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When we say that somebody’s name is “mud” we mean that he or she is completely out of favour for one reason or another. On the face of it, that sounds like a perfectly reasonable word to use, given that mud is that nasty, sticky or slippery stuff that we don’t like treading in if we can avoid it.
However, the term has a much more interesting derivation, concerning a tale of a miscarriage of justice and a name that just happened to fit the use to which it was put.
The story begins with the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in a box at Ford’s Theatre in Washington DC on 14th April 1865. His assassin, John Wilkes Booth, fired the fatal shot then jumped down on to the stage of the theatre. This proved to be too great a height for safety, because Booth broke his leg when he landed and it was only with some difficulty that he was able to leave the theatre, mount his horse and escape.
Once safely outside Washington, Booth found a doctor to treat his injury. This was Dr Samuel Mudd, who did what he was asked and allowed Booth to rest for a while before he left.
<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Dr._Samuel_A._Mudd_(5807890647).jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Source</a>
(Dr Samuel Mudd)
Dr Mudd only realized who his patient had been when news of the assassination reached everyone the following day. He promptly informed the authorities that he had seen and treated the assassin, but the response he got was far from what he expected. Instead of being thanked for providing valuable information, he was arrested and charged for apparently being a friend of Booth and part of a conspiracy to kill the President.
Giving aid to the man who killed Abraham Lincoln was reckoned by the general public, and the court that tried Dr Mudd, as being a heinous crime that deserved a heavy punishment, and a sentence of life imprisonment was what he got, despite his claim that he had no idea who Booth was at the time he had treated his injury.
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/presmd/21592081012" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Source</a>
(Dr Mudd’s house)
It was not until 1869 that Dr Mudd was pardoned and released from jail, but there were still plenty of people who did not believe his protestations of innocence. His name therefore continued to be “mud” for the rest of his life, and “mud” has stuck to many other people in later years whose reputation has been seriously tarnished.
I knew that the phrase had its origin with the doctor who treated Booth but I didn’t know the details. Thanks for an informative article.
Well! As usual, you’ve taught something I did not know. Now that I do know I will supply an opinion that is of no value or consequence. I believe the man was telling the truth. Not that it’s any consolation to him now. They arrested that man but the only “connection” that they could probably prove was the fact that he said that he had treated Booth’s injuries. He was unjustly treated. I’m sure of it.
You have to ask why Dr Mudd would have volunteered the information if he had been part of a conspiracy – that should surely have been enough to prove his innocence.
I would say Mudd was tried before a kangaroo court but then you’d have to do another post explaining that term. No wait, I just did…