Lost Cow at 541 H Street

[RJNorton]

Forum member John Hewitt sent this to me. He came across it in the July 12th 1864 edition of the Washington Evening Star. I told John that Mary Surratt had not yet moved in at that time, and I did not know what was going on at the boardinghouse prior to her arrival. So the question is why would someone have a cow in town?

[L Verge]

(08-17-2016 03:53 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  Forum member John Hewitt sent this to me. He came across it in the July 12th 1864 edition of the Evening Star. I told John that Mary Surratt had not yet moved in at that time, and I did not know what was going on at the boardinghouse prior to her arrival. So the question is why would someone have a cow in town?

Livestock roamed the streets of Washington all the time in the "good old days." The noxious Tiber Creek (now Constitution Avenue) had carcasses in it constantly.

As for the H Street home in July of 1864, it probably still had renters. At one point, there was a piano teacher renting from the Surratts, and quite a few employees of the Patent Office lived there before and during the war. Mrs. Surratt began to move in and convert to a boardinghouse business in the late-fall of 1864.

[BettyO]

I believe that the Surratt's had a shed in back of their boarding house property. It could be that the renters wanted fresh milk and owned their own cow - not uncommon in those days. And like Laurie said, livestock roamed the streets freely....

[RobertLC]

I recall at some point in time while reading Furgurson’s book Freedom Rising or perhaps Leech’s book Reveille in Washington, a pursuit down a street in Washington and the pursued fell over a cow that had decided to rest in the middle of the street.

Maybe it was the same cow.

Bob

[Donna McCreary]

Wasn't Taft the last president to have a cow at the White House?

[RJNorton]

(08-20-2016 09:48 PM)Donna McCreary Wrote:  Wasn't Taft the last president to have a cow at the White House?

Yes! The cow was named Pauline Wayne.

http://fagan-authorspot.blogspot.com/201...-milk.html

[Dennis Urban]

The true origin of the cow's name is unknown. However, I have a number of theories; none of which need to be put into print.

[Tom Bogar]

(08-24-2016 02:21 PM)Dennis Urban Wrote:  The true origin of the cow's name is unknown. However, I have a number of theories; none of which need to be put into print.

It was my understanding that the cow was in cahoots with Stanton, Weichmann, John Surratt and the Confederate Secret Service, and had to skedaddle to Oklahoma, where she lived out her years on a grassy knoll and did not die in that burning tobacco barn (despite the puffs of smoke clearly visible before it came crashing down), as misreported in the unreliable mainstream media. (And no, she was never seen in Area 51.)

[L Verge]

(08-24-2016 04:27 PM)Tom Bogar Wrote:  

(08-24-2016 02:21 PM)Dennis Urban Wrote:  The true origin of the cow's name is unknown. However, I have a number of theories; none of which need to be put into print.

It was my understanding that the cow was in cahoots with Stanton, Weichmann, John Surratt and the Confederate Secret Service, and had to skedaddle to Oklahoma, where she lived out her years on a grassy knoll and did not die in that burning tobacco barn (despite the puffs of smoke clearly visible before it came crashing down), as misreported in the unreliable mainstream media. (And no, she was never seen in Area 51.)

Love it!

[Gene C]

It's all true. She ended up in Enid, and supposedly teamed up with David George in a cattle rustling operation. She was the bait to lure the bulls.
I think the whole thing is udderly ridiculous.

[RJNorton]

And she was interviewed by the Washington Post:

[BettyO]

Pauline later went to work as a "spokescow" for Chick-Fil-A......

   

Seriously, here is an 1850 photo of a free-roaming cow in the street of a New England town -

   

[Eva Elisabeth]

And they still do in India...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MKCZQcH6b2A

[RJNorton]

It was not only cows that got lost. Many thanks to Blaine for sending this newspaper clipping. He writes:

"Apparently even Abe Lincoln had problems with stray animals.

From: Sangamon Journal, April 2, 1836, page 3, column 7. That same day in the same issue of the newspaper Lincoln (still living in New Salem) was announcing his candidacy for state representative."