to the war although campbell, unlike davis, saw the writing on the wall and knew the war was almost over. >> that was part one of a two-part look at the white house of the confederacy. american artifacts airs every sunday at 8:00 a.m., 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. eastern time. up mechanics, the retrial of mary sur rat, the april 1865 plats to assassinate president lincoln, vice president john on and secretary of state seward were planned in part at a boarding house owned and operated by mary surratt. after president lincoln's assassination mary sur rat was taken into custody and accused of participating in the conspiracy. she was tried by a military tribunal where shefgs not given the opportunity to testify and later sentenced to death and executed. coming up, a group of chicago lawyers, judges, and historians

retry mary surratt as if in a civilian court and leaves it up to the audience to decide whether she is guilty or innocence. this lasts about an hour and a half. >> the law is a living, breathing entity. it reflected the values of the 19th century society and continues to reflect those values today. ideally, the law treats everyone equally and justice, the implementation of the law, is blind favoring neither the prosecution nor the defense. at other times justice is not only blind but deaf, stubborn, frightened, and reactionary as well. this retrial is based on an actual historical episode.

we always like to ponder what if. what if the people who plotted the assassination of abraham lincoln and other government officials had not killed the president or what if they had succeeded in killing vice president andrew johnson and the secretary of state william seward as well? what if lincoln had directed the reconstruction of the south and what if mary surrat, the woman that owned the boards house where the assassination conspirators met had been granted a civilian trial and was allowed to testify in her own defense? mary surratt was found guilty by a military tribunal in 1865 and hanged, becoming the first woman in u.s. history to be executed

by the federal government. would the outcome have been different if she had been allowed to testify in her own defense? would she have lived to a ripe old age if the restrictive rules of evidence of a military tribunal were replaced with the proceedings of a civilian trial? would mary rratt's fate have been different if she had the top defense attorneys of her day defending rather than a young and inexperienced attorney? we will never know, of course, but tonight's retrial of mary surratt promises to be a great, entertaining journey to the land of "what if." now i would like to introduce my colleague, co-chair, and

co-conspirator, just rita garmin. >> thank you. first of all, i think we should give a warm round of applause to justice anne berg and eileen mac virtual who conceived this idea. the retrial of mary surratt has been developed from a new and so will i had collaboration between two state agencies combining the judiciary and the executive branches of government. we brought in some of the finest legal and historical minds in illinois today to plan and implement this fascinating, entertaining, thought proceed mostly cloudying and unpredictable journey from the past to the present. this retrial treads new cultural and educational ground. it provides a history lesson, a demonstration of top notch legal strategy, a good dose of drama,

and an excursion into the land of counter factual history. the mary surratt retrial proves that illinois is one state and that we are at our best when we work together. the abraham lincoln presidential library and museum, the illinois supreme court historic preservation commission, the working committees both in chicago and springfield, and the numerous layers both on the stage and behind the scenes have crafted what you are about to see. we already consider this retrial a success because of this collaboration and frankly we look forward to our next journey together. >> i am very pleased to introduce the director and part owner of the chicago cubs major league baseball club who is also

the chairman of the board for chicago cubs charities, a lawyer, and performing journalist this evening, ms. laura rickets. >> thank you, justice burke and thank you for inviting me to participate in these extraordinary proceedings this evening. this retrial of mary surratt was inspired by the chicago preview of the film the conspirator which was directed by robert redford and produced by the american film company. the american film company was founded by my father, joe ricketts, with the mission to produce historically accurate dramas about american history that would allow all of us to witness that history so to speak. my father's aim is really not only to produce quality entertainment but also to inspire interest in and dialog

about our country's fascinating history, so we're really quite pleased that the conspirator has inspired this event here this evening. going forward, the american film company will continue to produce these types of films and as we do, we will rely on the historical resources of institutions like the ab ra ham lipg on presidential library and museum and the illinois supreme court historic preservation commission from which we will continue to draw knowledge. thank you. >> now i have the pleasure of introducing to you the chief judge of the eastern division of the united states district court, northern district of illinois, who was my trial advocacy teacher and best grade ever, and is also performing as

a co-conspirator this evening, chief judge james holderman. >> thank you. thank you very much. she earned that best grade in that class i want you to know as you can tell. the story of mary surratt of course spans generations. laura ricketts' father became interested in the story and created a production company, a movie production company, to tell the story. paul and i are very proud that our son, bill holderman runs robert redford's production well wildwood productions and was the on-set production company and our son bill holderman was the on set producer to make the movie to make sure it was historically accurate and told the story in the way that it occurred. so as justice burke talked about

the what-ifs, now we will see what if it did not occur the way history played out? what if justice had been provided in the civilian courts in april and may and june and july of 1865? so thank you for joining us. thank you for this opportunity to speak to you. enjoy the performance. thank you. >> reporting from outside the courthouse, it is my pleasure now to introduce an individual who is an attorney, a journalist, author, rancher, and entrepreneur. you have watched his documentaries many on the subject of crime and justice on pbs, a & e, cnbc, and cbs.

