Civil War Oddities #64

Throughout the nation, mid-century audiences clamored for a chance to see actor Edwin Booth. A son of famous actor Junius Booth, he performed in packed halls as Hamlet, King Lear, Brutus, Othello, Iago, and other Shakespearean figures.

Though not so well known, his brother John Wilkes Booth, also an actor, was admired and respected by critics and the public in both the North and South. After the April 14, 1865, assassination of Lincoln, the name of Edwin’s younger brother became more widely known than those of all other members of the Booth family.