Lincoln Assassination

Breckinridge County Native

Jails and Hangs Assassination Conspirators

but John Surratt Escapes

by Gary Kempf & Richard Briggs

Joseph Holt was born in Breckinridge County, Kentucky on Jan 6, 1807. His place of birth was in the house pictured herein. The house was built by his father between 1800 and 1805. In 1848 an addition was built onto the house. The house now stands empty but in remarkably good condition though Richard Briggs recalls seeing the house about 40 years ago when it was used to store hay and straw. Joseph was educated at Saint Joseph's College in Bardstown, Kentucky and Centre College in Danville. He settled in Elizabethtown, Kentucky and set up a law office. He married Mary Harrison and moved to Louisville in 1832. He served as assistant editor of the Louisville Advertiser and the Commonwealth's Attorney. He moved to Port Gibson, Mississippi and practiced law there. His wife Mary died of tuberculosis and Joseph returned to Kentucky. He remarried Margaret Wickliffe and in 1857 was appointed Commissioner of Patents by President Buchanan, and moved to Washington. He was appointed Secretary of War and served until the end of Buchanan's presidency. During his tenure in Washington he held numerous appointed offices and was considered for Vice President in 1864. The VP nomination went to Andrew Johnson, and Lincoln was re-elected.

He was appointed Judge Advocate General of the Army by Lincoln and thus became presiding judge in the trial of the accused conspirators in the Lincoln assassination. The trial began on May 10, 1865. As a result of the trial, conspirators Samuel Arnold, Dr. Samuel Mudd and Michael O'Laughlen were sentenced to life in prison. Edman Spangler was sentenced to six years. George Atzerodt, David Herold, Lewis Paine, and Mary Surratt were sentenced to hang by the neck until dead. Only John Surratt, the son of Mary Surratt, escaped the hangman's noose or jail. He fled the country escaping to Canada where he heard that his mother was to be hanged as a conspirator in the Lincoln assassination. He remained a fugitive for a many months. He fled from Canada to Italy where he secured a job with the Ninth Company of the Pontifical Zouaves in the Vatican City - he guarded the Pope. He had a lot of help in his time as a fugitive. It is still a matter of speculation who his helpers were and why they helped him. The identity of most of those who assisted in his escape and world travels while a fugitive remains a mystery. He was found by American authorities and arrested in Italy. He was imprisoned in Italy but escaped. He was next traced to Alexandria, Egypt where he was arrested on November 23, 1866 and extradited for trial in the United States. After two months of trial, Surratt was released after a mistrial and statutes of limitations had run out on lesser charges. John Surratt ultimately became a free man. Surratt became a model citizen; He farmed tobacco, taught at the Rockville Female Academy, gave public lectures, and became the treasurer of the Old Bay Line steamship company on Chesapeake Bay. He became a teacher at the St. Joseph Catholic School in Emmitsburg, Maryland. In 1872 he married a second cousin of Francis Scott Key, Mary Victorine Hunter; they had seven children. On Friday April 21, 1916, Surratt died of pneumonia. He was 72 years old.

Some of those who aided John Surratt in his escape became known but were never prosecuted. Conspirator O'Laughlen died in prison in 1867. Fellow conspirators Arnold, Spangler, and Mudd were pardoned by President Johnson in 1869.

Following the trial the public image of Judge Advocate Joseph Holt was besmirched by his prosecutions and in particular the sentencing of death by hanging for Mary Surratt. The trial ended his political career. He retired on December 1, 1875 and died in Washington on August 1, 1896. He was buried in the family cemetery in Breckenridge County, less than 100 yards from the home of his birth.

As late as 1977 original letters and documents have been discovered that shed new light on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Much still remains uncertain. Speculation abounds among even scholars. When all is considered it would appear that Judge Holt rendered a fair trial and his verdicts were just. Controversy still exists whether or not there were two plots hatched by the conspirators and which of the conspirators knew the details of the plots. It is alleged that Mary Surratt thought the plot was to kidnap Lincoln, not assassinate him. Doubt remains regarding who knew the plot involved assassination of the president. There is one certainty - there will always be speculation regarding the Lincoln assassination.