When A Booth Saved the Life of a Lincoln...No, Really.
The story of the serendipitous encounter between Edwin Booth and President Abraham Lincoln's son months before the assassination of the President at Ford's Theatre.
Robert and Edwin
Robert Todd Lincoln was Abraham Lincoln’s eldest son. He was also the only one of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd’s four children to outlive his parents. Though he would grow to become a lawyer and serve as Secretary of War, if it weren’t for a helpful stranger, Robert’s life could’ve been much different.
When the Civil War began, Robert Lincoln was a seventeen-year-old student at Harvard. Forbidden by his mother to join enlist, Robert spent most of the war as a student.
Meanwhile a man named Edwin Booth, a famous Shakespearean actor, was managing the Winter Garden Theatre in New York City. His successes as a manager and as an actor would allow him to purchase the Walnut Street Theatre.
Heading to DC
In late 1864 or early 1865, Robert Lincoln was on break from school. With the free time, Lincoln decided to go visit his parents at the White House. He arrived at the train station to catch a train to Washington DC.
When the train he was on made a short stop at Jersey City, Lincoln wanted to step off for a break. The platform he landed on was extremely crowded. As it were, another member aboard the crowded platform was Edwin Booth.
The crowded platform was uncomfortable. The crowd shuffled slowly across the platform. In an effort to be polite, Lincoln stepped back. He decided he would wait his turn to cross the platform.
As he did he leaned up against one of the train’s cars. In a crowded train station at that time, this was likely not uncommon. However, the situation became more urgent when the train started to move.
A Precarious Situation
The train’s movement whipped Lincoln around and he fell between the platform and the train. Had Lincoln remained there for more than a few seconds, he likely would have died.
Fortunately for Lincoln, he was pulled from the spot by a stranger. The stranger seized his collar and in a sudden motion, yanked Lincoln back onto the platform. The good samaritan was none other than Edwin Booth.
It didn't take Lincoln long to recognize the man who had saved his life. After all, Edwin Booth’s face was one many in that time recognized. Lincoln thanked Booth profusely. Booth had no idea whose life he had just saved.
Both men would go on their way - Lincoln returning to Washington DC and Booth back to his theater in New York City. This serendipitous encounter of no consequence at the time.
Fate Adds to the Random Encounter
In April of 1865, Edwin Booth’s brother, John Wilkes Booth - also an actor - would sneak into the presidential box at Ford’s Theatre. He would kill President Abraham Lincoln.
John Wilkes Booth would eventually be chased down and killed by Union soldiers while holed up in a barn in rural Northern Virginia.
It was only a few months after President Lincoln’s death that Edwin Booth learned the identity of the man he had saved on the train platform.
Booth’s friend was a member of General Ulysses Grant’s staff and overheard Robert Lincoln recalling the story. In a letter Booth received from his friend, compliments for his heroics were shared.
History for the Hurried:
March 27, 1977: The worst accident in the history of civil aviation occurred as two Boeing 747 jets collided on the ground in the Canary Islands, resulting in 570 deaths.
March 31, 1933: The Civilian Conservation Corps, the CCC, was founded. Unemployed men and youths were organized and worked outdoors in national parks and forests.