Mary Surratt was the first woman ever executed by the U.S. federal government, and people still argue over whether she knew Lincoln was going to be killed.
Mary Surratt, born around 1820 near Surrattsville, Maryland, was a widow who ran a boarding house in Washington, D.C., where John Wilkes Booth, the actor who shot President Abraham Lincoln, and his fellow plotters stayed and met [1].
A military court (a panel of officers of the Union Army, the army of the United States side in the Civil War, acting as judge and jury) tried her and seven others for plotting to murder Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, Secretary of State William Seward and General Ulysses S. Grant, who commanded all the Union armies. The court found her guilty and she was hanged on 7 July 1865.
On the day of the shooting, 14 April 1865, Booth visited her at least three times and gave her a package with binoculars, which she took to her tavern in Maryland and left with her tenant, John Lloyd. At the trial Lloyd said she told him to have the 'shooting irons' ready that night, and Louis Weichmann, a lodger at her house, said she was close to Booth and to Confederate supporters (people who backed the Confederacy, the Southern states that broke away from the United States in the Civil War). Johnson had become President when Lincoln died. Five of the nine officers asked him to spare her life because of her age and sex; he refused.
Her guilt is still disputed. A 2020 U.S. Army history says substantial evidence points to guilt. A 1940 history by George Bryan calls Weichmann's testimony of dubious value, says Lloyd was drunk at the time, and judges it highly improbable she knew what was planned that night. Both views stand side by side.
[Report #200] WHO. 'Mary Elizabeth Jenkins was born circa 1820 on a tobacco plantation near Surrattsville (now Clinton), Maryland.' (
history.army.mil) 'When John died suddenly of a stroke in 1862, Mary rented out the tavern in Maryland and moved into the D.C. townhouse, which she ran as a boarding house.' (
history.army.mil) 'Booth, Atzerodt, Powell, and other conspirators stayed at the boarding house and often used the site as a meeting place.' (
history.army.mil)
14 APRIL 1865. 'That afternoon, he met with Mary Surratt at her boarding house at least three times and gave her a package containing a pair of binoculars.' (
history.army.mil) 'She took them to her tavern in Maryland to leave with her tenant, John M. Lloyd, instructing him to be ready for someone to pick up the package later, along with two carbine rifles and some whiskey.' (
history.army.mil)
ARREST. 'On 17 April, Mary Surratt and Lewis Powell were arrested at Surratt’s boarding house when their stories suspiciously did not line up.' (
history.army.mil) 'He pretended to be a laborer working for her, yet she claimed to have never seen him before.' (
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THE TRIAL. 'In the end, only eight individuals would stand trial as apprehended conspirators, accused of conspiracy to murder Lincoln, Johnson, Seward, and Grant.' (
history.army.mil) 'The trial began 10 May 1865, three weeks after Lincoln’s assassination, and ended on 30 June.' (
history.army.mil) Under its rules 'only a majority vote was needed to gain a conviction, although a two-thirds vote was necessary to give the death penalty' (
history.army.mil). 'Lloyd, Surratt’s tenant at the tavern, claimed that she told him to have the “shooting irons” ready on the night of 14 April, while Weichmann, a boarder at Surratt’s boarding house, attested that she had relationships with Confederates and Confederate sympathizers, particularly Booth.' (
history.army.mil) 'It is possible that one or both men knew of the conspiracy themselves.' (
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VERDICT AND SENTENCE. 'The commission found Atzerodt, Herold, Powell, and Surratt guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced them to hang until dead.' (
history.army.mil) 'five of the nine members of the military commission signed a letter asking the president to commute Surratt’s death sentence to life in prison, due to her age and gender.' (
history.army.mil) 'President Johnson declined the request to grant clemency.' (
history.army.mil) 'At 1000 on 7 July, Surratt’s attorneys gained a writ of habeas corpus from Justice Andrew Wylie to ensure her a civilian trial, but Johnson suspended the writ.' (
history.army.mil) (the timeline in the same guide puts this under 6 July: 'Mary Surratt’s attorneys attempt to evoke a writ of habeas corpus, but it is suspended by President Johnson.' (
history.army.mil); both held). 'the four conspirators—Atzerodt, Herold, Powell, and Surratt—were hanged at the Old Arsenal Penitentiary.' (
history.army.mil) 'Mary Surratt becomes the first woman executed by the U.S. federal government.' (
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DISPUTED: HER GUILT AND THE TWO WITNESSES. The Army guide: 'other private interests like the Surratt Society believe that Mary Surratt was innocent, even though substantial evidence indicates otherwise in both cases.' (
history.army.mil) Bryan (1940): 'Weichmann's testimony is of dubious value.' (
archive.org) 'Weichmann, eventually a storm center of discussion, appears to have saved his life by now becoming the prosecution's chief witness.' (
archive.org) On Lloyd: 'Inasmuch as Lloyd was sodden with drink at the time—or, as the native phrase had it, "right smart in likker"—little reliance should be placed in him' (
archive.org). 'It is highly improbable that she had any inkling of what was to be attempted that night.' (
archive.org) Edward V. Murphy, of the reporting staff of the commission, 'believed Mrs. Surratt innocent' (
archive.org). Both readings held.
HELD. 'Uncertainties remain over the veracity of the evidence, the witness statements, and the degree of guilt of those who were tried by the commission.' (
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THE OCTOBER 2026 RESEARCH REPORT SAID the strongest documentary evidence included "the trial testimonies of Louis J. Weichmann and John M. Lloyd"; its source says 'Weichmann's testimony is of dubious value.' (
archive.org)