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Lindsey · 07-18-2012, 08:08 AM

Of course, Roger! It's amazing what can be accomplished when there is respect of and for everyone on here!

BettyO · 07-18-2012, 08:39 AM

(07-18-2012 08:08 AM)Lindsey Wrote: Of course, Roger! It's amazing what can be accomplished when there is respect of and for everyone on here!

Amen! I totally agree, Lindsey....everyone has a voice, everyone has an opinion and everyone's opinion is to be valued! I think it was Voltaire who said "I disagree with you sir, but I will defend to the death your right to say it...."

Respect is what it is all about! We're ALL equals here!

RJNorton · (This post was last modified: 09-15-2012 09:44 AM by RJNorton.)

(07-08-2012 11:24 AM)Linda Anderson Wrote: I can hardly wait to read Seward: Lincoln's Indispensable Man by Walter Stahr which will be released in September, 2012. It's already getting great reviews.

http://walterstahr.com/books/seward-linc...an/praise/

There was a very positive review in yesterday's Dallas Morning News here.

LincolnMan · 09-15-2012, 03:58 PM

Dying to know: what is a "quoit?"

BettyO · 09-15-2012, 04:24 PM

Quoits were a hand toss game very similar to horse shoes. They were rings made either of metal, rope or woven rawhide and you tossed them at a metal or wooden stake.

Powell played this game in the prison yard with Spangler and Rath.

LincolnMan · 09-15-2012, 04:33 PM

I was laughing to myself as I read the very important questions from the other members-and I asked that question. Oh well, hey- I learned something!

MaddieM · 09-17-2012, 03:07 PM

(07-04-2012 06:51 PM)BettyO Wrote:
(07-04-2012 05:45 PM)Linda Anderson Wrote: Thanks, Betty. Powell, Herold, Atzerodt and Mrs. Surratt were not told of their death sentences until right before they were executed. The others may have had some hope during the trial but I think Powell knew all along that he would be executed.

Right, Linda. He had previously told a guard that he wished that they would "hang him quick, that they were tracking him pretty close and that he was tired of coming into the court room every day."

What does that mean?

L Verge · 09-17-2012, 05:03 PM

The conspirators that were to be hanged were told their fate on the evening of July 6 and that the execution was set for approximately 1 pm the next afternoon. The trial had ended the week before, so Lewis must have made that comment to the guard prior to the end of the trial. Maybe the government was still trying to force more information out of him?

One other thought that I had to tease you with: What if Powell was afraid that some power higher up was trying to get to him to shut him up as to what he might know that he was keeping quiet -- like who the real leaders of the plot were??? Someone in the Confederacy? Mosby? The New York crowd? Have fun with that bit of speculation.

Linda Anderson · 09-17-2012, 06:10 PM

This is from Poore's transcription of Powell's guard, John E. Roberts' testimony on June 3.

"Q. Have you ever spoken to him on the subject of his own death?
A. The day that Major Seward was examined here, when the clothes were put on him,—the coat and the hat,—I had to put the irons back on him; and he told me then that they were tracing him pretty close, and that he wanted to die."

The day that Major Seward testified was May 19, which was also the day that George Robinson and William H. Bell testified. Their testimony must have depressed Powell plus, like Laurie says, the government would have been trying to get information from him. I think that Powell, knowing that he was going to die no matter what he did, would certainly not give up any information about the conspiracy.

Laurie does raise an interesting point. Does Powell mean that the leaders of the conspiracy had infiltrated the prison and were "tracing him pretty close" to make sure he didn't squeal? I don't think Powell cared at that point if he died; in fact, he said he wanted to. It sounds to me that he was tired of being watched and questioned and just wanted to get the execution over with as soon as possible.

MaddieM · 09-17-2012, 06:33 PM

(09-17-2012 05:03 PM)L Verge Wrote: The conspirators that were to be hanged were told their fate on the evening of July 6 and that the execution was set for approximately 1 pm the next afternoon. The trial had ended the week before, so Lewis must have made that comment to the guard prior to the end of the trial. Maybe the government was still trying to force more information out of him?

One other thought that I had to tease you with: What if Powell was afraid that some power higher up was trying to get to him to shut him up as to what he might know that he was keeping quiet -- like who the real leaders of the plot were??? Someone in the Confederacy? Mosby? The New York crowd? Have fun with that bit of speculation.

