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SSlater · 05-17-2017, 10:29 PM

I had to dig deep, but I came up with some correspondence that is over ten years old. I participated in a Study of the St. Albans raid being done by Dan Rush and E. Gale Pewitt. Others who worked on it were Dave Gaddy, Jane Singer and Laurie Verge (Remember these guys , Laurie?) Before the time of our correspondence, the list included Jim Hall and Bill Tidwell. Rush and Pewitt were writing the story of the St. Albans Raid. The portion of the report that would be of interest to you readers was the description of a second candidate for consideration that might be the lady in the picture.
We all agreed that the identity of the lady is UNPROVEN. A fact which I feel is a necessary consideration during our current study.
The name of the lady to be considered is Mary Belle Higbee. She was a 24 year old "Kentucky Widow" (as a result of the death of a prior husband). She came to Canada because her current husband Charles H. Higbee, had been wounded in the St. Albans Raid, and was near death. She stayed at his bedside, in the jail, so that there is no record of her stay elsewhere in Canada.
Now comes contradictory material. Her picture was not available until the time of publication of Headley's Book, and was given to Headley in Jassamine Co , Ky. There is a mention that the picture was readily available in Kentucky. (Excluding the possibility of the involvement of the Montreal Police). So, the possibility that there was more than one lady attending the prisoners, is a distinct possibility. BUT, we don't know which one is pictured.
There is ample reason to consider the errors in this story. The St. Albans Raiders were not considered as Heroes, at home. Kentucky never left the Union. so, the Vets came home to opposing parties. Most of the ruling people favored the Union. So, their effort was considered unacceptable. Most of the Raiders were totally unknown until most of them were deceased.
P.S. I have acquired Xerox copies of some of the money stolen in the St. Albans Raid. I'm not special - it was readily available to all.
It was issued by the St. Albans Banks, with their name on it.

RJNorton · 05-18-2017, 04:42 AM

Could this be the same lady? Did she later move to Texas?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"The germ of the Grays grew out of the Higbee Guards, organized Feb. 22, 1907, and after attending reunions and gatherings, gala days, and numerous like occasions, on the 5th day of Jan., 1908, they changed their name to the Fort Worth Confederate Grays, for the reason that the latter name was more definite as to their locality.

The officers of the Guards and Grays are given first, followed by sketches of the members of the company as now enrolled.

The first name was for Mrs. Mary Belle Higbee, a lady bountiful, whose husband wore the gray, and who gave substantial aid to the Guards, and while they were thus induced to make the change in name, get they will ever entertain the highest regards and most appreciative remembrance of this of the mother of the organization."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

https://archive.org/stream/rosterfirstte...t_djvu.txt

Gene C · 05-18-2017, 06:42 AM

The more I read of what people on this forum have uncovered and have shared (on this and other topics), the more in awe I am of your research skills and talents.
Has any of this been written up in book form or a series of articles?

Other than the one book mentioned previously about the St. Albans Raid by Michelle Sherburne (which is now on my wish list) has anything else been written and published about this incident?

L Verge · (This post was last modified: 05-18-2017 10:18 AM by L Verge.)

(05-18-2017 06:42 AM)Gene C Wrote: The more I read of what people on this forum have uncovered and have shared (on this and other topics), the more in awe I am of your research skills and talents.
Has any of this been written up in book form or a series of articles?

Other than the one book mentioned previously about the St. Albans Raid by Michelle Sherburne (which is now on my wish list) has anything else been written and published about this incident?

Amazon has several others listed, but I am not familiar with them. I have heard good things about the Sherburne one, but have not read it.

(05-17-2017 10:29 PM)SSlater Wrote: I had to dig deep, but I came up with some correspondence that is over ten years old. I participated in a Study of the St. Albans raid being done by Dan Rush and E. Gale Pewitt. Others who worked on it were Dave Gaddy, Jane Singer and Laurie Verge (Remember these guys , Laurie?) Before the time of our correspondence, the list included Jim Hall and Bill Tidwell. Rush and Pewitt were writing the story of the St. Albans Raid. The portion of the report that would be of interest to you readers was the description of a second candidate for consideration that might be the lady in the picture.
We all agreed that the identity of the lady is UNPROVEN. A fact which I feel is a necessary consideration during our current study.
The name of the lady to be considered is Mary Belle Higbee. She was a 24 year old "Kentucky Widow" (as a result of the death of a prior husband). She came to Canada because her current husband Charles H. Higbee, had been wounded in the St. Albans Raid, and was near death. She stayed at his bedside, in the jail, so that there is no record of her stay elsewhere in Canada.
Now comes contradictory material. Her picture was not available until the time of publication of Headley's Book, and was given to Headley in Jassamine Co , Ky. There is a mention that the picture was readily available in Kentucky. (Excluding the possibility of the involvement of the Montreal Police). So, the possibility that there was more than one lady attending the prisoners, is a distinct possibility. BUT, we don't know which one is pictured.
There is ample reason to consider the errors in this story. The St. Albans Raiders were not considered as Heroes, at home. Kentucky never left the Union. so, the Vets came home to opposing parties. Most of the ruling people favored the Union. So, their effort was considered unacceptable. Most of the Raiders were totally unknown until most of them were deceased.
P.S. I have acquired Xerox copies of some of the money stolen in the St. Albans Raid. I'm not special - it was readily available to all.
It was issued by the St. Albans Banks, with their name on it.

