John Minchin Lloyd - Who was he...really?

[Thomas Thorne]

Welcome to our forum,Martha

I believe that John Lloyd played a far more important role in the proceedings than we may ever know. I agree the Surratts were hardly likely to turn over a Confederate safe house to someone who was not fully sympathetic to the cause and would not carry out the duties associated with running such an establishment. As has been stated, the fact they hid weapons at Surratt House is a testament to their trust in Lloyd's fidelity.

John's Surratt's failure at the 1870 Rockville and other lectures to mention much less denounce Lloyd's testimony is telling. Too much emphasis is placed on the feeling that Weichmann betrayed a quasi maternal relationship. Weichmann was denounced as a liar at both the trials and the lectures and John Surratt threw in some personal insults as well;"he couldn't ride and he couldn't shoot."

Yet Lloyd's testimony against Mary Surratt telling of overt acts on the very day of the the assassination and 3 days earlier was depicted at the trials as merely the acts of a befuddled drunk. John Surratt never even mentioned the name of the man whose testimony was primarily responsible for sending his mother to her death.

I believe Surratt thought it extremely dangerous to cast aspersions against Lloyd in the manner he dealt with Weichmann. The latter could not further damage the Surratts. John Lloyd was very much alive in 1870 and we can only speculate what he might have revealed if provoked by John Surratt.
Tom