David Rankin Barbee

[Pamela]

Michael Schein makes this point in his book about John Surratt, p 152 "The many apologists for Mrs. Surratt have seized upon her 'poor eyesight 'to excuse this incident. But poor eyesight is reason to say, 'I can't tell', not reason for a pious woman to take an oath before God never to have seen the man before....An innocent lady with bad eyesight would say she could not tell, or ask for a lantern so she could get a good look to resolve the question. Mrs Surratt was evidently not that lady."