For Crime Buffs

[Jim Garrett]

(02-05-2013 06:42 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I just spent dinner reading sections of a new book by Ron Franscell entitled The Crime Buff's Guide to Outlaw Washington, D.C. Believe it or not, it is NOT an expose on Congress!

It's a good read, and the author lends thirty-one pages to the Lincoln assassination and sites connected with it in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. There is one small photo in there that appears to be a close-up of Lincoln's head while reposing in his coffin. It is probably from the photo that Dr. Rietveld found as a teenager, but I haven't found any photo credits.

Mary Surratt's attorney, Frederick Aiken, is included in those pages. The book evidently went to the printer before the Surratt Society placed the tombstone on his grave because the text still shows it as unmarked.

However, I hope that our Aiken authority, Christine, can fill in the blanks here: When we contacted Oak Hill Cemetery to begin the process of marking Aiken's grave, we found out that he is buried in the Eaton family plot. However, I don't believe that we were told that the patriarch of that family was John Eaton, a Senator from Tennessee.

Aiken's wife, Sarah, is not buried with him. I want to know the connection between the Eatons and Aiken that would explain his being buried in their family plot. Dare I also wonder if the Eatons had any ties to Andrew Johnson of Tennessee?

Through Christine's research, we already know that Aiken had ties to both the Confederacy and the Union, both before and after the war.

Well, it just so happens that I was at Oak Hill today. The supposition was that Peggy Eaton, had provided the space in the Eaton plot as an act of benevolence. Many know of the scandels that surrounded her during Andrew Jackson's administration. She rose above all of the tongue wagging and managed to still be a social institution in the city. After the death of John Eaton, I believe she re-married a much younger Italian fellow who abandoned her and stole all her money.

Maybe Aiken showed kindness and discretion as the city editor of the Post and Eaton repaid it as best she could. She was broke, but she did see to a proper burial. She died the following year.