Gallows

[Linda Anderson]

(04-23-2013 07:54 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 09:00 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.