Food for Thought

[Steve]

Selected portions of the testimony of James Sangster, the clerk at the St. Laurence Hall in Montreal (with the parts about the Garibaldi jacket in bold)

(By Mr. Bradley)

Q. Are there any circumstances that would recall this man to you?
A. The circumstances were, that after the death of Lincoln parties came there inquiring for him, and from the description they gave of his dress I remembered such a party there answering to that description.

Q. What was this dress?
A. He wore what is called a Garibaldi jacket.

By the Court :

Q. What is a Garibaldi jacket?
A. It is a kind of straight coat, or jacket, with a belt of the same material.

By Mr. Bradley, Jr. :

Q. Do you recollect anything else peculiar about his dress?
A. I remember that he was tall — nothing more than that. At the time of these inquiries I remembered that such a party had been in the house. I do not remember now his appearance except that he wore a Garibaldi jacket.

Q. Do you remember whether he carried a cane or not?
A. I do not remember that.

Q. Or the style of his hat?
A. My impression is that it was a slouch hat — a kind of soft hat.

Q. Do you remember the pants he wore ?
A. No, I cannot describe them. The coat was close-fitting, buttoning up in front, with pockets in the sides.

By a Juror :

Q. Do you remember the color ?
A. I do not remember the color. It was a style of coat not much worn there at the time, and attracted my attention.

**********
Mr. PIERREPONT. I am informed by counsel upon the other side that they are going to bring in a dress they claim to correspond to that of this John Harrison: I will not, therefore, ask any further question at present.

Mr. BRADLEY. I will say that we had sent a subpoena for Mr. Sangster for the purpose of proving these facts. I state it in order to ascertain how far it may be taken as a stipulation that the prisoner, John H. Surratt, on the 6th of April, 1865, arrived at that hotel, and entered his name on the register as John Harrison; that he left there on the 12th of April, returned on the I8th, and again registered his name as John Harrison.

Mr. PIERREPONT. And that these two entries are in his handwriting.

Mr. BRADLEY. That he registered that identical name. We wish to exhibit to Mr. Sangster not the dress worn by the prisoner, but a dress of the same kind.

Mr. PIERREPONT. That will certainly save us the necessity of taking a very considerable amount of evidence.

The dress referred to was here brought into court, and the question asked by Mr. Bradley, Jr.,

"Is that the style of garment worn by the person entering his name as John Harrison on the occasion referred to?"
Ans. "That is the style of garment."


So, according to the court record, it seems Surratt no longer had the Garibaldi coat when he was arrested, since the defense had to show a different Garibaldi jacket to Sangster for him to identify it as the same type of suit. So, it can't be the exact same suit that Surratt is wearing in the picture. Sangster described it as a straight coat or jacket with a belt of the same material. If you look at that picture of Surratt, just below his hand you can see what looks like a belt made of the same material as the rest of the jacket. Interestingly, Sangster says he cannot remember the color of the coat - one has to ask do you think Sangster would've been more likely to remember the color if the coat was indeed red?