Boston Corbett

About

The man best known for killing John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of Abraham Lincoln. As a soldier, his regiment was sent to capture Booth. After a failed attempt to get him to come out of the barn he was hiding in, Corbett shot him fatally in the back of the head. After being discharged from the army and working several different jobs, he was sent to Topeka Asylum for the Insane. He escaped the asylum. It's said he then moved to a reclusive area of Minnesota, where it's presumed he died in the Great Hickley Fire of 1894.

Before Fame

He was born in London, but he moved to New York City shortly after with his family. He worked as a hatter before becoming a member of the Union Army in the American Civil War.

Trivia

He became known as "Lincoln's Avenger." After his presumed death, multiple men tried to claim the fame of the title by saying they were the ones who took Booth's life.

Family Life

Though he did get married, his wife and child died during the birthing process.

Associated With

At one point, he was dismissed from the army by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.