WHO WAS THE" SMALL MAN"?
by John F. Stanton
During the trial of John H. Surratt, it was imperative for his defense to establish, that he was in Elmira, New York, on April 13, 14 and 15, 1865. This was intended to show that he could not have been in Washington on the evening of Friday April 14, 1865, to participate in the assassination of President Lincoln. After lengthy testimony, the prosecution accepted this fact to be a true statement. It was further said that he left Elmira, by train, on Saturday April 15th . and subsequently arrived at White Hall, New York, later that same day. The next day, Easter Sunday, he was able to board a boat on Lake Champlain, that would take him to Burlington, Vermont. The availability of this boat was a distinct advantage to him, because trains did not run on Sunday in New York state. We know that he left White Hall sometime on Sunday, since he was seen in the Vermont Central Railroad station, in Burlington, waiting for the 4 AM train to St. Albans, Vermont, on Monday April 17.
This establishes that John Surratt was on his way back to Montreal, after completing his assignment in Elmira. At this point we can direct our attention to the small man who was traveling with Surratt. As Surratt and the small man rode toward St. Albans, they stood on the open platform between two of the cars, keeping to themselves and hiding as best they were able. Eventually, they were approached by the Conductor, who asked to see their tickets, or for them to pay for their fare. The Conductor, Mr. M. Carroll Hobart (1) described the two men, as “one tall man, about 6 feet 1 inch or more, and a small man barely 5 feet tall.”. (2) The small man was “thick set, short neck, full face, chin whiskers and had his coat buttoned all the way to the top.” Another detail that was reported that is of particular interest to us, was the tall man did all the talking and the little man was not permitted to talk. They were ordered to leave the train at the next stop, but they stayed on, through Essex Junction, Vt. and detrained at St. Albans. The Conductor later identified John Surratt, from photographs, as the tall man. (3)
The physical description of the small man does not tell us very much that a “Spy” could not change within minutes, other than he was less than 5 feet tall. That could not be faked. The other details can be added or subtracted as the need be. Two final items,- the sound of his voice, and the physical characteristics of his body were well hidden.
Previously to this series of events, beginning in Richmond, VA, about April 1, John Surratt and Sarah Slater were together. They went to Washington by April 4, New York on April 6 and finally Montreal on the 7th where they signed in at St. Lawrence Hall, together. Early in the following week, Surratt was directed by Brig. Gen, E. G. Lee, then in Command in Montreal, to go to Elmira to inspect the prison there, with the idea of determining the possibility of releasing the Confederate captives therein.. For some reason, and I can think of many, Sarah either decided to go with him, or possibly, was ordered to go, to provide some semblance of a “cover”.
Based on this scenario, I contend that the “small man”, on the train with Surratt, traveling to Montreal was Sarah A. Slater.
Prior to this paper, history had lost track of Sarah after she arrived in Montreal with Surratt and thanks to Gen. E.G. Lee, Diary, we may have two more leads to the adventures of Sarah. One is a reference to a “Canadian Youth” and the other was to a “young lady”, who was scared-off by Gen. Lee, - and she returned to New York.
More research will tell us if we know more about Sarah. If so, you will be the first to know.
(1)Baker, L. C. Gen., “History of the United States Secret Service” Philadelphia. Identified the Conductor as “C. T. Hobart”. Later he was identified as “M Carroll Hobart, during the Trial of John H. Surratt. The pertinent information was the same.