The press. (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1857-1880, May 16, 1865, Image 2

TUESDAY, MAY 10, 1806.
The Assassination a Military
Offence.
Exceptions have been taken to the
method adopted in the trial of the alleged
co-conspirators of the assassin Boots. It
has been nrged that a military trial would
not meet the requirements of the case, and
that a secret session was at variance with
the established customs and law of the
land. The constitutional amendment has
been cited 5n support of this opinion. The
special clause so quoted says: “No per
son shall he held to answer for a capital,
or Otherwise infamous prime,-• unless On a
paesentment or indictment of a Grand
Jury , except in cases arising in the land or
n aval forces or in the militia; when in actual
service in time of war or public danger .”
These words of the Constitution have
been ever regarded as one of the most im
portant safeguards of individual liberty,
and as such have been jealously insisted
upon. The enactment is in perfect harmony
with the sacred idea of personal indepen
dence, and the framers of the Constitution
so appreciated it. They were constructing
a Republic, endeavoring, to the best of their
ability, to secure the blessings of liberty to
themselves and their posterity, and yet
they wisely stated one important exception
to this law of universal application.
The words italicized seem evidently in
tended for emergencies like the present,
and expressly fit the occasion and its exi
gencies.
The act of Booth has been held up to
the world’s execration as the “ assassina
tion of the President,” and, as Buch, would,
perhaps, he the subject of ordinary civil
investigation if no peculiar circumstances
complicated the situation. His crime has
met universal condemnation on account of
the position and character of the victim,
and the manner in which the deed was ac
complished no other terms but murder and
assassination have been applied to it, and
consequently many have been led to con
found it with a mere civil offence. But let
us consider it more closely.
The assassination of Mr. Lincoln would
have been a civil offence had he not been
at tbe moment of his death President of the
United States, and by virtue of that station
commander in-chief of the army, navy, and
militia of the whole country. The offence
was committed,most undeniably,at a period
fully described in the Constitution as a
“ time of war and public danger,” and the
victim was in the military service of the
country as completely as if he were in the
field. This cannot be denied with any
shadow of justice, for it has been univer
sally acknowledged that his representative
capacity was the principal motive, to the
deed; he was the recognized head of the
triumphant Union army, and, as such, was
the espegal object of fear and hatred.
The act becomes a military crime, and
subject to sucb jurisdiction, not only by
the official position of Mr. Lincoln, but
by the fact that his death was everywhere
and instantly considered as an event de
signed to benefit the rebellion, and the
criminal’s connection with the insurgents
was universally believed before the proof
could be educed. The popular opinion,
both at home and abroad, was so filearly
expressed in this particular, and the in
ference was so just and undeniable, that
noted Secessionists felt compelled severally
to deny all conniption with the assassin.
A consideration of the facts show that
the act was a crime committed in a case
arising in the military forges, and in time
of war, as expressly as it would have been
if the victim had been a commander taking
his ease in his tent, and the murderer the
ducted by military rules, by the very
' nature of the case, and a secret tribunal
may in such instances be legitimate and
proper, calling for no excuse.
If excuse were needed it ifi not wanting,
for the deed accomplished has been proved
to be a part of a conspiracy. Here is no
matter of panic or surmise, but of fact, for
the existence of an organized conspiracy
was proved at the very moment of the
commission Of the crime, by the contempo
raneous assault upon another chief officer
of the Government, by a person known to
be intimately connected with Booth,
Conspiracy once so distinctly proved,
evidently directed against the leading
members of a Government in time of war,
and manifestly tending to the advantage of
a belligerent in arms, offers just grounds
for investigation, and a legitimate cause
for the surmise that the conspiracy was
intended to accomplish a work clearly left
unfinished, viz: The confusion and dis
array of the enemy by the removal of all
its principal officers and leaders. Some of
the minor members of the conspiracy have
been arraigned, and a portion of the in
vestigations which may lead to farther dis
closures, and the ultimate discovery of
the scheme, with all its connections and
ramifications, are pfoperly withheld for the
present from that public scrutiny which
■would, undoubledly, defeat the principal
objects of the trial.
Let us approach the question from the
other side, and imagine an open trial of
such offenders in the city of Washington
to-day. Shall the oath of allegiance be
exacted upon the spot from every person
who enters the door of the court-room?
Shall the prisoner at the bar be allowed
to challenge every loyal juryman, until
chance or connivance furnish him with
a confederated ally, whose Unionism is
assumed with a mental lt
has been already ascertained that such
persons have been residing within the
limitß of our capital during the whole
period of the war. Such residence in a
loyal city, and enjoyment of its immu
nities, cannot be construed otherwise than
as tacit peijury; and Will those who have
lived a lie for yearß hesitate to ntter it on
an occasion involving all their hopes for
the future, and, perhaps, their very exist
ence itself?
How feasible then would this plan seem!
How assure the loyalty of all the witnesses
and jury? And how could the end he
reached if the only means of inquiry and
method of securing the evidence required
were displayed to the public of a city from
which leads that hidden and devious route"
by which the secrets of our Government
wera carried to the enemy, by which the
traitors moved safely to and fro with their
. murderous messages, and by which the as
sassin made his escape, assisted by willing
hands? It is as certain that Washington
contains a sufficiently large proportion of
traitors to render the corruption of a jury
a probable and almost inevitable event as
that the body of her citizens are loyal and
patriotic men.
Autfeoiized Contradiction.
The Public Ledger of yesterday, still in
tent upon doing gross injustice to the
Secretary of War, Mr. Stanton, and eager
to place'the journals in the -wrong that
have sustained the action of the Military
Commission in the trial of the conspirators,
employs the following unequivocal lan
guage :
K xhe journals which ha to thought military trl
tmnals were a Tory proper Innovation upon tho
established Institutions of peace, woro as anxious a
few days ago to prove that even secrecy was neces
sary to the tffleecy of such trials, and presented a
ycsj eiszuiDs array, of scarecrows to drive off any
further public censure of unauthorised aots of
power. The fad that President Johnson hat used his
influence and authority with those who authorized the
secret sessions of military cowrit, and had them
opened to the public, is the best akturer and refutation
of what these journals have had to say, if not a severe
rebuke to their subserviency ll
We are enabled to announce, on the best
authority, that the very deliberate state
ment in the italicised passage of the above
paragraph, “is falee in every particular
It is therefore hot “ a fact ” that President
Johkboh “ used his influence and autho
ritjr with those who authorized the secret
sessions of military courts and had them
opened to the publicand hence Tbk
Pbesb and the Washington Chronicle, and
papers agreeing with them, have not been
answered or refuted in what they have had
to say on the trials of the conspirators,
much less “severely, rebuked for their sub
serviency.” £o that the hedger 1 s “ facta ”
aTe fictions, if not fabrications, and its use
of the President’s name as the basis of a
yer y grave assertion, wholly gratuitous aud
unwarranted. _.
Tbe capture of Davis.
'When an ordinary disturbance of the
peace occurs, and those industrious chroni
clers, the local reporters, announce its sup
pression by the “ ever-vigilant police,”
their record is never considered entirely
satisfactory and complete without the ad
dendum that “the ringleaders were ar
rested, and will be tried at the next term
of court.’’ This last token of the sup
pression of the rebellion has been furnished
by the capture of its chosen chief, notwith
standing his display of a genius for eluding
justice that would have done honor to
Jemmy Twitcher or Jacques Strop.
We have no wish to indulge in unseemly
exultation over the misery of a fallen foe,
or to swell the chorus of an angry cry for
vengeance, but we share in the general re
joicings over his arrest, because it com
pletes the triumph of the Republic, and
affords an opportunity to enforce the de
crees of justice upon the head and front of
the offenders who conspired against its life.
The immediate incentive to his capture
was the large reward offered on account of
bis supposed connection with the assassina
tion,of AnitAHXM Lincoln. The evidence
now being elicited in the trial of the sub
ordinate confederates of Booth will do
much to establish his guilt or innocence of
tbat charge. If the belief that he thus
crowned his infamy by complicity with
cold-blooded murder is well sustained, the
public will naturally expect that he will be
put on trial for the offence, and, if found
guilty, punished as the law directs.
If innocent, however, let him be fully
cleared of that foul stain, so that he may
be tried by unbiassed minds for the
crime of treason. If any one is so deeply
implicated in that guilt as to be ame
nable to the utmost rigors of the law,
without benefit of acts of capitula
tion or amnesty, he is that man.
No power forced him to continue a con
test in which the lives of many thousands
of his countrymen were sacrificed—no
overawing rebel compelled him to choose
between armed resistance to our Govern
ment or instant death at ‘ the hands of the
agents of a ruthless conscription. He
sinned wilfully, knowingly, freely, and
persistently. If he is not an assassin, let
him be tried without malice, fear, favor, or
affection, as a traitor; and not to gratify a
spirit of revenge, but for tbe benefit of so
ciety and as an example to all coming time,
let him be adjudged by the laws of the
land he tried to divide and ruin.
Mason and Slidell.
The names, Mason and Slidell, like
those of Chang and Eng, of Siamese no
toriety, will occupy in history a conjoint
prominence that will, most likely, defy
divorcement. Bose in their lives, we doubt
■whether even in death they will be divided.'
Twin-traitors to the country, by whose
bounty they have waxed fat, by the law of
association, if by nothing else, they will be
held to a perpetual partnership of infamy.
To call Mason a proud, puerile,-puffed-up
pretender—a blatant, blustering braggado
cia—to define Slidell a pestilent, perni
cious, plotter—sly, seditious—crafty, con
ceited, cunning—this is not to overload
these twin-dignitaries with epithets, but
simply to portray their true character. As
such, at least in their later years, they were
known at Washington, Here, with the
oath of fealty fresh on their lips, and their
pockets filled to repletion with Uncle Sam’s
gold, they basely conspired to effect their
country’s ruin and overthrow. In their
appointment to the high places of Ministers
Plenipotentiary aud Envoys Extraordinary
-loibatwpjlrst European Powers, Davis, the
bOgUS ChlCt 01 CUc — —o ... a .....ig
he did nothing more, displayed his appre
ciation of the “eternal fitness of things.”
And this, for the excellent reason, that two
more suitable and impressive types of an
insolent, domineering slave-ocracy, at least
since the demise of the traitor Yancey, and
the ruffian B books, it would have been
difficult to find, from the centre to the cir
cumference of the wide domain of Dixie.
