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Today is the anniversary of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865.   Everyone associates this action with Ford’s theatre, and rightfully so.  However, the plot to kill the President and the escape route of the assassin encompass much more, including a manhunt through southern Maryland and northern Virginia.      

 

 This house in Prince Georges County was the place where, after assassinating the President, John Wilkes Booth came to get guns and other supplies that had been hidden there for him.  

 

Mary. Surratt, for whom the house is named, was owner of the house and of a small inn in downtown DC near Ford’s theater.   Though she was in DC at the time of the Assassination, she told the tenant who was occupying this building to have the guns and other supplies ready for Booth as he was leaving the city.  

 

As Mary Surratt was well aware of the plot to kill the president and was also involved in enabling Booth too escape, she was eventually tried and convicted of conspiracy to kill the President.  She was the first woman to be executed by the U.S. government. 

 

 While here, Booth was still dealing with his broken leg.  There is a lot of controversy about this leg and whether it was broken as he jumped from the balcony of the theatre or not.  What is certain is that his leg was not set here.  Booth continued further south, to have his leg set. 

 

For those who are interested in more information, you can go to www.surratt.org. 

This entry was posted on Monday, April 14th, 2008 at 12:05 AM and is filed under Historic Homes, Prince Georges. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.