Spur from Booth's Boot

John Wilkes Booth arrived at Dr. Samuel Mudd's house in Charles County, Maryland, on April 15, 1865, in need of medical care for an injured leg. The injury likely came from Booth's jump onto the stage at Ford's Theatre after he fired the fatal shot. Mudd cut the boot to remove it from Booth’s swollen ankle. Five days later investigators arrived at Mudd’s house and found the boot, as well as this spur. Mudd was later sentenced to life in prison for his role in the assassination conspiracy, but President Andrew Johnson pardoned him in 1869.