davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1915-04-11

few rods southwest from Good Hope
there Is a road to the left which turns
down hill following the side of ravine
which opens into the valley of OXon
run. It is now called Walker road.
That Is the way Booth and Herold
went.
Along this road and before comm g
to Oxon run you cross the southeast
boundary of the District and then be-
gins the Maryland end of the old road
leading to Silver Hill. Surrattsviile. T.
B. and the settlements throughout
southern Maryland. This is the road
which Booth followed from the Dis
trict line to the south side of Mat
tawoman creek, about eighteen miles.
1t is now a state road and is much used
by Washington automobilists between
Washington and Benedict. on the Pa
tuxent, or between Washington and La
grades have been reduced by cutting
through the crest of the hills and
filing across the wales.
The roadbed is as hard and smooth
as a city street. The road crosses the
valleys of Oxon run. Henson branch,
Tinker's run and Piscataway creek and
numerous smaller branches. which flow
into the Potomac. The valleys through
which these streams run generally
have steep sides, SO that before road
improvement set in a few years ago
and when Booth and Herold galloped
over this road during the hours of late
night and early morn after the murder
it was succession of long, steep hills
The names of some of the hills on
that road-Brook's. Swann's. Soper's
and Midd1eton's-are known by those
names still, and members of the fami-
lies which gave them their names live
in the old houses by the way. Streams
that Booth and Herold forded now
pass under the road through cement
culverts. For long distances the road
passes through woods and pines, and
where it passes through cleared land
the pines and woods are not far away
on the right and left.
Three miles from the Eastern branch
YOU come to Silver Hill. There was
a smithy and a dwelling there in 1865
There are few dwellings strung along
the road and smithy there today. The
Rambler has asked old men In that
nefghborhood why the place Is called
no hill is in sight. OF course there Is
no silver, except, perhaps. some small
pocket change or tableware.
One old-timer tried to justify the
name by telling the Rambler that
there was a tradition that when the
country was being surveyed for an
English lord. that distinguished man
who seems to have been present during
the survey, lost a silver shoe buckle
and from that slight incident the place
was called Silver Hill
About seven miles farther on you
come to Surrattsville. After the events
which made Surrattsville notorious the
postal authorities changed the name
to Clinton, but everybody for miles
around still calls the cross road Sur
Evening star., 1915-04-11

thorities on the subject.
There is much to learn" she said.
when gardening in California, for
there the seasons are reversed, and in
the summer months. beginning with
June. everything turns brown and 1t is
problem to keep the grass green.
have perfected an irrigation system OF
piping that covers my entire lawn. L
have planned my land in such way
that there is simply stretch of un-
broken lawn between the house and
roadway After I worked out The prob
lem of caring for this ! turned my at
tention to the garden, which l placed
behind the house screened from public
gaze.
This is my real garden. 1t is in
closed with a trellis wall at least eight
feet high covered with climbing roses.
When this Is in bloom the effect is
beautiful. Roses grow SO rapidly in
California that it is possible to cover
such a wall in a remarkably short time.
II am planning now quite an extern
sive rookery, but the objective point
Of my garden is a central fountain to
which all Of the white graveled walks
lead. There is to be lily pond In con-
nection with the fountain. but of course
these details suggest themselves grad
ually and everything is not completed
al once. That is really half the pleas
ure of gardening. for real garden
grows like any other work of art.
so many California people," declared
Mrs. knowland, "are building Japanese
gardens for themselves nowadays, ano
they are truly fascinating with little
tea houses and bridges: but 1 had tc
forego the pleasure Of one of these be.
cause it would not have been in keep.
ing with the colonial atmosphere tina,
/ wish to create in my place.
II am very much attached to thi,
house in Alameda. aside from 1t.
beauty / have transplanted the ele
ments of my girIhood environment Il
that wonderful setting of California
and the experiment has more than re.
warded me- There are SO many thing,
to appeal to one. For instance. we car
stand on our porch at night and see ir
the distance the lights of the city o
San Francisco. cleaning like a fairy.
land What wonderful sight this is
the bay In the distance and the lumi
nous city lying there in the dark blu,
of the California night.
"I drive my own motor out there, for
indeed. this is the greatest pleasure O.
automobiling. In Washington ! dr1vl
Evening star., 1915-04-11

