Lewis Powell's Personal Effects

[BettyO]

(07-23-2012 07:36 AM)Gene C Wrote:  A condemended man's bible must be an eerie possesion to have. I guess it was of some comfort to the bewildered parents.
Betty, do you know when his partents found out about Lewis's involvement in the assassinatin and his death?

Lewis' family had moved sometime further down the road from Live Oak during the war after they purchased another farm, so his father got Doster's letter requesting him to come to DC to identify Lewis as his son, quite a bit late. Reverend Powell stated that he received Doster's letter on the day of the 6th of July. Doster had supposedly mailed the missive about the middle of June! You can therefore see just how messed up the lines/mail routes and roads of the deep South were after the war. Parts of Florida were pretty much extremely rural. In haste, Reverend Powell left home and got on a train to go to Washington, unaware that his son had already been condemned and had less than 24 hours to live. Supposedly, the luckless Reverend Powell traveled overnight the 100 miles to Jacksonville to switch trains to travel to Washington when he received word of Lewis' death. He returned home to break the news to his wife and daughters. Extremely tragic....

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(07-23-2012 07:38 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Betty, I have a copy of the Surratt House booklet From War Department Files: Statements Made By The Alleged Lincoln Conspirators Under Examination 1865. Do you know why there is no statement from Lewis Powell in there?

I have repeatedly seen accounts of a supposed "Confession" by Powell in various newspapers. Just WHERE this account is or what happened to it is beyond me, unless this "confession" was verbal, which to me does not sound right. Eckert supposedly, in his conversations with young Powell, stated that he took down memorandums which were supposedly to be made into a report for Stanton. He never got around to it, according to what he told the Court at the Impeachment Trial in 1869.

I wish there was a "legitimate" confession of Powell....if there is, heaven knows where it is! That is one reason why Powell is so intriguing to me. It seems like just about anything concerning Powell as far as letters, written statements, etc. is virtually non existent for some reason!