WEBVTT - The Execution of Mary Surratt 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:06.680 Welcome to Criminalia, a production of Shonda Land Audio in 0:00:06.760 --> 0:00:16.079 partnership with I Heart Radio. To this day, more than 0:00:16.160 --> 0:00:19.919 one hundred years after the events unfolded, there continues to 0:00:19.960 --> 0:00:23.240 be debate among historians as to whether Mary Saratt was 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:26.639 or was not involved in the plot to assassinate the 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:31.000 sixteenth President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. What we 0:00:31.160 --> 0:00:34.240 know is Mary was hanged for treason in the summer 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:37.680 of eighteen sixty five. Let's find out why. Welcome to 0:00:37.680 --> 0:00:41.400 criminal Lea. I'm Maria trum Marquis and I'm Holly Fry. 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:44.960 Mary was born in May or June of either eighteen 0:00:44.960 --> 0:00:49.000 twenty or eighteen twenty three. Records differ to Archibald and 0:00:49.040 --> 0:00:53.880 Elizabeth Jenkins. Her father's name may have been Samuel and 0:00:53.960 --> 0:00:58.080 her mother perhaps was not named Elizabeth. The information, as 0:00:58.080 --> 0:01:00.240 you can see, is pretty fuzzy on her or jin 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:04.480 She lived on her family's tobacco farm near Waterloo, Maryland, 0:01:04.600 --> 0:01:07.959 and today her place of birth actually lies within Andrew's 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:10.440 Air Force Base, which you may know as the home 0:01:10.480 --> 0:01:14.200 of Air Force one raised Episcopalion. After the death of 0:01:14.200 --> 0:01:16.960 her father when Mary was about twelve years old, her 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:20.800 mother enrolled her at Miss Winnifred Martin's Catholic Girls School, 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:25.440 operated by St. Mary's Catholic Church in Alexandria, Virginia. And 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:28.640 Mary converted to Catholicism during that time, and it is 0:01:28.680 --> 0:01:31.800 said that she remained faithful to that religion throughout her life. 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:36.399 In eighteen forty she married John Serat. They lived on 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:39.160 land John had inherited from his parents in what is 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:42.679 now the Congress Heights neighborhood in Washington, d c. The 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:45.960 couple had three children, including two sons who became involved 0:01:46.000 --> 0:01:49.600 in the Confederacy. Isaac was born in eighteen forty one, 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:53.560 Elizabeth Susannah who was known as Anna in eighteen forty three, 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:58.000 and John Jr. In eighteen forty four. In eighteen fifty three, 0:01:58.160 --> 0:02:01.200 John purchased two hundred and eighties even acres of land 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:06.680 land that became known as Saratsville today That's Clinton located 0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:09.960 in Prince George's County, Maryland, which in Mary's day was 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:14.560 a tobacco growing region with a long history of slavery. There, 0:02:14.720 --> 0:02:17.320 John opened a tavern that served as a polling place 0:02:17.360 --> 0:02:20.120 in post office, and he also provided part time lodging. 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:25.280 They eventually added carriage and blacksmith shops, and they had 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:29.080 at least a half a dozen enslaved persons on their land. 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:33.800 Maryland straddled the North and South during the American Civil War. 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:37.440 It was what you would call a border state. Maryland 0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:41.000 was a slave state, but it never seceded from the Union. 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:44.120 When the Civil War began in eighteen sixty one, it 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:47.880 was no secret that the Sarats favored the Confederacy, and 0:02:47.919 --> 0:02:51.639 their tavern became the destination for those looking to discuss 0:02:51.680 --> 0:02:56.080 the politics of the day. John was a non alcoholic. 