and Herold crossed less than half an
hour after the murder was a wooden
bridge on piles and was not high above
the water. The first bridge was built
there in 1920 by the Navy Yard Bridge
Company. In the course of years 1t was
considerably renewed. In 1861 1t was
found to weak to bear the weight of guns.
Washington and the Notifications on
depot at Giesboro and it was vir
tually rebuilt.
About 1873 it was superseded by the
stone pier and iron truss bridge, which
gave way to the present shorter, high
er and costlier bridge. At the Ana
costa end of the old bridge. close to
the Baltimore and Ohio branch rail-
road, Is small brick dwelling. 1t
antedates the war and during the war
it was a tavern, kept by man named
Duvall. Turning to the left near the
bridge end, Booth and Herold followed
the road to Good Hope-a road that
is now called Harrison street.
Good Hope. which was little ham
let at the beginning of the war, became
quite settlement during the war In
consequence of the garrisons in the
nearby forts and because of the
refugees, runaway slaves and emanci-
pated slaves who settled close by the
Union troops along the Anacostia line
of fortifications, just as they did along
the Arlington line of forts. Good Hope
today Is a small cluster of stores and
dwellings.
At Good Hope the fugitives turned to
the right on what was the Hamilton
road but is now Alabama avenue. The
settlement of Garfield spreads itself
over a wide tract in this locality. A
Evening star., 1915-04-11

over the Rappahannock ferry and
again across King George to the Po-
tomac at Belle Plains. an old landing
place about forty miles below Wash :
ington. Herold, wounded, was with the
party. At Belle Plains the party board
ed the steamboat John S. Ide.
At Alexandria government tug met
the Ide and Booths body and Herold
were transferred The tug proceeded
to the navy yard. where Herold was
put in the hold of the monitor Mon
tauk and Booths body laid on the
deck About midnight an autopsy was
performed by army surgeons. after
which the body was taken In a small
boat to the Washington penitentiary,
which stood in the Arsenal grounds
racks.
The body was put in a pine gun box.
the stones of a cell pavement on the
ground floor were taken up, grave
dug, the body laid away and the stones
replaced In February, 1862 Edwin
Booth obtained from President John
son a permit to remove the remains of
his brother, and in March of that year
the bones were taken up and reburied
in the Booth family lot in Greenmount
cemetery. Baltimore. A family monu-
ment stands in that lot. but there is
no marker at the mound under which
the bones of Booth lie.
The Rambler at various times has
travelled over all the ground of the
Booth flight and has known many of
the people who had first-hand knowl
edge of the Incidents of the flight.
Most of these persons are in their
graves, but their children and grand
children are numerous in Washington
and in southern Maryland.
The Navy Yard bridge. which Booth
Evening star., 1915-04-11

rattsville, or usually for the sake of
brevity merely "surratts.'
Mrs. Mary Z. Surratt was born and
reared near Waterloo. on Calvert s
name was Mary Jenkins. She was sent
to an academy in Alexandria. After
a period of belleship in Prince Georges
county she was married in 1883 to John
Surratt. and the couple settled in the
District of Columbia, near what is
now Congress Heights They took
over mill at the crossing of what is
the Livingston road and Oxon run. The
mill was later called Condins mill NO
vestige of it remains. though a few
years ago the milstones could be seen
off the roadside. John Surratt had in
herited the place from an uncle named
Neale. After they lived there few
years the house was set on fire by their
from the fire with their lives A rela-
tive of Mrs. Surratt still lives in that
locality.
After the fire Surratt was engaged
in the building of the Orange and
Alexandria railroad as a contractor,
and after finishing that work he re-
turned with his wife and children to
Prince Georges buying small farm
on the Washington-T. B. road at the
junction of the Piscataway- Marlboro
road He established a tavern there
and was made postmaster. but the
post office duties devolved upon Mrs.
Surratt who had been adequately
schooled.
ters and a son. Isaac went south at
the outbreak of the war and the
Rambler has no information as to what
became of him. The stories of John
Surratt, jr., and Annie Surratt are too
well known by old Washingtonians to
need review here. John Surratt. ST.
was considered ro-slavery man, but was
not looked on as strong secessionist
He died suddenly in 1852 or 1863 and
after his death Mrs. Surratt rented the
farm and tavern to John NJ. Lloyd and
came to Washington, opening the
boarding house on H street.
The Surratt tavern is still standing.
1t passed through the possession of the
Hunter and Addison families and fell
into a state of decreptitude. 1t was
bought nearly twenty-five years ago
by Maryland farmer-J. w. Wheat
Iey-and with his family he lives there
today "Surratts" has not grown much
since the Surratts lived there.
1t has two stores, new blacksmith
shop. the ruins of a very old black
smith shop which an Englishman
named Knowles ran many years ago.
and a few dwellings. but the country
around the cross-road has become
rather closely built up with small
farm homes. There are two churches
at Surrattsville-a Methodist and a
Catholic church-St. Johns. About five
miles southwest from Surratts is Pis-
GATEWAY, and there the bell on St.
Mary's Church, which the Surratts at
tended, still rings.
After crossing the Mattawoman
bridge, the state road keeps straight
ahead. That is new road. The old
Evening star., 1915-04-11
WIFE OF REPRESENTATIVE FROM CALIFORNIA is AN Q

