Atzerodt Confession

[SSlater]

Much of the confusion in Ladies names, stems from a small group of men who heard about these ladies but never met them all. (especially never saw then all at one time.)
I'll start with Josephine Brown. She was the daughter-in-law of John Potts Brown. He lived in New York but had business in the South. He developed a "Secret Line" of his own that crossed the Potomac at Leonardtown, MD. Josephine went back and forth along this line working for him. (on the side - she carried drugs.) I am not aware of any Coach lines going North from Leonardtown so she used the one that ran past the Surratt Tavern - so she met the Surratt's. The chances are - that the good old boys never met her but they heard the name. She was married to Lt. Robert W. Brown - who worked for Jacob Thompson in Montreal. Eventually she became an Agent for Jacob Thompson and followed this same route South.
Kate Thompson was the wife of Jacob Thompson. She spent the whole war in Mississippi. When he became persona-non-grata in Canada he called her to Canada. I would have to believe that the entire Confederate Security System would be watching for her. So -our good old boys now have another female to talk about. They never saw her. She went up the Mississippi River and on into Canada, but that didn't stop them. There is another side of this story. Jake Thompson decided to chat with Lincoln. so, he traveled to Washington on April 14, 1865 but Seward would not allow the meeting. He went back to Canada and heard about the assassination
on the way home. Was he "Kate" Thompson for this excursion to D. C.? There never was a Kate Brown.
That identifies Josephine, Sarah and Kate, but there was also Olivia Floyd. Let's not mention her. She also figured in with the others for more Mixed- up names.
There is more to these names -but this is a brief sorting -out.