0:02:56.560 --> 0:02:59.480 He's viewed by some modern historians to have been abusive 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:03.480 to Mary, and Mary increasingly managed the business as he 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:07.680 fell deeper and deeper into his disease. When he died 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:11.040 in eighteen sixty two, she became the proprietor in name 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:16.880 as well. But Mary found herself with some significant financial challenges. 0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:22.320 In September possibly October of eighteen sixty four, Mary rented 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:25.519 out her properties in Sarathsville and moved to the now 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:28.960 infamous town house at six O four eight Street in 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:32.560 Northwest Washington, d C. She had inherited it from the 0:03:32.600 --> 0:03:36.760 Sarat family upon John's death. The house was gray brick 0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:39.480 and had four stories. The first floor, which was level 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:42.760 with the street, had two large rooms used as the 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:45.960 kitchen and the dining room. The second floor had a 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:48.120 front and back parlor. The room in the rear was 0:03:48.160 --> 0:03:51.560 Mary's bedroom. The third floor had three rooms, two in 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:54.600 the front, one larger in the back, and the fourth floor, 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:58.240 which was technically considered an attic, was broken into two 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:01.440 large rooms and one small room. It was usually occupied 0:04:01.440 --> 0:04:05.400 by Mary's domestic help. Mary operated her town house as 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:08.360 a boarding house from the time she moved in through April, 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:13.560 when she was arrested. It's widely accepted as fact that 0:04:13.720 --> 0:04:19.279 she hosted and possibly also attended conspiratorial meetings to remove 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:23.880 Lincoln from office. Meetings frequently held there by John Wilkes 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:28.960 Booth and her son, John Jr. Booth enlisted help to 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:32.279 carry out this plot that was being put together. The 0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:35.320 co conspirator's list would end up including the following men, 0:04:35.800 --> 0:04:40.720 Samuel Arnold, George A. At Surat, David E. Harold, Dr. 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:45.200 Samuel A. Mud Michael O'Laughlin, Louis Powell who was also 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:50.400 known as Louis Payne, Edward ned Spangler, and John Serat Jr. 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:54.440 Each man had a specific skill or knowledge to bring 0:04:54.480 --> 0:04:57.520 to the team. For example, at Serat was known for 0:04:57.640 --> 0:05:02.520 helping Confederate spies safely crossed the Potomac River. Harold knew 0:05:02.520 --> 0:05:05.880 the poorly mapped roots that existed of the regions around 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:09.479 the District of Columbia. John Jr. Was part of the 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:12.760 Confederate Secret Service, and he knew all sorts of secret 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:15.920 roots in southern Maryland that were used by the Confederates 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:21.159 to discreetly enter and leave Washington. D C. Powell was 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:23.800 chosen for his physical strength, which was going to be 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:28.440 needed to overwhelm the six ft for President. Arnold and 0:05:28.480 --> 0:05:33.400 O'Laughlin were old friends of Booth. The goal, at least 0:05:33.480 --> 0:05:36.840 when Booth and John Jr. Had begun to imagine this, 0:05:37.560 --> 0:05:41.720 was to remove President Lincoln and three other Northern leaders 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:46.120 from office, and that included Vice President Andrew Johnson, Secretary 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:49.919 of State WILLIAMS. Seward, and General Ulysses S. Grant. But 0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:55.440 plans do change, and sometimes more than once. Booth didn't 0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:58.839 plan to assassinate Lincoln, at least not at first. He 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:02.120 wanted to abduct him, take him to Richmond, Virginia, and 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:06.040 exchange him for Confederate soldiers being held in Union prisons. 