John Wilkes Booth On April 14, 1865, at 10 p.m., Abraham Lincoln was at Laura Keene's performance of Our American Cousin. When suddenly a shot rang out from a .44 caliber derringer, Lincoln was on the ground dying. Who was the assassin and why did he kill Lincoln. On May 10, 1838, Mary Ann Holmes and her husband Junious Booth were giving birth to their son John Wilkes Booth. It was named after the famous revelator John Wilkes, of whom the family claimed to be distant relatives. His father and two brothers were all passionate about acting and Jihn knew he would follow in his footsteps. They already had eight children and would have another after him. They lived near Bel Air, Maryland at the time. Junious was one of the most famous actors on stage during that time. He had alcohol problems and periods of madness, but that didn't stop him. He was a successful man and wanted to keep it that way. Junious died in 1852. As a young man, John Wilkes Booth sporadically attended the Milton Boarding School for Boys and later St. Timothy's Hall. From an early age, he was described as disarmingly beautiful. In reviews of his plays he was known as the most handsome man in America, he was 5 feet eight inches tall. He had jet black hair and was thin and athletic. He was also known to cut himself and have bruises all over (which he would put steak on before and after his shows), he did all this because his works would be realistic. He usually played an athletic person in his comedies and made sure he was ready, he was an excellent swordsman which came in handy when he had a different role. To those who knew him, it seemed natural that he would follow in his father's footsteps, gracing the stage with his cha...... middle of paper ...... he was later recorded as saying, "What a wonderful possibility ” had to shoot Lincoln. ON March 17, Booth had learned that Licoln would be attending a performance of the play “Still Waters Run Deep” at a hospital. Booth gathered his team and planned to kidnap him on his way to the hospital , but Lincoln never showed up, later learning that the president had changed plans and went to a ceremony at the National Hotel in Washington, and mostly Booth lived there. All this led to the final stands and the only attempt that worked . ON April 14, 1865 Lincoln attended a play called Our American Cousin. It was his last play he would ever see. Booth shot him in the head and fell from the balcony he was sitting on. he broke his leg but kept running. He was later captured and sentenced to death, but he had done what he set out to do, assassinate Lincoln.