https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/ Mon, 02 Nov 2026 15:56:41 +0000 MyBB https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5203.html Fri, 30 Oct 2026 09:39:43 +0000 SofiJan]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5203.html Sydnor G. Ferguson Sydnor Gilbert “Syd” Ferguson was born in Fauquier County, Virginia, the youngest of three brothers. His year of birth is uncertain. Some sources give 1845, while his gravestone records November 12, 1846.

Ferguson was a cousin of Amanda “Tee” Edmonds of Belle Grove. Edmonds kept a diary from 1859 to 1867, later published in book form. Her entries place Ferguson and his brothers within the social world surrounding Belle Grove during the war. Mosby’s Rangers were frequent visitors, and Edmonds repeatedly referred to Syd and his brothers as “the Ferguson boys.” Her own brothers also served in the Virginia cavalry.

In the fall of 1863, Ferguson enlisted as a private in Company B, 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry, Mosby’s command. He remained with the Rangers through the end of the war and was paroled at Winchester in April 1865. One surviving description gives Ferguson as six feet tall, with brown hair and hazel eyes. He was therefore nearly the same height as Lewis Powell.
His service was interrupted almost at once. During a skirmish near Chain Bridge in November 1863, Ferguson was shot in the right arm and did not return to duty until February 1864.
He rode a swift mare named Fashion. Later accounts have sometimes confused Ferguson’s horse with the celebrated American racehorse of the same name, but that animal died around 1860. 

Ferguson appears most prominently in accounts of the fight with Captain Richard R. Blazer and his scouts near Kabletown on November 18, 1864. According to later accounts, four Rangers pursued Blazer as he attempted to escape: Ferguson, Lewis Powell, Samuel Alexander, and Henry Cabell “Cab” Maddux. Ferguson overtook the captain and drew alongside him. With his ammunition exhausted, he struck Blazer with his weapon and knocked him from the saddle.
Nearly four decades later, the Blazer fight remained vivid. In 1903, Ferguson met John S. Mosby at the unveiling of the Mary Washington monument in Fredericksburg. Mosby later wrote that the two had talked about their years with the Rangers and, in particular, the capture of Blazer.

Ferguson’s postwar life followed a very different course. He resumed his education, studied at Randolph-Macon College, and entered the Methodist ministry. He spent most of the rest of his life serving various congregations. He married in 1873 and remarried in 1898.
Ferguson died suddenly in Leesburg on March 7, 1904, and was buried at Edge Hill Cemetery in Charles Town, West Virginia, beside his first wife and some of their children.
How closely Ferguson knew Lewis Powell cannot be established from the surviving record. The two moved within overlapping family and military circles in Fauquier County, and both rode with Mosby’s command, Company B. Powell had also contemplated entering the ministry. Their lives, however, ultimately followed very different courses.

During my research, I came across a newspaper notice about an essay competition organized by the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC). The prize was named in honor of Ferguson and established by his daughter. Through her, I was able to trace her son.
Francis Hanson Cary, born in 1911, participated in the D-Day landings at Omaha Beach, where he was wounded. After recovering, he was sent back to France, where he was killed in action in 1944.


  20260418_174630.jpg (Size: 489.6 KB / Downloads: 1)

Photograph by me.

I have not included source citations in this post. Please send me a private message if you would like further information.]]> Sydnor G. Ferguson Sydnor Gilbert “Syd” Ferguson was born in Fauquier County, Virginia, the youngest of three brothers. His year of birth is uncertain. Some sources give 1845, while his gravestone records November 12, 1846.

Ferguson was a cousin of Amanda “Tee” Edmonds of Belle Grove. Edmonds kept a diary from 1859 to 1867, later published in book form. Her entries place Ferguson and his brothers within the social world surrounding Belle Grove during the war. Mosby’s Rangers were frequent visitors, and Edmonds repeatedly referred to Syd and his brothers as “the Ferguson boys.” Her own brothers also served in the Virginia cavalry.

In the fall of 1863, Ferguson enlisted as a private in Company B, 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry, Mosby’s command. He remained with the Rangers through the end of the war and was paroled at Winchester in April 1865. One surviving description gives Ferguson as six feet tall, with brown hair and hazel eyes. He was therefore nearly the same height as Lewis Powell.
His service was interrupted almost at once. During a skirmish near Chain Bridge in November 1863, Ferguson was shot in the right arm and did not return to duty until February 1864.
He rode a swift mare named Fashion. Later accounts have sometimes confused Ferguson’s horse with the celebrated American racehorse of the same name, but that animal died around 1860. 

