Dr. Mudd's slave who cooked breakfast for JWB and David Herold

[L Verge]

A little background here: The late-John E. McHale was a fine gentleman and very supportive of the Surratt House Museum and the Surratt Society. He was also married to the daughter of Dr. Richard D. Mudd, who is best-known for his lifelong struggle to "clear" the name of Dr. Samuel A. Mudd (and, as writer James Swanson stated, managed to do a great disservice to accurate history in pursuing his goal). To this date, all efforts in that direction have been defeated.

While this article attempts to discredit the wonderful work of James O. Hall, Mr. McHale should also have included most of the best historians in the field; they too felt/feel that Dr. Sam was on the periphery of the kidnap/capture scheme. One of the leading proponents on the guilt of Dr. Mudd is a member of this forum. Dr. Edward Steers wrote a seminal study on the Mudd case and published it under the title of His Name Is Still Mudd. Subsequent works like his Blood on the Moon also state the case against Mudd. I hope that Ed will weigh in on this.

Other authors who understand the government's case against the doctor have been Hanchett, Turner, Swanson, Tidwell, Lattimer and others. If you were to take a tour of the Dr. Mudd museum today, you would notice that the current field of docents agree that Dr. Mudd was likely part of the original plotting. And, at Surratt House, we make note that it was Dr. Mudd who went outside of his parish to attend church in November of 1864 at the bidding of one of the leading citizens in the underground movement in Charles County. It was also Dr. Mudd who met with Booth in DC on December 23, 1864, and introduced the actor to the Surratts.

As for slave testimony during the trial: Please bear in mind that those who made statements regarding the Mudd family were now free -- but the government had not guaranteed them a home of their own, a job, or food for their families. The likelihood was that Dr. Mudd's former enslaved workers would be returning to Dr. Mudd's property for jobs and security. Perhaps some felt that it was better to be safe than sorry when speaking against their former master?

Finally, I have posted before on this forum regarding how David Herold came to spend the night of April 13, 1865, in my great-grandparents' home in T.B. (the home that I was raised in). It is my belief that, after hearing Lincoln's speech on April 11, Booth made hasty plans to change things to murder. He sent Herold into Southern Maryland to alert the underground -- and Dr. Mudd's farm was just a short distance into Charles County. Herold may not have told Mudd about the plans changing drastically, but I would bet he told him to spread the word to others who were along the route. And yes, I believe that supplies had been sent ahead to Mudd, just as Atzerodt stated.

P.S. The Maryland Independent that carried John McHale's article is a hometown newspaper published in Charles County. U.S. Representative Steny Hoyer still represents that county and depends on votes. The county demographics have changed drastically over the years, but a good number of the voters are still named Mudd or have married into the Mudd family...

[Eva Elisabeth]

I am wondering why the title uses "cook" instead of prepare breakfast. Do we know what it was? We don't cook breakfast at all (just prepare as it's usually cold despite the coffee - bread or müsli/cereals) , so I am eager to learn...I well remember the grits, was that a typical breakfast back in those days, too? What was a typical breakfast prior to cornflakes & Co?

[L Verge]

(09-16-2018 05:13 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  I am wondering why the title uses "cook" instead of prepare breakfast. Do we know what it was? We don't cook breakfast at all (just prepare as it's usually cold despite the coffee - bread or müsli/cereals) , so I am eager to learn...I well remember the grits, was that a typical breakfast back in those days, too? What was a typical breakfast prior to cornflakes & Co?

I can't speak for the entire country, but even during my childhood in the 1940s and 50s, a Southern Maryland breakfast consisted of a hot cereal, perhaps with some fruit, or a more substantial meal. That consisted of fried or scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, or fried ham (even steak on Sundays or special days when beef became more plentiful thanks to refrigerated transportation), biscuits or toast or griddle cakes, pancakes, or waffles, sometimes grits. If there were left-over cooked potatoes from the day before, we might have fried potatoes and onions also on the menu in place of the various starches. My father was from southern Virginia and enjoyed brains and eggs for breakfast -- which my mother refused to cook!

The point of a large breakfast was to build up sufficient stamina to do hard labor from then until the dinner bell rang. At the Surratt House, it would ring about 1-2 pm and signaled another substantial meal to get one ready for afternoon work. Supper was served later in the evening and was the smallest meal of the day.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Thanks, Laurie - same here, we say “Eat breakfast like an emperor, lunch like a king, and dinner like a beggar.”
Yet the Emperor eats a cold breakfast (the daily bread...)
What is brains and eggs?

[L Verge]

(09-16-2018 06:56 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Thanks, Laurie - same here, we say “Eat breakfast like an emperor, lunch like a king, and dinner like a beggar.”
Yet the Emperor eats a cold breakfast (the daily bread...)
What is brains and eggs?

In earlier times, pigs and hogs were very plentiful, especially in the South, and every part of a slaughtered swine was put to some kind of use. In addition to the hams, bacon, chops, roasts, etc., scraps were used for sausage, either stuffed into the cleaned intestines to form links or mixed with seasonings for patties. There was also something called head cheese. Pigs' feet were pickled; even the bladder was saved to use as caps for canning jars (or as balloons to please the children). Leftover intestines were usually given to the slaves and became chitterlings.

As for brains and eggs -- the brains of the pig often took the place of bacon or sausage on the morning menu. Nothing went to waste.

P.S. In addition to making me nauseous over the thought of eating anything's brains, my mother used to achieve the same feeling in me when she talked about enjoying tongue sandwiches as a child (as in the tongue of a cow...).

PPS: Eva - I mentioned "head cheese" above. It is not really cheese. Here is a description of a German variety: In Germany, head cheese is known as Sülze, Schwartenmagen, or Presskopf. In Bavaria, Presssack comes in three varieties (deep red, pinkish, and grey) in the form of a large (15-cm-diameter) sausage. Sülze can have a tangy flavour due to the addition of pickles or vinegar. It usually takes the form of a rectangular loaf, which is then sliced into portions. There is a white coloured variety and two different red ones, using blood, one made with beef tongue (as in Zungenwurst) and aspic, the other without. In Franconia, Saurer Presssack is served in a salad with a vinaigrette and vegetables. German Schwartenmagen in a tin as it is sold as a type of hausmacher-Wurst
Early references to Sulcze in documents of the Counts of Katzenelnbogen date from 1410 and 1430.[13]
Using only pure and best meat (without fat, gristle or other meat of less good quality) it is called Kaisersülze (Emperor's Aspic).