Gallows

[Rhatkinson]

What do the "masters" here think of the information I was told Friday that the gallows were placed along the sideline (north to south) in this picture?

I thought the gallows ran perpendicular.

Heath

[barryssentials]

Hi there. The photo you took faces south. The gallows faced west (to the right) and was located in the northeast corner of the tennis court enclosure just off of court #4 (the mullion of the window covers the spot). It was off the playing surface but still on the green tennis court surface. The stairs would have come down from the gallows platform descending to the left and beyond the fence line. Mary Surratt would have been closest to you. The window you took this photo from can be seen in some of Alexander Gardner's images of the executions. FYI: The red brick building seen in the upper left corner of your picture is called Building 21. It is also known as the Model Arsenal and was the location where the last of the execution photos were taken.
I hope this helps.
Best
Barry Cauchon

[Rhatkinson]

Thanks, Barry.

I, too, was also of the opinion that the gallows ran as you said. I was surprised when the lady who gave us our "tour" said they were in the opposite direction. In fact, I told her that I thought the gallows ran the to the west, but she said that they "now think" they were to the south. I didn't argue because I was her guest and didn't want to get kicked out.

Also difficult not to argue with are the nice folks at Dr. Mudd's house. They don't tolerate any idea that Dr. Mudd was complicit. I don't think Dr. Steers' great book "His Name is Still Mudd" was sold in the gift shop.

The Mudd home was amazing though. It is awesome to walk up the same boards and touch the same hand rail of the stairs that Booth touched 148 years ago.

Heath

[BettyO]

Heath -

Glad you had a great time! I will be very glad to meet you next year at the Conference....

Thanks for your help as well, Barry! If ANYONE knows where the gallows and graves were, it's John and Barry --

I was kicked out of the Mudd house years ago for spouting my opinion - as were Ed Steers and Mr. Hall! So I was in good company.....HA!

No troubles there -- I'm welcome back now. I just keep my mouth closed about "Granpa!"

[jonathan]

(04-23-2013 08:10 AM)BettyO Wrote:  Heath -

Glad you had a great time! I will be very glad to meet you next year at the Conference....

Thanks for your help as well, Barry! If ANYONE knows where the gallows and graves were, it's John and Barry --

I was kicked out of the Mudd house years ago for spouting my opinion - as were Ed Steers and Mr. Hall! So I was in good company.....HA!

No troubles there -- I'm welcome back now. I just keep my mouth closed about "Granpa!"

It's funny, I'm in the "Mudd was guilty, the only question is how guilty" camp. I've got a buddy who feels the same way. Last year we were discussing going on a little assassination trip, and were talking about how the visit to the Mudd house might go. We both agreed that it would be really tempting to politely let our opinions be known, knowing we'd get kicked out, just so we could join the club. Of course this would be after we had seen all we wanted to see. I doubt we'd go that far, but both of us have a tendency to speak our minds a lot of the time, so you never know. If it ever happens, I'll post here immediately. It's nice that they let you back in Betty, but I wonder how they feel about Ed Steers. After the way he put the smackdown on Granpa Sam, I can imagine they have a picture of him posted that says "Do not admit", kind of like sometimes stores will pin up people's bad checks by the cash register. lol

[BettyO]

The person who was so adamant was one of Dr. Mudd's granddaughters, who is now deceased. I was close friends with the other granddaughter who lived in Richmond when I was young. I used to go over to her house all the time and she'd let me handle and play with Dr. Mudd's cribbage board, medical kit and other things!

They have no trouble with me now....I simply hold my tongue and then let it wag when I leave the premises!

[jonathan]

(04-23-2013 08:45 AM)BettyO Wrote:  The person who was so adamant was one of Dr. Mudd's granddaughters, who is now deceased. I was close friends with the other granddaughter who lived in Richmond when I was young. I used to go over to her house all the time and she'd let me handle and play with Dr. Mudd's cribbage board, medical kit and other things!

They have no trouble with me now....I simply hold my tongue and then let it wag when I leave the premises!

Is this the medical kit that's now at Ford's? Was it your friendship with her that led to your interest in the assassination and Powell?

[BettyO]

Yep - one and the same Medical Kit.....

No, that wasn't what led to my interest in the assassination; that was my life long interest in Colonel John Singleton Mosby, believe it or not! She was a lovely lady....

[jonathan]

(04-23-2013 09:18 AM)BettyO Wrote:  Yep - one and the same Medical Kit.....

No, that wasn't what led to my interest in the assassination; that was my life long interest in Colonel John Singleton Mosby, believe it or not! She was a lovely lady....

Wow, I'm pretty jealous of that. I made my first trip to Ford's a few months ago, and one of the things that struck me was how bad I wanted them to open the cases and let me get my hands on some of that stuff. It's kind of like, "Okay, the Derringer is right there, just let me hold it in my hand for a minute or two". lol

[L Verge]

Betty,

When did Mrs. Rogerson give the medical kit to the National Park Service? I thought it was in the old, old exhibit at Ford's before the 1960s restoration. It's kinda neat to know that she had it that long. I'm surprised that Dr. Richard Mudd didn't buy it from her for his collection.

