Mary Surratt and Dr. Samuel Mudd

[L Verge]

Yes, with today's road system, the two houses are only about thirteen miles apart. It was probably a little larger distance in the 1860s before bulldozers straightened out our snake trails.

Anna Surratt was educated in Bryantown, not that far from the Mudds. And, of course, the Surratts ran a tavern right on the main north-south route into Washington. Surely, Dr. Mudd and other residents of Charles County visited that tavern en route to D.C. It was also a stagecoach stop. Given John, Sr.'s high standing on the secessionist list until his death in 1862, there surely should be some reason for Mudd to make his acquaintance.

We always hear that everybody knew everybody in those days. Growing up in Southern Maryland in the mid-1900s, I can testify to that. If you didn't know them, you knew about them.