assassination

[Jim Woodall]

(12-15-2015 11:53 AM)Susan Higginbotham Wrote:  

(12-15-2015 10:56 AM)L Verge Wrote:  You have much more information on this than what I have known. I'm going to turn this over to our new librarian to see if there is any mention of these "arrests" in the Hall files here at the museum. So far as I know, there were soldiers stationed at the boardinghouse when the occupants were taken in for questioning, but I don't know how long they stayed there. I also know that the name Boiseau runs through the earlier history of Mary Surratt.

I would also like to ask Susan H if she has run across any of this history in her research.

I remember reading somewhere that people who stopped by the boardinghouse after the arrests of Mary et al. were detained and questioned, but will have to look up the source. I think it may have been Mary's old servant Rachel who said this.

Edit: At John Surratt's trial, Rachel, aka Eliza Hawkins, testified that she went to the boardinghouse on the morning of Tuesday, April 18, to get her young daughter, and was told by the soldiers there that anyone who went there could not come out. She testified that Anna Ward and another unnamed young lady were detained after coming to the boardinghouse that day, and that Rachel herself was held there until 8 p.m., when she was taken to the provost marshal's for questioning. Her relevant testimony is in vol. I of the John Surratt trial book, pp. 693-94.

https://books.google.com/books?id=r3IDAA...ns&f=false

William Wallace Kirby, Mary Surratt's friend and neighbor, gave a statement on April 18 in which he said that he had gone to the boardinghouse (apparently in hopes of getting more information from Mary about the whereabouts of her son) that morning and was detained. His statement is on p. 783 of Edwards' and Steers' The Lincoln Assassination: The Evidence. It might be on Fold3 as well.

Thank you Susan for confirming the arrest/detaining of visitors after the arrest of Mary Surratt and other occupants. As far as I know, the information I have is not in reference to Anna Ward although the first name is similar to one of the cousins mentioned in the document. That would be the one who did not have the infant awaiting being tended to. Also, as far as I know, Anna Ward is not related to me nor related to the source of the info. But then again, I have not looked into Anna Ward.

[Pamela]

(12-02-2015 09:36 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(11-29-2015 08:09 AM)Jim Woodall Wrote:  Following Bull Run, John Holohan was arrested and charged with treason. Some of the charges included causing the stampede at Bull Run and also threatening the president. There are several articles in the local papers covering this. If my memory serves correctly, he was eventually let go after ye olde "loyalty oath." It makes for interesting reading.

see:
National Republican, 31 Jul 1861, pg 3 - stampede, threatening

"Arrested for Treason. Yesterday John Holohan was arrested by the military authorities, on the oath of citizens, charging him with complicity with the rebels, and threatening that the President should not be allowed to remain in this city longer than three months. It is supposed that be, by some means, passed himself off as a wagon-master at the Bull Run engagement, and added not a little in creating the stampede among the baggage wagons. He was committed to jail by Justice Donn."

Seeing John Holohan's feelings makes me wonder all the more why Weichmann did not move out of the Surratt boardinghouse. I know Weichmann gives an explanation in his book, but seeing this information on John Holohan makes me wonder even more how sincere he was. I would have been very uncomfortable living there if I were 100% Union as claimed by Mr. Weichmann.

Weichmann had spent three years studying for the priesthood in an overwhelmingly pro south environment in St Charles College. From the Townsend interview, " When the war broke out, the whole school was, with few exceptions, favorable to the success of the Rebellion. The teachers seemed to have little enthusiasm for the liberty of opinion, the secular education, and the republican civilization of the North....We were kept ignorant of Union victories." The sponsor for priesthood that he was assigned to was Bishop McGill in Richmond, who rejected him after the trial because of his testimony. Weichmann was used to finding himself amidst Confederate sympathizers and anticipated a future in Richmond where he would be ministering to a population actively sympathetic to the Southern cause. He explained his state of mind this way," Religion, I have always looked upon as something above the mere politics of the day, and vague theories about human government. Religion is eternal, immutable, it has existed for ages past, and will exist when empires and kingdoms shall have crumbled to dust....My principles are: loyalty to God first, then to country, and if for a moment I thought that in any action I would be called to perform for the country I would displease God, not all the armies of creation could force me to it."
Gilbert Raynor , a fellow clerk at the Office of the Commissary of Prisoners (or whatever it was called) said this about Weichmann, "Seemed more vehement in his expressions against the South and the Secessionists than any man in the office." Do you believe Weichmann was putting on an act so no one would suspect he was stealing dispatches and handing them to Surratt? If so, why didn't Weichmann use Surratt's services to get his letters to Bishop McGill instead of the ships of truce?

