The evidence that sealed Mrs. Surratt's fate

[RJNorton]

(05-05-2013 06:40 PM)Jim Page Wrote:  Just throwing this out for discussion: Could Mrs. Surratt have been Booth's handler or the person he reported to? Could she possibly be more of a key individual in this situation than is currently acknowledged?

I have no opinion on this, other than a suspicion that a person with such an implacable personality may be capable of more than one might otherwise expect.

--Jim

Jim, I do not know the answer to your question, but it has always been my suspicion that JWB never told Lewis Powell exactly how involved and knowledgeable Mary Surratt really was in the plotting. It's possible he felt she had vague knowledge of the kidnapping plan, but that's about it. I think Powell was telling the truth when he proclaimed her innocence; he honestly didn't know how deep she was in. IMO.

[BettyO]

I agree, Roger.

According to one resource, Powell once mentioned something in regards to the kidnap plot in the parlor where they were all seated. John Surratt immediately collared Powell and took him out into the hallway and told him to "Never mention the kidnapping plot in front of my mother again. She doesn't know and doesn't need to know!"

Whether this is true or not I don't know -- but I think that Mary DID know about the plot - more than was revealed. Powell didn't know how much she knew apparently.

[Laurie Verge]

Betty,

I think I'm losing it, but did Anna Surratt really visit Powell in his cell as stated somewhere in this thread previously? I know that Frs. Wiget and Walter and layman Brophy visited him the night before the execution, but I had never heard that Anna was with them until I read it in Assassin's Accomplice. However, Kate gives no citation for that statement.

[BettyO]

I read somewhere (I have to go through my files) in a newspaper article that Anna did stop by Powell's cell in order to wring a statement from him as to her mother's innocence. Fathers Walter and Wiget did also stop by and Powell told them that she was innocent and whispered to Wiget that "She may have known something was up, but I don't know how much she knew."

Supposedly, Anna did get the statement from Powell as well. I'll have to look for the article.

[L Verge]

I remembered the whispered message to Fr. Wiget, but Kate says that Anna was with the two priests and Brophy at the same time. Does Hartranft's daybook mention anything like this? John and Barry - any reference that you found to Anna visiting Powell's cell?

[scldrgnfly]

Is everyone forgetting the fact that Mary Surratt had known for at least a week, that JWB had sold his carriage? Wasn't that what he was going to use in the kidnapping .plan?

Also, who was "Mr. Kirby?" Could that have been a code for things were not safe in the house?

[L Verge]

Mr. Kirby was a real person, I believe. First name Walter, and he lived near the Surratts on H Street. Kirbys/Kerbys later married into the Jenkins family - perhaps Olivia, Mrs. Surratt's niece who was staying at the boardinghouse during Easter. I believe that Kirby came to deliver some papers to Olivia that evening. Mrs. Surratt's desk, a candlestick, and a lovely little cordial set that belonged to Mary were donated by a Kerby descendant several years ago. They came via Anna's unmarried daughter, Clara, to her friend and cousin in the Kerby family.

John Elliott brought up the matter of Mrs. Surratt having to know that the carriage was not available in a previous post this past week - something that had never dawned on me.

[John E.]

(05-06-2013 06:45 PM)scldrgnfly Wrote:  Is everyone forgetting the fact that Mary Surratt had known for at least a week, that JWB had sold his carriage? Wasn't that what he was going to use in the kidnapping plan?

Actually, she probably found out just days earlier. Spangler sold the horse and buggy on Tuesday, April 11.

---

(05-06-2013 05:57 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I remembered the whispered message to Fr. Wiget, but Kate says that Anna was with the two priests and Brophy at the same time. Does Hartranft's daybook mention anything like this? John and Barry - any reference that you found to Anna visiting Powell's cell?

No mention of it in the day book. I read the same thing somewhere and like Betty, I'd have to do a little digging to find it.

[John E.]

