Where was John Surratt on April 14, 1865 ?

[L Verge]

As you can imagine, I love the opening sentences of his talk where Surratt blasts the conduct of the press! I hope that you continued to read the article to the part where he was taken into custody at the end of his talk. That was the government's way of telling him that he better shut up and get out of the limelight. It worked.

The lectures and also the sale of his photos were means of earning money, both for his own needs as well as family debts passed down from both parents. I read somewhere that he worked in tandem with sister Anna to devise ways to earn money from his experiences. Just the year before, the last of the Surrattsville property was sold at auction by order of the county authorities. The proceeds were not enough to satisfy debts that his father had run up before his death in 1862. Two court trials didn't help the situation.