Very appropriate words

[L Verge]

(11-29-2016 06:04 PM)SSlater Wrote:  Laurie. The more I study the events of the assassination, the more I am convinced that the guilty verdict was based on "Hurry up, we have to hang someone by Tuesday".
If they hanged all the people Booth "talked to", how about the Druggist in Boston? How about all the Actors that he gave letters to? Merely "meeting" doesn't mean you "plotted". Most importantly - Booth was not "in charge", Harney was. (or Richmond was .)
As for Mary, she may have been House Cleaning. -- getting rid of all the junk associated with the first plot. Did she say explicitly, that BOOTH would pick up rifles? Why did Booth need the rifles after he got to the Tavern? By then he was IN THE SOUTH. Field glasses and the other items were not contraband, they belonged to Booth - Get rid of them!
(I am of the opinion that the South dumped Booth completely. Cawood didn't help. Quesenbury didn't, she got rid of him quickly. Stuart wasn't very pleasant either. Booth was not on a Confederate mission as he ran south. Even THE TRAP didn't greet him with joy.

Laurie. I hope our messages are entertaining to you while you get your convalescence. Take good care - you are needed here.

Thanks, John and all for your good wishes. It appears that I will be off work until at least Christmas - and I am bored silly! Thanks to federal regulations, I am not allowed to do work from home while under the FLMA rules. When I do go back, it will be part-time for awhile.

As for who hanged and who didn't: I have always thought that the distinction was made based on who was still working for Booth on April 14. Whether she knew it or not, that included Mary Surratt and her meeting(s) with him and her errand to Surrattsville (which included part of his bidding) that day. John Lloyd testified that she told him to have the "shooting irons" ready for parties that would call that night. She may or may not have known what the rifles were for, but that is pretty damning testimony.

There was considerable territory for Booth to cover without assurance of finding a willing helper along the way, and he knew that Union forces would be on his trail soon. I'd be armed to the teeth! It is believed that the rope that was stashed at the tavern would have been used to tie across the road to stop a cavalry group. One heck of a traffic/horse jam when the first horses go down.