Why was Mary Surratt not photographed after her arrest?

[Anita]

Does anyone know why Stanton didn't have Mary Surratt photographed during or after her arrest? I read that the only way the public knew what she looked like was through drawings.

The male conspirators were photographed.

[Rogerm]

Could it have been because she was female?

[barryssentials]

(09-02-2013 09:09 PM)Anita Wrote:  Does anyone know why Stanton didn't have Mary Surratt photographed during or after her arrest? I read that the only way the public knew what she looked like was through drawings.

The male conspirators were photographed.

Hi Anita: John Elliott and I have spent a lot of time researching the conspirators incarcerations and punishments. Although we've never uncovered anything official relating to your question, our information indicates the following.

a. A total of eight prisoners were held on the two monitors, USS Saugus and USS Montauk. All eight were photographed. However, only six of those men went on trial along with Mary Surratt and Dr. Samuel Mudd.

b. Mary Surratt and Dr. Mudd were not held on the monitors but rather at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington. We believe this was done for numerous reasons.

c. Firstly, many suspects were rounded up after the assassination. Some were not suspected in the actual crime but were held as witnesses. Dr. Mudd was in this situation and was not initially considered a suspect, so he was not photographed either.

d. Mary Surratt, along with her daughter Anna, were also held there. They were arrested at her boarding house the same night that Lewis Powell showed up on their doorstep. Mary Surratt's son John Surratt was one of the initial prime suspects in the assassination and the authorities wanted him badly. But he was actually in upper state New York at the time of the crime and fled north into Canada. It has been proposed that Mary was used as bait to draw her son out of hiding. But that is more likely to have been the case after she was transferred to the Arsenal Penitentiary and put on trial. However, during her stay at the Old Capitol, it is more logical that Union spies were put inside to try to gather information from her about her son's whereabouts and whatever else she knew. Again, this is only speculation.

e. Mary was likely not photographed for the same reason Dr. Mudd was not. The authorities had not officially identified them as suspects at the time and so little attention was paid to them.

f. One last bit of speculation as to why Mary Surratt and Dr. Mudd were placed at the Old Capitol rather than the harsh conditions aboard the monitors (other than their earlier notes regarding their non-status as suspects early on) is that it was partially due to their class. She was a woman and Samuel Mudd was a doctor. In a society that still honored a class system, this may have helped to give both of these folks better living conditions than did the other eight prisoners on the monitors.

I'm sure John will add some other great info to this.
And I hope this answer has helped.
Best. Barry

[John E.]

Hello Anita and Roger. No official reason was given for Mary Surratt's mugshot photo not being taken. As you may or may not know, Dr. Mudd's mugshot was not taken either.

I believe they weren't photographed because the government didn't consider them prime suspects at the time. The prisoners held at the Washington Navy Yard were believed to have had a direct hand in assisting Booth with the assassination. Mudd was considered a witness up until late April. Mudd and Surratt were both confined at the Old Capitol Prison.

John

[brtmchl]

The fact that the government didn't consider her a prime suspect at the time as John and Barry stated makes the most sense to me.

Could there have been fear, that taking the photograph of the first potential woman to be executed by the government also garner some sort of sympathy from the general public?

I would imagine that once they decided that Mary was involved and put her on trial, as a prime suspect, the demand for a photograph would have been high.

[RJNorton]

(09-03-2013 08:03 AM)brtmchl Wrote:  I would imagine that once they decided that Mary was involved and put her on trial, as a prime suspect, the demand for a photograph would have been high.

Right on, Mike. Even fake pictures of her were sold to a gullible public.

Bogus Mary Surratt

SOURCE: p. 66 of Ed Steers' The Escape and Capture of John Wilkes Booth

[Craig Hipkins]

I wonder why a photographer was not allowed in the courtroom during the trial? It is strange that they were allowed to photograph the execution but were not allowed access to the courtroom. Imagine how this trial would have played out today with the publics fascination with trials.

Craig

[BettyO]

I agree with Barry and John's assessment; plus Mary being female may have been another reason. Women simply were not usually put in the public eye. All during the trial and even on the gallows, Mary shielded her face from public view. The drawings of her after the fact; i.e. the cover of Barclay and Company's trial transcript which contains her "supposed image" was published more or less shortly after her demise. Her likeness did not appear in any of the illustrated weeklies other her than her appearance as a tiny non descript figure in the prisoners dock.

Her likeness did appear as she supposedly "looked" while in the death cell in Leslie's and in the rather racy National Police Gazette, but again, seemingly after her demise.

