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L Verge · (This post was last modified: 05-17-2017 04:44 PM by L Verge.)

(05-17-2017 03:02 PM)SSlater Wrote:
(05-17-2017 05:17 AM)RJNorton Wrote:
(05-16-2017 11:51 PM)SSlater Wrote: New question. Who was it that invited her to the proposed Honorarium in Kentucky in 1867?

Headley writes, "This devotee of the South was a Kentucky lady. About 1867 she visited Frankfort when the legislature was in session. During a recess of fifteen minutes taken in her honor she was the recipient of an ovation, being presented by Hon. Thomas T. Coger, of Jessamine County, the home of Lieut. Bennett H. Young."

Are there any other sources to support Headley that this really happened?
Someone in Kentucky verified - for me - that there was a session where the Lady was honored for her services to the Raiders, at the time stated. I wrote again for her name. Their reply was that the Legislature met during a short recess called for this purpose and that the their activity is classified and not available for publication.
Thus a lady was honored - but WHO?
I am certain that this was necessary to protect the Lady, from being arrested, as a participant in the assassination. (Which narrows the field of possible Ladies who qualify.)
There is another story of a claimant for this honor. OLIVIA FLOYD.
She lived in Southern Maryland and did help the South.
Long after the war, some of her good friends tried to get her a pension in her old age and used the Slater story as a basis. They claim that Olivia hid the Requests - for the papers - in the andirons of her fireplace, while US officials searched for them.
This could not have happened since all requests were hand carried to Richmond and not sent by Hand to hand delivery. Out of sympathy for the old Lady, I sure someone can create a good story to contradict this - be my guest! PS I don't know if she got the Pension.

Olivia's story also includes that she attended the reunion in Kentucky. And, 150+ years after that Kentucky honor it is still classified? What a crock! Where's the Freedom of Information Act when you need it?

More on Olivia and those papers:
In furtherance of this proof, a message was started in the South requesting a copy of their commissions. This message passed from hand-to-hand, from Southern sympathizer to sympathizer, all the way from Canada to the state of Maryland. Here at Charles County, it finally reached Olivia Floyd, who was the last person in the chain of communications into Confederate territory.

However, the Union troops were suspicious of Miss Floyd, and just when she had received this message, Union soldiers were on their way to Rose Hill to search it. Looking for a place to hide the message, she thought of the pair of brass andirons, remembering that the brass balls at the top were hollow. She immediately placed the message in one of the hollow balls, not long before the Union soldiers arrived. Once there, the union soldiers searched the house, and finding nothing, stopped in the parlor to sit and relax for a short time by the fire, resting their feet on the very andirons that contained the message. Once the soldiers had gone, Olivia then retrieved the message, and hiding it in her hair, left Rose Hill. She soon arrived at the signal station at Popes Creek, Virginia where the message was then sent to Richmond. The authorities there received the message in time to forward the commissions for Young and his men in time to save their lives.

Many years after the war ended, Olivia was invited to attend a Confederate Reunion held in Louisville, Kentucky as a personal guest of Colonel Bennet Young. With the help of a man named Adrian Posey, she was able to attend the reunion. At the gathering, Olivia was treated as an honored guest. Prior to this reunion, but after the war ended, Olivia Floyd sent the boat model and the andirons that she used to hide the many messages to Colonel Young.

Olivia Floyd died at Rose Hill.

Copyright© John T. Marck. All Rights Reserved. This article and their accompanying pictures, photographs, and line art, may not be resold, reprinted, or redistributed for compensation of any kind without prior written permission from the author.

Similar information is given on a website for the Port Tobacco Archaeological Survey, since Olivia's home at Rose Hill is in Port Tobacco.

I made an interesting discovery today. Our James O. Hall Research Center at Surratt House inherited not only Hall's papers, but also those of Gen. Tidwell. A number of years ago, Wild Bill spent several weeks here cataloging the Tidwell Papers.

I went to that catalog today to see what I could find about Cameron and Headley. Nary a page, which seems strange considering Tidwell's expertise in Confederate covert affairs.