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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.

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