The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1880-07-22

Interview with Mrs Torney, formerly
Anna Surratt.

Interview with Mrs Torney, formerly
Anna Surratt.
When the news of the nomination of
General Hancock was received in
Washington, q reporter of a Chicago
newspaper, considering that this nom-
ination would revive the recollection of
the Surratt execution, proceeded to in
terview Mrs Torney, formerly Miss
Anna Surratt, daughter of the executed
Mrs. Surratt, and now the wife of Prof.
William P. Torney of Washington. To
the inquiries of the reporter, Mrs.
Torney responded that she had heard
OF the nomination of General Hancock
and the following conversation ensued:
papers are re asserting % that the 'I part pnyed by
General Hancock I'm the execution was al
honorable % id =, and fair and that he did
Is that true2"
Mrs. Torney hesitated for a minute
to answer, and the recollection of past
events seemed very painful to her.
finally she said that such reports wers
not true, and added that neither she,
nor any of her family had any good
feeling for General Hancock.
R-"Do you believe that Hancock on that
occasion acted as friend toward you and
Mrs, Toruey-"I do not You could not call
he wished for the EXECUTION % of fG my y"1S mother
sndN and would ~ % not so !, much & as have lifted his
" i was released. and she was taken
her from Secretary Stanton, and then take.
them to be countersigncd by General
and he never expressed to me the slightest
sympathy with my mother. II he was anxious
anything at that time that It II Know low Of, Of a and T
think think that % was M the proper person to be in
RIAs Understood 1t, you went to General
Hancock on the morning OF the execution at
his headquarters at the Metropolitan Hotel. in
him there. Can't you tell me what then oc-
Mrs: TT cannot. can't answer that
question without giving more thought to those
matters than 1 can possibly do at this mo-
R.L"You can at least tell me whether the
impression formed upon your mind then was
that General Hancock was the friend of your
Mrs. T., in an excited and emphatic manner
NO, sir; he was not. II \ were to tell you
all that happened. and all that was said at the
interview, i would be very much to General
RW"You know, thcn, that all the stories as
to general Haneock.s endeavorins to save
At this juncture Prof. Torney came
in, and the conversation above reported
was substantially repeated. The ques-
tion was again put to Mrs. Torney as to
what occurred between her and General
Hancock during the interview on the
morning of the execution, but she still
refused to go into details, and the Pro-
fessor remarked that "the truth will
come out sooner or later. My wife has
already told you that it will be no credit
to General Hancock, and know that is
the fact. For my part, wish that he
had been in the Sandwich Islands SOON
er than that my party, the Democratic
party, had nominated him for the
Presidency. l repeat to you that his
connection with the murder of Mrs.
Surratt was no credit to him, and that
he deserves the title of her execution
err ,,,;.,z,..v,,.,-z,,,,,,, - ,-,1,=-,,,,,,,-
and the reporter again visited Mr.. and
Mrs. Torney. The lady was only seen
for a few moments, as she was laboring
under a nervous excitement that pros
trated her. The attention of herself
and her husband was, however, called
to the various attempts made in the
Democratic papers to straighten out
Hancock's record on the hanging busi-
ness, and they were requested to say
what they thought about it. Mrs. Tor
ney retired to seek relief from her feel
ings, but her husband spoke for her.
He said he had seen in one of the Balti-
more papers what purported to be the
correct narrative of Hancock's action
on that day. 1t was nothing more nor
less than an attempt to gloss over a
crime. There was no essential truth
in il.
Reporter-"But, Professor. what you have
seen in that one paper is only tithe of what
to clear Hanccck's reputation Of that stain.
They go into the matter much more extern
menf and pretended facts"
| Prof. Torney-'.T Then they are celebrating a
ever is said in Hancock's favor in that matter
r." Then why no. tell me precisely the
| cock on that day?
Prof. TT can't do it just now. She is the
s M 4 e to
1 for five or six days Il would be a recital of
Hanc0cks iniEIity that wSI,d ta take be Page ca
| tent with my telling you that the story will do
him vast amount Of harm, If it is ever pub
R.WsThe New York papers to-day are pub
| fishing statements from John l. Campbell, one
Rean, s1e Sa S1d from T Father walter who attended
her in her last moments, all of which are TO the
thy for the unfortunate woman. and waited
| until the last moment, hoping for a reprfeve
| What have you to say to that?"
| Prof. t." 1t is all nonsense, or worse than
CsmpSelI and the rest Of them were merely
R.-"There is also a statement that General
| Hancock had relays of cavalry stationed be
day Of the execution in order that, If the Pres
| idcnt relented at the last moment, he could
''PP Prof. ,I' T.@. E Who ever said that2"
R:-.It may ,hS,e have been stated upon General
Haroecks % sIfeSrtyj cSn fyeiI vou-andI am speaking
upon my wife's authoriry-that il is lie. Ii is
not the first lie that Hancock has told about out
r." That's tolerably emphatic"
to understand that of all the statements CON
cerning Mrs. Surratt and the execution that
one came from or was authorized by any of
the family. They were all gotten up by re-
porters whom we refused to see and who went
away and concocted their fabrications. This
is true not only as regards myself and my
wife but also as regards her brothers John and
with whom we have talked thus unreservedly
on the question, and rely upon you to report
%s, us 'os'e os yoa may readily understand, and
would not now say word about it except that
ing a game of false pretenses."
R." Then shall say that you utterly deny
| all assertions that General hancock was IN
any way friendly or helpful to Mrs. Surratt?''
Prof. T." Precisely so.
r. -"Suppose that he makes denial OF
what you have told me, and which intend to
publish2"
Prof. t." Then we are ready to meet him
and prove our side of the case.
S Within the time which has
elapsed since Hancock's s nomination the
Democrats have carried Indiana, Penn
sylxania New York New Jersey and