The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1882-09-14
THE SURRATr TRAGEDY,
"Reminiscences OF Some Terrible DAYS In
1865.
Lctc1 10 TIC Cncinna,i Commercial.

| 1865.
| LCitc. 10 TIC Cn!ci!ula,i Cuum,yc;1l
II has recently been my fortune to fall
in with the gentleman who was Mrs.
Surratt's counsel Judge John w. Clam
pitt, we'll known LAWYER of Illinois !
end fTor; him ! learned many hitherto
unpublished Incidents pertaining To the
celebrated case which occurred SO long
ny" that new generation has grown up.
who know of it only by heresay. The
half-!crgo!ten horror, thus revived,
haunted me like ghost, till determined
to LAY it by making tour of the
places connected Herewith. First, |
hunted up Mrs. Surratrs old home. Goa
IL Street, where the conspiracy-first of
abduction, and then of assassination AS "A
a'Fhicr rtSsort-w concoctcd by some of
her boarders and their friends, and
whence she was dragged to the old Capt..
to' prison. 1t is al unprctrniious house,
n story lower than others in the block, its
prlck walls painted gray, its green blinds
shutting IN all secrets like the closed cyrs
OF the dead, and an uncanny air Of mys-
tery hanging about the premises a
night OF wooden steps, placed sideways,
leads up to the front door, aud below. on
!
entrance to which Payne returned the
night after the assassination. lie was n
stranger III these parts, Il Suutherucr by
birth, who had served in the rebel urmy
and who had often visited this house
with Booth, to confer with John Surratt.
while the plot WAS brewing In
rArSE's CONFESSION TO Ills COUNSEL
he stated that, believing he had accom-.
plished tho work assigned in the killing
OF Seward, he cndeavorcd to make his
escape to Baltimore. All that dark
night lie plodded on, pursued by phan.
toms OF his crime, startled by every
swinging bough and rustling leaf, ill
daybreak. wien he climbed up into a
large tree that grew by the roadside and
hid himself i'll the thick spring foliage.
Scarcely was he secreted when compa-
ny of cavalry rushed by in hot pursuit,
and all day long the galloping to and fro
ni pursuers went Oil beneath his lcnfy
shelter. lle knew by the barking of
dogs that farm house WAS at hand. but.
though faint with hunger and fcverish
with thirst, liz dared not STIR When
night again lie, down her friendly curtain,
he descended and cautiously approached
the house. lie was aware that 10 ask for
food would be To surely surrender himself
to justice, for he had gathered from
scraps Of conversation beneath his tree
that tho whole country was aroused and
that playcards, describing the murderers
and Offering large sums for their appre-
hension, were already posted in every iii.
rcction. Almost in starving condition,
n stranger in strange land, with blood
upon his hands and price upon his
head, the only way of relief that occur
red to him was to 60 back to his friend,
John Surratt. Close by the farln. house
he found all old cast off hat and IL pick
and shovel. Donning the one and shout.
dering the others, lie YEARLY retraccd
his steps to the city, where the night be.
fore, he had "bathcd in blood the silver
locks Of an old and honored man."
Again, every shadow on the way assum.
ed the form of n living or dead ayengcr,
a"d it was nearly morning before he
reached Mrs. Surratts house and knock.
ed at this basement door, not knowing
that its former Inmates had been arrested,
aud that officers of the law held rosses.
sion. His presence here, at such an hour,
in disguise. and his confused staten.en.
when questioned (thaL lie had been en-
ployed by Mrs Surralt to dig drain, and
had come to see at what hour in the
morning he should bcgin) formed a
link in the chain Of circumstances that
hanged the unhappy woman.
This house was about all Of her once
ample property that survived the ravages
of war. She had been
TIE BELLE or HER COUNTY,
and ut the time Of her tragic death was
not far from forty years old, aud still q
fine looking woman. Her husband, who
was q wcll.to.dO planter, left her when
he died Il fair estate in MARLBOROUGH
County, Maryland-not far from. Wash
ington-well stocked, and with numcrou.
slaves to work it. AS the war went on
the slaves disappeared, and raidug sol
diers burned her fences and made n bar
ren waste of the once productive fields
Like many reduced gcntlewomen, botl
before and since, her only resource seem
ed to be in taking boarders; 40 she came
to Washington with her children ant
"set up" the precarioua business in thi
little house that was part of her husband
estate.
JOHN II. SUERATT,
! the eldest son, then man grown. shoul,
have been aan.e help 10 his mother, bu
instead was, by his machinations, tn,
cause of her violent death. This man
: who joined Booth in his desperate schen,
, TO kidnap the President, now earns
Livelihood in the unromantic occupation
of clerk for the Old Dominion Line O
steamships. He was divinity studcu
in Catholic college in his youth, an,
: when the war broke out became block
ade. runner between Montrca! and Rich
mond. When in Washington of cnu:s 81
his mothers home was his, and his asso
tiates we're naturally those who sympa
thized with the South. His pretty sis
ter, Annie, was also an attraction to hi
, class of young men, among whom wa
the actor, Booth, who was at that tim
reported TO be engaged to the dauehte
of United States Senator. Being il
.. Baltimore the other day, made it a poin
to meet John Surratt--the only survivor {
the consp rscy. lie is young lookin
., man for his years, tall, slender and wiry
His face is not striking one, but he ha
rather strongly marked features, col
and firm expression Of countenance, an,
looks like stirri ng business man. Hi
hair is quite red; he wears a mustach
and goatee, which give him somethin
of military appearance, and a promi
nent Roman nose adds nothing to hi
beauty. He is spoken of as quiet ma