Ferguson appears most prominently in accounts of the fight with Captain Richard R. Blazer and his scouts near Kabletown on November 18, 1864. According to later accounts, four Rangers pursued Blazer as he attempted to escape: Ferguson, Lewis Powell, Samuel Alexander, and Henry Cabell “Cab” Maddux. Ferguson overtook the captain and drew alongside him. With his ammunition exhausted, he struck Blazer with his weapon and knocked him from the saddle.
Nearly four decades later, the Blazer fight remained vivid. In 1903, Ferguson met John S. Mosby at the unveiling of the Mary Washington monument in Fredericksburg. Mosby later wrote that the two had talked about their years with the Rangers and, in particular, the capture of Blazer.

Ferguson’s postwar life followed a very different course. He resumed his education, studied at Randolph-Macon College, and entered the Methodist ministry. He spent most of the rest of his life serving various congregations. He married in 1873 and remarried in 1898.
Ferguson died suddenly in Leesburg on March 7, 1904, and was buried at Edge Hill Cemetery in Charles Town, West Virginia, beside his first wife and some of their children.
How closely Ferguson knew Lewis Powell cannot be established from the surviving record. The two moved within overlapping family and military circles in Fauquier County, and both rode with Mosby’s command, Company B. Powell had also contemplated entering the ministry. Their lives, however, ultimately followed very different courses.

During my research, I came across a newspaper notice about an essay competition organized by the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC). The prize was named in honor of Ferguson and established by his daughter. Through her, I was able to trace her son.
Francis Hanson Cary, born in 1911, participated in the D-Day landings at Omaha Beach, where he was wounded. After recovering, he was sent back to France, where he was killed in action in 1944.


  20260418_174630.jpg (Size: 489.6 KB / Downloads: 1)

Photograph by me.

I have not included source citations in this post. Please send me a private message if you would like further information.]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5202.html Wed, 28 Oct 2026 01:48:45 +0000 RJNorton]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5202.html https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5201.html Sun, 25 Oct 2026 23:57:55 +0000 Steve]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5201.html

https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/ja...e/id/6748/


I highly recommend it as well! Well worth the read!]]>

https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/ja...e/id/6748/


I highly recommend it as well! Well worth the read!]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5199.html Fri, 16 Oct 2026 14:12:06 +0000 Gene C]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5199.html
The book is in two sections.  
Part One is a short biography of 149 pages.  
While short, Sandburg gives a fair accounting of Mary's good side and her more controversial side.  He takes a "middle of the road" approach when describing her life.  Not overly praising her virtues and not being overly critical of her faults  Written almost 100 years ago, the Acknowledgements and Sources section at the beginning of the book helps to put the book in perspective to other biographies of Mary Lincoln.    

Part 2 consists of selected letters Mary wrote and received from 1840 to 1882 (165 pages edited and commented on by Paul Angle) and an Appendix of 21 pages about the supposed wedding which Lincoln failed to appear.  Interesting to read Mary's letters as a young woman of 22, caught up in the excitement of her social life of herself and her friends.  Most of the letters are from her White House years and those following the death of Lincoln.  She writes of the political hardships she sees around her and the tragedy of Lincoln's death, latter Tad's death, and the bitterness of her perceived money problems.  These selected letters were a little hard for me to read, they are mostly sad  and bitter.  A woman in poor health, worried about money, has lost most of her family and now feels she has little to live for.  

Mary's life was the fulfillment of her dream and ambitions (wife of the president), but the reality and situations she finds herself in were certainly not what she expected.  It was not a life of "happily ever after".

