Likewise, some have wondered why Powell didn't go South along with Booth...
I for one believe that he was headed North to Baltimore. More than likely to the Branson's, either to hide out there as a lay-over or to take Mary and skedaddle up North to Canada and the safety of the Canadian Cabinet there..... I don't believe that at that time that he had the intention of going home to Florida any time soon.
"The Past is a foreign country...they do things differently there" - L. P. Hartley