Thomas A Jones

[Rick Smith]

The distance between Bel Alton and Newport is about 8 miles. A horse walks at 4 miles per hour; trots at 8 miles per hour and canters or hand gallops at 12 miles per hour. It would have taken Booth, Herold & Samuel Cox, Jr. {the "white boy" referred to by James Owens, in my opinion} an hour or so to reach Newport and arrive on that Thursday evening {April 20} "about supper time," Owens' words again, used when describing the "strangers" who rode into the village and up to the front of the Adams Tavern, owned by Austin & Adele Adams. Adams & Owens were doing the same sort of thing in their neighborhood that Jones & Woodland were doing further up stream.

It really is very simple; hundreds of federal soldiers, detectives and private citizens are hunting Booth. To keep him safe, he must be moved to a new location every time that pressure is brought to bear on his present location, until it is time to move for the River. They are led to Jones at Huckleberry by the white boy, who afterward returns leading the horses. Again, this is from Owens who was being interrogated by the federals. He was later interrogated much more pointedly at the Old Capitol and was destined never to come out alive. My feeling is that the federals could not get what they wanted from him, because he just did not know, and that he died while being "questioned."