The biography part of this book is interesting, her personality and thoughts are clearly seen through her letters.  
Available on Internet Archives -  https://archive.org/details/marylincolnw...5/mode/2up
Hit the "Borrow" button.
I found the following sections of special interest 
    Contrast between Mary and Abraham p. 63-64
    Neighbors comments about Mary's temper p. 69
    Mary's half-brothers killed in the war p. 86
    Lady President p. 87-92
    Stoddard and Mrs. Lincoln's mail p. 98-101
    Willie Lincoln's death p. 101-105

I wanted my own copy because it is written by Carl Sandburg and a printed copy is easier for me to read than an online version.
Prices vary greatly.  I found my copy (hard cover, in good condition w/ dust jacket) from ABE Books for $25.]]>
The book is in two sections.  
Part One is a short biography of 149 pages.  
While short, Sandburg gives a fair accounting of Mary's good side and her more controversial side.  He takes a "middle of the road" approach when describing her life.  Not overly praising her virtues and not being overly critical of her faults  Written almost 100 years ago, the Acknowledgements and Sources section at the beginning of the book helps to put the book in perspective to other biographies of Mary Lincoln.    

Part 2 consists of selected letters Mary wrote and received from 1840 to 1882 (165 pages edited and commented on by Paul Angle) and an Appendix of 21 pages about the supposed wedding which Lincoln failed to appear.  Interesting to read Mary's letters as a young woman of 22, caught up in the excitement of her social life of herself and her friends.  Most of the letters are from her White House years and those following the death of Lincoln.  She writes of the political hardships she sees around her and the tragedy of Lincoln's death, latter Tad's death, and the bitterness of her perceived money problems.  These selected letters were a little hard for me to read, they are mostly sad  and bitter.  A woman in poor health, worried about money, has lost most of her family and now feels she has little to live for.  

Mary's life was the fulfillment of her dream and ambitions (wife of the president), but the reality and situations she finds herself in were certainly not what she expected.  It was not a life of "happily ever after".

The biography part of this book is interesting, her personality and thoughts are clearly seen through her letters.  
Available on Internet Archives -  https://archive.org/details/marylincolnw...5/mode/2up
Hit the "Borrow" button.
I found the following sections of special interest 
    Contrast between Mary and Abraham p. 63-64
    Neighbors comments about Mary's temper p. 69
    Mary's half-brothers killed in the war p. 86
    Lady President p. 87-92
    Stoddard and Mrs. Lincoln's mail p. 98-101
    Willie Lincoln's death p. 101-105

I wanted my own copy because it is written by Carl Sandburg and a printed copy is easier for me to read than an online version.
Prices vary greatly.  I found my copy (hard cover, in good condition w/ dust jacket) from ABE Books for $25.]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5198.html Thu, 15 Oct 2026 00:16:22 +0000 J. Beckert]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5198.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rpmSNJZEys]]>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rpmSNJZEys]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5197.html Tue, 13 Oct 2026 21:41:58 +0000 Thomas Lapsley]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5197.html https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5196.html Tue, 13 Oct 2026 04:59:31 +0000 Thomas Lapsley]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5196.html https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5195.html Sat, 03 Oct 2026 16:32:53 +0000 David Lockmiller]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5195.html A few days before the President's death, Secretary Stanton tendered his resignation of the War Department. He accompanied the act with a heartfelt tribute to Mr. Lincoln's constant friendship and faithful devotion to the country; saying, also, that he as Secretary had accepted the position to hold it only until the war should end, and that now he felt his work was done, and his duty was to resign.

Mr. Lincoln was greatly moved by the Secretary's words, and tearing in pieces the paper containing the resignation, and throwing his arms about the Secretary, he said: "Stanton, you have been a good friend and a faithful public servant, and it is not for you to say when you will no longer be needed here." Several friends of both parties were present on the occasion, and there was not a dry eye that witnessed the scene.

"On the night of the 3rd of March, the Secretary of War, with others of the Cabinet, were in the company of the President, at the Capitol, awaiting the passage of the final bills of Congress. In the intervals of reading and signing these documents, the military situation was considered,—the lively conversation tinged by the confident and glowing account of General Grant, of his mastery of the position, and of his belief that a few days more would see Richmond in our possession, and the army of Lee either dispersed utterly or captured bodily,—when the telegram from Grant was received, saying that Lee had asked an interview with reference to peace. 

Mr. Lincoln was elated, and the kindness of his heart was manifest in intimations of favorable terms to be granted to the conquered Rebels.

"Stanton listened in silence, restraining his emotion, but at length the tide burst forth. 'Mr. President,' said he, 'to-morrow is inauguration day. If you are not to be the President of an obedient and united people, you had better not be inaugurated. Your work is already done, if any other authority than yours is for one moment to be recognized, or any terms made that do not signify you are the supreme head of the nation. If generals in the field are to negotiate peace, or any other chief magistrate is to be acknowledged on this continent, then you are not needed, and you had better not take the oath of office.'

