The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1894-03-08
THE MAN IN A BUGGY.

On the night of the assassination OF
President Lincoln, and a short time
before that tragedy took place, a horse
and buggy We're driven rapidly Y out of
the alley back of Fords theater, turn
ed down Tenth street to the avenue,
and then disappeared, going easterly
towards the capitol. 4 few moments
later the greatest crime ever commit
ted in America paralyzed for a NOM
ent the audience and held the whole
country spell bound with horror.
Booths leap to the stage, his dramatic
speech, and remarkable escape passed
like dream before the audience.
But then came the awakening. and
fast upon the heels of the assassin
came the vengeance Of an outraged
people. Who the assassins We're, how
many were involved in the plot, how
large its ramiticatiOns, were unknown
Every clue was siezed upon. every
person over whom hung the slightest
suspicion, was Immediately arrested
4 reign Of terror followed among all
the Southern sympathizers IN the city
and the country round For the
people in their anger We're not very
particular who suffered for the crime.
provided the principals We're caught
and punished.
The disappearance Of that horse
and buggy short time before the ira
! gedy was soon brought to light, and
was eagerly siezed upon as clue that
might lead to important results. Sev-
| n,,.l1 z INV
mediately ordered to follow and over
take the buggy, to arrest the driver
and bring him back to the old capitol
prison. They took up the trail at
| Pennsylvania avenue, and followed 1t
! through the eastern part of the city
until they came to the old Washing
ton pike and then to Bladensburg,
where they were told by the guard
that man in buggy had passed a
short time before. They put spurs to
their horses and followed the pike for
a long distance, besides securing the
by roads Of all the surrounding coun-
try. But not a trace could they find
Of the man in the buggy; he had dis
appeared, and though every effort was
made to unravel the disappearance,
the government authorities were never
| able to do So Time passed. The
! trials for the assassination We're over,
public interest died down. and the in
cident was forgotten amid the stirring
! events that soon followed.
! 1t was my good fortune a short time
ago to run across an explanation of
this incident; in fact, it was explained
| to me by the man in the buggy. /
| had received a cordial invitation from
an old gentleman who lived about tif-
teen miles off, in the upper part of
Prince George county, to join in fox
hunt, which was to take place during
Christmas week 1t was to be the
event of the season, as everybody had
plenty of time at that season of the
year. 1t was one of those delightful
winter days which are 50 common in
Maryland, just cold enough to keep
the ground from being too soft yet
warm enough to make riding pleasant
without being overburdened with a
! heavy coat. The country was low and
rolling, covered with woods, which
have taken the place of old worn-out
tobacco patches, and great dark. brown
fields stretching away on either side,
frightened occasionally by the light
brown of the sedge grass, which way
ed and rustled III the breeze, almost
like fields of ripened wheat As |
rode up to Mr.. Ms house | was greet
ed by the combined rush and chorus
of his pack Of foxhounds, whose noisy
welcome takes the place of door bells
IN the homes of Southern Maryland
A noted Confederate scout once told
me that when he was scouting through
this part of Maryland during the war
he always felt safe when he rode up
to house If he was greeted by fox
i hounds, as 1t was invariably a sign
that the owner was a Southern sympa-
thizer, most Of the fox hunting gentry
being of that persuasion. The house
itself was one of those great square
red brick houses, with a long wide
porch III front, SO common in this part
of Maryland, set in the usual cluster
of old oaks and elms. with the negro
quarters and the stables several hun
dred yards distant in the rear 1t
had been built in the latter part Of
the last century. when the planters
made enormous fortunes from tobacco.
which, however, so Impoverished the
soil as to make it almost worthless in
a great many instances.
| was met by Mr.. NJ. striking
looking man, six feet in height, with a
magnificent head and a long white
beard. He had been through many
adventures when a young man and
during the period of the war, when he
had many narrow escapes in forwarding
dispatches and assisting scouts through
the lines. Once, for instance. the
government was very anxious to catch
a well-known scout. who was at the
time in Baltimore. The scout escap-
ed and made his way to Mr.. Ms
house, where he lay hid for the night
Next day there happened to be &
primary meeting at Bladensburg
where very large force Of Unio1
troops We're stationed. The people
generally went to the primaries in the
morning and returned in the evening
after having a jollifcation Mr.. NJ
took advantage of this, went to the
primaries in the morning with the
scout, took drink with the provos
marshal, passed out on the other side
of Bladensburg with some friends re
: turning to their homes in the lower
; part of the county. and reached Pts
Getaway in safety. where the scout hiC
with some friends until he cOlld eros,