0:06:07.000 --> 0:06:10.800 Another plan was to kidnap Lincoln in Ford's theater while 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:14.920 he watched a play. That plan involved snatching him from 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:17.679 his viewing box and then lowering him onto the stage 0:06:17.720 --> 0:06:20.480 to carry him out of the building. This plan was 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:22.800 scrapped as a number of the men did not think 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:27.920 it was feasible. Another plot hatched included capturing Lincoln while 0:06:27.920 --> 0:06:31.000 he was traveling to the Soldier's home. The Soldier's home 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:33.680 was located only a few miles from the White House 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:36.600 in what was then a rural part of the District 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:40.279 of Columbia, and it was Lincoln's primary residence during the 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:43.560 summer months. The President was known to take a carriage 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:47.040 there with little or sometimes no protection, and they saw 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:51.680 this as a vulnerable target. Booth and his conspirators were 0:06:51.720 --> 0:06:55.599 scheming and kept on the lookout for any new opportunities 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:59.320 while they tried to nail down their plan. In March seventeenth, 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:02.799 eighteen six d five, Booth had a tip that Lincoln 0:07:02.839 --> 0:07:06.680 was going to the Campbell Military Hospital to see a play. 0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:10.320 As John Junior later recalled quote, the report only reached 0:07:10.400 --> 0:07:12.880 us about three quarters of an hour before the time 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:17.080 appointed but so perfect was our communication that we were 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:20.040 instantly in our saddles on the way to the hospital. 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:23.840 But they didn't go straight to the hospital. Instead, they 0:07:23.880 --> 0:07:26.680 met at a nearby restaurant to hammer out the details 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:30.480 of this fast moving opportunity. They decided that they would 0:07:30.480 --> 0:07:34.520 stop the carriage as Lincoln returned home after the play. 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:38.000 They planned that they would overpower both him and his driver. 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:41.360 They would handcuff both men and then take them across 0:07:41.400 --> 0:07:45.920 the Potomac River through southern Maryland. John Junior explained, quote, 0:07:46.080 --> 0:07:48.840 we felt confident that all the cavalry in the city 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:53.880 could never overhaul us. Their group, he continued, had fast horses, 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:57.440 knowledge of the countryside, and had a plan for getting 0:07:57.520 --> 0:08:00.800 rid of the carriage once they were out of Washington. So, 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:03.680 with their plan in place, Booth decided to pop over 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:06.200 to the hospital to make sure everything was ready to go. 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:11.560 But to his surprise and disappointment, the President wasn't there, 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:15.000 he wasn't late, and he had not canceled. It's just 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:18.280 that they had the wrong location. It turned out that 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:21.080 the President was at a ceremony at the National Hotel. 0:08:22.400 --> 0:08:26.080 While Booth may have been planning for presidential kidnapping, the 0:08:26.160 --> 0:08:29.600 men he'd recruited knew that he was also open to 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:34.160 the idea of assassination. Booth floated the idea once, actually, 0:08:34.200 --> 0:08:37.400 but the group quickly shut it down, seeing he'd taken 0:08:37.440 --> 0:08:40.880 things too far. Booth excused himself, claiming he quote had 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:45.360 drank too much champagne. After the Union's capture of Richmond, 0:08:45.440 --> 0:08:49.160 Virginia in early April, though, Booth's co conspirators noticed his 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:52.880 attitude change. And so if we jump ahead to reports 0:08:52.880 --> 0:08:56.000 from the treason trial for just a minute, Thomas T. Eckert, 0:08:56.040 --> 0:08:59.400 the Assistant