Construction at the Wok N Roll

[Laurie Verge]

John,

Your speculation may very well be accurate, and that premise was discussed with me by Hall, Tidwell, and Brennan. However, they never found documentation. On the other hand, documentation that the Surrattsville property served as a Confederate safe house was found in Confederate reports dating to the third quarter of 1864 (note that Mr. Surratt had died in the summer of 1862). It would be wonderful to find something similar regarding the D.C. home.

The only time you will get me to bristle on the subject is if you state (as some have done) that Booth or the Confederacy BOUGHT the house and established Mrs. Surratt in it as part of the plotting. As stated above, it had been owned by her husband since 1853, and rented out to others (Chamlee should have checked this). As for furnishing the house, there may have already been furniture there - provided for the boarders during the time that her husband was alive and not yet badly in debt. OR, more likely, most of the furniture from the ten-room Surrattsville home may have been moved to the city home.

Without documentation of some sort, I doubt we will ever know the real reason for her move. However, strictly from my personal perspective: By November 1, 1864, as my slaves were freed and I had no funds to hire them on as laborers - and as I surveyed a few hundred acres of land that would lay fallow without their services - and mentally cursed my two sons for being away and of little or no help - and realized that my nearest neighbor was a quarter-mile away - and that contraband, ragtags, and who knows what else were traipsing around at all hours - I would be inclined to throw up my hands in disgust and move into a safe neighborhood in the city.

And, saving the best for last, the best evidence that we have is that John Surratt, Jr. did not meet John Wilkes Booth until the afternoon of December 23, 1864, when Dr. Mudd made the introductions. The Surratts had already made their move and were well established by that time at 541 H Street. Now, as to the house being a layover for Confederate agents, it did conveniently become one - and the Surrattsville property seems to have remained one also under John Lloyd's care. How many of those Confederate agents were involved in the Lincoln plots is debatable.