John Surratt's real parents?

[HerbS]

While I was putting the finishing touches for my talk at the National Women's Rights Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls,NY.I saw that Dr.Mary Walker brought a guest to the trial of the Lincoln Conspirators,[Anna Dickinson].I then checked to see if they had any remarks about what they experienced.I then came across a story from the Surratt Society research center[John Surratt's real parents].That rasies the question of, Why did he let his mother[Mary Surratt] hang?1-Was she his natural mother?2-Did he have a dislike for her?3-WHY this,why that?Perhaps this shines a new light on Why.I think that this topic needs more research!

[Gene C]

I can't remember where I read this, perhaps in his Rockville, MD lecture, but...
John Surratt claimed that while he knew his mother had been arrested, the people up in Canada who hid him kept the information regarding the trial from him. They told him the feds were keeping her in prison just to get him, and she was not in any danger. 'He claimed he did not know of the gravity of her real situation until it was to late for him to do anything about it.

[HerbS]

Thanks Gene,I read that account too,but maybe just maybe,there is another side of John Surratt!Who knows?

[Susan Higginbotham]

I think the article you saw might have been about John Surratt Sr. (Mary's husband), who seems to have been raised by adoptive parents.

[BettyO]

Correct, Susan. John Surratt Senior was raised by foster parents.

[HerbS]

Thanks Ladies, that heps me learn about John Surratt and his motives for his"slick"personality.

[LincolnToddFan]

I think I remember reading a post here...was it from Laurie?..that said John was somewhat estranged from his sister Anna after the death of their mother?

[Thomas Thorne]

I have seen that story about John being estranged from Anna too but he did attend her wedding. I would love to believe this but I can't.

The idea of a intelligent young man like John Surratt not reading a newspaper while hiding in Canada or only reading Canadian journals which overlooked the most sensational crime story of the age with the lurid fillip of a woman facing a capital murder charge staggers the imagination.

Anyone who wants to buy the Brooklyn Bridge from me can send me a private message and we can start negotiating.
Tom

[RJNorton]

(02-28-2015 08:13 AM)Gene C Wrote:  He claimed he did not know of the gravity of her real situation until it was to late for him to do anything about it.

(02-28-2015 02:52 PM)Thomas Thorne Wrote:  The idea of a intelligent young man like John Surratt not reading a newspaper while hiding in Canada or only reading Canadian journals which overlooked the most sensational crime story of the age with the lurid fillip of a woman facing a capital murder charge staggers the imagination.

Just curious if anyone has an opinion - what did he think he might have done about it? If John Surratt had come to Washington, surrendered to authorities, and been put on trial with the others, would it have made a difference in his mother's verdict/execution?

[L Verge]

(02-28-2015 07:08 AM)HerbS Wrote:  While I was putting the finishing touches for my talk at the National Women's Rights Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls,NY.I saw that Dr.Mary Walker brought a guest to the trial of the Lincoln Conspirators,[Anna Dickinson].I then checked to see if they had any remarks about what they experienced.I then came across a story from the Surratt Society research center[John Surratt's real parents].That rasies the question of, Why did he let his mother[Mary Surratt] hang?1-Was she his natural mother?2-Did he have a dislike for her?3-WHY this,why that?Perhaps this shines a new light on Why.I think that this topic needs more research!

Be careful not to confuse the TWO John Surratts. The reference to John Surratt's real parents is regarding the senior Mr. Surratt - Mary's husband. We do not know who his real parents were because all Surratts had disappeared from the Federal Census in Maryland of 1820 - only a child named John Surratt (about 7 years) is mentioned, and he is being raised by foster parents (Mr. & Mrs. Neale). There is some speculation that Mrs. Neale may have been his true mother, but we cannot prove it.

John Surratt, Jr. is the one of interest to us in the Lincoln assassination, and he was certainly the product of the above John Surratt and Mary Jenkins Surratt - born on April 13, 1844 (one doctor's record indicates it might have been April 14!) in the home in Oxon Hill Hundred where the family was living before purchasing land in what is now Clinton.

