Conspiracy trial for the murder of the president
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[168] Q. Did you state to General Augur the same language you have used here? A. I think I did. Q. Did you do it in writing? A. No, sir. Q. You made a verbal statement? A. I did to General Augur, Colonel Baker, and Colonel Wells. I told them all. Q. Did Mr. Nott give you any information as to how he knew any thing about it? A. No, sir: he did not tell me how he knew it, and I did not ask him. Q. Did he express in any of his language, in the conversation he had with you, any real knowledge on the subject? A. He only said he could have told me this thing was going to happen, six months ago. Q. Then, as I understand you, it was simply an expression of Nott’s opinion to you that John H. Surratt knew all about it? A. He said he knew he did. Q. How did he know? A. I did not ask him how he knew. Q. Have you heard or do you know of any overt part on the part of Mr. Jenkins against the Government? A. I do not. Q. Then, from what you know of his reputation, you are not able to swear but what he is a loyal man, are you? A. I have never known him to do any thing disloyal. He was talked with me and denounced the Administration, frequently. Q. What did he say? A. I do not recollect. Q. How did he denounce it? A good many people have denounced certain acts of the Administration. To what particular act did he refer? A. I do not recollect now. Q. You cannot specify any thing he referred to? A. I cannot. Q. He simply denounced the Administration?
Q. Have you not often heard loyal men denounce the Administration? A. I do not know that I ever did,—not a man that I regarded as a loyal man. Q. On the occasion to which I alluded, did you not tell your brother-in-law, Ward, that he never ought to have come back? A. I did not. Q. Did you not express to him your opposition to his coming back in any way or shape? A. I did not. I begged him to take the oath, and remain at home.
A. In Prince George’s County, Md. Q. How far from Surrattsville? A. Three or four hundred yards. Q. Are you acquainted with Mr. J. Z. Jenkins? A. I am.
Q. How long have you known him? A. I have known him since 1861. Q. Have you known him intimately? A. Not very intimately till since 1863. Q. Have you held any position down there under the Government? A. I was appointed enrolling officer on the 12th of June, 1863. Q. What has been the reputation of Mr. Jenkins in that community, since 1861, with reference to loyalty, and his sentiments with regard to this Rebellion? A. I have never heard but one opinion expressed about him, and that was, that for one year, the year 1861, Mr. Jenkins was [170] looked upon as a Union man; but since that time he has been looked upon as a sympathizer with the South. Q. Has he, or has he not, been in the attitude of an enemy in talking against the Government, and opposing it in all its measures? A. Yes, sir. Q. That has been his attitude towards the Government since 1861? A. No, not since 1861, but since 1862.
A. No, sir: I was a member of Captain S. A. H. Mark’s company, in Washington, in 1861. Q. You say, that up to 1862, Mr. Jenkins was regarded as a Union man by his neighbors. Q. Yes, sir: so I have understood. I saw Mr. Jenkins, I think, some time between the 19th of April and the 10th of July, 1861. I saw him at our armory, which was at the navy-yard: he came there begging money for some Union men who had been killed. That was the first time I ever saw him to know him or speak to him. The next time I saw him, he came to my house: I think that was in 1862. He was then opposing the nominees of the Union party, Dr. Bayne among the rest, for office. Q. Who were the nominees of the Union party? A. Dr. Bayne was the candidate for senator, Mr. Sasser was the candidate for clerk of the county; Mr. Grimes was the candidate for sheriff. The other candidates I do not recollect now. Q. Who were the disunion candidates then? A. I do not recollect who they were. Q. Were there any. A. Yes, sir: Mr. John B. Brooke, if I am not mistaken, was the candidate for senator; but I am not certain about that. Q. Was Jenkins a supporter of Mr. Brooke? A. I think so: that is what I have understood. I was not there at the time; did not live in the country then. I have understood [171] that from him in my house. I was living here at Washington at that time: I understood that from him here. Q. Even if he was, what evidence does that afford you that he was any way disloyal, by giving Mr. Brooke his support? In other words, why is not Mr. Brooke’s loyalty just as good as that of Dr. Bayne? A. I do not know. Mr. Brooke has been South, and Dr. Bayne has not been. Q. Was Mr. Brooke in the rebel army? A. I do not know. I know he was South. Q. How long South? A. He staid there, and came home under the President’s Amnesty Proclamation. Q. He was there until that time? A. Yes, sir. Q. Have you not known some of the most illustrious of Union men who back here under those circumstances? A. No, sir: I do not know of any. Q What have you heard of Mr. Jenkins since 1862? A. I have been living near Surrattsville since September, 1863; and I have seen Mr. Jenkins nearly every day, on the road or somewhere, when I was passing about. I was all the time away from home, pretty much, looking around. Mr. Jenkins has always been talking against the Government. At the April election in 1864, when we voted for a convention to make a new constitution, he said that he had been offered office under the damned Government; but he would not hold office under any such damned Government. Q. Did you understand at the time that he referred to the Government? A. The Government of the United States. I was an officer of the Government of the United States, and that is what he referred to and said there. Q. Did you understand him to refer to the Government or the Administration? A. He said “the Government.”
