Was there an assassin on Grant's train?

[L Verge]

"You do seem pro-Surratt to me, which is fine."

Pamela - you really don't know me. I created a stir forty years ago when I began working at Surratt House and came right out and said that I was raised in a family that knew Mrs. Surratt slightly and thought that she was guilty. I have gone on to give speeches in which I have stated the pros and cons of her actions and concluded that I understand why the government had grounds to try her as a conspirator and even to execute her - based on the time, the circumstances, and the turmoil that the country was in. Do I think she would have received the same treatment today? If we truly had a justice system based on the law (and not on politics), yes I do.

I hope you have read Kate Clifford Larson's book on Assassin's Accomplice. I did not know Kate until after the book was nearly finished. She did use our research library at Surratt House, however, and shortly after the book was published, she commented to me that she almost gave up on the project because she thought she was fighting a tide of Surratt sympathizers. Most authors to that point had either sidestepped the issue of Mrs. Surratt's guilt or innocence, or they had portrayed her as an "innocent victim of hysteria."

Kate happened to read a copy of the speech that I mentioned above and decided to keep on with her project since even the director of the Surratt House Museum (me) had thoughts about Mrs. Surratt's guilt. A good museum and a good teacher/historian (which I hope I am) considers all angles of events. And, I sound like a broken record here, but they have to take into consideration the cultural and social circumstances at the time of that event.

I think that is what is bothering me the most. We fail to understand fully the ramifications of what the American Civil War meant to citizens on both sides. For good or bad, people made judgments and also protected their ways of life.

Would I have testified against Mrs. Surratt if placed in Weichmann's shoes? Probably. Would I have perjured myself if threatened by Stanton, Holt, and the Generals of the court? Maybe. Would I have listened to my friends and stayed in hiding like John did? Probably, especially if I thought my mother innocent of knowingly giving support to Booth. Would I have publicly condemned Weichmann for his actions? Yes. Would I have lived in fear of retribution the rest of my life? If I wanted to remain sane, probably not. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.