Well, that's how I see it too. But how he might know they were, is open to speculation, seeing as he was under lock and key. He alone was the close mouthed one. He didn't give much away. As a condemned man, would it have mattered if he'd have sung like a canary? Or was he worried about his family,and what might happen to them if he opened his mouth....or Mary and Maggie Branson? He must have been protecting someone. Because he knew he could not save himself.

Linda Anderson · 09-17-2012, 06:59 PM

You're right, Maddie. Powell was protecting people plus he was still loyal to the Confederacy. He would consider it dishonorable to be an informer.

BettyO · 09-17-2012, 07:18 PM

Powell was pretty close mouthed. He knew that he was going to die at any rate (he had told Gillette he knew that "Death was the only way he would leave prison.") He was greatly depressed about his family and thought that he had shamed them irreversibly. This was obviously utter torture to him. He was also attempting to shield others - the Branson family I think as well; the Payne family - anyone who had aided him. He hated for them all to be dragged through the mud.... likewise he accused himself of causing Mrs. Surratt's doom. Misguided soldier he may have been, he was also extremely chivalrous.

MaddieM · 09-18-2012, 04:34 AM

(09-17-2012 07:18 PM)BettyO Wrote: Powell was pretty close mouthed. He knew that he was going to die at any rate (he had told Gillette he knew that "Death was the only way he would leave prison.") He was greatly depressed about his family and thought that he had shamed them irreversibly. This was obviously utter torture to him. He was also attempting to shield others - the Branson family I think as well; the Payne family - anyone who had aided him. He hated for them all to be dragged through the mud.... likewise he accused himself of causing Mrs. Surratt's doom. Misguided soldier he may have been, he was also extremely chivalrous.

there is for sure, a nobility about him that stands out. It's quite rare to find that quality in one so young. You just can't help but admire that.

BettyO · 09-18-2012, 05:43 AM

(09-18-2012 04:34 AM)MaddieM Wrote:
(09-17-2012 07:18 PM)BettyO Wrote: Powell was pretty close mouthed. He knew that he was going to die at any rate (he had told Gillette he knew that "Death was the only way he would leave prison.") He was greatly depressed about his family and thought that he had shamed them irreversibly. This was obviously utter torture to him. He was also attempting to shield others - the Branson family I think as well; the Payne family - anyone who had aided him. He hated for them all to be dragged through the mud.... likewise he accused himself of causing Mrs. Surratt's doom. Misguided soldier he may have been, he was also extremely chivalrous.

there is for sure, a nobility about him that stands out. It's quite rare to find that quality in one so young. You just can't help but admire that.

Although others may disagree with me, I AGREE, Maddie!

RJNorton · 09-18-2012, 06:00 AM

Here is what Christian Rath thought:

"There was a mystery about Payne. He was a great big fellow, and as brave as a lion. One day General Hartranft said to me: 'There is a colored woman here who comes from Florida and claims she knows Payne; and she says his name is Powell, and that his father is a Baptist minister there. I will seat her in the court-room, and you bring Payne up and perhaps we can identify him.' When I took Payne upstairs, the old woman, who had been a slave, was sitting in the center of the room. As soon as she saw the prisoner, she ran to him, embracing him and calling him by endearing names. But he repulsed her, looked at her with a stolid look, and said: 'I don't know you, woman; go away.' She wept and crooned over him, and there was no doubt in my mind that he really was Powell."

"Payne never complained — no matter what you did to him, he never said a word; and I grew fond of the fellow, and was sorry for his predicament. He had been a Confederate soldier, and was wounded at the battle of Gettysburg, taken prisoner on the field, and sent to the hospital at Washington. When he became convalescent, he was paroled—-upon taking an oath that he would never bear arms against the Union again. He loafed around the city, and finally fell in with Booth, being willing to do anything for the sake of the cause which he loved and believed in."

"Payne had a grim sense of humor. One day we were discussing our nerve, and afterward I threw myself on the bed for a little sleep. Suddenly I awakened, feeling as if an icy hand had gripped my heart. There was Payne looking down at me, with an ugly expression on his face. I wondered how he had got out of his cell, and just then saw Lieutenant-Colonel McCall in a corner, laughing. Payne laughed, and I knew they were only trying my nerve. I was not afraid, though I was startled for a time."