Accomplice or Bystander?

“By the summer of 1865, practically every American knew who Mary Surratt was. To them she was either a hard-hearted, manipulative co-conspirator who aided in the plan to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln, or an innocent woman trapped in Booth’s murderous web and subjected to a vengeful and bloodthirsty military tribunal” (xi). 


The Book  

Most people know the name of Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, yet not many know the names of John Wilkes Booth’s conspirators and the role they each played. Four of them were hanged for their crimes, a handful spent time in jail, and the rest remained free. The Assassin’s Accomplice by Kate Clifford Larson tells the story of one of those conspirators: Mary Surratt. It provides a brief biography and goes into detail regarding her trial and involvement with Booth.

Surratt owned a boarding house that was home to numerous Confederate spies and couriers, as well as a meeting place for Booth. It was here that Union troops raced to on the night of the assassination searching for Booth. Soon afterwards, Surratt was arrested and put on trial. Larson walks the reader through the evidence that began to stack up against Surratt and the trial proceedings, which led to her death. Interestingly, the North wanted revenge for the assassination, yet they balked at the first execution of a woman. Larson shows the contrast between a criminal mind and the cultural beliefs about women at that time.

I would also recommend the film The Conspirator which portrays the trial of Mary Surratt. 


The Place  

Today, visitors to Washington, DC can find the Surratt boarding house in the heart of Chinatown. Unlike Ford’s Theatre or the Peterson House, this building is not a museum or tourist destination. It is a Chinese restaurant with a historical marker. On the outside, the house looks almost exactly as it did when John Wilkes Booth led the conspiracy to kidnap or assassinate Abraham Lincoln. You can have lunch or dinner inside while imagining the conferences between Southern sympathizers. 


Seven minutes southwest of the Surratt boarding house is the Lincoln Memorial.
It looms over the city and draws many more visitors than the obscure boarding house. I would recommend visiting the Lincoln Memorial during the day and at night; both times offer completely different atmospheres. From the front, you can look east down the Capital Mall and see the Washington Monument and Capitol building. I would also recommend walking around back. Not many people do this, but you get a great view of Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac River. Inside, Abraham Lincoln towers over visitors and words from his speeches are engraved in the walls. A staircase on the side leads to a small museum underneath that is dedicated to the history of the memorial.