A Haunting Time With Mary Surratt

The Mary Surratt House. Credit: R. Gutro

There is a lot of history in Maryland, and one particular home was associated with the
assassination of President Lincoln. That was the house of Mary Surratt. Here is the story of my encounter with the hauntings in the home.

THE MARY SURRATT HISTORIC HOME - In October 2009, Tom and I wanted to do something to get in the "spirit" of my birthday, so we went to an historic Maryland home, and there was a ghost there. It was a cold, grey, damp, rainy day, so it was a perfect day to go to an old home. We arrived at the Mary Surratt House is located on Brandywine Road in Clinton, Maryland around 1pm (In 1965, the home became an historical State landmark), We entered in the "tavern/post office room" -of the house. I immediately got my tell-tale headache in the back left part of my head so I knew there was a ghost there.

The guide, a woman dressed in 1800s clothing talked about how after Mr. Surratt died, Mrs. Mary Surratt turned part of the house into a tavern/Inn. She said that only "male ghosts" have been heard and seen there.

SENSING MARY'S GHOST:  When we walked into the main hallway of the house I felt anxiety and tension. I asked the guide if Mary Surratt was a strong-willed, conservative, religious, head-strong woman. (ghosts will share their feelings and personality to convey their presence). The guide said "You've got her down pat!" Mary was conveying these things to me about her personality, and she WAS in the house. I also sensed she had a stressful life with her husband and was trying to tell me she was not guilty.

The guide went on to then explain that Mary was 17 when she married a man 10 years her elder, and her husband was an alcoholic that owed money to everyone in town. That confirmed to me why there was tension and anxiety in the house (in addition to Mary being convicted and hung by the U.S.).

 SOME HISTORY FROM Prarieghosts.com: 
 WHO WAS MARY SURRATT? The only female conspirator convicted in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.... and her ghost is said to haunt several places in Maryland and Washington today. Mary Surratt was born in Maryland in 1823 and married John Surratt in 1840. In 1852, they built a tavern in what is now Clinton, Maryland, although with a post office also located there, it became known as Surrattsville. John died in 1862 and left Mary deeply in debt. She moved into the city of Washington, into a house that she and her husband had owned, and turned it into a boarding house, which would lead to her downfall.

INFAMOUS OCCUPANTS - Among the occupants of the house were her son, John, who was a Confederate courier, several southern sympathizers and a frequent guest, an actor named John Wilkes Booth. Booth visited often and conspired with John Surratt to murder President Lincoln. Following Lincoln's assassination, the house and the former tavern were searched.

(PHOTO LEFT: This photo of Mary Surratt hangs in the hallway. One look at this picture and I knew immediately that her ghost was communicating with me. Credit: R. Gutro).

WHAT HAPPENED -  The tavern had been leased to a man named John Lloyd and he had testified that Mary had been involved in the plot to kill the president (John Wilkes Booth told Lloyd that Mary was involved). Mary was subsequently taken into custody. She was convicted by a military court and condemned to death, although she appealed the sentence to her dying day. On July 7, 1865, she and her three fellow conspirators were hanged at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, DC. She became the first woman ever executed by the Federal government. Today, however, questions still remain about her guilt.

 (PHOTO: The Parlor is in the front left side of the house.
It is connected by the hallway where I sensed Mary's ghost. Cr: R. Gutro). 

RUMORS OF MARY'S GHOST: Prarieghosts.com said: Mary's ghost is also said to frequent her home in Clinton, Maryland. She is believed to be just one of the ghosts who haunt the place. In the 1940s a widow lived in one half of the house and rented out the other. People spoke of seeing the ghost of Mary Surratt on the stairway between the first and second floors while others spoke of hearing men's voices, engaged in conversation, in the back of the house when no one was there. People who have worked there and have visited there claim to have seen apparitions of people in period clothing, have heard the phantom cries of children and have heard footsteps pacing through the upper floor of the house when no one else was present.

Dining room where I sensed Mary's ghost. Cr: R.Gutro

I SENSED MARY'S GHOST AGAIN - In the main first floor hallway. She was standing at the top of the stairs when we entered the hallway and shared the emotions I mentioned. She later followed us around the staircase and into the dining room. Behind the stairway was a cold spot (and I felt as if I brushed by her there).

WHAT COLD SPOTS MEAN - Because ghosts are energy, they need energy to manifest. So, they draw on the energy of motion of molecules of air. Fast moving molecules of air are warm air, and when slowed down (from removal of energy), slower moving molecules are cooler air. That's why whenever there is a ghost trying to appear, there's a cold spot).


 (PHOTO: Attic on the 2nd floor over the kitchen, where John Surratt and John Wilkes Booth supposedly met to plan President Lincoln's assassination. I didn't sense any ghosts in there.)