Secretary of War from eighteen sixty five to 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:03.480 eighteen six d seven, testified that Powell had said Booth 0:09:03.679 --> 0:09:07.320 clearly showed his intent to assassinate Lincoln during the celebration 0:09:07.400 --> 0:09:11.280 that followed the fall of Richmond, said Eckert, quote, the 0:09:11.320 --> 0:09:13.840 President made a speech that night from one of the 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:16.920 windows of the White House, and he, Powell and Booth 0:09:17.000 --> 0:09:20.560 were in the grounds in front. Booth tried to persuade 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:22.760 him to shoot the President while in the window, but 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:25.400 he told Booth he would take no such risk. That 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:27.880 he left then and walked around the square, and that 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:31.320 Booth remarked that is the last speech he will ever 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:36.920 make as Americans and anyone who has studied u S 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:40.280 history will know, Booth and his team carried out the 0:09:40.280 --> 0:09:44.080 assassination plot on the evening of April fourteenth, eighteen sixty, 0:09:45.040 --> 0:09:48.079 shooting Lincoln during a performance of the play Our American 0:09:48.200 --> 0:09:52.240 Cousin at Ford's Theater. President died from his wounds the 0:09:52.320 --> 0:09:56.280 next morning. We're going to take a break for award 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:58.719 from our sponsor, but when we're back, we're going to 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:01.960 talk about the investig asition into the assassination, and we'll 0:10:01.960 --> 0:10:06.559 talk about why Mary's trial was actually a military commission. 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:23.240 Welcome back to CRIMINALLYA. Let's talk about the night that 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:28.920 Mary was arrested. Less than five hours after the shooting. 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:32.559 President Lincoln was on his deathbed. John Wilkes Booth had 0:10:32.559 --> 0:10:36.600 fled the city, and federal investigators, following up on a tip, 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:41.160 paid a visit to Mary's boarding house. Mary revealed nothing, 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:44.000 and the answer she did give her often described as 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:49.760 just generally vague. In the two weeks immediately following the assassination, 0:10:49.920 --> 0:10:53.440 hundreds of people were detained, questioned, and in some cases 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:56.839 in prison while federal agents tried to determine who was 0:10:56.920 --> 0:11:00.640 responsible for Lincoln's death. Many who were known associates of 0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:03.319 Booth or who may have assisted in his escape, were 0:11:03.320 --> 0:11:06.360 brought in for questioning, but were released due to lack 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:11.640 of evidence. Investigators honed in on ten individuals they believed 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:15.000 were involved. John Wilkes Booth was of course, on their 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:18.640 short list. John Suratt Jr. Was also on that list. 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:22.680 They were the two most sought suspects, but there was 0:11:22.720 --> 0:11:27.959 a little problem. Booth with Harold had fled twelve days 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:31.120 after the assassination. Cornered in a barn while hiding at 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:35.439 Richard Garrett's farm in Locust Hill in Virginia. Harold surrendered 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:40.240 and Booth was killed by Union soldiers. John Jr. Fled 0:11:40.280 --> 0:11:45.559 the country. On the night of April seventeenth, Military investigators 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:48.760 arrived at the boarding house on Eighth Street too again 0:11:49.480 --> 0:11:54.280 interview Mary and her boarders. During these interviews, Louis Powell, 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:57.400 as fate would have it, knocked on Mary's front door 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:00.320 when he claimed to have been hired by Mary to 0:12:00.360 --> 0:12:05.080 come dig a gutter. Investigators asked Mary to confirm his story, 0:12:05.120 --> 0:12:08.720 but Mary didn't simply say just a yeah no. She's 0:12:08.760 --> 0:12:12.880 strongly answered quote before God, Sir, I do not know 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:14.960 