Was there an assassin on Grant's train?

[Susan Higginbotham]

(06-23-2015 07:30 AM)Pamela Wrote:  

(06-23-2015 03:56 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Pam, I can add Mike Kauffman's opinion on the Father Menu letter. I had written Mike about this back in 2006, and Mike replied:

"If Father Menu wrote to Weichmann just after the so-called kidnap attempt, his letter would have arrived about March 20 or 21. John Surratt was out of town at the time, so that means it was most likely Mary Surratt who intercepted the letter and turned it over to Booth (perhaps indirectly through John, later in the week.) In her defense, it could be said that her motive was to warn her son that he ought not to trust his old friend. Either way, it was not just Weichmann who betrayed Mrs. Surratt; that was a two-way street."

SOURCE: Mike Kauffman email, March 8, 2006.

Thanks for digging out that bit of correspondence! Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see how there was a 2 way street with Weichmann as a betrayer. Also, Kauffman left out the word "stole" because that's what Mary's "interception" of the letter was, and from one priest to an aspiring priest! From the beginning the Surratts worked at deceiving Weichmann while using him to further the conspiracy. Mary didn't need to warn her son not to trust Weichmann. He was never trusted with the truth of their activities because they knew he supported the Union. At one point Anna Surratt even slapped Weichmann over a political debate, according to a statement made by one of the clerks Weichmann worked with. Mary may have thought as a woman she wouldn't hang, and John always knew he would escape, but they were OK with compromising Weichmann, to outward appearances, and letting him be a sitting duck. In the trial Weichmann said that John forfeited their friendship by putting him in the position he was in, and when it came to a choice between John Surratt and the Government he chose the Government.

And Laurie, as for calling Weichmann a "squealer", the Free Dictionary has this definition: "Slang To turn informer; betray an accomplice or secret." How can you betray an accomplice or secret that you were never knowingly a part of?

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(06-23-2015 07:29 AM)Susan Higginbotham Wrote:  

(06-23-2015 03:56 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Pam, I can add Mike Kauffman's opinion on the Father Menu letter. I had written Mike about this back in 2006, and Mike replied:

"If Father Menu wrote to Weichmann just after the so-called kidnap attempt, his letter would have arrived about March 20 or 21. John Surratt was out of town at the time, so that means it was most likely Mary Surratt who intercepted the letter and turned it over to Booth (perhaps indirectly through John, later in the week.) In her defense, it could be said that her motive was to warn her son that he ought not to trust his old friend. Either way, it was not just Weichmann who betrayed Mrs. Surratt; that was a two-way street."

SOURCE: Mike Kauffman email, March 8, 2006.

According to Weichmann's testimony at John Surratt's trial, John was still in town on Monday, March 20, when he picked up a letter from "Wood" at the post office and showed it to Weichmann. Weichmann says that he met John when Weichmann was coming home, so this must have been in the late afternoon when Weichmann was leaving his office. Perhaps John picked up the Menu letter at the post office as well and gave it to Booth.

Did John Surratt actually leave town at all? He was in Washington on March 23 according to Weichmann's testimony.

Susan, the Menu letter was dated March 29, I believe.

The Menu letter is dated March 19.

Surratt could have left town in the evening of March 20 and returned by March 23, although Weichmann in his trial testimony doesn't recall him leaving town.