The Ghost of Mary Surratt’s Boarding House

Posted: 12.20.2024 | Updated: 12.26.2024

As the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., has been the site of the United States’ greatest moments and deepest sorrows. One of these tragedies occurred at Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865, when President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. Afterward, boardinghouse owner Mary Surratt was accused of plotting to assassinate the president. Despite proclaiming her innocence, she was executed, and some say her angry and frightened spirit lingers on at her old boarding house.

Washington, D.C., is home to some of the nation’s most haunted places and scariest ghost stories. Learn more about them by booking a ghost tour with D.C. Ghosts for your next trip!

Is The Mary Surratt Boarding House Haunted?

Reports of hauntings at Mary Surratt’s Boarding House date back to when the building was only about 40 years old. Tenants heard unexplained noises, voices, and cries that they attributed to the former owner herself, Mary Surratt. These stories would persist for well over another century as the boarding house changed hands and was eventually turned into a restaurant. Despite the substantial changes to the building and over 150 years passing, Mary Surratt’s ghost seems to travel between her old boardinghouse and the site of her execution. 

History of The Mary Surratt Boarding House

The Mary Surratt Boarding House was built in 1843 in the vernacular Greek Revival Style. Located at 604 H Street NW, the three-and-a-half-story building was purchased by John Harrison Surratt in 1853 and turned into a boarding house. John and his wife Mary had married when she was 17 and lived in Maryland, where they ran a tavern. John was known for being an alcoholic with massive debt. He was also a secessionist who vehemently supported the Confederacy during the Civil War. 

In 1862, John Surratt unexpectedly died, leaving Mary in serious financial distress. With few options to get herself out of debt, Mary decided to rent out the tavern and move with her children to D.C. to run the boarding house. This decision would eventually lead to her death.

After Mary’s death, her daughter inherited the property and sold it. The boarding house changed hands multiple times and was sometimes auctioned off. In 1925, owner Irvan Schwarztman renovated the building and turned the ground floor into commercial space. Over the years, the building housed a tea shop and grocery store among other businesses. The first business in the space was the Piccadilly Bottle Supply Company, which illegally sold alcohol during Prohibition and was raided in 1928.

Today, the Mary Surratt Boarding House is located in the center of D.C.’s Chinatown and is home to Wok And Roll, a combination restaurant and karaoke bar. 

The Plot To Assassinate Abraham Lincoln

From September 1864 to April 1865, the boarding house was frequented by Lewis Powell, George Atzerodt, and John Wilkes Booth, who together plotted to kidnap President Abraham Lincoln. Booth had been introduced to Mary’s son, John Surratt Jr., who was also a courier for the Confederacy, on December 23, 1864. John soon became involved in the conspiracy, and Mary is said to have regularly invited Booth to the boarding house. 

The kidnapping of Lincoln was meant to blackmail the US government into resuming prisoner exchanges with the Confederacy. On the same night of the kidnapping, Lewis Powell was to murder Secretary of State William H. Seward, and George Atzerodt was to assassinate Vice President Andrew Johnson. Both of their attempts failed, but John Wilkes Booth took the abduction plan in a deadly direction.

On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth crept into the presidential box at Ford’s Theatre and shot President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln died from the gunshot, and Wilkes escaped, breaking his leg as he leaped from the box to the stage. He was found on April 26, hiding out in a Virginia barn, where he was killed by a Union soldier. 

The Trial & Execution of Mary Surratt

Mary Surratt was arrested in relation to the assassination on April 17, 1865, just three days after Lincoln had been shot. The arrest of a woman sparked a media frenzy, and the press wasted no time in finding Mary guilty prior to her actual trial. One newspaper called the boarding house “a regular treason-brewing nest.” In regards to Mary, the press described her as a “veiled Jezebel” and “she-devil ring-leader.” 

During the trial, evidence was presented showing that Mary had provided field glasses and guns to Booth and his men at her boarding house on the night of April 14. Co-conspirator Lewis Powell testified that Mary was innocent of any involvement in the kidnapping plot. However, the evidence was enough to convict Mary and sentence her to death. John Surratt Jr. fled to Italy but faced a military tribunal two years later following his capture. He was ultimately found not guilty.

Mary Surratt was the first woman executed by the US government. Some of Mary’s supporters claimed that she was supposed to receive life in prison, but the judge hid the information so that President Andrew Johnson would approve Mary’s execution. Johnson stated that he knew nothing of a recommendation for life in prison. On July 7, 1865, 42-year-old Mary Surratt, along with co-conspirators Lewis Powell, George Atzerodt, and David Herold, were hanged. 

The Ghost of Mary Surratt

Following her violent death and pleas of innocence, many believe that Mary Surratt’s spirit was left with a great deal of unfinished business. As early as the 1870s, only several years after her execution, residents at the Mary Surratt Boarding House reported her restless ghost haunting the establishment.

People have heard creaking floorboards and footsteps when no one was walking. There are also disembodied whispers, talking, and even sobs. Mary was reported to be deeply distressed after being charged with Lincoln’s assassination, and these sobs could be residual hauntings from the aftermath of her arrest. Mary’s spirit is said to be particularly active on the second floor of the building, which currently houses karaoke lounges. 

In 1893, there was an article in The Progressive Thinker about a séance where contact was made with Mary Surratt’s spirit. Mary’s ghost again pleaded her innocence and cursed the general who carried out her execution. She also stated that her life had been “hell,” and she was now in “paradise.”

Hauntings At Fort McNair

In addition to reports of Mary Surratt’s ghost at her old boarding house, her apparition has also been spotted at nearby Fort McNair, formerly the Washington Arsenal Penitentiary, where Mary spent her final days and was executed. Soldiers have seen her ghost, wearing a dark cloak, walking from the building where she was imprisoned to the former site of the gallows where she was hanged. Others have heard her weeping outside the building where she was held in the days leading up to her execution. One officer even heard a woman scream, “Don’t let me fall!” which is what Mary said as she was led to the gallows.

In the building where Mary’s daughter watched the hanging, the windows mysteriously fog up for no reason, almost as if someone were pressing their face against the glass and crying. 

Haunted Washington, D.C.

Could it be that the first woman executed by the federal government was innocent? Whatever the truth was, the ghost of Mary Surratt is still tormented by her own death.

The story of Mary Surratt is one of the many haunting tales that make up the history of Washington, D.C. You can hear more ghostly tales by booking your tour with D.C. Ghosts today! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, and keep reading our blog for more real Washington D.C. hauntings.

Sources: 

http://hauntedohiobooks.com/news/ghosts-news/the-spirit-of-mary-surratt/