this man, and I have never seen him, and I 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:17.160 did not hire him to dig a gutter for me 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:23.720 that night. Investigators also uncovered various pieces of potentially incriminating 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:27.320 evidence in her home, including a photo of John Wilkes 0:12:27.320 --> 0:12:31.240 booth on a mental piece. Mary was arrested for conspiring 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:35.319 to assassinate the president. The remaining suspects were also arrested 0:12:35.559 --> 0:12:40.679 and charged in the conspiracy. Mary stood before a nine 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:45.840 officer military commission on May nine, eighteen sixty five. So 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:48.840 a military commission is a military court of law, and 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:53.080 the nine judges also act as jury. It was controversial 0:12:53.200 --> 0:12:55.400 to hold the trial in a military court of law, 0:12:55.480 --> 0:12:59.800 as those on trial were civilians, but federal authorities are 0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:03.360 that it was appropriate because Washington, d c. Was still 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:07.000 considered a war zone at that time. Robert E. Lee 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:10.440 had surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant on April ninth, which 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:13.559 is considered the end of the American Civil War. For 0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:17.120 the last battle was actually fought at Palmido Ranch, Texas, 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:20.800 on May thirteenth of eighteen sixty five, in the District 0:13:20.840 --> 0:13:24.520 of Columbia. Confederate troops were still in the field, so 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:28.160 this act of assassination was considered an act of war. 0:13:29.200 --> 0:13:33.760 Co conspirators also on trial included some now pretty familiar names, 0:13:34.200 --> 0:13:39.840 Samuel Arnold, George Atzerot, David E. Harold, Dr. Samuel A. Mud, 0:13:40.160 --> 0:13:46.120 Michael O'Laughlin, Louis Powell, and Ned Spangler. The prosecution sought 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:50.600 to prove that, like her tavern in Suratsville, Mary's boarding 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:55.120 house was a safe place for Confederate agents. Testimony from 0:13:55.160 --> 0:13:59.400 a total of three hundred and sixties six witnesses made 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:04.119 it a really long trial. It took seven weeks to complete. 0:14:05.040 --> 0:14:07.400 Most of their case against Mary rested on the testimony 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:11.160 of just two men, John M. Lloyd and Louis J. Whiteman. 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:15.520 John Lloyd was a former police officer who at least 0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:19.480 Mary's property, including the tavern in Sarrottsville, upon her permanent 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:23.640 move to the boarding house in Washington, d C. According 0:14:23.640 --> 0:14:26.040 to a man named Thomas Harris, a member of the 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:30.280 military commission that tried Mary, Lloyd claimed that five to 0:14:30.360 --> 0:14:34.920 six weeks before the assassination, John Jr. David Harold, and 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:39.000 George Atzerot came to Sarrattsville to drop off a few things. 0:14:39.600 --> 0:14:44.240 Those things were two carbines, ammunition about twenty feet of 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:48.120 rope and a monkey wrench. The men asked Lloyd to 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:53.080 conceal those items at the tavern for them. Lloyd also 0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:57.560 testified that three days before the assassination, Mary herself told 0:14:57.640 --> 0:15:00.800 him that quote, the shooting irons left at his place 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:04.160 would be needed soon. Then on the day of the assassination, 0:15:04.360 --> 0:15:07.120 she again mentioned them, and we can quote from his 0:15:07.200 --> 0:15:10.560 testament going on this one. On the four of April, 0:15:10.680 --> 0:15:13.160 I went to Marlborough to attend a trial there, And 0:15:13.200 --> 0:15:15.920 in the evening when I came home, which I should 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:19.880 judge was about five o'clock, I found Mrs Sarrott there. 