1865 Southern Maryland road and town map.

[Robert.Lee.Jones]

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Through Ancestry.com, I recently discovered that Dr. Joseph Henry Blandford, the brother of my mother’s paternal great grandfather, Thomas Sprigg Blandford, married Anna Cecilia Mudd, the sister of Dr. Samuel Alexander Mudd who, as we all know, set the leg of John Wilkes Booth during his escape from Washington, D.C. after assassinating President Abraham Lincoln. My mother’s father is Hamilton Hill Blandford. His father (her paternal grandfather) is Alexander Hill Blandford. His father (her paternal great grandfather) is Thomas Sprigg Blandford, mentioned above. His father (her paternal great great grandfather) is Henry Stanislaus Blandford.


The Maryland County District Maps that were referenced in Lincoln Discussion Symposium, show farms within Prince George’s County with the name “Blanford” as follows:

“S Blanford” located south of Surratsville on the Surrats No. 9 District Map
“J Blanford” located north of Tee Bee on the Piscataway No. 5 District Map
“TS Blanford” located in Farmington on the Piscataway No. 5 District Map

Based on my Ancestry.com family tree, the following family tree members with last name “Blandford” (or Blanford) that were alive during the 1860’s and that could have owned and/or lived at these locations are as follows:

Henry Stanislaus Blandford, the father of three sons, known as Stanislaus Blandford (“S Blanford” on the map);

His first son, Dr. Joseph Henry Blandford (“J Blanford” on the map);
His second son, William Benson Hall Blandford; and
His third son, Thomas Sprigg Blandford (“TS Blanford” on the map).

In the 1850 U.S. Census:

Henry Stanislaus Blandford (age 53), was listed with his wife, Mary Smith Hall Blandford (age 50), and his two youngest sons, William Benson Hall Blandford (age 13) and Thomas Sprigg Blandford (age 10).

1850 U.S. Census Reference, Prince George County, Piscataway District:
(https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/805...it/record)

His oldest son, Joseph Henry Blandford (age 17) was attending Georgetown College.

1850 U.S. Census Reference, Georgetown College:
(https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/805...it/record)

In the 1860 U.S. Census:

Henry Stanislaus Blandford (age 63) was listed with May Blandford (age 54) and the two youngest sons, William Benson Hall Blandford (age 23) and Thomas Sprigg Blandford (age 20).

1860 U.S. Census Reference, Prince George County, 9th Election District, Surratsville Post Office:
(https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/766...it/record)

His oldest son, Dr. Joseph Henry Blandford (age 27) was listed separately and singly in the 1860 Census.

1860 U.S. Census Reference, Prince George County, 9th Election District, Surratsville Post Office:
(https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/766...it/record)

In the 1870 U.S. Census:

Henry Stanislaus Blandford was not found, nor was he found in the 1880 U.S. Census.

Dr. Joseph Henry Blandford (age 37) was listed with his wife, Anna Cecelia Mudd Blandford (age 31), and the first four of their children (ages 2, 4, 6, and 8).

1870 U.S. Census Reference, Prince George County, Piscataway District, TB Post Office:
(https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/716...it/record)

Thomas Sprigg Blandford (age 30) was listed separately with his wife, Elizabeth (age 24), and the first three of their children (ages ½, 2, and 4). Also listed were his older brother, William Benson Hall Blandford (age 33), and their mother, Mary Smith Hall Blandford (age 70).

