Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1904-06-09
MRS. OLIVIA FLox
BUpDs's CREEg, ~

su0. MISS IiOy0 > ol4 @t4A ~ - y
home is situate about one M ron
Port Tobacco, on Q bill, VI sur.
rounding scenery unsurpasssd She
has beautiful yard, andiu her love,
ly garden lies the remains q many
Confederate soldiers. Her h9me il
one Of the la--5. in Souaheza M
ryland, and xas built before : zz<s
oiatiol,ary wnr. ~ -
later Tu rxE LA y iiligzn Boyd. o|
the Sfxth district. in our county,
also TO the late VIM. +. Greenwell
and Raphael Neal. Mr.. A. F. Fen
wick and wife, of your town, also
visited her recently, and through
his and my own persuasion / have
secured the following Biography OF
her life, which / beg to hand you
for publication, But this is only q
short note Of the daring deeds dur
ing Civil War OF this little Southern
woman. Truly yours,
T. FREEMAN MATTINaLY.
Miss Olivia Floydof Port Tobacco,
Nd, was born in Baltimore Her
mother was of English and Irish de-
scent; her grandmother, Lady Sarah
Howard, and her grandfather. Ra-
phael Neale, descended from the
Princes of Ulster. She was related
to Admiral Semmes. At the age of
ten she suffered an accident which
confined her oher bed four years, and
from which she has never fully re-
covered. Her father removed to
Charles county aud died before his
children arrived at their majority.
When q mere girl she took charge of
her father s farm and business. She
had an only brother, Robert, who in
1861 enlisted in the Confederate
army and joined cavalry regiment
under Stuart. In the early part of
the war, while standing at the front
gate of her home, eight Federal
Soldiers passed by and began tochaff
her about being a "secesh." They
threatened to kill her and pointed
their guns at her. She hastily drew
a revolver and fired at the lot and
emptied every bullet in her pistol.
Their guns being unloaded, they
we're unwilling to face the little
Southern woman who resented their
insults. AS q reward for her te-
merity the fencing on her farm was
bunred.
Earlyint the war Miss Floyd became
one of the runners of the under
ground railroad between Washing
ton and Richmond, and, although
herplace was surrounded and search
ed several times, so sharp was her
outlook and so careful her conduct
and SO many her resources that the
Federals were never able to catch
either her dispatches or conveys of
merchandise. Sheconveyed clothes,
money and letters through the lines
for prisons and the prisoners. At
one time she had delivered to her
$4,000 in bank notes to keep for an
individual who was in hiding. She
placed it in q hassock, folding it
away amony the material with which
the hassock was stuffed, and often
times the Federal soldiers, in visit
ing and searching the house situpon
the hassock, ignorant ofthe fact that
it contained a fortune. The full
amount of this deposit was subse-
quently returned to the owner.
She assisted many escaped pri-
soners TO pass the line, hiding them
in the woods and feeding them un-
ill the proper opportunity occurred,
and then passing them over the Po-
tomac. Her brother was killed in
the spring OF 1868, and Miss Floyd
concealed the fact from her mother
for more than six weeks. In one OF
her dreadful experiences her hair
turned gray in single night. and
her relatives wondered at this mar
velous change.
In 1854, when colored troops were
being enlisted. someone came TO
Miss Floyd's home for the purpose
Of enticing her negroes away. Miss
Floyd denounced these people who
invaded her rights SO severely that
they threatened to handcuff her and
take her toprison. She defied them,
telling them they might chain her
arms and hands, but they could not
chain her tongue. She took her
negroes to the county seat, enlisted
them and got the bounty; she re-
turned and shook her finger in the
face of those who had come 70 take
her colored men away. told them what
she had done and defied them 10 dc
her any harm.
Twice she succeeded in carrying
dispatches for the benefit Of the st
Albans raiders, which resulted in
their release. At the time she per
Eo,.rr,ad fhaca rarrinoc che lrnarr ranrnx