Renewing Old Acquaintances

[Laurie Verge]

On April 16, 1983, the Surratt Society held its sixteenth Booth Escape Route Tour. There were quite a few "persons of interest" on that tour - including four of us who claimed relationships to the conspirators. There was an Atzerodt kin, a direct Mudd descendant, a supposed relation to David Herold, and a descendant of Mary Surratt via son John.

The Atzerodt kin returned today on another Booth Tour composed of residents around Williamsburg, Virginia. It had been thirty years since we met each other, and we spent an hour catching up while his friends took the tour. His name is Fred Atzrodt (his family dropped the "e" several generations back). Fred is the great-great nephew of George Atzerodt - his great-grandfather being George's brother, Henry (Harry), who fought for the Confederacy through the war before being taken prisoner at Petersburg just twelve days before the assassination.

Harry was sent to Point Lookout Prison Camp here in Southern Maryland. In later years, he became a member of the Maryland Confederate Veterans' Society when it was founded in 1871. This group was comprised of Confederate veterans with spotless war records (a requirement for membership). Other members with familiar names to us were Samuel Arnold, John and Isaac Surratt, and Thomas Jones.

Harry Atzerodt spent his last years in the Confederate Veterans Home in Pikesville, outside of Baltimore, Maryland and was one of only two living there when the Home was closed sometime in the 1930s. He then went to live with Fred's grandfather. I believe that he is buried near York, Pennsylvania.

As soon as I can get the 1983 photo of the four "fugitives" standing by the Garrett Farm sign scanned, I will have Roger post it. The fugitives include Fred, Mary Mudd McHale (great-granddaughter of Dr. Sam), me (who has yet to figure out the "kissing cousin" relationship to Herold), and James Surratt from a North Carolina branch.

One of the things Fred brought along was a manifest of who was on that tour. Included are some familiar names to us old-timers in the field: James O. Hall (our narrator), John C. Brennan and Father Robert Keesler (two of our original godfathers), Dr. Joseph George of Villanova University (who wrote and lectured on Mary Surratt), two granddaughters of James B. Haliday (a bodyguard for Lincoln, Grant, and Johnson), Frank Hebblethwaite (then-curator for the NPS at Ford's Theatre), Mike Kauffman (author of American Brutus), Art Loux (author of John Wilkes Booth Day by Day and member of this forum), Percy and Ray Martin (experts on the Sam Arnold story), Dr. Ernest Miller (wrote John Wilkes Booth Oilman), Guy Moore (author of The Case of Mrs. Surratt), Betty Ownsbey (who's she?), and Ed Steers (prolific author and member of this forum).

Good memories and good friends.

[BettyO]

Laurie -

I'm delighted that Fred Atzrodt has turned up! I really want to contact him again - he lives only 40 miles away....

Here's that photo - I have a copy of it as well.....



L to R:

Fred Atzrodt; Mary Mudd McHale, Laurie, Mr. Surratt

[LincolnMan]

Laurie: just wanted to say how enjoyable it was to read your post. I know it must be hard to believe that time has moved so quickly.

[Laurie Verge]

It does fly when you are having fun! Fred and I were laughing about how we have changed. No more beard for him and a lot less hair. I now have blonde hair (the grayer I got, the blonder I got) and cut shorter. I see Mary McHale 4-5 times a year, and she has changed very little except for the hair color. No contact at all with Mr. Surratt, but I hope he'll show up on the doorstep someday.

BTW: At the time of that tour, I was a part-time "site manager" at the museum. Six months later, I became full-time "museum director." Good pay raise with benefits. But the greatest benefits of all are still the friendships I have made and the edumacation I have received.

[BettyO]

Thanks for the memories, Laurie! What a wonderful time!

Here are some more photos from that day back in 1983:

Frank Hebblewaith and John C. Brennan outside Ford's Theatre




Joan Chaconas and Joe Torchia (Remember him?)





Yours Truly (OMG - what a wild head of hair!!) and Guy Moore




L to R: James O. Hall, Laurie and John C. Brennan at the Mudd House




Mrs. Maude Motley with the piece of Booth's Crutch, Bowling Green, VA



These were the good ol' days when we did the entire Booth Tour in a school bus!

[Laurie Verge]

After twelve hours on that school bus, we all felt like John Wilkes Booth when we got back to D.C. -- DEAD!

