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bob_summers · 08-16-2019, 10:07 AM

(08-07-2019 02:22 PM)L Verge Wrote: I admit that it has been many a year since I read Nettie Mudd Monroe's book, but the letters that he wrote home to Frankie are quite interesting - especially in reading his "personality."

Laurie: since Nettie's book is now in the public domain, I've included it on my website at https://www.muddresearch.com/life-book.html. Anyone can read/search/copy it whenever they like.

I have also added a "Lost Letters" section to Nettie's bio at https://www.muddresearch.com/mary-eleano...-mudd.html

L Verge · 08-16-2019, 01:23 PM

(08-16-2019 10:07 AM)bob_summers Wrote:
(08-07-2019 02:22 PM)L Verge Wrote: I admit that it has been many a year since I read Nettie Mudd Monroe's book, but the letters that he wrote home to Frankie are quite interesting - especially in reading his "personality."

Laurie: since Nettie's book is now in the public domain, I've included it on my website at https://www.muddresearch.com/life-book.html. Anyone can read/search/copy it whenever they like.

I have also added a "Lost Letters" section to Nettie's bio at https://www.muddresearch.com/mary-eleano...-mudd.html

Wonderful! P.S. Does that mean that we can sell Nettie's book in our gift shop? We have always been told that it was exclusive to the Dr. Mudd House.

bob_summers · 08-16-2019, 02:21 PM

[/quote]

Wonderful! P.S. Does that mean that we can sell Nettie's book in our gift shop? We have always been told that it was exclusive to the Dr. Mudd House.
[/quote]

Yes, the copyright has expired. It's in the public domain. Anyone can reprint and sell it. Take a look at all the reprints of the book being sold on Amazon.

RJNorton · 08-16-2019, 02:53 PM

This book is one of my prize possessions. Vicki and I visited the Mudd home c. 1980. I purchased the book there and was very happy to see that inside the front cover the book was signed by Dr. and Mrs. Mudd's grandchildren:

bob_summers · 08-16-2019, 03:49 PM

(08-16-2019 02:53 PM)RJNorton Wrote: This book is one of my prize possessions. Vicki and I visited the Mudd home c. 1980. I purchased the book there and was very happy to see that inside the front cover the book was signed by Dr. and Mrs. Mudd's grandchildren:

I watched my mother (second from the bottom) sign a lot of these books, perhaps even this one. Note everyone's excellent handwriting. You can read all the names. Children aren't taught to write this clearly anymore.

L Verge · 08-16-2019, 07:01 PM

I thought the same thing when I bought my copy - even Dr. Richard's signature was legible. I hope he was of the old school where good penmanship was a mark of distinction.

I believe that I only met four of the grandchildren over the years (Louise, Joe, Emily, and Dr. Richard). Emily Mudd Rogerson was a lovely lady. I believe she was living in the Richmond area at the time.

Anita · 08-17-2019, 05:17 PM

Bob,
Thanks for posting the links.

Roger,
What a fantastic purchase!

Laurie,
Here's a an article on the the Mudd family's recent descendant gathering this past July 2019. https://www.pressreader.com/usa/maryland...0752807832

L Verge · 08-17-2019, 07:07 PM

(08-17-2019 05:17 PM)Anita Wrote: Bob,
Thanks for posting the links.

Roger,
What a fantastic purchase!

Laurie,
Here's a an article on the the Mudd family's recent descendant gathering this past July 2019. https://www.pressreader.com/usa/maryland...0752807832

Thanks, Anita. The Maryland Independent that carried this story originally is one of the local newspapers in Southern Maryland, so I had already seen it. I couldn't get the text to slide to the left here, so I don't know if this version carried the photos also, but there is a nice one of Mary Mudd McHale, a great-granddaughter (daughter of Dr. Richard), who has been very supportive of the Surratt House and Society through the years. If there are photos of the Mudd docents who did reenactments of Dr. Mudd's return, the lady portraying Frankie Mudd is Kate Taylor, wife of Dave Taylor.

Does the article also mention that there was a very bad traffic accident that involved some of the younger Mudd descendants en route home from the gathering? Thankfully, no one received very serious injuries.

bob_summers · 08-17-2019, 07:47 PM

(08-17-2019 05:17 PM)Anita Wrote: Here's a an article on the Mudd family's recent descendant gathering this past July 2019. https://www.pressreader.com/usa/maryland...0752807832

Anita: thanks for the link to the story. I hadn't seen it. One comment: In the article, Mr. Collins says that 87 black soldiers trained near the Mudd farm. I'm not sure where that figure comes from. There were actually about 4,000 black troops training nearby. The 7th, 9th, 19th, and 30th U.S. Colored Troop regiments, 1,000 men each, trained just 10 miles away at Camp Stanton (Benedict, Maryland) during the fall and winter of 1863-64.