1870 U.S. Census Reference, Prince George County, Surrats District, TB Post Office:
(https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/716...it/record)


Based on the location and date that the above U.S. Census data was taken, the following summarizes and verifies that the “Blanford” farms shown on the Maryland County District Maps could be that owned by the family of Henry Stanislaus Blandford, especially the two farms, “S Blanford” and “J Blanford,” located between Surratsville and “Tee Bee” as shown on the maps:

The father, Henry Stanislaus Blandford, known as Stanislaus Blandford:

1850, Prince George County, Piscataway (No. 5) District, lived with his wife, Mary Smith Hall Blandford, and family of two boys
1860, Prince George County, 9th Election (Suratts) District, near the Surratsville Post Office, lived with his wife, Mary Smith Hall Blandford, and family of two boys
1870, No U.S. Census record

His first son, Dr. Joseph Henry Blandford:

1850, Georgetown College, attended Georgetown College
1860, Prince George County, 9th Election (Suratts) District, near the Surratsville Post Office, lived alone
1860, Prince George County, Piscataway (No. 5) District, near the TB Post Office, lived with his wife and family of four children

His second son, William Benson Hall Blandford:

1850, Prince George County, Piscataway (No. 5) District, lived with his father, Henry Stanislaus Blandford, his mother, Mary Smith Hall Blandford, and his older brother, Thomas Sprigg Blandford
1860, Prince George County, 9th Election (Suratts) District, near the Surratsville Post Office, lived with his father, Henry Stanislaus Blandford, his mother, Mary Smith Hall Blandford, and his older brother, Thomas Sprigg Blandford
1870, Prince George County, Surrats (No. 9) District, near the TB Post Office
Lived with the family of his older brother, Thomas Sprigg Blandford

His third son, Thomas Sprigg Blandford:

1850, Prince George County, Piscataway (No. 5) District, lived with his father, Henry Stanislaus Blandford, his mother, Mary Smith Hall Blandford, and his younger brother, William Benson Hall Blandford
1860, Prince George County, 9th Election (Suratts) District, near the Surratsville Post Office, lived with his father, Henry Stanislaus Blandford, his mother, Mary Smith Hall Blandford, and his younger brother, William Benson Hall Blandford
1870, Prince George County, Surrats (No. 9) District, near the TB Post Office, lived with his wife and family of three children

Notes:

The Post Office listed in each 1870 U.S. Census is “TB” (i.e., assumed to be “Tee Bee” on the 1860 Maryland County District Maps).

Additionally, Stanislaus Blandford was listed in the U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918, in May 1864 at a location listed as “T.B.” (https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/126...it/record)


A source citation from Ancestry.com entitled, “Across the Years in Prince George's County, Maryland,” (https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse....y&gss=pt), states the location of the farm owned by Stanislaus Blandford in relationship to the farms owned by Bennett F. Gwynn and his brother, John Dyer Gwynn, in Surratsville, Prince George’s County, Maryland. The portion describing this location is as follows:


“The census of 1860 shows BENNETT F. GWYNN, a resident of Surrattsville, Md. Age 35; realty appraised at $15,000, personalty at $11,000. Wife Eleanor aged 30, and the following children at home: Clarence aged 16, Edward 12, Rafael 10, John 4, Laura 2.

“Their home, Mount Auburn, was a 325 acre farm, part of his Lordships kindness, about one mile from Surrattsville, (now Clinton) Prince George’s County, on the stage road leading to Washington, and about ten miles distance therefrom. It adjourned the estates of Stanislaus Blandford and John Dyer Gwynn, his brother. This estate was sold in 1870, when Bennett Gwynn removed with his family to Baltimore where they lived for many years.”


The Maryland County District Maps that were referenced in Lincoln Discussion Symposium, show a farm within Prince George’s County with the name “BF Gwynn,” located south of Surratsville on the Surrats No. 9 District Map. Note that a farm with the name “S Blanford” is located just southeast of this farm, assumedly belonging to Henry Stanislaus Blandford, known to all as Stanislaus Blandford.


A ten-page letter entitled “History of H.S. Blandford family,” (https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/...BJs=true), was originally shared by Peter O'Connell on October 12, 2016 with Ancestry.com for genealogical reference purposes. The letter’s letterhead was entitled, Blandford & Blandford, Lawyers, P. O. Box 363, Kimberly, Idaho 83341 with the names, A. L. Blandford (208) 423-5264) and J. H. Blandford (1896-1987) printed at the top.