The folks at the Mudd House (most of them) are much nicer to deal with now. They are still very protective of Dr. Mudd, but not usually rude about it like Mrs. Arehart was. Unfortunately, they are not well-versed on all aspects of the story; and we receive a lot of "comments" to that effect from their visitors.

---

Re: the gallows - This does not bode well for public tours at Grant Hall if wrong information on the gallows is already being given out. We have had some bad experiences with a former historian there, and I hope that errors are not being perpetuated.

[Jatkins252]

They were certainly pleasant at the Mudd house, but I personally got the feeling They were trying to "sell" me on his innocence the whole time, which I guess they were. The lady showing us around made some comment about it being rumored that the boot was found in the room upstairs, and Heath asked if they were disputing that the boot was found in the house all together. She said no, but there is differing opinions as to where in the house it was located. I guess it is not that big of a deal, but I found it curious. Any idea why they do not allow pictures upstairs? I had already taken one or two before she told us they were not allowed.

[BettyO]

Quote:When did Mrs. Rogerson give the medical kit to the National Park Service? I thought it was in the old, old exhibit at Ford's before the 1960s restoration. It's kinda neat to know that she had it that long. I'm surprised that Dr. Richard Mudd didn't buy it from her for his collection.

The folks at the Mudd House (most of them) are much nicer to deal with now. They are still very protective of Dr. Mudd, but not usually rude about it like Mrs. Arehart was. Unfortunately, they are not well-versed on all aspects of the story; and we receive a lot of "comments" to that effect from their visitors.
Re: the gallows - This does not bode well for public tours at Grant Hall if wrong information on the gallows is already being given out. We have had some bad experiences with a former historian there, and I hope that errors are not being perpetuated.

I assumed that it was one and the same....it could be another one - but it did belong to Granpa! Mrs. Rogers would let me take the instruments out and hold them - I have a color photo at home and will have to scan it in -- I only have a black and white copy -

This medical case has a purple lining --

I agree.The folk at the Mudd House are much nicer - still some of the comments are.... well - let's just say that much of the old history is still perpetuated.

Scary about the gallows and the tour guide! What they will REALLY need when they officially open for tours is to have John and Barry write up a history for them with which they can train their guides -


Mrs. Roger's Medical Kit from Grandfather Dr. Samuel Mudd

[L Verge]

Since it was Mrs. Mudd who went upstairs and retrieved the boot from under the bed, they really need to be more careful. As for the photos, they used to have it posted outside that no photographs were allowed. The reason I was told was to make folks buy their postcards. Someone else told me that the flashes damaged items. That was somewhat true many years ago, but no longer with modern photography.

[Linda Anderson]

(04-23-2013 06:54 AM)barryssentials Wrote:  Hi there. The photo you took faces south. The gallows faced west (to the right) and was located in the northeast corner of the tennis court enclosure just off of court #4 (the mullion of the window covers the spot). It was off the playing surface but still on the green tennis court surface. The stairs would have come down from the gallows platform descending to the left and beyond the fence line. Mary Surratt would have been closest to you. The window you took this photo from can be seen in some of Alexander Gardner's images of the executions. FYI: The red brick building seen in the upper left corner of your picture is called Building 21. It is also known as the Model Arsenal and was the location where the last of the execution photos were taken.
I hope this helps.
Best
Barry Cauchon

(04-23-2013 08:00 AM)Rhatkinson Wrote:  Thanks, Barry.

I, too, was also of the opinion that the gallows ran as you said. I was surprised when the lady who gave us our "tour" said they were in the opposite direction. In fact, I told her that I thought the gallows ran the to the west, but she said that they "now think" they were to the south. I didn't argue because I was her guest and didn't want to get kicked out.

Heath

I'm a little confused here. Barry is saying that the gallows ran north to south. They would have been parallel with the fence in the middle of the photo. Isn't that what the lady is saying as well?

Thanks to Betty, my husband and I visited the trial room in March. It is much smaller than some of the contemporary illustrations would lead us to believe. It must have been pretty miserable place to be filled with all those people in the summer heat.

It is so peaceful around the tennis courts now. It's like visiting a battlefield and seeing a meadow blooming with flowers and trying to imagine the deaths that took place there long ago.

[Rhatkinson]

I am a little confused as well. I think that perhaps Barry IS confirming what the lady told me (note: she was not a tour guide like Susan, the lady who Betty put me in contact with, but rather a lady who worked under Susan.) She told me that the gallows ran along the "sideline" side of the tennis courts as seen in that picture I posted, but that would mean that that condemned faced to the west (or would have been looking to the right in the picture I took out of the window.)

Barry, was the "sideline" (red box in the below picture) of the tennis courts the location/direction of the gallows or was the "baseline" (blue box) the location?