Boston Corbett, the man who killed John Wilkes Booth. After his wife died in 1858, he castrated himself to avoid temptations of the flesh. After the war, he returned to being a hatter, and his life spiraled downward. He was sent to an asylum in 1888, escaped, lived in a cabin in the woods, and then disappeared. Hat-makers (who inhaled mercury fumes in their work) often developed organic brain syndromes (hence, "Mad as a hatter").Boston Corbett, the man who killed John Wilkes Booth. After his wife died in 1858, he castrated himself to avoid temptations of the flesh. After the war, he returned to being a hatter, and his life spiraled downward. He was sent to an asylum in 1888, escaped, lived in a cabin in the woods, and then disappeared. Hat-makers (who inhaled mercury fumes in their work) often developed organic brain syndromes (hence, "Mad as a hatter").
Boston Corbett, the man who killed John Wilkes Booth. After his wife died in 1858, he castrated himself to avoid temptations of the flesh. After the war, he returned to being a hatter, and his life spiraled downward. He was sent to an asylum in 1888, escaped, lived in a cabin in the woods, and then disappeared. Hat-makers (who inhaled mercury fumes in their work) often developed organic brain syndromes (hence, "Mad as a hatter").