he is currently the anchor of the channel 2 news at 6:00 as well as president of curtis productions, my friend of four decades, mr. bill curtis. >> thank you. we are live inside the courtroom on this day, september 23, 2011. the trial of the lincoln conspirators is now over. john wilks booth, president lincoln's assassin was shot and killed by a union soldier april 26th, 1865. mary surratt, the owner of a boarding house where the other co-conspirators met was one of the four sentenced to death by hanging. no woman had ever been executed by the united states government. the assassination of abraham lincoln jolted the nation,

rekindling fears of an attempt to overthrow the government. the trial began one month after the president was assassinated. it was under these conditions that a military tribunal was convened. the assassin, john wilks booth was one of the most famous stage actors of his time. he was wildly haled in every american city. he was very close with john ford, the owner of ford's theater in washington. booth made the final appearance of his acting career on march 18th, 1865, at ford's theater, one month before president lincoln's assassination. the military tribunal was held, conventional rules of evidence were not followed. at the trial the prosecution was allowed to introduce evidence about the mistreatment of union soldiers in confederate prisons. the lawyers for mary surratt requested that the trial be held

in a civil court where there were rules in place to protect defendants charged in criminal cases, but that request was denied. under the rules of the military tribunal, mary surratt was not allowed to testify in her own behalf. we have brought you into the courtroom tonight where mary surratt will now be granted that civilian retrial she wanted. she can testify on her own behalf. we now await judge zagel and the attorneys. >> all rise. hear yes, hear ye, this district court is now in session. god save the united states and this honorable court. you may be seated. >> call your witness. >> thank you, your honor.

the defense calls mary surratt. >> please raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god. >> i do. >> you may be seated. >> what is your name? >> mary elizabeth surratt. >> how old are you? >> i am 42 years old. >> and what is your education briefly? >> i was educated by the sisters of charity in alexandria, virginia, and although i was born into any bis co-pay lan family at the age of 12 icon verdicted to catholicism and remain a devout catholic to this day. >> as of the date of your arrest where did you reside. >> in washington, d.c. >> and prior to residing in washington, where did you live. >> i live in ser ratsville, maryland.

>> are you currently married? >> no, ma'am. my husband died in 1862. >> how did he die? >> he died of complications due to alcoholism. >> now, after your husband died, how did you support yourself? >> well, because of his alcoholism, my husband squandered all of our assets and left us deeply in debt. i thought i could make ends meet if i rented out the tavern in sur ritzville to mr. john lloyd, and i moved to a property we owned in washington, d.c. which icon verdicted to a boarding house. >> and is that the boarding house on eighth street where you resided when you were arrested? >> yes, 541 h street. >> do you have children. >> yes, i do. >> what are their names and their ages. >> isaac is 24 years old. elizabeth susanna, i call her anna, she is 22, and john junior is 21 years old. >> referring to the months, the beginning months of 1865, were any of your children living with you at the time? >> yes, ma'am. anna was living with me.

john junior came and went. >> and john junior, what was his occupation or profession? >> he was in cotton speculation. >> now, do you have any knowledge or reason to believe that your son john junior was in any way involved in a plot to assassinate abraham lincoln. >> no, ma'am. >> now, at some point did you become acquainted with a man named john wilks booth. >> yes, ma'am, i did. >> when did you first meet john wilks booth. >> about three months before the assassination. >> and how did you come to meet him? >> he came to my boarding house to visit my son. >> approximately how often did he come to the boarding house to meet with your son? >> i don't know, many times. >> and was he ever a border there? >> no. he only came to visit. >> were you ever privilege toy any conversations between john booth and your son? >> no, ma'am, i was not. >> were you ever privy to any

conversations between john booth and any of the other borders. >> no. >> put ago side what you now know about john booth, what if anything did you know about this man during the time he was visiting your boarding house? >> well, i knew he was a very famous actor. he was quite dashing, very handsome, and gentlemanly, and i think we were all a bit taken with him due to his fame and his good looks and talent. >> did you have conversations with him? >> yes, ma'am, i did. >> how often did you have conversations with him? >> i don't know, often. >> i am going to show you what is previously been marked as prosecution exhibit number 45. i am going to ask you to identify it. >> that's a photograph of john wilks booth. >> and was this the photograph that was taken from your boarding house on or about the day of your arrest? >> yes, ma'am. >> will you tell the jury to whom this photograph belongs.

