Michael O'Laughlen
Encyclopedia
Michael O'Laughlen, Jr. (3 June 1840 in Baltimore, Maryland
- 23 September 1867 in Dry Tortugas National Park
, Florida
) was a conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln
. O'Laughlen's last name was often misspelled by the press and others as O'Laughlin, but he was born Michael O'Laughlen .
's earliest friends as the Booth family lived across the street from the O'Laughlens. O'Laughlen learned the trade of manufacturing ornamental plaster work. He also learned the art of engraving. At the outbreak of the Civil War
O'Laughlen joined the Confederate Army but was discharged in June 1862. He returned to Baltimore and joined his brother in the feed and produce business.
Abraham Lincoln
. He began spending time in Washington DC with Booth picking up his expenses. On the night of March 15, 1865, O'Laughlen met with Booth and other conspirators at Gautier's Restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue
to discuss the possible abduction of the President. Basically, the plan was to abduct Lincoln and take him to Richmond, Virginia
for the purpose of making the Union government exchange prisoners with the Confederacy.
Booth learned that Lincoln was scheduled to attend a matinee performance of the play Still Waters Run Deep at the Campbell Hospital on the outskirts of Washington on March 17, 1865. Booth, O'Laughlen, and the other co-conspirators planned on intercepting the president's carriage. The group lay in wait along the road. Finally, a polished carriage came into view and the gang prepared itself. But the president had changed plans and the carriage was possibly that of Chief Justice
Salmon P. Chase
. Booth's attempt to kidnap Lincoln had failed. O'Laughlen returned to Baltimore.
Late in March Booth proposed another kidnap plan. This time Lincoln was to be captured at Ford's Theatre
, handcuffed, and lowered by rope to the stage. Then the president would be taken to Richmond. However, Booth was not able to convince his co-conspirators that this plan was feasible.
According to O'Laughlen, this was the end of his plotting with Booth. However, O'Laughlen did return to Washington DC the day before Lincoln's assassination. It is unclear whether this was due to the conspiracy or simply to spend time with friends in Washington. At the trial, there was conflicting testimony about O'Laughlen's movements on the day of the assassination. Whatever the case, O'Laughlen voluntarily surrendered on Monday, April 17, 1865.
O'Laughlen was tried along with Mary Surratt
, Lewis Powell
, George Atzerodt
, David Herold
, Samuel Arnold
, Edmund Spangler
and Samuel Mudd
. The government attempted to prove he had stalked Ulysses S. Grant
on the nights of April 13 and April 14 with the intent to kill and murder. This was not proven, but there was no doubt O'Laughlen was a willing conspirator through late March. He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.
in the Dry Tortugas
with Spangler, Arnold, and Mudd. He contracted yellow fever
on September 19, 1867. Four days later, he seemed to be feeling better. Sentries reported he was up and about. But suddenly he collapsed, and Dr. Mudd tended to him most of the night. Dr. Mudd tried his best to save him, but O'Laughlen became yet another victim of the yellow fever outbreak that swept through the prison.
Andrew Johnson
ordered O'Laughlen's remains to be turned over to his mother. His body was then sent north to Baltimore. He was buried in Baltimore in Green Mount Cemetery. John Wilkes Booth
and Samuel Arnold
were also buried in the same cemetery.
.
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
- 23 September 1867 in Dry Tortugas National Park
Dry Tortugas National Park
Dry Tortugas National Park preserves Fort Jefferson and the Dry Tortugas section of the Florida Keys. The park covers 101 mi2 , mostly water, about 68 statute miles west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico....
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
) was a conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln assassination
The assassination of United States President Abraham Lincoln took place on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, as the American Civil War was drawing to a close. The assassination occurred five days after the commanding General of the Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee, and his battered Army of...
. O'Laughlen's last name was often misspelled by the press and others as O'Laughlin, but he was born Michael O'Laughlen .
Early life
O'Laughlen was one of John Wilkes BoothJohn Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...
's earliest friends as the Booth family lived across the street from the O'Laughlens. O'Laughlen learned the trade of manufacturing ornamental plaster work. He also learned the art of engraving. At the outbreak of the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
O'Laughlen joined the Confederate Army but was discharged in June 1862. He returned to Baltimore and joined his brother in the feed and produce business.
Conspiracy
O'Laughlen was one of Booth's earliest recruits. In the fall of 1864 O'Laughlen agreed to become a co-conspirator in the plot to kidnap PresidentPresident
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
. He began spending time in Washington DC with Booth picking up his expenses. On the night of March 15, 1865, O'Laughlen met with Booth and other conspirators at Gautier's Restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue is a street in Washington, D.C. that joins the White House and the United States Capitol. Called "America's Main Street", it is the location of official parades and processions, as well as protest marches...
to discuss the possible abduction of the President. Basically, the plan was to abduct Lincoln and take him to Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
for the purpose of making the Union government exchange prisoners with the Confederacy.
Booth learned that Lincoln was scheduled to attend a matinee performance of the play Still Waters Run Deep at the Campbell Hospital on the outskirts of Washington on March 17, 1865. Booth, O'Laughlen, and the other co-conspirators planned on intercepting the president's carriage. The group lay in wait along the road. Finally, a polished carriage came into view and the gang prepared itself. But the president had changed plans and the carriage was possibly that of Chief Justice
Chief Justice of the United States
The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
Salmon P. Chase
Salmon P. Chase
Salmon Portland Chase was an American politician and jurist who served as U.S. Senator from Ohio and the 23rd Governor of Ohio; as U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Abraham Lincoln; and as the sixth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.Chase was one of the most prominent members...
