River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1880-09-30
A DREADFUL INDICTMENT.
John w. Clampi.t. Mrs. Surratts
Counsel, Tells n Thrilling story.

together. MIR. CIamplttS statements
will surely challenge contradiction; II
they remain uncontradicted, the exc
cution of this unfortunate and. as he
cogently claims, perfectly innocent
woman is as foul crime, by the pack
ed commission that tried her, as was
the assassination of President Lincoln
by Wilkes Booth. Mr. Clampitt was
one of Mrs. Surratt's counsel.
The proposition upon which Mrs.
| Surratt was convicted and hung was
that her house in Washington had
been the rendezvous of the conspiring
assassins, and that she was cognizant OF
and participated in their plans and
purposes. The official report of the
trial does not contain any evidence
showing that she was present at any
| meeting of the conspirators, in her own
| house or elsewhere. The evidence up
on which she was convicted of knOwl-
edge of their plans, and participated in
carrying them out, was given before
the commission by one Welchman and
Payne, who failed i'll his attempt to
murder Secretary Seward. The true
value of the testimony of Payne and
Welchman is fully exposed by Mr.
Clampitt, and constitutes the most in
teresting and valuable portion of his
paper His overwhelming demonstra-
ton that both were deliberate periurers
does not appear in the official report
of the trial, for reasons which will APP
pear.
Mary f. Surratt was Il native of
Maryland, and, in her youth, was con-
sidered country belle She married
a prosperous man, who, on his death
bed, bequeathed her house and some
land in the city of Washington and an
estate in Marlborough county, Mary
land. When the war broke out this
estate soon succumbed to its ravages,
and sh was compelled to remove to
her Washington home and take board
ers in order to earn a livelihood. She
had daughter, who, like her mother,
was pretty and attractive, and among
her many admirers was John Wilkes
Booth, who frequently called to see the
young lady, and who showed to her
mother many little courtesies. Mrs
SuTatt's plantation property was in
danger of passing entirely out of her
control, and she was in correspondence
with a gentleman with view of rescu-
ing it. On the morning preceding the
assassination, Mrs. Surratt received a
letter from the gentleman alluded to,
requesting her presence the next day
at Upper Marlborough urt-House.
She had been in the habit of borrowing
Booths horse and buggy to make SINH
lar Journeys, and sent Weichman, who
had been frequent visitor at the
house, to ask Booth to let her have his
conveyance Booth replied that he
was sorry he could not as he had sold
both horse and buggy; but, as WEIGH
man was about to go away with this
answer, Booth added: Here, take this
ten dollars and hire one" This was
Immediately after Booth and other con-
spirators had met at the HerndOn
house and arranged the details Of the
assassination. Among the articles
which Booth then had and did not
want to keep during the day was "A spy
glass and pistol. He had been III the
habit of going shooting in Surrattsville,
where he stopped with John NJ. Lloyd,
the tavern keeper, As Mrs. Surratt
and Weichman drove by, on Good
Friday morning, Booth handed her Il
package containing these articles, re-
questing her to hand them to Lloyd as
she drove through Surrattsville, on her
way to Marlborough Court House, and
to say to Lloyd that he, Booth, would
call for them that night. Mrs. Surratt
knew that Booth hunted in that neigh
borhood, and construed the package
and the message accordingly The
!, NJ TO -,
his escape in that direction after doing
the frightful deed he had resolved upon.
Mrs Surratt did not alight from the
buggy at Svrrattsville, but handed Mr.
Lloyd the parcel and gave him the
message. This circumstance, perfect
ly innocent in itself, was conclusive to
the commission that Mrs. Sunatt was
cognizant of Booths purpose.
Weichman to save himself turned
states evidence, and swore pretty
much what the prosecutors wanted.
Near the close of the trial after his evil
dence had was in, he was Overtaken
with remorse, and, in spasm of despair
confided to a reputable young man in
Washington that his implication of
Mrs Suratt was wholly false; that the
cape, compelled him to make such n
statement; that the judge advocate gen
eral refused to take the "frst confess
sion" he wrote out as not being strong
enough; "tnat his life being threatened
he made out Il second statement ac-
cording to the wishes and demands of
of the prosecutors" The young man to
whom Weichman made this revelation
was highly trustworthy; but when he
offered to go on the witness-stand, the
commission would not permit him to
testify
Another witness employed by the
prosecution was the man named Won
Steinaker, who produced himself after
the offer of large government rewards
for testimony to convict. Won Stcinak-
er, swOre that he had been an officer
in the Typographical department of the
confederate army, serving on the staff
ofGen. Edward Johnson with the rank
and pay of engineer, being in the con-
fedcrate service for three years; that In
the summer of 1868 he saw and was in
troduced to three civilians, in the camp
of the 2nd Virginia regiment; that
Booth was one OF them, and that the de-
tails of the assassination and one of
the schemes to release rebel prisoners,
and to lay northern cities in ashes were
there and then related and approved.
The defense offered testimony showing
that Won Steinaker was an audacious
periurer. He was, in fact a deserter
from the federal service, having
enlisted in Bledker's New York
regiment condemned by court-mar-
tial for stealing an officers arms and
equipments, he escaped to the confed-
crates, and. having enlisted as a pri-
waite was detailed as draughtsman
by Oscar Heinrichs, an engineer off
Ger on Edward Johnson's staff. While
serving in that capacity he was again
convicted by court martial for stealing
an officers coat and arms. At the bat
tie of Antietam he was captured and
escaped by representing himself as in
possession of the dead body of Mai.
Douglas, of Edward Johnson's staff,
who, however, was not dead. The COM
mission, instead of permitting these
facts to be fully established by COM
petent testimony, attacked the counsel
of Mrs Surratt for presuming to i'm
peach government witnesses, notwith-
standing that the commission were not
prosecutors, but were sworn individual
ly to sit as impartial judges! The com
mission were unable to exclude the
testimony of Gen. Edward Johnson,
Oscar Heinrichs, or Maj. Douglas I;
,,aunrtb class Nor &fo.,1a l-apis anIfpGt