Have you ever heard of the expression, “Your name will be mud?” Do you know where it originated? Samuel Alexander Mudd was the doctor who set John Wilkes Booth’s leg after Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln in Ford’s Theater in 1865. Mudd claimed he didn’t recognize Booth–didn’t really know him. But a military court thought otherwise. He was found guilty as an accessory after the fact in the assassination and was sentenced to life in a federal prison.
But that’s not the end of the story. While in prison, Mudd saved the lives of many prisoners and guards during a yellow fever epidemic. In 1869 he was pardoned by President Andrew Johnson. However, his name persists to this day as one of derision. A name is a hard thing to shake and so is the reputation that it stands for.
Ecclesiates 7:1 says, “A good name is better than fine perfume.”
Also, Proverbs 22:1 says, “A good name is more desirable than great riches.”