Although a staunch friend and ally of Abraham Lincoln , when Edwin Stanton engaged in a post-assassination flap with Ewing 's brother-in-law William T. Sherman over final surrender terms to the Southern armies , Ewing agreed to represent two of John Ford 's ( of Ford 's theater ) employees in the Lincoln conspiracy trials . Through Orville Browning , Ewing 's Washington law partner , Dr. Samuel Mudd 's family also sought Ewing 's legal help . Ewing also represented Samuel Arnold and Edmund Spangler during the trial . Ewing 's efforts kept all three men from the gallows , but other conspirators were hanged . For their roles in the assassination , Mudd , Arnold and Spangler were sentenced to federal prison at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas off Key West , Florida
Lincoln conspiracy trials
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Thomas Ewing Jr.