Rich Hill, near Bel Alton, Maryland, was owned by Colonel Samuel Cox, a Confederate sympathizer during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. Following the

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

of President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

on April 14, 1865, Cox hid assassin

John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, assassinated United States president Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the p ...

and his companion,

David Herold David Edgar Herold (June 16, 1842 – July 7, 1865) was an American pharmacist's assistant and accomplice of John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. After the shooting, Herold accompanied Booth to the home o ...

, in a swamp near Rich Hill. Booth and Herold left the property on April 21, crossing the

Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

in a small boat. Following Booth's capture, Cox was tried and convicted of aiding Booth, receiving a light sentence. The house is significant in its own right, showing characteristic features of southern Maryland house construction. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1975.

References

External links

*, including photo in 1975, at Maryland Historical Trust Houses in Charles County, Maryland Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Houses completed in 1825 Assassination of Abraham Lincoln Maryland in the American Civil War National Register of Historic Places in Charles County, Maryland {{CharlesCountyMD-NRHP-stub