DIGGING THE PAST

BOOTH'S ARSENAL

2011-12-22T18:30:00.001-06:00

The small pistol in Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site in Washington, D.C. seems suspended in mid-air in its display case. The subdued lighting dances off the barrel eerily as stone-faced statues of the Lincoln assassination conspirators hover nearby. Under the golden light in its gilded case, the pistol appears as objet d’art rather than an instrument of murder and national tragedy.

The pistol John Wilkes Booth selected to murder President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865 is so small a man can hide it in the palm of his hand. Civilians favored the “pocket pistol” produced by Henry Deringer, a Pennsylvania armsmaker, as a compact, concealable firearm for personal defense. Although the Deringer pistol was restricted by its single-shot capacity, its small size and weight often made it preferable over larger and heavier firearms. Its “one and done” firing capacity could be overcome by carrying two pistols. While there is

no evidence Booth carried another firearm, other Deringers have been touted as “Booth’s second pistol.” Eventually “Deringer” would become the more generic “derringer,” referring to any small handgun.

Booth’s pistol was fewer than six inches in length but its lethal .44 caliber barrel belied its small size. The lead ball Booth fired into the back of Lincoln’s skull was approximately .41 caliber, often leading to confusion regarding the actual dimensions of the barrel. It was not unusual for projectiles to be smaller than the barrel, especially if the gunman had lost the original, unique bullet mold that accompanied a Deringer pistol at purchase.

The tiny pistol was only part of a veritable arsenal of weapons Booth had acquired to arm himself and his fellow conspirators. Booth had organized a circle of collaborators to help him kidnap Lincoln. Among his partners in crime were Samuel Arnold, George Atzerodt, David Herold, Michael O'Laughlen, Lewis Powell, and John Surratt.

In January 1865, Booth traveled to New York where he acquired firearms and other equipment for use in the kidnapping. On his journey back to Washington, Booth met with Arnold and O’Laughlen in Baltimore with a trunk filled with the paraphernalia. In a confession given after his capture, Arnold stated the heavy trunk contained “two guns, cap cartridges—which were placed in the gun-stocks—Spencer rifles I think they were called, revolvers, knives, belts, cartridge boxes, cartridges, caps, canteens—all fully fixed for service—which were to be used in case of pursuit, and two pair of handcuffs to handcuff the President.” Booth turned over the trunk and firearms to Arnold and O’Laughlen to ship or carry to Washington, thus permitting the actor to travel alone to Washington without any incriminating evidence.

The revolvers and carbines obtained by Booth were sophisticated firearms compared to the Deringer pistol but not necessarily more reliable. Although Colt revolvers and Spencer carbines possessed many advantages, they were still subject to malfunction. Meticulous maintenance and proper loading procedures were necessary for them to operate proficiently. A dirty or improperly loaded revolver was prone to misfire.

The revolvers and knives were distributed to the conspirators prior to the kidnapping attempt. Herold took the two carbines into southern Maryland where he was to await the others’ arrival with the President. When the kidnapping scheme fell through, John Surratt and Herold hid the carbines at the Surratt Tavern in Surrattsville (now Clinton, MD).

Booth’s plot evolved into one of assassination. The actor would assassinate President Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre. Powell was to kill Secretary of State William Seward who was recuperating at home from painful injuries sustained in a carriage accident. Atzerodt’s target was Vice-President Andrew Johnson who was staying at the Kirkwood House.

Powell's Whitney Revolver

While Booth was stalking the President at Ford’s Theatre, Lewis Powell went to Seward’s home. Powell’s weapons included an 1858 Whitney .36 caliber percussion-cap revolver and a “Bowie knife.” It is possible Powell’s pistol was not supplied by Booth, being the only revolver recovered from the conspirators not of Colt manufacture. Since Powell had served in a Confederate cavalry unit where typically troopers carried revolvers, he may have already possessed a pistol. Powell’s knife, a “Rio Grand[e] Camp Knife,” matched two others found during the assassination investigation and was probably from the arsenal Booth acquired in New York.

Confronted by Seward’s son Frederick, Powell bludgeoned him repeatedly with the Whitney revolver until it literally broke and fell to pieces. He continued to the Secretary who he stabbed repeatedly with the large blade before being pulled away. Powell escaped but not before seriously injuring five men.

One of Booth's Spencer Carbines

Booth fired a single lead ball into the back of Lincoln’s head and fled Ford’s Theatre and Washington. Outside the city, Booth met up with Herold and the two headed to the Surratt Tavern. Booth remained on his horse and had a drink of whiskey while Herold gathered supplies. They rode off after the brief stop with Herold taking one of the two Spencer carbines that had been stashed there earlier. Suffering from a painful broken leg, Booth needed both hands to stay in the saddle and could not take the second rifle.

