Reading of the sentence before hanging of conspirators, Ford's Theatre National Historic Site, 1865.

The hanging of convicted conspirators David Herold, George Azterodt, Lewis Powell and Mary Surratt took place July 7, 1865 at 1:26pm. This photo depicts the reading of the death sentence moments before hanging. So many people wanted to witness the event that a limited number of tickets had to be issued; roughly 1,000 people viewed the hanging from the windows, walls, courtyard and buildings. About twenty-five minutes after the hanging, the bodies were cut down and examined by a doctor. They were then buried in shallow graves next to the gallows and pieces of the gallows were actually distributed as souvenirs.