Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Boston Corbett
Thomas H. "Boston" Corbett (January 29, 1832 – disappeared c. May 26, 1888) was an English-born American soldier and milliner who, on April 26, 1865, killed John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln. He shot and mortally wounded Booth when his regiment surrounded the barn that Booth was hiding in on the Garrett Farm in Port Royal, Virginia. The American media and public largely considered Corbett a hero for his actions.
Known for his devout religious beliefs and eccentric behavior, Corbett was reportedly a good soldier and had been a prisoner of war at Andersonville Prison.
After the Civil War, Corbett drifted around the United States before he was committed to Topeka Asylum for the Insane after being declared insane in 1887. In 1888, he escaped and subsequently disappeared.
Corbett was born in London, England, on January 29, 1832, and immigrated with his family to the US in 1840 when he was seven or eight. The Corbetts moved frequently before settling in Troy, New York.
As a teenager, he began apprenticing as a milliner, a profession Corbett practiced intermittently throughout his life. As a result, he was regularly exposed to the mercury(II) nitrate fumes, used at the time to treat fur in order to produce felt used on hats. Excessive exposure to the compound can lead to hallucinations, psychosis and erethism. Historians have theorized that the mental issues Corbett exhibited before and after the Civil War were caused by his exposure to mercury(II) nitrate.
After working as a milliner in Troy, Corbett returned to New York City. In the early 1850s, Corbett met and married Susan Rebecca, thirteen years his senior. He became an American citizen on June 9, 1855, taking the oath in a Troy courthouse, and the couple then moved to Richmond, Virginia.
Corbett had a hard time finding and keeping work in the Antebellum South in large part because of his vociferous opposition to slavery. The couple decided to return to New York City by ship, but Susan became ill and died at sea on August 18, 1856. In New York her death was recorded and she was laid to rest. Following Susan's death, Corbett moved to Boston. Grief stricken, he became despondent and, according to friends, began drinking heavily.
He could not hold a job and eventually became homeless. After a night of heavy drinking, a street preacher confronted Corbett and persuaded him to join the Methodist Episcopal Church. Reportedly, some evangelical temperance Christians encountered and detained Corbett until he sobered up, undergoing a religious epiphany in the process.
Hub AI
Boston Corbett AI simulator
(@Boston Corbett_simulator)
Boston Corbett
Thomas H. "Boston" Corbett (January 29, 1832 – disappeared c. May 26, 1888) was an English-born American soldier and milliner who, on April 26, 1865, killed John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln. He shot and mortally wounded Booth when his regiment surrounded the barn that Booth was hiding in on the Garrett Farm in Port Royal, Virginia. The American media and public largely considered Corbett a hero for his actions.
Known for his devout religious beliefs and eccentric behavior, Corbett was reportedly a good soldier and had been a prisoner of war at Andersonville Prison.
After the Civil War, Corbett drifted around the United States before he was committed to Topeka Asylum for the Insane after being declared insane in 1887. In 1888, he escaped and subsequently disappeared.
Corbett was born in London, England, on January 29, 1832, and immigrated with his family to the US in 1840 when he was seven or eight. The Corbetts moved frequently before settling in Troy, New York.
As a teenager, he began apprenticing as a milliner, a profession Corbett practiced intermittently throughout his life. As a result, he was regularly exposed to the mercury(II) nitrate fumes, used at the time to treat fur in order to produce felt used on hats. Excessive exposure to the compound can lead to hallucinations, psychosis and erethism. Historians have theorized that the mental issues Corbett exhibited before and after the Civil War were caused by his exposure to mercury(II) nitrate.
After working as a milliner in Troy, Corbett returned to New York City. In the early 1850s, Corbett met and married Susan Rebecca, thirteen years his senior. He became an American citizen on June 9, 1855, taking the oath in a Troy courthouse, and the couple then moved to Richmond, Virginia.
Corbett had a hard time finding and keeping work in the Antebellum South in large part because of his vociferous opposition to slavery. The couple decided to return to New York City by ship, but Susan became ill and died at sea on August 18, 1856. In New York her death was recorded and she was laid to rest. Following Susan's death, Corbett moved to Boston. Grief stricken, he became despondent and, according to friends, began drinking heavily.
He could not hold a job and eventually became homeless. After a night of heavy drinking, a street preacher confronted Corbett and persuaded him to join the Methodist Episcopal Church. Reportedly, some evangelical temperance Christians encountered and detained Corbett until he sobered up, undergoing a religious epiphany in the process.