Teamwork

[L Verge]

This is just a tiny piece of trivia, but it shows how teamwork can fill in historical gaps. Betty O was studying the 1861 Martenet's Map of Prince George's County, Maryland, yesterday and found a name of someone who was living very close to Surratt House in 1861 - and whose name was very recognizable to Betty. "L. Paine." Wheels started turning with the speculation that Lewis Thornton Powell had been given his alias of "Paine" by John Surratt, who was familiar with this neighbor.

I put two of my staff searching census records, the tavern account records, secessionist lists, etc. Mr. L. Paine was not listed on the 1850 Federal Census or on the tavern books, but an Andrew Payne was in the latter as a patron at the bar.

Meanwhile, Linda Anderson of this forum went to work searching the 1860 Federal Census. She found Andrew Payne, but he was living in another town about five miles away. Then she hit pay dirt. A Mr. Lloyd Payne was listed as living in Surrattsville and earning a living as a blacksmith.

One thing about the map that threw me off at first was that L. Paine appeared to be living on the Surratt farm - which encompassed almost 300 acres. However, we know that Mr. Surratt ran a blacksmith shop. We even have a picture of it from the early-1900s in ramshackled condition.

We had often wondered who the blacksmith was. Could it have been one of the Surratt slaves? Was it a hired hand? The shop closed down at some point because Mrs. Surratt was known to use the blacksmith at T.B. after her husband died in 1862.

However, right now, we feel pretty secure in assuming that Lloyd Payne was hired as the blacksmith by Mr. Surratt. His residence being shown so close to the Surratt home may well mean that he was given a tenant house to live in on the farm.

All of this means nothing to us nuts in relation to the assassination, but it is a tiny missing piece in our continuing efforts to learn more about the Surratts and what their life was like before the Civil War came knocking.

On a similar note, I received an interesting phone call yesterday from a gentleman in southeastern Virginia. He had purchased an ancient derringer pistol in a yard sale consisting of leftovers from an estate sale. It bears scratchings of "W. Booth."

Who do you turn to? No, not the ghost busters! Wes Harris of this forum is an expert in the weapons field (especially THE derringer). I'm waiting to hear Wes's opinions after talking with this gentleman -- who did not come across as a scam artist in our phone conversation.

[LincolnMan]

Great post Laurie.

[Anita]

Laurie, Love your post. Love the team work with Betty O. and Linda. Will you write this up for the Serratt newsletter?

History needs all these little pieces. It adds texture and context. This new little piece may be a connection to another piece for someone else. That's why I love the forum.

What is located where the blacksmith shop used to be?

[L Verge]

The blacksmith shop's lot is now home to a 7-11. Across the road from the Surratt House, Mr. Surratt had a livery stable. There is now a Citgo gas station on that site. We laugh and tell the tourists that, instead of horses getting fed and watered there, it is now cars!