Whilst to both of these bogus representa
tives of a bogus Government, the just ver
dict of civilized mankind will award an
immortality af obloquy, we really begin to
believe that on the scroll of infamy Mason
will succeed in writing his name highest.
We base our belief on the fact that, on the
receipt, in London, of the news of Presi
dent Lincoln’s assassination, he sent to
his pet journal, the Index, a card, or let
ter, whose object was, if possible, to fore
stal the damaging effect which he had only
too strong reason to apprehend that deed
of horror would entail upon the fortunes of
the South. And what view, think you,
does the rebel would-be Ambassador take
of this grave occurrence? The reality al
most beggars belief! By half-concealed,
half expressed inuendo, he has the hardi
hood to charge the procurement of the
horrible crime, forsooth, on President John
son,Secretary Stanton, and General B. P.
Butler ! The motive was to be tbe clear
ing out of their way, by the removal of
President Lincoln and Secretary Sewabd,
of grave hindrances, in their ruinous designs
upon the South! That we do Mason no
injustice, his own words prove. He says:
** It In the crudest ocneaptlon, too, tuat tho mur
der of Abraham Lincoln was planned and executed
for the purpose of 1 aldlng.the rebel oanse;’ bat I
oan well understand It may have material lnfiuenoe
In aiding the eanse of that overpowering party in
the United States, of whloh Mr. Stanton Is the type,
and Andrew Johnson, w tic succeeds as President,
with Bntler, the notorious prefix, are the exponents
and leaders— a party in whose path the late President
and his Secretary were acknowledged obstacles in their
projected schemes of plunder and rapine to fallow
their dominion over the Southern States .”
We ask, would it be possible for reckless
mendacity and unscrupulous abandon than
this to go further ? If the slaveholders' bas
tard Confederacy has not floundered in the
coveted 'Hail ditch,'’ surely the apoßtate Ma
son has found Ms. Tea, are nothis utterances
surcharged with the -malice and falsehood
of hell t But how is it possible that a state
ment, so transparently malicious, bo utterly
contradicted by fact, so incontestibly de
monstrative of a depraved heart and a per
verted mind, can gain credence in any part
of the world, the Old or the New ? ,More
than ever are we persuaded that Slavery
and Secessionism are the most potent
agencies employed by the Father of Lies
(if not of Liars) to crush out of its devo
tees the last veßtige of honorable manhood.
We almost commiserate Slidell. Bad as
we know him to be, we Bhould suppose
him, by this time, heartily disgusted with
Mb profligate eonfrerL If Slidell, in.
deed, had a grain of self-respect as big as
a mußtard-seed, he would himself write a
letter to the Indus, repudiating Mason as a
fellow altogether too mean and too vulgar
even for him to be in any wise identified
with.
The Indictment.
The indictment of the conspirators,
drawn by that consummate lawyer, Hon.
Joseph Holt, Judge Advocate General,
discloses some of the grounds upon which
the Government is proceeding in this im
portant case.
We webe waited upon, a few days
since, by the President and Secretary of
the Patriotic Order of Washington, with
the view of inducing us to initiate a
movement for the employment of our sub
sequently discharged and wounded sol
diers. Mr. Thomas Cbozieb, formerly a
corporal iB the Slat Pennsylvania, is
the President, and Mr. C. A. Boswell,
an orderly sergeant in the 82d, is the Se
cretory. The Order consists of one hun
dred and forty-two members, all of them
having been wounded and honorably dis
charged soldiers and seamen. Most of
them are already in good employment,
but with a praiseworthy desire to assist
their wounded brethren who are daily
returning to this city, in the straggle for
an independent livelihood, they wish to
organize the means of utilizing their en
ergies, without leaving them helplessly to
burden our city authorities.
That the object is a most desirable one,
and must necessarily commend itself to all
of our patriotic and more wealthy citizens,
is at once obvious. Our brave fellows who
have shed their blood for the integrity of
our empire, and given their toil so freely
and spontaneously at a time when our na
tional life was menaced by the late rebel
lion, deserve, at least, this care and recog
nition at our hands. Let us see that it is
given to them as largely and readily as they
offered their lives and poured forth their
blood upon the altar reared by their great
father— Washington— to our National In
dependence.
A New Yobk paper, yesterday evening,
reiterated, in a most malignant manner, the
assertion, which we have already nailed to
the counter as a falsehood, respecting the
action of the Military Commission in the
first arrangements for <he trial nf the con
spirators. To thiß, after what we have
already stud upon the subject, it is unne
cessary for us to oppose any special argu
ment. It only exhibits the tendency upon
the part of the disloyal press to attack, in
the most bitter manner, the workings of
our Government. And we can have no
hesitation in characterizing it as a base and
most malicious attack upon the integrity of
our National Authorities.
LETTER FROM “ OCCASIONAL.”
Washington, May 15, 1885.
The tragedy has been succeeded by the
farce. The loud and dogmatic tyrant in
the one enactß the Robert Macaire in the
oiher. Who will not ponder upon the
contrast and the example? The subject is
one that belongs to history; and, however
disposed to spare a fallen foe, we dare
not forget that if there is pity for. the un
fortunate, there is also justice" for the
wicked. The only time that this despe
rate man, Jefferson Davis, has shown
that he had humanity was when he began
to think of himself. He wasted thousand*
of precious lives without remorse, but
grew exceedingly nervous when he thought
of his own. A man who has been so haughty
and so unrelenting should have played his
part boldly to the end. Jefferson has been
the preux Chevalier of the South. He had
made himself a pattern of integrity and
of honor. His scorn of false dealing was
almost ostentatious and he he looked down
upon the “ vulgar herd " with a superfine
disdain. That he Bhould have proved to
,be so cold, cruel, and inexorable, was only
another proof that he felt himself strong
enough to do anything. Indeed, so bitter
had his hate of the people of the free
States become, that he declared to
his victims: “We could no more lire
with them than we could live with wolves
and tigers." Such a man should have
made no recreant flight. To- be true
to his character he shonld have defied
death. One thing he ought to have done,
if he had desired to make a name among
his admirers in the Old World. They
claim that the bare idea of holding him as
a party to the assassination of President
Lincoln is a monstrous outrage; why, then,
did not Jefferson Davis declare that he was
ready to answer to the chaige in the Presi
dent’s proclamation offering rewards for
the assassins ? He would have been af
forded every facility for defence, and
there would have been an air of man
hood and daring in the act that-would
have sounded in excellent harmony witty
his character for courage and candor. If
it is replied that he would have been
unjustly treated, the objection falls before
the fact that no really innocent man eyer
feared to face his accusers, and that
thousands would have demanded an
impartial trial for him, even while de
spising his treason. Was -his flight more
honorable or more brave ? Even if he had
not been taken, .would his self-banishment
have left him a happier or a more contented
man? The answer to these questions is
fatally conclusive; he felt that he was im
plicated in the assassination, or he knew
tNut bp.had-been the author of atrocities
only second to that dreadful deed of
slaughter. Occasional.
THE GREAT TRIAL.
[Fr< m tha Washington Chronicle of Sand ay. ]
Those who denounce the Government for refusing,
to take I hem into Its confluence In this dispensation
of public jnstloe, will And that In this respect, as
In many others, they have been hasty In appealing
from the Administration to the people, particularly
If snob an appeal Is made with the view of destroy
ing public confidence. There Is no ory more plaußl
ble than that which charges the custodionß or power
with a design to ahnse ft. This Is among the mise
ries of public service. But history has shown that
In times of great danger, the confidence of the peo
ple 1s never withdrawn while public rulers show
honesty and courage. The men who denounced Mr.
Lincoln and Mr. Stanton for what they were
pleased to oall high-handed proceedings In 1862 and
186 S, should see In the death of Mr. Lincoln the
host comment upon their denunciations. Why
suspend the habeas corpus 1 Why make arbi
trary arrests 1 Why maintain a detective police
force at the National Capital? Why place men In
eustody upon mere] suspicion ? Why have Fouohfis
In the War Department ? All this meant the near
approaoh of tyranny and usurpation. These stories
about plots of treason and assassination were mere
ly the pretexts of the « brutal ” Stanton and the
bloodthirsty ” Holt. Every Copperhead, from
Seymour down to Vallandlgham, repeated them
from the stamp. Good men actually came to be
lieve them, and this false oiamor did ranch toward
Indnclng the Government ‘to relax Its vigilance In
the pursuit and apprehension of traitors. What
came of their timorous polloy ? Let the dead body of
Abraham Lincoln answer. While these men ln>
oreased the clamor about clvU liberty and arbitrary
arrests, Booth and his oomrades continued to sharpen
their knives and mature their plans. In an hour of
fancied security they slew the President. Does any
one believe that Abraham Ltnooln would have
been slain If the Government had disdained the
counsels of these fidgety, fractious demagogues,
and continued the prudent watchfulness or
the earner years or tho war. Because we
believe In these men we lost our President.
What next? To apologise for their former oiamor,
and at the same time continue their fraotlonsness,
it was said that the murder of Mr. Lineoln was the
act of a fanatle and murderer—his own Individual
act—and that beyond him there was no responsi
bility. Mr. Mason,(the rebel commissioner, defined
this point when be suggested to the London public
the theory that because Booth’s'father was named
Junius Brutuß, and he himself bore the name of'
John Wilkes, the great English radical and dema
gogue, therefore the murder was committed by some,
admirer of Mr. Stanton and General Bntler. The
very Idea of a conspiracy was hooted at by these
men. “ What I the chivalrous Southerners shoot a
man in the baok of the head 1 The descendants of
the first families stab a Blok man In the agony of
fever! Pie upon it! Such, a thing is impos
sible. It Is another of Mr. Stanton’s deeds of ty
ranny and oppression. Heoontemplatesnewwrongß,
and makes the sets of this one crazy man,
Booth, this radical Abolitionist, In all probability,
the pretext for new -crimes. Let the people be
ware ; their liberties an in danger.” By Bneh a
clamor as this, sustained by long and elronmstan.
tlal sensational fictions, It was sought to turn away
the vigilance of the Government and the Indigna
tion of the people from the real extent of the erlme
and the conspiracy. Thb Govbbhmbst knew
otbbbwisb. By putting to work the very mv
chin ery—which, had It not been abandoned In de
ference to these noisy and snspleions gentlemen,
would have made assassination Impossible—lt very
soon discovered that the .death of Mr. Lincoln
was merely the incident of a plot whlok ex
tended all over the eonntry, and contemplated
the death of many of our prominent states
men and generals, the burning of cities and
towns— arson, murder, find robbery, Then oame
the reward for Davis and comrades, which was
alto regarded as one of Mr. Stanton’s con
trivances to do all manner of wrong. Now we have
a new cry. The Government finds it neeessary to
dispense jnstloe In Its own way. The President and
Cabinet are convinced that the ends of publlo jus
tice can only be served by withholding for the pro
sent the testimony of certain witnesses on the pend
ing trial. We do not preterd to assign a motive
for this, for we fire not charged with the responsi
bility of visiting justice and vengeanoe upon the
murderers of Abraham Lincoln, bnt we have the
assurance of these officials that prudence Is neces
sary to oomplete their work, and we accept that
assurance as conclusive to our mind. When'as Bass!
nation la under investigation, the liberties of the
oonntry may be safely placed in the unquestioned
control of Andrew Johnson and the statesmen who
snrroond him.
