Thomas A Jones

[RJNorton]

(06-16-2015 11:32 AM)Wild Bill Wrote:  The article you all want to see is J. E. “Rick” Smith, III, “The Owens Statement,” Surratt Courier, 32 (No. 10, October 2007), 3-6.

Rick was kind enough to send his article. Thank you, Rick!

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THE OWENS STATEMENT

by

Rick Smith

After the assassination of President Lincoln, Colonel Henry H. Wells, Provost Marshall for the Military District of Washington, was appointed to find information that would lead to the arrest of the President’s killer. In the course of his investigation, Wells set up a temporary headquarters at the Bryantown Hotel, where he would “interview” and then take statements from those who had been arrested by his officers for questioning in the matter. To give the reader some small insight into Wells’s methods, one of those arrested and questioned was Thomas Jones, who said that Wells was “The bloodthirstiest man I ever saw.”

On April 22, Wells had already squeezed John Lloyd, who had directed Wells’s attention to Austin L. Adams, a tavern keeper at Newport, Maryland. Adams, his wife Adeline, and an employee, James Owens, were quickly arrested and brought to Bryantown for a little chat with Colonel Wells. Owens was a farm laborer and a fisherman who also worked at Adams Tavern. James Owens’s “statement” to Colonel Wells, which follows, is worth reading more than once.

Bryantown, Md. April 28, 1865, James Owens, farm hand, living with Mr. Austin L. Adams, who keeps a sort of tavern at Newport, Md. states:

About two weeks ago, it was on a Thursday night, I was at home; it was pretty late, nearly supper time, when two men came there on horse back, accompanied by a white boy, they got off their horses, and the boy took them and went away. One of the horses was a roan, or iron gray, and the other was a light bay with a small star on the forehead. One of these men was lame and carried a crutch; he wore a cloth slipper on his right foot, and carried the crutch under his right arm. He had on a close-bodied coat and wore a shawl; he was a stouter man than the other, who was a small man, I think that he had very light whiskers; he wore two coats and a soft, black, low-crowned hat with a narrow brim. They came to our place and Mrs. Adams was there but Mr. Adams was away, he came home about half an hour after they came; I was not at the house when they came, but was at work, and left them talking with Mr. and Mrs. Adams. I heard the big man who was lame ask if there were any Yankees or soldiers around there; and Mr. Adams told him there had been none for two or three months. Mr. Adams’s place is at Newport, about six miles from the Potomac. That was all I heard them say. Mrs. Adams told them they could not stay there, but that she would give them something to eat. I suppose she was afraid to let them stay there because she was also afraid the soldiers would come and catch them. They stayed in the pines near the house until next evening which was Friday night and were at the house off and on at different times; they did not lodge at Mr. Adams’s, but only got meals there. They left in the evening after dark, and went towards Popes Creek where Thomas Jones lives. A Mr. Bateman, I don’t know his first name, who lives at the oak on the roadside about three miles from Newport, as you go through Allen’s Fresh towards Cobb Neck, told me that Jones put them across the Potomac. They crossed from Popes Creek a little above Mrs. [?] Watson’s on the creek. This was a place where they had a boat hid. A man named Lomax used to fish there on the river, gilling shad. I don’t know Lomax’s first name. Bateman told me that the men got over the Potomac all right and I judge that he and Jones rowed them across by his saying that they got over all right and by what the folks said. The nearest point on the Virginia side opposite Popes Creek is Matthias Point. Their horses came back this way in charge of the boy, if I were to try to find them I would inquire of the people there who saw them, Mr. A_bey [Robey?] or Oliver who keeps a store there. I judge______saw these men but I did not hear him say anything about them. Tom Downey, who lives at Newport and Mr. Budd, who lives about two miles the other side of Newport, and some other folks that I don’t know, I judge saw them. I heard gentlemen, that I don’t know, ask Mrs. Adams where these men were going, and she said they were going to Pope’s Creek to cross the Potomac. I know Thomas Harbin and Joseph Bayden [sic]. They came to Mr. Adams from this way about two weeks ago. I think they came on Tuesday before I heard of the death of the President. They stayed there about a week, and went away on Saturday night. There was another man with them that I didn’t know. I was fishing with gill nets and they came to me and I put them across a little run at Allen’s Fresh, on the other side from Mr. Adams, toward the Potomac. They didn’t tell me where they were going. They gave me five dollars to put them across the run. I put them across on a Saturday. They were going towards the Banks of Dee. I heard Harbin say he was going there. I have not seen them since, and do not know whether they have come back or not.

