American History Tellers - Traitors | The Widow and the Assassin | 2

Episode Date: November 10, 2021

On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth stepped into the presidential box at Washington’s Ford’s Theatre, raised a pistol at President Abraham Lincoln, and squeezed the trigger. Lincoln would soon die of his wounds, making him the first president to be assassinated in American history. As the nation plunged into mourning, the hunt for Lincoln’s killer began.But authorities soon revealed a conspiracy much bigger than just one man. The investigation would focus on an unlikely accomplice: a widow and boarding house owner named Mary Surratt. In the months leading up to the assassination, Booth and his men met frequently at Surratt’s boarding house, and her tavern was their first stop on their escape. But her exact role in the plot and subsequent military trial led to controversy and conflict that would rage for years to come.Listen ad free by subscribing now to https://wondery.app.link/historytellers!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge new seasons of American History Tellers early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Imagine it's May 1862, late at night in Surrattsville, Maryland. You're an officer in the Union Army, responsible for investigating Confederate spies and smugglers. You're approaching a tavern that is rumored to be a Confederate safehouse. You tie up your horse and step inside. There are about a dozen patrons in the tavern, some clutching drinks and keeping to themselves, others huddled in conversation. You notice a few suspicious

glares thrown your way, but the woman working behind the bar greets you with a warm smile. Good evening, sir. Come in. Have a seat. What can I get for you? A pint of ale, please, Mrs. Seurat. Mary Seurat. You take a seat at the bar and she pours you a drink. You take a sip and give her a grateful smile. Thank you, ma'am. I'm sorry to trouble you at your place of business, but I'm a union investigator and I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions. Mrs. Sarat takes out a rag and begins wiping down the bar. Well, of course. Anything you want to know.

I received a tip that this tavern may be harboring rebel spies. Oh, my. She flashes you a look of concern, but continues tying up. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you? No, sir, I'm afraid not. We do get a lot of travelers passing through here on their way to and from the capital, but I'm not the type to pry into anyone's business, so I understand. So, to your knowledge, none of these travelers happen to be Confederate couriers?

No, I wouldn't know anything about that. I'm just a tavern keeper. I don't involve myself in politics or the war. And your husband, Mr. Surratt, what does he do? He's the local postmaster. He works for the United States government, just like you. That's interesting. You know, it's very common for postal officials in border states to work for the underground Confederate mail service. No, I don't know anything about that. But I assure you, if my husband were involved in that sort of thing, I would be aware. He's not very good at keeping secrets, you know.

She looks over your shoulder and gives a tiny, almost imperceptible nod to someone behind you. You turn around and follow her gaze, only to glimpse a man ducking out the back door. Who was that who left just now? That was my neighbor. Our little community here in Surrtsville is tight-knit. I'm sure it is. And as I think I might be staying here for a few days, I look forward to getting to know everyone.

Well, I hope you enjoy your stay, sir. And I sure do hope you catch those spies you're looking for. Mrs. Surratts smiles at you as she cleans an already sparkling glass with a rag. You pride yourself on reading people, but this woman has you mystified. Her friendliness seems genuine, but you are sure she's hiding something. You wonder how much she really knows about the Confederate spy networks you suspect or operating out of this very tavern. You even wonder whether she might be a spy herself.

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early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. From Wondery, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is American History Tellers. Our history, your story. In the early 1860s, America was wrenched apart by the Civil War. Just over the border from the Confederacy, Southern Maryland became home to a flourishing espionage network. Confederate spies took shelter in the tiny hamlet of Surrattsville, in a tavern owned by a woman named Mary Surratt. Then, as the war wound down, Surratt became involved with a group of conspirators led by John Wilkes Booth,

who hatched a plot to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln and other members of his cabinet. The conspirators frequently visited Surratt's boarding house in Washington and later used her tavern as a crucial stop on their escape route. To this day, Surratt's exact role in the violent plot against the president remains a mystery, but her arrest and conviction would spark fierce public debate and make her a martyr for the Southern cause. This is Episode 2 in our four-part series on America's most notorious traitors, the Widow and the Assassin. Mary Surratt was born Mary Elizabeth Jenkins in 1823 on a small tobacco plantation in Southern Maryland. She grew up as a devout Catholic, and when she was just 17, she married John Surratt, a decade older than her.