Let good men cease this elamor, or St least until
the blood of our martyred President is avenged. It
is scarcely deoeat to throw obstacles in the way of a
Government on the traek of murderers. If they
will have a ory, let them take something tangible.
Why not arraign Mr. Stanton for permitting his
soldiers to shoot Booth In a barn? Why was that
pcor man hasted to death by our dreadful Secre
tary of War 1 Why was ne not arrested and hold
to ball, or tiled .before a jury of Surats and Atzo*
rotts? It would be difficult to get a jury here
without having one of that olass upon it. The
conspirators, no doubt, had their jurymen se
lected and assigned, and nothing but Stanton
and hts lawless soldiers prevented them from doing
their part. Something Is due to the forms and tech
nicalities Of courts. Something Is due to the letter
and text of local and State laws. But something
more is due to an outraged and bereaved country. The
nation Insists that Its rulers shall ferret this assassi
nation to the end. We do not ask how, so that it Is
done, ir in daylight, on the hill tops, and by pub
lication In the newspapers, well find good. If by
prudence and secrecy, let them he prudent and se
cret, and none will care to chare their oounclls. The
Government will do Its sad and grave duty In lti
own way, and the people will sustain It.
THE PRESS.—PHILADELPHIA, TUESDAY, MAT 16, 18667
THE ASSASSINS.
Fifth Day of Their Trial- The Bill
of Indictment.
The Preparations for tbe Murder In
February and March.
ITS PROGRESS TO CONSUMMATION
IN APRIL.
TESTIMONY OP SECONDARY MINGLERS IN
TBE GREiT ENTR’ ACTE.
Booth’s Conception of the' Harder Almost
Contemporary with the Begin
ning of the War.
A General Assassination of Our Public Men
Spoken of in Richmond in 1861.
THE HORTHERN CITIES ALSO TO BE
LAID IN ASHES.
JEFF DAVIS AND HIS FILLQW-TBAITORS
FBIYY TO THE PLOT.
Examination into the Antecedents of
Arnold and O’Laughlin*
Iheir Journeys, Conversations, and
Everyday Life,
THEIR CONNECTION WITH BOOTH AND THEIR
SUSPICIOUS CONDUCT.
Booth’s Actions Just Before the
Assassination.
WHISKY NERVES HIM TO FEBVOBX THE
DREADFUL WORK.
The Mysterious Signal for the Murder-Ale
Life of the President Told five
Minutes at a Time.
THE LEAP FROM THE BOX—THE RECOG-
Washington, May 16.—' The witnesses examined
this afternoon showed the Intimacy between Booth,
Arnold, and O’Laughlln.
Mr. Coze, for the defence, objected to the whole of
this evidence, on the ground that the mere mot of
lntimaoy was not evidence of conspiracy.
Judge Advocate Holt said they had folly es
tablished the Intimacy of the party In Washington,
and simply proposed to show the Intimacy which
existed in Baltimore.
The Court overruled the objection, bnt ordered it
to be put on record.
It appeared from the testimony of David Stanton
that on the night of the illumination, the 18th o
April, ms prowling in the house of the
Secretary of War, but having no business there he
wss ordered out. General Grant was In the parlor
at that time.
The conrt remained In session until 7 o’olock.
A number of witnesses were examined as to the
occurrences at the theatre on the night of the assas
sination.
CHARGES AND SPECIFICATIONS AGAINST THE AL-
The following Is a copy of the oharge and speci
fication against David E. Harold, George A. Atie.
rott, Lewis Payne, Hlohael O’Laughlln, John H.
ISuratt, Edward Spangler, Samuel Arnold, Mary E.
Suratt, ami Samuel A. Mudd.
Charge!.—For maliciously, unlawfully and trai
torously, and in aid ol the existing armed rebellion
against the United States of America, on or berate
tbe 6th day of March, A, D. 1865, and on divers
other days between that day and the 16th day of
April, A. D. 18*6, combining, confederating, and
conspiring together with one John H. Suratt, John
Wilkes Booth, Jefferson Davis, George N. Sanders,
Beverly Tucker, Jacob Thompson, William U.
ternary, oiement O. Olay, George Harper. George
Young, and others unknown, within the Mili
tary Department of Washington, and wltnln
the fortified and entrenohed llneß thereof,' to
kUI and murder Abraham -LlnacJn, late, and at
the time of the combining, confederating; and con
spiring, President of tne United States oTAmerloa,
and Ocmmander-ln-Ohlef of the army and navy
tbereor: Andrew Johnson, now President or the
United States aforesaid; Wm. H. Seward, Secre
tary of State of the United States aforesaid, and
Ulysses S. Grant, Lieutenant General of the army
of the United States aforesaid, then In oomtnaod of
the armies of tbe United States, under the direc
tion ol the said Abraham Lincoln, and In pnrsnanoe
of and in prosecuting said malicious, unlawful, and
traltorons oonsplraoy aforesaid, and In aid of said
rebellion, afterwards—to wit: on the Uth day of
April, A. D. 1816—within the military department of
SVa thing ton aforesaid, and within the fortified and
entrenched lines of said military, department, to
gether with the said John Wilkes Booth and John
H. Suratt, maliciously, unlawfully, and traitor
ously murdering the said Abraham Lincoln, then
President of the United States, and Oommander-ln-
Obiefofthe Army and Navy of the United States,
ss aforesaid, and mallolonsly, unlawfully and trai
torously assaulting, with Intent to kill and murder,
the said Wm. H. Seward, then Seoretary of State
of the United States, as aforesaid: and lying In
wait, with intent maliojouely, unlawfully and trai
torously to kill and murder the said Andrew John
son, then bring Tice Presldentof the UnltedStabes,
and the said Ulysßes S. Grant, then being Lieute
nant General, and In command of the armies of the
United States as aforesaid.
Specification 1* In tills that they, the said David
E. Harold, Edward Spangler, Lewis Payne, Joltn
K. Suratt, Michael O’Laughlin, Samuel Arnold,
Mary E, Snratt, Geo. A. Atzerott, and Samuel A.
Muod, lnolted and enoonraged thereunto by Jeffer
son Davis, Geo. N. Sanders, Beverly Tucker, Jacob
Thompson, William C. Oleary, Clement O. Olay,
George Harper, George Young, and others, un
known citizens of the united States' aforesaid, and
who were-engaged In armed rebellion against the
United States oi America within the limits thereof,
did, In aid of said armed rebellion, on or before the
6lh day of Marob, A. D. 1865, andon divers other
days or times between that day and the 15th day of.
April, A. 11.1865, combine, confederate, and conspire
together, at Washington city, within the military
department, and within the entrenched : fortifica
tions and military lines of the said United states,
there oombine unlawfully, maliciously, and traitor
ouflj to hill and mnrder Abraham Lincoln, then
President of the United States aforesaid, and oom
marder-ln ohief of the army and navy thereof, and
unlawfully, mallolously, and traitorously toklll and
mnrder Andrew Johnson, then vice President of
the United States, upon whom, on the death of the
laid Abraham Ltneoln, alter theftth day of March,-
A. D.,1865, the oMceof President of the said,United
states, and oommander-ln-ehlef of the army and
navy thereof, wonld devolve, and to unlawfully,
maliciously, and traitorously kill and murder U. S.
Grait, then Ident. Gen., under the dlreotlon of said
Abraham Lincoln, In command of the armies of
tbe United states aforesaid, and unlawfully, ma
liciously and traitorously to hill and murder
William H. Seward, theu Secretary of State or
the United States aforesaid, whose duty it was by
law, upon the death of said President and Vice Pre
sident of the United States aforesaid, to causa an
election ror electors of President of the United
States, The conspirators aforesaid designing or la>
tending by the hilling and mnrder of the said Abra
ham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S.
Giant, and Wm, H. Seward as aforesaid, to deprive
theatmj andnavyof the United States of a con
stitutional oommaoder-inchief, and to deprive the
armies of the United States of their lawful com
mander, and to prevent a lawful election W Presi
dent and Vice President of the United States afore
said ; and by the means aforesaid to aid and com
tort the Insurgents engaged In armed rebellion
against the said United States as afore
said, and thereby to aid In the subver
sion and overthrow of the said United
States, and being so combined, confederated, and
conspiring together In the prosecution of said un
lawful and traitorous conspiracy on the night of the
14th day of April, A. D. 1865, at the hour of about 10
o’eleck and 15 minutes P. M., at Ford's Theatre, on
Tenth street, In the city of Washington, and within
the military department and military lines-afore
laid. John Wilkes Booth,-one of the conspirators
alorosald, In pursuance of said unlawful and traitor
ons conspiracy, did then and there, unlawfully, mu
Uoiously and traitorously, and with latent to JdU
and murder the said Abraham Lincoln, disc barge
a pistol then held in the hands of him, the said
Booth, the same being then loaded with powder and
a leaden ball, against and upon the left and posterior
side of the head of the said Abraham Lincoln, and
did thereby then and there Inflict upon him, the
said Abrabam Lincoln, then President or the
said United States, and OommandeMn-Ohlef of the
army and navy thereof, a mortal wound, whereoi
afterwards, to wit, on the 15th day of April, A. D
1865, st Washington olty aforesaid, the said Abra
bam Lincoln died; and thereby, tben and there, in
pursuance of said conspiracy, the said defendants
and the said John Wilkes Booth did, unlawfully)
traitorously, and mallolously, and with the intern
to aid the rsbeUlun as aforesaid, kill ftio Presi
dent of the United States as aforesaid; and farther,
in prosecution of the unlawful traitorous conspire,
oy atoresald, and of the murderous and traitorous
intent of the said conspiracy, the said Edward Span
pier, on the said 14th day of April, A.D. 1865,stabon* •
the same hour of the day aforesaid, within the mill'
tary department and the military lines aforesaid, did
sld ana asslßt the said John Willies Booth to obtali
entrance to the box In the theatre In whloh the
said Abraham Lincoln was sitting at the time hr
was assaulted and shot as aforesaid by Johi
Wilkes Booth, and also did then and there aid sale
Booth in barring find obstructing the door of th
brx of said theatre so as to hinder and prevent an}
assistance to a rescue cf the said Abraham Llnooli
against the murderous assault of the said Join
Wilkes Booth, and did aid and abet him In maktot
his escape after the said Abraham Lincoln hat
been murdered In manner aforesaid.
