Lew Powell's Frostbitten Feet

[Natty]

(08-24-2012 07:24 PM)MaddieM Wrote:  I think his dad did. I think he set off but bearing in mind the distance...and he got word that Lewis had already died. So he turned back. I guess, he knew that the body would not be released to him and had to get back to his family as soon as. How very sad. It pains me to think about it.

When I first read about this whole sorry situation, I thought perhaps his family had disowned him. But when you start reading deeper, you realise that he was very much loved. His poor mother. I don't know how she lived with that. It would have destroyed me.

Yes, his dad did make a failed attempt to reach him in time, only to find out that he was too late. There was no point for him to continue onwards, since he probably did not expect a warm reception and, as you said, likely had no hope to claim the body.
The family moved around a lot after Lewis' execution, trying to escape the stigma of the situation, but they did not disown him. His father once said that Lewis had been hanged in a good cause and his mother apparently kept on her mourning clothes long after he had died. She had lost another son as well, so the poor woman must have been completely wracked with grief.
I don't know how she dealt with these emotions; it is something I can't even begin to conceive of. They had killed her baby boy in a most horrible way and she had been completely helpless to stop it. Many people would have gone mad. I wouldn't have been able to deal with it, that's for sure.