 Strongly opposed to the abolitionists who sought to end slavery in the U.S. , Booth attended the hanging on December 2 , 1859 , of abolitionist leader John Brown , who was executed for leading a raid on the Federal armory at Harpers Ferry ( in present @-@ day West Virginia ) . Booth had been rehearsing at the Richmond Theatre when he abruptly decided to join the Richmond Grays , a volunteer militia of 1 @,@ 500 men travelling to Charles Town for Brown 's hanging , to guard against an attempt by abolitionists to rescue Brown from the gallows by force . When Brown was hanged without incident , Booth stood in uniform near the scaffold and afterwards expressed great satisfaction with Brown 's fate , although he admired the condemned man 's bravery in facing death stoically . 
