Anna Surratt: “A Daughter is a Daughter for all her Life”

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Her story began on the first day in the new year of 1843 when she was born the only daughter of John and Mary (Jenkins) Surratt. They named her Elizabeth Susanna (she was also known as Eugenia Susanna) or “Anna” and she loved her parents. When her father died in 1862 her devotion to her mother only grew stronger. She moved with her mother to Washington D.C. into a townhouse Mary inherited upon the death of her husband John and she used the home as a boarding house.

This is where my story begins - 2 a.m. - Saturday - April 15, 1865

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(United States Public Domain)

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Anna is 22 years old when the Civil War ended. On that Friday night her cousin Olivia Jenkins was staying with Anna. The girls were sleeping in an attic room when they are awakened by the arrival of the police. Rising from a deep sleep the girls make their way down the stairs to find their home being searched. The police are seeking her younger brother John and his friend and frequent guest at the boarding house John Wilkes Booth for questioning on the shooting of President Lincoln. Since neither men were found in the home the police depart. At breakfast a few hours later another boarder Louis Weichmann, a school friend of younger brother John, will testify that he overheard Anna say:

“the death of Lincoln was ‘no worse than that of the meanest n—– in the army.” He then warned Anna “I thought she would find out differently.” {1}

The President died approximately 5 hours after the police arrived at the boarding house.

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On Monday April 17th the authorities came back to the boarding house and this time they took Anna, her cousin Olivia, Mary Surratt and another young boarder staying with the family Nora Fitzpatrick into custody. On April 30th Mary was separated from her daughter when she was taken to the Old Arsenal Prison while Anna stayed at Old Capital Prison until May 31, 1865.

The trial of Mary Surratt and the remaining conspirators began on May 9, 1865. On May 30th, Anna was called to testify in her mother’s defense. She had not seen her mother since Mary had been transferred so Anna was quiet upset and as the questioning continued she began looking about the room asking where was her mother. The cross-examination by the government was not going well and they asked that her mother’s attorney take a distraught Anna off the stand and into another room where she collapsed.

She was released from prison the next day and was allowed to attend the proceedings and be near her mother. At times they were even able to visit. On June 30th Anna was granted permission to stay with her mother in her cell. Mary Surratt had taken ill and Anna would be with her mother until July 7th.

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June 5, 1865
Mary Surratt sits on the upper right
(United States Public Domain)

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Anna and her mother learned on July 6th that this would be the last full day they would be together. She spent her mother’s last 24 hours in a desperate attempt to save her life. She tried to visit President Andrew Johnson two times to stop the execution but to no avail. She went back to the Old Arsenal prison to say a final goodbye to her mother. There is evidence that Anna never saw the actually death of her mother. William Doster, the attorney for Lewis Powell claimed that Anna watched until the noose was put over her head and then fainted while a family friend John Brophy claimed that he was told not to allow Anna to watch the hanging and he made sure the young lady did not.

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After her mother’s death the twenty-two year old Anna carried the most accursed name in America as she went back to the boarding house to live. Her older brother Isaac (born 1841) joined the Confederate Army on March 7, 1861. He left Maryland and went to Texas and enlisted in the 33rd Cavalry, or Duff’s Partisan Rangers, 14th Cavalry Battalion. He left the United States after the war and stayed in Europe. Her younger brother John (born 1844) was a wanted man in questioning of the conspiracy to kill the president. In the newspaper “The Evening Star” an article appeared that Anna was being pressured by Mary Surratt’s attorney to sell her home, however there may have been another motive for the request. For the sale of the home to transfer John Surratt would have to appear and the thinking was perhaps this would get him to reveal himself to the authorities. It didn’t work. The paper also noted that Anna's health had returned and she was “receiving a large number of sympathizing visitors”. {3}

According the the National Register of Historic Places the home was auctioned off in June 1866 and used to pay off the Surratt’s family debt. {6} During the year of 1867, John Surratt was finally back in the United States and facing charges for his part in the assassination. As Anna had with her mother she stood loyal to her brother visiting him in prison. She reportedly told a close friend:

“if John were hung, she knew she would die, for then, the last tie that bound her shattered heart to earth, would be broken.” {1}

The jury was unable to reach a verdict and John was allowed to go free.

The next mention in the newspaper was this statement from the “Daily Memphis Avalanche”:

“Annie Surratt will remove to Baltimore and become a school teacher.” {3}

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On June 17, 1869 Anna married William P. Tonry. Tonry was a chemist working in the surgeon general’s office that was located at Ford’s Theatre. The theatre was converted into a government office building after the assassination of President Lincoln. The couple were married at St. Patrick’s Church in Washington, D.C. At her wedding she was joined by both her brothers. Sadly when they returned from their honeymoon, Tonry had been fired from his job with the government. It was rumored that someone in the government was not happy with his choice of Anna as his wife. They moved to Baltimore where Tonry resumed his career in chemistry and they managed to live a financially comfortable life.