Anita · (This post was last modified: 08-17-2019 08:37 PM by Anita.)

(08-17-2019 07:07 PM)L Verge Wrote:
(08-17-2019 05:17 PM)Anita Wrote: Bob,
Thanks for posting the links.

Roger,
What a fantastic purchase!

Laurie,
Here's a an article on the the Mudd family's recent descendant gathering this past July 2019. https://www.pressreader.com/usa/maryland...0752807832

Thanks, Anita. The Maryland Independent that carried this story originally is one of the local newspapers in Southern Maryland, so I had already seen it. I couldn't get the text to slide to the left here, so I don't know if this version carried the photos also, but there is a nice one of Mary Mudd McHale, a great-granddaughter (daughter of Dr. Richard), who has been very supportive of the Surratt House and Society through the years. If there are photos of the Mudd docents who did reenactments of Dr. Mudd's return, the lady portraying Frankie Mudd is Kate Taylor, wife of Dave Taylor.

Does the article also mention that there was a very bad traffic accident that involved some of the younger Mudd descendants en route home from the gathering? Thankfully, no one received very serious injuries.

The article didn't mention the accident. Glad no serious injuries. Laurie, if you click on the text, hold it and move the mouse to the right it takes you to through the pages, photos. Yes, it sure is Dave Tayolor's wife!

(08-17-2019 07:47 PM)bob_summers Wrote:
(08-17-2019 05:17 PM)Anita Wrote: Here's a an article on the Mudd family's recent descendant gathering this past July 2019. https://www.pressreader.com/usa/maryland...0752807832

Anita: thanks for the link to the story. I hadn't seen it. One comment: In the article, Mr. Collins says that 87 black soldiers trained near the Mudd farm. I'm not sure where that figure comes from. There were actually about 4,000 black troops training nearby. The 7th, 9th, 19th, and 30th U.S. Colored Troop regiments, 1,000 men each, trained just 10 miles away at Camp Stanton (Benedict, Maryland) during the fall and winter of 1863-64.

Bob, That's a big discrepancy. While looking into this I came across interesting references to Dr. Mudd's slaves who ran off. This is all new to me. https://books.google.com/books?id=kBEVAAAAYAAJ

L Verge · 08-18-2019, 01:00 PM

(08-17-2019 08:26 PM)Anita Wrote:
(08-17-2019 07:07 PM)L Verge Wrote:
(08-17-2019 05:17 PM)Anita Wrote: Bob,
Thanks for posting the links.

Roger,
What a fantastic purchase!

Laurie,
Here's a an article on the the Mudd family's recent descendant gathering this past July 2019. https://www.pressreader.com/usa/maryland...0752807832

Thanks, Anita. The Maryland Independent that carried this story originally is one of the local newspapers in Southern Maryland, so I had already seen it. I couldn't get the text to slide to the left here, so I don't know if this version carried the photos also, but there is a nice one of Mary Mudd McHale, a great-granddaughter (daughter of Dr. Richard), who has been very supportive of the Surratt House and Society through the years. If there are photos of the Mudd docents who did reenactments of Dr. Mudd's return, the lady portraying Frankie Mudd is Kate Taylor, wife of Dave Taylor.

Does the article also mention that there was a very bad traffic accident that involved some of the younger Mudd descendants en route home from the gathering? Thankfully, no one received very serious injuries.
The article didn't mention the accident. Glad no serious injuries. Laurie, if you click on the text, hold it and move the mouse to the right it takes you to through the pages, photos. Yes, it sure is Dave Tayolor's wife!

(08-17-2019 07:47 PM)bob_summers Wrote:
(08-17-2019 05:17 PM)Anita Wrote: Here's a an article on the Mudd family's recent descendant gathering this past July 2019. https://www.pressreader.com/usa/maryland...0752807832

Anita: thanks for the link to the story. I hadn't seen it. One comment: In the article, Mr. Collins says that 87 black soldiers trained near the Mudd farm. I'm not sure where that figure comes from. There were actually about 4,000 black troops training nearby. The 7th, 9th, 19th, and 30th U.S. Colored Troop regiments, 1,000 men each, trained just 10 miles away at Camp Stanton (Benedict, Maryland) during the fall and winter of 1863-64.

