Good try, Thomas, but it's not the River Queen.

Eva, hint #1 will be a reply to your comment.

Hint#1: The background of the photo is not in the United States.

Ok. Well, it doesn't really look Oriental, but - Alexandria? (The vessel John Surratt boarded?)

No, not Alexandria, but this is the closest guess of all!

Could that be one of the ships Mary Lincoln traveled on back from Europe?

Good thinking, Gene, but as far as I know, Mary was never a passenger on this ship.

Is the setting Europe? Is the question John-Surratt-related?

Eva, the answer to both questions is yes."

The ship that brought Surratt back to the US for trial?

The one that transported him from Rome to Alexandria?

The guesses are now so close that I declare everyone a winner and shall give the answer. This ship is the Peruvian. John Surratt traveled across the Atlantic on the Peruvian in 1865.

There is a photo of the Peruvian on page 75 of Andy Jampoler's The Last Lincoln Conspirator: John Surratt's Flight from the Gallows. The caption under the picture reads:

"Looking east at the RMS Peruvian on the Mersey River, the city of Liverpool in the background. St. Nicholas Church's distinctive pierced lantern tower, built in 1814, rises just forward of the ship's foremast. The rectangular building between that mast and the Peruvian's forward funnel (red with white band and black top) is the Tower Buildings at 22 Water Street, where U.S. consul Thomas Dudley had his office in the 1860s. The photograph dates from between 1891, when the second funnel was added, and 1905, when the ship was scrapped."

The Peruvian's maiden voyage was in 1864; thus it was very new when John Surratt was a passenger.

And many years later, a song was dedicated:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=08083BNaYcA

John Surratt's sojourn in Liverpool also had something to do with the building that the Beatles would later record in.

NOTE the Water Street address. Wonder if some of our conspiracy researchers should be looking in Liverpool instead of the NY waterfront...

(11-16-2016 06:42 PM)L Verge Wrote:  John Surratt's sojourn in Liverpool also had something to do with the building that the Beatles would later record in.

Laurie, being a Beatles fan I've tried to find out more about that but drew a blank. Can you remember where you got it from? Thanks!

(11-17-2016 05:32 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  

(11-16-2016 06:42 PM)L Verge Wrote:  John Surratt's sojourn in Liverpool also had something to do with the building that the Beatles would later record in.

Laurie, being a Beatles fan I've tried to find out more about that but drew a blank. Can you remember where you got it from? Thanks!

Mike Kauffman used to mention it on the Booth Tours he once narrated for the Surratt Society. I hope that I am remembering it correctly.

(11-16-2016 06:42 PM)L Verge Wrote:  John Surratt's sojourn in Liverpool also had something to do with the building that the Beatles would later record in.

NOTE the Water Street address. Wonder if some of our conspiracy researchers should be looking in Liverpool instead of the NY waterfront...

That reminds me of a song. John Wilkes Booth was allegedly humming this Beatle's song the day before the assassination.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJQtozWKCyg