The Washington herald., 1915-05-05

Photo by Brady. Negative il
The trial of eight Of Booths associates
was held in the old Penitentiary Build
ing that stood i'm the ans enal ground OIL
Greenleafs Point. at the commence OF
the Potomac and the AnaCostia. in Wash
ington. The seven men and one woman
held on the charge of conspnlng WITH
Booth to murder Lincoln. or of aiding
and abetting him in his crime. were
confined in cells under the same roof
that covered the secret grave of the as
sassin. who was buried beneath the hoor
of a basement stOreroom.
The rgor with which prisoners were
| treated in the French revolution was
paralleled in the treatment of tn" male
prisoners held as aCcomplic"S of Booth.
II was assumed that they all were des-
perate criminals and enemies Of the gov
ornment who had forfeited all claim to
kind treatment.
In the excited state Of public feeling
no less rigorous course toward them
would have been deemed safe. The men
responsible for the preservation OF the
government believed it to be in danger.
The war was so recently ended that fear
Of an outbreak of anarchy or guerilla
warfare was entertained. II was thought
the accused were members of secret
society the Sons of Liberty. that was
held to he dangerously reasonable.
The fact that all the accused. excert
Herold. were sympathiZers with the
South. made their cases hopeless. Some
body must suffer for I.incoln'S death
was the cry of the North.
When first arrested they had been tax
en- on board the monitor SanGus. or the
monitor Montauk. off the Navy YARD.
where. in chains. they were confined
beneath iron decks. To the left ankle OF
each was fastened an iron band lor
two-foot chain. and to the chain was
fastened an iron cone foot high. weigh
ing seyenty-tivo hounds. ON Lewis Powell.
alias Payne, and George y. AtZerodt We're
put the added weight of a ball and cham.
The hands of sis were manacled WIN
iron bands connected with bar OF iron
fourteen inches long. An exception was
made of Dr. Samuel 4. Mudd. whose
handouts were connected with chain
Over the head of each was placed
rough flannel hood. or cap. drawn WIN
a string about the neck. hole was ieIt
for the mouth. but none for the eyes IL
was stated this device was employed ne-
cause PAYNE tried to end MS HE bH
dashing his head against beam on
board the monitor. The manacles.
weights and chains, and the presence OF
four guards for each prisoner, reduced
the possibility of suicide 10 minimum
even had the caps been removed the
caps were still worn after the prisoners
were removed from the ships.
Suffering of Prisoners.
The suffering of the prisoners from
the caps was great. from the warmth
of the weather and the shutting out OF
the light from their eyes. When they
were brought into court and the caps
were removed the light of day for a
time blinded them.
The eighth prisoner Mrs. Mary f.
Surratt was not subjected to the tor
ture Of the cap and letters. she was
allowed certain choice IN her 1000
and was permitted to see her daush-
ter Anna. The cries OF the poor girl
weeping at her mothers knee, often
filled the corridors OF the prison.
An improved courtroom for the trial
was fitted III in a whitowashed cham
Der on the same floor as the prisoners
cells the third. Across one end was
placed a rallied platform for the prison
ers and in front of it two small tables
for their counsel. There was long
Ia BILE at one side for the Military Com
mission Of nine officers acting as judges.
another for the government prosecutor
Joseph Holt, Judge advocate of the army.
and his two assistants, Hon. John A.
Bingham and Col. Fl. l.. Burnett.
When the trial opened. on the morn
ing of May TO- each of the prisoners
came into court guarded by soldier
The iron weights of the men were car
ried by two soldiers each. on an iron
bar thrust through a staple in the cone
Their chains clanked on the hoor as
they made their way slowly to their
places. Mrs. Surratt was given the seat
nearest the door.
4 Political Trial.
The taking of testimony lasted until
June IA, and the arguments nearly two
weeks. The findings of the court were
ready June 80 and its verdict was ap-
proved by the President July ..
As seen in the light of history the
trial was grossly unfair: yet in view OF
all the conditions of time and place. no
other kind OF trial was possible. Politi-
cal rancor ruled the deliberations Of the
court.
Each of the prisoners was represented
by counsel, the ablest of whom was Gen.
Thomas Ewing, jr., Union soldier well
versed in the law. He appeared for DR..
Mudd and Samuel Arnold. W. 4. Doster
appeared for Payne and Atzerodt. walter
E. Cox for Michael O'Laughlin. and
Frederick A. Aiken, q native OF Massa-
chusetts, practicing In Washington, for
Mrs. Surratt.
From the opening Of the court 1t was
evident that the passions OF the war
were still hot within the soldiers VINO
formed the commission. Only strong
Union men received consideration from
them.
The first evidence of this appeared
when Hon. Reverdy johnson. of Mary
land, appeared for Mrs. Surratt. As he
took his seat among counsel Gen. David
Hunter, president of the commission.