Movie: The Conspirators

The Conspirators

Last night dd, dh and me went to see this movie.  Ds had seen it last week and couldn't stop talking about it.  Dh and ds along with dd are all history buffs especially civil war stuff, so this movie was right up their ally.   Mind you, we live about 30 minutes from Mary Surrat's house in Clinton, Maryland and have been to it many, many times.  It's so small that I do not understand how it could have been a pub, boarding house and a post office.  There are only like three small bedrooms upstairs.  The living room is about 9x10 if that big.  So whenever I go to tour it it amazes me that this a place of business.  During the movie, I learned that Mary Surrat moved to H St. in Washington, D.C. after her husband died.  I did not know that.  There in D.C. she opened another boarding house.    It was  house she acquired from her husband's relatives.



Here is a picture of it (it's the white house on the left).  It is now in a part of DC that is called China town.  This is the house where John Wilkes Booth had his meetings to plan the kidnapping of President Lincoln.  Here's what the house looks like today:

Really, it's a shame that this house is now a Chinese restaurant.  If those walls could talk....wow!  I might have dh take me to it (we live about 40 minutes from DC) just so I can go inside and see it.  I'll be the owners of this place don't have clue the history of their business.   I wonder why this place is not as known as being Mary Surrat's House like the one in Clinton, MD.  In fact, this house (the Chinese Restaurant) is the house where Mary was when the union soliders came to her to take her into custody.  And...I did not know that her son John was the one who conspired with John Wilkes Booth (well, it's believed it was him). 

I also live about 40 minutes from Dr. Samuel Mudd's house.  I have been there quite a few times, too.  Dr. Mudd is buried in the cemetery of the church dh's great, great grandparents were married at. 

Now I'm going to dig more into all this.  History, especially when you live among it is so interesting!