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Henry Rathbone

Henry Rathbone


Henry Reed Rathbone (July 1, 1837 – August 14, 1911) was an American military officer and lawyer who was present at the assassination of PresidentAbraham Lincoln; Rathbone and his fiancée Clara Harris were sitting with Lincoln and Lincoln's wife Mary Todd Lincoln when the president was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865.

When Rathbone attempted to apprehend Booth, Booth stabbed and seriously wounded him. Rathbone may have played a part in Booth's leg injury. His mental state deteriorated afterwards, and in 1883, he killed his wife, Clara; he was declared insane and lived the rest of his life in a lunatic asylum.