Interesting Visit

[L Verge]

(05-16-2017 08:17 AM)Susan Higginbotham Wrote:  In his book, Headley claims that the "Kentucky lady" was in Montreal visiting the prisoners when she volunteered to go to Richmond. retrieve the needed documents, and then return to Montreal (p. 376). Sarah, by contrast, was already in the South when she was recruited to take the documents from Richmond to Montreal.

There's probably no way to prove this, but after comparing Headley, Hall's account of Sarah's movements, and Cameron's testimony, I suspect that the men who recalled the "Kentucky lady" as bringing documents from Richmond to Montreal were conflating two women: an unnamed widow from Kentucky who called on them in prison, and the courier Sarah.

Thank you for pointing out that Sarah was in Richmond when she received the assignment.

"William Tidwell's book Come Retribution describes her as 'an exotic young French-speaking Confederate agent and courier also known as Kate Thompson.' Her command of the French language would stand her in good stead as a conduit between Richmond and Montreal. This fact was not lost on Confederate Secretary of War James A. Seddon, who recruited her to carry messages between Richmond and Confederate agents in Canada. Her first assignment was to carry papers and money to the agents who had participated in the St. Albans, Vermont raid and bank robbery. The Canadian authorities captured them and put them in jail. The Federal government demanded their return to the States to stand trial for the bank robberies. Sarah carried papers from Richmond to Canada, which convinced the court that the men were not mere criminals, but agents acting on the lawful orders of their government; extradition was denied. Eventually the men were freed and the money they had taken from St. Albans returned to them." (Biography of Slater from eHistory posting, Ohio State University Department of History.)

I'd like to point out here that the papers demanding proof that the Confederate raiders were commissioned by the Confederacy (thus sparing them from death) came through Southern Maryland and reached another Confederate, female agent, Olivia Floyd of Port Tobacco. The documents were skillfully hidden by Olivia while Federal troops searched her house. As soon as they left, she hid the papers in her hair, headed for the Pope's Creek signal point and got them on their way to Richmond. The documents providing the raiders' commission then headed north via Sarah Slater.