Conspiracy trial for the murder of the president
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[268] Q. Go on and state what you saw of Dr. Samuel A. Mudd between that and the 5th day of March. A. The doctor was summoned to his father’s house the 2d of March, Thursday, before breakfast, very early, to see his sister; and he was summoned the next Friday, the 3d of March. Q. What time on Friday? A. He came over to dinner on Friday. Q. At what time in the day? A. He came over to his dinner about twelve o’clock. Finding his sister much worse, he came over again in the evening, and brought her some medicines. He came over again on Saturday—, and I think he was there on Sunday afternoon. Q. What time on Saturday was he there? A. He was there to dinner on Saturday. Q. Do you fix these dates with certainty in your own mind? A. I am positive of the dates. Q. Did you know Andrew Gwynn? A. Yes, sir. Q. When did you last see him? A. I have not seen him since the fall of 1860. Q. State whether he was in the habit of visiting at the house of Dr. Mudd’s father before that. A. Yes, sir. Q. Has he been there since 1861? A. Not to my knowledge. Q. Have you seen or heard of his having been at Dr. Samuel Mudd’s house since 1861? A. I never have. Q. Have you seen or heard of Lieutenant Perry, or Captain Perry, having been there? A. No, sir. Q. Or John H. Surratt? A. No, sir: I never knew them. Q. Have you ever known or heard of parties of Confederate offices or soldiers being about Dr. Samuel Mudd’s house? A. Never. Q. Have you been in the habit of going there frequently since 1861?
Q. State whether or not you saw Dr. Samuel Mudd on his way home from towards Bryantown on the day after the assassination of the President. A. Yes, sir: I was standing at the window on Saturday evening; I saw him pass. Q. Was anybody with him? A. No, sir.
A. I saw him going by the road by the house. Q. Which way was he going? A. Going towards Bryantown. Q. What time of day? A. I do not know the exact time; but it was a cloudy evening. I expect it was between one and two, and perhaps earlier. Q. What time did you see him coming back? A. I do not know the exact time either, it being a cloudy evening; but I do not expect it was later than four o’clock. I am not positive as to the time. Q. What time on Thursday, the 2d of March, did you see him at his father’s house? A. He came very early, before breakfast. Q. What time did he leave? A. I do not know. I was sick that morning. I do not know what time he left. Q. You did not see him any more that day? A. No, sir. Q. On Friday, you did not see him until noon? A. No, sir: I saw him at dinner. Q. And on Wednesday you did not see him at all? A. I did not see him on Wednesday. By Mr. Ewing: Q. Do you know any thing of Dr. Samuel A. Mudd having been absent from home at any time between the 1st and 5th of March. A. I am sure he was not from home at that time. I know that [270] he was not from home. He was attending his sick sister; and I am sure he was not from home. By Assistant Judge Advocate Bingham: Q. You do not know yourself whether he was at home or abroad on the first day of March, Ash Wednesday? A. No, sir; I do not. Q. You do not know whether, on the 2d day of March, he was at home or abroad, after he left his sister in the visit early on the morning of the day, until the next day at noon, do you? A. No, sir; I do not. By the Court: Q. You speak of the dinner-hour: what hour of the day is it? A. We are in the habit of taking dinner at twelve o’clock. Charles Duell, a witness called for the prosecution, being duly sworn, testified as follows:— By the Judge Advocate: Q. State to the Court where you reside. A. In Washington. Q. Have you recently been in North Carolina? A. Yes, sir. Q. What part of that State? A. Morehead City. Q. State whether or not, while there, you picked up a letter written in cipher. A. I did. Q. [Submitting to the witness a letter in cipher, the envelope of which is directed, “John W. Wise.”] Look at that, and see whether it is the letter, and mention the circumstances under which you picked it up. A. That is the letter: I found it on the 2d day of May. Q. Where? A. At the Government wharf at Morehead City, N. C., floating in the water. [271] Q. Did you pick it up and decipher it? A. Yes, sir. Q. [Submitting to the witness a paper in writing.] Look at that paper, and see whether it is a correct deciphering of that letter, made by yourself. A. It is, as I believe, a correct translation. The translation was read, as follows:—
Mind well that brother’s oath, and you will have no difficulty; all will be safe, and enjoy the fruit of our labors. We had a large meeting last night. All were being in carrying out the programme to the letter. The rails are laid for safe exit. Old — always behind, lost the pop at City Point. Now I say again, the lives of our brave officers, and the life of the South, depends upon the carrying this programme into effect. No. Two will give you this. It’s ordered no more letters shall be sent by mail. When you write, sign no real name, and send by some of our friends who are coming home. We want you to write us how the news was received there. We receive great encouragement from all quarters. I hope there will be no getting weak in the knees. I was in Baltimore yesterday. Pet had not got there yet. Your folks are well, and have heard from you. Don’t lose your nerve. O. B. No. Five. [The original letter and the translation were offered in evidence, without objection.] Q. In what business were you engaged in North Carolina? A. I was driving piles. Q. And you found this letter floating in the water where you were at work?