. Booth's attempt to kidnap Lincoln had failed. O'Laughlen returned to Baltimore.
Late in March Booth proposed another kidnap plan. This time Lincoln was to be captured at Ford's Theatre
Ford's Theatre
Ford's Theatre is a historic theater in Washington, D.C., used for various stage performances beginning in the 1860s. It is also the site of the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865...
, handcuffed, and lowered by rope to the stage. Then the president would be taken to Richmond. However, Booth was not able to convince his co-conspirators that this plan was feasible.
According to O'Laughlen, this was the end of his plotting with Booth. However, O'Laughlen did return to Washington DC the day before Lincoln's assassination. It is unclear whether this was due to the conspiracy or simply to spend time with friends in Washington. At the trial, there was conflicting testimony about O'Laughlen's movements on the day of the assassination. Whatever the case, O'Laughlen voluntarily surrendered on Monday, April 17, 1865.
O'Laughlen was tried along with Mary Surratt
Mary Surratt
Mary Elizabeth Jenkins Surratt was an American boarding house owner who was convicted of taking part in the conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. Sentenced to death, she was hanged, becoming the first woman executed by the United States federal government. She was the mother of John H...
, Lewis Powell
Lewis Powell (assassin)
Lewis Thornton Powell , also known as Lewis Paine or Payne, attempted unsuccessfully to assassinate United States Secretary of State William H...
, George Atzerodt
George Atzerodt
George Andreas Atzerodt was a conspirator, with John Wilkes Booth, in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Assigned to assassinate Vice-President Andrew Johnson, he lost his nerve and did not make an attempt. He was executed along with three other conspirators by hanging.-Early life:Atzerodt...
, David Herold
David Herold
David Edgar Herold was an accomplice of John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. After guiding fellow conspirator Lewis Powell to the home of Secretary of State William H. Seward, whom Powell intended to kill, Herold fled and rendezvoused outside of Washington, D.C., with Booth...
, Samuel Arnold
Samuel Arnold (Lincoln conspirator)
Samuel Bland Arnold was involved in the plot to kidnap President Abraham Lincoln in 1865.He and the other conspirators, John Wilkes Booth, David Herold, Lewis Powell, Michael O'Laughlen and John Surratt, were to kidnap Lincoln and hold him to exchange for the Confederate prisoners in Washington D.C....
, Edmund Spangler
Edmund Spangler
Edmund Spangler , also known as Edman, Edward, and Ned Spangler, was originally from York, Pennsylvania, but he spent the majority of his life in the Baltimore, Maryland area...
and Samuel Mudd
Samuel Mudd
Samuel Alexander Mudd I, M.D. was an American physician who was convicted and imprisoned for aiding and conspiring with John Wilkes Booth in the 1865 assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. He was pardoned by President Andrew Johnson and released from prison in 1869...
. The government attempted to prove he had stalked Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
on the nights of April 13 and April 14 with the intent to kill and murder. This was not proven, but there was no doubt O'Laughlen was a willing conspirator through late March. He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.
Prison
O'Laughlen was sent to Fort JeffersonDry Tortugas National Park
Dry Tortugas National Park preserves Fort Jefferson and the Dry Tortugas section of the Florida Keys. The park covers 101 mi2 , mostly water, about 68 statute miles west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico....
in the Dry Tortugas
Dry Tortugas
The Dry Tortugas are a small group of islands, located at the end of the Florida Keys, USA, about west of Key West, and west of the Marquesas Keys, the closest islands. Still further west is the Tortugas Bank, which is completely submerged. The first Europeans to discover the islands were the...
with Spangler, Arnold, and Mudd. He contracted yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
on September 19, 1867. Four days later, he seemed to be feeling better. Sentries reported he was up and about. But suddenly he collapsed, and Dr. Mudd tended to him most of the night. Dr. Mudd tried his best to save him, but O'Laughlen became yet another victim of the yellow fever outbreak that swept through the prison.
After death
On 13 February 1869, PresidentPresident of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States . As Vice-President of the United States in 1865, he succeeded Abraham Lincoln following the latter's assassination. Johnson then presided over the initial and contentious Reconstruction era of the United States following the American...
ordered O'Laughlen's remains to be turned over to his mother. His body was then sent north to Baltimore. He was buried in Baltimore in Green Mount Cemetery. John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...
and Samuel Arnold
Samuel Arnold (Lincoln conspirator)
Samuel Bland Arnold was involved in the plot to kidnap President Abraham Lincoln in 1865.He and the other conspirators, John Wilkes Booth, David Herold, Lewis Powell, Michael O'Laughlen and John Surratt, were to kidnap Lincoln and hold him to exchange for the Confederate prisoners in Washington D.C....
were also buried in the same cemetery.
In popular culture
He is a character in National Treasure: Book of Secrets. Among the film's many historical inaccuracies, O'Laughlen is portrayed as a middle-aged man (he was actually 24 years old in April 1865), and a member of the Knights of the Golden CircleKnights of the Golden Circle
The Knights of the Golden Circle was a secret society. Some researchers believe the objective of the KGC was to prepare the way for annexation of a golden circle of territories in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean for inclusion in the United States as slave states...
.