Mary Surratt
Mary Elizabeth Eugenia Jenkins Surratt (born May or June 1823 in Waterloo , Maryland , † July 7, 1865 in Washington, DC ) was an American co-defendant in connection with the assassination attempt on President Abraham Lincoln and the first woman to be killed by an American Federal agency was executed . It is still unclear whether she was guilty, confidante or not involved.
Life
Born Jenkins, she attended a Catholic boarding school for girls in Virginia before she married the Catholic 27-year-old John Harrison Surratt in 1839 at the age of 16. The couple had three children, Isaac (* 1841), Elizabeth Susanna (* 1843) and John Jr. (* 1844). The family made a living from farming, catering and a post office, among other things.
Although Maryland was part of the Union when the American Civil War broke out , the Surratts sympathized with the Confederates . Several like-minded people, including the actor and later Lincoln murderer John Wilkes Booth , found lodging with them. Mary's husband John died in August 1862, whereupon she moved into a house in Washington DC, inherited from his relatives, which she also used as a boarding house and which later served as a meeting place for her son and other people in preparation for an attack on Lincoln . According to her son, the attack should only be directed against Lincoln's freedom, not his life. He also absolved his mother of guilt in a conspiracy.
Prosecution, Judgment and Enforcement
She and one of her tenants who incriminated her made different statements about the events on the day of the incident. When Mary Surratt was interrogated by the police at her pension and Lewis Powell appeared, who had tried to assassinate Secretary of State William H. Seward , she denied his acquaintance, contrary to various witness statements. It was up to the process together with the co-defendants on a ship in custody held. Although not responsible for civilians, charges were brought before a military tribunal . On June 30, 1865 she was sentenced to death by him for high treason , conspiracy and planning murder . Despite the daughter's petition for clemency and controversial evidence - Booth's exonerating diary was not taken into account - US President Andrew Johnson signed the letter of execution.
Since Mary Surratt and other defendants were Catholics of a minority denomination, there was isolated anti-Catholic resentment.
The day before the execution , a Catholic priest and her daughter came to visit, and they left at 10 a.m. the next morning. At around 1:15 p.m., Mary Surratt was hanged and buried in public along with three other convicts Lewis Powell , David Herold and George Atzerodt . Today she is buried with two of her children in Washington DC.
filming
The trial and its circumstances are at the center of the legal drama The Lincoln Conspiracy, directed by Robert Redford, with Robin Wright as Mary Surratt.
Web links
- Mary Surratt (English)
supporting documents
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Surratt, Mary |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Jenkins Surratt, Mary Elizabeth Eugenia (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American assassin |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 1823 or June 1823 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Waterloo , Maryland , United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 7, 1865 |
| Place of death | Washington, DC , United States |