Sanford Conover - the man who had more than one alias (Wallace, Dunham, even Conover was said to be an alias) testified, under oath in more than one trial after the war, as a Rebel, and lied, Was charged with perjury and was convicted.
Yet, in later Census records -he is married,( Wife Mary, and daughter - "Effie") living in Buffalo, N.Y. and then gets buried in the National Cemetery at Bath , New York, with full Veteran Honors, a hero.
I can't find any more than that. Can anyone explain this?

The Sanford Conover who was buried in Bath National Cemetery in 1913 is not the same person as the perjurer Charles A. Dunham using the alias Sanford Conover. He's a man actually named Sanford Conover from the Buffalo area who enlisted in the 98th New York Infantry as a teenager during the Civil War.

The con-artist Charles A. Dunham died on July 15, 1900 in Rutherford, New Jersey:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZCP-PXX

Here is Dunham in the 1880 census:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MN8D-SNP

and the 1900 census:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9NV-RWY

I hope this is helpful!

(07-07-2018 06:20 PM)Steve Wrote:  The Sanford Conover who is buried in Bath National Cemetery is not the same person as the perjurer Charles A. Dunham using the alias Sanford Conover but of a man actually named Sanford Conover from the Buffalo area who enlisted in the 98th New York Infantry as a teenager during the Civil War.

The con-artist Charles A. Dunham died on July 15, 1900 in Rutherford, New Jersey:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZCP-PXX

Here is Dunham in the 1880 census:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MN8D-SNP

and the 1900 census:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9NV-RWY

I hope this is helpful!

Steve,
Great research and information on Conover/Dunham/Wallace. He appears to have ties to Edwin Stanton that predate the war. He was a double agent or at least applied to be one in 1864/65. He was a brilliant con artist, utterly without scruples. He certainly appears to be close to Confederate activities in Montreal and, directly or indirectly, learned about Confederate plans to cause mayhem in the US, including plans to kidnap or murder Lincoln. What I find intriguing is that when he was arrested for unpaid debts in Canada, Edwin Stanton moved heaven and earth to have him rescued and returned to the US so he could testify at the trial of the Lincoln Conspirators. He sent General Dix, the senior ranking officer in the North East to Montreal on an emergency mission, along with a blank check book, to get him out. No similar effort was made to secure the testimony of any other witnesses at the trail. All very curious.
B

(07-07-2018 04:35 PM)SSlater Wrote:  Sanford Conover - the man who had more than one alias (Wallace, Dunham, even Conover was said to be an alias) testified, under oath in more than one trial after the war, as a Rebel, and lied, Was charged with perjury and was convicted.
Yet, in later Census records -he is married,( Wife Mary, and daughter - "Effie") living in Buffalo, N.Y. and then gets buried in the National Cemetery at Bath , New York, with full Veteran Honors, a hero.
I can't find any more than that. Can anyone explain this?

John:

His real name (supposedly) was Charles A. Dunham. He had at least 20 aliases and is one of the most extraordinary figures in history. There is a good biography of him written by Carman Cumming, titled Devil's Game. There is, not surprisingly, doubt as to where his ultimately loyalties lay, but I am of the opinion that they lay with the South. I also believe that it was he, together with George N.Sanders, both members of the Canadian contingency of the Confederate Secret Service (the "Canadian Cabinet"), who engineered the intentionally planted perjury in the trial of the conspirators, perjury that was designed to be exposed as such, which it was (and quite easily) and whose ultimate purpose was to cause the case against the Confederate leadership to collapse, which it did. Remember that Jefferson Davis, George N. Sanders, Beverly Tucker, Jacob Thompson, William C. Cleary, Clement C. Clay, George Harper, George Young "and others unknown" were named in the charge and specification as co-conspirators. Because of the deliberately planted and exposed perjury, none of these men was ever sentenced. Please see pp. 357-363 of Decapitating the Union for material relevant to this issue. Please see, too, the play, later the movie, Witness for the Prosecution , for a great example of how deliberately planted and exposed perjury works an almost magical injustice.

John

(07-07-2018 06:49 PM)Barry Sheehy Wrote:  

(07-07-2018 06:20 PM)Steve Wrote:  The Sanford Conover who is buried in Bath National Cemetery is not the same person as the perjurer Charles A. Dunham using the alias Sanford Conover but of a man actually named Sanford Conover from the Buffalo area who enlisted in the 98th New York Infantry as a teenager during the Civil War.

The con-artist Charles A. Dunham died on July 15, 1900 in Rutherford, New Jersey:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZCP-PXX

Here is Dunham in the 1880 census:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MN8D-SNP

and the 1900 census:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9NV-RWY

I hope this is helpful!

Steve,
Great research and information on Conover/Dunham/Wallace. He appears to have ties to Edwin Stanton that predate the war. He was a double agent or at least applied to be one in 1864/65. He was a brilliant con artist, utterly without scruples. He certainly appears to be close to Confederate activities in Montreal and, directly or indirectly, learned about Confederate plans to cause mayhem in the US, including plans to kidnap or murder Lincoln. What I find intriguing is that when he was arrested for unpaid debts in Canada, Edwin Stanton moved heaven and earth to have him rescued and returned to the US so he could testify at the trial of the Lincoln Conspirators. He sent General Dix, the senior ranking officer in the North East to Montreal on an emergency mission, along with a blank check book, to get him out. No similar effort was made to secure the testimony of any other witnesses at the trail. All very curious.
B

Thanks to Steve and Barry. I appreciate your prompt and correct information. The info I was using, would be the same as finding WWII foes buried in Arlington. NO WAY!