Madeleine Mitchell's Blog - Posts Tagged "lewis-powell"
The Terrible Lewis Powell
Lewis Thornton Powell was 21 years of age when he was hanged as one of the Lincoln Assassination Conspirators. Even by today's standards he was extremely good looking and mug shot photos of that time are remarkably contemporary.
Lewis seemed to have had a happy childhood that was carefree and enabled him to do all the things a young boy would do, fishing, studying, reading and caring for the sick animals on his father's farm. He was described by his siblings as being a caring, compassionate boy, who loved animals and seemed to be a natural healer. Whatever induced him to become such a savage killer will probably never be known.
History notes without exception that Powell was a brave soldier, an inherently compassionate person, well brought up, educated and raised in a loving though strict family. Four years of civil war must have have taken its toll on him, and who knows what his mind set was by the time he fell in with John Wilkes Booth. It might be argued that his part in the assassination brought him what he deserved, and it's safe to assume that Powell himself was the first to admit that he deserved to die for what he'd done. In fact, more than once he stated that he was ready to die and wished to do so. He is recorded as stating
'My course is run. I know now how foolish, vain and wholly useless it is and must have been, and were I set at liberty this morning, I should hope to be dead by sunset.'
Read about Powell here http://www.lewisthorntonpowell.com/
Lewis seemed to have had a happy childhood that was carefree and enabled him to do all the things a young boy would do, fishing, studying, reading and caring for the sick animals on his father's farm. He was described by his siblings as being a caring, compassionate boy, who loved animals and seemed to be a natural healer. Whatever induced him to become such a savage killer will probably never be known.
History notes without exception that Powell was a brave soldier, an inherently compassionate person, well brought up, educated and raised in a loving though strict family. Four years of civil war must have have taken its toll on him, and who knows what his mind set was by the time he fell in with John Wilkes Booth. It might be argued that his part in the assassination brought him what he deserved, and it's safe to assume that Powell himself was the first to admit that he deserved to die for what he'd done. In fact, more than once he stated that he was ready to die and wished to do so. He is recorded as stating
'My course is run. I know now how foolish, vain and wholly useless it is and must have been, and were I set at liberty this morning, I should hope to be dead by sunset.'
Read about Powell here http://www.lewisthorntonpowell.com/