pered with good sense. SO that it never
lapses into the bizarre.
She Is tall and fair, real daughter
of the south, with a slight vestige Of
southern accent apparent In her voice.
Emelyn West of Virginia. Her three
children. Eleanor. Russell and Billie.
are charming little persons, and have
been with their mother and father
during the whole of the recent long
terms of Congress. Little Billie is a
great student of history. and follows
Evening star., 1915-04-11

with veteran interest the moves of the
armies of Europe. Mrs. knowland
confesses that he keeps her posted on
the current news of the war, and
knows more about it than she does.
During last winter Mrs. Knowland
was active in club work in Washing
ton, especially in the Congressional
Club where she served as chairman of
the committee on entertainment. She
is a member of number of clubs in
California, and feels that eastern W om-
Evening star., 1915-04-11
DIR. MUDD's HOUSE TODAY.

the war had been a Confederate agent
at Popes creek. they were guided by
Jones to his place. called Huckleberry,
two miles north of Pope's creek. Near
there. at a lonely place called Dents, or
Wares meadow. Jones put them in his
fishing boat and directed them to steer
for the mouth Of Machodoc creek, in
King George county, Va.
Near the mouth of Machodoc creek
they were to go to the house of Mrs.
Quesenberry, close to which had been
operated a Confederate signal station
in connection with Jones' place at
Pope's creek. On the night that they
showed off from the shore of Dents
meadow they did not get across the
Potomac the flood tide carrying them
so far UP the river that they landed
again in Maryland, near Maryland
point. close to place called Nanjemoy
Store.
They lay hidden in the woods during
the day. but got across the next night
to Mrs. Quesen nberry's. There they were
hidden in the woods by two Maryland
men, said by Jones to have been
Thomas II. Harbin. his brother-in-law,
that place King George county man
named Boyan guided them to the home
of DR.. Richard Stuart, who refused to
receive the strangers in his house. sus-
pecting them. but giving them shelter
and food in an outbuilding.
When they set out again 1t was to
cross the Rappahannock by Rollins
ferry. between Port Conway and Port
Royal. and thence on to the farm of
Richard H. Garrett. They found shell
ter in tobacco barn on that farm and
there Herold was captured and Booth
killed by a detachment of the 18th
New York Cavalry, which had been
sent from Washington
The murder was committed Friday
night. About midnight they reached
Surrattsville, where they made stop
at the old Surratt Tavern. then rented
and kept by John NJ Lloyd. They took
two carbines with ammunition. which
had been concealed there for some
time and drank some whisky
Soon after dawn Saturday they ap-
peared at DIR. Mudd's. Booth, after
shooting/the President at Ford's Thea :
ter during the presentation by Laura
Keene and her company Of the comedy,
Our American Cousin" leaped from
the Presidents box to the stage His
spur caught in flag belonging to the
Treasury Guard, with which the front
heavily on one foot and fractured an
ankle.
With this injury he rushed through
the stage part of the theater to the
alley in the rear, mounted a horse
which he had hired from James Pum-
phrey. who at that time and for many
years after. kept livery stable on c
street, back of the National Hotel, at
which Booth boarded, and took up his
flight Arriving at DR. Mudds. Booth
and Herold told the doctor that Booth 8
horse had thrown him.
DR.. Mudd took in the travellers put
Booth to bed. cut the boot off his
swollen foot and ankle, threw 1t under
the bed. where it was later found by
searchers, and reduced the fracture
Evening star., 1915-04-11

en- have much to learn from their west
ern sisters in the matter OF club life
Clubs for women" she said. have
reached their zenith in California
There every woman belongs to at least
one club, be il student, social o.
charitable. The women own their own
clubhouses and the buildings are
among the most beautiful in the state:
Club life there is fascinating in all OF
its particulars. and seems to be on
par with the masculine club life of the
east"
Evening star., 1915-04-11

