If you say that a person’s Name Is Mud you are saying that they are unpopular or completely out of favour due to some act. The phrase doesn’t actually origin with the substance, mud, at all, though the allusion fits and is probably thee main reason it has become popular. In 1865 John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln in the Ford Theater, Washington DC. Booth broke his leg as he made his escape, but managed to reach his horse and ride away. When he reached the countryside he went to the house of Dr Samuel Mudd who then treated his injury. Mudd had no idea of the events of the evening but, hearing of the assassination the following day, he straight away informed the authorities. Despite being innocent, the doctor was arrested and later convicted of conspiracy. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, thankfully being pardoned and released from jail in 1869. However, the American public never forgave him for his implied involvement and it would be another hundred years before Mudd was finally declared innocent.