HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
The 1830 farmhouse where Lincoln's assassin stopped for treatment — and where Dr. Mudd's life unraveled overnight.
3725 Dr. Samuel Mudd Road, Waldorf, MD 20601
Research updated August 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Modest admission fee for guided tours; check drmudd.org for current schedule and pricing.
Access
Limited Access
Historic 1830 farmhouse with period floors and narrow doorways; not fully accessible.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1830 · Lincoln Assassination Conspiracy · Civil War History · National Register of Historic Places
The farmhouse on what is now Dr. Samuel Mudd Road was built around 1830 and had been in the Mudd family for decades when the night of April 14, 1865 changed everything. Shortly after midnight on April 15, Booth and Herold arrived at the door. Booth's left fibula had broken when he caught his spur on the bunting while leaping from the presidential box at Ford's Theatre. Dr. Mudd, a country physician and farmer, examined Booth, fashioned a splint, and allowed the two men to rest through the morning. They left around 4 p.m.
Mudd later claimed he did not recognize Booth at the time, though a jury — a military commission convened specifically for the Lincoln conspiracy cases — did not find his account convincing. He was convicted in June 1865 on a charge of conspiracy and sentenced to life in prison. His co-defendants Lewis Powell and George Atzerodt were hanged; Mudd and two others were sent to Fort Jefferson, a federal military prison on an island in the Dry Tortugas.
In 1867 and 1868, yellow fever swept through Fort Jefferson. The post surgeon died, and Mudd, the only physician among the prisoners, took over medical duties. He treated hundreds of cases. President Andrew Johnson pardoned Mudd on February 8, 1869, citing his service during the epidemic. Mudd returned to the Charles County farm and died there in January 1883.
The house and its outbuildings remained in the Mudd family and were eventually preserved and opened to the public. The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Guided tours cover the interior rooms, period furnishings, family documents, and the broader story of the Lincoln assassination conspiracy.
Sources
Ghost lore at the Mudd House is sparse compared to higher-traffic Civil War sites, which may reflect the rural isolation of the property and the family's long stewardship. The accounts that circulate in Maryland regional ghost collections focus on the ground-floor room where Booth was examined and on the staircase.
The most often repeated claim involves the sense of a heavy presence in the front rooms — the area corresponding to where Booth's splint was fitted. Docents have reported that visitors occasionally describe a sudden cold draft on warm days and, in a handful of accounts, an uneasy feeling that someone is watching from the staircase landing.
An additional thread involves sound: the upstairs hallway is said to produce footsteps at odd hours when the house is otherwise quiet. No witness account has been formally documented by an investigative group, and the house is not marketed as haunted. The lore passes through Maryland ghost-tour aggregators and Southern Maryland historical newsletters rather than through formal paranormal investigation reports.
The building's factual history — a physician rising before dawn to treat a stranger who turned out to be Lincoln's assassin, then watching that single act consume his next four years — provides the resonance that underlies the atmospheric reports.
Notable Entities
Where this legend is told
Docent-led tour of the original 1830 farmhouse where Dr. Samuel Mudd set John Wilkes Booth's broken leg on April 15, 1865. The tour covers the ground-floor rooms, period furnishings, family artifacts, and the outbuildings that Booth and co-conspirator David Herold departed from before heading south.
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Clinton, MD
Built in 1852, this Prince George's County property served as Mary Surratt's farm, tavern, and Confederate safe house during the Civil War. On the night of April 14, 1865, after shooting President Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, John Wilkes Booth stopped here to collect a rifle and field glasses stored in advance. Mary Surratt was convicted of conspiracy in the assassination and hanged on July 7, 1865 — the first woman executed by the United States federal government. The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission has operated the building as a public museum since 1976.
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