In his files at the James O. Hall Research Center, there is included a note written by Mr. Hall regarding the Owens statement, which says in part, “. . . but I don’t really know what to make of it. One thing is for sure, Owens had a heck of a lot of information about a lot of things.”

I am particularly fascinated by the two unnamed men described by Owens who came on horseback [the horses descriptions are of special note] to Adams’s Tavern. The statement is not just food for thought, it is a feast. I make no claims, nor will I add any personal views, although I hold strong beliefs as regards James Owens’s statement; but I would only ask that you read, then read again, this remarkable statement and consider how it fits into the assassination drama. Mr. Hall was right, James Owens had a heck of a lot of information about a lot of things.

With a view towards trying to establish who the two unnamed men were that Owens describes in his statement, let’s take a look at the horses that Booth and Herold were known to have been riding, through the eyes of others who saw them, as compared to those that the two “unnamed men” rode into Newport.

 John Fletcher, Stable Manager, Washington City:

“He was a light roan horse, black tail, black legs, and mane, and close to fifteen
hands high.” [Describing the horse that he had rented to David Herold on April 14].

 Sgt. Silas T. Cobb, in command of the guard at the Navy Yard Bridge, night of April 14:

“He rode a small-sized horse, rather an under-sized horse, I should think, a very bright
bay, with a shining skin [this was probably due to sweat], and it looked as though he had just had a short burst …”
[Describing the horse that Wilkes Booth rode].

“He rode a medium-sized roan horse. I should think the horse was going at a heavy racking pace …” [Describing the horse {and its gait} ridden by Herold].

 Polk Gardiner, Traveler on the Bryantown Road, on his way to Washington City, night of April 14:

“I met two horsemen …” “The first, who was on a dark horse, I think a bay, asked me if a horseman had passed ahead …” [Referring to Booth & the horse he was riding].

“As the second horseman rode up…” “He rode a roan horse, a light horse, a roan or an iron gray.” [Referring to Herold & the horse he rode].

 John Lloyd, Tavern Keeper, Surrattsville, about midnight, April 14:

“The moon was shining when the men came. The man whose leg was broken was on a light-colored horse; I supposed it to be a gray horse, in the moonlight. It was a large horse, I supposed some sixteen hands high; the other, ridden by Herold, was a bay, and not so large. [Describing both horses. Note that by this time Booth and Herold had switched mounts. Because of his injuries, Booth would have been more comfortable on the larger animal, which had a much smoother gait than the small, skittish bay mare that he had ridden out of the city].

 James Owens, again, from his statement to Col. Wells:

“…Two men came there on horseback, accompanied by a white boy, they got off their horses, and the boy took them and went away. One of the horses was a roan, or iron gray, and the other was a light bay with a small star on the forehead.”

“…Their horses came back this way in charge of the boy, if I were to try to find them I would inquire of the people there who saw them, Mr. A_bey [sic] or Oliver who keeps a store there.”

We’ve considered the description of the horses, now let’s take a closer look at the two unnamed men themselves and compare them with what you know of Booth and Herold. Here is how Owens describes the two unnamed men who rode into Newport (which lies about 6 ½ miles northeast from Pope’s Creek and also about 6 ½ miles from the Potomac) and came to the tavern of Austin L. Adams:

 “… two men came there on horseback …”

The first man, the larger one, described by Owens:

 “One of these men was lame and carried a crutch …”

 “… he wore a cloth slipper on his right foot …”

 “… and carried the crutch under his right arm.”

 “He had on a close-bodied coat and wore a shawl …”

 “… he was stouter than the other, who was a small man …”

 “… heard the big man who was lame ask if there had been any Yankees or soldiers around there …”


The second man, the smaller one, described by Owens:

 “… I think that he had very light whiskers …”

 “… he wore two coats and a soft, black, low crowned hat with a narrow brim …”

 “They stayed in the pines near the house until next evening which was Friday night …”

 “…were at the house off and on at different times …”

 “… they did not lodge at Mr. Adams’, but only got meals there …”

 “They left in the evening after dark, and went towards Pope’s Creek where Thomas Jones lives.”

 “… Mr. Bateman … told me that Jones put them across the Potomac.”

 “Bateman told me that the men got over the Potomac all right …”

 “Their horses came back this way in charge of the boy…”


Hopefully, this offers much to think about and may possibly lead some to reconsider the route of escape taken by John Wilkes Booth and David Herold while they were under the watchful care of Thomas Jones.