In the 1840s, the Surratts had three children, Isaac, Anna, and John Jr. They tried their hand at farming until disaster struck in 1851 when their house burned to the ground and they barely escaped with their lives. To get back on his feet, John found work building a railroad. He used his earnings and loans from friends to purchase 200 acres of land in Prince George's County at a crossroads 13 miles southeast of Washington, D.C. Shortly after, in 1853, the Surratts built a tavern and an inn, then added a blacksmith shop. Slavery was still legal in Maryland, so they purchased a handful of enslaved laborers to work their businesses. Within a year, the Maryland legislature dedicated the Surratts Tavern as a local polling place and post office and appointed John as postmaster.

The surrounding area came to be called Surrattsville, and soon the couple were growing tobacco, raising livestock, and managing a granary. As their earnings grew, the Surratts purchased a large three-story townhouse in Washington, D.C., and rented the property out to boarders. But even as the couple's business flourished, their family life deteriorated. John was a heavy drinker and an abusive husband. In 1858, Mary complained to her priest that he was drunk every day. John's drinking and gambling drained their savings, and the Surratt sold some of their slaves to help with their debts. As John's alcoholism worsened, Mary took on more responsibilities managing the tavern. Then in 1861, the United

States plunged into civil war. After the election of President Abraham Lincoln, eleven southern states broke away to form the Confederate States of America, a new nation dedicated to the preservation of slavery. While Maryland remained in the Union, its citizens were divided. Neighboring Virginia was home to the capital of the Confederacy, and the counties of Southern Maryland were more similar to Virginia than they were to the rest of the state. Local farmers depended on enslaved labor. In Prince George's County, enslaved people comprised more than half of the population. And for many white Marylanders, including the Surrattes,

loyalty to the Confederacy and the cause of maintaining slavery ran deep. Soon after the war started, the eldest Suratts' son, Isaac, joined the Confederate Army in Texas. When Lincoln cut off all U.S. mail service between the Union and the Confederacy, John Suratt used his job as postmaster to help Confederate spies carry their mail north. Through this, the Surratt's turned their tavern into a safehouse for Confederate spies, smugglers, and couriers. Its proximity to Washington, D.C., and several major roads made it a hub for an underground espionage network. Then in August 1862, John Surratt died suddenly of a stroke. He left behind large debts, and the family struggled to make ends meet. Mary's 17-year-old son, John Jr., succeeded his father as the local postmaster,

swearing an oath of loyalty to the Union. But the family continued their illegal activities on behalf of the Confederacy. John Jr. joined the Confederate Secret Services as a courier, smuggling messages across enemy lines in secret compartments in the heels of his boots. The Surratt's sympathies were no secret, and soon, Mary and her family drew the attention of Union authorities. By the fall of 1864, federal officers were watching the Surratts closely. Mary was ready for a break from the drudgery of running the tavern and the threat of constant surveillance, so in December,

she leased the tavern to a man named John Lloyd and moved into the ten-room townhouse she owned in Washington, D.C. To supplement her income, Mary took in several boarders, mostly friends and acquaintances. Among them was Louis Weichmann, a friend of John Jr., who worked as a clerk at the War Department. Weichmann found Mary's home warm and welcoming. He observed that she possessed the rare faculty of making a stranger feel at home at once in her company. From the start, Weichmann recognized that Mary's devotion to the Confederacy ran deep. Years later, he would reflect, I never met one in all my experience who so earnestly defended and justified the Southern cause as she. Weichmann himself grew up in Baltimore and was used to having a mix of

Southern sympathizers and outspoken Union supporters in his social circle. He was a longtime friend of John Surratt Jr. and saw Mary as a kind, motherly figure, even if her views were out of step with most Washington residents. He jumped at the chance to move into the townhouse, which was closer to his job than his previous living quarters. The Washington boarding house was made of gray brick. The street level contained a kitchen and dining room, and the stairs led up to a formal sitting room with a fireplace. It had seven bedrooms, ample space for boarders who found it a lively and comfortable place to call home. Around the time that Mary made the move into