Thanks for tossing the name of Mrs. Higbee into the story also. I certainly remember the work done on the Northwest Conspiracy by Rush and Pewitt. Gale is still a member of the Surratt Society. I believe that they published a book on it with the excellent help of Kieran McAuliffe of this forum.

I wasn't in on any discussions about the photo, but just from this little bit of information here, it certainly seems that she is a very viable candidate for being the subject of our mysterious photo. The description seems to match Mrs. Higbee more than it does Sarah Slater, imo.

I'm not sure that all of the Raiders were persona non grata in Kentucky after the war. John Headley, whose book got us into all of this, ended up being Kentucky's Secretary of State. Also, Kentucky and Tennessee had a lot of Confederate sympathizers, some of whom were prepared to help Clement Vallandigham with his plan to break the Midwest away from the Union.

SSlater · (This post was last modified: 05-19-2017 03:47 AM by SSlater.)

(05-18-2017 04:42 AM)RJNorton Wrote: Could this be the same lady? Did she later move to Texas?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"The germ of the Grays grew out of the Higbee Guards, organized Feb. 22, 1907, and after attending reunions and gatherings, gala days, and numerous like occasions, on the 5th day of Jan., 1908, they changed their name to the Fort Worth Confederate Grays, for the reason that the latter name was more definite as to their locality.

The officers of the Guards and Grays are given first, followed by sketches of the members of the company as now enrolled.

The first name was for Mrs. Mary Belle Higbee, a lady bountiful, whose husband wore the gray, and who gave substantial aid to the Guards, and while they were thus induced to make the change in name, get they will ever entertain the highest regards and most appreciative remembrance of this of the mother of the organization."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

https://archive.org/stream/rosterfirstte...t_djvu.txt

Yes!. Their name was The Mary Belle Higbee Guards They were a Drill Team.

L Verge · (This post was last modified: 05-28-2017 11:56 AM by L Verge.)

After just a quick perusal of the pages before and after the questionable lady in Headley's book, I am more definitely leaning towards it being of Mary Belle Higbee. First, if I ever knew, I have forgotten - when and where was Sarah Slater first described as the "lady in the veil?" I suppose that I have always assumed that it was her mode of disguise while on Confederate duty.

Second, Mrs. Higbee (age 27) had been a widow when her first husband, a minister 16 years her senior, died in 1857. When she remarried, she would have taken off her widow's weeds. Her second husband, Charles Higby (as spelled by Headley), was one of six Raiders who were never identified by the authorities in Montreal or the U.S., but had been injured in the raid. His wife had come to nurse him.

Not having studied the St Albans Raid in depth, reading Headley's account awakened me to the fact that there was more than one trial of the Raiders. As soon as they fled into Canada, the U.S. accused them of breaking something called the Ashburton Treaty. I'll let someone else research what that was, but it evidently had to do with U.S. relations with Canada (and thus England). From what I can gather, the citizenry of Canada were sympathetic to the Raiders. The U.S. demanded extradition for the felony committed by breaking the Treaty, but most people knew that the U.S. would execute them as spies or guerrillas.

Their defenders said that there were no grounds for extradition because the Raiders were commissioned officers and enlisted men of the Confederate Army who committed an unusual form of warfare - robbery and arson. The U.S. Army had certainly done enough of this "unusual warfare" throughout the South, so what was the fuss all about? It appears that breaking that treaty was the felony that the Feds were worried about.

The proceedings against them first began when they were arraigned in the Police Court of Montreal on November 7, 1864. The leader, Bennett Young, spoke first and declared, "Whatever was done at St. Albans was done by the authority and order of the Confederate Government. I have not violated the neutrality laws of either Canada or Great Britain. Those who were with me at St. Albans were all officers or enlisted men of the Confederate Army and were then under my command." He then went on to explain that their actions were in retaliation to "the barbarous atrocities" of Grant, Butler, Sherman, Sheridan, Hunter, and other Yankee officers. A Captain Collins then gave a similar response on behalf of the prisoners in general.