The Spencer carbine proved to be a very effective weapon for Union troops. A tubular magazine containing a compressed spring fed metal cartridges to the breech, much like the “clip” in a modern semi-automatic firearm. When the trigger guard was lowered, the breech block dropped down, and a spent cartridge case was ejected. As the trigger guard returned to its normal position, the breech block caught a new cartridge from the magazine tube and inserted it in the breech. To speed loading, soldiers could carry a cartridge box containing ten magazine tubes, each loaded with seven cartridges. In the time a soldier equipped with a more common muzzle-loading rifle could fire a couple of shots, one armed with a Spencer could get off about a dozen.

Booth's Colt Model 1851 "Navy" Revolver

At the time of his death in Garrett’s barn, Booth was armed with two Colt revolvers, both manufactured in 1861. Interestingly, the weapons are of two different calibers, thus requiring different ammunition in the form of lead balls. The Colt Model 1851 Navy revolver, serial number 117808, fired a lead ball of .36 caliber. The cylinder in this pistol bears serial number 116851, indicating it was not original to the weapon. Additional loaded cylinders were carried to quickly reload the revolver but there is no evidence that Booth did so. The switched cylinder probably occurred before Booth acquired the revolver.

The second weapon, a Colt Model 1860 Army, serial number 20,407, required .44 caliber ammunition. Many modern-day police departments equip all their officers with the same caliber pistol to provide uniformity of ammunition. In a confrontation, officers can trade ammunition and not worry whether it is compatible with their pistols. Apparently, the advantage of carrying two pistols using the same ammunition never occurred to Booth.

During the night after the assassination, authorities searched George Atzerodt’s room at the Kirkwood House. A Colt revolver was found, along with another Rio Grand[e] Camp Knife and other items. While this pistol has been attributed to Atzerodt ever since, it probably belonged to Herold who did not have a handgun when arrested at Garrett’s. After his arrest, Atzerodt claimed the pistol was not his but Herold’s—Atzerodt had left his with a John Caldwell the afternoon before the assassination as security for a $10 loan. A witness who had seen Atzerodt with his pistol claimed the one shown to him during the trial from the Kirkwood House was different; he identified the pistol left with Caldwell as the one Atzerodt usually carried. Atzerodt’s disposal of the pistol in order to get money to leave Washington could signal he had no intention of killing the Vice-President and not that he lost his nerve on the night of April 14 as commonly believed.

While both pistols were introduced at the conspirators’ trial, they were not among the items received by the National Park Service in 1940 from the office of the War Department’s Judge Advocate General which maintained them for75 years. Their current whereabouts are unknown.

Samuel Arnold’s pistol was recovered upon his arrest on April 17 at his place of employment at John Wharton’s store near Fortress Monroe. The Colt revolver, serial number 16,557, was introduced as evidence at the conspirators’ trial but its current location is unknown.

If Booth provided a pistol to Michael O’Laughlen, it is lost to history. O’Laughlen arranged to turn himself in to authorities, claiming he had quit the plot. If he possessed a firearm, he certainly would have disposed of it before surrendering.

Despite the arsenal of heavy firepower John Wilkes Booth had acquired in the way of six-shot revolvers and large caliber carbines, the only weapon fired during the escapade was a tiny single-shot pistol found discarded on the bloody floor of the Presidential box at Ford’s Theatre.

THE FIRST SHOTS OF PEARL HARBOR

2011-08-25T18:24:00.004-05:00

Most people who know about Pearl Harbor, the battle that brought America fully into World War II, believe that the Japanese attack was completely without warning. The common misconception is that the first indication of attack occurred when Japanese bombs starting raining from the skies.

But before the planes of the Japanese arrived, their midget submarines were attempting to penetrate Pearl Harbor. One of these subs was spotted by a patrolling American warship.

On the morning of December 7, 1941, the U.S.S. Ward was conducting a precautionary patrol off the entrance to Pearl Harbor when crewmen spotted the submarine. The Japanese were attempting to sneak through the submarine nets into the harbor in the wake of another American vessel. A submarine inside the harbor could inflict horrendous damage, firing point blank into the moored battleships.

The Ward went into action, pummeling the sub with cannon shells and depth charges.

By the time the Ward's report of enemy contact reached the proper commanders, the skies over Oahu were dotted with Japanese bombers and fighters. Many doubted the Ward had really sunk a Japanese mini-sub until 2002 when scientists finally located its wreckage in 1,200 feet of water just outside Pearl Harbor. The conning tower is marked with two shell holes, exactly where the Ward's gunners said they struck it.

