The times., 1899-08-13
eral to execute the mandates of the Com

l
en- and the solemn march to the scaffold
was begun. First came the youth, David
| r. Herold. He was nineteen years old,
and had been the companion and guide of
/ Booth on his hunting trips in Maryland.
| Next in the procession came George At
zerodt 10 whom had been assigned by
Booth the assassination of the Vice Presi-
| dent, and who essayed to make a speech
on the scaffold, but lost his voice through
| fear. Following him was the young Flori-
dian, Lewis Powell, alias Lewis Payne.
| II is said that he marched to the scaffeid
| as though he knew no fear. Last came
| Mrs. Surratt, sustained between two SOL
diers, and weak from disease that she
could not walk alone She was preceded
| by the Rev. Father Walter. her spiritual
advisor. who carried cruciix upon whic>>
Mrs. Surratt fixed her gaze.
When the order came for her to ascend
/ the scafold, and after the sacrament of
! extreme JUNCTION. as prescribed by the
| Catholic church, had been administered,
it is recorded that she said to the priest:
Holy Father, can l not tell these people
! before / die that / am innocent of the
crime for which have been condemned 10
death?'
The priest is said TO have replied: mo,
my child, the world and all that is in it has
COW receded forever. 1t would do no good
and il might disturb the serenity of your
last moments"
To this Mrs. Surratt bowed in submis-
sion and passed to the platform of the gall
lows. General Hartranft read the findings
OF the commission and the Presidents or
der of approval and at a signal the drols
were sprung and Mrs Surratt, Hero!d
Atzerodt, and Payne passed into another
sphere
On the morning of the execution it is
recorded that Payne declared TO General
Hartranft that Mrs. Surratt was ignorant
Of the plot TO assassinate the President.
He declared that nothing was ever said by
the oonspirators to her about it and that
her name was never mentioned in their
meetings. In sending this declaration to
the President, General Hartranft wrote:
Il believe that Payne has told the truth
in this matter"
Some time after the execution there
arose a bitter controversy between Presi-
dent johnson and Judge Advocate General
Holt. Andrew johnson at the close Of his
term of office charged that Holt withheld
or suppressed the recommendation of mer-
cy for Mrs. Surratt which had been signed
by five of the members of the commission
which had convicted her. Johnson dec ar
ed that he had never seen the recommen-
dation of mercy until two years after the
execution, and he insinuated that had he
seen il Mrs. Surratt would not have been
hanged.
Judge Holt in signed statement which
appeared in the Washington Chronicle
of August %, 1873, denied the charge made
by Johnson.
The Plea for Mercy.
The recommendation for mercy was as
follows:
'sTo the President: The undersigned
members of the Military Commission ap-
pointed to try the persons charged with
the murder of Abraham Lincoln, etc, re-
spectfully represent that the commission
have been constrained to find Mary E.
Surratt guilty of the assassination of
Abraham Lincoln, late President of the
United States, and to pronounce upon her
as required by law, the sentence of death;
but in consideration of her age and sex,
the undersigned pray your Excellency, If
it is consistent with your sense of duty,
TO commute her sentence TO Imprisonment
for life in the peniteniiary."
During the great controversy, the Hon.
John a. Bingham, who had been one OF
the assistants to the judge advocate, wrote
on February II, 1873, as follows:
Before the President had acted upon
the case ] deemed it my duty TO call the
attention of Secretary Stanton TO the petit
ton for the communication OF sentence upon
Mrs Mary Z. Surratt, and did call his at
tention to it, before the final decision of
the President. Soon after the execution
the statement was made that the President
had not seen the recommendation. i asked
for the records in the case. They were
opened and shown TO me and attached TO
the record was the petition. Soon after
this ! called upon Secretary Stanton and
Secretary Seward and asked them IL this
petition had been presented to the Presi-
dent before the death sentence was by him
approved, and | was answered by each OF
these gentlemen that the petition was pre-
sented TO the President and was duly con-
sidered by him and his advisers before the
death sentence of Mrs. Surratt was ap
proved. / was told that the President
and his Cabinet, all the members being
present, were a unit in denying the re-
commendation for clemency. Having as
certained the facts as stated, ! then de-
sired to make the same public, and so ex-
pressed myself to Mr.. Stanton, who ad-
vised me not to do So"
Mr.. Speed, who was Attorney General
under Johnson, wrote on March 80, 1873, as
follows:
Il saw the record of the case in the
Presidents Office and attached to it was a
paper signed by members of the Cn'~uais
sion recommending that the sentence
not feel at liberty TO speak of what was
said al the Cabinet meeting"
The Trial of John surratt.
Two years after the execution of Mrs.
Surratt came the civil trial of her son,
John Surratt 1t was one of the famous
trials of Washington. John H. Surratt
had escaped to Canada after the arrest of
his mother, and remained in hiding in a
monastery for several months. He then
went to Europe and enlisted in the Papal
Guards. deserted and fed to Egypt where
he was captured and brought to Washing
ton in 1867 His trial lasted two months
and ended in disagreement of the jury
The presiding judge was George P. Fish
er- The prosecuting attorney was Edward
c. Darlington and the assistant district
attorney was n. Wilson. As associate
counsel representing the United States,
there were Edwards Pierrepont and A. G.
Riddle. Counsel for defence were Joseph
II. Bradley, sr., Richard T. Merrick and
Joseph H. Bradley, jr. The Jurors were
William B. Todd, Robert Ball, j. Russell
Barr, Thomas Berry, George A. Bohrer,
Christian G. Schneider, James Y Davis.
Columbus Alexander William Mcleod
Benjamin T. Marshall, Benjamin E. Git
tings and William w. Birth 1t is said
that Birth is the only surviving juror 1t
is also said that Surratt is alive and that
he is steamboat captain on the Missis-
sippi River.
Richard T. Merrick, or "Dick" Merrick,
as everybody in old Washington called
him, was the leading orator at this bar.
He died only few years ago. the last big
case in which he figured was probably the
S.sr Route trial when Brsdy, Dorsey, Vail.