The prosecution then contended that there was no seal/proof of the Raiders' contentions that they were "legal" Confederate soldiers acting under the purview of the Confederate government. The court was adjourned in order to send for such proof. It began again on December 13, 1864. This time, there was a question as to whether or not the court had jurisdiction. The Police Judge rendered a lengthy decision that he did not have jurisdiction, and the prisoners were discharged.

Almost immediately, a warrant was issued for the re-arrest of five of the thirteen Raiders who had just been discharged. They were located near Quebec and brought back to Montreal for examination by the Supreme Court - not a Police Court. The question of jurisdiction was raised again and argued day after day until January 10, 1865, when the point was overruled. A motion was made for a thirty-day delay to allow messengers to obtain the certified copies of the men's Confederate commissions. One eminent Montreal attorney was sent directly to Washington to apply for a pass through the lines to Richmond. The request was refused by both Seward and Lincoln, and Seward's reply instructed the attorney to leave the country. This is when the various stories as to who came with the necessary papers begins.

We know that the Rev. Stephen Cameron arrived from Richmond very near the end of the trial, bearing the papers with the necessary Great Seal of the Confederacy. According to Headley, he arrived the same day as the mysterious lady courier. His description does have the lady in Montreal previously and says she had called on the prisoners in the jail. This makes sense if her wounded husband was one of the Raiders. He then says she volunteered to go to Richmond for the papers. This makes sense also since her husband would be one of the men whose life depended on those papers. That puts Mary Belle Higbee in the spotlight for me. But, was Sarah Slater heading north at the same time Mary Belle was heading south?

Headley clearly states that the woman was a "Kentucky lady." That doesn't match Sarah, bur Mary Belle was born in Kentucky and is now buried in Kentucky. However, in the caption under the photo, he states that the woman was "young." That fits Sarah - Mary Belle was 27 (matronly in those days). Mary Belle would no longer be considered a widow, either.

There is a footnote on page 376 that is even more curious: "The prisoners never met this lady before or after her visits to the jail in Montreal. One of the survivors [maybe her husband?] secured her photograph at the jail, but after forty years her name is forgotten." If she was the wife of one of them, wouldn't someone recognize her and then remember her? When she visited Frankfort, Kentucky, in 1867, and was recognized by the legislature during a 15-minute recess - and received an ovation - wouldn't someone have known her name? How did she receive word to come to Frankfort?

Do we have two women running the blockades to get the papers to Montreal in 1865? If we pay attention only to Headley's recounting, it seems like Mrs. Higbee could have been the courier. However, based on the research of 20th-century scholars, it would appear that Sarah Slater is in the running also. Frankly, I want more information on what went on in Frankfort, Kentucky, in 1867. Who was honored and why? Right now, I'm thinking it was Mary Belle Higbee - based solely on the Headley account, and how accurate is it? I feel a letter to the Kentucky State Archives and/or Historian coming on...

One more point: If, as John Stanton states, the Raiders were not popular in Kentucky after the war, why would the state legislature honor a woman(be it Mary Belle or Sarah) who had helped to save their lives?

Underground supporters might honor her with a reception, but the vote-anxious members of the state legislature? I have my doubts, if the populace didn't like the St. Albans Raid or Raiders. Maybe those Raiders were more popular than the Yankee-published history books let on.

RJNorton · 05-28-2017, 01:05 PM

(05-28-2017 10:59 AM)L Verge Wrote: I feel a letter to the Kentucky State Archives and/or Historian coming on...

This could be a problem. On May 17 John posted the following:

"Someone in Kentucky verified - for me - that there was a session where the Lady was honored for her services to the Raiders, at the time stated. I wrote again for her name. Their reply was that the Legislature met during a short recess called for this purpose and that the their activity is classified and not available for publication.

Thus a lady was honored - but WHO?"

L Verge · (This post was last modified: 05-28-2017 01:30 PM by L Verge.)

(05-28-2017 01:05 PM)RJNorton Wrote:
(05-28-2017 10:59 AM)L Verge Wrote: I feel a letter to the Kentucky State Archives and/or Historian coming on...

This could be a problem. On May 17 John posted the following:

"Someone in Kentucky verified - for me - that there was a session where the Lady was honored for her services to the Raiders, at the time stated. I wrote again for her name. Their reply was that the Legislature met during a short recess called for this purpose and that the their activity is classified and not available for publication.

Thus a lady was honored - but WHO?"

