New photo of Dr Mudd from Mr Dave Taylor?

[Paul F.]

I have also pondered the possibility of the individual in the photo being Dr. Mudd. I'm not fully convinced myself that it is indeed Mudd. The time frame seems to be correct for his time at Fort Jefferson, but I tend to agree with Rick Smith regarding the clothing question. Clothing tends to wear out much more quickly in hot/humid climates, so it would be unlikely that he would have any clothes that would be able to be stored safely for the duration of his incarceration. Dr. Mudd states in several letters to his wife that his physical appearance has changed to the point that he considers himself scarcely recognizable. He says his hair is falling out and he shaves it weekly. He also states that he keeps his facial hair trimmed short. These could make difficult the task of identifying him positively in a photograph. He does request that his family stop sending him clothes and money unless he asks for them, suggesting that he was adequately clothed for a time. Mudd was pardoned on 2-8-1869, the army order releasing him was given on 2-13-1869, and he wasn't officially released until 3-8-1869. As mentioned earlier, it would probably be unlikely that Mudd would have a nice suit of clothes that stayed in good condition during his time in prison, and given the time between his pardon and ultimate release added with the occasional sporadic nature of the mail delivery to the Tortugas, it would be a stretch to think that his family could send him a new suit of clothes that would arrive in time for his release. All this, of course, assuming that the picture is of Mudd waiting for his passage to freedom. I unfortunately have rambled a bit, but the Mudd story has so many different angles and facets to explore. One easily gets bogged down! If references for anything I have listed are desired, let me know and I beg your patience. I pulled most of this from memory, and I will need to leaf through about 700 pages of text from Bob Summers's book "The Assassin's Doctor", which I consider to be the finest source of Mudd material. Let the discussion continue!