Q. You know nothing of this person, Wise, to whom it was addressed? A. No, sir; and could not hear any thing of him. I made inquiries there relative to him. Q. Do you know anybody of that name in North Carolina? A. Nobody.
A. Yes, sir. Q. How did you know any thing of the key to the cipher? A. A gentleman there told me that he had seen it before. We first supposed, by its commencing with a “W,” that it was dated at Wilmington; and the first evening we tried it with “Wilmington,” but we could not make out any thing. The next evening we tried it with “Washington;” took the letters contained in the words “Washington” and “April;” made an alphabet, and stuck figures and characters under the letters of the alphabet, and proceeded in that way, and worked it out. Q. You had no acquaintance with the cipher yourself until you came to Washington? A. No, sir. Q. You found the letter in the river? A. Yes, sir. Q. Was the original a good deal blurred from being wet? A. It did not seem to have been in water a great while: I could not tell how long. It did not seem to be blurred much. Q. You are satisfied with the translation, that “Red Shoes,” “Old Gray,” “Crook,” &c., were the names intended by the writer? A. No, sir: I had no idea who were meant. By the Judge Advocate: Q. You mean to say that you believe these names to be correctly translated as other portions of the text? A. Yes, sir. Q. I understand you to say, that, in making this translation, you
A. Yes, sir: the letter was shown to a man in North Carolina who read it very readily. Q. Was there anybody with you at the time you picked up the letter? A. Yes, sir: my attention was called to it by a gentleman who is here,—a Mr. Ferguson. James Ferguson, a witness called for the prosecution, being duly sworn, testified as follows:— By the Judge Advocate: Q. State whether or not you have been recently at Morehead City, N. C. A. I left Morehead City a week ago last Wednesday morning. Q. Were you there in company with Mr. Duell? A. Yes, sir: I was laboring under him. Q. Were you present when he picked up a cipher letter which was floating in the water when you were at work? A. Yes, sir: I was the one who discovered the letter, and called his attention to it. Q. [Submitting to the witness the letter in cipher.] Look at this letter, and see if you can identify it as the one picked up at that time. A. The letter is the same that was then picked up; and the envelope is the same. Q. You directed his attention to it, and he picked it up out of the water? A. Yes, sir. Q. When was that? A. It was either on the 1st or 2d of May last. John H. Barr, a witness called for the accused, George A. Atzerodt, being duly sworn, testified as follows:— [274] By Mr. Doster: Q. Look at the prisoner at the bar, Atzerodt, and say whether you have ever seen him before. A. Yes, sir: there is the man, to the best of my knowledge, [pointing to the accused, George A. Atzerodt]. Q. Where did you see him? A. All I know about Atzerodt is this: One evening, in the Navy Yard, I was coming from my shop from work; and I stopped at Mr. Pope’s restaurant, and fell in contact therewith this gentleman. I did not know him at the time; but we had several drinks there together. From that I proposed to him to go home and take supper with me. After a while he concluded to go, and he did so. He went home with me, and took supper with me. From there, we came back to Mr. Pope’s restaurant again, and we had then, I think, a couple of more drinks. He was there with me. We went out, and came back again to the restaurant, and took two glasses; and from there we went to Mr. Pope’s stable, and he took his horse out. I saw the horse saddled and bridled, and saw him get on the horse and go off. That is the last I saw of him. Q. Now tell us on what day that was. A. I think it was between the 10th and 12th of April. Q. Do you not remember that it was the 12th of April? A. I think it was near about that time. I remember the work I did the day I fell in contact with him; and it is marked in the book which I have with me. Q. What work did you do that day? A. I put in a spring block or spoke, I forget which, for Sanderson and Miller; but I can tell by looking at the book. Q. Look at your book, and see what it was. A. [After examining a memorandum-book.] On the 12th of April, I made two spring blocks for Sanderson and Miller. Q. You are sure that was the same you were with Atzerodt? A. Yes, sir; on the 12th of April. Q. You are sure of that? A. Yes, sir: that is the same day I was with him. I saw him that evening after I quit work. [275] Betty Washington recalled for the accused, Samuel A. Mudd. By Mr. Ewing: Q. State to the Court how long you have been living at Dr. Samuel A. Mudd’s house? A. I went there the week after Christmas. Q. Do you know where Dr. Mudd was on the first day of March last? A. On the first day of March, he was down at the tobacco-bed. He was planting it, ready to sow. Q. How do you know that was the first day of March? A. I know it was the first day of March. It was Ash Wednesday. Q. State how often you saw him that day, and what times in the day. A. He staid there till dinner-time; and Mr. Blanford came, and they went into the house to dinner. He was in the house that evening. It was raining. Q. He and