I read that previously, but I'm hoping that a request from a museum owned by The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, which was chartered by The State of Maryland in 1927 (90th anniversary this year) will have more clout when written on Commission letterhead.

I will definitely stress also that our museum has a well-recognized research center. And, John, was your request made to the Kentucky State Archives? I am a persistent cuss...

Some other sidebars on the Raid that fit into our search:

There were strong, but unsubstantiated, suspicions that Higbee, who was entrusted by the other raiders to keep charge of $75,000 of the loot, kept it for himself. Having been shot “through and through” from shoulder-to-shoulder during the raid he, too, hid out in Canada and later opened a bank in Texas.

The fact that planning for the St. Albans Raid had taken place in Canada became an embarrassment to the British government during and after the raiders’ trials.

The Canadian Parliament eventually passed laws that, had been they enacted before the Civil War, would have banned all Confederate officials and soldiers from the country.

Visit With A Raider

The St. Albans Raid received considerable international coverage during its day. Since then, there have been four noteworthy anniversary celebrations and a remarkable meeting of local residents in Montreal with Young in 1911.

Veterans' organizations had opposed a meeting in St. Albans, but when learning of Young’s presence in Montreal, the city immediately sent a delegation to greet him. Among them was U.S. Rep. Frank L. Greene, a former Messenger editor; John Branch, who remembered the raid and published a book containing all of the Messenger’s reporting on the event; and Fuller C. Smith.

“I am quite determined to come back again 50 years hence to see if the rebel sentiment is as strong as it was 50 years ago, and as it is today,” Young was quoted as saying.

Branch reported that Young had called the raid “the reckless escapade of flaming youth.” Young, he added, also “wondered that he ever undertook it.”

Young, educated in Ireland and Scotland at the end of the war, went on to become a railroad owner, bridge builder, author, highly popular lecturer, collector of Native American artifacts, and founding member of the Filson Club Historical Society in his home city of Louisville, Ky. It was said that he rarely spoke about the St. Albans Raid. He died as a respected citizen of Louisville in 1919 and was buried with the epitaph: “I have kept the faith.” Sounds like Young was a Raider who remained popular in Kentucky, despite a claim that Kentucky was pro-Union.

In 1964, Young’s daughter, Elisa, was in St. Albans for the ceremonial unveiling of a commemorative plaque located in Taylor Park. It remains today, situated near the center of the momentous events of that day in October 1864, and still names the St. Albans Raid as the northernmost action of the American Civil War.

Gene C · (This post was last modified: 05-28-2017 03:12 PM by Gene C.)

If the KY Legislature met during a short recess, it is highly likely no records exist of what happened during the recess.
I believe it was probably a small group of southern leaning legislators that met with our as of yet unknown heroine , as most of the Kentucky Legislature were Republicans and would not officially honor a southern spy/courier, or some one who gave aid to the south.
I would suggest calling the KY Historical Society. Some one there should be able to assist you.
http://history.ky.gov/

The Canadian government was trying to attempt a difficult balancing act of trying to maintain a neutral position during the Civil War.
There was an element of the US Government (Seward) who wanted to invade/annex Canada.
This was one of the reasons Seward purchased Alaska from the Russians. Being surrounded, it would make it easier for the Northwest Territories of Canada to break away and become a part of the US. The Canadian Government at the time did not have the military strength to prevent it.

Wild Bill · 05-28-2017, 03:12 PM

The Webster-Ashburon Treaty of 1842 settled the boundary of the US and what became Canada except for Oregon Territory. Various borders at places east of the Great Lakes were established including the northern bride of Maine, for which we fought the Aroostook War (1839), and across the Great plains at 49 degrees latitude. It also delineated various crimes for which citizens of British Canada and the US could be subject to extradition, which the US claimed was not honored in the St Albans bank robberies. Hence the receiving by the British of the papers from Richmond bearing the Great Seal of the Confederate States of America declaring the robbers to be Confederate soldiers carrying out a legitimate military mission negated this extradition problem.

L Verge · 05-28-2017, 04:10 PM

(05-28-2017 03:12 PM)Wild Bill Wrote: The Webster-Ashburon Treaty of 1842 settled the boundary of the US and what became Canada except for Oregon Territory. Various borders at places east of the Great Lakes were established including the northern bride of Maine, for which we fought the Aroostook War (1839), and across the Great plains at 49 degrees latitude. It also delineated various crimes for which citizens of British Canada and the US could be subject to extradition, which the US claimed was not honored in the St Albans bank robberies. Hence the receiving by the British of the papers from Richmond bearing the Great Seal of the Confederate States of America declaring the robbers to be Confederate soldiers carrying out a legitimate military mission negated this extradition problem.

Thanks for the lesson, Bill.