Washington, her son John Jr. befriended John Wilkes Booth, a handsome and popular stage actor born into an illustrious theater family. Booth also was a fanatical supporter of slavery and the Confederacy, and in the fall of 1864, he began devising a plot to kidnap President Lincoln to ransom him in exchange for Confederate prisoners of war. By December of 1864, Booth had recruited John Jr. into the conspiracy. Mary was fully aware of her son's involvement in the scheme. In January 1865, she herself met Booth for the first time, and the pair quickly bonded. Over the next few months, Booth visited the Washington townhouse frequently, and he and Mary became close, talking in private for hours at a time, even when John Jr. was absent. All the

while, Booth and John Jr. enlisted several more conspirators into the plot. John Jr. introduced Booth to David Harold and George Atzerodt. Harold was recruited to help with the escape routes. Atzerodt was a boatman with experience transporting Confederate spies and would assist with crossing the Potomac River. Booth also needed muscle to overpower the President and any guards. He recruited Confederate veteran Louis Payne, who had a reputation for violence. These conspirators frequently visited or boarded at Mary's townhouse. By the end of winter 1865, Booth's kidnapping plans had taken shape. He had made detailed arrangements for safe houses and purchased weapons and horses. His plot depended on the

participation of more than two dozen people. But even as Booth plotted, the odds of a Confederate victory were dwindling. By that time in early 1865, the South was suffering from major supply shortages and high desertion rates. In February, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman marched troops through the Carolinas, continuing to blaze a path of destruction as he had done the previous fall in Georgia. Booth believed if his plot was successful, it would revive the Confederate war effort. So he began tracking Lincoln's daily activities, looking for his best window to strike. In the first week of March, War Department employee and Surratt boarder Louis Weichmann overheard Mary declare, something is going to happen to old Abe, which will prevent him from taking his seat.

As Weichman watched a strange cast of characters that rotated through Mary's boarding house, he grew more alarmed that something suspicious was afoot. Imagine it's March 1865. You are a boarder in the Washington townhouse owned by your friend John's mother. In the few months you've lived here, you've met some odd visitors. But today, you've seen several things that have you concerned. You feel obligated to warn the kindly owner of the boarding house, Mrs. Surratt, about the suspicious activities of some of her guests. You find her alone in the dining room, putting away the china after supper. Mrs. Surratt, do you have a moment? Of course,

I always have time for my favorite boarder. You rest your hands on the back of a chair, grappling with how best to begin. Well, I wondered whether you had noticed anything odd about that man, Louis Payne. He says he's a Baptist preacher, but he doesn't act like any preacher I've ever met. Well, maybe not where you come from. Louis is an Alabama man. He's eccentric, to be sure, but not much different from any other Southern Baptists I've known. But the strange thing is, I recognize him.

He stayed here one night in February, except then he told us his last name was Wood, not Payne. Mary shrugs as she snuffs a candle on the table. Like I said, he's eccentric. More than a little eccentric. I think he's up to something. Just this afternoon, I was in the parlor and discovered something rather curious. A fake mustache right there on the table. Mary laughs and puts away some glasses. Oh, Daddy's curious. But I wouldn't worry about it. It must be some prank among the boys. Mrs. Surratt, I think you should really take this more seriously.

I know I shouldn't snoop, but when I went by Payne's room this afternoon, the door was open, and I saw him and John examining weapons. Bowie knives, two revolvers. Mary shakes her head at you and smiles. Oh, nothing odd about that. You know John likes to ride out into the country. He must have these things on him for his protection. Now, why don't you head in the parlor, and I'll be right along with a glass of brandy. You watch as Mrs. Surratt retreats cheerfully to the kitchen. But her words have done nothing to put you at ease. There is something not right about this house. You're starting to face an uncomfortable truth.

Booth and his circle of friends are harboring some secret, and for reasons you can't quite decipher, Mrs. Surratt seems willfully blind to it. In March 1865, Weichmann began to ask Mary about the mysterious comings and goings in her boarding house, but she dodged his questions. In the meantime, Booth was fast running out of money. He knew he had to act soon, and finally he saw an opening. He heard that Lincoln was planning to travel to the countryside to attend a performance for wounded soldiers. Booth hoped he could kidnap Lincoln from his carriage. So on March 17th, Booth, John Jr., and their accomplices gathered outside Mary's boarding house and loaded up their weapons. They rode to the outskirts of Washington and took their positions along the president's route. They planned to overpower the driver and any aides and have

John Jr. take the reins of the president's carriage. But at the last minute, Lincoln changed his plans. He stayed in Washington to attend a ceremony at a downtown hotel, and the plot was thwarted. The conspirators went back to Mary's boarding house, stewing over their missed opportunity. With their plans foiled, they soon went their separate ways. John Surratt Jr. returned to his work as a Confederate courier. But Booth was not ready to give up, and in order to move forward, he had to abandon his acting career.

