Path of the assassins

[Linda Anderson]

(09-19-2020 04:04 PM)IrishJim011 Wrote:  

(08-09-2013 02:15 PM)Linda Anderson Wrote:  Her name in her death certificate is Margaret Coleman and her age is 86.

Margaret started her Treasury job in 1874 after Sumner died. There were many articles about her when she retired from the Treasury in 1901. She was quite feeble at that time. There is no mention of the name Davidson.

The discrepancy in her age has baffled me for a long time. Maybe she just lied to make herself appear younger?

My family research found Margaret was baptised in Kilskyre, County Meath, Ireland on April 4, 1816, matching the age on her death certificate.

There is also no record of her ever marrying. When her niece, her namesake, died, there were no immediate family members left, so it isn't beyond reason that the writer of the obituary had inaccurate information.

And as noted in many of the articles on Margaret, her own story grew in size & grandeur as the years progressed.

IrishJim, thank you for your information on Margaret Coleman. I’ve been researching her for a while and your info is very helpful.

Michael’s sister, Margaret T. Coleman, worked in the Treasury Dept from 1901 to 1931 according to the March 14, 1948 Evening Star article about her death. The 1930 Census and the 1931 City Directory record her living with James and his wife Wallie at 1319 E. Capital Street. in DC. However, Margaret T. is recorded as being “incomp” in the General Index to Pension files. Her illness no doubt contributed to Michael’s despair.

James O. Hall researched the two Margarets in 1988 trying to figure out the relationship between Margaret and Margaret T. He did find that Margaret T. was Margaret’s niece. In the course of his research to “fix” Margaret T.’s date of death, he went to Suitland to read a “rather large” administration file at Suitland Records Center. “There was a contested matter the legal heirs to her $10,000 (roughly) estate. Since she never married, and the family had mostly died out, it boiled down to a genealogical search not too well done by lawyers and remote kin. But the file shows that Margaret T. Coleman died at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital [DC psychiatric hospital] on 11 March 1848, where she had been a patient for over fifteen years. According to the file, her father was James Coleman, her mother was Mary. James Coleman had brothers, Michael and William, and a sister, Margaret [Seward’s servant]. Michael and Margaret never married. [We know that is incorrect since Michael was married to Wallie at the time of his death.] But William went to Colorado, married, and had one child, a daughter. He was killed in a snowslide. The daughter had children. In the end, under District of Columbia law, William’s descendants got the estate and the remote kin of Mary got nothing.”

I was surprised to discover that there are now two listings for Margaret Coleman in Find A Grave. The first one is under the name Margaret Coleman and simply lists her birth, death and burial dates. The second listing is under the name Margaret T Coleman. There are photos added in July 2020 of her marker which is on the other side of the gravestone from James, Mary and Michael. The articles from Cosmopolitan and Collier’s Weekly are also included. The Find a Grave listing mentions her birthdate in the 1880 and 1900 Censuses as being between 1834 and 1835.

Margaret did exaggerate her experience with Lewis Powell on the night of his attack on Seward. However, an 1887 Evening Star article quotes her directly and she doesn’t mention a broken collarbone. She does say that Powell inadvertently brushed against her and dislocated her shoulder and accidently bruised her face with his clenched fist. I suppose that could have happened but I haven’t found any mention of her being injured in Fanny Seward’s diary or in any other contemporaneous account.

Margaret’s true age is interesting because several authors have written that she was Seward’s flirty maid whom Booth was supposedly trying to get information from. The conspirator who mentions a maid is George Atzerodt. “I overhead Booth when in conversation with Wood say, That he visited a chambermaid at Seward’s House & that she was pretty. He said he had a great mind to give her his diamond pin.” "Atzerodt confession given to James McPhail and John L. Smith, May 1, 1865." By the way, a diamond stick pin was found on Booth’s body after he was shot at Garrett’s farm.

In another confession, Atzerodt says, “A widow woman was living near Mr. Seward’s, and Booth said by her influence he could get entrance to Seward’s house; through her influence with the chambermaid and house-servant. The girl at the house was good looking and knew the widow.” "“Confession of Atzerodt” Baltimore American and Commercial Advertiser, January 18, 1869." (Azterodt’s confessions can be found at Dave Taylor’s wonderful blog LincolnConspirators.com.)

Since Margaret was almost fifty in 1865 and only nine years later was described in the Daily Critic (March 14, 1874) as “The Old Housekeeper,” I think Atzerodt was referring to a much younger maid. Interestingly, an article titled, “Two Heroines in the Treasury” from the Cincinnati Enquirer dated May 16, 1887 says Margaret is 57. It looks like the two heroines were interviewed for the article so it was Margaret herself who was taking some years off her actual age.

There’s a photo of Seward and his family and servants on the back porch of the Old Clubhouse in DC. I asked the Seward House Museum about the photo some years ago and they said that an unidentified young lady, Anna, Fred & Gus Seward, family friend Mrs. Martin and William Seward are on the left side of the pillar and the servants are on the right side. I suspect the older servant is Margaret.

IrishJim, do you have any info about that photo? You can find it at LincolnConspirators.com. Search for "Seward Assassination Attempt Pictures" and scroll down.