The Mother and Son Team That Conspired to Kill Lincoln

[Dawn E Foster]

http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/...l-lincoln/

[HerbS]

Dawn,Very interesting article that leads to Historic speculation.It does make you ask questions.What did Mary Surratt tell Bingham?

[Jim Garrett]

Police Superintendent A. C. Richards always felt she was the number two person in the conspiracy.

[RJNorton]

(08-29-2013 10:52 AM)HerbS Wrote:  What did Mary Surratt tell Bingham?

Good morning, Herb. This post I am making is not intended to start another debate/discussion on whether Andrew Johnson wrote passes for Booth and Herold to escape Washington; it is simply pure speculation in an effort to offer a possible answer to your question. But here's a possible answer (in theory). Let's assume for a moment that Johnson did indeed write the passes, and Booth told Mary Surratt that he had them. (Booth had made several visits to see Mary on the 14th.) Thus, Mary knew the Vice-President had written the passes used by Booth and Herold to cross the Navy Yard Bridge. (Of course this speculation I am presenting assumes that Cobb was "coached" by Stanton to keep quiet about the passes.) And Mary Surratt told Bingham who realized this was explosive information and kept it secret the rest of his life. If Bingham had revealed this information in 1865 how would the country have reacted to the knowledge the new President had written the passes that allowed Lincoln's killer to escape Washington?

Another possibility suggested by Heath in a different thread was that Mary told Bingham about a much broader conspiracy. Certainly that is also a possibility. Could Booth have told Mary that one or more of Lincoln's Cabinet members were involved in the plot, and then Mary relayed this information to Bingham?

I guess we can speculate endlessly.

The bottom line is no one knows. According to Bingham's physician, John S. Campbell, Bingham changed his mind about revealing the secret, and finished with the words "The truth must remain sealed." I don't know if there was anyone else in the room who could back up Dr. Campbell's version of this.

[Gene C]

Another possible scenerio. Mary kept her mouth shut for two reasons, to protect John and help him get away and she, like everyone else, was expecting a stay of execution. The sentence was carried out quickly before she could do anything about being double crossed, although she tried. (But I personally don't believe that)

Sometimes sisters know more about there brothers personal activites than mothers. I wonder how close Anna and John were, what Anna really knew. According to Andrew Jampoler in "Last Lincoln Conspirator" (which I haven't read yet), after John was arrested, Anna visited him in jail at least twice, but never appeared in the courtroom at this trial. Anna, John and Issac all end up living in the Baltimore area after the war (why?) and Issac and Anna seem to keep a low profile for the rest of their lives.

[BettyO]

Quote:Another possibility suggested by Heath in a different thread was that Mary told Bingham about a much broader conspiracy. Certainly that is also a possibility.

Powell reiterated to Eckert that there was a much broader conspiracy as well ("You haven't got the one-half of them.") It could very well be that Mary told Bingham more than was stated. She was more or less protecting her son. IF she knew where John was, she wasn't going to say. The question springs up did Anna know where John was? How much did Anna know - if anything? It's a good bet that she as well as her mother knew what was going on in that small house. Weichmann certainly knew. I'm sure that since all three lived in the same vicinity (Baltimore) in later years that they kept in close contact and that Anna and John probably did share secrets which they were not going to divulge. Likewise, one wonders how much Anna told her husband or John told his wife later on.