Somebody Was in Trouble

Q: Dear "new" 2008 100 Hour Board:
My question is, what is the origin meaning of the statement "Your name is mud"?
Regards,
R

A: Dear R-
There is some confusion in this idiom, its origin misattributed to a historical news story that is at least fitting. Either way the phrase means that you are unpopular, or have a bad reputation.

First the misattributed origin.

Moments after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at the theatre (in 1865), the shooter, John Wilkes Booth jumped from the President's box to the stage and broke his leg. While on the run, Booth and his accomplices stopped at Dr. Samuel Mudd's house in Maryland, a doctor who without knowing about the assassination, set Booth's leg. Mudd was convicted of being a conspirator, although he was later pardoned. But from that time on, Mudd's name has associated with a bad reputation - and we therefore tell people - your name is mud.

But - this idiom first appeared in Badcock's (aka 'J. Bee’) Slang (an idiom dictionary) in 1823. The entry reads:
"Mud - a stupid twaddling fellow. ‘And his name is mud!’ ejaculated upon the conclusion of a silly oration, or of a leader in the Courier."
Regards,
Spitting Image of Monkey's Uncle