[L Verge]

(12-16-2015 06:20 AM)Jim Woodall Wrote:  

(12-15-2015 11:03 AM)BettyO Wrote:  I found this interesting site online - re: Boiseau and the Surratt Family -


https://deathandlifeofhistoricanacostia....e-rambler/

Actually, John Muller in the first article on Lost Tribe is referring to an email I had sent him at the time. I also sent him some more information on James Boiseau a bit after that.

I do need to correct something from that. The Jenkins' Tavern did not go into the brother's Thomas Jenkins (he who housed Mary Surratt and the kids) hands but in 1852 went to the nephew, Joseph Thomas Jenkins, son of the brother, Basil Jenkins. I believe Joseph Thomas Jenkins' will returned it to Ida Boiseau who later sold it to the Schelihorns and eventually transferred to some Vermillions. Interestingly, a sister of Joseph, Sarah Ann, did marry a Lawson Vermillion but they died in the early 1860s leaving a son, Albert, who died shortly afterwards having been struck by lightning beneath a tree in front of the tavern. In 1860, Sarah Ann Vermillion was living with her brother, Joseph Thomas Jenkins, and their mother, Eliza Jenkins.

Basil Jenkins' house where his widow, Eliza, lived was taken during the Civil War by General Sickles for officer quarters for Fort Baker.

Interestingly, Ida Boiseau also ended up with land that had been part of Fort Wagner (down the hill and across Good Hope Road from Fort Baker with my 3rd great grandfather, Thomas Anderson, sandwiched between the forts). I am not fully sure yet how she obtained the Fort Wagner land but likely was land originally owned by her father, James Boiseau, near to the Boiseau house where some say the Surratts were married.

If anyone has a copy of the Henri J Wiesel (grandson of James Boiseau) letter stating the Surratts were married in the Boiseau house, I would love to get my hands on a copy or transcript of said letter.

Betty Trindal covers some of the Jenkins and Boiseau relationships on page 20 of her book, An American Tragedy. Her citations come from the research of James O. Hall, which Surratt House owns. I will have our librarian check for the Henri Wiesel letter.

As an aside, two forts guarded Good Hope Road during the Civil War, Fort Baker and Fort Stanton. Booth and then Herold rode right past both as they escaped through Anacostia (then known as Uniontown). Today, there is a proposal to change the name of Good Hope Road to honor the late Mayor of D.C., the "colorful" and somewhat infamous Marion Barry

[RJNorton]

(12-16-2015 11:04 AM)Pamela Wrote:  Do you believe Weichmann was putting on an act so no one would suspect he was stealing dispatches and handing them to Surratt?

Hi Pam. No, not really. It's just the way I think - others probably don't mind living in a situation where they might feel some discomfort. Weichmann said many of his most sincere friends asked him why he did not move out of the boardinghouse. IMO it's a logical and legitimate question to ask assuming he were really as loyal as he said he was. I do believe if I were Weichmann I would have departed the place, but I am not Weichmann, and he thought differently.

[Gene C]

Some thought has been given to the idea that Weichmann may have had a romantic interest in Anna Surratt. If that was the case he's not leaving the boarding house.
After the assassination, if not before, the feeling was not mutual. In addition to the landlady's daughter, the food was probably pretty good, rent reasonable. Surratt was not at home much, so no big problems with his roommate, plus on occasion he got to hang around with a theatrical star. That's reason to put up with a few inconveniences.

[Wild Bill]

I agree with you Gene, completely

[Gene C]

thanks Bill & Merry Christmas!

[Pamela]

I think Weichmann also enjoyed the company of the other young ladies in the house. On the night of the 14th, Anna had gone to her room early, not feeling well, and Nora and Anna's cousin spent time in the parlor "teasing" Mr Weichmann and the three made a great deal of noise with their laughter, causing Mary Surratt to shoo them to their rooms. I think there' s a good chance that John cultivated his friendship with Louis as a cover for his rebel activities. Weichmann provided a place for John to stay when he was in the city, and detectives wouldn't have been suspicious. John had the advantage of knowing what he was about, and Weichmann was at a disadvantage, being unaware of John's rebel activities, or at most, the extent of them. For John, his friendship with Louis was always second to his commitment to the Confederacy and the same was true for Mary. It might have been to their advantage to have a Union man staying at the house, rather than all secessionists. Louis thought he was helping a friend's family financially, they were Catholics, there might have been good food and a family atmosphere. Booth quickly supplanted the friendship Louis had with John, so on John' s part, it might have been more a friendship of convenience.

