Existing comment:
$100,000 Reward!
This printed posted, issued five days after Lincoln's death, announced a $100,000 reward for the capture of John Wilkes Booth and two of his known accomplices, "John H. Surrat" and "David C. Harold." They were wanted in connection with the assassination of President Lincoln at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865. In the days and weeks that followed, more became known about the conspirators (the name of John Surratt and David E. Herold would be correctly spelled), and others were identified. Federal soldiers tracked Booth to Carolina County, Virginia, and mortally wounded him. Afterward, there was a clamor for the reward money, a portion of which was divided among the officers and twenty-six soldiers who had captured Booth and taken Herold into custody. Surratt saved himself by fleeing to Canada, while his mother, Mary Surratt, was found guilty, largely by association, and hanged. |