Military Units at the Arsenal on July 7, 1865

[BettyO]

Supposedly, Annie Surratt watched at a window in the upper part of the prison and then fainted dead away when they put the noose around her mother's neck. She was watching from the room of one of the trial recorders. I forget his name, but will try and find the article. As far as I know, Annie was the only family member of any of the condemned present. The others had been taken away shortly before the actual death march. Davey's sisters could have probably still been there in another section of the prison, but there is no record other than that they were "carried in a fainting condition" from Davey's cell right before the march. I don't know about Atzerodt's kin. Dr. Gillette acted more or less in a surrogate father role as well as spiritual guide to Powell.

There were no women present in the yard other than Dr. Mary Walker who, it was sniffed, "rode her horse as a man does when leaving the prison." It was said that Colonel Dodd's wife was with Annie and was also watching from a window.