Assassination Trivia

[Dave Taylor]

It's one of the Ulke brothers. I'm going to go with Julius.

[RJNorton]

Close enough, Dave. It was Henry. The portrait now hangs in the White House. I also noticed in Jim and Rich's book that Henry was a participant in the 1848 Berlin revolution.

[Rsmyth]

When Jim volunteers at the Petersen House he finds dead bugs all the time. The Ulke's were entomologists. Have Jim mail you some. They may have belonged to the brothers.

[Dave Taylor]

Well today was Field Day for our elementary school, and being out in the sun all day reminded me of this trivia question.

Which individual in the assassination story had the oddity of getting paler the longer he was in the sun?

[J. Beckert]

Dr. Mudd?

[Dave Taylor]

(06-11-2013 01:00 PM)J. Beckert Wrote:  Dr. Mudd?

Well done, Joe.

In a letter back sent by Dr. Mudd while imprisoned at Fort Jefferson, he wrote, "Owing to the peculiarity of my skin, and not much exposed to the sun, I am paler or fairer than when I left home."

So perhaps my memory was off when I thought he was in the sun, but it's still odd that a man imprisoned on a tropical island didn't tan.

[LincolnMan]

Sort of ironic that his name was Mudd given that he didn't tan.

[Houmes]

(06-05-2013 08:25 PM)Dave Taylor Wrote:  Dr. Smith is one of the few graves actually on Fort Jefferson. After Dr. Smith died of Yellow Fever in 1867, Dr. Mudd took over as garrison doctor until a new one came from the mainland.

According to his FindaGrave page, Dr. Smith's three year old son died of Yellow Fever on the very same day as he did, and his name is also on this marker.

Now that the final resting place of Henry and Clara Rathbone has been settled, are we sure that Dr. Joseph Sim Smith and his son are really buried at Fort Jefferson? The stone on the parade grounds appears more as a memorial than a gravestone and why would they place a grave in the middle of an area used for marching and military drills? The records for Fort Jefferson are notoriously scant, and early military burials inside the fort were at first assigned to the north corner. When the Yellow Fever epidemic was at a peak, accounts note that the soldiers couldn't get the dead out of the fort fast enough, with rudimentary burials on Hospital Key provided. Some of the men were even plied with whiskey as an inducement to help. Sam Arnold, by one account, noted that occasionally coffins were brought in and placed at the bedside of victims even before they were dead. Dr. Smith's wife barely survived an infection, and ended up living in Brooklyn, New York. As an officer (Brevet Major) more resources might have been available and Dr. Smith and son may have been shipped home. I found Dr. Whitehurst's grave when I was in Key West, but no Joseph or Harry Smith.

[Dave Taylor]

(06-11-2013 07:25 PM)Houmes Wrote:  

(06-05-2013 08:25 PM)Dave Taylor Wrote:  Dr. Smith is one of the few graves actually on Fort Jefferson. After Dr. Smith died of Yellow Fever in 1867, Dr. Mudd took over as garrison doctor until a new one came from the mainland.

According to his FindaGrave page, Dr. Smith's three year old son died of Yellow Fever on the very same day as he did, and his name is also on this marker.

Now that the final resting place of Henry and Clara Rathbone has been settled, are we sure that Dr. Joseph Sim Smith and his son are really buried at Fort Jefferson? The stone on the parade grounds appears more as a memorial than a gravestone and why would they place a grave in the middle of an area used for marching and military drills? The records for Fort Jefferson are notoriously scant, and early military burials inside the fort were at first assigned to the north corner. When the Yellow Fever epidemic was at a peak, accounts note that the soldiers couldn't get the dead out of the fort fast enough, with rudimentary burials on Hospital Key provided. Some of the men were even plied with whiskey as an inducement to help. Sam Arnold, by one account, noted that occasionally coffins were brought in and placed at the bedside of victims even before they were dead. Dr. Smith's wife barely survived an infection, and ended up living in Brooklyn, New York. As an officer (Brevet Major) more resources might have been available and Dr. Smith and son may have been shipped home. I found Dr. Whitehurst's grave when I was in Key West, but no Joseph or Harry Smith.

You make a good point, Blaine. It doesn't really make a lot of sense that Dr. Smith's body would be placed right in the middle of the Fort when everyone thought it was contagious. More than likely this is just a memorial to him.

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Who is this?

[Rsmyth]

Captain Dutton?

[BettyO]

Looks like my ex-boss!! HA!!!

Seriously, I've seen this guy before..... let me think.....

[RJNorton]

John Clarvoe?

[Dave Taylor]

No one has got him yet.

I'm pretty sure you have seen this gentleman before, Betty.

[RJNorton]

"GATH" when he was somewhat older than in the photos we normally see in books?

[Dave Taylor]

'Fraid not, Roger.

I was informed by Lindsey that I may be leading people down the wrong path by saying Betty is familiar with this gentleman. Let me clarify: Betty has met a descendant of this man. Of that I am sure.