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:22.960 She met me out by the woodpile. As I drove in, 0:15:23.600 --> 0:15:26.200 she told me to have those shooting irons ready that 0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:29.600 night there would be some parties who would call for them. 0:15:29.600 --> 0:15:31.560 She gave me something wrapped in a piece of paper, 0:15:31.600 --> 0:15:34.760 which I took upstairs and found to be a field glass. 0:15:34.760 --> 0:15:36.880 She told me to get two bottles of whiskey ready, 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:40.720 and that these things were to be called for that night, 0:15:42.320 --> 0:15:46.400 he continued, quote. Just about midnight, Harold came into the 0:15:46.440 --> 0:15:49.600 house and said, Lloyd, for God's sake, make haste and 0:15:49.640 --> 0:15:53.080 get those things. I did not make any reply, but 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:55.800 went straight and got the carbines, supposing they were the 0:15:55.800 --> 0:15:58.760 parties Mrs Sarrott had referred to you, so she didn't 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:02.240 mention any names. From the way he spoke, he must 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:04.600 have been apprized that I already knew what I was 0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:08.239 to give him. Mrs Surat told me to give the carbines, 0:16:08.280 --> 0:16:11.440 whiskey and field glass. I did not give them the 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:15.920 rope and monkey wrench Booth didn't come in. I did 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:19.560 not know him. He was a stranger to me. Just 0:16:19.760 --> 0:16:21.880 as they were about leaving, the man who was with 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:25.160 Harold said, I will tell you some news if you 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:28.680 want to hear it, or something to that effect. I said, 0:16:28.800 --> 0:16:32.960 I am not particular, use your own pleasure about telling it. Well, 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:36.440 said he, I am pretty certain that we have assassinated 0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:41.240 the President and Secretary Seward. Fred Aiken, one of the 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:45.880 defense attorneys, argued that Lloyd's testimony should be discredited because 0:16:45.920 --> 0:16:49.680 he was quote a man addicted to the excessive use 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:55.080 of intoxicating liquors and was motivated to quote exculpated himself 0:16:55.120 --> 0:17:00.520 by placing blame on Mary. And then there was Wykeman's testimony. 0:17:01.320 --> 0:17:04.760 Wikeman had attended college with John Jr. And he resided 0:17:04.760 --> 0:17:07.359 at Mary's boarding house during the period in which the 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:11.919 conspiracy plot was conceived. Although he described her as quote 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:17.600 exemplary in character and lady like in every particular. Wikeman 0:17:17.720 --> 0:17:22.720 also detailed numerous private conversations in the Surat house between 0:17:22.720 --> 0:17:25.840 Mary and Booth, as well as Mary and Powell and 0:17:25.960 --> 0:17:30.960 other conspirators. According to his testimony, if John Jr. Was 0:17:31.040 --> 0:17:34.399 not home, Booth would ask Mary if she could quote 0:17:34.640 --> 0:17:38.439 go upstairs and spare a word. He testified that on 0:17:38.520 --> 0:17:42.040 April two, Mary told him she quote wished to see 0:17:42.280 --> 0:17:46.120 John Wilkes Booth on private business, and that Booth visited 0:17:46.160 --> 0:17:50.560 her often. Wikeman testified that Booth gave him ten dollars 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:54.080 on the Tuesday before the assassination, which he was instructed 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:56.639 to use to hire a buggy to take Mary to 0:17:56.760 --> 0:18:00.600 Surattsville to collect a small debt. On the day of 0:18:00.600 --> 0:18:04.760 the assassination, Mary did send for him to hire that buggy. 0:18:04.920 --> 0:18:07.600 He continued that she took with her quote a package 0:18:07.680 --> 0:18:11.800 done up in paper about six inches in diameter. Mary 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:14.840 remained inside the tavern for about two hours, during which 0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:19.200 Wykeman saw her speaking privately with Booth, According to Wykeman, 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:22.480 Mary's demeanor changed after her visits with Booth that day, 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:28.879 and she became quote very nervous, agitated, and restless. Additional 0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:32.119 testimony for the defense tried to show Mary was not 0:18:32.640 --> 0:18:39.600 sympathetic to the Confederacy. Despite her lifelong sympathies to the Confederacy, 0:18:39.640 --> 0:18:42.359 they wanted to show that she was loyal to the Union. 