The exhumed skull of a would-be assassin, and its long journey home

[L Verge]

The Sunday edition of the Washington Post carried both of Michael Ruane's articles on the finding of the Powell skull as well as the execution (then and now). They are in the Metro Section C if trying to locate them.

There is a photo taken from inside the courtroom looking out of a window and showing a portion of the tennis courts that now grace the site of the 1865 gallows as well as the original War College at the far end of the peninsula on which McNair is situated in D.C. (Note: The expanded college is now known as the National Defense University.)

I recognized the view immediately because I had looked out that window about thirty years ago when we were allowed to visit that room, which was then part of officers' quarters. The window has interior shutters, and the occupants told us about their experiences of trying to close the shutters because it was their child's bedroom, but they would come back to find them open. They also told of the "nice lady in black" who would come to comfort the child when it cried.

The final straw that stopped us from scoffing at the ghost stories was the one about the lady in black floating up and down the hallway before disappearing into the apartment's bathroom. We would laugh and say that the ghost enjoyed the indoor conveniences.

Mike Kauffman finally researched what was where in 1865 compared to the floor plan at that time in the 1970s or 80s. He then prepared an overlay to demonstrate the changes. We stopped laughing when his research indicated that the modern bathroom was where Mary Surratt was seated during the 1865 court.

One family told of a poltergeist experience in the basement and another called me at Surratt House and introduced himself as the next tenant to move into that apartment. He said that he understood that his family would be living with Mary Surratt and he wanted to know all about her!

I understand that there are even more stories "floating" around (pardon the pun) about the ghost of Mary Surratt at Fort McNair. She can stay there because I have enough problems with alive people without any ghosts irritating me...