"THEY WALKED BY THEIR OWN FRESHLY DUG GRAVES THEN SLOWLY CLIMBED THE SCAFFOLD"

FOUR CONSPIRATORS IN LINCOLN ASSASSINATION ARE HANGED

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On July 7, 1865, four convicted conspirators in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln were hanged at the Arsenal Penitentiary here in the Nation's Capital.

The conspirators included 43 year old Mary Surratt who ran a boardinghouse where the assassination plot was "hatched."  She was the first woman to be hanged by the government of the United States.

Mrs. Surratt's son, John, also implicated in the plot, was able to escape capture and although he was finally brought to trial in 1867 on a charge of  "conspiracy and treason," the case was dismissed.

Along with Mrs. Surratt, George Atzerodt, David Herold and Lewis Powell were hanged.  The ringleader, John Wilkes Booth, after having been surrounded in a tobacco barn in Virginia, died just 2 weeks after Lincoln's murder.

Mary Surratt, who wore a black dress, bonnet and veil, led the procession of prisoners out of their cells at 1:15 p.m. local time.  They walked by "their own freshly dug graves, each with a raw pine coffin beside it" and then "slowly climbed the scaffold."

Soldiers tied the prisoner's hands behind their backs and put white hoods on their heads.  At 2 p.m., the hinged trap supports on the scaffold were knocked away "and the prisoners plunged down."

SOURCE

"The Civil War:  The Assassination, Death of a President," Time-Life Books, by Champ Clark and the Editors of Time-Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia, 1987.

Mary Surratt House Marker
Washington, D.C.
June 11, 2016
Photos by John White

"THEY WALKED BY THEIR FRESHLY DUG GRAVES EACH WITH A PINE COFFIN BESIDE IT"

CONSPIRATORS IN LINCOLN ASSASSINATION HANGED

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On July 7, 1865, four convicted conspirators in the plot to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln were hanged at the Arsenal Penitentiary here in the Nation's Capital.  The conspirators included Mrs. Mary Surratt*,  a woman who ran a boardinghouse here in Washington where the assassination plot, according to President Andrew Johnson, was "hatched." 

At trial the most damaging evidence against Mrs. Surratt was presented by John Lloyd who rented the Surratt House** in Maryland.  He said that three of the conspirators came to the tavern a few weeks before the assassination to drop off two carbines, ammunition and rope.  They asked Lloyd to conceal these items and twice before the night of April 14, 1865, Mrs. Surratt told Lloyd to have the "shooting irons" ready.

Another witness at trial testified that he was with Mr. Lloyd when they heard the news of the assassination.  This witness heard Lloyd say..."Oh, Mrs. Surratt, that vile woman...has ruined me."

Five of nine commissioners handing down the sentence of death by hanging to Mary Surratt and her fellow conspirators included a request to President Johnson to reduce her sentence to life imprisonment.  He did not.

The forty-three year old Mrs. Surratt was the first woman to be hanged by the government of the United States.  Her son, John Surratt, also implicated in the plot, managed to escape capture until 1867 when he was tried on charges of conspiracy and treason.  

The other conspirators hanged along with Mrs. Surratt were George Atzerodt, David Herold and Lewis Powell.  The ringleader of the murder plot, John Wilkes Booth, was shot and killed two weeks after the assassination.

Mary Surratt, who wore a black dress, bonnet and veil, led the procession of prisoners out of their cells at 1:15 p.m. local time.  They walked by "their own freshly dug graves, each with a raw pine coffin beside it" and then "slowly climbed the scaffold."

Soldiers tied the prisoner's hands behind their backs and put white hoods on their heads.   At 2 p.m., the hinged trap supports on the scaffold were knocked away "and the prisoners plunged down."

*Mary Elizabeth Jenkins Surratt (1823-1865) was born in Waterloo, MD, attended a Catholic seminary & married John Surratt at age 17.  They ran a tavern & post office at Surrattsville, MD. which became known as a Confederate safehouse during the Civil War.  

After her husband's death in 1864, MS moved to 541 High Street in Washington, D.C.  It was there that the conspirators met to plot the murder of Abraham Lincoln.

