Extra Credit Questions

[Eva Elisabeth]

(08-30-2019 08:31 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(08-30-2019 08:08 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Was it connected to a persona non grata?

Good thinking, Eva. Kudos! You are very close, and I cannot think of any more clues. The name of the engine was "W Booth," and the railroad was ordered to take it out of service. But then it was discovered that the railroad had purchased the engine prior to the Civil War, and that it was named for a sheriff in Mississippi who had that particular name. In other words, it had nothing to do with John Wilkes Booth. When this information was discovered, the order to take the engine out of service was lifted.

SOURCE: E. Lawrence Abel's article in the Surratt Courier.

My thinking actually was Jefferson Davis...Well, considering what an engine is worth it's weird that they did not simply re-name it (into A. Lincoln e. g.), that's at least what they do here.