Food for Thought

[mike86002000]

I am not sure how this proves that John Surratt knew that April 14th was the "scheduled day" for assassination. Personally I do not think Surratt knew Booth was going to shoot the President on the 14th. Surratt left Washington on April 4th and did not return. Booth arrived in Washington on the 8th, but in my opinion, did not decide to shoot Lincoln until he heard Lincoln's speech on the 11th. Booth's plans on the 14th did not include Surratt (unless he told Atzerodt the truth about Surratt being in Washington; in one of his confessions Atzerodt maintained that Booth told him Surratt was in town and going to help at Ford's Theatre).

In sum, I am of the opinion that Surratt did not have foreknowledge of the timing of the assassination. So I feel I must disagree with Mr. Prindle on this.
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Actually, Mr. Prindle says the same thing. He doesn't claim that Surratt had foreknowledge of the exact time of the assassination, only that it had been ordered by Benjamin in Richmond, and he had best establish an alibi. He actually says specifically that Surratt couldn't have known the exact timing, it hadn't been established, only that the murder, a change in plans from the kidnap plot, had been ordered, by Benjamin, in a message he carried to Booth.
As I understand it, the reasoning goes: Surratt carefully established his alibi. He was in Elmira when all hell broke loose. He did this because he knew the murder had been ordered by Benjamin, because he was Benjamin's courier to Booth. The hypothetical existence of a message conveyed by Surratt from Benjamin, (how else could Surratt have known he was going to need an alibi?), is supposed to show that the change in plans was ordered by Benjamin.
Mike