Upon reading a few chapters in the new release, “Cabinet of Curiosities: A Historical Tour of the Unbelievable, the Unsettling, and the Bizarre,” a compilation of history’s strangest stories, readers may come away thinking, “Nah, that can’t be.” But wait. This reviewer felt the same until confirming one example of an unbelievable tale concerning Abraham Lincoln.
The Tale of Edwin Booth
We’re all too familiar with John Wilkes Booth, and his role in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865, but in this story called “Acting Out,” the author Aaron Mahnke focuses on John’s brother, Edwin. More successful and well known for his acting than his brother, Edwin had been touring with an international acting group and returned to the United States in 1864 to a country at war. As Edwin stood on a New Jersey train platform one day, he noticed a young man being pushed towards the train. As it pulled away, it caught the man, knocking him over. With quick reflexes, Edwin caught the young man and pulled him back to safety.Recognizing Edwin, the young man thanked him and relayed the story to his Union Army commanding officer; that officer wrote to the actor to thank him for saving his recruit, Robert Todd Lincoln, the President’s son. Edwin was unaware of his brother’s deadly plan, but in the years to come, the author wrote, rather than dwell on the dishonor brought on the Booth family, he chose to focus on the good deed he’d performed.