Mr. Blanford, then, took dinner at Dr. Mudd’s house that day? A. Yes, sir. Q. Were they in all the afternoon? A. Yes, sir: I did not see him out any more. Q. Was he at home that night? A. Yes, sir. Q. Where was he the next day? A. The next day, Thursday, he was cutting brush. Q. What time did you see him in the morning that day? A. I saw him in the morning at breakfast-time. He was not exactly close to us cutting brush. He was cutting close to the path, on one side, and we were on the other. Q. Were you out there when he was at work? A. Yes, sir: he asked Mrs. Mudd to let me come out. I was not a regular field-hand; but, at particular times, he asked her to let me come out. [276] Q. Did you see him in the afternoon of Thursday, the 2d of March? A. Yes, sir: he was there all day,—the day we cut brush. Q. He was there all day Thursday? A. Yes, sir: he was there all day Thursday. Q. Did you see any thing of him on Friday, the third day of March? A. Friday he was stripping tobacco. It was raining and he went to the barn on Friday. Q. Did you see him on Friday morning? A. Oh, yes, sir! I saw him on Friday morning. Q. Did you see him at noon on Friday? A. No, sir: he went from the barn over to his father’s, and took his dinner. Q. Where was he on Friday night? A. He came back that evening just about night. We had been to supper when he got there. Q. Did you see him on Saturday morning, the 4th of March? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did he take breakfast at home? A. Yes, sir: he took breakfast at home. Q. Where was he through the day on Saturday? A. After dinner he went to the post-office. Q. Where is the post-office? A. At Beantown. Q. When did you see him again? Did you see him on Saturday night? A. Yes, sir: he was back Saturday night. Q. Did you see him on Sunday, the 5th of March? A. On Sunday he went to church. His sister wanted to go with him, and he told her she could not go. Q. Was he at home on Sunday night? A. Yes, sir: he was at home on Sunday night. He came home Sunday night. Q. Where is the tobacco bed that you said he was fixing on Ash Wednesday, the first day of March? A. Down close to Mr. Sylvester Mudd’s. [277] Q. How far from Dr. Sam. Mudd’s house? A. Nearer to Sylvester Mudd’s than to his house. Q. Did you see him down there at work on Ash Wednesday? A. I was working with him on Ash Wednesday. Q. Where was he the day before Ash Wednesday, the last day of February? A. On Tuesday, he laid the brush off for us to dig up. Q. While you were living there at Dr. Mudd’s, did you ever see or hear of John H. Surratt there? A. I never heard talk of him. Q. Would you have noticed the name if you had heard it there? A. Yes: if I had heard talk of his name, I should know it. Q. Why? A. Because I often inquired the way to Washington before I went there to live; and they told me that whenever I got to Surratt’s I would be so far, and so far from Washington: but I never came. Q. If you had heard the name of John H. Surratt at the house, would have recollected it? A. Oh, yes, sir! Q. Do you know Mary Simms, who used to live there at Dr. Mudd’s? A. Yes, sir: I know her. Q. Do you know what the colored folks about there think of her as a truth-teller? A. They all give her a bad name. Q. As a truth-teller? A. As a story-teller. Q. What sort of a master was Dr. Samuel Mudd? A. I have no fault to find with him at all myself. He treated me very well while I was there. Cross-examined by Assistant Judge Advocate Bingham: Q. You went there to live the first Monday after Christmas? A. I know I went there the week after Christmas, but what day of the week I do not know exactly. [278] Q. I thought you said before that it was the first Monday after Christmas? A. I said the week after Christmas. Q. On Thursday, the 2d of March, Dr. Mudd took breakfast with you in the morning? A. Yes, sir. Q. He took breakfast with you at home? A. Yes, sir: on Thursday. Q. And you went with him out to cut brush on Thursday, the 2d of March? A. It was raining that day; and we cut no brush that day. Q. You did not cut any brush on Thursday? A. I thought you said Friday. Thursday was the day we cut brush. Q. He went with you to cut brush? A. He went to cut brush, and I went along with the cart. The pines are very thick between there and Mr. Sylvester Mudd’s. Q. You know that Dr. Samuel A. Mudd was there? A. Yes, indeed, sir. Q. You cut on one side of the path, and he on the other? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did you go home to dinner, or take dinner to the field? A. We came home to dinner on Thursday. Q. You and he came home to dinner on Thursday, and then you went back to cutting brush? A. Yes, sir. Q. In the evening of Thursday, you and he came home together, and he took his supper? A. I did not exactly walk along with him. Q. But he was in sight, and you saw him take supper at home? A. I expect he ate it, though I did not see him eat it. I got my supper. Q. You were about the house when he was getting his supper? A. I know he was in the house. Q. Then he took his breakfast, dinner, and supper at home on Thursday? A. Yes, sir. [279] Q. And that was the day after Ash Wednesday? A. Yes, sir. Q. You did not work with him on Ash Wednesday? A. I was there on Ash Wednesday. Q. What did you work at on Ash