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The couple gave an interview in the “Evening Star” during the 1880 presidential campaign when two former Civil War generals were facing off, James A. Garfield and Winfield S. Hancock. General Hancock had been the presiding general over the execution of Mary Surratt and “dirty tricks” were being used against him during the campaign. As the newspaper indicated:

“the couple was facing swarms of reporters as well as a flood of letters and telegrams, all seeking to draw out Anna’s opinion of Hancock. The Star said the attention “has made her extremely nervous, and she cannot talk upon the subject even to her intimate friends.”

Professor Tonry was a bit more forthcoming. To start with, he disowned an earlier supposed interview that had been making the rounds: “We have made no such statement, nor is it our present purpose to affirm or deny anything that may be said upon either side of the unpleasant subject.” The professor did say, however, “that the republican party is responsible for the murder of Mrs. Surratt. … No party ought to think of making capital of the matter.” {3}

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For the most part, Anna and her husband lived a rather quiet life. They were the parents of 2 sons and a daughter that died within a year of her birth. However Anna did make the papers one more time when “The Washington Times” printed:

October 26, 1904: "Mrs Anna Tonry Rests In Mount Olivet. They reported her name as Mrs Anna E. D. Tonry {5}

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This story isn’t complete with a few additional facts:
  • During the early days into the investigation in Lincoln’s death the police, while searching the Surratt townhouse, found suspicious items relating to Anna. Among those items included: a framed picture titled “Morning, Noon and Night” which Anna had concealed on the back side a photograph of John Wilkes Booth; they found a card bearing the motto ‘Sic semper tyrannus’, photographs of Confederate officials and generals; and “scribblings on a letter" to Anna from Booth. Anna was able to explain all this evidence away to the satisfaction of the investigators.
  • On February 9, 1869 Anna was permitted to transfer her mother’s remains to Mount Olivet Cemetery in Washington, D.C. This was granted after she had appealed to President Johnson in the waning days of his presidential term. Mary Surratt was given a proper Catholic burial. Older brother Isaac was present; John had gone to South America after his trial.
  • Her oldest brother Isaac resided in Baltimore and died in 1907. He never married.
  • Brother John died in 1916. He married and had 5 children including a daughter named Mary Surratt.
  • William Tonry died less than a year after Anna. At the time of his death he was considered one of the most respected chemists in the county. He is buried at Mount Olivet next to his wife and mother-in-law.
  • When Anna died in 1904, public opinion had changed toward’s the execution of Mary Surratt. Many believed that Mary had been the victim of “prosecutorial zeal. At the time of her death the “Baltimore American” remembered Anna for her: “utmost devotion and self-sacrifice in the closing hours of Mrs. Surratt’s life.” {1}
* * *

“A mother and a daughter always share a special bond, which is engraved on their hearts.” – Unknown -

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Anna and Mary Surratt
(Public Domain)

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Sources
1. https://www.susanhigginbotham.com/posts/mary-surratts-loyal-daughter-anna-surratt/
2. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-mary-surratt-boarding-house-washington-dc
3. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/feb/4/20050204-090254-6902r/
4.
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Surratt-50
5. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9723985/eugenia-susanna-tonry
6.
https://ghostsofdc.org/2015/03/02/mary-surratt-house-wok-roll-dc/
 

Obituary:

The Washington Times of Washington, District of Columbia on Wednesday, October 26, 1904: "Mrs Anna Tonry Rests In Mount Olivet. They give her name as Mrs Anna E. D. Tonry. She "was buried in the family lot, where the body of Mrs. Surratt and her child repose. The lot is marked by an unpretentious tombstone, bearing the name of "Mrs Mary Surratt". After services in Baltimore, her body was placed on a train and brought to Washington for burial in Mount Olivet. She married Prof. William P Tonry, for several years State chemist of Maryland and one of the best known chemists in the East. Mrs Tonry's three sons served throughout the Spanish American war as members of the Fifth Maryland Regiment.

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She married Prof. William P Tonry, for several years State chemist of Maryland and one of the best known chemists in the East. Mrs Tonry's three sons served throughout the Spanish American war as members of the Fifth Maryland Regiment.
I'm happy that she seemed to have a good life after the death of her mother. I believe from one of my sources I read that her husband (then future husband) helped her acquire the permission to re-bury her mother in 1869 and perhaps that cost him his job while he was on his honeymoon. It doesn't seem she had much support from her brothers. She has a remarkable story - thank you for your additional information.
 
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