John Minchin Lloyd was a former Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 policeman who played a key role in the trial of the conspirators in the Abraham Lincoln assassination

Abraham Lincoln assassination

The assassination of United States President Abraham Lincoln took place on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, as the American Civil War was drawing to a close. The assassination occurred five days after the commanding General of the Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee, and his battered Army of...

. Arrested and charged in the conspiracy, his testimony helped convince authorities of the guilt of Mary Surratt

Mary Surratt

Mary Elizabeth Jenkins Surratt was an American boarding house owner who was convicted of taking part in the conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. Sentenced to death, she was hanged, becoming the first woman executed by the United States federal government. She was the mother of John H...

, who became the first woman executed by the United States Government.

Biography

Lloyd became a policeman in the late 1850s, but resigned in 1862. Two years later, he moved to the rural hamlet of Surrattsville

Clinton, Maryland

Clinton is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Clinton was formerly known as Surrattsville until after the time of the American Civil War. The population of Clinton was 26,064 at the 2000 census. However, as of 2007, there is an...

, in Prince Georges County, Maryland. In October 1864, he rented a local tavern from the widowed Mary Surratt for $500 a year and served as its innkeeper, as well as being engaged in farming her land.

Following the Lincoln assassination on April 14, 1865, Federal soldiers arrested Mrs. Surratt as being a key person within the conspiracy. Lloyd was also arrested and kept in solitary confinement

Solitary confinement

Solitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...

 until he agreed to testify against Mrs. Surratt. He informed the military tribunal

Military tribunal

A military tribunal is a kind of military court designed to try members of enemy forces during wartime, operating outside the scope of conventional criminal and civil proceedings. The judges are military officers and fulfill the role of jurors...

 that conspirators John Surratt

John Surratt

John Harrison Surratt, Jr. was accused of plotting with John Wilkes Booth to kidnap U.S. president Abraham Lincoln and suspected of involvement in the Abraham Lincoln assassination. His mother Mary Surratt was convicted of conspiracy and hanged by the United States Federal Government...

, George Atzerodt

George Atzerodt

George Andreas Atzerodt was a conspirator, with John Wilkes Booth, in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Assigned to assassinate Vice-President Andrew Johnson, he lost his nerve and did not make an attempt. He was executed along with three other conspirators by hanging.-Early life:Atzerodt...

, and David Herold

David Herold

David Edgar Herold was an accomplice of John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. After guiding fellow conspirator Lewis Powell to the home of Secretary of State William H. Seward, whom Powell intended to kill, Herold fled and rendezvoused outside of Washington, D.C., with Booth...

 had visited the tavern and asked him to hide a pair of carbines, ammunition, some rope, and a monkey wrench

Monkey wrench

The monkey wrench is an adjustable wrench, a later American development of eighteenth century English coach wrenches. It was popular in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries but is now used only for heavier tasks, having been mostly replaced by the lighter and sleeker shifting adjustable or...

 on the premises. He and John Surratt did so on March 13, hiding the package in the ceiling joists above the tavern's main dining room.

Lloyd later implicated Mrs. Surratt as having knowledge of the weapons. She was convicted and hanged, primarily on his testimony. Lloyd was freed and allowed to go his way. For much of the rest of his life, he lived in south Washington.

Lloyd died in the District of Columbia from complications from injuries suffered in a fall. He is buried there in Mount Olivet Cemetery

Mount Olivet Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)

Mount Olivet Cemetery is an historic cemetery located at 1300 Bladensburg Road, NE in Washington, D.C. It is maintained by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.-Notable interments:* George W. Harvey , Washington restaurateur...

, less than 100 yards south of Mary Surratt's grave.