Ok, I checked Chamlee's book and he said that Anna along with Fr's. Walter and Wiget stopped by Powell's cell and implored him to confess Mary's innocence. Chamlee did not provide a source but I imagine it came from one of the priests or even Rath.

[BettyO]

OK - Here is where I found that notice:

...We must also consider Powell's assertions that she may have known of the abduction plot. Fathers Wiget and Walter, spiritual advisors to Mrs. Surratt, visited Powell during his final hours. Father Wiget "embraced the favorable moment to ask him a question unheard of by the others, 'Laying my hand on his [Powell's] shoulder, so, I said in a quick low tone, 'Tell me my friend, is Mrs. Surratt guilty?' Just as quick, he answered, 'No, she is not!' Then suddenly leaning forward and putting his lips to my ear he whispered, 'She might have known that something was going on, but she did not know what.'" The New York Times for July 7, 1865, asserted that Powell "stated that he would do anything, say anything, if Mrs. Surratt and her daughter would be able to remain together." - Alias Paine, p. 137, Chapter 17, Footnote # 7

Footnote # 7: "The Hanging of Mrs. Surratt", New York Herald, Undated clipping, Gettysburg College Library, Hartranft Collection.

[L Verge]

My bet would be on Rath or John Brophy, who was also supposedly in the group. Brophy did a lot of stumping on behalf of Mrs. Surratt before her execution and for quite some time afterwards. I'm not sure that he was friends with the Surratts before this mess, but he was a leader in her parish.

[Linda Anderson]

(05-06-2013 03:04 PM)Laurie Verge Wrote:  Betty,

I think I'm losing it, but did Anna Surratt really visit Powell in his cell as stated somewhere in this thread previously? I know that Frs. Wiget and Walter and layman Brophy visited him the night before the execution, but I had never heard that Anna was with them until I read it in Assassin's Accomplice. However, Kate gives no citation for that statement.

Maybe Kate means that Payne could hear Anna weeping in her mother's cell.

"After two days of listening to a hysterical Anna sobbing and pleading for her mother's life, one can imagine how Payne may have wanted to ease her pain and suffering, regardless of Mary's guilt."

The following is from the Evening Union, Washington, D.C., July 13, 1865

"THE CONFESSION OF LEWIS T. PAYNE - IT IS ENDORSED BY THE COMMANDING GENERAL, WHO BELIEVES MRS. SURRATT INNOCENT

"On Thursday afternoon, July 6th, Rev. B. F. Wigit, Rev. J. D. Walter, Mr. John P. Brophy, and Miss Anna E. Surratt received permission to visit Mrs. Mary E. Surratt, at her cell in the penitentiary. Mr. Brophy, remembering that Payne had declared Mrs. Surratt's innocence all through the trial, urged Father Wigit and Father Walter to visit Payne and ask him whether she were guilty or not. They did visit Payne, by permission, and he told them openly that she was an innocent woman."

It doesn't sound like Anna was with them plus she wouldn't have been likely to receive permission to visit Payne anyway.

[L Verge]

I agree with your assessment, Linda. I just cannot imagine that that fragile young lady could put herself through facing Powell. Making an attempt to see President Johnson the next morning would have been different; Johnson had not betrayed the Surratts' safety by showing up at the boardinghouse.

[John Stanton]

Laurie-Post 1196. Mary Surratt's trip to Surrattsville, and her conversations with Smoot, indicate that she fully expected Lincoln to be taken across the River on Friday night. The boat was to be used and Smoot would be paid. She was not aware that there had been a program change. We are proving that she was not a participant in the murder. She was INVOLVED, but she never knew that Lincoln would be shot. If she found out on Friday, then her request to "pray for my intentions", was to stop the murder.

[MaddieM]

(05-08-2013 05:56 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I agree with your assessment, Linda. I just cannot imagine that that fragile young lady could put herself through facing Powell. Making an attempt to see President Johnson the next morning would have been different; Johnson had not betrayed the Surratts' safety by showing up at the boardinghouse.

She was absolutely desperate by all accounts. I think she might have tried anything. I know I would. Desperate people do desperate things.