And in further prosecution of said unlawful, mar
derous, and traitorous conspiracy, and in pursuanoi
thereof, and with the intent as aforesaid, the Sale
David E. Harold, did cn the night of the 14th o
April, A D. 1865, within the military departmen' '■
and miUtaryllncß aforeßatd, aid, abet, and assist thi
said John Wilkes Booth In the killing and murdei
of the said Abraham Lincoln, and did then au<
■here aid and abet and assist him the said Johi,
Wilkes Booth In attempting to escape through ta>
military lines aforesaid- anil did accompany an,
sssist tbe said John Wilkes Booth in attempting t<
conceal himself and escape from justice alter kILUn,
and murdering tbe Batd Abraham Llnooln,as afore
said; and, In farther prosecution of said unlawTu
and traltoroue conspiracy, and of the intent therec
as aforesaid, tbe said Lewis Payne did, on the sam?
night of the 14tb day of April, A. D. 1865, about th
game hour of 10 o'clock 15 minutes p. M-. at the oll\ -
of Washington. and Within the military, departmen
and military Uses albresald, unlawfully ami mall , ■
olonsly make an assault upon the said William B
Seward, Storetary of Elate atoresald, In the direllm, ,
house and bid-chamber of him, the said William H..
NITION—THE ESCAPE.
LBGJCD ASSASSINS.
Seward; and there, with a large knife held In his
hand, unlawfully, traitorously, and In pursuance of
the said oonßplraey, strike, stab, out, and attempt
to kill and murder the eald William H. Seward,
and did, thereby, then and there, and with the tn
tent aforesaid, with said knife, Inflict upon the foee
and throat of the said William H, Seward divers
grievous wounds; and the said Lewis H Payne, la
farther prosecution of the said oonsplraoy, at the
same time and plaoe last aforesaid, did attempt,
with the knife aroresald, and a pistol held In hts
hand, to kill and murder Frederick W. Seward,
Augustus W, Seward, Emerlek W. Hansel), and
George F, Boblnßon, who were then striving to pro
teoi and reccue the said William H. Seward from
murder by tbe said Lewis Payne; and did then and
there, with the said knife and pistol held la his
bands. Inflict wounds upon tbe head of the said F,
W. Seward and upon tbe persons of the said Au
gustus W. Seward, Emerlok W. Hansell, and George
F, Robinson.
' And in the further prosecution of the said con
spiracy, and lie traitorous and murderous designs,
the said George A- Atzerott did, cn the nix ht of the
14th of April, A. D., 1866, and about the same hour
of the night aloresaid, within the military depart
ment and the military lines aforesaid, lie In wait
f.rArdrew Johnson, then.Vloe President of the
United States aforesaid, with the Intent unlawfully
and maliciously to kill and murder him, the said
Andrew Johnson.
And In tbe further prosecution of the oonßplraoy
aforesaid, and of Its murderous and treasonable pur
poses aforesaid, on the night of the 18th and 14th of
April, 1865, at Washington city, and within the ml-:
lltsry department sod military lines aforesaid, tba
said Michael O’Lsukhdn did thou and there lie In
wait lor UlysFes s. Grant.
And in the further prosecution of the said oonspl
raoy, the said Samuel Arnold did, within the mili
tary department and military lines aforesaid, on
or before the 6th day of March, A, D. 1866, and
cn divers other days and times between that day
ard the 16th of April, A. D. 1865, ocmblne, con
spire with and aid, eounsel and abet, comfort
and support the said John Wilkes Booth, Lewis
Payne, George A, Atzerott, Mlohael O’Laughlln,
and their confederates In tbe said unlawful, mur
derous, and traitorous conspiracy, and In the exe
cution thereof, as aforesaid; and, In the farther
prosecution of the said conspiracy, Mary E. Suratt
did at Washington Ulty, and within the military
department and mllltaiy lines aforesaid, on or be
toie tbe eth day of March, A. D. 1886, and on divers
other days and times between that day and the
20th day of April, A. D, 1865, receive, entertain,
barber, and conceal, aid and assist the said John
Wilkes Booth, David E. Harold, Lewis Payne, John
B. Suratt, Michael O’Laughlln. George A. Atzerott,
Samuel Arnold, and their confederates, with a
knowledge of the murderous and traitorous con
spiracy aforesaid, and with intent to aid, abet, and
Bssisr them Id the execution thereof, and In escaping
from justice after the murder of the Bald Abraham*
Lincoln, ss aforesaid, with intent to aid, abet, and
assist them In the execution thereof, and In escaping
from justice, alter the murder ot tbe said A. Lin
coln, In pursuance of the said oonsplraoy in the
manner aforesaid.
By order of the President of the United States.
J, Holt, Judge Advocate General.
PBOOBEDINGS OV MONDAT, HAT 16.
Washington, May 15.— 0 n Saturday It was
moved that If the record created no objection on the
part of the Judges Advocate, or of the oounselfor
any or all of the accused, the presence of the seve
ral witnesses need not be oonßldered of material ne
cessity. A
Mr. Aiken, assistant eounsel for Mrs. Suratt, ex
pressed his willingness to accede to suoh an arrange
ment, except In the oase of Welohman, whom he
desired, present, not, however, that the witness
might hear the reoord or his testimony read, but
that he might reexamine him on new ground,
wMch, as he alleges, had been brought forth In the
examination of tbe subsequent witnesses.
It was deetdod by tbe eourt that the reason so
stated did not justify the delay that the finding and
recalling of Welchman would occasion, and the
reading of the record was proceeded with.
After a time Mr- Welchman entered and heard
the reading ol tbe portion of his cross-examination
conducted by Mr. Ewing, and several other correc
tions made,
Mr. Johnson, the senior counselor Mrs. Suratt,
when the whole of the Testimony rendered by Mr.
Welohman had been read from the record, applied
to be permitted to ask cl him some questions before
be retired. This was objected to by Major General
Wallace. The.piesldent then remarked that the
witness had been already examined by the counsel,
and a fair opportunity afforded. The judge advo
cate general then asked whether It waa to be a
crosE-ezamlnatloa, and being told by the Counsel
tbat.lt was, the court, under tbe advocate’s Sugges
tion. determined that as he oould call up tbe wit
ness'bereatterof the defenoe, it would be an economy
of time. General Wallace withdrew his objection,
adding, however, that he did to only for this time.
He said: “I plaoed my objection on the ground that
thete objections would prove Interminable, unless
stopped by some rule, after counsel have once had a
mu opportunity for cross-examination.”
TESTIMONY OF HB. WSICHHAN.
Examination by Hon. Reveidy Johnson.
Q. 1 understood yon to say on Saturday that you
went with Mrs. Suratt the first time, on Tuesday
before the assassination, In a buggy with her; do
you recolleot whether yon stopped on the way to
Surattsvllle 1
A. Yes, sir.
Q,. where 1
A. We Etcpped on two or three occasions.
G Did yen stop at Unlontown 1
A. I do not know the particular point, whether It
was at Unlontown or not.
Q. Did you stop at a village?
A. We stoppsa on the road at no particular vll-
Is ge that I remember.
Q. How do you know Mr. Floyd?
a. 1 have met him thiee times.
Q. Did you know him aB the keeper or the hotel?
A. 1 knew him as the man who had routed Mrs.
Suratl’s house from her, because I copied off the In
strument.
Q,. Do you recolleot seeing him buy a buggy on
the way from Washington to Surattsvllle, on Tues
day?
A Yes, elr jwe met his carriage; It drove post
ns; Mrs. Suratt called to Mr. Floyd; Mr. Floyd got
oct and approached tbe buggy; Mrs. Suratt put
htr head out and had a conversation with him.
Q,. Did you hear it ?
A, No, sir.
Q. Did you hear anything about shooting Irons l
Question objected to by Assistant Judge Advooate
Bingham. The question was then withdrawn.
Witness. 1 heard noshing mentioned ob»ut ahoot
lrg irons -, Mrs, Suratt spoke to Mrs. Cl flat about
having this man, Howell, take the oath of alle
giance and get released, and said she was going to
apply to General Augur or Judge Turner for that
purpose.
Q, Bow long wss that Interview between Mr.
Floyd and Mrs. Suratt on that oooaslott ? -
A. That I couldn’t say exaotly ; I don’t think It
was more than live or eight minutes; I don’t carry
a watch myself, and I have no precise means of
knowing.
By Judge Holt. Q. I understand you to say you
did not hear the whole of this conversation ?
A. I did not hear the conversation between Mr.
Floyd and Mra. Suratt; Mis. Suratt spoke to Mr.
Floyd at some distance from the boggy, and I
couldn’t hear It. *
By Mt. Johnson. Q,. Do you Teeolleot whether It
wee raining at that time r
A. 1 don’t think It was raining at that particular
time; it was a cloudy, murky day; 1 cannot say
whether It was raining or not $ I don’t remember.-
The reading of the record was resumed, and be
ing finished by half-past one, the conrt took are
cess. - .
Alter she recess, John M. Floyd was recalled, and
asked 11 he could identify the oarbines shown to
him as the ones referred to to hfs previous testi
mony) -
Witness. The one with the cover on Ido not re
cognize ; I do not think the cover looks the same;
It was a kind of gray doth; the other looks like the
one 1 saw; 1 recognize the fixture for bieech-load
lng, which attracted my attention, and which I
examined. Ii the court will allow me, I wish to
make a statement. When I was examined before, I
stated that It was on Monday when I met Mrs.
