John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth ( A man with a mission) is known as killing one of our U . S presidents, Abraham Lincoln. How did he do it when did he do it and where did he do it at? Lincoln helping abolish slavery state by state to try to stop the civil war. John Wilkes Booth as he was known as a professional actor before the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Today his life is often forgotten and is also overlooked in schools around the world John Wilkes Booth was born on May 10, 1838 in a log house. The family home was on property near Bel Air, Maryland, twenty- five miles south of the Mason- Dixon