"'Stanton, you are right!' said the President, his whole tone changing. 'Let me have a pen.'

"Mr. Lincoln sat down at the table, and wrote as follows:—

"'The President directs me to say to you that he wishes you to have no conference with General Lee, unless it be for the capitulation of Lee's army, or on some minor or purely military matter. He instructs me to say that you are not to decide, discuss, or confer upon any political question. Such questions the President holds in his own hands, and will submit them to no military conferences or conventions. In the mean time you are to press to the utmost your military advantages.'

"The President read over what he had written, and then said:—

"'Now Stanton, date and sign this paper, and send it to Grant. We'll see about this peace business.'

"The duty was discharged only too gladly by the energetic and far-sighted Secretary; with what effect and renown the country knows full well."

The question is whether or not the story is true. I could not find any mention of this particular topic in Professor Michael Burlingame's masterpiece work, Abraham Lincoln: A Life Vol. Two.

The source of the story is Six Months at the White House by F. B. Carpenter (1879) at pages 264-267.  

F. B. Carpenter cites the publication Boston Common wealth as the source.

History is history, but only if it is the truth. But unacceptable is important lost history.]]> A few days before the President's death, Secretary Stanton tendered his resignation of the War Department. He accompanied the act with a heartfelt tribute to Mr. Lincoln's constant friendship and faithful devotion to the country; saying, also, that he as Secretary had accepted the position to hold it only until the war should end, and that now he felt his work was done, and his duty was to resign.

Mr. Lincoln was greatly moved by the Secretary's words, and tearing in pieces the paper containing the resignation, and throwing his arms about the Secretary, he said: "Stanton, you have been a good friend and a faithful public servant, and it is not for you to say when you will no longer be needed here." Several friends of both parties were present on the occasion, and there was not a dry eye that witnessed the scene.

"On the night of the 3rd of March, the Secretary of War, with others of the Cabinet, were in the company of the President, at the Capitol, awaiting the passage of the final bills of Congress. In the intervals of reading and signing these documents, the military situation was considered,—the lively conversation tinged by the confident and glowing account of General Grant, of his mastery of the position, and of his belief that a few days more would see Richmond in our possession, and the army of Lee either dispersed utterly or captured bodily,—when the telegram from Grant was received, saying that Lee had asked an interview with reference to peace. 

Mr. Lincoln was elated, and the kindness of his heart was manifest in intimations of favorable terms to be granted to the conquered Rebels.

"Stanton listened in silence, restraining his emotion, but at length the tide burst forth. 'Mr. President,' said he, 'to-morrow is inauguration day. If you are not to be the President of an obedient and united people, you had better not be inaugurated. Your work is already done, if any other authority than yours is for one moment to be recognized, or any terms made that do not signify you are the supreme head of the nation. If generals in the field are to negotiate peace, or any other chief magistrate is to be acknowledged on this continent, then you are not needed, and you had better not take the oath of office.'

"'Stanton, you are right!' said the President, his whole tone changing. 'Let me have a pen.'

"Mr. Lincoln sat down at the table, and wrote as follows:—

"'The President directs me to say to you that he wishes you to have no conference with General Lee, unless it be for the capitulation of Lee's army, or on some minor or purely military matter. He instructs me to say that you are not to decide, discuss, or confer upon any political question. Such questions the President holds in his own hands, and will submit them to no military conferences or conventions. In the mean time you are to press to the utmost your military advantages.'

"The President read over what he had written, and then said:—

"'Now Stanton, date and sign this paper, and send it to Grant. We'll see about this peace business.'

"The duty was discharged only too gladly by the energetic and far-sighted Secretary; with what effect and renown the country knows full well."

The question is whether or not the story is true. I could not find any mention of this particular topic in Professor Michael Burlingame's masterpiece work, Abraham Lincoln: A Life Vol. Two.

The source of the story is Six Months at the White House by F. B. Carpenter (1879) at pages 264-267.  