**The Surratt House, located today in Clinton, MD, was built in 1852 on a 300 acre plantation owned by Mr. & Mrs. John Surratt.  The house served as a tavern, public dining room and hotel.  The property has had 5 different families occupying it betweeen 1868 & 1965.  It is now a museum.

SOURCES

"Biographic Sketch of Mary Surratt," www.law2.umka.edu/

"The Civil War:  The Assassination, Death of a President," Time-Life Books, by Champ Clark and the Editors of Time-Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia, 1987.

"The Surratt House," Surratt House Museum, www.surrattmuseum.org/

Lincoln Conspirators

Walking Tour Display

Washington, D.C.

Photo by John White (2016)

THE NEST WHERE THE EGG WAS HATCHED

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 2003

MARY SURRATT BECOMES FIRST WOMAN HANGED BY US GOVERNMENT

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) One hundred and fifty-one years ago today, July 7, 1865, four convicted conspirators in the plot to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln were hanged at the Arsenal Penitentiary here in the Nation's Capital including Mrs. Mary Surratt*,  the woman who ran a boardinghouse** described by President Andrew Johnson as "the nest where the egg was hatched." 

At trial, the most damaging evidence against Mrs. Surratt was presented by John Lloyd who rented the Surratt House in Maryland.  He said that three of the conspirators came to the tavern a few weeks before the assassination to drop off two carbines, ammunition and rope.  They asked Lloyd to conceal these items and twice before the night of April 14, 1865, Mrs. Surratt told Lloyd to have the "shooting irons" ready.

Another witness at trial testified that he was with Mr. Lloyd when they heard the news of the assassination.  This witness heard Lloyd say..."Oh, Mrs. Surratt, that vile woman...has ruined me."

Five of nine commissioners handing down the sentence of death by hanging to Mary Surratt and her fellow conspirators included a request to President Johnson to reduce her sentence to life imprisonment.  He did not.

The forty-three year old Mrs. Surratt was the first woman to be hanged by the government of the United States.  Her son, John Surratt, also implicated in the plot, managed to escape capture until 1867 when he was tried on charges of conspiracy and treason.  

The other conspirators hanged along with Mrs. Surratt were George Atzerodt, David Herold and Lewis Powell.  The ringleader of the murder plot, John Wilkes Booth, was shot and killed two weeks after the assassination.

Mary Surratt, who wore a black dress, bonnet and veil, led the procession of prisoners out of their cells at 1:15 p.m. local time.  They walked by "their own freshly dug graves, each with a raw pine coffin beside it" and then "slowly climbed the scaffold."

Soldiers tied the prisoner's hands behind their backs and put white hoods on their heads.   At 2 p.m., the hinged trap supports on the scaffold were knocked away "and the prisoners plunged down."

*Mary Elizabeth Jenkins Surratt (1823-1865) was born in Waterloo, MD, attended a Catholic seminary & married John Surratt at age 17.  They ran a tavern & post office at Surrattsville, MD. which became known as a Confederate safehouse during the Civil War.  

**Surratt Boarding House is located at 604 H Street, 5 blocks from Ford's Theater.  3 days after Lincoln's assassination, police came calling here only to run into Louis Powell, who had already been identified as part of the plot. The coincidence was enough to implicate Ms. Surratt.

SOURCES

"Biographic Sketch of Mary Surratt," www.law2.umka.edu/

"Civil War to Civil Rights," Downtown Heritage Trail e.9," www.CulturalToruismDC.org/

"The Civil War:  The Assassination, Death of a President," Time-Life Books, by Champ Clark and the Editors of Time-Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia, 1987.

Surratt Boarding House (1910)
www.CulturalToruismDC.org/

Site of Surratt Boarding House

604 H Street, Washington, D.C.

Photo by John White (2016)

HANGING OF CONSPIRATORS IN LINCOLN MURDER

ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S MURDER AVENGED 150 YEARS AGO TODAY

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) A century and a half ago today, July 7, 1865, four convicted conspirators in the plot to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln were hanged at the Arsenal Penitentiary here in the Nation's Capital.

