12. The Booth Family Was a Theatrical Dynasty
The Booth family was renowned in the theatrical world; John’s father, Junius Brutus Booth, and his older brother, Edwin Booth, were acclaimed actors. Edwin, in particular, was celebrated for his Shakespearean performances and was considered one of the greatest American actors of the 19th century. In a striking and ironic twist, Edwin saved Robert Todd Lincoln, President Abraham Lincoln’s son, from a potentially fatal accident at a train station in Jersey City, New Jersey, in the early 1860s. This incident is detailed in the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s records (gilderlehrman.org).
