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JOHN H. SURRATT.Ilia Kscape From Capture When He Wma Papal Zouave.Whether Surratt was in the city outhe day of Lincoln's assassination willprobably never be positively known. During his trial he attempted to prove that he was in Elmira, N. Y., doingspecial service for the Confederacy, and the proof which he furnished was sufficient to convince 8 out of the 153 jurors that he was not present and took 11c part in the plot. Surratt claimed to have first learned of the murder ou the morning following the assassination from the newspapers while in Elmira and on thenext morning, while en route to New York city, of his suspected complicity in the plot. He fled immediately toCanada, where he remained concealed by Catholic priests for nearly five months. Leaving Canada, lie went to England, tin nee to Paris, and thence tc Rome, where, under the name of Watson, he enlisted in the zouaves of the pope.While in the Papal zouaves he was recogniz* lt;1 by a ('anadian acquaintance, who betray* d him. On tho day following his arrest, while under tho guard of six men, he leaped blindly from a rocky precipice over 100 feet in depth, und, alighting by chance on a projecting rock 510 feet below, clambered quickly down tho abyss, escaped, reached Naples in. the course of a week and sailed to Al-ried tho instructions to the consul therethat led to his capture. He was Anally brought back to tho United States and tried at Washington by a civil court. Tho trial extended over a period of two months, and more than 5300 witnesses appeared on the stand. The jury disagreed, as above stated, and the government did not prosecute the case further. —“Four Lincoln Conspiracies, ’ ’ by Victor Louis Mason, in Century.
Newspaper Details
Warren Evening News
Warren, Pennsylvania, US
Thu, May 07, 1896
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 22 Nov 2020
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