I tell people that we had to threaten people to get them to go on our very first Booth Tour. They would look at me and say, "You want us to do what for twelve hours?" We'd just tell them to shut up and get on the bus. At the end of those first tours, people would hop off and say, "That was fun. When are you going to do it again?"

Like Topsy, it has "just growed!" We already have nearly 200 names on a waiting list for the Fall 2013 tours, which we start booking in mid-June.

---

Betty - That must have been a very windy day 'cause I swear I never had that much hair!

[LincolnMan]

(04-06-2013 02:09 PM)BettyO Wrote:  Thanks for the memories, Laurie! What a wonderful time!

Here are some more photos from that day back in 1983:

Frank Hebblewaith and John C. Brennan outside Ford's Theatre




Joan Chaconas and Joe Torchia (Remember him?)





Yours Truly (OMG - what a wild head of hair!!) and Guy Moore




L to R: James O. Hall, Laurie and John C. Brennan at the Mudd House




Mrs. Maude Motley with the piece of Booth's Crutch, Bowling Green, VA



These were the good ol' days when we did the entire Booth Tour in a school bus!

With a piece of Booth's crutch?

[L Verge]

Miss Maude was definitely the last of the great ladies of the South. Her grandfather was described as the "handsomest man in the Confederacy" by Gen. Lee. I saw a large portrait of him at her house (a Civil War museum practically), and I agreed with Lee. Miss Maude had been a student of Lucinda Holloway in later years.

If I remember the story of the sliver of the crutch that she owned, it came from Booth's crutch, which was retrieved by one of the men from the area after the excitement at Garretts'. This gentleman supposedly would carve off little chunks of it to give to ladies that he wanted to impress. Somehow, Miss Maude obtained it from one of those ladies. She had a small, silver plaque attached to it declaring what it was. When Miss Maude died, a snobby nephew inherited most of her things - including the piece of crutch. Rich and Jim may know if he still has it. He sure wasn't interested in loaning or donating it to Surratt House. In fact, he sent a rather nasty reply to Mr. Brennan's letter suggesting those options.

Miss Maude also remembered that the bloody porch boards from the Garrett home were ripped up and stored in an outbuilding. When she was a child, the boys of the neighborhood would retrieve them and chase the girls with them. Wouldn't you love to have one of those boards now? Can anyone say DNA?????

[Hess1865]

Its hearing stories like this that make this the most fascinating site online!
I can't wait to make my several visits a day here!!
Thanks for another interesting tidbit of assassination history!!

[L Verge]

Betty and I have to be careful 'cause we have some stories that could get us in trouble!

I'll pass on one for safety's sake. Don't try rowing across the Potomac River when you have no idea what you are doing. That was a lesson learned by James O. Hall, John C. Brennan, Fr. Keesler, and I think Richard Sloan who made such an attempt. It was a very rough time - and then a storm came up and they had to turn around and head back to the Maryland shore where their car was parked. The boat started filling with water, and I think it was Fr. K. who kept bailing. Frankly, I would have had the youngest one (Richard) bailing and let Father Keesler do the Hail Marys...

I understand that Mike Kauffman and a reporter tried it years later, but included a motor boat as an escort. After an hour of rowing, they had gotten only about a quarter-mile and gave up because of the stiff currents. Visitors at Surratt House always snicker when our electric map talks about Booth and Herold getting off course the first night of their attempt to cross and ending up back in Maryland. If they only knew...

[KateH.]

A word to all visitors snickering: It is much harder than it looks. Remember to factor in gunboat patrol, darkness, and cold temperatures. You go try and make it to Virginia in one shot under those circumstances. I’ll be sure to greet you with “Better Luck Next Time” cake when you return

[L Verge]

You're my kind of girl, Kate! I don't think that people who have never stood on the Maryland shore and looked across to Virginia can understand the distance involved - and the fugitives did not go in a straight line between two close points.

[BettyO]

Quote:I'll pass on one for safety's sake. Don't try rowing across the Potomac River when you have no idea what you are doing. That was a lesson learned by James O. Hall, John C. Brennan, Fr. Keesler, and I think Richard Sloan who made such an attempt. It was a very rough time....

I have photos of that, too....

Mr. Hall on the Potomac




Richard Sloan on the Potomac

[Laurie Verge]

And that doesn't look like a row boat...

[HerbS]

Laurie,I can see the "teacher" in you in those photos of "yesteryear".A caption would be-Do not mess with the Master or you will meet with disaster! Being a boater,I have heard the Potomac has tougher currents and undertows than the St.Lawrence River