Bob, That's a big discrepancy. While looking into this I came across interesting references to Dr. Mudd's slaves who ran off. This is all new to me. https://books.google.com/books?id=kBEVAAAAYAAJ

I agree with Bob that the only USCT training camp in the vicinity would have to be Camp Stanton at Benedict. Unfortunately, the only thing that remains of the camp is a historic marker and any artifacts that might be underground. In the last 40 years or so, I believe that archaeologists and historians have even changed their minds about the exact location of the camp.

I have an original, hard-bound copy of American State Trials sitting here on my desk looking at me right now. I was able to repair water damage sustained during a flooded basement, but I seldom open it because it is fragile. However, I remember thinking how useful it was in interpreting the trial transcripts produced by Pitman, Perley Poore, and Peterson. Those are like deciphering the Rosetta Stone to me!

I did skim the section on Dr. Mudd from the online source you gave, and made another discovery. Many of the former slaves who testified in defense of Dr. Mudd make mention of not coming to live on the farm until just before or after Christmas of 1864. I don't know to whom they had been previously enslaved, but when they got to the Mudds, they would have been given their freedom under the new Maryland state consitution that went into effect on November 1, 1864.

If they had not resided on the farm previous to that, they were not qualified to testify as to Dr. Sam's treatment of his slaves -- and surely, he would have been careful not to mistreat those who had their new-found freedom. Bob, am I making a correct assumption here?

One thing I remember from the text was an article published after the conspiracy trial by Clampitt, one of Mrs. Surratt's inept lawyers. For years, many of us have wondered where the revolver(s) came from that Booth apparently picked up on his escape. Clampitt claimed that a revolver was included in the field glass package that we know Mrs. Surratt carried to John Lloyd on the afternoon of April 14. I don't think either Lloyd or his sister-in-law, Emma Offutt, ever made mention of that (and Emma may not have been present when Lloyd opened the package).

Another thing that Clampitt mentioned that was news to me: He says that Mrs. Surratt was due at the county courthouse in Upper Marlboro that day to answer to the Calvert claims about unpaid lands. The claim is that she had to go through Surrattsville to get to Upper Marlboro, so she agreed to take the package for Booth.

Unlikely. First, she left after 2 pm that Friday for a trip that would take close to two hours to get to Surrattsville, and the county seat trip would have taken about another hour. When would the court house close?

Also, there was another route to Upper Marlboro that was probably shorter and would take less time. Even if she used that route, she would have to double-back to Surrattsville to deliver the package and then hustle to get across the bridge into Washington before it closed.

There is always something new to ponder.

RJNorton · 08-18-2019, 01:36 PM

(08-18-2019 01:00 PM)L Verge Wrote: Unlikely. First, she left after 2 pm that Friday for a trip that would take close to two hours to get to Surrattsville, and the county seat trip would have taken about another hour. When would the court house close?

Very interesting, Laurie. Is it known what her plan of travel was had Weichmann not been released from work early? Would she have even departed Washington at all? As far as I know, she would not have been aware beforehand that Weichmann was coming home hours earlier than normal.

L Verge · 08-18-2019, 02:30 PM

(08-18-2019 01:36 PM)RJNorton Wrote:
(08-18-2019 01:00 PM)L Verge Wrote: Unlikely. First, she left after 2 pm that Friday for a trip that would take close to two hours to get to Surrattsville, and the county seat trip would have taken about another hour. When would the court house close?

Very interesting, Laurie. Is it known what her plan of travel was had Weichmann not been released from work early? Would she have even departed Washington at all? As far as I know, she would not have been aware beforehand that Weichmann was coming home hours earlier than normal.

I would ask the same question also, Roger. I do not believe that she knew Weichmann would have the afternoon off, and I don't understand how Booth thought she could get the package to Surrattsville without a driver.

Also, it was now 1865, and the land deal that both her husband and she had defaulted on with the Calvert family had been going on since at least 1853 (land purchased in 1852 on a promissory note, just like our modern mortgages). How urgent was it that the package get to the tavern that day -- unless Booth told Mary what was going down that night.

And again, how did he expect her to get it there? I will concede that most Southern Maryland farm women (and others all over the nation) were pretty good at managing horses as well as buggies. If this was a critical mission, I suspect that Mary could have handled herself well.

bob_summers · 08-18-2019, 03:27 PM

(08-18-2019 01:00 PM)L Verge Wrote: [quote='Anita' pid='78317' dateline='1566091609']
[quote='L Verge' pid='78315' dateline='1566086869']
[quote='Anita' pid='78314' dateline='1566080245']

I did skim the section on Dr. Mudd from the online source you gave, and made another discovery. Many of the former slaves who testified in defense of Dr. Mudd make mention of not coming to live on the farm until just before or after Christmas of 1864. I don't know to whom they had been previously enslaved, but when they got to the Mudds, they would have been given their freedom under the new Maryland state consitution that went into effect on November 1, 1864.

