Surratt House Servants

[Gene C]

In the book "Kennedy and Lincoln" by Dr. John Lattimer, the author says the following:

"He (Weichmann) had reported his suspicions of the subversive group to an associate, who had apparently scoffed at his worries. Certainly no action was taken at the time since the plotters had not yet done anything, but the seed was planted: it was known that Booth was involved in a group whose headquarters was at Mrs. Surratt's rooming house. Later, one of the servant girls working there also went to the authorities with her suspicions." (p. 106)

No footnotes in this book, so does anyone know who is the servant, when did she go to the authorities, and what did she say? Did she testify at the trial, and any idea how damaging was her statement regarding Mrs. Surratt?

[KateH.]

I recall a statement made (I believe) by a servant who said she was pretending to sleep on the floor when someone (I think she claims it was Booth) came in the house and spoke with Mrs. Surratt. I think it was on the night of the assassination but I'm fuzzy on the exact details. I'll have to look through my files for her name. Does anyone remember?

[BettyO]

That could possibly be Surratt servant Susan Jackson who told military officials that on the night of April 15 following the President's murder that 3 men had come to the Surratt boarding house; one of them stating that John Surratt had been in Ford's Theater and/or his mother's house the night of the 14th when the President was shot. This is however, pure speculation and 2 years later, Jackson retracted her statement at the Trial of John Surratt in 1867. (See Beware the People Weeping, p. 157) also Weichmann's True History as well as Steer's The Evidence.... Jackson was subsequently rewarded $5,000 for her statements, however.

Laurie may know more.

[Wild Bill]

I agree--it was Susan Mahoney Jackson

[Gene C]

Thanks, the way Lattimer phrased it, I thought he was talking about one of the servants going to the authorities before the assassination.

[L Verge]

I cannot elaborate any further on Susan Jackson other than she was a newly freed person who had been hired as live-in help at the boardinghouse just a few weeks before the assassination.

Kate Larson of this forum gives a good description of who Jackson was and how her mistaken testimony implicated Mrs. Surratt and son John. See Assassin's Accomplice, pages 98-100. The consensus among historians is that Jackson confused Weichmann, Holohan, and police officer McDevitt as being Booth, Surratt, and another man.

Coupled with being new to the boardinghouse and then the confusion of the assassination, it is easy to see how Susan Jackson could be mistaken in her identifications.

[Wild Bill]

I think Susan Jackson saw Booth, Herold, and Smoot. Yeah, I know, who cares.

[JMadonna]

I care Bill,
What do you think happened.

[BettyO]

I, too am very interested, Bill!

Please enlighten us -

[Rick Smith]

I think Susan Jackson saw Booth, Herold, and Smoot. Yeah, I know, who cares.

Bill,

I bet there are more than Joe & Betty who would like to hear your theory, which I agree with. Share it with everyone on the forum.

Rick

---

I think Susan Jackson saw Booth, Herold, and Smoot. Yeah, I know, who cares.

Bill,

I bet there are more than Joe & Betty who would like to hear your theory, which I agree with. Share it with everyone on the forum.

Rick

My apologies; I meant Jerry & Betty.

[Wild Bill]

It appears in the first posting in the old, lengthy thread in this forum under Assassination, "Booth's visit to the Surratt Boarding House after the Assassination," and in my Last Confed Heroes II, 116-19, chapter footnotes in ibid., II, 439, available at the Surratt House Bookstore, Kindle, and Nook. It was pretty well discussed to death and dismissed as one of my usual crackpot ideas. Most of it was suggested to me by Smoot's tale, the most recent publication of which was Randal Berry, "Shall We Gather at the River," as I remember, but I first wrote it in 2001, so it has been a long time.

I keep violating my no more publish pledge for which I apologize. I will try and do better hereafter.

[Dawn E Foster]

I keep violating my no more publish pledge for which I apologize. I will try and do better hereafter.

No, Bill, please don't!

[J. Beckert]

What you refer to as your "usual crackpot ideas" Bill, are always very interesting and extremely thought provoking. The same goes for Jerry's ideas. That's what keep things interesting and opens new doors.

(Confidential to J. E. "R" S III - Son, we should scrap the Gettysburg trip, punch in the coordinates for Tuscon and shanghai the old mule shoer.)

[L Verge]

Mule SHOER, heck! Bill's as stubborn as any mule God ever created - and he can kick like one too... And he will take that as a compliment because he gets great joy out of watching people's reactions to him. And I say that with love and respect. I get mad at him because he loves to throw fiction into what would otherwise be wonderful historical writing. Get him talking seriously about historical events, and his knowledge will blow you away.

Changing the subject back to Susan Jackson -- I have often wondered where Susan would have slept in the boardinghouse. It seems to me that every square inch was taken up between family members and the boarders. The Holahans alone were four people, add Honora Fitzpatrick, Apollonia Dean, Weichmann, niece Olivia Jenkins frequently visiting, etc., and the only space that I can fathom would be in the kitchen itself -- which was in the rear of what was essentially the English basement of the house (and away from the normal traffic flow).

[JMadonna]

What you refer to as your "usual crackpot ideas" Bill, are always very interesting and extremely thought provoking. The same goes for Jerry's ideas. That's what keep things interesting and opens new doors.

If you can't prove them wrong, they ain't crackpot.
But I agree, Bill is extremely interesting and thought provoking. He has a special channel to the past. Wish he'd open up more.