the Confederacy. According to some reports, Booth was actively engaged in smuggling medical supplies to support the Confederate forces in 1864.