>> it belongs to my daughter anna. >> are you telling this jury that your daughter anna had a photograph of john booth in your home on h street. >> yes, as did many people who were taken with him and followed his career. she also had photographs of union generals. >> now, ms. surratt, did you have occasion to speak with mr. booth in private. >> yes, i did. >> did you hear your former border, lewis white man testify earlier at trial you and booth spoke frequently in private. >> yes, i heard that testimony. >> is that true? >> yes, it is true. >> please tell the jury the nature and the subject matter of the conversations you had with john booth. >> i don't recall specifically any of the conversations. it was small talk mostly. >> did you ever talk to him about his confederate sympathies? >> no. >> did he ever tell you his political views? >> no, we never discussed politics at all. >> did he ever tell you he had

animosity for abraham lincoln. >> no, ma'am. i did not suppose that he had the devil he most certainly possessed in his heart. >> now, ms. surratt, i will focus you on the boarding house on eighth street. approximately how many men could board at that house at any given time. >> about ten people could board there. >> from january of 1865 to april 14th of 1865 approximately how many men boarded at that house? >> i couldn't say, dozens. >> i am going to refer to you three men in particular. i am going to ask you if they were in fact boarders at the wording house in 1865, george asrot. >> yes, he was. >> lou weick man. >> yes, ma'am. >> and lewis powell. >> yes. >> were you ever privy to any conversations that those men had between and amongst themselves. >> no. >> did you ever hear any of them express confederate sympathies?

>> no. >> did he ever hear them talk about their hatred for abraham lincoln. >> no, ma'am. >> did they ever try to enlist you in a plot or conspiracy to assassinate abraham lincoln. >> never. >> had you known that those men were plotting and planning to assassinate our 16th president, what would you have done? >> well, i would have told the authorities. i would have kicked them out of the boarding house. >> now, approximately how many conspirators are being charged here, do you know, ms. surratt. >> yes, there are eight. >> i will name four of them. i will ask you if you have any recollection of ever having met them. mud. >> no. >> arnold. >> no. >> spang ler. >> no. >> a love laughlin. >> do you have any views on the consumption of alcohol? >> oh, yes, ma'am.

>> will you tell the jury what your views are on the consumption of alcohol? >> as i mentioned, my husband was an alcoholic. his alcoholism left us in ruin. my religious and moral upbringing as well as my own personal with a particular boarder concerning the consumption of alcohol at the eighth street border house? >> yes, i did. >> would you tell us who that boarder was? >> it was george atzerodt. >> what happened concerning the consumption of alcohol. >> i found alcohol in his room and i evicted him from the boarding house. >> was he ever allowed back in the boarding house? >> yes, he was. but not as a boarder. >> as a visitor? >> as a visitor. >> okay. now miss surratt, i want to turn your attention to april 11, 1865. and i'm going to suggest to you that it is the tuesday preceding

the assassination of abraham lincoln. do you recall that day? >> yes, ma'am. >> what if anything do you recall about that day? >> well, i went to surrattsville on that day. >> and why would you go to surrattsville? >> well, i still had lots of business there. i went there quite frequently. >> on this particular day at this particular time why did you go to surrattsville? >> on april 11th i went to surrattsville to try to collect on a debt owed to me by mr. john nothy to the sum of $479 plus interest. >> and why were you going to collect that debt on that day? >> i was receiving pressure from a creditor of mine, mr. george calvert, to collect on that debt. >> now, did you go to surrattsville alone? >> no, ma'am. my boarder mr. weichman was with me. >> and why did you choose him to accompany you to surrattsville? >> well, you see, it's about a two-hour drive by buggy from washington, d.c., to surrattsville on country roads that are often deserted. and, as a woman alone, i don't

feel comfortable driving that distance, especially at dusk. my eyesight is not what it used to be. i'm much more comfortable -- i feel safer with a gentleman to accompany me, and mr. weichman was available and willing to join me. >> now, you left washington and you went to surrattsville and you arrived. when you arrived there what did you do? >> i had dinner. and i spoke with mr. nothy. but he did not pay the debt at that time. >> so did you transact any other business in surrattsville on that day? >> no. >> and then did you return to washington? >> yes, ma'am, i did. >> now i want to turn your attention three days later to april 14, 1865, which is the date that abraham lincoln was assassinated. do you recall that date? >> oh, yes, ma'am. >> and what did you do on that date? >> well, i found i was compelled to once again travel to surrattsville to again attempt to collect the debt from mr. nothy which i desperately needed. >> now, why did you go there

