Don’t Blame Mary Surratt For The Assassination Of Our Pre-Abraham Lincoln, Federal Style Buildings.!?
Don’t Blame Mary Surratt For The Assassination Of Our Pre-Abraham Lincoln Federal Style Buildings.!?
Mary Surratt Boarding House, No. 541 H Street, NW, Washington City, District of Columbia
(now 604 H Street, NW, Washington DC)
While in Washington, D.C., Circa NOW, 604 H Street, NW appears as a Chinese food restaurant in the Chinatown neighborhood, we have taken liberties in the review of a beautiful and ugly past…
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Current Context of the Mary Surratt Boarding House, H Street, Washington D.C.
Not unlike many of the older, 19thcentury row-buildings in Chinatown, the Surratt Boarding House at 604 H Street, NW has turned out to be a true misery hole. In terms of age, it is more difficult to date buildings in D.C. prior to the age of permits, but we know for sure that the house was built prior to 1853 (as evidence later in the article will show) and most likely in the 1840s due to the form and stylistic motifs. Photographs of the house depict a two-and-a-half story and basement dwelling in the form and style derived from America’s Federal period, but with a few Greek Revival stylistic details in its original front door enframement and the treatment of the dorms (a federal period feature atop the early roof style), crowned with Greek Revival pediments rather than being arched as was common earlier in the 19th century. In referencing 19th century photographs of the building, we must say that our mouth waters at the original wood staircase and entrance platform–a feature long gone to development!
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19th Century View, Mary Surratt's Boarding House, 541 H Street, N.W., Washington City, District of Columbia
Most of these features go away in the 20thcentury, as did the taste for this once residential section of the Federal City. The neighboring houses once reflected similar Greek Revival stylistic overtones and possible renovations reflecting more Italianate influences. The pitched roof that remains a feature ofthe Surratt Boarding House would have been more common on some buildings that now appear to be three-stories. Survival of the attic story in Washington City was a rarity, even in the late 19th century.
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20th Century View of Mary Surratt's Boarding House, H Street, Washington DC. View Shows Transition From Residential To Commercial With Ground/Basement Story Shop/Storefront.
Upon the death of her husband–John H. Surratt, Mary Surratt rented her tavern and farm in Prince George’s County, Maryland for $500/600 annually, removing to the Federal City to operate a boarding house at No. 541 H Street, N.W. (now 604 H Street, NW). Some Historians claim that “…Mary Surratt needed the money…” and other say “…Mary Surratt would have made more had she remained in Maryland, renting the whole house in Washington for more annual profit…,” but honestly, we may never really know. While Mary Surratt’s two to four year stay in the Federal City seems to fit the typical short transient residence, the fact is that the family had actually owned the dwelling for almost a decade.
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Current View, Mary Surratt Boarding House (Gone Chinese Restaurant and Boarding Misery Hole), H Street, Washington, D.C.
According to the District of Columbia Recorder of Deeds, John H. Surratt purchased the “…three-story brick house, narrow lot, 29 feet wide and 100 feet deep…” on December 6, 1853 from A.A. and Sarah K. Gibson. While Surratt had purchased the building free and clear, he took out a mortgage on the house in 1860 from Henry Naylor. A trend Mary Surratt would follow in January 1865, when the property was mortgaged for $1,000 to James Harvey.
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The Putrid Entrance and Plaque of the Mary Surratt Boarding House, Now A Chinese Restaurant and Misery Boarding Hole
Prior to the Civil War and the death of their patriarch, the Surratts had been a prosperous middle class family. In 1860, John H. Surratt, “a hotel keeper” and native of Virginia, had roughly $10,000—a nice middle class sum allowing for moderate comfort in 19thcentury America. Living with him at his tavern and farm in Prince George’s County, Maryland was his wife Mary, a native to Maryland; the children of John and Mary—Isaac, “Anna,” and a younger John Surratt (all of whom were born in the District of Columbia between 1841 and 1844); Elizabeth Knott—perhaps a relative; and the local school teacher—H. Dyson (age 59). Many historians theorize about “why?” Mary Surratt moved to Washington, D.C. after her husband’s death; however, since the Surratt children were all born in the District of Columbia, it is not surprising that, after losing her husband, “the widow of John H. Surratt” would want to remove to the familiar urban area where less physical maintenance to property would be required. In fact, John H. Surratt had married Mary Elizabeth Jenkins on April 8, 1840–where else but in the District of Columbia.!?
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Looking West, This 19th Century (Third/Fourth Quarter) Photograph Shows A Side Elevation of the Surratt Boarding House and Its Neighbors, Gives An Idea of Exactly How Residential, Beautiful The Area Once Was...
Also, the “Sarate” family actually lived in D.C. according to the 1850 census—perhaps at No. 541 H Street. The household included John, Elizabeth, Isaac, “Elizabeth” (the same age as the previous “Ann”), and the younger John as well as boarders—William Chinn, a Miller; and Isaac Barrett, his wife Sarah and their son William. Whether the Surrats were in the outlying rural county of the District of Columbia or in H Street is unknown, but its certainly an interesting consideration…a consideration left unturned in the recent movie–The Conspirator…
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Turn of the 20th Century View of the Surratt Boarding House. Note: Neighboring Building (on right) Has Undergone Renovations To Remove the Entrance To The Ground Floor, Although We Find the Renovations Incredibly Sensitive...
After the death of her husband in 1862, Mary Surratt removed to the District. A boarding house was perfectly respectable for a middle class woman. Assassination plots were another thing. On April 16, 1865, at precisely “11 o’clock in the evening,” R.C. Morgan, with the War Department, arriving just after Major Smith, Captain Wermerskirch and other officers, removed “the inmates” of the Surratt Boarding House, along with the relevant contents such as papers, etc. Mary Surratt, the proprietor, was among those arrested, never to return to H Street. As we all know, she had been keeping the wrong kind of tenants and, apparently, raising the wrong kind of son… She was executed on July 7, 1865—hanging by the neck until death—in a Washington, D.C. prison-yard. The Surratts, no doubt, lost the house at No. 541 H Street, NW (now 604 H Street, NW, Washington DC), given that only the daughter “Anna” remained in residence without an income after her mother’s death and her brother’s disappearance.
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Interior View of Stair-hall/Staircase, Mary Surratt Boarding House, H Street, Washington DC
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HABS View of the Attic Story Interior, Mary Surratt Boarding House, H Street, Washington DC
Aesthetically, the Surratt Boarding House has since been blown to hell—modernized to death both in and out of doors. We like to think of it as a “modern oriental treatment,” but perhaps that’s harsh…
Just maybe, credit is due: it may be true that the proprietors are preservationists after all…since, in deed, they have somehow managed to preserve the original white wash—in fact, it is most likely….the Surratts’ original coat of paint…
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Alternate Elevation, Mary Surratt Boarding House, H Street, NW, Washington, DC
Desktop, scholarly based research was conducted in preparation and publication of this article. Sources can be provided upon request.