Questions Regarding Mary Surratt

[Dennis Urban]

(07-27-2016 08:55 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(07-27-2016 08:27 AM)Dennis Urban Wrote:  1. Has the clear identity of the roughly 9 PM visitor to Mary at the boarding house on April 14 ever been established? Did anyone other than Weichmann say it was Booth? Other theories have been offered by other authors but I've not read anything definitively.

Hi Dennis. Weichmann writes that when the detectives left on the morning of the 15th Anna Surratt cried out, "Oh, Ma! Mr. Weichmann is right; just think of that man (John W. Booth) having been here an hour before the assassination. I am afraid it will bring suspicion upon us."

At the trial Weichmann denied knowledge of who the visitor was. In his book, however, he clearly indicates it was Booth.

Dennis, I have stated in previous discussions that I feel the visitor was definitely Booth.

However, I must admit my opinion may be in the minority on this forum.

Years ago I wasn't clear on this visitor being JWB, but Kate Larson's book made me feel it was Booth. It just seems logical to me that Mary was given an errand to do, and JWB would want to check to see if she succeeded. Plus her behavior after the visitor departed (as described by Weichmann and Smoot) makes me think it was indeed Booth she just saw.

This is just my personal opinion. Unless new information is uncovered I do not think we can know 100% for certain who the visitor was. The answer to this mystery may be lost to history.
I think authors who say Booth was the 9 P.M. visitor depend on Weichmann as their source. For example, Art Loux includes the Booth 9 P.M. visit in his book but says his source is Weichmann.

Roger, I agree with what you wrote and Larson credits Weichmann as her source in her footnotes. The issue becomes clouded because Larson goes on to explain on the same page (88) that Richard Smoot came looking for John Surratt that same evening about 9:30 pm. Larson quotes Smoot as the source two footnotes later. It does not seem reasonable that the Surratt home had 2 visitors the same evening a few minutes apart. Weichmann apparently did not get a positive ID on the visitor and we have only Smoot's story without backup from any of the residents. If untrue, for what purpose would Smoot make up such a story? Earlier in Larson's book (page 80-81), she writes about Smoot visiting Mary on Wednesday morning seeking payment for his boat. Mary told him to come back Friday when John would be back in the city per John's letter from Montreal. Again the footnote references Smoot's book. What was Smoot doing while in the city for another two and a half days waiting to call on John on Friday? As you suggest, we may never know definitively but this sure is intriguing to me.