Steel Pick/Pickax

Pickaxe seized from Lewis Powell on the night of his arrest. Powell hid for three days following his attempt on the life of Secretary of State William Henry Seward, as his co-conspirator John Wilkes Booth murdered President Abraham Lincoln. Powell arrived at Mary Surratt’s Washington boarding house at 11:00 pm on April 17. Investigators were interviewing Surratt when Powell knocked on the door, claiming that he had been hired to dig a ditch. The officers asked Mary if she recognized Powell. She replied, “Before God, I do not know this man and have never seen him.” Both Mary Surratt and Lewis Powell were later tried and hanged for their roles in the conspiracy.