(05-08-2017 03:41 PM)L Verge Wrote:  About six weeks ago, I was contacted by a lady who had (much to her surprise) inherited a good deal of material belonging to William J. Ferguson, the young actor who was running lines with Laura Keene off-stage at the moment that Booth struck. The lady had been in touch with Ford's Theatre, but they were not interested in discussing the materials until they were authenticated.

Somehow, I received her call for help and knew immediately who was the best man for the job - forum member, Tom Bogar. Tom was traveling for awhile this spring, but he did contact her, and they were able to meet here at the James O. Hall Research Center at Surratt House this past week. There were boxes of materials (and others had remained at home).

Tom spent several hours perusing the items and determined that they were all authentic. Included in the materials were a number of scripts that Emerson wrote over the years. Some of you may know that he stayed true to his profession after the Civil War and went on to act in silent films.

Tom will be providing this charming woman a letter of authentication regarding the collection that he has viewed. She will likely need an appraisal, and I suppose that she will be contacting Ford's again. There are still goodies out there to be found.

P.S. The middle initial "J" stands for "Jason."

(05-09-2017 12:09 AM)SSlater Wrote:  I have asked for Pictures. They have not offered Pictures of Sarah,

(05-09-2017 08:20 AM)L Verge Wrote:  Remind me again of how old Sarah would have been in 1864-65, please. The more I look at the facial features of this "young Confederate widow" (which Sarah was not), the more she appears more matronly to me. I say that because of the heavy lines that extend from her nose to the corners of her mouth - what we used to call Howdy Doody lines in women.

At first, I thought perhaps the photo was taken in her later years (maybe at the "reunion" of Headley's), but the style of her bodice is definitely CW era. Would she have even wanted her picture taken at that time? When was the reunion? Could the photo have been taken then? Would the style of dress still be in fashion?

(05-09-2017 04:03 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(05-09-2017 12:09 AM)SSlater Wrote:  I have asked for Pictures. They have not offered Pictures of Sarah,

In the past we have discussed the picture of the lady on p. 376 in John Headley's "Confederate Operations in Canada and New York."

The question is whether or not the lady pictured there is Sarah Slater. Has anyone found any more information to confirm or refute whether or not it's Sarah?

John, as I recall, you believe it is Sarah. Have you found any additional information? I would love to know if it's she.

Justification that the Picture in "Headley" is Sarah Slater.
John W. Headley writes in his Book , described above , that "A lady" carried the request from the Saint Albans Raiders to Richmond asking for documentation that showed that they were an organized military group acting under orders from the Confederate Government while conducting a raid on St. Albans , Vermont. Not one of them remembered her name, nor did any of the Confederate Commissioners in Canada.

In 1906, when Headley was preparing to publish his book, one of the Raiders was able to provide a picture of the Lady, that he secured from the Police at the Jail in Canada. Again. no one remembered her name. Recognition by the Police is critical to identifying the unnamed Lady. They were not deceived by "Long, black, face hiding, "Widow veils" - they saw and can identify ".... the lady who assisted the Prisoners." But they didn't know her name.

This ease at identifying "the Lady" is shared by the prisoners. They saw her often and regularly, over a period of time, when her features were not hidden.

In 1906, their memory was vivid, of the Lady that "helped them stay alive." They never would have allowed that honor be provided to an undeserving individual. The Raiders all agreed "The lady in the picture is the Lady that secured the documents that set them free."

Completely independent of this documentation, the Rev. Stephen Cameron, who was in Canada during their trial, and who also traveled to Richmond to secure the same evidence that "The Lady'' searched for, followed the Lady to Richmond, on a different time schedule and most likely by another route. They obviously did not join together in Richmond -otherwise there never would have be two issues of the same documents.

Each, again, moved on separate departure dates and by separate routes. Surprisingly, their separate return routes resulted in their arrival in Canada on the same date. We are all aware that the information provided to the Court was effective and the Raiders were freed.

This documentation shows that the Raiders knew "The Lady" by sight, without knowing her name. And that the Rev. Cameron knew of her contributions as a Currier, and he knew her name.

The Rev. Cameron had an intensive, long term contact with Sarah A. Slater, beginning in Richmond in the fall of 1864, when he escorted her from Richmond to Canada, as she began her new assignment as a Confederate Agent.

The Police in Canada and the Confederate Prisoners say "The Picture" is the Lady who attended to the Prisoners. Rev Cameron says that the Lady in the picture, who traveled to Richmond, is Sarah Slater

Quote:I am wondering how many of the "Raiders" were alive in 1906 including Rev. Cameron.

(05-11-2017 03:32 PM)L Verge Wrote:  How did the police in Canada come to have the photo in the first place? Sarah certainly wasn't passing out photos of herself. Was the police department that modernized that they had the capabilities of photographing their subjects? If so, Sarah obviously changed into something more becoming because those are certainly not widow's weeds that she's wearing in that photo.

I guess the other alternative in my mind is that the photo was taken (or given) at the reunion. I know nothing about Headley, the reunion, Cameron. When was the reunion?

(05-11-2017 04:35 PM)Susan Higginbotham Wrote:  

(05-11-2017 03:32 PM)L Verge Wrote:  How did the police in Canada come to have the photo in the first place? Sarah certainly wasn't passing out photos of herself. Was the police department that modernized that they had the capabilities of photographing their subjects? If so, Sarah obviously changed into something more becoming because those are certainly not widow's weeds that she's wearing in that photo.

I guess the other alternative in my mind is that the photo was taken (or given) at the reunion. I know nothing about Headley, the reunion, Cameron. When was the reunion?

Headley claims in a footnote on p. 376 that one of the prisoners in jail at Montreal succeeded in securing the young widow's photograph. I presume that's the source of the photograph in his book on the opposite page.