Edmund Spangler (1825 - 1875)

Born 10 Aug 1825 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States

Ancestors

Died 7 Feb 1875 at age 49 in Waldorf, Charles, Maryland, United States

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Biography

Edmund Spangler is Notable.

Edmund [Edman] Spangler was born on 10 August 1825 and baptized on 9 December 1825 in York, York County, Pennsylvania, USA. He was the son of William Spangler and 1. Anna Maria "Mary" Zinn (Behney) ^[1]

NOTE: Edmund Spangler has also been referred to as Edward, Edman, and Ned Spangler.

Husband of Mary Brashears 1815–1864

Edman (Ned) Spangler was originally from York, Pennsylvania, but he spent the majority of his life in the Baltimore area. At one time he worked at the Booth family estate at Bel Air, Maryland. During the Civil War, he came to Washington and began working as a carpenter and sceneshifter at Ford's Theatre. He was acquainted with the actor John Wilkes Booth and often took care of Booth's horse when he was at the theater. While working there, Spangler often slept in the theater itself or in a stable in back of the theater. He was not connected to the kidnapping plan of President Abraham Lincoln, but Edmund Spangler was found guilty and sentenced to six years in prison.

After years of petitions from Dr. Mudd's wife, Spangler's former boss John T. Ford and his attorney Thomas Ewing Jr., he was later pardoned by President Andrew Johnson. After arriving back home, Spangler went to work at the Holliday Street Theatre in Baltimore for his old boss John T. Ford, the former owner of Ford's Theatre where President Lincoln was shot. When the Holliday Street Theatre burned down in 1873, Spangler accepted an offer to live at Dr. Mudd's farm in Bryantown, Maryland (The two men had become friends in prison). Dr. and Mrs. Mudd gave him 5 acres (20,000 m2) of land to farm. Spangler also performed carpentry chores in the neighborhood. In his final years, Spangler converted to Catholicism.

In February 1875, Edmund Spangler became ill with a respiratory ailment, likely tuberculosis, after working in a winter rainstorm. He died on 7 February 1875. He was buried in a graveyard connected with St. Peter's Church which was about two miles (3 km) from Dr. Mudd's home in Charles County, Maryland ^[2] He was buried in the southeast corner of Saint Peters Cemetery (near Poplar Road) in Waldorf, Charles County, Maryland. A grave marker was placed on his grave site in 1983.^[3]

Lincoln Assassination Conspirator. Although convicted by the court, his role in the conspiracy is doubted by many. Born in York, Pennsylvania, he spent the majority of his life in Baltimore, Maryland. During the Civil War, he came to Washington, D. C., and began working as a carpenter and scene shifter at Ford's Theater, often sleeping in the theater or in the stable in the back of the theater. On the afternoon of 14 April 1865, Mr. Ford asked him to prepare the state box for the President's visit that evening. He brought in furniture and removed the portion between two boxes, allowing them to be made into one large box. At 9:30 pm that evening, actor John Wilkes Booth arrived at the theater and asked Spangler to hold his horse for him, while he went into the theater. Spangler, who had work inside the theater to do, asked Joseph Burroughs, another Ford's Theater employee, to hold the horse. Immediately after the assassination, there was a lot of commotion backstage, and Jacob Ritterspaugh, another Ford Theater worker, chased after Booth, but told the court that Spangler hit him in the face and told him, "Don't say which way he went." Spangler was arrested on April 17, and charged with being an accomplice to Booth. He was found guilty of conspiracy, and was sentenced to six years in prison. Three other conspirators, Dr. Samuel Mudd, Samuel Arnold and Michael O'Laughlen were given life in prison, and all four men were sent to Fort Jefferson, Florida, in the Dry Tortugas, to serve out their sentences. On 1 March 1869, President Andrew Johnson pardoned Spangler and Arnold, and both men were released. After his release, he traveled to Dr. Mudd's home (Mudd had been released three weeks earlier than Spangler), as the two men had become friends in prison, and Mudd gave him five acres of land to farm. Edmund Spangler died there in 1875. After Spangler's death, Mudd found a statement in Spangler's tool chest, in which Spangler stated that he never heard Booth speak of politics, hatred of Lincoln, or anything of the conspiracy. When he heard the shot, he saw a man he did not immediately recognize run across the stage, and he denied aiding Booth in any manner whatsoever. NOTE: Bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson, on Find A Grave memorial

NOTE: SOURCE OF SPANGLER'S STATEMENT: pp. 322-326 of The Life of Dr. Samuel A. Mudd by Nettie Mudd (Linden, Tennessee, Continental Book Company, 1975).

Sources

1. ↑ Pennsylvania and New Jersey, U.S., Church and Town Records 1669-2013; Baptism; denomination: United Church of Christ; organization: Trinity Reformed Church (United Church of Christ); for Edmund Spengler [Edmund Spengler], born: 10 August 1825; baptism: 9 December 1825 in York, York County, Pennsylvania, USA; (parents: Anna Maria & Wm. Spengler)
2. ↑ Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates 1906-1967 for E. E. Spangler, born: Pennsylvania; Spouse: Mary Carper; Child: Anna Elizabeth Rupp
3. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #4296 for Edman Spangler

• 1850 USA Census of of York South Ward, York, Pennsylvania; citing dwelling#269; family#294; which included:

64 Spangler William

53 Spangler Sarah (wife)

29 Spangler Theador

24 Spangler Edwin, born: circa 1826 Pennsylvania; OccupaTion: Carpenter in construction

22 Spangler Rebecca

16 Spangler Mary Sam

29 Jacobs Theador

• 1860 USA Census of Ward#6, Baltimore, Baltimore County, Maryland; citing dwelling#192; family#148; which included:

35 Spangler Edward, born: circa 1825 Pennsylvania; Occupation: Carpenter

45 Spangler Mary (wife)

28 Maxwell William

19 Maxwell Elizabeth.

• U.S., City Directories 1822-1995:

- 1871 Baltimore, Maryland, City Directory for Edmund Spangler, Occupation: Carpenter; Residence: 39 Edward Street in Baltimore, Maryland, USA

- 1872 Baltimore, Maryland, City Directory for Edmund Spangler, Occupation: Carpenter; Residence: Baltimore, Maryland, USA

See Also

• http://www.muddresearch.com/

• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/assassination-co-conspirators/

• https://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln24.html

• Biography & Genealogy Master Index (BGMI) citing "Historical Dictionary of the Civil War" by Terry L. Jones & Scarecrow Press of of Lanham, Maryland in 2002; Historical Dictionaries of War, Revolution, and Civil Unrest #18 (His Dc CW); Who Was Who in the Civil War by Stewart Sifakis. New York: Facts on File 1988 (WhCiWar); for Edward Spangler, died: 1875

• Bogar, Thomas A. Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination (Washington, D.C.: Regnery History, 2013).

• The Wikitree Our American Cousin Free Space Page

• Wikipedia: Edmund Spangler
• Wikidata: Item Q3048133, en:Wikipedia