Did you know at least three Alabamians were arrested in the wake of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865? Three men spent time in jail under suspicion of being involved in the murder that shocked the nation 160 years ago. Two were released but a Randolph County native was executed.

Here are their tales:

Clement Claiborne Clay

Clement Claiborne Clay was a prominent citizen in Huntsville during the Civil War. Clay, the oldest son of Alabama governor Clement Comer Clay, was a U.S. senator from 1853-1861 and then served as senator of the Confederate States from 1862-1864.

In April of 1865, Clay would find himself under arrest, accused of participating in one of history’s most heinous acts: Lincoln’s assassination. Clay fell under suspicion because he was acting as Confederate commissioner to Canada at the time and “took part in a series of failed attempts to undermine the Union,” according to the Encyclopedia of Alabama.

In the wake of Lincoln’s murder, government agents were pressured to find and punish anyone tied to the assassination of the beloved president.

On May 4, 1865, The New York Times and papers across the country published a proclamation issued by President Andrew Johnson offering rewards for the capture of “traitors” thought to be involved in the assassination. He offered $100,000 for the capture of Jefferson Davis and $25,000 for Clement Claiborne Clay and others. The proclamation said, in part:

“Whereas, It appears, from evidence in the Bureau of Military Justice, that the atrocious murder of the late President, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, and the attempted assassination of Hon. WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, were incited, concerted and procured by and between: Jefferson Davis, late of Richmond, Va., and Jacob Thompson, Clement C. Clay, Beverly Tucker, W. C. Cleary and George N. Sanders…to the end that justice may be done…”

In this atmosphere, Clement Clay was arrested and imprisoned at Fortress Monroe in Virginia for about a year. His wife, Virginia Clay-Clopton, accompanied him to the fort. Clay was never tried and upon his release, the Clays returned to Huntsville where Clement practiced as an attorney. Clement Clay died in 1882 and is buried in Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville.

George Washington Gayle

George Washington Gayle was born in South Carolina in 1807 to John and Nancy Whitehead Gayle. Gayle’s first wife was Margaret Kornegay, the niece of William Rufus King of Selma, who served as vice president of the United States for 45 days before dying in office in 1853.

Gayle, an attorney, served in the Alabama Legislature, chaired the House Ways and Means Committee and was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama by President Martin Van Buren in in 1840.

In 1864, Gayle made headlines when he paid to publish an ad in The Selma Dispatch seeking funds in exchange for plotting the murders of Lincoln, Vice President Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward, the same three men who were targeted in John Wilkes Booth’s assassination plot.

The ad published on Dec. 1, 1864, said:

One Million Dollars Wanted to have Peace by the 1st of March if the citizens of the Southern Confederacy will furnish me with the cash, or good securities for the sum of one million dollars, I will cause the lives of Abraham Lincoln, Wm. H. Seward and Andrew Johnson to be taken by the 1st of March next. This will give us peace, and satisfy the world that cruel tyrants can not live in a ‘land of liberty.’ If this is not accomplished, nothing will be claimed beyond the sum of fifty thousand dollars in advance, which is supposed to be necessary to reach and slaughter the three villains. I will give, myself, one thousand dollars toward this patriotic purpose. Every one wishing to contribute will address Box X, Cahawba, Alabama.

Lincoln was assassinated four months later and Gayle was arrested in Alabama on May 25, 1865. Gayle claimed the ad was meant as a joke and that no money was paid to the assassination fund. However, Gayle was charged with conspiracy to assassinate the president.

Gayle’s ad was used at trial to condemn the Lincoln conspirators who were connected to John Wilkes Booth. It was introduced by the prosecution in the Lincoln assassination trials to show hatred of the Lincoln administration in much of the South, according to “Protecting President Lincoln: The Security Effort, the Thwarted Plots and the Disaster at Ford’s Theatre.”

On Oct. 18, 1865, according to a Gayle family genealogy, The Montgomery Ledger published this notice: “Col. G. W. Gayle – We were pleased to see Col. Gayle, of Dallas County, in our city yesterday having just been released from prison at Fort Pulaski. He appears to be in wretched health, the mere shadow of his former self. Gayle was released for lack of evidence after several months at Fortress Monroe, and returned to Alabama proud and unrepentant.”

On April 27, 1867, Gayle received a full pardon from Andrew Johnson. He died in 1875 and is buried in Selma’s Liveoak Cemetery.

Lewis Powell

In June of 1865, an Alabama minister’s son, barely 21 years old, found himself in a tiny windowless cell with only a mattress and bucket for amenities. His ears and eyes were covered with a padded, canvas hood, leaving only his mouth free to receive enough sustenance to keep him alive until he could be executed.

The stoic Lewis Powell, also known by the alias Lewis Payne or Paine, soon would be free of his earthly prison when he was hanged for attempting to kill Secretary of State William H. Seward as part of John Wilkes Booth’s plot to take out Lincoln and his administration.

Lewis Thornton Powell was born in Randolph County on April 22, 1844, to George Cader Powell, a Baptist minister, and Patience Caroline Powell. The family later moved to Georgia, then Florida, where Lewis signed up to fight for the Confederacy at age 17.

He would fight with honor in numerous battles, including those at Fredericksburg, Chancellorville, Second Manasses, Antietam and Gettysburg. Sometime in 1864, Lewis joined the Confederate Secret Service and met fellow operative, John Surratt, who would later be involved in the conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln. Surratt, in turn, introduced Powell to John Wilkes Booth.

Powell was assigned to take co-conspirator David Herold to help him kill Seward at his Washington, D.C., home. George Atzerodt was assigned to assassinate Vice President Andrew Johnson and Booth was to assassinate President Lincoln.

Powell’s assignment was made easier by the fact that Seward had been badly injured on April 5 in a carriage accident and was suffering a concussion, broken jaw and broken arm. He was convalescing at this home when, on the night of April 14, Powell knocked on the door of the Sewell home, saying he was delivering medication.

Lewis encountered Steward’s son, Frederick, on the stairs and pistol-whipped him before stepping into the room and stabbing the Secretary of State several times with a silver-mounted Bowie knife. One wound went through Seward’s cheek but a splint on his broken jaw helped save his life by protecting his jugular vein.

Lewis discarded the knife and made it back to his getaway horse. He hid in a tree for three days before making his way back to Mary Surratt’s boardinghouse, where the men had been meeting. When he arrived, he saw Mrs. Surratt being arrested on a charge of conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln. Lewis, too, was arrested.

By this time, Lewis knew his attempt to kill Seward had failed, Booth’s attempt to kill Lincoln succeeded and George Atzerodt got drunk and lost his nerve and never tried to kill Johnson.

The conspirators would also learn that, rather than being hailed as heroes of the Southern cause, as Booth had hoped, they were vilified. Booth was shot to death by soldiers twelve days after assassinating Lincoln, while the others faced trial.

Lewis was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and treason and sentenced to death by hanging, as were Atzerodt, Herold and Mary Surratt.

On July 7, 1865, the day of his execution, Lewis spent time in prayer with the Rev. Dr. Abram D. Gillette of First Baptist Church in Washington.

When the floor dropped from beneath the four conspirators, Lewis’ body swung wildly. Mary Surratt died instantly and Herold died after a brief shudder. Neither Atzerodt’s nor Lewis’ necks broke on impact and they hung for several minutes before dying, with Lewis drawing the last breath.