Changes

==Early history==

==Early history==

Booth was born May 10, 1838 near Bel Air, Maryland, the ninth of ten children born to famed actor Junius Brutus Booth and Mary Ann Holmes; his brothers Junius Jr. and Edwin were also actors, with Edwin on the way to becoming the finest actor on the American stage.  John Wilkes attended several private schools - including an Episcopal military academy in Catonsville, Maryland known as St. Timothy's Hall - but he got into acting after his father's death in 1852.  He made his stage debut as the Earl of Richmond in Shakespeare's ''Richard III'' in August, 1855, when he was just 17.  In 1858 he joined the Richmond (Virginia) Theater and became enchanted with the South and their way of life (the remainder of his family considered themselves Northerners).  At 5'8", with jet-black hair, ivory skin, and an athletic build, he was considered the "handsomest man in America" by many newspaper writers.  He was also among the first American actors to have a fan base with women; many ''cartes de visits'' - akin to studio photographs or sports cards today - were made and distributed by him or the theaters which presented his appearences (TL 26, pp. 34, 60).

Booth was born May 10, 1838 near Bel Air, Maryland, the ninth of ten children born to famed actor Junius Brutus Booth and Mary Ann Holmes; his brothers Junius Jr. and Edwin were also actors, with Edwin on the way to becoming the finest actor on the American stage.  John Wilkes attended several private schools - including an Episcopal military academy in Catonsville, Maryland known as St. Timothy's Hall - but he got into acting after his father's death in 1852.  He made his stage debut as the Earl of Richmond in Shakespeare's ''Richard III'' in August, 1855, when he was just 17.  In 1858 he joined the Richmond (Virginia) Theater and became enchanted with the South and their way of life (the remainder of his family considered themselves Northerners).  At 5'8", with jet-black hair, ivory skin, and an athletic build, he was considered the "handsomest man in America" by many newspaper writers.  He was also among the first American actors to have a fan base with women; many ''cartes de visits'' - akin to studio photographs or sports cards today - were made and distributed by him or the theaters which presented his appearances (TL 26, pp. 34, 60).

By 1860 he was earning over $20,000 a year, starring in Shakespearian plays such as ''Romeo and Juliet'', ''The Merchant of Venice'', ''Julius Caesar'', ''Othello'', ''The Taming of the Shrew'', ''Hamlet'', and ''Macbeth''.

By 1860 he was earning over $20,000 a year, starring in Shakespearian plays such as ''Romeo and Juliet'', ''The Merchant of Venice'', ''Julius Caesar'', ''Othello'', ''The Taming of the Shrew'', ''Hamlet'', and ''Macbeth''.

Booth had been shot in the neck. As he was laid on a wooden porch, he was found to be paralyzed from the neck down and whispering "tell my mother I did it for my country.”  As he lay dying, he asked that his hands, so instrumental to his acting skills, be held up to his face.  “Useless…useless” was his last words. [http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/booth.htm]

Booth had been shot in the neck. As he was laid on a wooden porch, he was found to be paralyzed from the neck down and whispering "tell my mother I did it for my country.”  As he lay dying, he asked that his hands, so instrumental to his acting skills, be held up to his face.  “Useless…useless” was his last words. [http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/booth.htm]

The remains of Booth were placed onboard the monitor USS ''Montawk'', then anchored in the Potomac, where they were positively identified by acquaintences who had known Booth, and physicians who had kept detailed medical and dental records of him.  The body was placed in a pine box and buried on the grounds of the Old Capitol Prison - where four of his fellow conspirators would soon join him after their trial and execution in June, 1865 - and there they stayed for two years before being released to the Booth family for burial in Baltimore.  Beneath an imposing obelisk he lies buried in an unmarked grave; occassionally a court reviews a petition to exhume to body to determine if it is really Booth's or that of a double, according to the many conspiracy theories.  Each time the request is denied.

The remains of Booth were placed on board the monitor USS ''Montawk'', then anchored in the Potomac, where they were positively identified by acquaintances who had known Booth, and physicians who had kept detailed medical and dental records of him.  The body was placed in a pine box and buried on the grounds of the Old Capitol Prison - where four of his fellow conspirators would soon join him after their trial and execution in June, 1865 - and there they stayed for two years before being released to the Booth family for burial in Baltimore.  Beneath an imposing obelisk he lies buried in an unmarked grave; occasionally a court reviews a petition to exhume to body to determine if it is really Booth's or that of a double, according to the many conspiracy theories.  Each time the request is denied.

==References==

==References==

*Helm, Katherine.  ''Mary, Wife of Lincoln''; New York, Harper and Brothers (1928).  

*Helm, Katherine.  ''Mary, Wife of Lincoln''; New York, Harper and Brothers (1928).  

*Time-Life Books ''The Civil War'', vol. 1 (''Brother Against Brother''), Time Inc, New York (1983

*Time-Life Books ''The Civil War'', vol. 1 (''Brother Against Brother''), Time Inc, New York (1983)

*Time-Life Books, ''The Civl War'', vol. 26 (''The Assassination''), Time, Inc. New York (1987).

*Time-Life Books, ''The Civl War'', vol. 26 (''The Assassination''), Time, Inc. New York (1987).

*Sandburg, Carl. ''Abraham Lincoln'', Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York (1954)

*Sandburg, Carl. ''Abraham Lincoln'', Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York (1954)