0:18:43.440 --> 0:18:47.119 The New York Times observed, quote, those who have watched 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:50.280 her through the whole of this protracted trial have noticed 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:54.800 her utter indifference to anything and everything said or suggested 0:18:54.840 --> 0:18:59.560 about her. The most terrible flagellation produced no effect upon 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:05.400 her rock key countenance, stolid, quiet, entirely, self possessed, calm 0:19:05.440 --> 0:19:09.040 as a May morning. She sat uninterested from the opening 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:13.400 to the close. Her guardians say she anticipated an acquittal. 0:19:14.080 --> 0:19:18.480 She alone knew why. As the trial went on, newspapers 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:21.679 in the Northern States grew more and more critical of Mary, 0:19:22.280 --> 0:19:25.119 of what she said and what she didn't say, but 0:19:25.359 --> 0:19:30.080 often coverage was more like this than anything fair and balanced. 0:19:30.520 --> 0:19:33.600 One paper claimed that she had a quote criminal face 0:19:33.880 --> 0:19:38.280 because of her small mouth and dark eyes. And on 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:40.439 that note, we're going to take a little break for 0:19:40.480 --> 0:19:42.840 a word from our sponsors, and when we return, we 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:59.360 are going to talk about Mary's execution. Welcome back to Criminaliat. 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:03.720 George Atserrat, David Harold, Louis Powell, and Mary Serat were 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:08.760 all found guilty of treasonable conspiracy. Let's talk about the 0:20:08.840 --> 0:20:13.399 day they were punished their hangings. Mary was held at 0:20:13.440 --> 0:20:17.119 an annex to the Old Capitol Prison before being transferred 0:20:17.160 --> 0:20:21.719 to the Washington Arsenal on April. The Old Capital Prison, 0:20:21.920 --> 0:20:24.280 or the Old Brick Capital as it was known, was 0:20:24.320 --> 0:20:28.320 constructed in eighteen fifteen is a temporary meeting space for 0:20:28.359 --> 0:20:31.760 Congress after the British burned the US Capitol building during 0:20:31.760 --> 0:20:35.240 the War of eighteen twelve. It was repurposed during the 0:20:35.280 --> 0:20:38.160 Civil War and used as a prison for Confederate prisoners 0:20:38.160 --> 0:20:42.960 of war, spies, and any Union Army officials convicted of insubordination. 0:20:43.840 --> 0:20:46.840 It held some very famous prisoners, including some of the 0:20:46.880 --> 0:20:52.080 conspirators involved in the Lincoln assassination. Mary, though, was transferred 0:20:52.080 --> 0:20:55.160 to the Arsenal Penitentiary, which is now part of Fort McNair. 0:20:56.200 --> 0:20:59.119 That prison rose to national attention as the site of 0:20:59.119 --> 0:21:03.680 the imprisonment, trial, and punishment of these conspirators in President 0:21:03.720 --> 0:21:08.679 Lincoln's assassination, George at Serrat, David Harold Lewis Powell, and 0:21:08.760 --> 0:21:14.640 Mary Saratt were all imprisoned and executed there on Jean. 0:21:15.480 --> 0:21:20.160 All four prisoners were found guilty of treasonable conspiracy. Mary 0:21:20.240 --> 0:21:22.760 was found guilty on almost all of the counts on 0:21:22.800 --> 0:21:25.679 which she had been indicted. The next day, she was 0:21:25.720 --> 0:21:29.240 sentenced to be executed. Upon hearing her sentence would be 0:21:29.280 --> 0:21:32.840 execution by hanging, reported The New York Times, Mary quote 0:21:32.840 --> 0:21:36.520 wailed forth great waves of sorrow. She fell upon the 0:21:36.560 --> 0:21:39.520 floor and gave rent to a parasy ism of grief, 0:21:40.480 --> 0:21:45.440 partially hysterical and holy nervous. Wine of Valerian and other 0:21:45.520 --> 0:21:48.560 quieting drink was given to her, and she revived, But 0:21:48.880 --> 0:21:52.400 no longer was she the Mrs Sarratt of the courtroom. 0:21:52.440 --> 0:21:55.360 She desired to see her spiritual advisers, and they were 0:21:55.400 --> 0:21:59.720 sent for Five of the nine judges had recommended a 0:21:59.760 --> 0:22:03.679 part and vacating of the death sentence for Mary, a 0:22:03.760 --> 0:22:07.560 request based on her firstly being a woman and secondly 0:22:07.680 --> 0:22:11.720 being of quote advanced age. Okay, she was only about 0:22:11.720 --> 0:22:20.480 forty two. Was a different time. Listen, She's just a 0:22:20.480 --> 0:22:23.200 babe in the woods in my book leave her age 0:22:23.200 --> 0:22:26.159 out of this. But their plea was delivered to the 0:22:26.200 --> 0:22:31.280 President by Judge Joseph Holt, representing the Military Commission. Mary's 0:22:31.320 --> 0:22:36.000 