Thomas A Jones

[RJNorton]

(06-19-2015 02:25 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  

(06-18-2015 07:07 PM)Rick Smith Wrote:  Bill, Thanks very much for asking. I will send it to Roger in the morning. All my files are at my office in Washington.

Jim, I reference "Silver Blaze" in my article as an example of a literary reference to the ancient art of horse faking.

Eva, Thanks for your interest in the subject. I wrote an article on the fate of the horses also.

Rick

Bill and Rick, thank you so much. Truth to be told, Laurie mentioned your horse faking article about a year ago and I begged her to send me a copy, which she kindly did. I read, enjoyed and "worked through" it (i.e. highlighted) and properly filed it in one of my folders. I have been searching like crazy now, I cannot find where (under which topic) I filed it (should have scanned it...). So I'd gladly like to "get access" again (and after that I'll find my copy, I guess...). Also I'd like to read your article on the fate of the horses. Thanks!

Rick was kind enough to send his article so everyone could read it. I thanked Rick yesterday, and I thank him again today! The article was published in the Surratt Courier, Volume XXXIII, No. 4​, April 2008.

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Horse Faking

By

Rick Smith

In the Conan Doyle novel, “Silver Blaze”, while explaining to Dr. Watson how a well known and very valuable racehorse that he has recently recovered could be successfully hidden for such a period of time, Sherlock Holmes says of the thief, “Oh, an old horse-faker like him has many a dodge.”

And later, having informed the horse’s owner, Colonel Ross, that he is indeed standing in the presence of his horse, Ross cries, “That is not my horse! That beast has not a white hair upon its body!”

Later still, after Ross’s horse, Silver Blaze, wins the stakes, Holmes says, “Let us all go round and have a look at the horse together.” And then, “Here he is. You have only to wash his face and his leg in spirits of wine, and you will find that he is the same old Silver Blaze as ever.”

“Mr. Holmes, you take my breath away!” the Colonel exclaims.

Holmes concludes, “I found him in the hands of a faker and took the liberty of running him just as he was sent over.”

Horse faking. The subtle art of altering the appearance of a horse, whether for good or evil, is a practice that is as ancient as the horse itself. Stories of thieves altering a horse’s appearance abound in the literature of antiquity and are the topic of modern day newspaper headlines.

For example, in March of 2003, a Florida stable was raided by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department and found to contain stolen and altered show horses, one of which was valued at over $100,000. One horse, a well-known 16 hand Oldenburg, was disguised in an effort to prevent it from being recognized. A large white blaze running from its forehead and down its muzzle, and a large, star shaped scar on its shoulder had been sprayed with brown Rustoleum. Another animal’s legs and hooves had been painted. The thief, a Chicago veterinarian, was arrested and charged with grand larceny. These horses had been missing since October of 2002.

My friend, William Richter, of Tucson, Arizona, who is a skilled farrier [one who shoes and otherwise tends to horses feet/hooves] and knowledgeable horseman, as well as being a member of the Surratt Society, tells me that not only are there methods by which physical appearance may be altered, but there are ways to change the conformation [stance & movement or gait] of the horse by various means which render the animal temporarily sound or temporarily lame.

All of the forgoing is by way of introduction to a theory regarding the horses that were ridden by John Wilkes Booth and David Herold from Washington City the night of April 14, 1865.

The “accepted” version of history as regards the fate of the bay mare and the roan gelding which carried Booth and Herold out of the City that eventful night is as follows:

While giving them instructions relative to their safety prior to crossing into Virginia, Thomas Jones cautioned Booth and Herold that they would not be allowed to have a fire at their place of hiding, to be patient and stay quiet, and that their horses would have to be disposed of due to the risk they posed were they to be seen or heard. Then, depending on which version you believe, either David Herold, Thomas Jones, or Frank Robey led the horses deep into the Zechiah Swamp, shot them, and sunk the carcasses into the mire.

I would respectfully take several issues with this view:

* If a fire and the nickering of horses would attract unwanted attention, then surely two gunshots would do the same. Especially if the reports came from a .52 caliber Spencer.

* Is the Zechiah Swamp of a nature that it would contain such deep mires and quick sand bogs of the kind as would be capable of sinking two 1,200 pound animals out of sight? I have seen no evidence to suggest that the Zechiah is such a swamp.

* The idea that men of that time, who understood horses, would destroy such valuable animals seems absurd, especially when there were other means of making those horses “disappear” rather than to have them put down.

* James Owens gives a firsthand account of two men riding into the village of Newport, Maryland and describes not only the men, but the horses ridden by them. The description of the horses given by Owens is an exact description of the horses ridden from Washington City by Booth and Herold. For those of you who have not read the Owens statement, or are otherwise not aware of it, he was giving a description of two men and their horses as they appeared in Newport after the time that the animals in question were supposed to have been destroyed.

Here is what I believe, based in part on my reading of the Owens statement:

* Booth and Herold leave their hiding place in the pine thicket near Rich Hill, and are led to Newport, a distance of seven miles, on horseback by seventeen year old Samuel Cox, Jr. In his statement to Colonel Wells, Owens mentions the two men riding into Newport on Thursday night [April 20] “It was pretty late, nearly supper time, when two men came there on horseback, accompanied by a white boy…”

* Booth and Herold are hidden for about twenty-four hours in a pine thicket near the Adams Tavern, and according to Owens, they take meals at the tavern. “They stayed in the pines near the house until next evening, which was Friday night [April 21] and were at the house on and off at different times; they did not lodge at Mr. Adams’, but only got meals there.”

* Booth and Herold leave Newport after dark the day after arriving [April 21]. Says Owens, “They left in the evening after dark, and went towards Pope’s Creek where Thomas Jones lives.”

* Owens states further, “Their horses came back this way [to Newport] in charge of the boy. If I were to try to find them [the horses] I would inquire of the people who saw them……”

* The horses are then stabled at Adams’s, at least for the time being. Both animals are faked, or altered with dye to cover or otherwise disguise any distinguishing points, or physical features; such as the star on the bay mare’s forehead, or to darken the roan gelding’s light colored coat; their hooves are painted; their teeth are filed, and they are led to another location to await the conclusion of events in hiding. Or, they may have remained stabled at Adams’.

Recently, I was told that James O. Hall believed those two horses lived a good, long life.

I see absolutely no reason to disagree.