Wednesday? A. I was chopping the tobacco-bed on Ash Wednesday. Sometimes he was standing about there, and sometimes he was not. By Mr. Ewing: Q. Are you certain that Dr. Mudd took breakfast at his house on the day after Ash Wednesday? Assistant Judge Advocate Bingham objected to the question as not proper re-examination. The cross-examination had been confined to matters brought out on the examination in chief, and therefore this kind of re-examination was not proper. Mr. Ewing desired to put the question in order to explain a seeming contradiction, and have the matter fully understood. The Commission sustained the objection. William P. Wood, a witness called for the accused, Mary E. Surratt, being duly sworn, testified as follows:— By Mr. Clampitt: Q. State to the Court your present occupation. A. I am superintendent of the Old Capitol Prison. Q. State whether you are acquainted with J. Z. Jenkins, a brother of Mrs. Surratt, and a witness who has testified before this Court; and if so, how long have you known him? A. I am acquainted with J. Z. Jenkins. I have known him from six or seven years, perhaps; been rather intimately acquainted for five years. Q. Can you speak confidently of his reputation? A. In what particulars? Q. For loyalty? A. He has always been an opponent of the Democracy in his county. He was with the Know-Nothing party; and, when the Union [280] party got up, he was counted as one of the most reliable Union men in that district in the early part. I mean in 1860 and 1861. In 1862, I called upon him to get him to vote for Holland; went out with a gentleman by name of Stone. He refused to vote for Mr. Holland, and said he was under obligations to Mr. Calvert, who had owned that section of the country; and he believed him to be as good a Union man as any man in the country. Q. Please to state whether he did not labor himself, and urge his friends to labor, and expend his means freely, to keep the State of Maryland in the Union. A. Up to 1862, I have knowledge of that fact. Q. In 1862 and 1863, did he not come to this city—the city of Washington—to obtain voters who had left the State of Maryland, but had not lost their residence, to return there to vote the Union ticket, at his own expense? A. I believe such was the fact. It was so reported and understood by those who had control of matters in 1862; I believe, the fall of 1862. Q. Were you not appointed the Union State Central Committee of Maryland an agent to operate in certain portions of the State of Maryland in order to insure the success of the Union ticket? A. I was not appointed by anybody: it was merely a request to help along Mr. Holland in that Congressional district, which I was requested to do. Q. Did not Mr. Jenkins co-operate with you? A. He went for Calvert, and agreed to do all he knew how against Harris, whom he understood to be a Copperhead and Disunionist. Q. Did you or not understand then that he was co-operating in the election of the Union ticket? A. He did not act with the Holland party, but did for Mr. Calvert. Q. Was Mr. Calvert considered a Union man? A. He was considered by a few in portions of that county, but not in other portions of the county. Q. What was the status of Mr. Harris? [281] A. Mr. Harris was considered as a Democrat of the secession school, States-Rights Democrat, in that section of the country. Q. Did not Mr. Jenkins remark to you that he was under certain obligations to Mr. Calvert, and that, in the event that Mr. Calvert did not run, he would support Mr. Holland? A. He agreed to do that. He said that he was under personal obligations to Mr. Calvert, or he would try to accommodate me, and vote for Holland. Q. Can you speak of your own knowledge whether or not, immediately after the first battle of Bull Run, Mr. Jenkins procured a United-States flag, and hoisted the same in the county, and that, when he was informed that certain rebel sympathizers intended to haul down that flag, he gathered a band of some twenty to fifty Union men, armed them, and stood by that flag all night, in order to protect and defend it. A. I understand that to be the fact. It was generally understood so by parties that were acting with the Administration, that he had done that thing; got the flag from Mr. Murphy, I believe, on the Navy Yard. Q. Are you acquainted with a man by the name of Van Roby, and one by the name of Smoot? A. I know Mr. Roby by sight, but have no personal acquaintance? Q. What is their reputation among their neighbors? A. The people in Prince George’s are rather dissatisfied with the Administration on account of the slavery subject; and Mr. Roby is, I believe, holding office under the Administration; and they do not like him. That is about the only thing I know. They are in hostility one with another. The people down there who acted with the Administration in the early part of the war are dissatisfied on the subject of slavery, those who were regarded as Union men; and there is not a single friend of the Administration, hardly any of them, in that county now. Q. Have you or have not ever heard any doubt expressed as to the veracity of Jenkins? A. No, sir: I believe him to be a loyal man. Yüklə 2,75 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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