A. I meant the Government. Q. What is the Government? A. My idea of the Government is its Constitution and laws, and the enforcement of them. Q. If a man did not support the candidates of the Administration, but on the other hand supporter the Democratic candidate, would you call his a disloyal man on that account? A. I judge a man by his acts. I asked Mr. Jenkins if he would vote for such a man as Harris, who said he wanted the South to succeed; and he said he would vote for Mr. Harris against anybody. Q. Do you characterize as disloyal men who oppose the candidates of the Administration? A. Yes, sir. Q. Then your test of a loyal or disloyal man is whether he votes for or against the Administration? A. I judge a man by his acts. Q. What did Mr. Jenkins ever do against the Government? What single act can you mention in all your intercourse with him? Q. I never knew of his doing any thing else but abuse it. A. Did you understand that abuse to be against the Government itself, or the administration of the Government? A. I understood it to be against the Government itself. Q. In his talking with you, what did he say that was treasonable? A. He abused the Government, damned the Government, said he would not hold an office under any such damned Government, he did not address this to me: he said it before probably a hundred people at the polls,—perhaps not a hundred, but a crowd there. Q. Did he say it to you? A. It was intended for my ears. Q. Did he say it to you? A. He intended it for me. [173] Q. Were you having a personal conversation with him at the time? A. I had just objected to his vote before that. Q. But his remark was not addressed to you in reply to any of your interrogatories to him? A. I do not know that it was. He went off talking. Q. Can you mention any other instances of kindness to Union soldiers by Mr. Jenkins? A. I do not know of any. Q. Do you, or not, know the fact, that out of his limited means he has spent over three thousand dollars in sustaining the Union and the Government? A. I do not believe he ever had it to spend. Q. I am not asking you for your belief whether he had it or not. I asked you whether or not you knew the fact that he had done so. A. I do not know any thing about the fact. I was not there at the time he spent three thousand dollars. I only know about it from what I have heard. Q. You never heard of that fact? A. I never heard of his spending any thing, only from his own lip: I have heard him say so. Q. You state that you were appointed an enrolling officer. A. Yes, sir. Q. For whom did you vote as a member of Congress of 1862? A. I did not vote at all in 1862: I had not acquired a residence in Prince George’s County then. Q. With what political party did you act before you got this office? A. I always acted with the Union party. By Assistant Judge Advocate Burnett: Q. Did, or did not, Mr. Jenkins refuse to take the oath prescribed by the legislature of Maryland before voting? A. He did not refuse, to my knowledge. Q. Do you mean to say that he did not refuse, or that you do not know any thing about it?
Q. Did you see him vote? A. I saw him vote, and he took the oath. Q. Did he ever refuse to take any of the oaths prescribed by the Government? A. Not to my knowledge. Q. Do you know whether he was one of that class in Maryland who did not consider the oath binding? A. I do not know.
A. I did go to his room. Q. What time was that? A. I should think, between ten and half-past ten o’clock. Q. Did you look at your watch at that time? A. I did. Q. Can you fix the minute? A. No, sir. Q. Did you, or not, go directly to the room of the Vice-President from the theatre? A. Yes, sir: as soon as I got out of the theatre, I went immediately to his room. Q. Had you not been to Ford’s Theatre? A. Yes, sir. [175] Q. How did you find the room, locked or open? A. It was locked. Q. Did you find anybody apparently lying in wait about the room? A. I did not discover any one at the door. Q. If anybody had been lying in wait near the room, would you have been able to see him? A. I did not look for any thing but the door. I ran as soon as possible for the door. I did not look anywhere else. Q. If anybody had been laying in wait near the room, were you in a position to have seen him? A. That would depend on how near he was. I did not look for any thing else but the door. I did not see any one at the door. Q. What did you do after you came to the door? A. I rapped, and received no answer. I then rapped again, and said in a loud voice, “Governor Johnson, if you are in the room, I must see you.” Those were the words. Q. Did you examine the lock at that time to find whether it had been tampered with? A. I think the door was locked. It was dark. I looked over the skylight. Q. You are not certain whether the door was locked or not? A. I suppose it was locked; but I am not certain about it. Q. It might have been open, for all you know? A. I cannot tell. It was dark, and I thought at that time that the door was locked. I am pretty certain I took hold of the latch. Q. Did you, or not, then enter the room? A. Yes, sir: I went into the room. Q. How long did you remain in the room? A. About half an hour. Q. While you were in the room, was the room visited by any stranger? A. A number of persons came to the door, and I took charge of it,—locked and bolted it after I got on the inside; but I did not allow any one to come in, unless he was some gentleman personally [176] known to the Vice-President or to myself. I rang the bell for the servants after I put a guard at the door. Q. Be kind enough to look at the prisoner, Atzerodt, and state whether you have seen him before. A. No, sir: not to my knowledge. Q. Do you, or not, take your meals at the Kirkwood House? A. I do: I board there. Q. Have you, or not, observed persons in the habit of asking for the Vice-President, to see him, while he was taking his meals? A. No, sir. Q. You have not observed it? A. No, sir; only as I have been at the table sometimes, and gentlemen would ask me at the table if the Vice-President was in his room. No more than that. Q. Then you have no knowledge that any attempt was made, during the time you were there, to enter his room by the prisoner Atzerodt? A. I have no knowledge of any one attempting to enter by force.
