Why was Mary Surratt not photographed after her arrest?

[Linda Anderson]

Anita, Lew Wallace, who was a member of the military tribunal in the trial of the conspirators, drew those pictures. If you go to the link you provided, just click on a picture and it will give you the details.

I think Wallace drew the sketches during the trial itself.

[SSlater]

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

This is provided only as information. I do not know any more than what is shown here. What do you make of it?
Thomas Nelson Conrad - Confederate Captain, was arrested and put in prison with the conspirators. He describes his stay in one of his books -I forget which one "Confederate Spy", etc. There was talk in the cells about "A fair trial and a hanging". Then Capitol Prison Warden Wood, came to him and asked if he would like to go home for the weekend? Conrad didn't have a horse handy, so the Warden loaned him his personal horse. Conrad asked if he needed a pass. Wood said No, that the horse was readily known at any Military Check Point and he would be allowed to pass. Conrad returned to prison on Monday.
On an earlier occasion, Wood paid Conrad for "Services rendered and Information." Conrad wore two caps - one gray , one blue.
Was Conrad the Union's Eyes and Ears in the cells? There had to be some ulterior motive. See "d" above. Your "speculation" is well founded.
Conrad does not tell us more.

[John E.]

Lots to cover here!

1. Sketches of the Penitentiary were not allowed to be published without the consent and permission of General's Hartranft and Hancock. Early on during the trial (May 17), an artist who was given a pass by General Hunter, was found sketching the courtroom. General Hartranft told him that the sketch, per their rules, was not to be published without proper consent. General Hartranft reported the incident to General Hancock. As we all know, two sketches of the courtroom plus at least one each of the exterior and interior of the penitentiary building were eventually published.

2. Seldom are photographs allowed in courtrooms - even today. Some judges consider photography to be a distraction and disruption to the court and ban them from being used. This is why sketches are still prevalent today when it comes to newspapers and other media reporting on court proceedings.

3. Conrad may have been confined at the Old Capitol Prison but he was never held with the conspirators in the Arsenal Penitentiary.

John

[Jim Garrett]

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.

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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.

The NPS identifies the woman as Anna Petersen.

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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.

The NPS identifies the woman as Anna Petersen.

[Anita]

Anita, Lew Wallace, who was a member of the military tribunal in the trial of the conspirators, drew those pictures. If you go to the link you provided, just click on a picture and it will give you the details.

I think Wallace drew the sketches during the trial itself.

Thanks Linda. I didn't know who Wallace was so I did some reading. They are indeed his own courtroom sketches. I found an article By John Swansburg|Posted Tuesday, March 26, 2013, at 5:29 AM http://tinyurl.com/mjalcjh

"Lew Wallace lived an exceptional life: He was a Civil War general, a war crimes judge, a Wild West lawman, a diplomat, and one of the best-selling novelists in American history. He also fancied himself a painter. Below are a selection of artifacts from his life, including the drawing Winslow Homer made of him after his early Civil War success, a letter he received from Billy the Kid during his stint as governor of New Mexico, a painting he made of the Lincoln assassination conspirators (based on his own courtroom sketches), and a couple of pages from the original manuscript of Ben-Hur, which Wallace wrote in purple. The pages are taken from the novel’s famous chariot race."

What a talented and accomplished man of his time in spite of his military disgrace at Shiloh.

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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.

The NPS identifies the woman as Anna Petersen.

---

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.

The NPS identifies the woman as Anna Petersen.

Roger, Honest mistake? They got the wrong boarding house!

[Jim Garrett]

Lew Wallace's uniform frock coat is on display at the NPS Monocacy Battlefield Museum. It has a velveteen collar and it's very hard to tell if it's the same uniform he is wearing in the photographs from the trial period.

Interestingly, the article doesn't mention Lew Wallace's affiliation with the greatest dectective duo in history, the Potter brother's. Many on this forum are well aware of the Potter documents that were stored in Wallace's carriage house back in Crawfordsville, Ind. Unfortunateley those valuable documents were covered in heaping layers of pigeon dung and unable to be used to the fullest advantage. We, as researchers are so fortunate that Dr. Ray Neff was able to make copies of transcriptions of transcriptions made by a friend of Lew Wallace's great grand niece......twice removed.