On March 18th, he gave his final stage performance at Ford's Theater in Washington. He wanted to pour all his time and attention into his plans to bring down Lincoln and the Union government. Booth knew that the South's chances of victory were fast slipping away. He became determined to escalate the plot, and to do it, he would need the help of Mary Surratt. Using her boarding house as a base, he would launch a new conspiracy, one centered not on kidnapping, but murder. Richard Bandler revolutionized the world of self-help all thanks to an approach he developed called neurolinguistic programming. Even though NLP worked for some, its methods have been criticized for being dangerous in the wrong hands. Throw in Richard's dark past as a cocaine addict and murder suspect, and you can't help but wonder what his true intentions were. I'm Sachi Cole.

And I'm Sarah Hagee. And we're the hosts of Scamfluencers, a weekly podcast from Wondery that takes you along the twists and turns of the most infamous scams of all time, the impact on victims, and what's left once the facade falls away. We recently dove into the story of the godfather of modern mental manipulation, Richard Bandler, whose methods inspired some of the most toxic and criminal self-help movements of the last two decades. Follow Scamfluencers on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Scamfluencers and more Exhibit C true crime shows like Morbid and Kill List early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. Check out Exhibit C in the Wondery app for all your true crime listening.

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Churchill as they make plans to defeat Nazi forces in 1941. And you'll be in the Situation Room when President Barack Obama approves the raid to bring down the most infamous terrorist in American history. Order The Hidden History of the White House now in hardcover or digital edition, wherever you get your books. In the spring of 1865, Louis Weitman was growing more wary of the mysterious characters visiting the Surratt boarding house in Washington, D.C. Feeling he could no longer stay quiet, he talked to his superior at the War Department. But the supervisor dismissed him, and no further action was taken. And despite his suspicions, Weichmann remained loyal to Mary.

So on the morning of April 2nd, when Mary asked him to fetch Booth from his hotel in downtown Washington, Weichmann agreed. That evening, he brought Booth to the boarding house, where Booth spoke to Mary in private. What exactly they discussed remains unknown. That same day, 100 miles south of Washington, where Booth spoke to Mary in private. What exactly they discussed remains unknown. That same day, 100 miles south of Washington,

the capital of the Confederacy fell to Union forces. The Confederate government fled Richmond, Virginia, which was consumed by raging fires set by mobs of looters. The Civil War was rapidly coming to an end. Then on the next evening of April 3rd, John Surratt Jr. arrived at his mother's boarding house. He was shocked by the news from Richmond. He had left the city only shortly before its fall, sent on an urgent errand by the Confederate leaders. But he did not linger in Washington. He had a message to deliver to a Confederate general working as a spy in Montreal.

He also learned that government detectives were looking for him after arresting one of his fellow couriers. He rushed to leave Washington the following morning, and he would never see his mother again. The fall of Richmond electrified Washingtonians. Victory celebrations erupted throughout the city over the next week. On April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Virginia. America's bloodiest conflict was over, and the Union had won. Weichmann later reflected that Mary was devoted body and soul to the cause of the South. She openly wept, overcome with despair to see her hopes for a Southern victory crushed. As her neighbors celebrated in the street outside the

boarding house, she closed the curtains to block the view. And while Mary was despondent, Booth had become desperate. His plan to kidnap President Lincoln had already failed. And after the Confederate surrender, his new, more violent plot was moving forward. He was going to assassinate the President. But that was not all. Booth also wanted to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward. He hoped that if he took out the most important officials in the U.S. government, he could reverse the fate of the dying Confederate cause. Booth knew the Surratt Tavern would be critical to the conspirators' escape. It was just 13 miles