Suratt at Unlontown; I was oonfnsed by zny-belng
summoned to court on two successive Mondays;
the first Monday I was summoned to oourtl did
not go; I met Mrs. Suratt at Unlontown the next
day after 1 went to-court, and consequently it must
have been on tbe Tuesday after the second Monday
I was summoned. I also wish to make another
statement. I testified to my last examination that
I was not certain whether I oarrled the bundle
given me by Mrs. Snratt up stairs or not; I caenot
now recolleot distinctly, but I think It likely I laid
It on the sola to the dining-room.
By Judge Advocate Holt.—Q,. You are sure it was
the same bundle yon examined herel
A. Yes, sir; lam sure it waß the same bundle.
By Mr. Aiken—ft, Did I understand you to say
you were to liquor at the time you had this oemver--
satlon with Mrs. Suratt 1
A. I was somewhat in liquor, as I think I told yon
on Saturday.
ft. And ou that account Is It that you ate ah fault
In your testimony, and wish to make thlg'explaha'
tlon?
A, I was not positive whether I carried the handle
up stairs or sot; the question was unexpected;; If I
had expected It I mlgnt have reoollected more'dia
tlnotly to my former examination. - -
TBSTIWOHT OV VAST ViXTDH,
Examined by Judge Holt (1, Do you Tealda'ln
tbe city of Washington l
A. 1 do, at 420 G street.
Q,. Do yon keep rooms for rent 1
A. Ido. • - -
Q, Will you look at the prisoners at the ban and
state whether in the month of February lwhyou
saw any of them, and If so, whloh 1
A. Two of these gentleman had roomsvat my
house, Arnold and O’Laughlto. •" -
ft. What time to February did they take rooms Tm
yourhcuEel
A. As near as I oan recolleot, It was on the 10th. I
cannot Bt ate positively the date. . T .
Q,. Did you know J . Wilkes Booth to his life time!
A. l knew him by his.eomtog to my house to see
gentlemen who had rooms there.
Q. Did be or not odine very often to see the pri
soners, ij’Langhiin and Arnold!
A. Yss, firquently. .
Q,. Wonld he remain for a good whllo to conversa
tion with tbeml
A. As a general thing he would go Into thelr
ro< m, and l could see nothing further of them.
Civ Dld these prisoners, leave the olty and return
several times !
A. They left on Saturday to go to their homes, as
I understood, In Baltimore.
Q. Do', yon know whetMr Booth aooompanltd
them or not 1
A. I think not.
ft. Were these Interviews between Booth and
them alone, or. was Booth aeebmpanted by other
personal
A. I iiever saw any one wlth blm.
ft. They told you his nanfe was J. Wilkes Booth,
did they!
A. Yes, Arnold did. I Inquired who he was and
he said, J. Wilkes Booth.
ft. Did he call for them frequently and not find
them to] .
A. Yes? sometimes. :
ft. Did he manifest much anxiety to see them on
these occasions 1
A. Frequently, when they were away, ho would
t&ll three or lonr ttmoA before tk#V would return ;
be would appear VSiy anxious to Bee them,
ft. Would ne on snob occasions leave messages
for them!
A. Sometimes he would request If they came in
before he oslled again, to say that they would find
him at the stable; sometimes he would go Into their
room and write a note.
ft. Look at the photograph now shown you, and
say If you reoognlze It as the man you oall Booth.
A. 1 oannot see without my glasses; (glasses
brought In and handed to witness;) I should not
oall It a good likeness ; I recognize It as Booth, hut
like every poor likeness. ... *
ft. Do you remember the last time Booth played
In this city about the 18th or 20th of Maroh 1
A. Yes. . ~
Q.. Did these prisoners present you with oompU
mentary tickets for the play onihatnlght 1
A. Year I expressed a wish to see him, and
O’Lsughlln gave me the tickets.
ft. Did there seem to be any dlfferenoe to the In
timacy of his association with these two men; If sc,
wlth'whloh was he the most lntlmatel
A. I can’t say. He would sometimes Inquire for
one and sometimes for the other, though I think he
moie frequently Inquired for O’Laughlln.
ft. Did yon ever see any arms to their room 1
A. I Baw a pistol onoe, and but once.
. ft. Do you remember at any time seeing a man
call !
ft. A very rough looking person 1
ft. A laboring man or meehanlol
A. Not a laboring man; there was a man who
üßtd to oome somotlmoa -, l think no passed one
; night with them, frbm Us coming out very early to
Itne morning.
. ft. Do yon know Us name!
A. I would know him If 1 saw him; he was what
I would call a respeotable looking meohanlo—not
what you wonld oall a gentleman,
ft. Could yen describe him at all 1
A. Hot very minutely; his skin was hard, as If It
had been exposed to the weather.
. ft. Do you recognise him as among the prisoners
at the barf
A. Ho. . .
ft. Did these prisoners seem to have any business
-transaotlons with Booth, and If so, of what cha
racter! ' ■
A. They said they were In the oil trade,
ft. Did they seem to have an extensive oorres
.ponder.ce 1 Did many letters oome to them T
A. Hot a great many,
ft. Where did they generally come from;
A- I never noticed; they were brought In and
,laid down.
Q.. They were addressed to the name* o
O’Laugblln and Arnold, were they ?
A. Yes; sometimes to one and sometimes to she
other. . . .
Q. Yon ssy Booth came sometimes by day and
scmetlmes at night?
A. Not frequently at night; Ido not know as ever
I saw him at night; be might have oqme there with
out my seeing him; I slept In the back part of the
house, and poisons might come Into the front part
of tbe hdfase wltbout my seeing them,
Q. You do not know wbetber, when they went out
and staid late at night, they were with Booth or
not?
A. No.
Q. You have-not seen them since the time tfiey
felt your house?
A. No.
Q. Whloh was about the 20th of March ?
A. I thick so; it was tbe Monday after the Satan
day on whloh Booth played,
Q. Did yon ever see Booth ride out In the evening
with these men 1
A. No; Ido not think I ever did; I oould not po
sitively say whether I did or not; ho frequently
esne tony house In a carriage and Inquired for
them ; I sever saw them that I recolleot ride out
together.
Cross-examined by Mr, Cox.
Q. Did these prisoners say they were.or had been
In the oil business ?
A. They said they were In It.
Q- Was that during the first or latter part of the
time they cecupl. d a room at your house ?
A. I think they bad been there two or three
weeks.
Cl. Did they say anything when they went away
from your house, where they were going ?
A. TO Pennsylvania,
Q. Did they say anything about having aban
doned tbe oil business ?
A. No, not that I recollect.
Q. Were they muoh In their rooms, or were they
movirg about?
A Tbey were not In their rooms a great deal.
Q.. Did they occupy It regularly at night 1
A. They were not, sometimes.
Q, Do you fix the twentieth of March as the day
they left?
A. If yon can ascertain what night Booth played,
I can tell you -,lt was the Monday following.
Q,. Was Fetcara the play ?
4. Yds.
Q. Yon cannot speak with certainty of anybody
being with them beßldes Booth?
A. No; not anybody that I know; others may
have gone Into their rooms; I oould not say in re
gard to that. "*
Q. I ask you whether Booth’s visits were most
frequent In February or the latter part of the time
they were there In March?
A. I think they were pretty much the same all
through the time they were there. He was a pretty
constant visitor.
0,. were you present at any conversations be
tween them ?
A. No; I wes not. •
Q. Yon never heard any of their conversations 1
A. No.
Q,. Did they room up stairs ?
A. No; In the back parlor.
TESTIMONY OF BBNBY WILLIAMS, OOLOBED.
Q.. State to the oourt whether you are acquainted
with the prisoners, O'Laaghllu and Arnold. Leak
and Eee It yon remember to have seen them before.
A 1 know Mr. o‘Laughlln, bnt not Mr. Arnold.
Q Did you ever meet Mr. O’Laughlln ? U so,
where?
A. In Baltimore.
Q, When was that ?
A. InMatob last ; I carried a letter to him.
Q. From whom did yon cany the letter to hlml
A. From Mr. Booth.
Q.. Joi n Wilkes Booth, the actor 1
A. Yes, sir.
Q,. Did yen oarry the letter to him alone, or to
him and Arnold ?
A. I carried one to Arnold and gave It to a lady,
aitd’she said she would give It to him.
Mr. Coze hero solo that unless this question was
to be followed up he would object to it.
The objection of the counsel was overruled and
the txsmlnatlon proceeded.
Q. go you delivered It at the boarding house of
O’Laughlln. Did he tell you where O’Laaghllu
lived ?
A. He said on Exeter street.
Q. But, did yon carry a letter to Arnold 1
A. Noelr.l carried one np there to the house;
I did not know who it was for, myself.
Q, Who from?
A. Mr. Booth gave It to me; he first called me
ard asked me if I would take a letter down there;
I didn’t know lor whom It was; he jnst told me to
oarry It to the camber that was on the letter.
Q. You carried more than one?
A. Two.
Q. To whom did yon deliver the second ?
A, To Mr. O’Ehughlln.
Q, Do you know for whom It was 1
A. He told me it was for Mr. O’LaughUn; I knew
Mr. O'Laughlln, and was glad when I saw him lu
the theatre, because It saved one night’s walking.
Q. For whom old O'Laughlln say the letter was ?
A. Well, I said here Is a letter Booth gave me for
jc u, and that was all.
Q. Booth told you, then, thlß letter was for
O'LaughUn?
Mr. Cox, here remarked again -. I must object to
this evidence, as It Is not followed np as to what he
did alter the receipt.
The Judge Advooate General remarked that the
ofcjeot was simply to show the Intimacy of these men
by their correspondence.
Mr. Cox, said he objected to any evidence of
Booth’s sending a letter to any Individual. It was
simply an act ol Booth’s own, to whloh the defend
ant wes not privy.
The Judge Advocate General then said that they
did not offer the letter In evidence at all, but simply
their correspondence with each other.
The objection was finally entered upon the record,
bus was overruled by the oouri.
Q. When did I understand you to say this letter
was carried?
A. It waste Maroh.
Q. Are you enrol -
A. Yte, elr. In March last.
Q. Late or early In Maroh 1
A. Abont tbe middle of the month; I was coming
along there, near the mineral water store, and he
said, “ Couldn’t I take a note for hlml” I said I
could; I had to go in front; he said for me to take
the rote, and he would pay me; I asked him where,
and he said to Fayette street.