F. B. Carpenter cites the publication Boston Common wealth as the source.

History is history, but only if it is the truth. But unacceptable is important lost history.]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5194.html Thu, 01 Oct 2026 10:52:42 +0000 AussieMick]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5194.html

Ken Burns on The Rest Is History]]>

Ken Burns on The Rest Is History]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5193.html Mon, 28 Sep 2026 17:02:19 +0000 Gene C]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5193.html
  https://www.sj-r.com/picture-gallery/new...441350007/

Found this while preparing for the Springfield Tour.  
Learn more, have some fun and join us this coming Oct. 9-11.]]>
  https://www.sj-r.com/picture-gallery/new...441350007/

Found this while preparing for the Springfield Tour.  
Learn more, have some fun and join us this coming Oct. 9-11.]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5192.html Wed, 23 Sep 2026 21:57:28 +0000 SofiJan]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5192.html Oliver H. Powell (1840–1863) is best known as the older brother of Lewis Thornton Powell.¹ His surviving records allow a somewhat fuller portrait.

Powell enlisted in 1861 and served as a private in Company C, 4th Florida Infantry.² During a period of illness and absence in Florida the following year, he married Hanna Marie Lucetta Campbell on September 17, 1862. The ceremony was performed by Oliver’s father, Rev. George Cader Powell.³
Soon afterward, Powell returned to military service. By January 1863 he was again with the 4th Florida near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

No account survives of Powell’s personal experience at Stones River. His Compiled Military Service Record can, however, be read alongside the reports of his regimental and brigade commanders to establish the action in which his company and regiment were involved.
On the afternoon of January 2, 1863, Breckinridge’s division was ordered forward in an assault intended to drive Federal forces back across Stones River. Brigadier General William Preston commanded the brigade that included the 4th Florida Infantry, Colonel W. L. L. Bowen commanded the regiment, and Powell’s Company C was under First Lieutenant J. B. Parramore.⁴

The 4th Florida advanced in the second Confederate line. After the troops ahead of it withdrew through its position, the regiment engaged the Federal forces and remained in place for a time while the Confederate line around it began to break down. During the withdrawal, the 4th Florida rallied around Wright’s Tennessee Battery in an effort to help save the guns. Bowen placed the regiment’s greatest losses in this stage of the fighting.⁴
The casualty return for January 2 records 28 men killed, 79 wounded, and 30 missing from the 4th Florida, an aggregate loss of 137.⁵
Oliver Powell was among the missing. His Company C muster roll carried him as missing from January 2. At that point, the Confederate record effectively loses him as an individual soldier.

Federal records pick up the trail. Powell was captured at Stones River and entered Federal custody as a prisoner of war. He died at Murfreesboro on January 6, 1863, four days after the fighting, from a gunshot wound. One of the Federal records also refers to a Department of the Cumberland hospital roll, but the surviving material does not identify the specific place where he was treated.⁶
His CMSR contains a few complications. A casualty card associates Powell with the January 2 action and describes a slight wound to the leg. On that same card, however, the typed unit designation places him in Company E, 3rd Florida Regiment, while the rest of his service record consistently identifies him with Company C, 4th Florida Infantry.⁷
Beyond that, the trail stops. The surviving records do not tell us where on the battlefield Powell was wounded, at what point he became a prisoner, where precisely he was treated, or where he was buried.

During field research at Stones River in September 2026, I followed portions of the 4th Florida’s movements with a battlefield guide. Much of the battlefield has been lost to later development, but the river itself remains one of the most tangible features in a landscape described repeatedly in the contemporary reports.


  Stonesriver2.jpg (Size: 462.38 KB / Downloads: 3)

Stones River, September 2026. Photo taken by me during the visit.

There is one final connection worth noting. Nearly twenty years after Oliver’s death, his widow Hanna M. L. Powell married William L. Carruth (1839–1915) on December 28, 1882, in Hillsborough County, Florida. The marriage record identifies her by the Powell name she had retained from her first marriage.⁸ Carruth had also served as a private in Company C of the 4th Florida, the same company in which Oliver had served.⁹

Notes

1. Powell family Bible, reproduced in Betty J. Ownsbey, Alias “Paine”: Lewis Thornton Powell, the Mystery Man of the Lincoln Conspiracy, 2nd ed. (McFarland, 2015), 127.
   
2. Compiled Military Service Record of Oliver H. Powell, private, Company C, 4th Florida Infantry, Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Florida, War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC.
   
