Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1884-03-23
JoHNsoN's SEcRE T.
How Mrs. SuTratt Was AlloWSu 10
90 10 the 6allows.
Suppression of the Military Conn '''0nS
Petition to save Her Ltfs-Ia-
tsr,s.iHg HistOr cal
Facts

NEwY. March sl.-SSids PrS H.
il eptpr u,u IA tn,s cry the o'ner
david want 10 boast, but "N
rr,n,uruy r,.uush during tue war SUI
th, y,,,r, - h.ru followed il up to I''''
toie r,,p,ld,red somebody 81 N''A-
ipst,p, aud to have almost free secs''
"a Mr. Iluro =, Mr. Johnson and the
cent, men uf tu-Ir respective caOine'>'
And g., 10 the execution Of Mrs. sur
,stt. lhiuK | know the inside history
Of that most glariug wrong aS Wen -
most ueuple, even, who took an active
paIt IN composing it, To begin At Tue
I,puulry, Mrs. SurrAtt was tried by
nllltsr, COMMISSION ;Or completely III
the assassination OF President Lincoln
and TIE attempt on the life Of Secretary
seward; aud, in accordance with the
fnoiuys q, the commission, she was ex-
,cui,d IA july, 1855, three months at,er
the ASSASSINATION. Andrew Johnson,
vino had become President, had oeru |
royeTtiy and openly impOrtuued anu |
retiliUned TOR a PARTON, COmmuLat'on, |
ar even rrprieve, and the prayers OF the |
unfortunate lady's daughters were !
joIued Uy many IN public aud private !
lie: buI the conditions were sues That |
MIR. Johnson
Cousn Nut Sec His Way Clear
TO interfere. The appointed day ar
rived, aud Mrs Surratt was execI;'i
ON CapI.ol Hal, while her uaugntci /,
Hnr!r las fainLug on tue steps o. the |
White House, TtuuIssd from tue Presi' |
IpDI', nr, luce hy bayOnets ordered Oy !
lawn VI. stanton, Secretary OF War, |
and refused word Of favor by Preston |
King, who nee committed suicide III !
the North Y yer. think it was IN the |
month of December, 1855, | was stop. |
piuC ~ Wizards Hotel in Washington.
lHuHg one saturday evening with iour |
frirtrls, il was suggested, after cigars |
tqC hgeu lighted, that we make eau |
On President Johnson. The prO2'7l'
ton was agreed 10 by all except one ot |
nv friends. Four OF u'-GenerN |
IIpIts X. StedmAn, Felix NcClOSkey, !
Cornelius Wendell, Public PRINTER, AMI |
nyseii-saunleTed along Pennsylvania !
avenue, aua by the time our cigars were
exhausted reached the Waite House
We IuuuG the President alO3er On
moody au evidently depressed. Sew |
,ral ulliuIp .Itant topics were discussed.
was speaStug with Mr.. Met loskey |
and General Stedman, ami President |
Johnson w. talsing IA u low tone o;
voice 10 Mr.. Wendell, when he sud !
denly turned and said: 1t has been
tCld NE that there are
Rumors About the Hotels
IN tie city that petition was sent to |
NE IN b, halt Of Mrs, Surratt, praying |
or a paru0n, and that All of the MEM
tiers Of the commission which tried her,
except one, signed it; have you heard
of anything TO that effect" We ans
weIed, in one voice: mo, Mr.. Presi-
dent" Mr.. johnson continued that he
was assured that such was the fact, anu
that he would await developments.
"TO day" said he, 81 have heard OF
such petition for the first time. re-
sisted the opportunities Of private To-
diylduals, aud was greatly distressed,
but could not see NY way clear to inter- |
fere." IL was g!,ut IN his own mini, /
and he took t39 uuly ~a'e course, Tor /
there were l1,rHU men in aud around !
the White EIi-s Uight and day ready /,
20 kill N5.I.rT jo-n>,u had he pro- .
Ceeded ur ms Owu motion, OF yielded 10
the pre-, Gre ;hai was brought to bear,
to even p,,tpuue Mrs. SurrtJL's excel
ton. " - there such petition? Ger
taiuly. I 30 not know who started u,
or whether il was not Ot the round
robin" nature, wa.re no one IA partiCu-
lar moves. II due course tie petition
was placed III the E"uds "t Joseph itoII,
head OF
The Department OF Justice,
to trsu-mit "a the President, but he aud
Stanton, arcades ambO, combined to
supu.r,s ii. Ii was constructive man
SLAUGHTER, iOl, backed by the word Of
the court which tried her, aud with his
own broad sagacity To see the injuStice
OF the whole proceedings, President
johnson would have committed the
death penalty; and the people, blood
thirsty and cIamOrOus as they were,
would have acquiesced in that action
when N PRED by such public favOrttes
ss Generals Geary, Lew Wallace, Hun
ter, and others OF the commission. 80
certain were the chief army officers that
the President would act favorably on
that most potent pressure, that General
W. =. Hancock, Of his own notion
stood in Pennsylvania Avenue, with
-ignal-men stationed at the White
House, on top OF the Treasury building,
and on Capitol Kill, so that they could
tel, graph down in a minute. OF course,
the matter OF the petition was Kept
quiet, but it was known TO
The Leading Army Officers,
among whom il was regarded as sort
Of professional secret. The siguers
there lore made no mention OF It, Tor
they, surprising that the President had
ignored It, felt too mortified at tue sup
posed cavalier treatment To make them-
selves subjects OF comment. General
Hancock had an idea that, at the last
moment, mayhsp, the Presidents great
heart and sUlIcitUde to DO exactly right
Won a vTOmpt him 10 sign communal
ton, aud 50 had everything prepared
for IT,, reception. General HANCOCK
won a have prevented the execution,
had tie President made sign, II IL
won q nave obliged him TO turn his
sold - bayouets against Stanton him.
self But President Johnson was lIl and
ahed ia the western part OF the White
House, aud the War Department was
in POSSESSION; at its door there was
neither ingress or egresS.
ArehbIshOP sSpauIdinE,
Of Baltimore, the Roman Catholic pri-
mate Of America, bearing the Presi-
dents card Ofaccess AT any hour, was
repulsed by Colonel Drake Dekay, then
captain of the provost guard, now IN
public service in this city. On the even
ing OF our visit Mr. Johnson was great
iy agitated, and did not spare tnyectiVe
in expressing his opinion OF Josern
Holt, recognizing that the funeiIonsry
had done him and the cOautry an ln-
justice and east upon them needless
odlum. And to the day of his destn |
President johnson bore weight 81 ms |
heart, placed there by stanton anI
Holt. Stanton committed salclde Snu
Holt is living in Washington MS
cradle, mOrose old man. Wcis9 "
place the truth of the execution OF Mrs.
Surratt on record and to yindicate the |
memory Of Andrew Johnson.