a closed coupe on account Of the cold
and rain, but at home one uses an open
car, and the new state roads running
from one end of the state to the other
are the most inviting I know: and
speak from experience. for I have mo-
tored and visited in every state in the
Union.
A%
One passes town after town and al
ways the country is beautiful. Tho
roads are bordered with palms and
shade trees and all along the route are
interesting tea houses where merry
making parties may gather.
AT present, of course. everything in
California leads to the expositions. and
we'll may they deserve interest, for the
beauty alone is extraordinary. To me
the most interesting thing about the
California expositions is the fact that
it was possible to beautify the grounds
to such a surprising extent in such a
short time.
Every one doubtless remembers that
in the case of the other expositions-
the St. Louis one. for example-the site
was selected and the buildings erected
and everything was counted to be in
readiness Not SO in California. Here
large shade trees were transplanted.
stretches of lawn made green with
grass and buildings covered with roses.
The gardens are indeed the piece de
resistance of the exposition.
The plazas are bordered with trees.
so there need be no walking about on
sunny roadways. I have seen them
transplanting slx-year-old trees in the
exposition grounds. The effect is there
fore one of stateliness and dignity. The
exposition does not appear to be more
ly mushroom growth that has sprung
up in the night
'At San Diego one finds an exposition
built on the side of a canyon. The
houses in San Diego have canyons for
back yards. and it is true that the
buildings of the exposition are terraced
one above the other"
Mrs. Knowland has travelled extern
sively in the states and the West In
dies. She plans to spend the summer
in Alameda to enjoy her home, for
there lies her greatest interest. She
has lately transported much of her
family mahogany and antique furni-
ture from Virginia to California. and
hopes to completely furnish two or
three rooms in colonial fashion.
1T amuses me-" she said. ito see some
Evening star., 1915-04-11
Mrs. Joseph R. Know
land Enjoys Life in the
She Swins and
Motors-Her Five-Acre
Garden Is Her Very
Own Has Perfected
an Irrigation System for
It-A ClubWoman.

~ WINNING. motoring and garden
~ ing are the favorite pastimes Of
~ Mrs; Joseph R, Knowland. wife
California. but this Is not to be
wondered at. for living as she does In
tho pleasant land of California such
fancies may be encouraged because
they always meet with more than or
dinary success
There the swimming season is year
round; the roads form one of the most
famous auto routes in the country and
the gardens flourish and bloom simply
for the planting.
Mrs. Knowland's home in Alameda is
one Of the show places of the state. and
IL ts here that she has indulged her
gardening proclivities to the greatest
extent Her house is of the colonial
style of architecture, fashioned after
the mansions of her native Virginia.
Its contrast to the surrounding bun
salows of mission type is startling.
Set. as II is. in the midst of five-acre
garden, the effect is unusually beauti-
full in a country that is famed for its
loveliness.
Here the towns of Oakland, Berkeley
and Alameda come together-one bare
ly realizes where one begins and the
other ends-and all overlook the bay
and city of San Francisco.
Every bit of the five-aore garden was
planned by Mrs knowland, and though
IT 10 but lately completed she Is con-
tinuing to study landscape architecture
n0d U1YdAniuR with n yiaHR-tOward per-
feeling 1t according to the latest Az.
Evening star., 1915-04-11

them In room with furniture of mod
ern lines and style. Antique furniture
to be truly beautiful requires the prop
er setting and the entire room to 1T
self. That is what constituted the
beauty of our grandmothers' homes
They did not mix up their furniture"
Evening star., 1915-04-11

Mrs. knowland is finely cultured
woman with knack of ferreting out
the striking element of a situation and
bringing to her experiences a new point
of view. From her conversation one
CLEANS that she has a constantly glow
ing spark of originality. which is tenn
Evening star., 1915-04-11

1T amuses me-" she said. ito see some
women collecting antique furniture.
They get one or two pieces and com
pletely spoil their effect by placing
Evening star., 1915-04-11

Fifty Years Ago Next Wednesday Abra-
ham Lincoln Was Struck DoWn-A Trip
Along the Trail of Booth and Herold-Story
of the Crime and the Flight-The Rambler
Covers the Ground Taken by the Assassins
and Discovers Many Points of Interest.
Evening star., 1915-04-11

