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During the Civil War, Mary Surratt — a pro-Confederate widow living in Washington, D.C. — owned a tavern in Clinton that often welcomed Confederate agents and sympathizers, including John Wilkes Booth. She was convicted in 1865 of conspiring with Booth and others to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln.

Surratt was hanged in July 1865, just three months after Lincoln's death, making her the first woman ever executed by the United States government.

Today, the tavern — which doubled as the family home until her husband John Surratt Sr.'s death in 1862 — is part of the Surratt House Museum in Clinton, and one of the upstairs bedrooms in the two-story home is now adorned with items celebrating Lincoln, the president who ended slavery.

"Remember Mr. Lincoln — An Exhibition" features commemorative plates, statues and literature honoring the Old Rail Splitter, who rose from humble beginnings to serve as an Illinois legislator before becoming president in 1861. The exhibit is just one of several Civil War-related events and activities the museum plans to host this year.

"Most people don't realize the national history that's attached to that house," said museum director Laurie Verge. "When they do visit, all of a sudden they realize that it pertains to the Civil War period and the Lincoln assassination."

The exhibit is included in tours of the Surratt House, which is decorated with antique and replica furniture to recreate how it likely looked in the 1860s. The tavern has antique chairs and a bar; the kitchen has an 1860s-era stove; and the upstairs guest room has a chamber pot and wash basin, rather than a bathtub. There's even a hidden room where John Surratt Jr. and his accomplices stored weapons for an earlier plot to kidnap Lincoln.

Despite Maryland's status as a Union state during the war, Lincoln had many enemies in the state, said Surratt House tour guide Paul Moog. He was vilified in tobacco-rich Prince George's County, where many residents relied on slave-based agriculture and supported Southern Democratic candidate John C. Breckinridge during the 1860 presidential election, held just six months before the Civil War began.

"Lincoln got one vote in this county," Moog said, adding that about 1,000 total ballots were cast. "And the joke is they're still looking for the body of that person."

Perhaps the museum's most popular event is its John Wilkes Booth escape route tour, where passengers go on a 12-hour bus trip retracing Booth's 12-day trek following his assassination of Lincoln on April 14, 1865, at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.

The tour features several stops, including the Surratt House — where Booth's accomplice, David Herold, is said to have retrieved a gun while Booth waited outside — before ending at Garrett's Farm near Bowling Green, Va., where Booth was shot and killed on April 26 by federal authorities.

"Nobody thinks of following the trail of an assassin," Verge said. "The very first trip [in 1977], we had to beg people to go on it. ... From that day on, we have never had to beg anybody to go on it."

Since its debut, the tour has become so popular that it has attracted visitors from nearly every state and from as far as Australia and the Czech Republic. All four of this spring's trips — April 10, 17 and 24 and May 1 — sold out in January. Each 50-person tour costs $70 per person.

Verge said the museum takes requests year-round, but only accepts reservations after sending out a mass mailing to potential applicants. The mailings are sent in mid-January for spring tours and mid-June for fall tours. Fall tours are scheduled for Sept. 4, 11 and 18.

"We filled four buses in less than a week's time," Verge said. "We traditionally send back anywhere from 90 to 100 checks from people who get cut off."

The museum — which also has a gift shop and research library on its grounds — will host several other Civil War-era events this year, including a three-day symposium from March 19 to 21 on Lincoln's assassination. It will feature tours and conferences in Clinton, the District, and Fredericksburg, Va.

From June 7 to 13, the museum plans to sponsor a trip to visit Lincoln-related landmarks in Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky, where he was born. It will include stops at several monuments and museums honoring Lincoln, his wife, Mary Todd, and other mid-19th century figures.

Next year, the museum plans to embark on a yearlong series of events commemorating the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. It will begin on Nov. 6 — the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's election as president — with "Maryland on the Edge of War," a lecture on state culture in the 1860s.

"I hope that [visitors] will appreciate the fact that Lincoln is still a vibrant part of our society today," said Sandra Walia, a research librarian at the museum. "There are so many things that can remind us of Abraham Lincoln and his contributions to the history of this country."

If you go

The Surratt House Museum is located at 9118 Brandywine Road in Clinton. It is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, and noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Admission is $3 for adults, $2 for senior citizens and $1 for children ages 5 to 18. For more information, visit www.surratt.org.

E-mail David Hill at dhill@gazette.net.