Lewis Powell (conspirator)

Powell aboard USS Saugus (1863), 1865. Photo by Alexander Gardner

William H. Seward, the object of Powell's murder attempt.

Powell in the hat and overcoat he wore on the night of the attack

The leaders of the prosecution: John A. Bingham, Joseph Holt, Henry Lawrence Burnett

The execution of Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt

American Confederate soldier who attempted to assassinate William Henry Seward as part of the Lincoln assassination plot.

- Lewis Powell (conspirator)

61 related topics

William H. Seward

American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States Senator.

Gubernatorial portrait of William H. Seward

Seward around 1844. Painting by Henry Inman.

In this March 1860 cartoon, Seward serves "mild beer" in his February 29, 1860, address to position himself as a moderate after the "irrepressible conflict" speech.

Seward photographed by the studio of Mathew Brady

Seward's little bell, as depicted in a hostile postwar cartoon

Running The "Machine"
An 1864 cartoon mocking Lincoln's cabinet depicts Seward, William Fessenden, Lincoln, Edwin Stanton, Gideon Welles and other members

Lewis Powell attacking Frederick Seward after attempting to shoot him

Medal presented to George F. Robinson for saving Seward's life

Thomas Nast cartoon from before the 1866 midterm elections. Seward is depicted as Johnson's grand vizier, motioning for the execution of Thaddeus Stevens, and is seen again in the inset, scars from the assassination attempt visible.

Johnson, as Mercutio, wishes a plague on both their Houses (of Congress) as Seward (as Romeo, right) leans over him. Alfred Waud cartoon from 1868.

Signing the Alaska Purchase. Seward is seated at center.

Thomas Nast cartoon on Alaska, 1867. Seward hopes that the purchase will help cool Johnson's fevered political situation.

Statue of Seward by Randolph Rogers in Madison Square Park, New York City

He was one of the targets of the 1865 assassination plot that killed Lincoln and was seriously wounded by conspirator Lewis Powell.

Mary Surratt

American boarding house owner in Washington, D.C., who was convicted of taking part in the conspiracy which led to the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln in 1865.

A woodprint depicting Surrattsville and the Surratt home, printed in 1867 in Harper's Weekly.

John H. Surratt, Jr. in 1868. Mary Surratt's son was a Confederate courier.

Lewis Powell was the co-conspirator whose untimely arrival at the Surratt boarding house on April 17 convinced many of Mary Surratt's guilt.

Louis J. Weichmann, whose testimony proved critical in convicting Mary Surratt.

A newspaper drawing of Surratt receiving comfort from one of the priests permitted to visit her in her prison cell.

Aftermath of the execution of Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt on July 7, 1865.

Grave of Mary Surratt (with modern headstone) at Mount Olivet Cemetery.

"Like Mudds, Surratts Want Name Cleared", The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Sunday, September 2, 1979

Booth visited the boardinghouse numerous times, as did George Atzerodt and Lewis Powell, Booth's co-conspirators in the Lincoln assassination.

David Herold

American pharmacist's assistant and accomplice of John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865.

Herold's grave in Congressional Cemetery is marked only by the tombstone of his sister, buried beside him.

Execution of Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt on July 7, 1865, at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. Digitally restored.

On the night of April 14, 1865, Herold guided Lewis Powell to Seward's house.

Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Assassinated by well-known stage actor John Wilkes Booth, while attending the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.

John Wilkes Booth assassinating Abraham Lincoln in Ford's Theatre

The last known high-quality image of Lincoln, taken on the balcony at the White House, March 6, 1865

Booth was present as Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address a month before the assassination.

Advertisement for Our American Cousin (Washington Evening Star, April 14, 1865)

This Currier & Ives print (1865) implies Rathbone was already rising as Booth fired; in fact, Rathbone was unaware of Booth until he heard the shot.

of Mr. Lincoln... was brought to this office... the assassin is a man named J. Wilks [sic] Booth."

The Last Hours of Abraham Lincoln (Alonzo Chappel, 1868)

An artist's depiction of Lewis Powell attacking William Seward's son, Frederick W. Seward

"The Apotheosis of Lincoln": Lincoln ascending to heaven, where George Washington embraces him and crowns him with laurels. (Unknown artist)

Reward broadside with photographs of John H. Surratt, John Wilkes Booth, and David E. Herold

The Garrett farmhouse, where Booth died April 26

Conspirators Lewis Powell and David Herold were assigned to kill Secretary of State William H. Seward, and George Atzerodt was tasked with killing Vice President Andrew Johnson.

