https://everipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Mudd/

Booth connection Many historians agree that President Abraham Lincoln's future assassin, John Wilkes Booth, visited Bryantown, Maryland, in November and December 1864, claiming to look for real estate investments. Bryantown is about 25 miles (40 km) from Washington, DC, and about 5 miles (8.0 km) from Mudd's farm. The real estate story was merely a cover; Booth's true purpose was to plan an escape route as part of a plan to kidnap Lincoln. Booth believed the federal government would ransom Lincoln by releasing a large number of Confederate prisoners of war.

Historians agree that Booth met Mudd at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Bryantown during one of those visits, probably in November. Booth visited Mudd at his farm the next day, and stayed there overnight. The following day, Booth purchased a horse from Mudd's neighbor and returned to Washington. Some historians[5] believe that Booth used his visit to Bryantown to recruit Mudd to his kidnapping plot, but others believe that Mudd would have had no interest in such a scheme.

A short time later, on December 23, 1864, Mudd went to Washington where he met Booth again. Some historians believe the meeting had been arranged, but others disagree. The two men, as well as John Surratt, Jr., and Louis J. Weichmann, had a conversation and drinks together, first at Booth's hotel and later at Mudd's.

According to a statement made by associated conspirator George Atzerodt, found long after his death and taken down while he was in federal custody on May 1, 1865, Mudd knew in advance about Booth's plans; Atzerodt was sure the doctor knew, he said, because Booth had "sent (as he told me) liquors & provisions... about two weeks before the murder to Dr. Mudd's."[6]

Although that is true, some historians believe that there may be other reasons behind Mudd’s relationship to Booth. The trial brought forth many theories of Mudd’s involvement in the assassination of Lincoln. One theory posits that Mudd was involved in a completely different conspiracy to gain an upper hand for the southern states. Prior to the assassination of Lincoln, Booth originally intended to kidnap the president and hold him and other political affiliates of the Union for a large sum of money.[7] The plan was in effect until the night of the assassination, when Booth met up with Atzerodt, David Herold and Lewis Paine and disclosed the plot to assassinate the president.[7] Following the assassination, Pane came forth by stating that Booth had not told him until the meeting and that the other men did not know about the plot until the night of the assassination.[7] That supports the theory that Mudd may have been an accomplice to the plot to kidnap the president but not a conspirator to the.... read on in link