John Wilkes Booth

At the time of the Lincoln assassination, Thomas A. Jones was 45 years old and had spent the years of the American Civil War working "with zeal" in the Confederate cause in Southern Maryland. He primarily acted as an aid to Confederate spies moving through Charles County and helping the substantial intelligence network by moving mail. By the time that Jones wrote this account of having helped John Wilkes Booth escape, his assessment of Abraham Lincoln had gone through a transformation. As he tells us, the light of reason had been blinded and he now saw Lincoln as a good and great man. This is but one small piece of the drama that changed history. But Jones was there and was part of it. It's an important account that fills in the days between Booth's deed, and his capture and death.