The Flimsy Case Against Mary Surratt

[Steve]

(01-12-2019 04:27 PM)Christine Wrote:  I have often wondered if there was a connection between JWB and Mary Surratt and George W Gayle of Alabama who posted an ad in December 1864 in Selma Alabama newspapers soliciting money to fund the assassination of Lincoln, Johnson, and Seward. Would be interesting to know if JWB knew Gayle. To say there was no credible plans to decapitate the union is to ignore some pretty strong evidence. Perhaps he was acting alone or bluffing, but it seems I remember Booth went to Montgomery didn't he? Anyone know if they knew each other?

There's no known connection between Gayle and Booth, personally, that I know of. According to John Wilkes Booth: Day by Day by Art Loux, the last time Booth was in Montgomery was on 02 Dec. 1860. Gayle's ad appeared in the 01 Dec. 1864 Selma Dispatch. I did a thorough search of multiple newspaper databases and could not find it reprinted in any southern newspapers. But the New York Herald ran a news story on the ad (with its full text) on page 1 of the 21 Jan. 1865 edition. Here's an image of the ad as it was reprinted in the Herald:

   

The Herald article was reprinted in a very few northern newspapers before the assassination. Interestingly, the Herald article was reprinted much more widely in Britain before the assassination. Probably due it being published in New York. According to Day by Day, Booth went to New York ten days after the Herald article was published, so I guess it's possible that somebody showed Booth the ad. But it's probably more likely that Lincoln, Seward, and Johnson - the three men in the Administration targeted in the ad - enjoyed the most enmity for partisans of the Confederate cause. The Philadelphia Inquirer rediscovered the Herald article a few days after the assassination, and it was soon widely reprinted nationwide. This let to Gayle's arrest, but he was later released by authorities in Oct. 1865, after authorities were confident that Gayle had nothing to do with the assassination. President Johnson later pardoned Gayle:

https://www.raabcollection.com/andrew-jo...derate-who

Gayle later claimed the ad was a joke. My thinking is the ad probably was partially a joke and a scam. The ad itself was anonymous and Gayle only said he would fund the attempt if he received an impossibly large one million dollar amount; pretty quickly if the assassinations were supposed to take place by 01 March 1865. My thinking is if people were stupid enough to send money to the address, he figured he could just keep it for himself.