The conspirators included Mrs. Mary Surratt*,  a woman who ran a boardinghouse here in Washington where the assassination plot, according to President Andrew Johnson, was "hatched." 

At trial, the most damaging evidence against Mrs. Surratt was presented by John Lloyd who rented the Surratt House** in Maryland.  He said that three of the conspirators came to the tavern a few weeks before the assassination to drop off two carbines, ammunition and rope.  They asked Lloyd to conceal these items and twice before the night of April 14, 1865, Mrs. Surratt told Lloyd to have the "shooting irons" ready.

Another witness at trial testified that he was with Mr. Lloyd when they heard the news of the assassination.  This witness heard Lloyd say..."Oh, Mrs. Surratt, that vile woman...has ruined me."

Five of nine commissioners handing down the sentence of death by hanging to Mary Surratt and her fellow conspirators included a request to President Johnson to reduce her sentence to life imprisonment.  He did not.

The forty-three year old Mrs. Surratt was the first woman to be hanged by the government of the United States.  Her son, John Surratt, also implicated in the plot, managed to escape capture until 1867 when he was tried on charges of conspiracy and treason.  

The other conspirators hanged along with Mrs. Surratt were George Atzerodt, David Herold and Lewis Powell.  The ringleader of the murder plot, John Wilkes Booth, was shot and killed two weeks after the assassination.

Mary Surratt, who wore a black dress, bonnet and veil, led the procession of prisoners out of their cells at 1:15 p.m. local time.  They walked by "their own freshly dug graves, each with a raw pine coffin beside it" and then "slowly climbed the scaffold."

Soldiers tied the prisoner's hands behind their backs and put white hoods on their heads.   At 2 p.m., the hinged trap supports on the scaffold were knocked away "and the prisoners plunged down."

*Mary Elizabeth Jenkins Surratt (1823-1865) was born in Waterloo, MD, attended a Catholic seminary & married John Surratt at age 17.  They ran a tavern & post office at Surrattsville, MD. which became known as a Confederate safehouse during the Civil War.  

After her husband's death in 1864, MS moved to 541 High Street in Washington, D.C.  It was there that the conspirators met to plot the murder of Abraham Lincoln.

**The Surratt House, located today in Clinton, MD, was built in 1852 on a 300 acre plantation owned by Mr. & Mrs. John Surratt.  The house served as a tavern, public dining room and hotel.  The property has had 5 different families occupying it betweeen 1868 & 1965.  It is now a museum.

Surratt House at Clinton, Maryland

Photo by Hawkeye58 (2006)

at en.wikipedia

SOURCES

"Biographic Sketch of Mary Surratt," www.law2.umka.edu/

"The Civil War:  The Assassination, Death of a President," Time-Life Books, by Champ Clark and the Editors of Time-Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia, 1987.

"The Surratt House," Surratt House Museum, www.surrattmuseum.org/

LINCOLN CONSPIRATORS HANGED

LINCOLN CONSPIRATORS HANGED 149 YEARS AGO 

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) 149 years ago today, July 7, 1865, four convicted conspirators in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln were hanged at the Arsenal Penitentiary here in the Nation's Capital.

The conspirators included a woman who ran a boardinghouse where the assassination plot was "hatched."

Mrs. Mary Surratt, who was 43 years old at the time, became the first woman to be hanged by the government of the United States.

An anticipated pardon that might have been granted by President Andrew Johnson never came.

Mrs. Surratt's son, John, also implicated in the plot, was able to escape capture and although he was finally brought to trial in 1867 on a charge of  "conspiracy and treason," the case was dismissed and John Surratt was set free.

Mrs. Surratt, along with George Atzerodt, David Herold and Lewis Powell were hanged.

The ringleader, John Wilkes Booth, after having been surrounded in a tobacco barn in Virginia, died just 2 weeks after Lincoln's murder.

Mary Surratt, who wore a black dress, bonnet and veil, led the procession of prisoners out of their cells at 1:15 p.m. local time.

They walked by "their own freshly dug graves, each with a raw pine coffin beside it" and then "slowly climbed the scaffold."

Soldiers tied the prisoner's hands behind their backs and put white hoods on their heads.

