The Assassin’s Accomplice: Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln
By Kate Clifford Larson
(October 2008 Civil War News)

Illustrated, maps, notes, index, 230 pp, 2008. Basic Books, 1094 Flex Dr., Jackson, TN 38301, $36 plus shipping.

Reviewer: Walt Albro
Walt Albro is a magazine writer and editor who lives in Rockville, Md.

Review:
“I wish to say to the people that I am innocent.” These were the words Mary Surratt spoke on July 7, 1865, as she stood on the gallows awaiting execution for her part in the Lincoln assassination conspiracy. Over the years, many people have read this sentence and accepted that it was true — that Mrs. Surratt was unjustly executed in an overzealous effort to avenge Lincoln’s murder.

Author Kate Clifford Larson admits that when she first started the project, she assumed that Mrs. Surratt was mostly innocent. Her research led her to believe that Surratt was not only guilty, but probably more deeply involved in the Lincoln murder than most historians give her credit for.

The book focuses on Mrs. Surratt’s life, both before and during the war, and examines her involvement with the actor John Wilkes Booth, the Lincoln assassination conspiracy, the hunt for the conspirators, and the arrest, trial and execution of the key conspirators.

The reader learns that Mary (Jenkins) Surratt was born into a minor slave- and plantation-owning family in Prince George’s County, Maryland, a section of the state then considered as part of “Southern Maryland,” where the culture was more closely associated with that of Virginia.

In 1840, she married another small plantation owner, John Surratt, who, after growing bored with farming, invested his money in building a two-story tavern and inn on a major crossroads about 12 miles south of Washington. When the Civil War broke out, both Surratts revealed themselves to be ardent Southern sympathizers, as were many of their neighbors.

John used his position as local postmaster to assist in the illegal distribution of letters and contraband smuggled to and from Virginia. When he died of natural causes in 1862, his son, John Jr., temporarily ran the tavern and continued his father’s association with Confederate courier and smuggling operations.

It was the strategic location of the Surratt tavern, right on a key Confederate smuggling route, that brought John Surratt Jr. and his mother to the attention of actor John Wilkes Booth. In 1864, Booth, a part-time Confederate agent, developed a plot to kidnap Lincoln.

While scouting out possible safe houses in Southern Maryland, Booth learned of the Surratt’s Confederate activities through trusted acquaintances and quickly enlisted John Jr. in the plot. Booth met frequently with John Jr. and Mary Surratt at the boardinghouse she ran on H Street in Washington, D.C.

Southern Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered before Booth was able to carry out his kidnapping plot, and he changed his plan to assassination, which he accomplished on April 14, 1865. Although Booth had held two private meetings with Mrs. Surratt on the day of the shooting, Mrs. Surratt might have escaped prosecution altogether had it not been for an incident on April 17.

While military authorities were searching the Surratt boarding house, Lewis Payne, the man who had attempted to assassinate Secretary of State William Seward, knocked on the door, claiming that he had come to speak with Mrs. Surratt about some ditch-digging work. Mrs. Surratt denied knowing Payne. Other boarders later testified that Mrs. Surratt not only knew Payne, but had once leased a room to him. Both Payne and Mrs. Surratt were arrested.

During her trial, Mrs. Surratt undercut her own defense by being uncooperative and appearing as if she had something to hide.

Her fellow conspirators gave conflicting accounts of how much Mrs. Surratt knew about the murder plot. George Atzerodt and David Herold stated prior to their executions that Mrs. Surratt was as guilty as they were. Payne, on the other hand, was quoted as saying that “as far as he knew, Mrs. Surratt had nothing to do with the plot for assassination.”

While the author does not present any new documentation, she does a meticulous job of compiling and analyzing the existing research, especially the recent findings. She comprehensively surveys the testimony of key witnesses and summarizes the circumstantial evidence. She doesn’t neglect the troublesome, contradictory evidence and untangles some of the knotty controversies.

The reasonable reader cannot help but concede that Mrs. Surratt “probably” was a knowing accomplice in the Lincoln murder. But, as this book demonstrates, the hard evidence of Mrs. Surratt’s direct culpability remains frustratingly elusive.