Treasury Salute: Edwin Booth

During World War II the Treasury sponsored radio salutes to great Americans of history.  The above video is their salute to Edwin Booth.

Perhaps the finest American Shakespearian actor of his day, Booth was the son of Junius Brutus Booth, most assuredly the finest American Shakespearian actor of his day, and the brother of John Wilkes Booth.  Junius Brutus Booth threatened to assassinate President Andrew Jackson, read about it here, and John Wilkes Booth of course did assassinate President Abraham Lincoln.  Edwin Booth, who supported the Union as much as his brother did the Confederacy, saved the life of Robert Lincoln, the son of Abraham Lincoln in late 1864 or early 1865.  Lincoln recalled the incident in 1909:

The incident occurred while a group of passengers were late at night purchasing their sleeping car places from the conductor who stood on the station platform at the entrance of the car. The platform was about the height of the car floor, and there was of course a narrow space between the platform and the car body. There was some crowding, and I happened to be pressed by it against the car body while waiting my turn. In this situation the train began to move, and by the motion I was twisted off my feet, and had dropped somewhat, with feet downward, into the open space, and was personally helpless, when my coat collar was vigorously seized and I was quickly pulled up and out to a secure footing on the platform. Upon turning to thank my rescuer I saw it was Edwin Booth, whose face was of course well known to me, and I expressed my gratitude to him, and in doing so, called him by name.

The incident was recalled by the Chicago Tribune immediately after the assassination of Lincoln, to remind its readers that Edwin Booth had nothing to do with the murder of Lincoln by his brother:

And here it is only thoughtful and honest to say that the Union cause has had no stronger and more generous supporter than Mr. Edwin Booth. From the commencement he has been earnestly and actively solicitous for the  triumph of our arms and the welfare of our soldiers. An incident — a trifle in itself — may be recalled at this moment when the profound monotony of grief overwhelms us. Not a month since, Mr. Edwin Booth was proceeding to Washington. At Trenton there was a general scramble to reach the cars, which had started leaving many behind in the refreshment saloon. Mr. Edwin Booth was preceded by a gentleman whose foot slipped as he was stepping upon the platform, and who would have fallen at once beneath the wheels had not Mr. Edwin Booth’s arm sustained him. The gentleman remarked that he had a narrow escape of his life, and was thankful to his preserver. It was Robert Lincoln, the son of that great, good man who now lies dead before our blistered eyes, and whose name we cannot mention without choking.

Edwin Booth Speaks!

A follow up to my post yesterday.  Edwin Booth died in 1893.  He lived just long enough to see the beginnings of sound recording technology.  In 1890 he recorded a few lines from Othello:

Henry V Times Four

Americans in the Nineteenth Century liked to be entertained just as much as their descendants do.  One of their favorite forms of entertainment was the plays of Shakespeare.  Amateur performances and traveling troupes of actors and actresses would normally play to packed houses whenever a Shakespeare play was presented.  Illiterate men and women not uncommonly would have memorized lines from Shakespeare, and the literate peppered their letters with quotations from the Bard.  The family of Junius Brutus Booth specialized in bringing Shakespeare to the entire nation, including the wildest mining camps of the old West.  After Lincoln was murdered by John Wilkes Booth, his brother Edwin, a fervent supporter of the Union and Lincoln and who saved Robert Lincoln’s life a few months before his brother took the life of Lincoln’s father, battled for years to overcome the shame of his brother’s crime as depicted in this episode of the Sixties western Branded.

Of course all this merely an excuse for me to post the Henry V video!   I have always loved this speech, and one video containing four perormances of the “band of brothers” speech from Henry V is too sweet not to share with our readers.  Courage, memory and love are powerful motivators, and this speech is a reminder of just how powerful: