Conspiracy in Canada

[L Verge]

I know very little about Henry Clay, other than standard textbook treatments, but I have always thought that he earned the title of the Great Compromiser because he was trying desperately to keep the Union together in hopes that people would come to their senses.

[margotdarby]

This is to add minor clarifications about Patrick C. Martin and the "Marie Victoria" salvage case in 1864-65, in reply to Laurie Verge's summation of the 1957 book "Conspiracy in Canada." (Extract of original post at bottom.)

We read that Booth's trunk of costumes brought in only $500 at auction because they were so damaged. Actually they were part of a quick sale of "perishables" prior to the court hearing. From a salvage point of view, the main assets were the barrels of coal oil, a marketable commodity that is easy to appraise (unlike theatrical costumes!). The court appraised a total value of about $12,000 for this oil and the remains of the ship, awarding the salvors about half the amount.

In making this award, the court also noted the suspicious circumstances of the vessel. The bow of the ship had been smashed or stove-in by unknown causes. All hands had abandoned the vessel, and apparently hadn't turned up or made a report by the time the case came to court:

"The schooner as she now lies has been appraised, under the authority of the Court, at 2,280 dollars, the coal oil at 9,656 dollars, and the other articles of freight have been sold as perishable, under the like authority, and have produced a net sum of 560 dollars. Nothing appears of what occurred on board the vessel, from the time of her leaving Montreal, until she was found abandoned on the 7th of November last, in the open river about fifteen miles from Father Point, neither master nor crew having been found on board of her, nor having been seen or accounted for in any way."

(From "Cases Selected from Those Heard and Determined in the Vice Admiralty Court at Quebec Involving Questions of Maritime Maw of Frequent Occurrence in the Trade and Navigation of the River and Gulf of St. Lawrence, Volume 2, 1875. Case 'Marie Victoria--Ellis', heard 5 Sept, 1865)

(06-07-2013 03:40 PM)Laurie Verge Wrote:  ***
Booth shipped his theatrical costumes south with Patrick C. Martin, but the Marie Victoria schooner floundered. There was a salvage operation that yielded his trunk(s), and the contents were auctioned off in July of 1865. They were valued at $15,000, but only brought $500.

Feel free to challenge this information because I have listed things that I learned from the book, but all of the author's statements may not be true.
***

[irshgrl500]

(06-10-2013 02:19 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  I found this article from the August 11, 1856, edition of the New York Times.

Roger, what an interesting piece. I just love to find old, original articles on the Internet; this was a real find.
I, like Laurie, know very little about Henry Clay, but have a question about the use of the term "Fremont truth"; what exactly does that mean?


Karin

[Wild Bill]

(07-09-2013 12:35 AM)irshgrl500 Wrote:  

(06-10-2013 02:19 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  I found this article from the August 11, 1856, edition of the New York Times.

Roger, what an interesting piece. I just love to find old, original articles on the Internet; this was a real find.
I, like Laurie, know very little about Henry Clay, but have a question about the use of the term "Fremont truth"; what exactly does that mean?


Karin

Free Men, Free Labor, Free Land and Fremont--the platform of the Republican party in 1856

[irshgrl500]

(07-09-2013 02:39 PM)Wild Bill Wrote:  

(07-09-2013 12:35 AM)irshgrl500 Wrote:  

(06-10-2013 02:19 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  I found this article from the August 11, 1856, edition of the New York Times.

Roger, what an interesting piece. I just love to find old, original articles on the Internet; this was a real find.
I, like Laurie, know very little about Henry Clay, but have a question about the use of the term "Fremont truth"; what exactly does that mean?


Karin

Free Men, Free Labor, Free Land and Fremont--the platform of the Republican party in 1856

Wasn't it John Fremont, (Senator from CA) who ran for President, supported by the Republican Party? And thus his slogan, " "Free Soil, Free Men, and Fremont" became the the "Fremont Truth"?

Thank you, Bill for your reply.

Karin

[Wild Bill]

That's correct, Karin

[JMadonna]

Members of the Canadian Conspiracy include: Colonel Steele, George Young, Captain Scott, George Harper, Charles Caldwell, a man named Randall and one named Hill.

Does anyone have any information on any of these men?

[L Verge]

Did you check the online catalog of Tidwell's files at http://www.surrattmuseum.org? Do you know if they were more Northwest Conspiracy oriented like John Yates Beall?

[JMadonna]

(09-24-2013 05:16 PM)L Verge Wrote:  Did you check the online catalog of Tidwell's files at http://www.surrattmuseum.org? Do you know if they were more Northwest Conspiracy oriented like John Yates Beall?

Checked the indexes of Tidwell's books as well as Jane Singer's and Clint Johnson's regarding the Northwest Conspiracy. Came up snake-eyes.

I'm going to have to make the time and go through the Tidwell files.

[L Verge]

Bill Richter did the cataloging, and it's easy to locate names and then follow to a brief synopsis of what the files contain.

[margotdarby]

(03-26-2013 07:02 AM)Rsmyth Wrote:  Just a quick question; if you were a passenger on a blockade runner and were caught, what were the consequences?

By-the-bye reply to this old question... I ran across the information that John Banister Tabb served on a famous blockade runner called R. E. Lee. One reads in places that he was captured and imprisoned at Point Lookout, Maryland. (True enough, although he was captured on a different vessel, a broken-down steam yacht called Siren, on a Bermuda-Wilmington run in 1864.) Tabb had also taken part in the Johnson's Island expedition in 1863, after which he went to Montreal, enjoying the famous hospitality of the P. C. Martin family.

Family link here, with details on everything but the Martin connection. http://tabbfamilyhistory.com/p22.htm#i638

[HerbS]

In Gen.Tidwell's book about Confederate Secret Operations out of Canada.He states that Martin drowned in the St.Lawrence River.

[margotdarby]

(06-09-2014 03:31 PM)HerbS Wrote:  In Gen.Tidwell's book about Confederate Secret Operations out of Canada.He states that Martin drowned in the St.Lawrence River.

(Picking this up after two years.) This is the traditional claim about Martin. However, the Vice Admiralty Court's 1865 report on the salvage claims for the ship Marie Victoria say there were no crew or bodies aboard the ship when the local salvagers discovered her foundering in the St. Lawrence River. Nor were any bodies reported found in or near the river. I have to suppose the entire crew, with supercargo Martin, abandoned the ship after it crashed or (more likely) was sabotaged.

Some news stories from 1876 (eg NY Daily Graphic, Mary 22, 1876) maintain that the ship was damaged by a bomb planted by a man named Keith, ostensibly a partner of Martin's, who collected insurance proceeds after the incident. This story also claims that Martin was killed on the Marie Victoria (though again no remains were found). I have to believe that Martin escaped, along with the crew, and stayed in hiding while his wife presented herself publicly as his "widow."

[JMadonna]

One mystery that I don't think has ever been explained is why Booth brought his wardrobe north to Canada when he had no acting jobs in his near future. Since he arrived at St. Lawrence Hall the same day as Dr. Blackburn could he have been knowledgeable of Blackburn's activities and plan to have it infected by Dr. Blackburn before it was shipped southward? I suppose its plausible.

[JMadonna]

Does anyone know how Martin and Booth came to know each other, or why Martin would suggest Booth to be the prime man?

Could, perhaps, Martin have smuggled quinine for Booth to bring to the rebels???