The Old Capitol Prison and Its Inmates

[L Verge]

If you are lucky enough to find this little gem, grab it. Great first-person accounts from a lady prisoner at the Old Capitol -- and of the higher echelon as well.

Virginia Lomax, b. 1831
The Old Capitol and its Inmates
New York: E. J. Hale & Son, 1867.
Summary

Virginia Lomax was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1831. Her work, The Old Capitol and its Inmates (1867), contains her memories of a Washington, D. C. prison, where she was held immediately after the end of the Civil War. Arrested when she attempted to visit her friends in Carrol Prison, she was held prisoner in the adjoining building, the Old Capitol Prison, on suspicion of being a conspirator in Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Her fellow prisoners were Confederate loyalists suspected of conspiring against the United States. Lomax was eventually released through the political maneuvering of her family and friends. In her book she recounts the stories of several of her fellow prisoners in The Old Capitol and describes their daily activities as well as the hardships they experienced. Lomax also discusses the broader problems former Confederates had to address in their efforts to re-assimilate into American society.

Harris Henderson

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Go here to read the account of Mrs. Surratt being taken from Old Capitol and moved to the Arsenal Penitentiary:

http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/lomax/lomax.html#lenox171 You can also scroll upwards and read pages 133-141 for a humane story about Mrs. Surratt and her arrival.

Just a quick note that Mrs. Lomax was given wrong information when told that Mrs. Surratt was transferred first to one of the monitors with the male prisoners. Both she and Dr. Mudd were transferred directly to the Penitentiary.

Virginia Lomax wrote another great book entitled Leaves from an Old Washington Diary, which gives wonderful accounts of life around the nation's capital in the early years.

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Long, but also interesting details about Old Capitol http://www.civilwarhome.com/oldcapitolprison.html

[Gene C]

Web site for "The Old Capitol and its Inmates"
https://ia800309.us.archive.org/4/items/...00loma.pdf

"Leaves From an Old Washington Diary"
https://archive.org/details/leavesfromoldwas00loma