Tidwell revisited

[McCastle]

(11-20-2020 04:45 AM)Steve Wrote:  There's one event in which Augustus Howell appears in records before the trial and his stay with the Surratts that I'm aware of which should be added to your timeline of events. On October 24, 1862 Augustus Howell and five other men were apprehended by the Union schooner Mathew Vassar trying to row to Virginia. The men claimed to be trying to join the Confederate Army but they also tried to destroy numerous papers on them before they were captured. Here's a link to the relevant record:

https://books.google.com/books?id=y1lKAQ...22&f=false

I don't know how long Howell was held by Union authorities before he was released. So, I don't know if this conflicts with Emack's time period at Libby Prison or not.



Good luck with your research, Joe!

Thanks Steve,

I have looked for Augustus Howell in the First Maryland Artillery C.S.A. and found a Gustavus Howell. That might be him. Thank you also for the link to the additional info on Howell's arrest. This is interesting due to the prisoners statements that Emack was receiving news from inside the Federal lines of Washington. His father smuggled the newspapers out of the city but not to Richmond. I'm pretty sure that George was doing more than just guarding prisoners. He was most likely meeting his father at at the Potomac River. Also, Howell and Emack were arrested on the same mail route. Emack at Pleasant Springs, when he gave the name Howell, and a man who gave the name Augustus Howell was arrested carrying mail at nearby Upper Marlboro MD.

Thanks again... any help is always appreciated.