Path of the assassins

[Rhatkinson]

I highly recommend Dave's excellent post on bothiebarn.com from yesterday where he (for some reason) WALKED the route that B and H took from Dr. Mudd's to Sawnn's (they at least used horses!) As with all of Dave's stuff, it was great.

One of the things that I learned was that Swann was not black as I had always assumed. He was actually a mix of Native American and white. As some on here know, one of my theories over the leg break location debate is that Swann was the source that Capt. Wood mentioned in his report and that he recanted after getting heat from Col. Cox's supporters (thus to explain Wood's aggravation over his "source" changing his story.) Since Swann must have appeared white (I guess) perhaps my theory of a minority giving in to pressure from whites is wrong.

Has a picture of Swann ever surfaced?

Heath

[RJNorton]

Heath, you are spot on. For those who have not seen Dave's latest blog regarding his escape route trek please go here.

[L Verge]

Just a clarification that Oswell Swann was actually what is termed a "Wesort." He was a mixture of Caucasian, Native American, and Negro. There are 5-6 family names in Southern Maryland that used to be recognizable as tri-racial: Swann, Proctor, Harley, Neumann, and Butler. They coined the term "Wesort" referring to "We sort of people."

Their history (and pardon me if this has been discussed before) actually dates to Jamestown Settlement. Since women did not come to Jamestown until 1619, some of the men had Native American consorts. Some also began to move out of the confines of the settlement and search for new lands of their own. These five men settled in what would become the Lords Baltimore's colony of Maryland. Since Maryland was settled as a sanctuary for the Catholics, a priest came in the first wave of settlement - Fr. Andrew White.

When Fr. White found the men "living in sin" with their common law wives, he made them marry - thus producing the bi-racial lines. Of course, these families became relative outcasts because of the mixing of blood lines and began to intermarry with each other. Because they knew what it was like to be outcasts, they also welcomed run-away and newly freed slaves into their communities - hence the tri-racial lines.

For many years, they continued to intermarry within those five families until genetics really came into play. In the 1950s, I had a cousin who worked for the Public Health Service, and they conducted significant genetic testing on these families to show the results of close familial in-breeding. I taught children descended from these lines. Common problems were inability to produce full-sized teeth (or any at all), born without fingernails, freckles on Negroid complexions, Native American hair on Caucasians, etc.

I have been raised around Wesorts my entire life, however, and have never seen any with "true" deformities or severe cognitive difficulties. Several of my students were quite smart and tested at the top of their categories. To me, the wonderful thing that has occurred over my lifetime is their assimilation into society. When I was a child, they lived in tight communities comprised only of Wesorts. Now, they move freely, marry into the "outside world," and few people today know their history.

[LincolnMan]

Never heard of this. Excellent information guys!

[Dave Taylor]

Thanks for the kudos, Heath and Roger, and for the better history of the Wesorts, Laurie. I tried to recount what I knew about the Wesorts the best I could but I knew you were more of an expert on them than I.

While I don't know of any pictures of Swann, I think it is safe to say that he appeared more black than white. Col. Wells described Swann thusly:

"The guide is a colored man by the name of Swan, who was also forwarded with his statement"

I just finished a post on BoothieBarn about Oswell Swann: http://boothiebarn.com/2013/07/26/more-a...ell-swann/

[L Verge]

Dave's latest post on boothiebarn about Oswell Swann is excellent and gives much more light on a poor man that I would count as "collateral damage."

[Jim Garrett]

This past Friday, I started the quest for Oswell Swann's grave, with much help from Dave Taylor. Much kudos to Dave. We are narrowing down the general location. He lies in a pauper's grave in a large cemetery. He is in "section H". Unfortunately, there are about 15 "section H's"! But we are narrowing it down.

[L Verge]

Someone check with Mike Kauffman. I believe that he had contact with one of Oswell's descendants years ago.

[Craig Hipkins]

Is there a marker or gravestone?

[Jim Garrett]

Is there a marker or gravestone?

no stone

[Dave Taylor]

As an aside, Jim, I found a reference that Margaret Coleman, the pretty Seward maid, was buried at Mt. Olivet as well upon her death in November of 1902. Do you know if this is true?

[Jim Garrett]

Linda Anderson has also mentioned that Coleman is in Mt. Olivet.

---

I forgot to confirm that on my last visit.

[Linda Anderson]

I was looking for Margaret Coleman's death certificate for a long time and the only death notice I found in the DC papers was for a Margaret Coleman who was 84 years old. According to the Census, she should have been about 68 years old when she died. I finally found a death notice that matched her address with the 84 year old Margaret.

Last March, I was researching in the James O. Hall files and found a copy of her death certificate and the location of her grave in Mount Olivet Cemetery.

[Jim Garrett]

Next time I'm over towards Mt Olivet, I will stop in and check.

[Dave Taylor]

I was looking for Margaret Coleman's death certificate for a long time and the only death notice I found in the DC papers was for a Margaret Coleman who was 86 years old. According to the Census, she should have been about 68 years old when she died. I finally found a death notice that matched her address with the 86 year old Margaret.

Last March, I was researching in the James O. Hall files and found a copy of her death certificate and the location of her grave in Mount Olivet Cemetery.

Thanks, Linda. I should have consulted you first. I wonder if she has a headstone.