Justice was quick back in the day. President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated April 14th, 1865. In less than 3 months they had caught, tried and executed 4 conspirators on this day in 1865 Lewis Powell aka Lewis Payne,  David Herold,  George Atzerodt and Mary Surratt would all be hung at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. Surratt would be the first woman in American history to be executed.

Last year there was a movie about Mary Surratt , directed by Robert Redford called “The Conspirator” it got mixed reviews. I am a Lincoln assassination geek, but I tried watching this movie twice, and fell asleep a half hour in both times. There has always been some debate about the guilt of Mary Surratt. What did she know?