The sun was bright and hot as Alexander Gardner tended to his equipment on July 7, 1865. The noted Civil War photographer had brought two cameras with him, one wet plate and one stereoscopic, with which to capture the day’s event. Gardner was lucky, due to his prestige he was able to set himself up in the cool shade of a nearby building overlooking the scene. From his vantage point, facing out of two windows on the second floor of an old shoe factory on the property, Gardner could take in the entire scene.
Men began trickling into the courtyard below. Most were soldiers on assigned guard duty, but there was also a notable contingent of civilians. Many were newspapermen, here to commit to writing what Gardner would record on glass. A few others had come, in spite of the oppressive heat, to see justice meted out. Gardner focused his cameras on the object around which all the men had gathered – a hastily built gallows. Over the course of the next thirty minutes or so, Gardner would take at least 10 photographs of the proceedings. Through his lens, the execution of Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt was recorded in haunting clarity.
By using high resolution versions of Alexander Gardner’s photographs available through the Library of Congress, one can splice most of the execution photographs together to recreate the final moments of the four condemned conspirators in Abraham Lincoln’s assassination in vivid detail. NOTE: The animation is below but is a bit large so it might take a second to load, especially on mobile devices.
Alexander Gardner’s photographs of the hanging provide us with a glimpse of the past that no newspaper report can equally replicate. Combined with modern technology, these photographs bring realism to a story whose epilogue was written 153 years ago today.
Click to view the full sized composite image
References:
The post was inspired by the work of Barry Cauchon and John Elliott
LincolnConspirators.com 
Thank you for giving such informative and interesting posts..
Thank you, Candace.
The final image made after the execution has interested me because there is a boy in the crowd of onlookers. He appears to be wearing a military style hat, I wonder who he was? He’s staring at Mrs. Surratt as are many of the soldiers and it must have been a shocking event, especially for a child, to witness a woman hanged.
The boy’s name was John Collins: https://awesometalks.wordpress.com/2009/03/07/3381/
Wow, thank you for replying, that’s a great story!
Very nice animation!
Thank you so much, Paul. It took a long time to create so I’m glad you enjoyed it.
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Dave – Dr. Paul Severance here (General Hancock at the courtroom open houses). A question. Did the hanging break the necks of the condemned? I heard that none were broken; that Mary and Atzerodt were broken; ad that all broken! Any insights?
im so glad you bring this up . I think its another case of some bogus information floating around out there . I hope Dave will put it all right. For now , i just have my opinion . Imo , there were more necks broken than some of the history books say . Certainly more than just Mary’s . In the death photos , a # of the dead people have their heads cocked at a most peculiar angle ; one that is consistent with their necks being broken . Again , in my opinion . And im on tenterhooks (ooh, bad reference ? ) waiting for more info . Cant wait !!!
Dr. Severance,
It’s great to hear from you. Michael Kauffman’s book, American Brutus, gives the best overview of how the conspirators died based on the different eyewitness accounts. Here’s what he has to say:
“Spectators were aghast as Lewis Powell twisted and writhed and struggled for life. He kicked for a full five minutes, and those standing close by could see the rope cutting deeply into his dark purple skin. Herold twitched for a moment, and wet himself. Atzerodt’s stomach heaved in a brief convulsion. For Mary Surratt, death appeared instantaneous. Twenty minutes after the drop, all four were pronounced dead.”
My opinion is that Mary Surratt’s neck was broken but it doesn’t seem like the same could be said for the men.
Best,
Dave
Just a comment of interest. In the 50’s, there was a show called “I’ve Got A Secret”. On 2-9-56 a contestant was on the show and his secret was that he witnessed Abraham Lincolns assassination when he was 5 years old at Ford’s Theater. He was 94 at the time and had fallen down the hotel stairs and got bruised pretty bad. He still wanted to come on the show. The panel guessed his secret but he still was awarded the $80.00 in winnings. The episode can be seen on the WEB and is very interesting. He died a couple of months later of his injuries. His name was Samuel Seymour.
Bruce,
One of my first posts on this blog back in 2012 talked about Mr. Seymour. I included a newspaper account written about his memories witnessing Lincoln’s assassination. A few years after writing the piece, I visited Mr. Seymour’s final resting place (his grave is unmarked). If you’re interested, my post about him can be read here: https://lincolnconspirators.com/2012/06/20/an-old-codger-like-me/