RICK: How can help you?
I have this antique lap desk and--
OK.
Oh, so you have a really old laptop?
Yes.
[laughter]
It's a really cool item.
It's been a few years since I've seen one of these.
Well, there's something kind of special about this one,
though.
OK.
This one was made by Dr. Mudd after he was convicted
of conspiracy with John Wilkes Booth
after John Wilkes Booth shot the president.
[gunshot]
SUE: It's interesting for me because I'm a teacher.
And I thought, perhaps, I might be able to get the lap
desk back to the family that it belonged to,
or pay off my house, if I could sell it.
[laughs]
RICK: So this was Dr. Mudd's.
SUE: Yes.
Interesting.
What happened was is John Wilkes Booth broke his ankle jumping
from the stage, trying to get away out of Ford's Theater,
ended up showing up at Mudd's house.
Mudd treated him.
Mudd claimed later that he had no idea who this guy was,
didn't know that he killed the president, anything like that.
And it later turned out, he did.
He ended up being convicted.
He was one of the few ones that was not hanged.
John Wilkes Booth might have pulled the trigger,
but he wasn't the only person involved.
Eight people were tried for the murder of Lincoln,
and four of them were executed.
One of the conspirators actually fled the country
and got all the way to Egypt before he was captured.
All right.
We have MWK.
That's definitely not Samuel Mudd.
SUE: Right.
It stands for Mary W. Keeffe.
RICK: OK.
SUE: Dr. Mudd was working in the carpenter shop in prison,
and he put these initials on here for the guard's
wife, Mary W. Keeffe.
RICK: All right.
So, Mudd, after the assassination of Lincoln,
he made this for one of the prison guard's wife?
SUE: Right.
RICK: All right.
How did you come up with it?
SUE: My mother lived next door to the lady that had it.
My mother collected antiques, so she gave her $2,500.
So, the lady your mother got it from,
was she from the Keeffe family?
SUE: That was my understanding.
[sighs] Is this all handed down
information from the family?
Or do you have any paperwork?
I have lots of paperwork.
Anything to do with Lincoln's assassination is a big deal.
But this sounds like a really complicated storyline.
I'm going to have to see a lot of paperwork.
RICK: All right.
And this is Captain Keeffe and his wife?
SUE: Yes.
RICK: OK.
But where is the paperwork that says this was made by Mudd?
Back here, this is the first letter from Dr. Richard Mudd,
Dr. Samuel Mudd's grandson, referring to the desk,
wanting to know if he would be willing to part with it.
I have a very few of my grandfather's things,
and this desk would be extremely welcome.
So, he's asking for the desk.
SUE: Right.
RICK: All this paperwork came with the box?
SUE: Yes.
All right.
This is really interesting.
My big question is, what do you want for it?
$100,000.
RICK: [sighs] We're talking a lot of money.
You have paperwork here.
I just want to make sure everything jives correctly.
Do you mind if I have someone look at this?
Rare historical items like this don't come in the shop
that often.
But $100,000 is a huge amount.
I'm going to have Mark come in, make
sure it's 100% legit before I can even discuss a price.
She has a lap desk that she says was made by Samuel Mudd.
Really?
Kind of interesting.
Do you mind if I take a closer look at the box itself?
As a member of the conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln,
his role was not a major one.
But he was involved in it, and that's
why Samuel Mudd was catapulted into the role
of being one of the great criminals in American history.
MARK: What a nice little lap desk.
This would have been great to travel with.
Now, there are some other pieces that he made in prison--
SUE: Mm-hmm.
MARK: --you know.
And this is very similar in the way that it's made.
RICK: She's got a lot of paperwork on-- she's
got one guy who was a guard, this
is the initials of his wife that it was supposed to be given to.
SUE: Mary W. Keeffe.
MARK: Oh. OK.
Joseph Keeffe. SUE: Yes.
MARK: OK.
I've heard of him.
You know, when you're doing research,
you run into things sometimes.
SUE: Sure.
MARK: This guy was in the army for decades.
He was with the 5th Artillery.
This is actually good, because the 5th Artillery
Company L that he was with was actually
assigned to Fort Jefferson.
So, he would have been there at the time that Samuel
Mudd was in the carpentry shop.
He would have been one of the few people
that could have been in a position to have received it.
SUE: Mm-hmm.
The Joseph Keeffe connection fits, the time period,
fits the style.
The way that it's made seems absolutely correct.
This is cool.
This, I think, is actually something
that was made by Samuel Mudd.
Well, thanks for everything today.
Not a problem.
This was interesting.
Thanks.
[music playing]
[sigh] You know, if it was Mudd's medical kit
that he used on Booth, I think that
would bring pretty good money.
It's got a great story with it.
And that's why I think it's probably
worth closer to $5,000.
But there's no way it would go for $100,000.
You know, $100,000, that buys you a lot of history.
I have personal possessions of John F. Kennedy
that go for less than $100,000.
So, I'd be willing to pay you like $2,500.
I don't think you're going to go from $100,000 to $2,500.
No, I'm not.
That's the best you could do?
Yes.
$100,000 is just-- it would never happen, not at the best
auction of the best auctions.
Well, thanks for letting me see it.
I really appreciate it.
The offer that he gave me wasn't acceptable to me.
I'm just going to continue to pursue
some other ideas of getting it sold in another way.