This guy is not in a boy band.
He died in 1865 - long before boy bands became a thing.
The guy pictured here could be mistaken for a boy band member, or even for a Calvin Klein model. His facial expression, his hair style and even the way the photographer chose to capture this moment add to the impression that we are looking at a contemporary photograph.
This colorized photograph first appeared in my first book, The Colour of Time (buy it, it’s great).
However, 21-years old Lewis Powell was not a boy band member, neither his photograph was taken in modern days. Powell is in handcuffs because he was involved in the plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. When Alexander Gardner took his photograph, in 1865, he was on board a ship (USS Saugus), held in federal custody, awaiting the trial that would determine his fate.
Around the same time that John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865, Powell (aka. Lewis Payne) attempted - but failed - to assassinate Secretary of State William Seward.
That night, at approximately 10:15 P.M, he entered Seward's bed chamber and began attacking him with a large knife. Seward was wearing a neck brace, which cushioned the blows and saved his life. Powell injured five people in total during his wild rampage, including Seward’s son. He managed to escape, but was apprehended four days later at the boarding house of fellow conspirator Mary Surratt - who was also arrested though Powell maintained that she was innocent.
Lewis Powell and the other seven conspirators involved in the plot was charged with conspiracy and attempted murder.
Powell, David Herold, George Atzerodt, and Mary Surratt were found guilty and hanged. Edman Spangler received a six-year sentence. Samuel A. Mudd, Michael O'Laughlen, and Samuel Arnold were sentenced to life imprisonment.
