John Minchin Lloyd - Who was he...really?

[scldrgnfly]

My great-grandmother was a cousin of John Lloyd's and my great-aunt actually went to live with John and Mary in DC after they moved back to the city. I have been looking for a picture of John for Laurie Verge for a long time, in addition to satisfying my own curiosity about John's relationship with my great-grandmother and her brothers and sisters and other cousins.

While, so far, I am out of luck on finding a picture of John Minchin Lloyd, I have been able to piece together quite a bit of information about him and his relationships in the Lloyd/ Edwards' families, in addition to the Offutt's and Mahormey/Mahoney/Mahomey's - both in Maryland (Allen's Fresh/St. Mary's/Charles/Prince George/Montgomery counties/DC/Georgetown). I think I understand why he had a relatively close relationship with my great-grandmother. I also found out some interesting background information on his time as a Roundsman (Constable) in DC. All of it comes from pretty reputable sources in print.

There is something that I do find rather interesting in comparing the situation of the exclusion of the Samuel Mudd photo from the first grouping of conspirators' photos because the printer was trying to keep his photo private for the sake of the family (Is this correct? I just read this recently). Both the Lloyd's and the Edwards' sides of my family have photograph's of so many of our family, and yet, there seem to be none of John or Mary. This seems quite odd to me, especially since, I know they were not ostracized, but loved, and I know there were several, relatively close, family members that lived less than a block or two from each other, in addition to those who actually resided with John and Mary after the Civil War in their DC home.

So here is my question prefaced by a Charles Baudelaire quote you have no doubt heard before, "...the devil's best trick is to persuade you that he doesn't exist." While not making public a photograph of an alleged conspirator/witness to protect family members in the 1860's might be a common/ethical practice, there is an even more conspiratorial possibility. What if he was more important than we all thought and the possible explanation for the absence of even a sketched image made at the tribunal, is the possibility that he would not wish to be identifiable to anyone that might be able to link him to any covert activity in relation to the Civil War and espionage. Dr. Mudd's photo eventually was made public, but at first it wasn't, presumably to protect his family at first (I am checking on that source).

Also, for the 10 years he was a Roundsman in DC (1851-1862?), he was not a heavy drinker. Mrs. Offutt testified that it was only in the past 4 months (I think?) that he had started drinking heavily. There is no evidence that he ever drank like that before or after, nor did he come from a family that did so. Not to mention, while he came from a farming family, for the most part, they were well-educated business people, many going to Georgetown University, even the prep school, Princeton, Yale and George Mason, with several doctors and Lawyers. John's father was quite a businessman before his untimely death and while John had a brother, he did not survive to inherit. My great-great grandfather and his brother were the boys' guardians and they both had children of the same age, so he was raised within a very close family that had nurtured him through his tragedies (mother, father, guardian uncle (my great-great grandfather) and my g-g's younger brother (drowning accident) and then his own brother dying young.

Funny thing, besides marriage ties to the Queen's, Cox's, Mattingly's, etc., my great grandparent's had quite a few business dealings with William Stone and Henry C. Mathews---the fellow with the store in Georgetown where Atzerodt pawned/sold his gun (I even have a cousin that married a Richter). ...BUT... I know how crazy coincidences can be with McPhail's employment of Atzerodt's brother-in-law and brother.

Here is another tidbit you may or may not know, I found it REALLY curious that John bought a cemetery plot at Mt. Olivet cemetery in 1865. Was he worried about needing it at that time? However, John and Mary evidently had several children that died young and a 3 year-old from Piscatway (Rd.?) was buried at Mt. Olivet in December, 1865,. Could this be their child in the plot he purchased in 1865?


I also thought it pretty unusual that Mrs. Offutt was at the Tavern the 14th and not Mary Lloyd who was at her mother's 30 miles away (? and/or with the Lloyd Fam-John's other guardian uncle Thomas-Allen's Freside m the fact that a wife can't testify against her husband, it really made me wonder if the real reason for her "absence" is she might not have been able to handle the pressure of the week's busy activities. Just thinking now, though, is it possible, that knowing his wife couldn't testify against him in court, John felt he needed a corroborating witness for his defense that COULD testify for him, in case he needed it. We know how it appears that Herold went to plant the evidence of Booth's coat with map and Canadian bank book in Atzerodt's Kirkwood room. Could John have assessed accurately just what kind of people with whom he was dealing?

Martha Edwards Smith

This is just a small sampling of what I have discovered and only a few of my questions about John M. Lloyd. I have a lot more about others, too.

For instance, don't you wonder about Payne's mysterious late night call the night of the assassination...was his get up with the pick axe a code for "the deed is done," or was he willing to risk his life to battle it out with the arresting officers to help Mrs. Surratt and her tenants escape. Also, for her dramatic oath that she didn't know this man, in the manner she expressed it indicate her complicity in the conspiracy right away, since how would she know to be so vehement, if she did not know he did anything wrong.

Just wondering what you might think?