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+--- Thread: Conspirators' hoods (/thread-2554.html)
Conspirators' hoods - Lincoln Wonk - 07-10-2015 02:54 PM
Has everyone seen Dave and Kate's close-ups of the hoods the conspirators wore?
I can't imagine wearing those in June and July. http://boothiebarn.com/2015/07/10/an-assassination-vacation-in-the-midwest/#comment-27061
RE: Conspirators' hoods - BettyO - 07-10-2015 05:48 PM
Thanks, Kathy!!
Dave and Kate's "Assassination Vacation" through the mid-west is fabulous! Please don't miss it - and if you are not following Boothiebarn - you are really missing a treat!
Those hoods are amazing - it is inconceivable to think of anyone wearing such a contraption in Washington summer heat - unbearable!
RE: Conspirators' hoods - Lincoln Wonk - 07-10-2015 06:03 PM
I never realized how thick they were until these photos.
RE: Conspirators' hoods - RobertLC - 07-10-2015 06:13 PM
Talk about cruel and unusual punishment!
RE: Conspirators' hoods - LincolnMan - 07-11-2015 10:58 AM
Certainly seems cruel and unusual to us- but was it for 1865? Were the hoods in use at that time- or were they used specifically for them?
RE: Conspirators' hoods - RobertLC - 07-11-2015 06:39 PM
Good question.
Also, I recall that the hoods were not used on Mary Surratt or Dr. Mudd. Interesting!
Bob
RE: Conspirators' hoods - RJNorton - 07-12-2015 07:56 AM
Dave's post about the trip is terrific. I wish I knew about The Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County when I lived in Illinois. I definitely would have made a trip there.
RE: Conspirators' hoods - Jim Garrett - 07-12-2015 09:46 AM
This material! Even in May and June, Washington DC can be incredibly hot. The British Foreign Service Office classified Washington DC as a tropical outpost in the 1800s.
RE: Conspirators' hoods - Lincoln Wonk - 07-12-2015 02:26 PM
(07-12-2015 09:46 AM)Jim Garrett Wrote: This material! Even in May and June, Washington DC can be incredibly hot. The British Foreign Service Office classified Washington DC as a tropical outpost in the 1800s.
I wonder if the guards removed the hoods when the prisoners were in the exercise yard.
RE: Conspirators' hoods - BettyO - 07-12-2015 03:19 PM
Yes - according to Hartranft's letterbook, the hoods were removed while they exercised for an hour each day in the yard and they were also given reading material - some books from Dr Porter's own library. The good doctor noticed that Spangler's mind was "wandering" and he feared that the prisoners would go mad if they were not given some respite from the hoods as well as reading material. Of course the hoods were removed while they were in the courtroom, but Dr Porter also knew that they needed unhindered exercise as well. They were allowed an hour each day in the court yard. They could walk around and play quoits, so the irons must have been removed from their arms, if not their legs (the leg irons had 18 inch chains.)
RE: Conspirators' hoods - Lincoln Wonk - 07-12-2015 03:25 PM
Thanks, Betty. That's really interesting.