Louis Weichmann

[L Verge]

I think you are really stretching on this one, Pamela. To my knowledge, you are the only one who has ever placed Gus Howell in the position of causing Mary Surratt's death. John Lloyd and Louis Weichmann must be very relieved to find out that a tiny piece of the weight/guilt has been removed from their shoulders.

Before the assassination, Mary was concerned about the arrest of Gus Howell because it had happened here at her tavern at a most inappropriate time in the midst of Booth's planning. It raised concern that the feds might be on to something.

BTW: Taking the oath of allegiance was standard practice for many people who even smelled like "secesh." It was a simple process of swearing to accept the Union as your master, get out of jail, go back to what you had been doing. And Gus was such a small player in all this that his sole purpose on the stand was to damage Weichmann. If you are one who suspects that Weichmann was under the control of Holt and/or Stanton, nothing was going to damage Weichmann at that point.