3. Florida, County Court (Madison County), marriage license and return for Oliver H. Powell and Hannah M. L. Campbell, license issued September 15, 1862, marriage solemnized September 17, 1862, image 212 of 1149, Image Group No. 007246400, digital image, “Madison, Florida, United States records,” FamilySearch, accessed September 23, 2026, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/...view=index. The marriage return bears the signature of G. C. Powell, M.G.
   
4. William Preston, report, January 12, 1863, in U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, ser. I, vol. 20, pt. 1 (Government Printing Office, 1887), 812–13; W. L. L. Bowen, report, February 12, 1863, 816–17.
   
5. U.S. War Department, “Return of Casualties in the Confederate Forces—Continued,” The War of the Rebellion, ser. I, vol. 20, pt. 1, 779.
   
6. Powell CMSR, RG 109, NARA. The file includes the Company C muster-roll material, Federal prisoner-of-war records, a Federal record of his death at Murfreesboro, and the reference to the Department of the Cumberland hospital roll.
   
7. Powell CMSR, casualty card, RG 109, NARA.
   
8. Florida, County Court (Hillsborough County), marriage license and return for William L. Carruth and Hanna M. L. Powell, license issued December 23, 1882, marriage solemnized December 28, 1882, image 764 of 883, Image Group No. 007621823, digital image, “Tampa, Hillsborough, Florida, United States records,” FamilySearch, accessed September 23, 2026, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/...w=fullText.
   
9. William L. Carruth grave marker, Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park, Clearwater, Pinellas County, Florida, photograph added by Christa Cadman, February 26, 2020, Find a Grave, Memorial ID 17123618.
   

Bibliography

Carruth, William L. Grave marker. Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park, Clearwater, Pinellas County, Florida. Photograph added by Christa Cadman, February 26, 2020. Find a Grave, Memorial ID 17123618.

Florida. County Court (Hillsborough County). Marriage license and return for William L. Carruth and Hanna M. L. Powell, December 1882. Digital image. “Tampa, Hillsborough, Florida, United States records.” FamilySearch. Image 764 of 883, Image Group No. 007621823. Accessed September 23, 2026. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/...w=fullText.

Florida. County Court (Madison County). Marriage license and return for Oliver H. Powell and Hannah M. L. Campbell, September 1862. Digital image. “Madison, Florida, United States records.” FamilySearch. Image 212 of 1149, Image Group No. 007246400. Accessed September 23, 2026. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/...view=index.

National Archives and Records Administration. Compiled Military Service Record of Oliver H. Powell, Private, Company C, 4th Florida Infantry. Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Florida. War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109. Washington, DC.

Ownsbey, Betty J. Alias “Paine”: Lewis Thornton Powell, the Mystery Man of the Lincoln Conspiracy. 2nd ed. McFarland, 2015.

U.S. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Series I, vol. 20, pt. 1. Government Printing Office, 1887.]]> Oliver H. Powell (1840–1863) is best known as the older brother of Lewis Thornton Powell.¹ His surviving records allow a somewhat fuller portrait.

Powell enlisted in 1861 and served as a private in Company C, 4th Florida Infantry.² During a period of illness and absence in Florida the following year, he married Hanna Marie Lucetta Campbell on September 17, 1862. The ceremony was performed by Oliver’s father, Rev. George Cader Powell.³
Soon afterward, Powell returned to military service. By January 1863 he was again with the 4th Florida near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

No account survives of Powell’s personal experience at Stones River. His Compiled Military Service Record can, however, be read alongside the reports of his regimental and brigade commanders to establish the action in which his company and regiment were involved.
On the afternoon of January 2, 1863, Breckinridge’s division was ordered forward in an assault intended to drive Federal forces back across Stones River. Brigadier General William Preston commanded the brigade that included the 4th Florida Infantry, Colonel W. L. L. Bowen commanded the regiment, and Powell’s Company C was under First Lieutenant J. B. Parramore.⁴

The 4th Florida advanced in the second Confederate line. After the troops ahead of it withdrew through its position, the regiment engaged the Federal forces and remained in place for a time while the Confederate line around it began to break down. During the withdrawal, the 4th Florida rallied around Wright’s Tennessee Battery in an effort to help save the guns. Bowen placed the regiment’s greatest losses in this stage of the fighting.⁴
The casualty return for January 2 records 28 men killed, 79 wounded, and 30 missing from the 4th Florida, an aggregate loss of 137.⁵
Oliver Powell was among the missing. His Company C muster roll carried him as missing from January 2. At that point, the Confederate record effectively loses him as an individual soldier.

