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The Last Lincoln Conspirator: John Surratt in Elmira
On the morning of April 15, 1865, news broke in Elmira that President Lincoln had been assassinated. Three days before, John Surratt, a Confederate sympathizer and friend of John Wilkes Booth, had checked into a local hotel under an assumed name. His mission was to spy on the Confederate prisoner-of-war camp with the aim of arranging a mass breakout. Upon hearing the news of Lincoln’s death, he fled to Canada to escape arrest. His mother, Mary, was hanged for her involvement in the conspiracy. Although he was eventually captured and brought to trial, Surratt was never convicted.
 John Harrison Surratt |  John Surratt stayed at the Brainard House while in Elmira. He signed the guest book as John Harrison, but the book later mysteriously disappeared. |
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 Elmira Prison CampSurratt had come to study Elmira’s prisoner-of-war camp in the hopes of planning a breakout large enough to re-start the war. |  Mourning ribbon with daguerreotype of Abraham Lincoln, 1865 |
 Mourning badge with black and white ribbons and daguerreotype of Abraham Lincoln, 1865 |  Ceramic plaque of Abraham Lincoln, mid-19th century |
 Drum played by Edward Hinman Riggs of Company A, 107th NY Volunteers at Lincoln’s funeral procession in Chicago, Illinois on May 1, 1865 |
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