Lewis Thornton Powell

Object Details

Artist

Alexander Gardner, 17 Oct 1821 - 10 Dec 1882

Sitter

Lewis Thornton Powell, 1845 - 7 Jul 1865

Exhibition Label

Ex-Confederate soldier Lewis Powell (alias Lewis Payne/Paine) was one of the conspirators in John Wilkes Booth’s plot to incapacitate the government by assassinating Abraham Lincoln and other high-ranking officials. As the largely improvised plot evolved, Booth tasked Powell to kill Secretary of State William Seward. The night of April 14, as Booth went to Ford’s Theatre, Powell gained entry to Seward’s Washington home by saying he had medicine for the secretary, who had been injured in a carriage accident. Powell forced his way into Seward’s bedroom and stabbed him repeatedly, although not fatally. Rushing from the house, Powell discovered he had been abandoned by two other conspirators who were to help with his getaway. Powell returned to his residence at Mary Surratt’s boardinghouse, where he hid until his arrest on April 17. The trial began in May; Powell was sentenced to death and was hanged on July 7. Powell is seen here in manacles on the ironclad Saugus; the prisoners were held on ships for security reasons.

Credit Line

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of John Wilmerding

1865

Object number

NPG.80.172

Restrictions & Rights

CC0

Type

Photograph

Medium

Albumen silver print

Dimensions

Image/Sheet: 8.3 × 5.1 cm (3 1/4 × 2")

Mount: 10.1 × 6.3 cm (4 × 2 1/2")

Mat: 35.6 × 27.9 cm (14 × 11")

See more items in

National Portrait Gallery Collection

Location

Currently not on view

National Portrait Gallery

Topic

Photographic format\Carte-de-visite

Equipment\Shackles

Lewis Thornton Powell: Male

Lewis Thornton Powell: Law and Crime\Criminal\Conspirator

Portrait

Record ID

npg_NPG.80.172

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm48927ee62-454d-42ae-8224-eaf3fb6886dc