1865 Southern Maryland road and town map.

[Dennis Urban]

It is unfair to be too critical of Oldroyd's telling of the assassination story as he was working 120 years ago and we, today, have so much more accurate information from many additional sources. For those who know the history by today's accepted facts, the written errors are readily apparent. That is why I'd love to know his sources. Guess I'll write to the NPS at Ford's.

A serious error with the map is where Oldroyd locates Oswall Swann's home. He pinpoints it directly west of Bryantown and on the west side of Zekiah Swamp. Swann's home was actually southeast of Bryantown on the east side of the swamp. Oldroyd shows a dotted line of the fugitives going from Brice Church to Swann's which would not be possible if Swann's place was accurately located. The base map is very good and sourced from the U.S. Geological Survey in 1901. The map looks to be accurate in its place name locations including St. Paul's PE Church and Brice Church. The map is helpful in depicting the roads in 1901 of which there is no doubt some change from 1865. Oldroyd notes that the railroads were "not built in 1865". Comparing Dave Taylor's escape route maps in this area against Oldroyd's allows one to see just how far off the path Oldroyd was.

But giving Oldroyd his deserved dues, his 1901 effort makes fine reading and does reveal a few minor facts not previously known by this reader. Like David Herold's "confession", these must be taken with a dose of salt.