Where was John Surratt on April 14, 1865 ?

[John Fazio]

(01-17-2018 11:11 AM)Susan Higginbotham Wrote:  

(01-17-2018 04:11 AM)John Fazio Wrote:  

(10-16-2017 10:00 AM)JMadonna Wrote:  Remember, Smoot said she told him the boat would be used that night. Was it a lie or evidence that she didn't know the plot had changed? Impossible to know for certain.

Jerry:

Those who continue to talk about the plot changing are "missing the boat". It is not necessary for Lincoln to be in the boat for it to be used that night. Recall that three assassins were to make their way across the river and that two actually did. If you stop thinking about a changed plot, you will get closer to the truth. Remember that the Holcombe, Clay and Thompson meetings with Dr. Luke Pryor Blackburn and Godfrey Hyams in Canada prove that the post Wistar and Dahlgren-Kilpatrick Confederate leadership was trying to murder Lincoln as early as the summer of 1864. Recall, too, Surratt's admission to Ste. Marie in Italy, namely "We killed Lincoln, the n____r's friend". (My emphasis.) Recall, also, that Surratt was Benjamin's official courier, meeting with him almost weekly in Richmond, per Ste. Marie. Recall, also, that Booth met Harbin before and after the assassination, after which Harbin left the country for 5 years, and that upon his return, he admitted, in his writings, that he reported directly to Davis. How much evidence do you need?

See pp. 60-68 of my book for the evidence that sent Mrs. Surratt to the gallows.

As for Surratt's whereabouts on April 14, it is still a mystery, but see pp. 45-48 of the book for evidence that he was in Washington.

John

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(01-16-2018 11:29 AM)Susan Higginbotham Wrote:  Yes, the accusations against her seem ill-founded. She seems to have seen John Surratt only briefly, on the evening of his return from Richmond.

Susan:

My information is that Susan Jackson stated that while she feigned sleep on the floor of the boardinghouse, she overheard three men, who had come to the house late on the night of the assassination, tell Mrs. Surratt that her son had been in the theater that night with Booth. What evidence do you have that she actually saw John Surratt in Washington? See p. 544 of The Lincoln Assassination (Edwards and Steers, Jr.). See also p. 46 of Decapitating the Union.

John

See her testimony at John Surratt's trial (volume 1, 163-64) about her seeing John, and Nora Fitzpatrick's (volume 1, 720-21) describing John's actions on the night he returned from Richmond and noting Susan's presence.

Susan:

Thank you; I will.


John

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(01-17-2018 01:33 PM)JMadonna Wrote:  

(01-17-2018 12:23 PM)John Fazio Wrote:  Jerry:

If the purpose of the Booth conspiracy was never really kidnapping, and that fact was known to its leaders, i.e. Booth, Surratt and Powell, then it was almost certainly known to its enablers, i.e. Mrs. Surratt
John

John,
No need to rub my nose into your book. I do not question the evidence you have found. I'm pointing out that there is no evidence that Mrs. Suratt knew of the murder. You can't just restate your evidence and then say " it was almost certainly known to its enablers, i.e. Mrs. Surratt".

"Almost certain" means "not certain" councilor, and I agree with that.

Jerry:

If there were no evidence that Mrs. Surratt knew of the murder, she would not have been convicted. Defendants are not convicted when there is no evidence against them. Nine Commissioners disagreed with you. Certainty is not required to convict. The standard of proof, as you know, is "beyond a reasonable doubt". If certainty were required, we wouldn't need juries and almost no one would be convicted. Her involvement began no later than 1862 when her husband used their tavern as a safe house for Confederate sympathizers, spies, agents, scouts, blockade runners, couriers, etc. Do you suppose she didn't know that? It continued when her son took over in August of that year. Do you suppose she didn't know that? Her boardinghouse served the same purpose. Do you suppose she didn't know what was being plotted there by her son, Booth and Powell, with all their hush-hush meetings, per Weichmann. It is naivete to suppose than anything less than murder was being planned; the evidence against that supposition is clear and convincing. Read the 16 items of inculpatory evidence on pp. 60-63 of Decapitating. Then read them again. Note the last three: Herold's and Atzerodt's incrimination of her and Tibbett's testimony that he had heard her offer anyone $14,000 (in today's money) who would kill Lincoln. To nail two boards together, one does not need a sledgehammer.

John