A prominent figure in English music, known for composing operas, oratorios, and sacred music, as well as being a skilled organist.
Samuel Arnold was an American Confederate sympathizer infamous for his involvement in a plot to kidnap U.S. President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. His association with John Wilkes Booth, the mastermind behind Lincoln's eventual assassination, forever etched his name in the annals of American history.
A native of Georgetown, Washington D.C., Samuel Arnold was born on September 6, 1834, to Mary Jane and George Arnold, Sr. He had an older brother, and the family later relocated to Baltimore, where Arnold attended St. Timothy's Hall, a military academy. It was here that he crossed paths with John Wilkes Booth, a future schoolmate and co-conspirator.
After the outbreak of the American Civil War, Arnold enlisted in the Confederate Army but was discharged in 1864 due to health reasons. Bored and unemployed, he was recruited by Booth in the late summer of 1864 to join a plot to kidnap President Lincoln. The plan was to intercept Lincoln, ferry him through the Van Ness Mansion in Washington D.C., and exchange him for Confederate prisoners.
The conspirators, including Arnold, Booth, David Herold, Lewis Powell, Michael O'Laughlen, and John Surratt, gathered at Gautier's Restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue on March 15, 1865, to discuss the plan. Although they attempted to execute the plot twice, it ultimately failed due to Lincoln's unforeseen movements.
In the aftermath of Booth's successful assassination of Lincoln on April 14, 1865, Arnold was arrested in Virginia on suspicion of complicity. During his trial, he admitted to his involvement in the kidnapping plot, and his coworkers corroborated his alibi for the time of the assassination.
Louis J. Weichmann, a boarder at the home of Mary Surratt (John Surratt's mother), was a key witness during the trial. On July 6, 1865, Arnold was found guilty of conspiracy by a military tribunal and sentenced to life in prison at Fort Jefferson, dry Tortugas.
Samuel Arnold's role in the Lincoln kidnapping conspiracy has forever linked him to one of America's most tragic events. His association with Booth and the other conspirators serves as a reminder of the turmoil and division that plagued the nation during the Civil War era.
Today, Arnold's story serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of radical ideologies and the devastating consequences of violent extremism. His legacy serves as a poignant reminder of the importance of unity, tolerance, and the preservation of democratic values.
Born in 1838
Notorious actor-turned-assassin who fatally shot the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, at Ford's Theatre in 1865.
Born in 1844
A Confederate sympathizer who attempted to assassinate Secretary of State William H. Seward on the night President Lincoln was killed, as part of a broader conspiracy. He was a conspirator in the plot to disrupt the US government.