Federal records pick up the trail. Powell was captured at Stones River and entered Federal custody as a prisoner of war. He died at Murfreesboro on January 6, 1863, four days after the fighting, from a gunshot wound. One of the Federal records also refers to a Department of the Cumberland hospital roll, but the surviving material does not identify the specific place where he was treated.⁶
His CMSR contains a few complications. A casualty card associates Powell with the January 2 action and describes a slight wound to the leg. On that same card, however, the typed unit designation places him in Company E, 3rd Florida Regiment, while the rest of his service record consistently identifies him with Company C, 4th Florida Infantry.⁷
Beyond that, the trail stops. The surviving records do not tell us where on the battlefield Powell was wounded, at what point he became a prisoner, where precisely he was treated, or where he was buried.

During field research at Stones River in September 2026, I followed portions of the 4th Florida’s movements with a battlefield guide. Much of the battlefield has been lost to later development, but the river itself remains one of the most tangible features in a landscape described repeatedly in the contemporary reports.


  Stonesriver2.jpg (Size: 462.38 KB / Downloads: 3)

Stones River, September 2026. Photo taken by me during the visit.

There is one final connection worth noting. Nearly twenty years after Oliver’s death, his widow Hanna M. L. Powell married William L. Carruth (1839–1915) on December 28, 1882, in Hillsborough County, Florida. The marriage record identifies her by the Powell name she had retained from her first marriage.⁸ Carruth had also served as a private in Company C of the 4th Florida, the same company in which Oliver had served.⁹

Notes

1. Powell family Bible, reproduced in Betty J. Ownsbey, Alias “Paine”: Lewis Thornton Powell, the Mystery Man of the Lincoln Conspiracy, 2nd ed. (McFarland, 2015), 127.
   
2. Compiled Military Service Record of Oliver H. Powell, private, Company C, 4th Florida Infantry, Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Florida, War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC.
   
3. Florida, County Court (Madison County), marriage license and return for Oliver H. Powell and Hannah M. L. Campbell, license issued September 15, 1862, marriage solemnized September 17, 1862, image 212 of 1149, Image Group No. 007246400, digital image, “Madison, Florida, United States records,” FamilySearch, accessed September 23, 2026, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/...view=index. The marriage return bears the signature of G. C. Powell, M.G.
   
4. William Preston, report, January 12, 1863, in U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, ser. I, vol. 20, pt. 1 (Government Printing Office, 1887), 812–13; W. L. L. Bowen, report, February 12, 1863, 816–17.
   
5. U.S. War Department, “Return of Casualties in the Confederate Forces—Continued,” The War of the Rebellion, ser. I, vol. 20, pt. 1, 779.
   
6. Powell CMSR, RG 109, NARA. The file includes the Company C muster-roll material, Federal prisoner-of-war records, a Federal record of his death at Murfreesboro, and the reference to the Department of the Cumberland hospital roll.
   
7. Powell CMSR, casualty card, RG 109, NARA.
   
8. Florida, County Court (Hillsborough County), marriage license and return for William L. Carruth and Hanna M. L. Powell, license issued December 23, 1882, marriage solemnized December 28, 1882, image 764 of 883, Image Group No. 007621823, digital image, “Tampa, Hillsborough, Florida, United States records,” FamilySearch, accessed September 23, 2026, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/...w=fullText.
   
9. William L. Carruth grave marker, Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park, Clearwater, Pinellas County, Florida, photograph added by Christa Cadman, February 26, 2020, Find a Grave, Memorial ID 17123618.
   

Bibliography

Carruth, William L. Grave marker. Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park, Clearwater, Pinellas County, Florida. Photograph added by Christa Cadman, February 26, 2020. Find a Grave, Memorial ID 17123618.

Florida. County Court (Hillsborough County). Marriage license and return for William L. Carruth and Hanna M. L. Powell, December 1882. Digital image. “Tampa, Hillsborough, Florida, United States records.” FamilySearch. Image 764 of 883, Image Group No. 007621823. Accessed September 23, 2026. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/...w=fullText.

Florida. County Court (Madison County). Marriage license and return for Oliver H. Powell and Hannah M. L. Campbell, September 1862. Digital image. “Madison, Florida, United States records.” FamilySearch. Image 212 of 1149, Image Group No. 007246400. Accessed September 23, 2026. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/...view=index.

