Questions Regarding Mary Surratt

[KateH.]

(07-27-2016 03:59 PM)L Verge Wrote:  

(07-27-2016 03:01 PM)Susan Higginbotham Wrote:  Paul Warren has a photograph of the wheelbarrow in his book (or perhaps a reconstruction of it; my copy is in storage). Fascinating little book, by the way.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...03531.html

We sell the little book at Surratt House.

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(07-27-2016 01:14 PM)SSlater Wrote:  

(04-10-2013 07:03 PM)KateH. Wrote:  [/size][/font]Hello everyone,

I am currently enrolled in a public speaking class and will be giving a persuasive speech on April 17th. During the speech, I will try and persuade my fellow classmates that Mary Surratt did not deserve to die for various reasons. I have some ideas but need validation for a few of the points. I thought this would be a good place to get some expert help and maybe even a few quotes I have a few questions that I'll post here as I get deeper into the speech, but I will start with these two.

1. By the time John Wilkes Booth made the decision to kill Lincoln, Johnson, and Seward, is there evidence that the group had already split and the meetings had moved out of the boardinghouse? I know Mrs. Surratt delivered the field glasses but had actual meetings in the house ceased? Wasn’t John Surratt gone by the time kidnapping became murder?

2. Is there any evidence or documentation to show that Mary Surratt's eyesight was failing by April of 1865? I want to put that as one of the causes for her not immediately recognizing Powell but need some sort of evidence to support the claim.

Thank you all for the help

Kate. Let's face it. You are getting the same answers today, as you would have gotten in 1865. (I don't know!)

Since Kate posted this in 2013, she has developed her own well-thought-out and researched answers. They became the crux of her excellent presentation at the Surratt Conference this past April.

Thank you, Laurie.

I can't believe the initial post is three years old. So much has happened since then, including the improvement of that speech and the expanding of my knowledge and opinions on the subject. It was also nice having a time limit longer than ten minutes at the conference