The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-04-17
BY WINFIELD M THOMPSON

LEWIS THORNTON +
Who wounded five men at the home o
From Il PHOTO by Gardiner, made On board the
grcss &
At II O'Clock in the evening OF
April Il. 1865. group of army Of
ficerS entered the home OF Mrs. Mary
T., Surratt No. SAL ii street north
west. Washington, to arrest its mis-
tress. on the charge OF being an &C
cessory to the assassination of Prcsi-
dent Lincoln.
Three days had passed since Lin
coin was shot down by John Wilkes
Tooth in a box at Ford's Theater. AL
Tough it was known the assassin had
crossed the Navy Yard bridge into
Maryland less than half an hour after
the commission of the crime. for he
had given his name correctly TO the
sergeant of the guard, no further trace
of him had yet been found. Cavalry
were riding hard and beating the
swamps in Charles County. along the
Potomac, in search of him. while In
Washington the whole power of the
War DEPARTMENTS secret service
backed by police and cavalry, was di-
rected to hunting down his supposed
associates i'll crime.
In their quest the authorities were
guided by knowledge of Booths plan
rejected in March. of kidnapping the
with him in that enterprise were
sought, as a matter of course. in con-
nection with the assassination.
Foremost among these had been
John II. Surratt, son of Mrs. Surratt;
whose business was that of mes
senger for the Confederate govern
ment. The name of Surratt was OH
everybody's lips in Washington on the
day following the assassination, for
the authorities claimed il was he who
had attempted the assassination OF
Secretary of state William II. Seward
at the time Lincoln was struck down
Within five hours of the commits
sion of Booths crime detectives had
searched the home of Mrs. Surratt
in quest of her son. He was not found
He had not been in Washington at
the time of the assassination. For
tunately for him he had undertaken
a journey TO Richmond, and thence TO
Montreal with dispatches, in early
April. and on his return trip had
stopped off at Elmira, n. Y, to spy
upon the military prison there. in
which many Confederates were con-
fined.
4 Caller at Mrs. Surratt's.
Not finding John H. Surratt. the de-
tectives sought for evidence on which
to arrest his mother. The Secretary of
War had decided that, her house haV-
ing been an occasional meeting place
of Booth, Surratt and others, she must
have a guilty knowledge of the assas-
sination plot.
This conclusion Being reached Mon
day evening. April Il. officers went
to arrest Mrs. Surratt, while a repre-
sentative of the Secretary of War
went independently to search her
house for papers. The detective found
the officers in possession when he
reached the house, and Mrs. Surratt,
pale and trembling, preparing to ac
company them to the headquarters of
Gen. 6. c. Augur. military comma nder
in the city. With her were three other
women. her daughter, Anna, a sister!
Miss Olivia Jenkins, and boarder.
Miss Honora Fitzpatrick.
At this juncture occurred a dramatic
thing. There came ring and a knock
at Mrs. Surratt's front door. and an Of
hcer answering it, the figure of a great.
huiking young man, with a pick over
his shoulder, was seen without. Seeing
an officer, the young man said, II think
l have made a mistake" He was asked
whom he wished to see, and replied,
Mrs. Surratt." He was hidden 10 en-
ter, and did so.
By a dim light in the hall the officers
saw before them an unkempt, disheveled.
wild-appearing youth of 20. His beard
less face was dirty. His trousers were
smeared in mud to the knees. Over his
shock OF dark hair was drawn, in lieu
of q cap, a piece Of drawers leg.
Questioned, the young man gave vague
answers. He had come, he said, to dig
a drain for Mrs. Surratt; he had no
home; he lived by his pick; he came
thus late to arrange for the morning
work.
Opening the Parlor door, one of the
officers asked Mrs. Surratt II she knew
the young man. She peered out-being
short-sighted-and after a brief scrutiny,
declared she did not.
Payne at Stewards House.
The young man was detained while
Mrs. Surratt was taken away. Before
leaving her home-which she was
never to see again-she asked permits
sion to pray, and 1t being granted,
fell on her knees and spent a few
minutes in silent prayer. She was a
Catholic.
When a carriage took Mrs. Surratt
and the other women away, the young
man was detained until 1t could come
back to take him also to headquar-
ters. The officers felt that in him they
had made an important capture, and
in this they were right. Their pris-
oner was Lewis Payne, the only one
Of Booths dupes who had followed
his orders. He had attacked the Secre-
tary OF State at the time set by Booth
tho moment when tie assassin
struck down Lincoln.
In the shadow Of the greater crime,
the attack on Seward has lost its true
proportion. 1t was in fact one Of the
bioodfest attempts at assassination