Q,. You said something about the theatre; what
theatre?
A- The Holliday-street Theatre.
Q.. Yon say yon found o’l.angh)ln In the theatre;
what nart of the theatre 1
A. In the dress elrole, In the afternoon. _
Q,. Bow did }on -
A. i wcrjtiip and found him there. --
4. All jon know about It II that 70a just gave
the sore to hltt end «eme away 1
A. Yea, sirr <i ■*
' Q, When Bcotb wave 70s the other letteTf-thet
wa« sot lor O’Lsnablln 1 • ■ il, * v "
A. No, tlr; that was /for a house'
street; be just gave me the number of the bouse.
Q. He did hot ten y ou. who It was addressed to 1
• ■ AT No, sir. ' 1
TB6TJMOUY 0» J. P. BABLY.
q;. Bo yon-know the prisoners, O’Laughltn and
Arnold 1 ,
A. Ikr-ow O’Laughlln 1
Q. Have inn-been on the ears with them Doming
from Baltimore to this city 1- .
A. Yes, with OVLanghlln, on the Thursday prevl
cos to: the assassination.
Q. Was Arnold on the oars 1
A. No, elr ; not to my knowledge, at least.
That was the day previous to the assassina
tion!
A. Yes; Thursday, the night ol the Wamlnabnm.
Q. Do yon know where he went to stay alter yon
arrived 1 -
A. There were four of ns; when we stopped to
get shaved, hetwton Third and Four-and-a-half
streets he ashed me to walk down as lar as the Na
tional Hotel with him.
Q, Did he take a room there-,?
A. No, sir, he did not.
Q,. Did yon see him assoolate with Booth ?
A. No, sir; I never saw Booth bnt once, and that
was npon the stage. ~
Q. Did he make anylnquiry for Booth ?
A- I did not hear him,
ft. Did you see O’Laughlto during that day l r
A. 1 was with him the greater part of that day,
ft. Where!
A. We slept at the Metropolitan that night, and
then went to Welch’s and had breakfast for fonr of
us; as W« were passing the National Hotel I.
Stopped to go to tho water oloeet; When I earns ont
I met Mr, Anderson, who said he was waiting for
Mr. O’Laughlln, who had gone up stairs to see
Booth; we waited three quarters of an hour, and
he not coming down, we went out.
ft. When did you see him again!
A. About 4 o’clock.
ft. What time did he go to see Booth!
A. I should say it was about noon, perhaps! ~
ft. What was the whloh- lonspWv
him on Friday J. f: ;
a |
considerably; but 1 distinctly reooliect-1 fl*>fhuw!
come out or a iestawant preUy late.jtl.canitßaY-
V better It Was after the assassination; ' .
ft, oan yon glvethhname of the restaurant 1
A. I beUove thename at present Is “ LotfShore.”’
~ ft. Dldyou sephlmAt tbe time or immedhtteljf
alter yen heard of the'assassination of thoPresf-,,
dent-1 \
Ai I can’t Sajildld; I went to bed shortly afien
that; 1 thing;! dlsilnotly rooollMt -MS coming out
with Fowler." i, , \
ft. Who.ls Fowfe!
A. I don’t know exactly; he used to bo employed
by O’Langhlto’ffbrother onoe*
ft. DldtO’Laughlto .go to Baltimore the next
a l Yes,?tin4t*B §r,B SO traln, I forget whloh It Is.
ft. WheiCdlAme go to in Baltimore I
A. WeN»Rev%e arrived we'went down Balti
more ati#Mts teas IHgh, down High to Fayette,
and from tuhews went and asked to see a gentle
man’s wife wfko'was lying here sick In Washington,
and tbeptwc came dqwn and went to O’Laughlin’s;
mat bis brother on the wav, who
lold O’LWghUti,.wat there had been parties look-
IngfOrhlm ;.«aaßkefi 11 f would wait, and then he
osted ma'ln.; he then'wkht up, and said he was not
aelPrt6 : Btap,4tome that night.
, ft. Dldhe stfdw.mueh excitement about the as
sasflEatlvn %’■ i’ j-c— ‘ - J -
A. I carrtsay-he did ; bnt hla brother Bald he would
he aflephlmf on acoquntot nis mumaoywitk Booth.
OK088"»XaJnilATl«» i »Y'«ll.OOXll. S
ft. Who. was with 6’li«ighllirMsl<tts -xqurcete'''
A. There> was ’HcndSradn,' EdwardTffiurphy, and
myself- - a * '■ ' 1 ,
ft. What was your purpose to coming down 1
A. We came to have a little good time, and to see
tbe illumination. ,
ft. Did he join yon ln Baltlmore 1
A. He eame with Henderson.
ft. Where did yon stay on Thursday night t
A. At the National Hotel; Henderson, me, and
Smith stepped In one room, and as O’Laoghlto sign
ed the register last they gave him a room to himself,
ft. Who arranged to sleep separately 1
A. Well, he was the man who signed last, and the
el«k gave him that room,
ft- How late were yon up that night!
A. It was about 2 o’clock on Friday morning.
Q.. Was It you who woke him to the morning t
A. Yes,sir; and then we went down ana got
breakfast.
A.' At Welch’s, on the avenue, near Tenth street;
and after breakfast we went book about 10 o’clock
to the National Hotel. - . .
q. Titd ?ou bear state what he was gOlfig to
BttWW or that ha WM going ter see Booth
at all 1
A. No, sir; not at that time.
Q. Did Booth oome down.!
A. He did not.
Q, You don’t know whether he actually saw
Booth or not!
A . Ido not, sir ; we remained. to the hotel three
quarters of an honr waiting for him, and, he not
coming down, Henderson concluded to go out; as
we went ont he had some cards written by the oard
writer there; we walked down the avenue, I think
as lav as the “Lee Shore,” and, he not being there,
we went back and got tb« Cftfd? mat the writer hod
written for Henderson; he wrote mynamo ou a Sim
ple card; we then proposed to send oards to Booth’s
rcom, as a hint to O’Laughlto to oome down; the
cards were returned as there was nobody to the
room- v
ft. How long during that day was O’LaugUln to
your company!
A. We took a stroll around the olty to dlfierant
parts of It, and bad dinner again at Weloh’a.
ft. Did you stroll around together!
A. Yes, sir.
ft. You dined at Welch’s!
A. Yes, sir.
ft. At what hour!
A. Between twelve and two.
ft. Do jou know Steins’ clothing store!
A. Yes, sir.
ft. Was it over that! . '
a. Ho, air; I think it was further up the avenue.
ft. What time did you get through dinner t
A, It took ns over au hour.
ft. Where did SOU ge after dinner t
A. Around town again, and we went on a vUit.
ft. Was O’Laughlln with you all the time!
A. I oan’t say he was after dinner; bnt Ireeollest
that between four and five o’eloek he went with me
to a friend’s house,
ft. To pay a visit!
A. Yes, sir; and we had diaper a second time,
ft. That was on Friday 1
A. Yet, sir.
ft. How soon did you leave there 1
A. We lelt there about six o’olock.
ft. You are not certain that O’Laughlto was with
you all the afternoon; you don’t suppose he was
with you between tbe first and second dinner 1
A. lam not positive; I think we separated.
O’Laughlln and Henderson going one way, and ’Al
ohsel and myself another,
ft. Yen are not seitslnl
. A. Ho, sir. " . , '
ft. After five o’olodk whan dldyou got
a After Are came np from the place near the
Baltimore depot, where we sad paid the visit, we
return'd to’the Lee Shore Honse, and then were
joined by the other two
(J. How late was that ! ...
Jl. I don’t exaotly recollect; we staid around
there until between T aid 8 o’clock, and then went
back to Welob’s and had supper { we were there at
the time the procession patseid up the avenue to the
navy yard.
Q. What time was that!
A. Between 8 and 9 o’clock,
ft. How late did you stay there 1
A. Until our supper was ready; we then went to
the Lee Shore House. , . „
ft, Did yon stay there till yon went to bed 7
A. 1 Old, sir.
ft. Do 1 understand you to say you were there af
ter the assetslnatlonl
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Where is the house 7
A. Between Third and Fonr-and-a-half streets,
near the Globe office,- the second door, I believe, from
the Ghhe office.
H, Did you speak to O’Laughlln when he waste
otmpsny with Fowler!
At siTa
q’ Was cot that after you received the nows of
tfce 1
A. I em not certain.
Q,. Were you all there ?
Ae YcS BIT.
Q.’. Where did yon stay that night!
A. 1 ttald at that house.
Q IMd U’Langhlln 7
A Hot thatl know of.
ft- Had you been drinking t
A. Yes, sir.
ft Now charge your memory wuethor it was »f
-ter the news of tie assassination reached you or
tot!
A. I should judge It was about 10 o’olook.
ft. Where was Murphy 1
A. Be had leit us m the avenue,
ft He was not with you at that time!
A. No, sir.
Q. Where was Henderson 1
A. Jn the bar-room, I believe,
ft Now I will ask you, when yon same down, On
Thursday, whether the whole party had not ar
raiged to goback on Friday 1
A. Yes, that was the Intention at least I under
stordso.
ft. During this visit did yon see anything In
O’Laughllu, anything desperate, which conld lead
yen to suppose—
Objected to by the Assistant Judge Advooate
Brlugham.
ft. How was his conduct!
A. The same as I ever saw; he was rather jovial.
Q. Waa he In good spirits 1
A. Very much SO doming down (0 the OATS,
ft. Any nervonsness 1
A. No. sir.
ft. I will ask yon whether yon were near Wil
lard’s Hotel dating Frida; or Friday evening t
A. We were not as far up ae Wluard’s, 1 think;
I don’t recollect passing there.
ft. What Induced yon to stay later than you In
tended!
A. Well, It was the Donor.
Q. Didn’t Lieutenant Henderson press yon to
stay!
-The question was objected to by Assistant Judge
Advocate Bingham, on’ the ground that It was a
cross-examination as to Henderson, whose name
was not on the record yet. /
Major General Lew Wallace remarked that Mr.
Henderson himself conld be brought Into Court.
The court asked Mr. Ooxe If tke question was
withdrawn, to whioh
Mr. Coze replied—No, sir.