George Atzerodt

German American repairman, Confederate sympathizer, and conspirator with John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of US President Abraham Lincoln.

At 10:15 P.M. that night, the same moment John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater, Lewis Powell attacked the already injured Secretary of State William Seward, but Atzerodt could not muster the courage to kill Andrew Johnson.

John Surratt

American Confederate spy who was accused of plotting with John Wilkes Booth to kidnap U.S. President Abraham Lincoln; he was also suspected of involvement in the Abraham Lincoln assassination.

John Harrison Surratt Jr. in Papal Zouave uniform, c. 1867

He was one of the first people suspected of the attempt to assassinate Secretary of State William H. Seward, but the culprit was soon discovered to be Lewis Powell.

Congressional Cemetery

Historic and active cemetery located at 1801 E Street, SE, in Washington, D.C., on the west bank of the Anacostia River.

Architectural drawing of Vice President George Clinton's monument by Benjamin Latrobe, 1812. Clinton was later reinterred in New York. The monuments to the right are in the form of the Latrobe cenotaphs.

Cenotaphs of Senators John C. Calhoun (left) and Henry Clay

Cenotaphs of Tip O'Neill (front, with flag) and Hale Boggs (rear, with flag). Note QRpedia QR codes displayed on metal spikes.

Congressional Cemetery; SE Washington DC, Looking NE

Congressional Cemetery; SE Washington DC, Looking NW

Legend says that Lewis Powell spent a night in the vault while avoiding pursuit for his role in the assassination of President Lincoln.

John Wilkes Booth

American stage actor who assassinated United States President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865.

The Richmond Theatre, Richmond, Virginia in 1858, when Booth, who had started acting in 1855, made his first stage appearance there in the repertory company

Boston Museum playbill advertising Booth in Romeo and Juliet, May 3, 1864

Left to right: Booth with brothers Edwin and Junius, Jr. in Julius Caesar

Lucy Lambert Hale, Booth's fiancée in 1865

The Old Soldiers Home, where Booth planned to kidnap Lincoln

March 18, 1865, Ford's Theatre playbill—Booth's last acting appearance

Currier and Ives depiction of Lincoln's assassination. L-to-r: Maj. Rathbone, Clara Harris, Mary Todd Lincoln, Pres. Lincoln, and Booth

Broadside advertising reward for capture of Lincoln assassination conspirators, illustrated with photographic prints of John Surratt, John Wilkes Booth, and David Herold

The porch of the Garrett farmhouse, where Booth died in 1865

The guns in Booth's possession when he was captured, Ford's Theatre National Historic Site (2011)

The Historic Site marker on U.S. Route 301 near Port Royal, where the Garrett barn and farmhouse once stood in what is now the highway's median (2007)

Booth Family gravesite, Green Mount Cemetery, where Booth is buried in an unmarked grave (2008)

Visitors to the Booth family plot often leave pennies, which depict Lincoln on their obverse, on the large monument of Booth's father Junius

He assembled a loose-knit band of Confederate sympathizers, including David Herold, George Atzerodt, Lewis Powell (also known as Lewis Payne or Paine), and rebel agent John Surratt.

Samuel Mudd

American physician who was imprisoned for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth concerning the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Dr. Samuel Mudd House, known as St. Catharine, now preserved as a museum

Trial of the conspirators; Mudd is second from the left in the back row

Dr. Mudd as he appeared while working in the carpenter's shop in the prison at Fort Jefferson, circa 1866–1867.

This plan was in effect until the night of the assassination, when Booth met up with Atzerodt, David Herold and Lewis Powell (who gave his name as Lewis Payne when he was arrested at Mary Surratt's house days after the murder) and disclosed the plot to assassinate the president instead.

John Bingham

American politician who served as a Republican representative from Ohio and as the United States ambassador to Japan.

John Bingham (left), along with Joseph Holt (center) and Henry Burnett (right), were the three prosecutors in charge of the Lincoln assassination trial.

John A. Bingham and Thaddeus Stevens before the Senate addressing the vote on President Andrew Johnson's impeachment by the House of Representatives.

The following month, the capital fell into chaos as John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, and Booth's co-conspirator Lewis Powell severely injured Secretary of State William H. Seward on the night of April 14, 1865.