Countdown to July 7

[L Verge]

Mary was granted the Last Rites of the Catholic Church before being led out of the Penitentiary. Her crucifix went with her to the gallows as a form of continued supplication for mercy as well as, I'm sure, a means of keeping her calm by reassuring her that Christ had faced the same situation and got eternal life.

As for the shoes, I have been told that when death came, both the bowels and bladder were likely to be released and foul the shoes, which were good commodities in those days before Payless Shoes and DSW. I have never had that confirmed, however. In the case of the conspirators, the bindings around their calves would prevent their legs from flailing, I would think.

You can thank John Elliott and Barry Cauchon for the high-resolution photos of the execution that have allowed us within the past few years to analyze the details. The first time I saw this scene of Mary Surratt, it was on an 8-foot screen -- and I nearly fell out of my chair. The faint outline of her facial features shocked me!

[Gene C]

I got a question.....why do they remove the shoes from the condemned?

The sudden jerk of the fall when you get to the end of your rope, can cause the shoes to come flying off.

It is not uncommon for a pedestrian hit by a car, to be knocked out of their shoes

http://blogs.venturacountystar.com/crime...shoes.html

[BettyO]

That's what I've read as well....that the shoes could come flying off -- flying feces aside....

[MaddieM]

That's what I've read as well....that the shoes could come flying off -- flying feces aside....

All the more reason not to eat or drink the night before. When you analyse it, hanging is really barbaric.

[BettyO]

Exactly, Maddie. Lew Powell had SEEN plenty of dead bodies on the battlefields and he knew what would happen - hence he didn't eat or drink a thing before the hanging as he didn't want this final indignity - I don't blame him....

[MaddieM]

Exactly, Maddie. Lew Powell had SEEN plenty of dead bodies on the battlefields and he knew what would happen - hence he didn't eat or drink a thing before the hanging as he didn't want this final indignity - I don't blame him....

Me neither. I'm sure none of them ate much towards the end anyway. The more I read about poor old Anna Surratt, the more it tugs at my heart strings. That poor girl. I can only imagine if it was my mum.

[Jim Garrett]

I think in the Swanson/Weinberg book, they mentioned that David Herold lost his bladder. Can any signs of that event be detected by close-ups. In that regard, Many of the prisons today have the condemned wearing adult diapers at the time of execution.

[BettyO]

I've heard that as well, Jim. Herold did take that Wine of Valerian and Atzerodt drank freely of Brandy, if most accounts are to be believed.... I blew up the hanging scene - but nothing can be seen regarding Mr. Herold.....

[L Verge]

Back in the 1970s, we were constantly being pestered by a woman from Florida who wanted to know if there was a puddle under Mary Surratt. We would answer that we could not make one out in the photographs. A few months later, she would write again with the same question. We finally realized that she had other strange questions and tried to turn them personal. Come to find out, she was in a mental ward at the state prison. End of correspondence.

When John and Barry first showed me their high-resolution photos, however, that question came back to me, and I asked them what they thought. Their answer was "no puddle," and anything under the scaffold appeared to be shadows. It is very doubtful with all the pantalets, petticoats, and cotton stockings that Mrs. Surratt had on that any puddle would have formed on the ground if her bladder had relieved itself.

[Linda Anderson]

It seems like a good time to resurrect this thread.

Betty has posted some extraordinary pictures on it.

[Jim Garrett]

Does anyone know if Ft. McNair will be open tomorrow (Sunday) for the anniversary?

[BettyO]

Jim -

That I don't know...but I do know that the "Powers that Be" in charge of Quarters 20 will not be there (or usually are not) to grant access to the Trial Room on weekends. You can try - and let me know if you DO get in! I, too would love to go up on a weekend.... I also know that the government furlough kicks in on Monday and the base will only be accessible for four days a week -- or so I was told. The furlough is Nation-wide. I have a friend who works at Fort Lee here in Petersburg and she is undergoing furlough as well.

Good Luck!

[RJNorton]

Once again I am reading an article that says Lewis Powell said (some sources say shouted) "Mrs. Surratt is innocent. She doesn't deserve to die with the rest of us" on the scaffold. I have seen this quote in many books and articles, but the only source I can find is in Amy Gillett Bassett's Red Cross Reveries: On the Home Front and Overseas. She is simply reporting what her father, Dr. Gillette, says he heard on the scaffold. Has anyone ever seen an account where someone else on the scaffold actually heard Powell says this about Mary Surratt?

[BettyO]

I think that Mrs. Bassett may have gotten things somewhat wrong or confused. Powell told Gillette that Mrs. Surratt was innocent in the death cell; and of course he reiterated this quite frequently, including telling Hartranft and Fathers Walter and Wiget - seemingly anyone who came near his cell at the time.

Gillette remembered that Powell was quiet and dignified on the gallows. The boy teared up when Gillette gave the last prayer - but that was it; according to the Baptist Minister, there were no "theatrics", no sobbing, no shouting of course. The condemned was dignified and respectful - silent. Powell may have quietly stated this to Gillette for the umpteenth time on the gallows, but it was probably quietly whispered; not shouted out.

I've seen this mistaken version of Powell shouting on the gallows a lot of times - along with the statement that he "snatched a hat off of a fellow's head as he passed by." How the kid could snatch anything with his arms stiff-shackled behind his back as they were at this time, I don't know....



"Last Days of Payne" NY World, April 3, 1892

[BettyO]

There were drums played at the execution as well - a slow, deadly cadence according to a report written by one of the ten drummer boys who were at the execution - it was a muffled cadence as they marched to the gallows -





Following is what the last "music" the conspirators heard probably sounded like - CLICK HERE.