Philip Whitlock visits the Surratt Tavern

[Susan Higginbotham]

Whitlock has been mentioned on this forum before, but it's been a few years back. While looking for his account of Booth at John Brown's hanging, I came across this:


"I stayed in New York for nearly a week and bought such goods as we could carry along with us in handbags, as there was no way that we could carry a trunk. However, no matter what we bought, we could make a profit from the fact that all kinds of goods were very scarce and Confederate money was plentiful. So we bought such things as fine tooth combs, silk handkerchiefs, tobacco pipes, pins, needles, pencils, and a great many other things that I cannot enumerate now. After we spent all of our money, we started back, of course to Washington. . . .

However, we some way found out how to go and hired a carriage to Surratsville (named after the same party that was accused later on in participating in the assassination of President Lincoln). We took our satchels and handbags, covered them over with our laprobes, and started away from Washington at about 10 o'clock in the morning. We drove about two miles, then got to a bridge which was guarded by a soldier who stopped us asking for passes which we did not have. The hack driver told the sentinel that he was taking us to Surratsville to attend a wedding and that we did not have time to get a pass. He called the corporal of the guard, and kept us waiting for some time with fear and anxiety. We were questioned by the officer when he came, and after a long parley in which we promised that we would return that night and after giving him our names, he let us proceed. We got to Surratsville about two o'clock and stopped at 'Mrs. Surrat's' who kept a sort of tavern and barroom. Here we had dinner and sent the carriage back. We hired another team which was to take us to a place on the Potomac River called Chaptigo, and we were to start about 6 o'clock. In the meantime we amused ourselves shooting at a mark for drinks, in which joined a son of Mrs. Surrat (the same that was accused in being implicated in the murder of President Lincoln)."

You can read the whole piece here:

http://www.jewish-history.com/civilwar/p...tlock.html