southeast of Washington and would be the first stop on their flight to evade capture. There, they could resupply, rest, and get more weapons before moving further south. As Booth's plan moved forward, on the evening of April 10th, Mary asked Weichmann to borrow Booth's buggy and accompany her on a quick errand to Surrattsville. Weichmann visited Booth's hotel in Washington, but Booth told him he had sold the buggy and instead gave him ten dollars to rent a carriage from a local stable. At noon the next day, Weichmann and Mary set out for Surrattsville, a drive that took a little over two hours. On the way, the pair passed John Lloyd, the tenant who rented Mary's tavern. Mary asked Lloyd to prepare the shooting irons, or rifles, that were stored in the back of the tavern,

because someone would be coming to pick them up, she said. What she didn't tell him was that the person coming by would be John Wilkes Booth. Like Weichmann, Lloyd was unaware of the conspiracy or the purpose of the weapons. Three days later, on April 14th, Booth was at Ford's Theater to pick up his mail when he learned that President Lincoln planned to attend a play that night. It was the perfect chance to finally carry out his plot. He rushed to the boarding house and told Mary to make sure John Lloyd has prepared the weapons stored at the tavern. He also gave her a package to deliver for safekeeping, which contained binoculars that Booth planned to use during his escape.

Mary took off for Surrattsville, accompanied again by Weichmann. But by now he was growing irritated over Mary's constant errands and requests. But whatever annoyance he felt was outweighed by his gratitude for her kindness and hospitality. Again, he went along. Mary and Wykeman rode to Surrattsville and found Lloyd drunk after an afternoon playing cards with friends. Frustrated, Mary said, Mr. Lloyd, I want you to have those shooting irons ready. There will be parties here tonight who will call for them. Lloyd asked her for more information, but she refused to offer details. Begrudgingly, he got up from the table and began preparing the rifles, becoming an unwitting accomplice in the plot against the

president. Then Mary and Weichmann returned to Washington. Once again, the city was celebrating the Union victory with bonfires, parades, and parties. Mary told Weichmann then, I am afraid all this rejoicing will be turned into mourning and all this glory into sadness. She was on edge for the rest of the night. That evening, she asked Weichmann to pray for her intentions, though she did not explain what those intentions were. Just after 10 o'clock that night, President Lincoln and the First Lady were at Ford's Theater watching the third act of the play Our American Cousin when John Wilkes Booth slipped into the private presidential box. Brandishing a pistol, he squeezed the trigger

and shot the president in the back of the head. He then leapt onto the stage yelling what many witnesses reported was sic semper tyrannis, Latin for thus always to tyrants. He likely broke his leg in the fall. But despite his injury, Booth ran out the back door and jumped onto his horse. Paralyzed and unconscious, Lincoln was taken to a house across the street. He would die of his wounds the next morning. He was the first president to be assassinated in American history. But at the very moment that Booth was attacking Lincoln at Ford's Theater, across the city, his co-conspirator, Louis Payne, arrived at the house of Secretary of State William Seward.

Just a few days earlier, Seward had been injured in a carriage accident. So that night of April 14th, he lay in bed recovering from his wounds, completely unaware of the attack that was coming. Imagine it's the night of April 14th, 1865, in Washington, D.C. The city is consumed with joy over the Union victory and the end of a long war. But all is quiet here inside your father's home, where your family has gathered to tend to his injuries

after his recent accident. Walking down the hallway of the third floor, you hear the servant downstairs answering the door. William, who's at the door? Before the servant can answer, you see a tall man walking up the stairs towards you. He sees you and gives you a tight-lipped smile. Good evening. I'm the druggist clerk. I have some important medicine Dr. Verity wanted me to deliver to Mr. Seward. I hadn't heard anything about new medicine. Here, leave the drugs with me. The man's lip curls. No, I insist. I promised the doctor I would deliver the medicine personally and administer it to the patient. No, I insist. Just set it down and be on your way. It's late at night. I don't want to disturb my father. He needs the rest.

No, please, at once. I need to see him. You're taken aback by this visitor's angry insistence. You look more closely at his shabby jacket and waistcoat and start to wonder whether this man is really who he says he is. I'm sorry, who did you say you worked for? I'm the druggist's clerk. Please direct me to the secretary's room and let me be on my way.

The man's eyes dart up and down the hallway, clearly trying to guess where your father might be. No, I'm going to ask you to leave. Please leave at once. Good night. Hearing the commotion, your sister comes out of your father's bedroom, holding a tray of dirty dishes. The visitor smiles and calls out to her. Good evening, miss. Is the secretary asleep? Your sister nods. The man's face twists into a sinister smile. You're horrified to realize she's revealed your father's location. No, no, no, you're not going anywhere. Hold on.

