John Surratt's real parents?

[Thomas Thorne]

I believe Lincoln's actions would have been governed by whether or not he was actually kidnapped and how many Union soldiers and others were killed or wounded in the process of preventing his abduction or rescuing him.

I can not conceive of Lincoln signing Mary Surratt's death warrant but I don't believe he would have actually pardoned her if that is construed to mean he would have quashed a guilty verdict.

The suggestion that John Surratt's fate at a 1865 military trial would have been the same as Arnold et al who played no active role in the events of 4/14/65 or who were aware of them overlooks the government's strenuous attempts to link him to the drama at Ford's in the 1867 trial.

The government from the very start billed him as Booth's Number 2. His only competitor in this category was Mom. The judge who per Roger deemed Mary as #2 was IMHO quite right. I don't believe Mary would have received a harsher sentence then John and John's guilt would have made it psychologically difficult for the judges to impose a death sentence on her.

The suggestion that Mary passed on a message to John NOT to surrender in an attempt to save her is quite striking and I agree with it. I wish I had thought of it.
Tom