A. Yes, sir: I am at times. Q. Have you at any time had any conversation with him during his confinement? A. I have, occasionally. Q. Please state what the substance of that conversation was.
The Judge Advocate. Is this conversation offered as a confession, or as evidence of insanity? Mr. Doster. As evidence of insanity. I believe it is a settled principle law, that all declarations are admissible under the plea of insanity. [177] Assistant Judge Advocate Bingham. There is no such principle of the law, that all declarations are admissible on the part of the accused for any purpose. I object to the declarations of the prisoner made on his own motion. The Judge Advocate. If the Court please, as a confession, of course this declaration is not at all competent; but, if it is relied upon as indicating an insane condition of mind, I think it would be better for the Court to consider it. We shall be careful, however, to exclude from its consideration these statements so far as the question of the guilt or innocence of the prisoner of the particular crime is concerned, and to admit them only so far as they may aid in solving the question of insanity raised by the counsel. Assistant Judge Advocate Burnett. On the suggestion of the Judge Advocate General, which is entered of record, I beg leave to state to the Court that I shall not insist upon my objection. The question being repeated to the witness, he answered as follows:— A. I was taking him out of the Court-room, about the third or fourth day of the trial, and he said he wished they would make haste and hang him; he was tired of life. He would rather be hung that come back here in the Court-room. That is all he ever said to me. Q. Did he ever have any conversation with you in reference to the subject of his constipation? A. Yes: about a week ago. Q. What did he say? A. He said that he been so ever since had head been here. Q. What had been so? A. He had been constipated. Q. Have you any personal knowledge as to the truth of that fact? A. No, sir: I have not.
A. To the officers. [178] Q. What officers? A. Colonel Dodd, I think, or Colonel McCall, and, I believe, to General Hartranft. Q. Nobody else? A. No, sir. By Assistant Judge Advocate Bingham: Q. What else did he say in his talk the third or fourth day of his trial? A. I have given all he said going down stairs. Colonel W. H. H. McCall, a witness called for the accused, Lewis Payne, being duly sworn, testified as follows:— By Mr. Doster: Q. Have you at any time had charge of the prisoner Payne? A. I have. Q. Are you now in charge of him? A. No, sir. Q. Who else has charge of him? A. Colonel Frederick, Colonel Dodd, and myself. Q. How is the duty divided between you? A. We have eight hours each out of the twenty-four. Q. Does your duty lead you to be cognizant of the conduct of the prisoner in his cell during that term? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you know, by actual knowledge, any thing in reference to the constipation of the prisoner during your term? A. To the best of my knowledge, he has been so from the 29th of April until last evening; and that was the first passage. Q. Have you ever had any conversation with the prisoner on the subject of his own death? A. No, sir. John E. Roberts, a witness called for the accused, Lewis Payne, being duly sworn, testified as follows:— [179] By Mr. Doster: Q. Does your duty call you to have charge of the prisoner Payne? A. I am not in charge of him more than the others. I am around the prisoner. I have not orders to be in charge of him. Q. Have you at any time had conversation with him? A. Yes, sir. Q. Have you ever spoken to him on the subject of his own death? A. The day that Major Seward was examined here, when the clothes were put on him,—the coat and the hat,—I had to put the irons back on him; and he told me then that they were tracing him pretty close, and that he wanted to die. Q. Did he say that he was tired of life to you at any time? A. I have told you all he said. Q. You have never had any other conversation with him? A. Not at all; not on the subject of death. We pass words now and then when he passes me on the stairway. By Assistant Judge Advocate Bingham: Q. He coupled it with the fact that they were tracing him very close, finding him out, in other words? A. The words came in as I said, that he wanted to die. Q. Because they were tracing him pretty close? A. Those were the words. Lieutenant John W. Dempsey recalled for the prosecution. By Assistant Judge Advocate Burnett: Q. Where are you on duty? A. At No. 451, H. Street, at the house of Mrs. Surratt. Q. You were in charge of the guard there? A. Yes, sir. Q. State