I think we can safely assume that young John loved his mother and his sister, but was drawn into the intrigue of the Civil War - just as many a young man is during any war. He cared for her enough to protect the family lands when he joined Booth's efforts. His father had died without a will, so the three children inherited the estate (not the widow). Young John knew that, if he were caught while on Confederate duty, he would be stamped a traitor and have his lands confiscated. He signed over his rights to his mother to avoid that.

I also believe that the recurring story that he wanted to come back from Canada to save his mother, but was advised against it because the gov't. had nothing to judge her on, is very likely true.

PS: In the one scene in The Conspirator movie where John shoves his mother against the wall, I almost jumped out of my seat and stormed the screen. I don't think that would have ever happened (in either 90% of decent folks' homes or more especially in the Surratts'). We may judge her a criminal, but I happen to think that she was a very good mother.

[Susan Higginbotham]

In his Rockville lecture, John Surratt claimed that he had sent a man to Washington to get in touch with defense counsel, and that the man upon his return advised him that his mother was in no danger and that he should stay away.

My own unprovable theory is that Mary, through her counsel, may well have sent a message that John was to stay away.

[L Verge]

(02-28-2015 03:26 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(02-28-2015 08:13 AM)Gene C Wrote:  He claimed he did not know of the gravity of her real situation until it was to late for him to do anything about it.

(02-28-2015 02:52 PM)Thomas Thorne Wrote:  The idea of a intelligent young man like John Surratt not reading a newspaper while hiding in Canada or only reading Canadian journals which overlooked the most sensational crime story of the age with the lurid fillip of a woman facing a capital murder charge staggers the imagination.

Just curious if anyone has an opinion - what did he think he might have done about it? If John Surratt had come to Washington, surrendered to authorities, and been put on trial with the others, would it have made a difference in his mother's verdict/execution?

I have debated this for over fifty years, and I personally believe that Mrs. Surratt would have still been executed because she (like the three men who hanged) were still involved with Booth up to within mere hours of the assassination. On the other hand, her son would fall in the category of Arnold, O'Laughlen, and Mudd who had no dealings with Booth (supposedly) once the kidnap was aborted. Following that "selection criteria," young Surratt would have been eligible for prison.

[HerbS]

Thank you Laurie for putting some clarity on a very complex topic!Maybe,John had his own reasons for letting his mother hang.Of which we will never know,but it did stimulate some very good dialog for possible experts on this forum to contribute.

[L Verge]

I should have also addressed my feelings about an estrangement between Anna and John. If anyone should have held a grudge against a brother, it should have been Anna, IMO. My feelings about a divide between them came back in 1979, while I was president of the Surratt Society and arranged a Surratt family reunion at the museum. In contacting Anna's descendants and John's descendants, there was just something that I couldn't put my finger on about some of the comments I was hearing.

If I were Anna, I would have been royally ticked off that I was the sole support of my mother through such an ordeal; that I was then stuck with being the executor to a really screwed up and in debt estate, requiring me to take on more debt by hiring a public administrator until my older brother, Isaac, could return from Texas and help me; that I was left to face public scorn; that when I finally got my mother's body released for private burial, my younger brother does not come to the funeral because he's off to "vacation" with his war buddies in South America to check out the possibilities of moving there. Anna may never have felt any of those things -- but, boy, I sure would have. Maybe I'm harsher because I'm an only child and think that brothers and sisters should help each other?

[RJNorton]

(02-28-2015 03:48 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I have debated this for over fifty years, and I personally believe that Mrs. Surratt would have still been executed because she (like the three men who hanged) were still involved with Booth up to within mere hours of the assassination. On the other hand, her son would fall in the category of Arnold, O'Laughlen, and Mudd who had no dealings with Booth (supposedly) once the kidnap was aborted. Following that "selection criteria," young Surratt would have been eligible for prison.

Laurie, I agree. But I wonder how this might have effected Andrew Johnson's "knowledge" of the clemency petition. I wonder if he would have approved hanging for the mother when the son was getting life. IMO he might have commuted her sentence so both mother and son would get life. Does this make sense?