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| David Edgar Herold | |
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 Herold at the Washington Navy Yard after his arrest, 1865.
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| Born | June 16, 1842 Maryland |
| Died | July 7, 1865 (aged 23) Washington, D.C. |
| Conviction(s) | Conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln |
| Penalty | Death by hanging |
| Status | Deceased |
| Occupation | Pharmacist |
| Parents | Adam and Mary Porter Herold |
David Edgar Herold (June 16, 1842 – July 7, 1865) conspired with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. After leading co-conspirator Lewis Powell to the home of Secretary of State William H. Seward, whom Powell intended to kill, Herold escaped. Herold assisted Booth to the home of Dr. Samuel Mudd, after Booth had broken his leg, and remained with him until the authorities found them. Booth was shot and killed and Herold was apprehended. After having admitted his participation in the conspiracy, Herold was tried and sentenced to death by hanging. The sentence was carried out on July 7, 1865.
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Biography
Early life
Herold was born in Maryland, the sixth of ten children of Adam and Mary Porter Herold. He grew up in a large brick house near the Washington Navy Yard, attended Gonzaga College High School, Georgetown College, and Rittenhouse Academy, and worked as a pharmacist and as a clerk for a doctor. He also was an avid hunter. Herold attended Charlotte Hall Academy, where he met John Surratt, who introduced him to Booth.
For a time in 1864, Herold was employed in Brooklyn, New York, by Francis Tumblety, a quack "Indian Herb" doctor who would be arrested in St. Louis, Missouri in the manhunt following the Lincoln assassination and then released. Years later, Tumblety would be numbered among the Jack the Ripper suspects.
Assassination plot
On the night of April 14, 1865, Herold guided Lewis Powell (Lewis Payne) to the house of Lincoln's Secretary of State, William H. Seward. Inside, Powell attempted to kill Seward, severely wounding him and other members of his household. The ensuing commotion frightened Herold and he rode off, leaving Powell to fend for himself.
It was at this time that John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln at Ford's Theater. During the assassination, Booth broke his leg. Despite this injury, Booth escaped Washington into Maryland, and by pre-arrangement met up with Herold. Herold assisted Booth to the home of Dr. Samuel Mudd, where Booth's leg was set. Herold remained with Booth and continually aided him until the authorities caught up with them. Herold and Booth were cornered by authorities on April 26, 1865, after taking refuge in a barn. Herold surrendered, but Booth refused to lay down his arms and was killed by Sergeant Boston Corbett.
Herold was tried before a military tribunal. Having already admitted his involvement in the assassination conspiracy, his defense was that he was feeble-minded and under undue influence from Booth. He was hanged in Washington, D.C. and is interred in the Congressional Cemetery there next to his sister Marion.
Cultural references
Gore Vidal's fictionalised account of Lincoln's presidency, Lincoln, includes a heavy focus on David Herold. In the Afterword, where Vidal explains the extent to which his novel is true to fact, he writes "As David's life is largely unknown until Booth's conspiracy, I have invented a low-life for him."
References
External links
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