Olivia Jenkins

[Susan Higginbotham]

(07-30-2015 08:38 AM)Pamela Wrote:  Smoot couldn't have been the dinner time visitor because he didn't ring the doorbell and there was a bonneted lady on the steps who apparently was Mary. If Smoot is truthful, the only the only timing that makes sense to me is that he caught Mary just as she returned from Surrattsville, while Weichmann was taking the carriage back.

Thanks, Roger, I hadn't read Smoot's story before.

According to Smoot, the bonneted lady brought Smoot's name into Mrs. Surratt (whom Smoot had met previously). Since Mrs. Holohan testified that she and Mary had started out for church but had turned back because of the rain, I would guess that the bonneted lady was Mrs. Holohan, either on her way back from that church trip or getting ready to start out.

I get the impression from the testimony that Mary, Anna, the servants, and some of the boarders all answered the door at various times, without any set protocol, so I'm not surprised that different people gave differing statements as to whom answered the door on what occasion.