whether you were in charge of the party or were with the party, that made the examination of that house at the time the house was searched. A. Yes, sir. There was a party came to the house about the [180] 19th or 20th of April, and I was present at that time. The house had been searched, I believe, twice before that. I was not in command of the first guard that went to the house. Q. State what occurred on the 19th of April, when were there; whether you remember the finding of a photograph of J. Wilkes Booth there. A. Yes, sir: I recollect finding such a photograph. It was after the examination of the parlors that I found it after those gentlemen had gone out. Q. The same morning? A. Yes, sir. Q. [Exhibiting to the witness the picture of “Morning, Noon, and Night” found in Mrs. Surratt’s house.] State whether you remember that. A. Yes, sir: that is the photograph I found on the mantle-piece in the back room of the first door, which was known, I believe, as Mrs. Surratt’s room. Q. What did you find in that? A. I found in it the photograph of J. Wilkes Booth. Q. [Exhibiting to the witness a photograph of J. Wilkes Booth.] State whether that is the photograph. A. Yes, sir: that is the same photograph. I indorsed it myself.
A. At the time I found it, this back was entirely pasted on. My curiosity was excited by seeing a piece that seemed to be torn off. I lifted up this back, and saw that this photograph of Booth was placed behind the likeness of “Morning, Noon, and Night,” as it is commonly called. I then showed it, by request, to an officer in the house, and turned it over to Colonel Ingraham. Q. The marks were upon the back of it at time you found it? A. It was marked in pencil, “Booth.” I marked it, in my writing, “J. Wilkes Booth,” written in pencil. I think you find [181] in the indorsement on the back that the marks in pencil were on it when found,—J. Wilkes Booth. By Mr. Aiken: Q. Was “J. Wilkes Booth” on the photograph when you found it, as it is now? A. I will not swear that “J. W.” was there. The word “Booth” was there, I am positive, at the time; and I think “J. W. Booth” was there. In indorsing it at the time, I put on the indorsement that the word or name, I am not positive which, was written in pencil as now found. Q. That is the same picture? A. Yes, sir. James R. O’Bryon.* a witness for the accused, Edward Spangler, being duly sworn, testified as follows:— By Mr. Ewing: Q. State where you were employed on the 14th of April and for some months preceding. A. In the Quartermaster-General’s office. I was a clerk there. Q. Had you any engaged with Mr. Ford? A. Yes, sir. Q. As what? A. As usher. Q. You were there at night? A. Yes, sir; only at night. Q. Do you know any thing as to the condition of the keepers of the locks of boxes 7 and 8 in the theatre? A. In box 8, the keeper was wrenched off, broken off, in some way; I do not know how. I was absent one evening; I was at home sick; and, when I came again, I found that it was broken off: but the door itself was pretty tight at the top, and I never thought of speaking about it. All I had to was to close the door, and the door itself would shut tight; and I do not know that I ever said any thing about it. [182] Q. When did you first notice that the keeper of the door of box 8 was broken? A. On the first occasion that I went into the box afterwards: I cannot tell when that was. Q. Was it before the assassination? A. Oh, yes sir! some time. Q. About how long before? A. That I could not say. Q. Do you know whether the door could be fastened after that by locking? A. You could lock it; but I imagine, if you should shove it, it would come open. It would always fit, and I had no occasion to lock it. Q. How was the keeper of the door of box 7? A. It appeared to be all right; I never noticed it: I always locked that box. Q. Which door was used when the presidential party was occupying the two boxes? A. The door of box 8. Q. How was it generally left after the party entered? A. Always open. Q. Do you know as to whether the door leading into the passage which separates the two boxes from the wall had a lock upon it? A. No, sir: it had no lock. Cross-examined by Assistant Judge Advocate Bingham: Q. The outer door had a hitch, had it not? A. No, sir. Q. It did not fasten at all? A. No, sir; did not fasten at all. Q. Box 8 is nearest to the stage, is it not? Q. Yes, sir. Q. By pressing the door of box 8 down, on the handle, it will very easily and readily open, will it not? A. No, sir: it fits rather close. Yüklə 2,75 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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