[Gene C]

Betty, that makes sense, didn't she wear a veil during the trial and at her execution?

[Anita]

(09-03-2013 08:36 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(09-03-2013 08:03 AM)brtmchl Wrote:  I would imagine that once they decided that Mary was involved and put her on trial, as a prime suspect, the demand for a photograph would have been high.

Right on, Mike. Even fake pictures of her were sold to a gullible public.

Bogus Mary Surratt

SOURCE: p. 66 of Ed Steers' The Escape and Capture of John Wilkes Booth

Oh my. I wonder who the woman in this photo really is.

---

Barry, I appreciate your comprehensive reply to my question. I see there are many issues that come into play here.

Thanks to all who have posted on this topic. So much great information. I have much to learn. I'd appreciate recommendations for books that provide a good foundation on what happened after the conspirators were caught and the trial.

[L Verge]

The three supplements produced by John Elliott and Barry Cauchon to-date are excellent starting points. We sell them at Surratt House, so contact me at laurie.verge@pgparks.com for info. Or, PM either of these gentlemen on the forum line.

[BettyO]

(09-03-2013 10:22 AM)Gene C Wrote:  Betty, that makes sense, didn't she wear a veil during the trial and at her execution?

Mary wore a veil the entire time supposedly during the trial and lifted it only upon Bingham or Holt's orders for identification. She also shielded her face with a palmetto fan and handkerchief at times -

[barryssentials]

Hi all: This has been a good week for questions. One observation I’d like to address is that several people have asked why photos weren't taken at the trial or of Mary Surratt as the public would have been very interested in them. Great questions!
Photography, in historical hindsight, was not the wonderful 'media' tool that it is today. In 1865, photography was in its infancy and regrettably could not be reproduced in printed newspapers. The technology wouldn't exist to do this until the 1880s. So until then, any photos that were created in the 1860s were reproduced by means of photographic cards (such as carte-de-vis or stereoscopic prints). These photographic cards would have taken a very long time to find their way into wide circulation amongst the public. By then, interest in the subject would have waned. So for the sake of immediate public gratification, visual images in newspapers were produced using illustrated woodcuts and not photographs.
Regarding the question as to why photographs were not taken at the trial, a number of reasons can be theorized. My first thought is always that 'perhaps there WERE photos taken at the trial' but may have been lost, destroyed or hidden away in some attic to be discovered fifty years from now. It's not a fact but can be considered a plausible theory.
The other side of the coin is that there were NO PHOTOS TAKEN at the trial. Despite many security gaffs that seemed to have occurred throughout the incarceration, trial and punishments of the prisoners, there were still official restrictions issued by the military to help negate these. For instance, at the trial artists were officially restricted from sketching inside the courtroom and Gen. Hartranft noted that he confiscated drawings in progress that he caught illustrators working on. Since this restriction was in place, it is likely that no cameras were allowed as well (I've personally not read any transcripts that state such official restrictions were implemented but I assume they must have been in place if sketching was not permitted).
It's all theory of course, but hopefully it gives good food for thought.
Have a great day.
Best
Barry

[BettyO]

Barry,

I've always wondered about the sketches. Sketch artists for the papers were not allowed - but what of General Lew Wallace? His sketches of Lew Powell, Davey Herold, Spangler, Arnold, O'Laughlin, Atzerodt, Mudd, et. al. were certainly not barred or confiscated in any way - unless Wallace managed to shuffle them under papers in front of him and thus avoid Hartranft's searching eye!

Thanks for a real "eye opener!"

[Anita]

Hi barryssentials! You wrote,

"For instance, at the trial artists were officially restricted from sketching inside the courtroom and Gen. Hartranft noted that he confiscated drawings in progress that he caught illustrators working on. Since this restriction was in place, it is likely that no cameras were allowed as well (I've personally not read any transcripts that state such official restrictions were implemented but I assume they must have been in place if sketching was not permitted)."

Do you think sketches were made "undercover" so to speak?

I asked the question about why Stanton took no photos of Mary Serratt,
after searching for her photo and finding this sketched portrait of her in the Indiana Historical Society Collections. http://tinyurl.com/mmz8rsr This is where I read that no photographs were taken.

Then I searched the same site under Lincoln Assassination and found official
"Judicial proceedings; Portraits Pencil sketch of George A. Atzerodt during the trial for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln."
   

Portrait sketches of all the male conspirators can be found here on the IHS website. http://tinyurl.com/mdvx2yj

Does anyone know if these sketches were drawn during the trial?