The objection, however; was sustained by the
court.
ft. You stated that probably the liquor kept yon
here; now I will ask yon If anything else did 1
A. I cannot say.
ft. State what time yon went np to the depot In
the morning.
A We did start to go at eleven on Saturday
morning, and went ea far as the depot, and Hander
eon «ent and got tbe tlokets, bnt Henderson finally
or.ncluded to Stay over the afternoon; O’Laughltn
WAS WAnting to go np to Baltimore, and says Ito
Henderson, If you press him to stay he will, and so
we all concluded to stay until three In the evening.
ft. Then you went up at 8 In the evening!
A- Yes, sir.
Q- You say yon met his brother, and that he said
parties had been looking lor him!
A. Yes ; 1 remember the remark hvmade that he
would not like to be arreßted In his house; that It
would be the death of hie mother; his brother-in
law went with us to the corner of Fayette and Exe
ter streets; we stopped there, and had a conversa
tion, and 1 told him he had better stay at home, and
tbattbese parties would probably come again; he
said, “No, that It would be the death ol his mo
ther,” and asked me to go up town with him, and I
went np, bnt I do not reaolleot the name of the
street: welgot into the oars, and when wejgot out we
returned home.
nxAMHATion in chibv bibuotd.
By Judge Holt. ft. Do you know the hour that
O’Laughlln joined yon on Thursday !
A. We all four went into the hotel together,
ft. At what hour?
A, About one or two o’olook.
ft. On Friday morning 1
A. Yes.
ft. Where had you been the previous part of the
night!
A. After supper we went to seethe lllnmlnatlons,
and went a considerable distance np the avenue,
and then turned back, and, at the Invitation of Mr.
Henderson, went Into the Canterbury Music Hall,
ft. All of you 1
A. All of us.
ft. Did you all continue together 1
A. Yes, sir.
ft. Did you go anywhere else!
A. No. sir.
ft. Didn’t you on K street or L street 1
A. No, sir; I can’t say; I don’t know where that
street is myself.
ft Oan you state where yon were besides at the
Canterbury!
A. Afterwards!
ft. No; before that
A. We bad supper previous to that, A&d took A
walk up the avenue.
TBBTIKODT 0» LIZUT. BZNDEKSOW.
ft. State whether you are acquainted with the
prisoner, O'Laughlin. "
At Y6B fill’s
Q. Did’yon see him In this olty on Friday, April
Uth !
A. Yes, sir; on Thursday and Friday.
’ ft. Do yon know whether on either of those days
ha visited Booth 7 . .
—A. He told me on Frlday that he waa to see him
In the morning.
Cross-examination bp Mr. Coze,
ft. Did he tell you-he was to tee him, or that ha
-went to see him!
A. HO said hi was to see him on Friday.
y ft. Atf-lf he had an engagement to see him!
A. Heonly said he waa to Bee him; I oaa’t say
whether he had an engagement or not;
ft. Did he tell yon what for!
A. No, air.
ft. That Is all yon know about It 1
A. That Is all, sir.
TXBTIXOBT Ok SAUL. K, J. BTB*eO.
Q,. Explain to the eourt how longyoa haro known
O’Esaghltn t
A. I have known him for year*.
Q. Did yon see him In the month of April lut,
before the assassination 1
A. I osn’t be positive about Its being April, but It
was well on the first of April:
ft Bid you boo him with Booth!
A. I did.
. ft. Did the association between them seem to be
of an Intimate nature!
A. Ifdld. . ....
ft. Did you see them converse In an Intimate man
ner!. - '
A. I did.
ft. Whore wsts that 1
A. I don’t Know the house; It was oh the right
hand side of theavenue as you go up to the Treasury
Department,
ft, Inside!
A. No, outside.
ft. Were they alone by themselves t
A. There were three or tee party.
Q.. Did the third party take any part in the con
versation!
A. I think ■ Booth urss the speaker and the other
party the listener.
Cl- Did they suspend their conversation when yon
approached I
a. o’x.acghiin did; he called me on one side, and
said Booth was bmy With hit friend talking pri
vately.
Q. Bo yon know this man t -
A. No, sir. ,
ft. Describe him 7 -
A. Be was aboutmy helghfc wlth onrly .halr; he
was In a stooping position, as lr tasking to-Booth; I
itejiisghiltdll manners to go 100-eearShem.
as being
I'
"present dress, swear to
yjjh e (jifcsiijiaw*s tojand the objection
3ft.*H»3£you agl-opinion as to whether either of
'tloEO IS tWanan'T^
iA.I IseMfciny duty todeteot the man, bnt It la a
2elloate*nestSisi;'Hp, sir; I will not swear that the
<£fsM*Ri™jUt§&yon an, the person reported to
have EeenßMtSMKhH&rold on the night of the uo
susttiatlon. ■<* sL Vi
lt;T con’tsknoir Harold, and I Beyer saw Booth
butwnohattMntfaat;%, .
OroM-exsfliinatloifWy Mr. Coxe. <s
Q. Yon saWyohsaw this conference at the house
on tee avenue: OanYouitall Where the house Ist
A. I paid ’wo. attention to the locality; It Is be
tween Ninth and jSlevoctn streets, to the pest of my
recollection; I knew I was going up to Eleventh
street. : .
Q. Can you speak with any certainty as to the
datel - - 1 - , -
A. I oould if I had the passes that I obtained,
then I oonld come nigh to Inbnt I can’t now say
positively as to the date. 'Wt
Q. Might it not have bees- that you asked
O’Laughiln to take a drink, and he have replied
that Booth was bosy with a friend 1
A. Well, I am in no'ways stingy, I might have
done so.
1 ft. And what was his answerln replyto your in
vitation to iHtp adrinin
U ?A. Bdonft knowi -
S.a TSSTUCOST OF 1. 0. SPBACtjn.
By Judge Holt. ft. You have been clerk at the
Kirkwood House.
A. Yes, sir. , ,
q. Were you present when the room was broken
open after the'asßasslnauon 1
A. Yes, sir. ,
ft. state what was found there,
ft: All I saw was a revolver. , „ , _
Cl. Bo vou recollect that in the eotirse of the day
some men oalled to inquire for Atzerott 1
A. No, sir, I do not.
Cross-examination by Mr. Doster.
ft, When were you at the desk l
A. I oame off duty at IS In the morning,
ft. Bid you observe anybody caulng and asking
for Atierott-1
ft. No, sir.
TXBTIHOXY OF DAVID STANTON,
q. Look npon the prisoner O’LaughUn and state
to the court whether you ever saw him before,' and if
so, when and where 1
ft. I have seen him.
Q. 'Which is he 1
a. That is him; he sits there between two sol*
diets.
O. State when ana where you Saw Litel
A. The night before the assassination, at the house
of the Secretary of War; I simply saw him there;
he remained some moments till I requested him to
go out.
ft. Bid you have any conversation with him In
thehonsel
A. i asked Min what his business was, and he
asked where the Secretary was; I said he was stand
ing on the stoop.
ft. Bid he ask for anybody else hut the Seoretary!
A. No.
d. Did he offer any expiasaUes while there i
A. No; at Brat I thought he was intoxicated, but
found afterwards that he was not.
Q. Was General Grant there that night 1
A. Yes, In the room.
Q. Bid he ask In regard to him 1
A. Bon’t recollect that he did. _
Q. Bid he go when you told him 1
A. Yes, sir.
Q,. At what hour was that l .
A. About 10 Jt o’clook; there wai a crowd there
and a band serenading General Grant and the
Secretary of War.
ft, Do you know anything of a man being seen
talking about the premises!
A. No, sir; It wbs ll o'olook before I got there;
his Inquiry was simply where the Secretary or War
was: 1 then pointed him out to him, but ha did not
go to see him, nor did be tall what bis business was.
Cross-examined bv Mr. Coxa:
ft. Was that the first time you saw this man
A, Yes. .
Q. Have t 0« 80»« saw him slnoe 1
A. Yes; on the Montana as a prisoner,
ft. Bow long after was that 1 ..
A. 1 don’t remember the date; but It was the day
they took Booth’B body away from the vessel,
ft. was It dark dr light!
A. Not very dark,
ft. Moonlight!
A. No, sir; dark.
ft. How was he dressed! ~ .
A. In blsok. , L .
ft. What kind of a hat had he!
A. A slouohed hat. ,
ft. Did he have awhole suit of buwfc 1
A. Yes, sir. ■ , . ,
ft. Wbat kind of a ooat!
A. A dress float.
Q,> TfM fete vest black t
A. YM, *IR ,
Cfc. Vfltf d©M tut ewriCWJ ITQ \ m
A. On the corner of Fourteenth and u
honse from the corner ol h'onrteenth l;
Q. What peculiarity about tire man . -
to identify him 1 4n M'j,
A. The hall was well lit up, and I ~
front ol him. J *’%
Q, How far Inelde the door was yon i
A. Ahont ten feet, neat to the librarr
Q. What did yon suppose his slug
in the hall 1
A. About my height—flya feet am, .
four, 1 should say. r
Q. When yen saw him oa the
standing or sitting 1 w, >
A. He stood np; I had an Indistinct vi«_
on the monitor, it was so dart. 6W( .
Q, Von first thought that he was 1nt0,,,
then that he was HOt? J ><
A. Yes, sir.
Q. There were a good many people i 6,
door T
A. Yes, sir.
q. Was there any one else ahont the tain
A. Ho, sir. . . "
o who was on the doorsteps 1
A. Tie Secretary and another gentleman,.
the doorsiep f. ...... "
q. Ha had got behind them 1
q' vsasGeneral Grant In the parlor t
A. Yee, sir.
U. Was that lit np?
A* Yfiße plr,
Q,’ Bid he have the same beard as he haj t|i .
A. I see no change, except from the ~
shaving. .
- TBBTIIIOBT OF MB. D. 0. Bain,
o. istate whether sr.n wete acquainted
Jol n N. Snratt In this OllT 1
A. I bad no personal acquaintance Mtb hie,
- (ft. I)o yen know Him when you sec fmeu
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Wt»n did yon last pee him T
s A. On the Mth of April, the night of the
pin at lon.
tl In this city 1
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Where did yon see him thou I
A. I wee standing on the street, below the
tlonal, when he passed; It w&a about hall n>-
O’clock.
D. Was be alone 1
A. Yes, sir. . .
o, Do ton remember now ho was dressed ?