National Archives and Records Administration. Compiled Military Service Record of Oliver H. Powell, Private, Company C, 4th Florida Infantry. Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Florida. War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109. Washington, DC.

Ownsbey, Betty J. Alias “Paine”: Lewis Thornton Powell, the Mystery Man of the Lincoln Conspiracy. 2nd ed. McFarland, 2015.

U.S. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Series I, vol. 20, pt. 1. Government Printing Office, 1887.]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5191.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 22:22:44 +0000 Gene C]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5191.html   https://lincolnconspirators.com/2026/09/...on-gloves/

We've discussed this subject in various threads, for some background information search "gloves" to view prior discussions.

A big thank you to David for his time and research.]]>   https://lincolnconspirators.com/2026/09/...on-gloves/

We've discussed this subject in various threads, for some background information search "gloves" to view prior discussions.

A big thank you to David for his time and research.]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5190.html Mon, 07 Sep 2026 22:42:03 +0000 Anita]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5190.html
https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/J...324EE8B0B2
ALS]]>
https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/J...324EE8B0B2
ALS]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5189.html Sun, 06 Sep 2026 15:28:38 +0000 ReignetteC]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5189.html Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association  (Winter 2013), I was struck by their mention of three nearly identical contemporary copies of the report that "have surfaced since the discovery of the report." As noted in the article, these copies are held in the collections of the National Archives and the New York Public Library.

To clarify the timeline of these documents, I would welcome your insights on the following questions: 

1.    What are the precise circumstances and specific dates when these three clerk-written copies were identified in the immediate wake of the May 2012 breakthrough? 

2.        To what extent, if any, were these clerk-written copies recognized or cited by Civil War scholars prior to 2012? (I have not found any thus far.)

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jala/262986...w=fulltext

Thanks,
Reignette

P.S. I am researching this topic for an upcoming article. ]]> Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association  (Winter 2013), I was struck by their mention of three nearly identical contemporary copies of the report that "have surfaced since the discovery of the report." As noted in the article, these copies are held in the collections of the National Archives and the New York Public Library.

To clarify the timeline of these documents, I would welcome your insights on the following questions: 

1.    What are the precise circumstances and specific dates when these three clerk-written copies were identified in the immediate wake of the May 2012 breakthrough? 

2.        To what extent, if any, were these clerk-written copies recognized or cited by Civil War scholars prior to 2012? (I have not found any thus far.)

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jala/262986...w=fulltext

Thanks,
Reignette

P.S. I am researching this topic for an upcoming article. ]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5188.html Wed, 02 Sep 2026 07:39:41 +0000 Jim Woodall]]> https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-5188.html
He is descdent of Talberts including Talberts I am related to.  His relationship to my clan of Anderson goes back further to Margaret Riley, sister to Mary Riley who married my 4th great grandfather, Jesse Anderson.  So looks to be that he is cousin to me.  And related to the Talberts associated with the Jenkins line and related to Sarah Talbert who married Richard Neale who raised John Harrison Surratt Sr.

Although he was born in Baltimore, and moved to Anacostia, his family roots were east of the Anacostia.  The people he wrote about, and often skipped into alleghory when talking about the troubles surrounding the folks east of the Anacostia, were kin.  So, he was protecting the secrets.

It is intriguing that he didn't really do a deep dive east of the Anacostia until near the end of his life.  He seemed very protetive of those people.

Oh, the secrets people knew.]]>
He is descdent of Talberts including Talberts I am related to.  His relationship to my clan of Anderson goes back further to Margaret Riley, sister to Mary Riley who married my 4th great grandfather, Jesse Anderson.  So looks to be that he is cousin to me.  And related to the Talberts associated with the Jenkins line and related to Sarah Talbert who married Richard Neale who raised John Harrison Surratt Sr.

Although he was born in Baltimore, and moved to Anacostia, his family roots were east of the Anacostia.  The people he wrote about, and often skipped into alleghory when talking about the troubles surrounding the folks east of the Anacostia, were kin.  So, he was protecting the secrets.

It is intriguing that he didn't really do a deep dive east of the Anacostia until near the end of his life.  He seemed very protetive of those people.

Oh, the secrets people knew.]]>