She was Mary Surratt and she was executed for an alleged role in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Surratt owned the boarding house in which John Wilkes Booth, and other Confederates, conspired to assassinate the president.

Booth had asked Surratt to deliver a package to her old tavern. The package contained firearms. She was accompanied on her trip with Louis Weichman, who later testified against her.

It was widely expected for President Andrew Johnson to pardon Surratt but he didn't.

Her ghost is said to haunt Fort McNair, the site of her execution. Various children of soldiers claim to have witnessed a 'lady in black' who plays with them.