Mary Surratt: An American Tragedy

By Elizabeth Steger Trindal and Mary E. Trindal

Book Overview

At 2:30 am on April 15, 1865, Mary Elizabeth Surratt was awakened by loud knocking at the door of her H Street boardinghouse in Washington D.C. Officers first inquired as to the whereabouts of her son, John Surratt. She was quickly told that her son was wanted in connection with the murder of President Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth, a famous actor and acquaintance of the family Three days later, Mary found herself under suspicion and under arrest for involvement in the assassination of the president.
Elizabeth Steger Trindal worked fifteen years to chronicle the life of this little known but important figure in American history. Mary Surratt's son, John Surratt, was believed to have acted in a plot with John Wilkes Booth and others
to not only murder the president but also kill Secretary of State Seward. John Surratt was out of the country, and Booth yet to be apprehended. But Mary and others were arrested in connection with the assassinationof the president.
Eventually they were brought to trial by a military commission.
Tried by a military tribunal despite protests by her defense lawyers that it was illegal to try a civilian before a military court, Mary and three others were tried for the crime of conspiring with Booth and found guilty. Many prominent citizens pleaded with President Andrew Johnson for a stay of Mary's execution. He steadfastly refused. On July 7, 1865, Mary Surratt along with the other accused assassins was hanged. In its grief over the death of President Lincoln did America condemn an innocent woman die?
This moving account will no doubt elicit new debate on the subject of the Civil War and reveal a new perspective on the events surrounding Lincoln's assassination.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1565541855
• ISBN13: 9781565541856
• Release Date: May 1996
• Publisher: Pelican Publishing Company
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.37 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

REASONABLE DOUBT

MARY SURRATT An American Tragedy By Elizabeth Steger Trindal Chills run through my body again and again as I read and reread the tragic story of Mary Surratt An American Tragedy by Elizabeth Steger Trindal. The first time I read this book it was for the story. That is the approach of authors- write the story. But, writers will also tell you that in the writing process a story takes a "life of its own." Perhaps, Ms. Trindal should have anticipated the unexpected while she researched and documented each fact encountered. She, like many readers, believed Mary Surratt guilty. After all, wouldn't the daughter of a Marine Corps officer, believe in the justice system of our United States government? Assumed guilty, as proclaimed by the Military Commission, a surprise surfaced for Ms. Trindal. Fifteen years of original research and writing revealed a disturbing revelation: the Military Commission sent the President of the United States, Andrew Johnson, a petition plea for mercy. Years later Johnson continued to deny he ever saw it. However, Judge Holt declared he had shown the petition to the president. That too bothered Ms. Trindal as her research continued. Her conclusion was not an easy one. It is more than admission of an innocent woman hung. It is the painful acknowledgement of a callous justice system marred by political expedience. Stunned by the story, I reread it again in an effort to grasp the mind-set, which justified conviction of a civilian woman by a Military Commission. I still wonder how a person proclaimed innocent could be convicted when one of the admitted conspirators, Lewis Powell, stated Mary Surrattt was not involved. It brings to mind a question. Does a Military Commission not place value on "reasonable doubt" in a court trial. The answer for Mary was "yes." But, the commander-in-chief ignored the commission's petition, which he claims he never saw. It bothers me still that Johnson refused to see anyone who came to speak with him about Mary Surratt. After seven trial weeks how could twelve men discuss, debate and decide the fate of the accused, seven men (except Dr. Mudd) and one woman in one day? There were forty-three hundred (4,300) pages of testimony. How could testimony be weighed justly in one day? Was the decision, guilty, a rush to judgment? In the case of Mary Surratt her "guilty" sentence was "softened" with a signed petition calling for a plea of mercy - not execution. Words of President Johnson ring in my ears and sting my soul. To his private secretary, General R.D. Mussey, President Johnson remarked, "there had not been `women enough hanged in this war.'" Years later President Johnson denied ever having seen or known about a petition, signed by members of the Military Commission. The battle of words between President Johnson and Judge Holt continued for years. Neither won the battle. The big loser was Mary Surratt. Her feet swayed in still humid heat as she dangled from a hangman's noose.

Mary Surratt: An American Tragedy

This is an excellent book. Anyone who is interested in the Civil War era and Abraham Lincoln, will really enjoy this book. Also anyone who studies the law will also find this book fascinating. This book touches on our constitutional rights and how they can be overlooked when a horrible crime has been committed and the government and the people want someone to pay for the crime. Anybody. This is just an excellent book!!!

A thorough and documented debunking of revisionist history

Elizabeth Trindal has done a masterful job of weaving 15 years of research into an enjoyable read of a sadly unmentionable subject. That being the Federal Governments unconstitutional trial and subsequent murder of Mary Surratt. This could very well be a 19th Century version of Ruby Ridge or Waco. And like Ruby Ridge or Waco as long as the economy grows and my neighborhood is safe, who cares what happens to a few folks on the fringe of my sphere. I care. I believe Mary Surratt was an innocent who became a sacrafice on the federal altar of "make everyone feel good,"justice. Elizabeth Trindal's sad and truthful account of poor Mary only serves to reinforce the old adage,"bad men cannot make good citizens". I recommend you buy, read and pass along this excellent book. Anyone interested in truthful accounts of our Nation's history will not be able to put it down. Elizabeth Trindal certainly deserves an award and our appreciation for this work.

a well researched and easy to read book. Very informative.

A civilian tried and convicted by a military court--and hanged. How did America do this? Mrs. Trindal, who I am delighted to personally know, answers these questions in her well researched and exquisitely written book. Anyone who enjoys our history, even when it is not "pretty" should read this very easey to read book. The book is exhaustively researched, but reads like a novel--this is a trick that I think is difficult to accomplish, yet somehow this author has done so. Bravo!

Well worth reading - a must for historians

The recently published biography of Mary Surratt, by Elizabeth Steger Trindal, is a chilling study of abuse of power by our United States government at a time when our nation was at war with itself. Mary Surratt, widow of a tavern owner, mother of three, and devote Catholic, was hanged for her alleged role in the assassination of President Lincoln. Step by meticulous step, Trindal walks you through the life passages of Mary Surratt, the places she went, the people she knew, the actions she took, that all led to her conviction, and eventual death by strangulation by the United States government. Was she entirely innocent, was she partially guilty, or was she the cold blooded women that history has known her as? Fifteen years of research are reflected as chapter by chapter the scene is set for the final demise of Mary Surratt. The first thirteen chapters lay the framework for understanding how Mary became associated with key players in the assassination of President Lincoln, including tie-ins with John Wilkes Booth himself through her son. The relationship that John Surratt, Mary's son, sought with John Wilkes Booth may well have been the reason Mary was put to death. A wonderful quality of this book is its readibility despite Trindal's dedication to well-researched, extensively footnoted statements of fact. This book reads as easily as a suspense-filled mystery novel. Trindal skillfully plays on the ultimate question raised by the book. How could such a peaceful, God-fearing, motherly woman be brought under suspicion and eventual conviction for such a brutal crime? The only concern I had while reading this book was a noticeable southern perspective on events and activities of the time. But, in a way, this southern perspective helped me to better understand the passions and motivations of the people portrayed in the book. My accolades go out to Elizabeth Steger Trindal for this thought-provoking work that will make any American historian reevaluate the past and maybe even the present. If you are a history lover, or a civil war or Lincoln buff, then this book is a must for your bookshelf. Not just for its look at one unfortunate woman's life, but for its study of the workings of the nation's political and social arena at the time of this woman's life.