just three days after you attempted to collect that debt the first time? >> i had recently received a letter from mr. calvert, my creditor, indicating he had spoken to mr. nothy who said he was ready to settle the debt. >> and this letter that you received, do you recall on or about the date you received the letter? >> it was about april 12th. >> i'm showing you what i've marked as defense number 10. will you identify that document? >> this is the letter i received from mr. george calvert. >> and was that document the basis for you to go to surrattsville on april 14, 1865? >> absolutely. >> now, did you go alone to surrattsville on that date? >> no. once again, mr. weichman accompanied me. >> and when you left for surrattsville, before you left, did anybody give you a package? >> no, ma'am. >> did john booth give you a package? >> no. >> and when you got to

surrattsville, did you give your tenant, mr. lloyd, a package? >> no. i had no package to give mr. lloyd. >> now, you heard mr. lloyd testify here at trial that he gave you a package on april 14, 1865. did you recall that testimony? >> i recall that testimony. >> why would he testify about that? >> well, i don't know why he would testify about that except that that day i recall he was very intoxicated and he may not recall accurately what happened. >> have you ever seen a man intoxicated? >> oh, yes. >> and tell the jury what a man who's intoxicated looks like. >> well, his vision seems blurry. he had trouble standing upright. he kind of swayed when he walked. his speech was a little slurred.

>> now, did you collect the debt that day? >> no, i did not. >> okay. i would like to ask you the question -- do you recall april 17, 1865? >> yes. >> and was that the date that you were arrested? >> yes, ma'am. >> and do you recall the military police coming into your home on 8th street and interrogating you? >> yes, i do. >> and do you recall the military police bringing a man in for you to identify? >> yes, i do. >> and did you identify that man on that date? >> no, i couldn't. >> do you now know who that man was? >> yes. it was lewis powell. >> and did you know lewis powell? >> i did. he was once a boarder of mine. >> and why is it that you didn't recognize lewis powell when he arrived and came into the room at the "h" street boarding house? >> well, there are several reasons. it was the middle of the night. the hallway was dim. as i've mentioned, my eyesight is not what it once was. and mr. powell looked like

nothing i had ever seen before. he was dirty. he was disheveled. had a sort of rag wrapped around his head. when i saw him before he was dressed as a baptist minister looking very clean and polished. i simply did not recognize him that night. >> now, approximately how far away were you sitting when he walked into the room? >> oh, approximately three to five feet. approximately the distance between you and me right now. >> between where i'm standing and where you're sitting? >> yes ma'am. >> now, you talked about your poor eyesight. tell the jury how poor your eyesight is. >> well, from where i am seated, i can't make out your features. >> now, miss surratt, tell the jury what your political views are. >> oh, i don't pretend to

express my feelings at all. i have often said that i felt the south acted too hastily. that is about the extent of my feelings, and i say so again. >> miss surratt, do you or did you ever have any animosity or hatred toward abraham lincoln? >> no, ma'am. in the words of the great emancipator himself, i had malice toward none. >> and mary elizabeth surratt, did you have any knowledge or take any part in a conspiracy to assassinate abraham lincoln? >> no, i did not. >> judge, i have nothing further. >> you may inquire. >> thank you, your honor. miss surratt, my name is dan webb.

i think you know from our proceedings that i am one of the lawyers that's representing the prosecution in this case. you understand that, is that correct? >> yes, sir. >> and in light of some of the questions that miss conte just asked you, it probably doesn't surprise you that i have a few questions to ask you. what i'd like to focus on as we go through the questions i have for you, in light of the testimony you just gave, i want to ask you some questions as to how it came to be that in the months before the assassination of abraham lincoln that you had such substantial contact with the men that eventually participated in the plot to kill high government officials on april 14, 1865. let's start with the basic question. i take it you agree that, as it turned out, you ended up having substantial contact with at

least four of the men that participated in the ultimate plot to kill these officials. is that correct? >> that is correct. >> let's start with the mastermind of the conspiracy to assassinate government officials, john wilkes booth, who on april 14th assassinated abraham lincoln. you happened to have known john wilkes booth and had substantial contact with him. is that fair to say? >> that's fair to say. >> in fact, starting about three months before the assassination, he became a frequent visitor to your boarding house. is that correct? >> that's correct. >> and he frequently had private meetings with your son. is that correct? >> yes, sir. >> and we know that he also, as you told miss conte, frequently had private meetings with you. is that correct? >> yes, sir. >> and these meetings continued right up to the day of the sa