The man steps forward. You try to block his way. But then he opens his jacket, pulls out a revolver, and points it at your forehead. Your sister screams. You throw your hands up, hoping your brothers and your father's bodyguard downstairs will come running and you won't be dead before they arrive. On the night of April 14th, Lewis Payne arrived at Secretary Seward's house, posing as a pharmacist. When Seward's son, Frederick, stood in his way, Payne tried to shoot him.

But the gun misfired. So Payne struck him in the head with it instead, bludgeoning him until he was unconscious. Then Payne fought his way into the secretary's room, injuring more family members and staff. Once inside the bedroom, Payne stabbed Seward repeatedly in his face and neck. A splint on Seward's broken jaw protected his jugular vein, and miraculously, the secretary survived the attack. But believing Seward was mortally wounded, Payne fled into the night. Meanwhile, George Atzerodt was supposed to be assassinating Vice President Andrew Johnson, but he lost his nerve.

After fleeing Ford's theater, Booth met up with fellow conspirator David Herold, and the pair headed for Surrattsville. A few minutes after midnight, they reached the Surratt Tavern. Booth was doubled over from the pain of his injured leg. He demanded Lloyd bring him the things that were stored for him, the pair of rifles and the set of binoculars. After downing a glass of whiskey, Booth and Harold picked up their guns, climbed back up on their horses, and told Lloyd, I am pretty certain that we have assassinated the President and Secretary Seward,

and then galloped off into the night. Meanwhile, the hunt for Lincoln's assassin had begun. Just a few hours after the attacks on Lincoln and Seward, military investigators acted on a tip and visited the Surratt boarding house. When Weichmann told Mary the officers were at the door, she declared, for God's sake, let them come in. I expected the house to be searched. One of the officers pulled a bloody necktie from his pocket and asked Weichmann, do you see that blood? That is Abraham Lincoln's blood. John Wilkes Booth has murdered Abraham Lincoln.

Weichmann was shocked. He cried, Great God, I see it all. I see it all now. Finally, he had an explanation for all the mysterious errands, the odd visitors, and the countless hushed conversation. It was all part of a plot to murder the president. The officers announced they were looking for John Wilkes Booth and John Surratt Jr. Mary was defensive, telling them there were a great many mothers who had no idea where their sons were. When the officers realized Booth was nowhere to be found in the house, they went on their way. Mary's daughter Anna was frantic, telling her mother, Ma, just think of it. That man having been here in this house before the assassination,

I'm afraid he'll bring suspicion upon us. But Mary was defiant, declaring, I think J. Wilkes Booth was only an instrument in the hands of the Almighty to punish this proud and licentious people. For the rest of the night, Weichmann turned and tossed, reexamining everything he had witnessed over the past few months. It was dawning on him that his friend, John Surratt, was not the man he thought he was. The military investigators would soon discover that the assassination plot was a far more tangled web than they first realized. But one thing was clear, the Surratt boarding house was somehow at the center of it. Eventually, authorities would

focus their scrutiny on the house's owner, Mary Surratt, and her role in their investigation would shift from witness to suspect. In November 1991, media tycoon Robert Maxwell mysteriously vanished from his luxury yacht in the Canary Islands. But it wasn't just his body that would come to the surface in the days that followed. It soon emerged that Robert's business was on the brink of collapse, and behind his facade of wealth and success was a litany of bad investments, mounting debt, and multi-million dollar fraud. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondery Show Business Movers.