A. yes, siri In a oc untry doth suit, T tn>
teztnreand appearance ; It was tronteoUy
he had a round crowned hat; I noticed tats
he passed me particularly ; he bad on a pair or
brass-plated spurs, with a very large rowel.
Oft. fie was on foot, was he 1
A. YQf Blfe
Q - . What did yon say was the color of hi« #i, tt
A. They were drab.
ft, Did yon speak to him!
A. I bowed to him as he passed.
Q. Yon stated yon knew him quite a while!
A. I knew Mm when a entld ; he h&j
pretty much ont of my recollection; sdlj ,
him v hen I saw him.
Q.. You have no donbt yon saw him on that
A. I am very positive I saw him.
Cross-examination by Mr. Aiken.
Q.. How long have yon known Snratt 1
A. 1 could not state positively the length of ,
(ft. Have yon been In the habit of seeing him
quently dnrlpg the past year ?
A. I enpnot say that I have.
Q. When did you see him ?
A. I could not say positively-; I think I saw
sc me time last fall; I think In October,
(ft. Describe Ms appearance. t
A. He was a light-compleoted man; his hilt
rather singular like; It is notated nor burot,
rather sandy; It was ont round, so as to lay It
down on his collar.
Q,. Did he wear any whiskers when you last
him!
A. I don’t recolleot seeing any hair on his fa
a)); If he had any It was very light.
Q. Did yon bob anything of a goatee or mousti
on him 1
A. Ho, I did not notice his face so much: i
more attracted by the clothes he bed ou.
(ft. What do you mean by drab or gray dlothes
A. I mean regular country doth.
Cft, Do I understand you to say yen were standi
on the steps cf Ihe National Hotel!
A. No, as It was two doors below.
Q. Yon had no talk with Mm 1
A. No, sir.
Cl- Can yon swear positively It was Surattt
A. I may be mistakes, bnt I am as oertalu it
be as that I am standing here.
Q,. W hat Is the state of Ms forehead!
A. I could not say.; be had his hat os; my attr
tlcn was attrsoted to Ms olotbes and his spurs.
Q Yon observed the olothes and the rowel mt;
tb&o ills i*#col
A. I can’t say my attention dwelt npon hlifa*
at all.
(ft. How largo a man Is he! I don't men is
height,
A. He is not a stoat man, bnt rather deIIOUS; l|
would not weigh over 140 pounds; he wains a Uhl!
stooped.
‘ Q. How long did yon have your eyesnpen hint
A. 1 saw Mm as he passed, and I turned asi
looked
Q. Did yon see him again during the day 1
A. No, sir.
By Judge Holt. Q. Did Snratt recognize you t
A. He bowed to me as he passed.
Q. Yon say yon gave a particular attention to b!
clothing. Are yon In the habit of judging than
things 1
A. Yes, sir; I make themmyeelf.
TS6TIMOMV OF JAMES W. POUBFHBKT.
Q,, Yon reside in Washington!
A. Ido.
Q, What is your business!
A. I keep a livery stable.
(ft. Are yon acquainted with Booth!
A. 1 was, sir.
(ft. Do jon remombor to have seen Mm on Frida;,
April the ldlhl
A. Yes, sir; he came to my stable about 12, act
again at d; he said be wanted a horse at 1 o'cloci
on that day ; he wanted a sorrel that he used to rite,
but 1 could not let him have It, and I gave Mm aba;
EDOre. fi Pout 13 or 14 hands high.
Cl- was It returned to you 1
A. I have never seen her since.
(ft. Describe the mare.
A. She was a small mars; a little rubbed behind;
she was a blood bay, blaok tall, wltn a little star os
her forehead.
(ft. Was he In the habit of hiring horses from you!
A. Yes; he first came In company with Suntt;
he ashed mo it I was the proprietor,and 1 sal:
“Yes;” he wanted a horse; cays I, “You ml)
either have to give me reference er seourlty; I iou'i
know yon;” “Well,” says he, “yon have rail
about me;” “Well,” says 1,“ who are von, if I hw
read about yon!” he said he was John Wliv.e)
Booth! I said I didn’t know whether he wm Johi
Wilkes Booth, and Snratt spoke ap and said, 11 fall
la John Wilkes Booth;” and I let MS hm tilt
horse._ _ .....
Q. How long: was this before tbe assassination t
A. One month dr Biz weeks.
q. Look at than photograph; doyou recognize It!
A. That Is the man, sir.
Q. old he ask for anything besides 1
A. Only a tle-reln; 1 told him not to Utah her by
the bridle, but to get a'boy to hold her, !f he should
happen to stop; he said he was going to (Hover's
Theatre to write a letter, and he weald pat her ]n
a stable back of that; I told him If he oonidn't get
a boy, he oonld get a boot-blaok; he said he teas
going to take a pleasure ride, and asked ■' how is
ohrystal Springs 1" I told him It was a good pises,
bnt rather airy to go to.
Q. That was between fonr and five o’olook 1
A. Yes; I bays never seen Booth slnoe.
Q, Do yon know any of the other prlßonefSl
A, No; I don't know an; Of them at all,
Cross-examination by Mr. Aiken:
Q. Was Suratt with Booth 1
A. Yes, sir; tbe first time I saw him; he noTor
came with anybody else.
Q,. When was that T
A. Six weeks before the assassination.
Q,. He was not with him on the Friday 1
A. Ho; Mr Booth was always alone after that.
Q,. What kind of a looking man was Suratt 1
A. He was abont five feet ten or eleven Inches;
had sandy hair and a light goatee*; his eyes were
snnhen ; he wbb thin In feature.
Q- How was he dressed 1
A. He had on a gray suit, t think; lam not cor*
taf
Q. All tiie remarks be made was that one In refer
mee to Booth 1
A. That was all, sir. .....
a. Did Booth ever refer to hie Introduction to
suratt!
A. Net at an, sir.
TPBTIMOMY OP BIJPTJB S TAP LBS.
Q,. Do you lire In Washington Olty 1
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What Is Tour business 1
A. I keep a livery stable on Q- street.
Q, State whether jou were acquainted with Booth.
A. Yes, sir. .
Q. Also with Suratt 1
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Also with Atzerott 1
YOB sir.
Q.'. Dld’you see them together at yonr stable!
A. Y«B, frequently.
Q. During what month 1
A. Down to about the 31st or 29th of April,
Q. March, you mean 1
A. Yes. sir; March.
Q,. Were they unusually Intimate!
A, They would eome together three or four time!
per day sometimes,
a Did they keep here IS then 1
A, Suratt kept two. , .
a. Did he olfow Atzerott to use his horses
A. No, sir; he rode out oooaslonally with him.
Q. Did you ever see this note: “ Mr. Howard will
please let Atzerott have my horses, and also my
f loves, whenever he wishes to ride 1” Who Is Mr.
toward! ......
A. He Is the proprietor of the stable.
Q. Do you know .whether under that ordor ho
A. Several times, but after that date, I think, th"
order was rescinded. ....
q, Look at that paper and see if you can Identity
it In any way.
A. I bnow this note; It came through toy fc&n K
q. How did the note reach the hanUe of Howard <
A> It- was Bent by Mr. Suratt, and I pat hon
Q,. Hid you let the horse go accordingly 1
Cl, remember what Atzerott Bald In re
gard toi&uraU’B vlßlt'to Richmond 1 did ho spejii
to you Of W# haying been theroi p* of any trouble
he was involved in lh oohlWeneet
A. He told mo ho had been to KtoaUdfia* Mil
coming back got Into difficulty, and that the detec
tives were after him. .... . In
Q. Do you rememember what time that was iu
April 1
A. In the early part.
q. Did Atzerott himself hire horses of you 1
A. No, sir; I think not, at that stable.
Q. Did be or did he not take away a horse blind of
one eye!
A. Yos; under the owner’s orders.
Q. Who was the owner! -
A. Suratt,
Q. When did he take that horse away 1
A. On the 31st; It was paid for on the 39th.
Q, Describe the animals taken !
A. They were both bay; one was larger than the
other; the one that was blind of one eye was the
smallest horse.
Q, Were yon paid for keeping them 1
A. Booth paid for their heep.
Q Did you see the horse afterwards 1
A. Yes, at the stable; he took him there to soil
him to Mr. Howard.
l-l. Who; Atzerott!
A. Yes, aad he took him away,
Q,, Who claimed the horao 1
A. Suratt;Suratt claimed them, Booth paid
their keeping, and Atzerott took them away; there
was another gentleman who came and rode w.thone
of < hem away. '
Q. Whowashe!
A I don’t know.
Q,, Do you think you would recognize the- horso
that was bund of one eye It you were to see him ■
A. Yes, sir. ' , ......
The Assistant Judge Advocate then ordered th’-‘
the witness be taken In an ambulance, to sec to.
horse at Nineteenth MS I streets, |th<L.Judfi« Ad
vocate General remarking that they wished to ex
amine him further when he returned,
TESTIMONY OP PKTBU PbATTUaVtJBt..
By Judge Holt. Cl, Please state te the conn,
whether you knew J, WUkes Booth.!'
A Y»s.
Cl What Is your business 1'
a. J kttp a restaurant, near Ford’s Theatre,
Q, State whethf,iLor not you saw Booth In voat
restaurant on the evening of the lUh of Aprilr
A. Yes ; was there dust about 10, or a lit™
after, that nigh'c.
d. State wYat occurred, and under what olroaw
stances yotjtetsw Mm 1 „ . ...
A. He jus'll walked Into the bar and called w
seme whlek., . mended him the bottle of wulsuy
and a lum’jler ; I did not give him water at ocoa, as
is usual j' be oalled for water, and I gave It to
heputOMnomoneyonthe oonnter,and wont nif ul
4* ’ffas your restaurant under Ford’s Th ;?‘r,“,L
A,'itnon ode olds of Fifd'3Theatre, atljiilttl! 1 *
Fi. Did you observe where he went from there!
a. lonly observed him to go out from the war.
Q. Was he alone!
t A. Yes, Mr.
Q. Was he there In the afternoon!
a. I did not see him. .
Q.. How many minutes was It after he wont ous
before yon heard the report of a pistol !
A. I did not hear the report of a ptatol.
Q.. How long heron you heard the President was
At i think l from 8 to io mlnntes, as near as X •»*
Cl. Are you acquainted with the prisoner llaid 1 *’
A. Yes, sir.
'■fc'JSW WSTUmy «