'Manhunt' on Apple TV+: Inside Mary Simms' testimony that pinned Dr Mudd in Abraham Lincoln's assassination
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: ‘Manhunt’, Apple TV+'s miniseries, starring Tobias Menzies as Edwin Stanton, Anthony Boyle as John Wilkes Booth, Lovie Simone as Mary Simms, Matt Walsh as Dr. Samuel Mudd, and Hamish Linklater as Abraham Lincoln, revolves around Lincoln's assassination.
The story of the first American political assassination is vividly portrayed in this new series. ‘Manhunt’ tells the story of Lincoln's assassination and the subsequent mobilization to capture his killer.
Mary Simms in ‘Manhunt’
In "Manhunt," John Wilkes Booth is portrayed engaging with Mary Simms, whose demeanor reflects visible fear in response to his presence. Their interactions add tension to the narrative as Booth's threatening behavior starkly contrasts with Simms' fearful response.
Lovie Simone, who is best known for her role as Zora Greenleaf in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series ‘Greenleaf’, takes on the pivotal role of Mary Simms in ‘Manhunt’.
She is also known for her films ‘Monster’, ‘Share’, ‘Selah and the Spades’, ‘The Craft: Legacy’, ‘The Walk’ and ‘57 Seconds’.
The True Story of Mary Simms
On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth, an actor, shot President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC, United States, marking one of the darkest moments in American history.
Just six hours after Booth shot Lincoln, he arrived at the home of Dr Samuel Mudd seeking medical treatment, as reported by Ford's Theatre.
Mudd's actions that night had lasting consequences, as he was arrested and later tried as a conspirator in Lincoln's assassination.
During the trial, the prosecution presented five witnesses who had been enslaved by Mudd, as well as two others who had been enslaved by Mudd's neighbors, to testify against him.
Mary Simms was the first witness to take the stand. In her testimony, she revealed that she had been enslaved by Mudd for several years, as reported by LincolnConspirators. Her revelations played a crucial role in establishing a narrative connecting Mudd to Booth and the assassination plot.
Mary Simms's testimony shed light on Dr. Mudd's alleged Confederate sympathies
During her testimony, Mary Simms was questioned about Mudd's actions during the Civil War.
She recounted an incident from the summer of 1864 when she observed several men dressed in Confederate uniforms hiding and camping on the Mudd property. According to her testimony, Mudd had not only provided these men with accommodation but also offered them food.
Her testimony proved that Mudd was not just a typical slaveholding Confederate sympathizer, but an active agent working for their cause, as reported by LincolnConspirators.
She also claimed that she saw John Surratt, an American Confederate spy who was accused of plotting with Booth to kidnap Lincoln, and other Confederate agents at the Mudd farm on their way to and from Virginia.
Simms testified that Surratt and the other men would hide in the woods near the farm and occasionally visit the Mudd house.
Simms also stated that Mudd would occasionally threaten to send her down to Richmond to build batteries for the Confederacy if she did not work hard enough.
Elzee Eglent, an African American man formerly enslaved by Mudd, also corroborated Simms' testimony, confirming that men dressed in Confederate clothes were known to hide in the woods around the Mudd property.
Simms, who was in her early twenties, left the Mudd farm shortly after Maryland's new state constitution came into effect in November 1864, which abolished slavery in the state.
