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===The Booths===

===The Booths===

[[Image:Wilkes-Booth.jpg|right|200px|thumb|John Wilkes Booth]]

[[Image:Wilkes-Booth.jpg|right|200px|thumb|John Wilkes Booth]]

The king of the American stage during the middle part of the 19th Century was Junius Brutus Booth, a British-born actor who mesmerized the crowds with his thrilling and powerful renditions of Shakespeare, as well as leading a scandalizing personal life.  He abandoned his wife in favor of a theater girl, Mary Ann Holmes, came to the United States in 1821, and resumed his acting career to great success, settling in the area of Baltimore, Maryland.  Although he was totally devoted to Mary Ann, he would not marry her until 1851; by then they had produced ten children.

The king of the American [[theater|stage]] during the middle part of the 19th Century was Junius Brutus Booth, a [[United Kingdom|British]]-born [[actor]] who mesmerized the crowds with his thrilling and powerful renditions of [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]], as well as leading a scandalizing personal life.  He abandoned his wife in favor of a theater girl, Mary Ann Holmes, came to the United States in 1821, and resumed his acting career to great success, settling in the area of Baltimore, [[Maryland]].  Although he was totally devoted to Mary Ann, he would not [[marriage|marry]] her until 1851; by then they had produced ten children.

The four sons of Booth would try their hands on the stage.  Junius Brutus Jr. would enjoy good, but not great, success on the stage before becoming a theater manager.  Joseph's own success in acting was limited, and he would turn instead to the medical profession.  [[Edwin Booth]] would surpass even his father in brilliance as an actor, giving performances in such plays as ''Macbeth'' and ''King Lear'' to such a high degree that critics would label him the finest American actor of the 19th Century.

The four sons of Booth would try their hands on the stage.  Junius Brutus Jr. would enjoy good, but not great, success on the stage before becoming a theater manager.  Joseph's own success in acting was limited, and he would turn instead to the [[medicine|medical]] profession.  [[Edwin Booth]] would surpass even his father in brilliance as an actor, giving performances in such plays as ''[[Macbeth]]'' and ''[[King Lear]]'' to such a high degree that critics would label him the finest American actor of the 19th Century.

But it was John Wilkes Booth who would place a stamp of theatrical glory on himself, no matter the cost.  He was dashing on the stage, dazzling the audience with his impulsiveness and fiery acting.  He traveled with a wardrobe valued at $15,000, and made sure his travels to the cities he performed in were also accompanied by a visit to the local photographer, where ''cartes de visite'' were made, so that he could hand them out to his many female admirers (TL 26, pp. 34, 60).  “I am myself, alone,” he would say at least once, when claiming the accolades his ego sought.  Unlike the rest of his family members, he was pro-Southern and pro-slavery; so much so that he once enlisted in a Virginia militia for a mere three weeks in 1859 so he could stand guard at the scaffold that would hang abolitionist [[John Brown]].

But it was John Wilkes Booth who would place a stamp of theatrical glory on himself, no matter the cost.  He was dashing on the stage, dazzling the audience with his impulsiveness and fiery acting.  He traveled with a wardrobe valued at $15,000, and made sure his travels to the cities he performed in were also accompanied by a visit to the local [[photograph|photographer]], where ''cartes de visite'' were made, so that he could hand them out to his many female admirers (TL 26, pp. 34, 60).  “I am myself, alone,” he would say at least once, when claiming the accolades his ego sought.  Unlike the rest of his family members, he was pro-Southern and pro-[[slavery]]; so much so that he once enlisted in a [[Virginia]] militia for a mere three weeks in 1859 so he could stand guard at the scaffold that would hang abolitionist [[John Brown]].

==The conspiracy==   

==The conspiracy==