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The morning after John Wilkes Booth shot and mortally wounded President Lincoln, Lewis Weichman went to the Washington, D.C. police and gave a statement. He described Booth's comings and goings from Mary Surratt's boarding house over the past few months and identified several accomplices. Shortly before 11 o'clock at night on April 17th, investigators returned to the boarding house. Mary was calm and collected and continued to evade their questions. But when the officers searched Mary's room, they found a mold for making bullets and percussion caps for firing them. Opening up a picture frame, they discovered a

photograph of John Wilkes Booth hidden inside. They also found Confederate memorabilia, including a calling card with the inscription, Six Semper Tyrannis, the Virginia State motto, and the slogan Booth likely shouted when he shot Lincoln. But while the officers were searching the house, there was a knock on the door. Once open, the door revealed Seward's attacker, Lewis Payne, holding a pickaxe and claiming he was a laborer who'd been hired to dig a ditch. Payne was cold and hungry after spending days in hiding, and he hoped to find shelter with Mary. But instead, he was face-to-face

with federal investigators, who found his story doubtful given the late hour. Mary lied to the investigators, telling them she did not know Payne, and the discrepancy between their statements led the investigators to arrest Payne and take Mary in for further questioning. During her interrogation, Mary denied several points about the lead-up to the assassination that the investigators knew to be true from their conversations with other witnesses. Her haughty defiance only made her seem more suspicious, and by the time they finished questioning her, Mary had moved up the list as a prime suspect. They arrested her and placed her in jail. Meanwhile, the nation responded to the death of the president with an

outpouring of grief and anger. They devoured reports about the ongoing manhunt for Booth and his accomplices. Special attention surrounded Mary because of her gender. The notion that a middle-aged widow had taken part in a plot to kill the president made the story all more sensational. One newspaper called her boarding house a regular treason-brewing nest. For the rest of April, military investigators continued interviewing witnesses, collecting evidence, and rounding up the conspirators. Finally, on April 26th, soldiers tracked down Booth in a barn in rural northern Virginia. They set the barn on fire to force him out. As he moved toward the door, one soldier shot him in the neck.

He died of his wounds a few hours later. With the assassin dead, authorities quickly turned their attention to prosecuting Booth's accomplices. On April 29th, the federal government decided to try eight suspects, including Dave Harold, George Atzerodt, Lewis Powell, the real name of Lewis Payne, and Mary Surratt, John Jr., was still out of reach in Canada. Attorney General James Speed insisted the conspirators be tried together by a military tribunal. The newly sworn-in president, Andrew Johnson, agreed, though this decision sparked controversy among his advisors. Speed justified a military tribunal

by arguing that the war was still technically ongoing due to scattered skirmishes and guerrilla fighting in the South. He claimed that the conspiracy to kill Lincoln was an act of war, a plot to destroy the U.S. government and aid the enemy cause. He and other officials believed that a military trial would be more impartial, too, given the frenzied and emotional public reaction to Lincoln's death. But it also had other advantages. A military tribunal had a lower bar for permissible evidence, and the court would be composed of military officers

who acted as prosecution, judge, and jury. To convict, the tribunal required only a simple majority, while a civilian trial would have needed a unanimous verdict from the jury. On May 9th, Mary and the other conspirators were brought into court and charged with maliciously, unlawfully, and traitorously conspiring to murder Lincoln in aid of the existing armed rebellion against the United States of America. Mary was singled out for her efforts to harbor, conceal, aid, and assist Booth and his accomplices with knowledge of the murderous and traitorous conspiracy.

Mary and the other defendants pleaded not guilty. During the trial, the most incriminating testimony came from John Lloyd and Lewis Weichman. Despite unwittingly helping Booth at the tavern the night of the escape, Lloyd was not charged. Instead, he became a key witness, connecting Mary to Booth's binoculars and the shooting irons. Weichmann also offered vital information chronicling Mary's dealings with Booth for the months prior to the assassination. The defense team struggled to counter the volume of government evidence against Mary.

Despite insisting on her innocence, Mary offered no plausible alternative explanations for her actions. On June 30th, the military court found Mary guilty. They sentenced her to hang alongside Lewis Powell, George Atzerodt, and David Herold. But not all members of the military commission were convinced that Mary's crimes warranted such a severe punishment. Imagine it's June 1865. You're in an office in the Arsenal Penitentiary in Washington, D.C., meeting with the eight other members of the military commission responsible for deciding a sentence for Mary Surratt. Of all the conspirators in the Lincoln assassination plot,

it's her case that has troubled you the most. While you're convinced of her guilt, you're less sure of how to punish her for her crimes. You rise from your chair at the head of a worn wooden table. All right, that's four of us who signed on to this petition to President Johnson to grant Mrs. Surratt's clemency. We need one more. You stare pointedly at one of the five holdouts, an older general you're hoping you can get on your side. A woman, need I remind you, has never before been sentenced to death by the U.S. government. What we're contemplating is unprecedented. We need to consider every possible option. But the general shakes his head, a dark look shadowing his face.