daughter Anna had also pleaded for her mother's clemency. President 0:22:36.040 --> 0:22:39.680 Andrew Johnson claimed after her execution that he had never 0:22:39.720 --> 0:22:43.560 seen any such request, but added that Mary's position as 0:22:43.600 --> 0:22:50.040 proprietor was incriminating enough. The President reportedly commented, insinuating her guilt, 0:22:50.160 --> 0:22:55.400 that quote, she kept the nest that hatched the egg. However, 0:22:56.400 --> 0:22:59.480 there's a big however here. According to The New York 0:22:59.480 --> 0:23:05.280 Times July seven, the President did reply to the request, 0:23:05.640 --> 0:23:10.320 writing quote, I Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, 0:23:10.359 --> 0:23:13.280 do hereby declare that the writ of habeas corpus has 0:23:13.320 --> 0:23:17.240 been heretofore suspended in such cases as thin. And I 0:23:17.280 --> 0:23:21.959 do hereby especially suspend this writ and direct that you 0:23:22.000 --> 0:23:25.280 proceed to execute the order heretofore given upon the judgment 0:23:25.440 --> 0:23:28.359 of this Military Commission. And you will give this order 0:23:28.359 --> 0:23:33.600 in return to this writ, Signed Andrew Johnson. So you 0:23:33.640 --> 0:23:38.680 know that's that. The New York Times continued in that 0:23:38.800 --> 0:23:42.120 vein publishing the quote. It was well known that the council, 0:23:42.359 --> 0:23:45.400 family and friends of the culprit were determined to make 0:23:45.440 --> 0:23:49.359 every exertion, to strain every nerve in a strong pull 0:23:49.440 --> 0:23:52.240 and tug at the tender heart of the President. In 0:23:52.359 --> 0:23:56.080 Mary's behalf, she was a woman, and a sick woman. 0:23:56.119 --> 0:24:00.120 At that woman as she was, she knew her business well. 0:24:00.680 --> 0:24:03.440 Sick as she was, she had strength sufficient for her 0:24:03.480 --> 0:24:07.760 fearful purpose. And stern as the sentence was, its justice 0:24:07.840 --> 0:24:13.520 was absolute, its execution certain. Early in the afternoon of 0:24:13.680 --> 0:24:17.720 July seven, less than three months after the assassination Mary 0:24:18.000 --> 0:24:21.840 at Sarat, Harold, and Powell, were brought to the courtyard 0:24:21.920 --> 0:24:26.479 of the Arsenal Penitentiary. It was blisteringly hot that day, 0:24:26.560 --> 0:24:30.040 and Mary, dressed in black and wearing a veil, became 0:24:30.119 --> 0:24:33.560 dizzy after a few steps in the sun. Four men, 0:24:33.880 --> 0:24:37.640 two soldiers and two priests helped her walk to the gallows, 0:24:37.680 --> 0:24:41.480 where the hangman bound her arms and legs. It's reported 0:24:41.520 --> 0:24:43.480 she complained to him that the ropes were too tight 0:24:43.600 --> 0:24:47.199 and they chafed, and to that he replied, quote they 0:24:47.200 --> 0:24:50.160 would not for a long The four were given their 0:24:50.240 --> 0:24:53.359 last rites, and shortly after one thirty pm, the trap 0:24:53.400 --> 0:24:56.640 door opened and all four fell to their death. It 0:24:56.680 --> 0:25:00.560 was reported that at Sarat in his last moment, shouted quote, 0:25:00.760 --> 0:25:04.840 may we meet in another world. A crowd of nearly 0:25:04.880 --> 0:25:08.320 a thousand people had come with their exclusive tickets to 0:25:08.359 --> 0:25:13.200 see this execution. Newspapers reported that all day long, people 0:25:13.280 --> 0:25:15.879 arrived on trains from out of state, and that local 0:25:15.920 --> 0:25:20.639 hotels were full to capacity. Major General Hancock, though, was 0:25:20.680 --> 0:25:23.880 in charge of who did and did not have access 0:25:23.920 --> 0:25:26.840 and what that access was too. For instance, if you 0:25:26.880 --> 0:25:30.200 were not on the courtroom admission list, you weren't going 0:25:30.280 --> 0:25:33.320 to buy or charm your way. In the day of 0:25:33.359 --> 0:25:37.360 her execution, the Surat boarding house was attacked by souvenir seekers, 0:25:37.400 --> 0:25:41.440 who had to be stopped by police. In the end 0:25:41.760 --> 0:25:46.040 of the ten final suspects, one fled, one was killed. 0:25:46.400 --> 0:25:49.359 The four it this military commission were sentenced to death 0:25:49.400 --> 0:25:52.560 by hanging, and three others in a separate trial were 0:25:52.600 --> 0:25:57.240 given sentences of life at hard labor. Ned Spangler's sentence 0:25:57.400 --> 0:26:02.080 was the lightest six years. During the trial, the press 0:26:02.160 --> 0:26:06.520 and public largely regarded Mary with disgust, but many stepped 0:26:06.560 --> 0:26:11.480 back from that position after witnessing her execution. Mary's conviction 0:26:11.600 --> 0:26:15.320 and her execution ignited a nationwide debate over whether or 0:26:15.320 --> 0:26:18.720 not female deserved special treatment in the eyes of the law. 0:26:19.680 --> 0:26:23.639 Mary was the first woman ever executed under federal orders 0:26:23.680 --> 0:26:28.199 in the United States. Her execution came under considerable criticism 0:26:28.320 --> 0:26:31.960