Whether you believe Dr. Sam Mudd was guilty of aiding John Wilkes Booth or not, a visit to his Waldorf, Md., plantation is a good move.
The Dr. Mudd House Museum offers a beautifully restored farmhouse, entertaining and informed tour guides and a chance to gaze through a window John Wilkes Booth looked through when he was on the run after the assassination.
The house features many original pieces of Mudd family furniture — including the red settee where Booth rested as the doctor examined his severed fibula.
The collection includes several pieces of inlaid furniture handmade by Dr. Mudd and his jailhouse pal Edward Spangler. The doctor saved Spangler’s life when they were imprisoned together in malaria-ridden Dry Tortugas, and, during their imprisonment, the stage carpenter taught the doctor to make fine furniture.