Why should we show her mercy? Think about her sex, not to mention her age. Do we really want the U.S. government to be executing old women? No. Her sex doesn't make her any less guilty. She's just as traitorous as the rest of them, even if she is a woman and 20 years their senior. I agree that the evidence against Surratt is overwhelming. I'm not saying we should have acquitted her. I just do not believe her crimes warrant execution.

Life in prison would be more fitting. A woman deserves to be hanged. There's probably many Confederate women who deserve her fate. Now, hold on a minute. A new day is dawning for this country. Do you want to begin it by acting so vindictively? If we execute Mrs. Surratt, it could turn her into a martyr for the South. The general rolls his eyes. Well, I suppose I'm not making the decision. We'll leave her fate up to the president. I'll sign the petition.

But I'm going on record. I think that traitorous woman made her bed, and she should lie in it. You hand the General the petition. He dips his pen into an inkwell and scratches his name to the bottom. Thank you, General. May President Johnson have wisdom in this case. You leave the room in a hurry, eager to get to the White House as soon as possible to deliver the request. Still, you're not certain the new president will side with you.

And if he upholds the Surratt woman's death sentence, you worry that this desire for vengeance will only fuel the bitter divides that still tear at your war-torn country. After rendering their verdict, five of the nine members of the military tribunal recommended that President Johnson commute her sentence due to her gender and at 42, seen as an old woman at the time, her age. But Johnson refused the clemency request. He said she must be punished with arrest because she kept the nest that hatched the egg. On the afternoon of July 7, 1865, Mary was hanged for conspiring to murder President Lincoln, along with three co-conspirators. She was the first woman ever to be executed by the U.S. government. As she stood on the gallows and a priest recited prayers, she declared,

I wish to say to the people that I am innocent. Her friends and lawyers firmly maintained that she had not committed any crimes and was simply an innocent woman caught in Booth's deadly web. But during the seven-week trial, northern newspapers derided Mary, critiquing her appearance and her stoic demeanor. The black lace veil she wore during the trial bolstered her villainous image in the eyes of the public. Initially, Mary's conviction fed into the northern public's desire for revenge after Lincoln's death. But in the days and weeks

after her hanging, public sympathy for Mary grew. Many Americans were shocked by her execution. Questions also swirled around whether the military trial was appropriate. Southern sympathizers portrayed Mary as an innocent widow and the victim of a vengeful northern political machine. And in the decades that followed, Mary would become a martyr in the new mythology that grew around the fallen Confederacy as a tragic lost cause. To this day, many historians debate the extent of Mary's involvement in Booth's plot and whether she deserved to be executed. But the evidence is

strong that Mary Surratt was a woman with unwavering passion for the Confederate cause and deep loyalty to Booth, a woman who went out of her way to nurture and support the conspiracy to assassinate a president. From Monterey, this is Episode 2 of Traitors from American History Tellers. On the next episode, amid the intrigue and paranoia of the Cold War, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are charged with conspiring to pass atomic secrets to America's archenemy, the Soviet Union. Their case leads to a sensational trial and a storm of anti-communist hysteria. But it will be decades before declassified documents reveal

whether they were guilty or innocent. and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey. American History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me, Lindsey Graham for Airship. Audio editing by Molly Bach. Sound design by Derek Behrens. Music by Lindsey Graham. This episode is written by Ellie Stanton. Edited by Dorian Marina. Our senior producer is Andy Herman.

Our executive producers are Jenny Lauer Beckman and Marshall Louis for Wondery. Dracula, the ancient vampire who terrorizes Victorian London. Blood and garlic, bats and crucifixes. Even if you haven't read the book, you think you know the story. One of the incredible things about Dracula is that not only is it this wonderful snapshot of the 19th century, but it also has so much resonance today. The vampire doesn't cast a reflection in a mirror. So when we look in the

mirror, the only thing we see is our own monstrous abilities. From the host and producer of American History Tellers and History Daily comes the new podcast, The Real History of Dracula. We'll reveal how author Bram Stoker raided ancient folklore, exploited Victorian fears around sex, science, and religion, and how even today we remain enthralled to his strange creatures of the night. You can binge

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