2-365-487 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

John Surratt, member of the Lincoln conspiracy, 1865 (1955). Surratt (1844-1916), pictured here in Papal Zouave uniform, was involved in an unsuccessful attempt to kidnap US President Abraham Lincoln with the intention of holding him for ransom in exchange for the release of Confederate prisoners of war. His mother, Mary Surratt, was executed for her involvement in the assassination of Lincoln, having given the conspirators accommodation in her boarding house. Surratt denied any involvement in the assassination plot, but fled overseas to avoid arrest. He served briefly in the Papal Zouaves in the Vatican City under the name of John Watson, before being recognised and escaping to Egypt. He was apprehended by US officials in Alexandria in November 1866 and was extradited to the United States for trial. He admitted his involvement in the kidnap attempt but continued to deny that he was involved in the assassination. He was eventually released after the case ended up in a mistrial with the statute of limitations having expired on all cahrges other than murder. A print from Mathew Brady Historian with a Camera by James D Horan, Bonanza Books, New York, 1955.