[Jim Woodall]

(12-16-2015 11:16 AM)L Verge Wrote:  

(12-16-2015 06:20 AM)Jim Woodall Wrote:  

(12-15-2015 11:03 AM)BettyO Wrote:  I found this interesting site online - re: Boiseau and the Surratt Family -


https://deathandlifeofhistoricanacostia....e-rambler/

Actually, John Muller in the first article on Lost Tribe is referring to an email I had sent him at the time. I also sent him some more information on James Boiseau a bit after that.

I do need to correct something from that. The Jenkins' Tavern did not go into the brother's Thomas Jenkins (he who housed Mary Surratt and the kids) hands but in 1852 went to the nephew, Joseph Thomas Jenkins, son of the brother, Basil Jenkins. I believe Joseph Thomas Jenkins' will returned it to Ida Boiseau who later sold it to the Schelihorns and eventually transferred to some Vermillions. Interestingly, a sister of Joseph, Sarah Ann, did marry a Lawson Vermillion but they died in the early 1860s leaving a son, Albert, who died shortly afterwards having been struck by lightning beneath a tree in front of the tavern. In 1860, Sarah Ann Vermillion was living with her brother, Joseph Thomas Jenkins, and their mother, Eliza Jenkins.

Basil Jenkins' house where his widow, Eliza, lived was taken during the Civil War by General Sickles for officer quarters for Fort Baker.

Interestingly, Ida Boiseau also ended up with land that had been part of Fort Wagner (down the hill and across Good Hope Road from Fort Baker with my 3rd great grandfather, Thomas Anderson, sandwiched between the forts). I am not fully sure yet how she obtained the Fort Wagner land but likely was land originally owned by her father, James Boiseau, near to the Boiseau house where some say the Surratts were married.

If anyone has a copy of the Henri J Wiesel (grandson of James Boiseau) letter stating the Surratts were married in the Boiseau house, I would love to get my hands on a copy or transcript of said letter.

Betty Trindal covers some of the Jenkins and Boiseau relationships on page 20 of her book, An American Tragedy. Her citations come from the research of James O. Hall, which Surratt House owns. I will have our librarian check for the Henri Wiesel letter.

As an aside, two forts guarded Good Hope Road during the Civil War, Fort Baker and Fort Stanton. Booth and then Herold rode right past both as they escaped through Anacostia (then known as Uniontown). Today, there is a proposal to change the name of Good Hope Road to honor the late Mayor of D.C., the "colorful" and somewhat infamous Marion Barry

Alas, a quandary. Dare I disagree with a school marm (meant in the kindest of ways) who knows how to provide the proper dressing down, if even given with a spoonful of sugar. Dare I challenge one on a certain fact knowing how easily I can be run over by the vast store of facts this wonderful teacher has at her command which I don't know nor know that I do not know. In this case, rode the six hundred, or here the lone figure.

Fort Baker stood approximately where 30th Street and Fort Baker Drive is today. Fort Wagner stood where Stanton Elementary now stands (perhaps some confusion inherent in that). Fort Stanton is found at Erie Street and Fort Place near to the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum.

If one travels further south to Alabama Ave at Congress Place and 14th Place one finds where Fort Snyder had been. This helps define where Tom Jenkins (housed Mary Surratt and kids) was living. One of the houses on his property was supposed to have been dismantled and the wood used for constructing Officer Quarters for Fort Snyder. Also, Tom Jenkins lands were near to St. Elizabeths. He had also owned the National Race Course (see obit for daughter Susanna Johnston in Washington Times dated 6 Mar 1911 on page 14 at Newspapers.com).

Another daughter, Annie Hoyle, wrote(?) a letter that indicated that Mary Surratt and the kids had stayed at her dad's place. Anyone have a copy or transcript of said letter?

For fort locations see (scroll down to Southeast Region for the forts mentioned):
http://www.northamericanforts.com/East/dc.html#SE

Also, from The Lincoln Assassination: The Evidence snippet from Google books, on page 707 in a footnote, "Fort Baker, along with Fort Wagner, flanked Good Hope Road leading from the Anacostia or Uniontown area of the District of Columbia. Booth and Herold slipped between the two forts and made their way into southern Maryland before notification of Lincoln's assassination reached the two forts."

Also, Mr. Lincoln's Forts: A Guide to the Civil War Defenses of Washington snippet form Google Books, has descriptions of Fort Baker and Fort Wagner and a bit more history of both, along with the other forts.

[L Verge]

Please feel free to correct this old school marm whenever necessary. I corrected a professor in college who had given me a B on a paper because his information was incorrect. He changed my grade to an A when I showed him the error of his ways.

I know Ft. Wagner should have been what I put down, but the mind is slipping. Our narrators on the Booth route bus tours always mention the forts as we climb Good Hope Hill. I apologize.