Old report of the St. Albans Raid and the Picture in Question

[SSlater]

I had to dig deep, but I came up with some correspondence that is over ten years old. I participated in a Study of the St. Albans raid being done by Dan Rush and E. Gale Pewitt. Others who worked on it were Dave Gaddy, Jane Singer and Laurie Verge (Remember these guys , Laurie?) Before the time of our correspondence, the list included Jim Hall and Bill Tidwell. Rush and Pewitt were writing the story of the St. Albans Raid. The portion of the report that would be of interest to you readers was the description of a second candidate for consideration that might be the lady in the picture.
We all agreed that the identity of the lady is UNPROVEN. A fact which I feel is a necessary consideration during our current study.
The name of the lady to be considered is Mary Belle Higbee. She was a 24 year old "Kentucky Widow" (as a result of the death of a prior husband). She came to Canada because her current husband Charles H. Higbee, had been wounded in the St. Albans Raid, and was near death. She stayed at his bedside, in the jail, so that there is no record of her stay elsewhere in Canada.
Now comes contradictory material. Her picture was not available until the time of publication of Headley's Book, and was given to Headley in Jassamine Co , Ky. There is a mention that the picture was readily available in Kentucky. (Excluding the possibility of the involvement of the Montreal Police). So, the possibility that there was more than one lady attending the prisoners, is a distinct possibility. BUT, we don't know which one is pictured.
There is ample reason to consider the errors in this story. The St. Albans Raiders were not considered as Heroes, at home. Kentucky never left the Union. so, the Vets came home to opposing parties. Most of the ruling people favored the Union. So, their effort was considered unacceptable. Most of the Raiders were totally unknown until most of them were deceased.
P.S. I have acquired Xerox copies of some of the money stolen in the St. Albans Raid. I'm not special - it was readily available to all.
It was issued by the St. Albans Banks, with their name on it.