If they had not resided on the farm previous to that, they were not qualified to testify as to Dr. Sam's treatment of his slaves -- and surely, he would have been careful not to mistreat those who had their new-found freedom. Bob, am I making a correct assumption here?

Laurie: I think I can answer where Dr. & Mrs. Mudd's slaves came from. If their last name was Washington, they came from Jeremiah Dyer's farm where Sara grew up. Otherwise, they came from Sam's father's farm. They were gifted, not purchased. Sam and Sara Mudd had no money to purchase slaves.

By my count, Sam and Sara had nine slaves. I have seen other references to eleven slaves, but I could only ever verify nine. Two of their nine slaves, Elzee Eglent (who testified that Dr. Mudd once shot him in the leg), and Richard Washington ran away to Washington in 1863. Four of the remaining seven slaves, Melvina Washington, Mary Simms, Milo Simms, and Rachel Spencer left the Mudd farm shortly after emancipation. The last three slaves, Lettie Hall, Louisa Christie, and Frank Washington remained on the farm for many years.

After emancipation, Frank's wife Betty Washington joined him at the Mudd farm. She had been a slave of Adelaide Middleton before emancipation. House servant Julia Ann Bloyce and carpenter Baptist Washington also began working at the Mudd farm.

Jeremiah Dyer sold his farm in the middle of the Civil War, in 1863, and went into the dry goods business in Baltimore. His sister Elizabeth Ann "Betty" Dyer then moved from the Dyer farm to the Mudd farm, taking her slave Frank Washington with her. Although Frank Washington was technically Betty Dyer's slave, once he moved to the Mudd farm and worked there as a field hand for Dr. Mudd, I have always counted him as one of Dr. Mudd's slaves. When emancipation came, Frank was free to go, but chose to stay at the Mudd farm as a paid farm hand.

L Verge · 08-18-2019, 06:07 PM

(08-18-2019 03:27 PM)bob_summers Wrote:
(08-18-2019 01:00 PM)L Verge Wrote: [quote='Anita' pid='78317' dateline='1566091609']
[quote='L Verge' pid='78315' dateline='1566086869']
[quote='Anita' pid='78314' dateline='1566080245']

I did skim the section on Dr. Mudd from the online source you gave, and made another discovery. Many of the former slaves who testified in defense of Dr. Mudd make mention of not coming to live on the farm until just before or after Christmas of 1864. I don't know to whom they had been previously enslaved, but when they got to the Mudds, they would have been given their freedom under the new Maryland state consitution that went into effect on November 1, 1864.

If they had not resided on the farm previous to that, they were not qualified to testify as to Dr. Sam's treatment of his slaves -- and surely, he would have been careful not to mistreat those who had their new-found freedom. Bob, am I making a correct assumption here?

Laurie: I think I can answer where Dr. & Mrs. Mudd's slaves came from. If their last name was Washington, they came from Jeremiah Dyer's farm where Sara grew up. Otherwise, they came from Sam's father's farm. They were gifted, not purchased. Sam and Sara Mudd had no money to purchase slaves.

By my count, Sam and Sara had nine slaves. I have seen other references to eleven slaves, but I could only ever verify nine. Two of their nine slaves, Elzee Eglent (who testified that Dr. Mudd once shot him in the leg), and Richard Washington ran away to Washington in 1863. Four of the remaining seven slaves, Melvina Washington, Mary Simms, Milo Simms, and Rachel Spencer left the Mudd farm shortly after emancipation. The last three slaves, Lettie Hall, Louisa Christie, and Frank Washington remained on the farm for many years.

After emancipation, Frank's wife Betty Washington joined him at the Mudd farm. She had been a slave of Adelaide Middleton before emancipation. House servant Julia Ann Bloyce and carpenter Baptist Washington also began working at the Mudd farm.

Jeremiah Dyer sold his farm in the middle of the Civil War, in 1863, and went into the dry goods business in Baltimore. His sister Elizabeth Ann "Betty" Dyer then moved from the Dyer farm to the Mudd farm, taking her slave Frank Washington with her. Although Frank Washington was technically Betty Dyer's slave, once he moved to the Mudd farm and worked there as a field hand for Dr. Mudd, I have always counted him as one of Dr. Mudd's slaves. When emancipation came, Frank was free to go, but chose to stay at the Mudd farm as a paid farm hand.

Thanks for the information, Bob. Were the Mudds able to pay them for their services, or did Henry Lowe Mudd and Jeremiah Dyer help out? What about when Dr. Sam was in prison?