Mary Surratt
Married life
Married life
------------

Mary Jenkins met John Harrison Surratt in 1839, when she was 16 or 19 and he was 26\.Cashin, p. 288\.Larson, p. 12\. His family had settled in Maryland in the late 1600s. An orphan, he was adopted by Richard and Sarah Neale of Washington, D.C., a wealthy couple who owned a farm.Trindal, p. 19\. The Neales divided their farm among their children, and Surratt inherited a portion of it. His background has been described by historian Kate Clifford Larson as "questionable", and he had fathered at least one child out of wedlock. They wed in August 1840\.Trindal, p. 20\. John converted to Roman Catholicism prior to the marriage, and the couple may have wed at a Catholic church in Washington, D.C.One source says it is not clear that they married in a Catholic church. See: Jampoler, p. 25\. Another claims they were married in a private home on Good Hope Road in Prince George's County, Maryland. See: Trindal, p. 20\. John purchased a mill in [Oxon Hill, Maryland](/wiki/Oxon_Hill%2C_Maryland "Oxon Hill, Maryland"), and the couple moved there. The Surratts had three children over the next few years: Isaac (born June 2, 1841\), Elizabeth Susanna (nicknamed "Anna", born January 1, 1843\), and John Jr. (born April 1844\).Trindal, p. 20, 22\.

In 1843, John Surratt purchased from his adoptive father  of land straddling the DC/Maryland border, a parcel named "Foxhall" (approximately the area between Wheeler Road and Owens Road today).Trindal, p. 22\. Richard Neale died in September 1843, and a month later, John purchased  of land adjoining Foxhall. John and Mary Surratt and their children moved back to John's childhood home in the District of Columbia in 1845 to help John's mother run the Neale farm. But Sarah Neale fell ill and died in August 1845,Trindal, p. 25\. having shortly before her death deeded the remainder of the Neale farm to John.Larson, p. 12\-13\. Mary Surratt became involved in raising funds to build [St. Ignatius Church in Oxon Hill](/wiki/St._Ignatius_Church_%28Oxon_Hill%2C_Maryland%29 "St. Ignatius Church (Oxon Hill, Maryland)") (it was constructed in 1850\), but John was increasingly unhappy with his wife's religious activities.Larson, p. 13\. His behavior deteriorated over the next few years. John drank heavily, often failed to pay his debts, and his temper was increasingly volatile and violent.Steers, 2001, p. 138\-40\.Kauffmann, p. 167\.

In 1851, the Neale farmhouse burned to the ground (an [escaped family slave](/wiki/Fugitive_slaves_in_the_United_States "Fugitive slaves in the United States") was suspected of setting the blaze).Larson, p. 14\. John found work on the [Orange and Alexandria Railroad](/wiki/Orange_and_Alexandria_Railroad "Orange and Alexandria Railroad"). Mary moved with her children into the home of her cousin, Thomas Jenkins, in nearby Clinton.Larson, p. 16\."Surratt, Mary Eugenia Jenkins (1817–1865\)," in *Historical Dictionary of Reconstruction,* p. 217\. Within a year, John purchased  of farmland near what is now Clinton, and by 1853, he constructed a tavern and an inn there.Larson, p. 17\. Mary initially refused to move herself and the children into the new residence. She took up residence on the old Neale farm, but John sold both the Neale farm and Foxhall in May 1853 to pay debts and she was forced to move back in with him in December.Larson, p. 18\.

With the money he earned from the tavern and sale of his other property, on December 6, 1853, John Surratt bought a townhouse at 541 H Street ( Now known as 604 H St. 2024\)With the imposition of the quadrant street naming system and other changes to the streets in the District of Columbia, the current address of the townhouse is 604 H Street NW. in Washington, D.C., and began renting it out to tenants.Chamlee, p. 165\.Kauffmann, p. 412\.Griffin, p. 153\.At least one source says that the property was deeded to John as payment for debt and that he did not purchase it. See: Steers, 2010, p. 520\. In 1854, John built a hotel as an addition to his tavern and called it Surratt's Hotel.Phillips, p. 87\.