At 2 p.m., the hinged trap supports on the scaffold were knocked away "and the prisoners plunged down."

SOURCE

"The Civil War:  The Assassination, Death of a President," Time-Life Books, by Champ Clark and the Editors of Time-Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia, 1987.

Mary Surratt

*Director Robert Redford's film: "The Conspirator" tells Mrs. Surratt's story. 

 In a USA Today article by Maria Puente, historian Kate Clifford Larson of Simmons College in Boston, whose research supports Surratt's guilt, is quoted as saying...

 "Mary was a smart woman who made choices and she paid for those choices...but her trial was a travesty."

Larson, who approves of Redford's treatment of Surratt in the film, is the author of  "The Assassin's Accomplice: Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln".

Surratt Boarding House

 604 H Street NW

 Washington, D.C.

 Photo by Brady/Handy (1890)

 Library of Congress

MRS. SURRATT & OTHER LINCOLN CONSPIRATORS HANGED

July 7, 1865


MRS. SURRATT & OTHER LINCOLN CONSPIRATORS HANGED 

The woman who ran a boardinghouse where conspirators plotted the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln was hanged today along with 3 others implicated in the plot.

Mrs. Mary Surratt, 43 years old, becomes the 1st woman to be hanged by the government of the United States.  The anticipated pardon that might have been granted by President Andrew Johnson never came.

Her son, John, also implicated in the plot, has thus far escaped capture.

Mrs. Surratt, along with George Atzerodt, David Herold & Lewis Powell were hanged this afternoon at the Washington Arsenal Penitentiary.

Mary Surratt wore a black dress, bonnet & veil.*

                        Mary Surratt

*Director Robert Redford's new film: "The Conspirator" tells Mrs. Surratt's story. 

 In a recent USA Today article by Maria Puente, historian Kate Clifford Larson of Simmons College in Boston, whose research supports Surratt's guilt, is quoted as saying: "Mary was a smart woman who made choices & she paid for those choices...but her trial was a travesty."

Larson, who approves of Redford's treatment of Surratt in the film, is the author of  "The Assassin's Accomplice: Mary Surratt & the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln".

             Surratt Boarding House

                     604 H Street NW

                    Washington, D.C.

     Photo by Brady/Handy (1890)

               Library of Congress

July 7, 1797

SENATOR BLOUNT CHARGED WITH MISDEMEANOR IN BRITISH CONSPIRACY

The House of Representatives broke new ground today when they voted to charge Tennessee Senator William Blount  with "a high misdemeanor".

Senator Blount, former Governor of the Territory South of the Ohio River, has been implicated in a conspiracy with British officials to enlist American frontiersmen & Cherokees to assist in the conquest of Spanish Florida & Louisiana.*

                     William Blount

*The next day, the US Senate voted to expel Blount but 2 months later, Vice President Thomas Jefferson, who presided over the impeachment of Blount, dismissed the charges based on the fact that the Senate does not have constitutional jurisdiction in the case.

After the Treaty of Holston established the capital of the Territory South of the Ohio River at Knoxville, Governor Blount moved here & built his home, called "Blount Mansion" in 1792.  

                   Blount Mansion

             Knoxville, Tennessee

Photo by Brian Stansberry (2008)

Note:  A colorful geography professor I had for a class at UT insisted this should be called "Blount Shack"....it obviously did not impress him as a "mansion".

July 7, 1957

FRENCH MINISTER CRITICAL OF JFK'S COMMENT

French Minister Robert Lacoste criticized Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts for his recent condemnation of French policy in Algeria.

Lacoste says that if French military troops leave the country, the US & USSR will compete for superiority in North Africa.

                       Robert Lacoste

July 7, 1962

PRESIDENT'S DAD RELEASED FROM REHAB

Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., father of President John F. Kennedy, was released today from the Institute of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation in New York.

The elder Kennedy has undergone months of therapy to improve his speech & motor functions after suffering a stroke in December of last year.

July 7, 1961

JFK GIVES NOD FOR HOME LOANS TO VETS

President John F. Kennedy signed into law today a bill which authorizes the expenditure of more than $1 billion for home loans to veterans of World War II & the Korean War.