About seven miles farther on you
come to Surrattsville. After the events
which made Surrattsville notorious the
postal authorities changed the name
to Clinton, but everybody for miles
around still calls the cross-road Sur
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-12-30
JIM COFFEY CAN
BEAT WILLARD,
DECLARES GIBSON
Effort Being Made to Sub
stitute Irish Giant for
Fred Fulton
CHANCES ARE GOOD

NEW YORK, Dec 3O.-Billy Gibson,
manager of Jim Coffey, burned the wires
between this town and New Orleans to-
day in an effort to have Coffey substl-
tuted for Fred Fulton as the opponent for
Jess Willard in his first battle as a de-
fender of his title.
The cancellation of the Fulton-W Willard
bout, which was scheduled for New
Orleans on March 4, has made Gibson
hopeful of a chance for his man against
the champion.
"Coffey can beat Willard" said Gibson.
''All he needs is chance. If Willard
gives it to him. there'll be a new cham
pion of the heavyweight division-and a
real champion"
The calling off of the Fulton-Willard
bout occasions little surprise. Fulton is
little more than an unknown. The only
thing he had to recommend him was his
size and the fact that he has beaten
some of the dub heavies.
When the articles were signed for that
bout the public turned a cold shoulder in
it's direction. A Willard-Fulton affair
promised nothing but mild workout for
the champion. The promoters, after they
signed the contract, discovered that the
fight fans were not even lukewarm over
the proposed bout.
And then. in final effort to prove to
the public that Fulton was a real fighter,
Tommy Burns, one of the original pro-
moters, tried to get Wizards manager to
agree to Fulton meeting Coffey or Moran
in an elimination bout before March a.,
the winner to meet Willard. But Tom
Jones turned down the proposition.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-12-30
WHITE SHOULD
BE RECOGNIZED
TITLE-HOLDER
De t hron e m e n t of Fred
Welsh by Default Would
Please Public
18 MONTHS AS CHAMPION

Charley White, lightweight champion
of the world If n boxing authority, with
any power to enforce rulings, were in
existence today the left hook wonder of
Chicago would be proclaimed successor
to Fred Welsh as the king-pin light
weight of the universe by default. AL
though the Brlton has been wearing the
crown for IS months having annexed the
title from Willie Rtchie July Z, 1914, he
has not taken part in tituiar tilt. and
present indications point to no definite
date for lightweight championship mix.
Welsh's 900 demand for risking his
title is merely a cover to enable him to
20 over the country and add to his bank
roll by engaging in no decision matches
For IS months mo Decision" Fred has
MIXED the public of financial blood until
today it Is estimated that he as ac-
cumulated more than 100000, ,ithout
taking the slightest chance of l@At1S his
crown
Would fight fans approve the banish-
ment of Welsh by promoters until he
engaged in a championship match? No
doubt. yes
rafESy p5S 5 Ss sssSo 95d 81 goas
S to get back nto % se3 h2Pe ad aPd e%is SSk az aEa4a 4
POUNDS TIngsde, He also Is after I,,ois Lease Sc
8andhs 8a S9t an R'Ga Gatd0oT 0 F bc2Sie Track ''
Fred Fulton was not born in Rochester
i'rt' san. lie donies ii himself The heayyweEht
brought out Jess Willard, at Blue RAPIDS.
Kan, not far from where the champion tirst
opened his eyes F'ultons parents are Scotch
and Irish
Bantamweights can have a crack az Johnny
Coster, OF Southwark, at any old time. Feter
Moran Is his manager.
1.-THE pubrrc be ID theory. so popular
with some fight promoters in America, Is not
toeratei in Australia at all As Red Watson
OF California well knows. Because he en-
recently, chased from the club The fans
barred for lie.
British boxers have been quick to enlist and
go to the front. Among the English glovSmen
barder Wells, Jerry Delaney. Iron Iron HagHe;
0'Kii.eeefe, Duke Lynch lin, sullivan. Sergeant
Meekln, Pete Ladbury ana Jim Wilde,
There is a X. o. Jaffe, heavyweight, appear
ing In bouts in New York and he has been
hitting the mat often as Al Palzer,
Charley Mccarthy, who :, meets Charley
lightweight champion Of Canada, Mac is
clever boxer, as he has proved in his match
with Sam Robldeau. He also Is star hockey
player, having played with the Wanderers,
champions OF Canada
Jim Corbett's heavyweight, Tom Cowler was
offered a bout here and he wanted only 500
for his end. 'Tis funny how boxers win fight
when local promoters want them to box six
rounds here they want hve times as much.