John Wilkes Booth

Though John Wilkes Booth was reviled in the press and by the majority of the public, condemnation was not universal, as the notes on these cartes-de-visite illustrate. The owner of the carte on the left wrote, “Wilkes Booth, murderer of A.Lincoln 14 April 1865.” The owner of the carte on the right, however, wrote, “God Bless him, may the Smiles of heaven rest upon him.” Expressing such sentiments in public was dangerous in the days following the assassination. Albert Daggett wrote that one man who had said that he was glad Lincoln had been assassinated was immediately shot in the head by a Union soldier. “The same fate awaits others if treason does not hold its infamous tongue,” he wrote. “My seven shooter is in my pocket and I shall not fail to use it should I hear any such remark.”