09/29/2026
As the Civil War neared its bloody conclusion, actor John Wilkes Booth was performing on stage in Cleveland, Ohio. Reading newspaper headlines touting “black gold” being discovered in nearby Pennsylvania, Booth caught “oil fever” and began visiting the boom town of Franklin in January 1864. He soon took up residence in downtown Franklin and purchased an oil lease on Fuller Farm, now the site of Wildcat Mansion. Booth lost his life savings and left Franklin a spiraling, failed oilman in the fall of 1864. In the spring of 1865 he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. Join us Thursday, October 22 at 6 pm in the ballroom at Wildcat Mansion to hear Jon Bernstein speak about John Wilkes Booth’s time in Franklin and the community that received him. This is a free event open to the public, sponsored by the Venango Historical Society.
