New Atzerodt Article

[L Verge]

Joan Chaconas and I worked with Susan to put that piece of history together. Much of the work came from the research of James O. Hall, who had assisted Ed Steers years ago when we conned Ed into doing an Atzerodt Escape Route bus tour. The tour was a great success. Unfortunately, the Richter house (where Atzerodt was finally captured) burned shortly thereafter -- and the surrounding area is now very built-up. This is in Jim Garrett's neck of the woods.

I have a cute story from my adventures today: My 15-year-old grandson and I spent four hours doing a dry-run of the Charles County bus tour that we are offering as part of the Surratt conference. One of the stops along the route will be Newport and St. Mary's Catholic Church where Chief Confederate Signal Agent Thomas Jones is buried. I had never been to the grave or the church before today. I knew that Jones has a fairly new Confederate tombstone (engraved with the Southern Cross of Honor) under a large tree that is literally growing out of his grave. I also knew that SCV members keep a Stars and Bars flag on his grave.

Luckily, the old church's remains are still there, so one gets a feel for what is the new graveyard and what is the old. My days of walking graveyards are over, but believe it or not, I did not have to shove my grandson out the car door! With camera/phone in hand, he started searching. First time - wrong area. Second time - he started running at the same time I saw something red fluttering in the breeze. Both of us spotted the Stars and Bars at the same time. I swear it was just like Mr Jones was back to his old Signal Corps days and alerting us where to find him...

And the best part of the day was grandma and grandson sharing history together!