Gallows

[barryssentials]

Hi all. It is so funny to me how difficult it is to get our heads around the orientation of where the scaffold stood and other like icons. In 2008, I had my own issue with this. I just couldn't figure out how the penitentiary was situated on overlays of modern-day Fort McNair. It took a couple of days and several sketches to finally figured it out when, just one week later, my blog received its first email from a really nice Texan, John Elliott (who would later become my research and writing partner). What is so amazing is that he had the exact same question as I had earlier...how to orient the penitentiary It must have been meant to be and it brought us together. So now, anytime anyone has trouble locating where the penitentiary stood or where the scaffold was oriented, I feel their pain. You are on the right track in using the Google Earth views to get your head around this. I will send Roger a photo composite of the layout for the penitentiary and the scaffold which John and I presented during our talk at the 2012 Surratt Conference. It was part of a much longer presentation which showed how, photographically, the exact location of the scaffold was determined. I would post the image myself but I still haven't figure out how yet! LOL. The site lines from the Model Arsenal to the penitentiary, triangulated with the site lines from the old shoe factory to the east wall, place the scaffold in the northeast corner of the tennis courts within the fenced area. Only the stairs would protrude outside of this boundary to the east (right). The four conspirators faced west with their backs to the eastern wall. A picture is worth a 1000 words. I'll send it to Roger very shortly.
Best
Barry

[RJNorton]

Confusion is common, especially as we get older. Several years ago I was exchanging emails with Barry, and I confused the Old Capital Prison with the Washington Arsenal Penitentiary. Hopefully, Barry has forgotten all about that!

[RJNorton]

Here are the photos from Barry:

[BettyO]

Thanks so very, very much Barry for clarifying a BIG mystery!!

And thanks Roger for posting -

[Rhatkinson]

Barry, thanks for posting those photos. They really do help. Here's an admittedly poorly done photoshopped picture that I did trying to give myself an idea of what the penitentiary would look like on the present sight. I thought I'd share it.

   

[J. Beckert]

Don't be too critical of yourself, Heath. That really puts it in perspective for me. Good job.

[BettyO]

Agreed! Good going, Heath - this puts it totally in perspective for us to understand the location -

[wsanto]

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

Which photo is that? Ive only seen the photos showing the front of the gallows. The building in the upper left-hand portion of Heath's photo seems to be behind the back-left (south) side of the gallows.

[Rhatkinson]

Which photo is that? Ive only seen the photos showing the front of the gallows. The building in the upper left-hand portion of Heath's photo seems to be behind the back-left (south) side of the gallows.
[/quote]

I think this is the photo that Barry referenced:

   

[Gene C]

That is a fantastic photo, Thanks, I don't remember seeing it before, just the ones while they are on the gallows.

[Rhatkinson]

That is a fantastic photo, Thanks, I don't remember seeing it before, just the ones while they are on the gallows.

Here is a wider version:
   

[Linda Anderson]

I looked this last photo up in Lincoln's Assassins: Their Trail and Execution by James L. Swanson and Daniel R. Weinberg. The caption says:

"The pine boxes are stacked in front of the scaffold, and the bodies are about to be cut down. To take this bird's-eye view, Gardner moved his camera to the top of the Old Arsenal."

Where are the graves? I thought they were just to the side of the gallows.

[L Verge]

I think the wall is obscuring the grave sites. They were buried to the right of the gallows as you faced it and very close to the wall.

[Linda Anderson]

I think the wall is obscuring the grave sites. They were buried to the right of the gallows as you faced it and very close to the wall.

So they were probably able to see them when they came out of the door of the Penitentiary.

[L Verge]

As soon as they got to the steps of the gallows, I would think they would have to see them unless they were walking with their heads completely down - which might be the case with Mrs. Surratt.