Louis Weichmann

[Rick Smith]

(09-19-2015 09:57 AM)L Verge Wrote:  I noticed that the last paragraph on the second page of Ford's piece starts to talk about Howell in irons and mentioning that he has been refusing to cooperate with the feds -- refusing to tell them about things that he knows nothing about.

I believe that I am correct that neither Rick Smith nor Wild Bill have been able to find out what eventually happened to James Owens. We're guessing that he may not have lived to get out of prison. As a black man, we can only imagine that he would be "interrogated" even harder than white prisoners. Could he have died in prison?

Laurie,

Colonel Wells sent a report to Colonel J. H. Taylor in Washington on April 28 from Bryantown, his headquarters, to update him on all the activities in his district, including the arrest of Owens and his employer Austin Adams and Adele, his wife {who would be arrested later that day}. Susan is right; Wells said that Owens would be, "handcuffed and threatened to be hung up," if he refused to make a statement. Owens told a few stretchers in his initial statement, such as saying he had rowed Harbin, Baden and "another man" {Lt. Garland Smith?} across a creek for $5. Later, at the Old Capitol, under much more pressure from a Lt. Currier, Owens confessed that he had rowed the three men across the Potomac. I would be willing to bet that the federals beat Owens to death while trying to get more from him than he really knew. One thing is for sure, Owens never came out of the Old Capitol alive. Bill Richter has the date of Owens' death. The Federals probably could not understand why Owens, a former slave, would withhold information. He should be grateful that he had been set free by them and so should cooperate.