The letter was written by A. L. "Jim" Blandford, family genealogist, to his cousin, dated March 13, 1989. The first page of the letter describes what he knows about his grandfather, Henry Stanislaus Blandford, the oldest of eleven children born to Dr. Joseph Henry Blandford and Anna Cecilia Mudd, the sister of Dr. Samuel Alexander Mudd. The first page of the letter as written is as follows:


“Our grandfather [, Henry Stanislaus Blandford,] was born May 1, 1862, the oldest of eleven children born to Dr. Joseph Henry Blandford (born Aug 25, 1833; died Aug 26, 1918) and Anna Cecilia Mudd (born Feb 2, 1838; died Feb 2, 1917). She was a sister of Dr. Samuel Alexander Mudd, being the fifth child born in the Mudd family while Dr. Mudd was the fourth.

“Our grandfather, together with his ten brothers and sisters, were all born at Meadow Grove Farm, Prince George's County, Maryland, which was located at that time 12 miles from Washington D.C. (now 10 miles from the District of Columbia line) at the top of Burch's Hill on Old Branch Road (now Branch Avenue). The official birth­ place, however, is given as T.B., Maryland, where the closest post office to Meadow Grove Farm was then located.

“Our grandfather was just 16 days from attaining his third birthday when John Wilkes Booth rode right by the Blandford farm while escaping into Southern Maryland on his way to Virginia after shooting President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre on the evening of April 14, 1865. And he was approaching his seventh birthday when his father, brother-in-law of Mrs. Samuel A. (Sarah Frances Dyer) Mudd, accompanied her to the White House to receive Dr. Mudd's pardon from President Andrew Johnson on February 13, 1869.

“Dr. Mudd arrived home from Fort Jefferson on Dry Tortugas Island on March 20, 1869, and lived there until his death on January 10, 1883, at the age of 50. I often wonder how many times our grandfather may have visited with his uncle after the doctor's release from prison, as their homes were located only 17 miles from each other.”


Note that according to my family tree in Ancestry.com, J. H. Blandford (1896-1987) in the letterhead is the oldest son of Henry Stanislaus Blandford, who is the “grandfather” in the letter. (J. H. Blandford was born in 1896 and died in 1987.) Also note that the Henry Stanislaus Blandford being described in the letter, born in 1862 and died in 1915, is not to be confused with his grandfather (i.e., his father’s father) with the same name, Henry Stanislaus Blandford, born in 1797 and died in 1881.

Knowing that two doctors and their families were very close in more ways than one, this begs the (rhetorical?) question, “If John Wilkes Booth knew Dr. Samuel Alexander Mudd, why did John Wilkes Booth not stop at the house of Dr. Joseph Henry Blandford to get his leg set?” Dr. Joseph Henry Blandford was married to Anna Cecilia Mudd, the sister of Dr. Samuel Alexander Mudd. Therefore, if John Wilkes Booth knew Dr. Samuel Alexander Mudd, it would seem reasonable to assume that he would have also known Dr. Joseph Henry Blandford.


A story entitled, “Civil War, 1865, Southern Maryland,” (https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/...BJs=true), was shared by “dbburr” on February 12, 2011 with Ancestry.com for genealogical reference purposes. The story is a family oral history concerning the part Dr. Joseph Henry Blandford played during the Civil War, which follows:


“The family oral history said that Dr. Blandford was in the Confederate secret service (his obit in the Washington Post left out the confederate part). He was supposed to be a courier between the spies in D.C. and Richmond. Also involved were Dr. Samuel Mudd (his brother in law) and a Dr. Wyville (sp) of Accokeek. Doctors normally had fast horses and the ability to get in and out of Washington easily. I have often wondered if the story was a cover for the fact that he did not openly support and join the southern army. The family might have used the story as an excuse for the doctor's staying home during the conflict. He was a small-time slave holder, but he may have been too smart to believe in the southern cause, and the possibility of a southern victory. Dr. Blandford was a witness in the trial of Dr. Mudd. If they both were involved in Confederate spying, it would help explain Dr. Mudd's inability to talk freely about his connection with John Wilkes Booth.”