[thumb\|left\|A woodprint depicting Surrattsville and the Surratt home, printed in 1867 in *[Harper's Weekly](/wiki/Harper%27s_Weekly "Harper's Weekly")*.](/wiki/File:Surrattsville_-_print_-_1867.jpg "Surrattsville - print - 1867.jpg")
The area around the tavern was officially named [Surrattsville](/wiki/Surrattsville "Surrattsville") that same year.Larson, p. 20\. Travelers could take Branch Road (now Branch Avenue) north into Washington, D.C.; Piscataway Road southwest to [Piscataway](/wiki/Piscataway%2C_Maryland "Piscataway, Maryland"); or Woodyard Road northeast to [Upper Marlboro](/wiki/Upper_Marlboro%2C_Maryland "Upper Marlboro, Maryland"). Although Surrattsville was a well\-known crossroads,Steers, 2001, p. 80\.Griffin, p. 148\. the community did not amount to much: just the tavern, a [post office](/wiki/Post_office "Post office") (inside the tavern), a [forge](/wiki/Forge "Forge"), and a dozen or so houses (some of them log cabins). [Harris, p. 193](https://archive.org/details/assassinationof01harr/page/193); [Townsend, 1886, p. 42](https://books.google.com/books?id=ulOppcY7R50C&dq=Surrattsville&pg=PA42). John Surratt was the hamlet's first postmaster.Busch, p. 17\.Steers, 2010, p. 517\.

He expanded his family's holdings by selling off land, paying down debt, and starting new businesses. Over the next few years, Surratt acquired or built a [carriage house](/wiki/Carriage_house "Carriage house"), [corn crib](/wiki/Corn_crib "Corn crib"), [general store](/wiki/General_store "General store"), forge, [granary](/wiki/Granary "Granary"), [gristmill](/wiki/Gristmill "Gristmill"), [stable](/wiki/Stable "Stable"), [tobacco curing house](/wiki/Curing_of_tobacco "Curing of tobacco"), and [wheelwright's shop](/wiki/Wheelwright "Wheelwright").Larson, p. 20\-21\. The family had enough money to send all three children to nearby Roman Catholic boarding schools. Isaac and John Jr. attended the school at [St. Thomas Manor](/wiki/St._Thomas_Manor "St. Thomas Manor"), and Anna enrolled at the Academy for Young Ladies (Mary's [alma mater](/wiki/Alma_mater "Alma mater")).Larson, p. 21\. The family's debts continued to mount, however, and John Sr.'s drinking worsened.Kauffmann, p. 436; Trindal, p. 43\. John sold another  of land in 1856 to pay debts.Trindal, p. 43\. By 1857, Surratt had sold all but  of the family's formerly extensive holdings (which represented about half the  he had originally owned).Commire and Klezmer, p. 23\.James, p. 410\. Most of the family's slaves were also sold to pay debts. Still, his alcoholism worsened. In 1858, Mary wrote a letter to her local priest, telling him that Surratt was drunk every single day. In 1860, St. Thomas Manor School closed, and Isaac found work in [Baltimore, Maryland](/wiki/Baltimore%2C_Maryland "Baltimore, Maryland"). The Surratts sold off another  of land, which enabled Anna to remain at the Academy for Young Ladies and for John Jr. to enroll at [St. Charles College, Maryland](/wiki/St._Charles_College%2C_Maryland "St. Charles College, Maryland") (a Catholic seminary and boarding school in [Ellicott's Mills](/wiki/Ellicott_City%2C_Maryland "Ellicott City, Maryland")).Cashin, p. 289\. The couple also borrowed money that same year against their townhouse in Washington, DC, and at some point used the property as collateral for a $1,000 loan.


How do you think the Surratts' financial struggles affected their children's education and opportunities?