[Anita]

Lew Wallace's uniform frock coat is on display at the NPS Monocacy Battlefield Museum. It has a velveteen collar and it's very hard to tell if it's the same uniform he is wearing in the photographs from the trial period.

Interestingly, the article doesn't mention Lew Wallace's affiliation with the greatest dectective duo in history, the Potter brother's. Many on this forum are well aware of the Potter documents that were stored in Wallace's carriage house back in Crawfordsville, Ind. Unfortunateley those valuable documents were covered in heaping layers of pigeon dung and unable to be used to the fullest advantage. We, as researchers are so fortunate that Dr. Ray Neff was able to make copies of transcriptions of transcriptions made by a friend of Lew Wallace's great grand niece......twice removed.

Thank you Jim. Now I will read up on the Potter bros. I know about pigeon dung!

[Jenny]

You just made my day, Jim!

[L Verge]

Oh please, don't bring that up again! I should add, however, that I was told about a year ago that Mrs. Neff has supposedly found even more poopy papers that her husband had stored in their garage before his death. I believe that she turned them over to David Vancil, the retired archivist at Indiana State University. I have heard nothing further on the matter, and I cannot say for certain that the information is correct.

As for the Potter brothers, some of the best researchers I know have attempted to verify that they did indeed exist - to no avail. There is a former member of the Surratt Society that I discovered on a genealogy blog having ancestors named Potter who immigrated between Canada and New York and perhaps Vermont. I wish he would shed some light on his Potters and any Civil War ties. Those three areas are very intriguing to me during 1864 and early-1865.

[Jim Garrett]

Oh please, don't bring that up again! I should add, however, that I was told about a year ago that Mrs. Neff has supposedly found even more poopy papers that her husband had stored in their garage before his death. I believe that she turned them over to David Vancil, the retired archivist at Indiana State University. I have heard nothing further on the matter, and I cannot say for certain that the information is correct.

As for the Potter brothers, some of the best researchers I know have attempted to verify that they did indeed exist - to no avail. There is a former member of the Surratt Society that I discovered on a genealogy blog having ancestors named Potter who immigrated between Canada and New York and perhaps Vermont. I wish he would shed some light on his Potters and any Civil War ties. Those three areas are very intriguing to me during 1864 and early-1865.

The best operatives are the ones you never heard of, therefore the potters were indeed the best. They were so good, they never heard of each other!

[Gene C]

As for the Potter brothers, some of the best researchers I know have attempted to verify that they did indeed exist - to no avail.

The best operatives are the ones you never heard of, therefore the potters were indeed the best. They were so good, they never heard of each other!

I think you're all barking up the wrong tree. With all the pigeon poop, Ray couldn't read it clearly, he made a type o, and the last name is Porter, not Potter, or is that Potty. It's so hard to tell. All these years, we've been looking for the wrong guy.

[RJNorton]

I wonder what the provenance is for saying the woman is Anna Petersen. Robert Bain does not include it in his book; I would think he would have if a photo of Anna really existed.

[Dave Taylor]

I wonder what the provenance is for saying the woman is Anna Petersen. Robert Bain does not include it in his book; I would think he would have if a photo of Anna really existed.

It doesn't look like we ever got an answer for that from here, either: http://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussio...d-189.html

[RJNorton]

Thanks, Dave. My memory is definitely aging. After I made my post I started having a vague memory that we once already discussed this.

I did a search of old emails on my computer, and I last had contact with Robert Bain in 2006. In hindsight I should have asked him about photos of Anna and William, but I didn't. I did ask him about William's death as some sources I've seen say he committed suicide, but Robert was insistent that it was an accidental overdose of laudanum.

[Jim Garrett]

I think William's death was the result of mixing the laudanum with whiskey. So much for those warning labels on the sides of bottles, er sorry no warning labels back then. On a lighter note, while William's death may have been accidental, Anna's death was more likely a suicide.