Mary Surratt and Dr. Samuel Mudd

[antiquefinder]

Did Mary Surratt personally know Dr. Samuel Mudd? Was she ever at his house? I ask this because I saw it on a show last night that was about ghosts. People investigated Dr. Samuel Mudd's house and said Mary Surratt spent time at his house. I have never heard that before?

[GARY POPOLO]

That is a very interesting question.I have to say I also have never read anything about Mary being at Dr. Mudd home. I'm not sure how much she new about Mudd's involvement with Booth. I am sure that she heard of Dr. Mudd through the many conversations she had with JWB at her home. Best Gary P

[RJNorton]

I agree with Gary. I have never read that she met/visited Mudd at his home. I wonder if she knew about the December 23, 1864, meeting at the National Hotel where Booth, John Surratt, Dr. Mudd, and Louis Weichmann had drinks and conversation in Booth's room.

[BettyO]

I agree -- if Mrs. Surratt KNEW Mudd, she never made any recorded admission, nor did Mudd reveal that he knew Mrs. Surratt - young Surratt yes - accordingly Surratt, Weichmann and JWB met Mudd in a hotel room in, I think, 1864.

[Jim Garrett]

Well, if the ghost show says their ghosts were both at Dr. Mudd's house, then thats all I need to know.

[L Verge]

Unless Bob Summers knows of something, I have never seen any documentation of Mary visiting or staying with the Mudds. However, I think there is a good possibility that they knew each other through the Catholic Church. They had at least one priest in common. Fr. Lenighan of St. Peter's, the Mudds' home church, visited Mrs. Surratt at one point during the war. The Surratts' servant, Aunt Rachel, tells of Mary mistaking the priest for John, Jr. as he came to the door - proof of the lady's bad eyesight. Aunt Rachel had been rented to the Surratts by a family named Wildman. I believe that the Mudds and the Wildmans had intermarried.

Louise Mudd Arehart used to tease me about how Grandpa and Mrs. Surratt knew each other, but she went to her grave never telling me the story.

[LincolnMan]

Laurie: also, isn't it possible they knew each other simply because of living in the relatively same geographic area?

[L Verge]

Yes, with today's road system, the two houses are only about thirteen miles apart. It was probably a little larger distance in the 1860s before bulldozers straightened out our snake trails.

Anna Surratt was educated in Bryantown, not that far from the Mudds. And, of course, the Surratts ran a tavern right on the main north-south route into Washington. Surely, Dr. Mudd and other residents of Charles County visited that tavern en route to D.C. It was also a stagecoach stop. Given John, Sr.'s high standing on the secessionist list until his death in 1862, there surely should be some reason for Mudd to make his acquaintance.

We always hear that everybody knew everybody in those days. Growing up in Southern Maryland in the mid-1900s, I can testify to that. If you didn't know them, you knew about them.

[LincolnMan]

Laurie: that's what I thought as well. Plus, given that Mudd was a doctor-he may have been more prone to be known in the area.

[antiquefinder]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. Is it possible that Mary Surratt went to see Dr. Mudd at his house because she was sick and needed a doctor?

[L Verge]

No, we have copies of bills from Mrs. Surratt's physician, Dr. John Bayne of Salubria (plantation name), who lived about 6-7 miles closer to D.C. He treated her mother-in-law as well as her during at least her pregnancy with John, Jr.

Dr. Bayne was one of the most noted physicians in this region during most of the mid-1800s. He was also a noted horticulturist who helped to found the Maryland Agricultural College (now the University of Maryland). He's well-known for his work with the lowly tomato that turned it into one of our most popular products.

The doctor's family was also part of one of the great local crimes in our area during the 1840s. One of his slaves, Juda, just fourteen years old, poisoned three of the Bayne children and was hanged for the murders. She has the distinction of being the youngest female ever executed. Add that to his patient, Mary Surratt, being the first woman executed by the federal government, and it makes for an interesting resume.

[antiquefinder]

(03-25-2013 12:49 PM)L Verge Wrote:  No, we have copies of bills from Mrs. Surratt's physician, Dr. John Bayne of Salubria (plantation name), who lived about 6-7 miles closer to D.C. He treated her mother-in-law as well as her during at least her pregnancy with John, Jr.

Dr. Bayne was one of the most noted physicians in this region during most of the mid-1800s. He was also a noted horticulturist who helped to found the Maryland Agricultural College (now the University of Maryland). He's well-known for his work with the lowly tomato that turned it into one of our most popular products.

The doctor's family was also part of one of the great local crimes in our area during the 1840s. One of his slaves, Juda, just fourteen years old poisoned three of the Bayne children and was hanged for the murders. She has the distinction of being the youngest female ever executed. Add that to his patient, Mary Surratt, being the first woman executed by the federal government, and it makes for an interesting resume.

Thank you for the information Laurie. This is definetly interesting. That is awesome that you have copies of the bills from Mary Surratt. The story of Dr. Bayne and his children being murdered sounds very familiar to me.

[L Verge]

I believe I did an article on it for the Surratt Courier years ago.

I need to re-check Dr. Bayne's bill for the birthing of Junior Surratt. For some reason, I recall us being perplexed as to his birth date. It is always listed as April 13, 1844; but there is something in the way the bill was worded that made it seem like Junior waited until April 14 to make an appearance. Wouldn't that have been ironic...

Also, about Juda - I forgot to mention that she also set fire to Dr. Bayne's home. I'm sure that she would be judged insane today, but one can only imagine the fear that went through the neighborhood when people learned of the crimes. This was the era of slave revolts, Nat Turner, etc. Juda did it quietly and separately over a period of time also.