Mary E. Surrat, Frederick H. Meserve Collection of Americana, c. 1865
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- Chicago History Museum, ICHi-52627
Part of the Plot?
Mrs. Mary E. Surratt ran a boarding house on H Street in Washington, D.C., where Booth and co-conspirators Lewis Powell and George Atzerodt often stayed. Her son John was a Confederate spy and Booth’s closest conspirator to kidnap Lincoln. On April 17, 1865, Mrs. Surratt was arrested for helping plan the Lincoln assassination. She was convicted and hung despite shaky evidence and Powell’s assertion that she did not know anything about the plot.