John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth assassinated president Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s theater in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 1865. Booth was born near Bel Air, MD. His father, Junius Brutus Booth, and his brother Edwin Booth were famous actors, and John himself was one of the most promising performers of the time. He entered Lincoln’s private box and shot him in the head during the play our American Cousin. At first, Booth organized a group that planned to kidnap Lincoln and exchange him for captured confederate soldiers. Booth changed the plot to murder after the main confederate army surrendered on April 9, 1865. The group the