David Herold

Pharmacist's assistant and Lincoln assassination conspirator

• Born: June 16, 1842
• Birthplace: Maryland
• Died: July 7, 1865
• Place of death: Washington, D.C.

Also known as: David Edgar Herold

Education: Rittenhouse Academy, Georgetown College

Significance: David Edgar Herold was an accomplice of John Wilkes Booth, who after the assignation of President Abraham Lincoln helped Booth escape through Maryland and into Virginia where the two were both cornered in a barn. Though Booth was shot and later died, Herold surrendered and was later hanged for his role in Lincoln's assassination.

Background

David Edgar Herold was born in Maryland on June 16, 1842, to Adam and Mary Porter Herold. Raised in relative prosperity in the near vicinity of the Washington Navy Yard, he was the sixth of ten children born, seven of whom were daughters. Herold's father was a chief store clerk who made a modest wage. For the period, Herold received a better than average education. He first attended Georgetown College where he studied pharmacy and then finished his education at Rittenhouse Academy. Herold worked as a pharmacist assistant and as a clerk for a doctor until 1864, when evidence suggests he became unemployed. Many who knew him considered him to be immature for his age, perhaps one of the reasons his father rejected Herold as the executor of the family estate. Herold was an avid outdoorsman and hunter who was very familiar with the geography of the Maryland–Virginia border.

Life's Work

Herold was initially recruited by John Surratt to take part in a planned kidnapping of President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Booth viewed Herold as playing an important part in the conspiracy because of his familiarity with the region and his social connections in the area, which ultimately made him the perfect fit as a guide. The original plan to kidnap Lincoln from a local hospital fell through after Lincoln cancelled his visit. Booth then devised a plan to assassinate Secretary of State William Seward, Vice-President Andrew Johnson, and President Lincoln.

In April of 1865, Herold guided Lewis Powell, a coconspirator, to the home of Seward, who was bedridden due to a recent carriage accident. Herold waited outside with the horses, while Powell, an Alabama native, went inside the home attempted to assassinate Seward. Despite being stabbed several times, Seward survived the attack. While in the home searching for Seward, Powell injured several individuals, and the noise of fighting and screams heard outside the home prompted Herold to leave the area without waiting for Powell. Upon leaving the Seward house, Powell, not familiar with the area and layout of Washington, became lost and wondered around trying to find his way out of the city. All three targets were supposed to be assassinated simultaneously. However, Andrew Johnson escaped because George Atzerodt, a coconspirator, lost his nerve and got drunk instead of trying to kill Johnson.

As the assassination attempt of Seward's life was underway, Booth had already shot Lincoln at Ford's Theatre and was riding out of the city. Booth and Herold later united after both escaped the city over the same bridge. The very next morning, Booth and Herold travelled to Dr. Samuel Mudd's home to get treatment for Booth's broken leg. It is theorized that Booth broke his leg either in his haste leaving the Ford Theatre or falling of his horse while escaping Washington. After being treated, Booth and Herold crossed into Virginia at Port Royal where they hid in a barn. Nearly twelve days after Lincoln's assassination, Union troops caught up with Booth and Herold. Referred to as Booth's "dog like follower," Herold surrendered after convincing the Union soldiers he was unarmed. During Herold's surrender, Booth was shot in the neck through a hole in the barn and died on April 26, 1865.

Herold was one of eight coconspirators captured and tried by a military commission. The trial began on May 10, 1865. Herold was represented by attorney Fredrick Stone who used several witnesses in an attempt to sway the court. According to transcripts from the trial, Herold was described as "more like a boy than a man," "easily persuaded and led," and "boyish in every respect." Dr. Samuel A. H. McKim, with whom Herold worked as a pharmacist assistant, posited that "in mind, I consider him about eleven years of age." Recent scholars have suggested that Herold may have been non compos mentis. On June 29, 1865, Herold was found guilty along with all the coconspirators and all were hanged on July 7, 1865. He was only twenty-three years old.

Impact

While the degree to which Herold was willfully involved in the conspiracy is still debated and the extent of his mental capacity has been questioned, the death of Lincoln certainly altered the potential path for post-war Reconstruction in tragic fashion, as his assassination undermined any plans for postwar reconciliation and incited a wave of violent retribution against the defeated rebels.

Personal Life

Herold never married and had no children.

Bibliography

Holzer, Harold. President Lincoln Assassinated!! The Firsthand Story of the Murder, Manhunt, Trial, and Mourning. Literary Classics of the United States, 2014.

Kauffman, Michael W. American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies. Random House, 2004.

Larson, Kate Clifford. The Assassin's Accomplice: Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln. Basic Books, 2008.

Leonard, D. Elizabeth. Lincoln's Avengers: Justice, Revenge, and Reunion After the Civil War. W. W. Norton & Company, 2004.

Swanson, James L. Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer. Harper Perennial, 2007.

Titone, Nora. My Thought Be Bloody: The Bitter Rivalry Between Edwin and John Wilkes Booth That Led to An American Tragedy. Free Press, 2011.

White, Jonathan W. "A Terrible Loss." The American Scholar, Spring 2015, pp. 31–41.