Boston Corbett, the self-castrated hat maker who killed Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Photographed by Mathew Brady circa 1880 (635×861)
Boston Corbett, the self-castrated hat maker who killed Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Photographed by Mathew Brady circa 1880 (635×861)
When asked why he shot Booth, Boston replied, “God Almighty directed me to.”
In 1886, Corbett was institutionalised after a mental breakdown but escaped in 1888. He vanished, with rumours suggesting he may have perished in the Great Hinckley Fire of 1894 or fled to Mexico.
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When asked why he shot Booth, Boston replied, “God Almighty directed me to.”
In 1886, Corbett was institutionalised after a mental breakdown but escaped in 1888. He vanished, with rumours suggesting he may have perished in the Great Hinckley Fire of 1894 or fled to Mexico.
Whether it was his profession as a hatmaker that influenced his decision to castrate himself, I’m unsure. [More about his escapades here.](https://www.utterlyinteresting.com/post/meet-boston-corbett-the-self-castrated-hat-maker-who-killed-abraham-lincoln-s-assassin-john-wilkes)
Dude has an absolutely wild story. I don’t think it’s fair to say he was a *bad* person or anything like that, but he certainly wasn’t normal