So it was not the Japanese who fired first but vigilant Americans guarding against enemy attack.

This is the after-action report filed by the U.S.S. Ward:

DD139/A16-3(7--)/

U.S.S. Ward Pearl Harbor, T.H.

December 13, 1941.

From: Commanding Officer.

To: The Commandant, Fourteenth Naval District.

(1) Commander Destroyer Division EIGHTY.

(2) Commander Inshore Patrol.

Subject:

Sinking of a Japanese Submarine by U.S.S. Ward.

1. While patrolling Pearl Harbor Entrance on Sunday, December 7, 1941, the U.S.S. Ward attacked an unidentified submarine in the Restricted Area off the Harbor.

The facts are as follows:

1. At 0637 the Officer-of-the-Deck said, "Captain come on the bridge." A conning tower with periscope of submarine was visible. She was apparently headed for Pearl Harbor trailing the U.S.S. Antares. The Antares was standing toward the channel entrance towing a lighter.

2. At 0640 the attack was started. The Ward bore down on the submarine while accelerating from 5 to 25 knots.

3. At 0645 the Ward opened fire with No. 1 and 3 guns and began dropping depth charges. One shot was fired from each gun. The shot from No. 1 gun missed, passing directly over the conning tower. The shot from No. 3 gun fired at a range of 560 yards or less struck the submarine at the waterline which was the junction of the hull and coning tower. Damage was seen by several members of the crew. This was a square positive hit. There was no evidence of ricochet. The submarine was seen to heel over to starboard. The projectile was not seen to explode outside the hull of the submarine. There was no splash of any size that might results from an explosion or ricochet.

4. Immediately after being hit the submarine appeared to slow and sink. She ran into our depth charge barrage and appeared to be directly over an exploding charge. The depth charges were set for 100 feet.

5. The submarine sank in 1200 feet of water and could not be located with supersonic detector. There was a large amount of oil on the surface where the depth charges exploded.

6. The attack was made at 0645 which was before Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japanese planes.

7. A dispatch by voice transmission was sent to Commandant, Fourteenth Naval District at 0645 which stated:

"We have attacked, fired upon, and dropped depth charges on a submarine operating in defensive sea areas."

8. The performance of duty by the officers and men during this attack was in accordance with the traditions of this service.

Pertinent Information

Appearance of submarine: Cylindrical tube about 80 feet long with small oval shaped conning tower. It had no deck. It was painted dark green and was covered with moss indicating that it had been at sea for a considerable period.

Behavior during attack: In spite of the five minute run from the time of sighting and time of attack, the submarine apparently did not see or detect the Ward. It was making from 8 to 10 knots and was apparently bent on following the Antares into port. Exact distances are not known but at the time of the first shot the range was not more than 100 yards and for the second shot the range was 50 yards or less. The submarine passed very close to our stern.

[signed]

W.W. OUTERBRIDGE

_______________________________________________________________

Source: Enclosure (E) to CINCPAC action report Serial 0479 of 15 February 1942, World War II action reports, the Modern Military Branch, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740.

_______________________________________________________________

The Japanese submarine remains on the ocean floor, an iron coffin for its two-man crew. A similar midget sub that washed up on a Hawaiian beach is now on display at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, Texas. Here is a photo I took several years ago.

TECH'S FIRST

2011-04-19T09:52:00.012-05:00

(For the baseball and Louisiana Tech fans in the audience.)

Rebel Oakes led the way to the pros

When you think of Louisiana Tech athletes who went on to play professional sports in the "old days," stars like Terry Bradshaw, George Stone, and Mike Barber may come to mind.

Those Tech athletes from the 60's and 70's may not care to have their college careers viewed as ancient history, even though decades have passed since they donned a Bulldog uniform.

The old days—as far as the first time Tech sent one of its own to a pro ball club—go back nearly as far as the university itself.

The first steps in organizing a formal sports program at Tech were taken in 1901 when the first coach was hired. Coach Barber was responsible for all physical education on the campus, including the football, baseball, and basketball teams.

Baseball was one the first programs to get up and running at Tech and would be the first sport to send a player to the pros.

Ennis Telfair Oakes was born in 1883 in the Arizona community near Lisbon, Louisiana and attended Tech—then called Louisiana Industrial Institute—sometime between 1902 and 1908. The exact dates are a little vague since no team records exist from that period. It appears Oakes may have attended Tech around the minor league baseball season as he played on teams throughout the country.

Oakes was a leader among student athletes at Tech and supported the sports program which received no state funding. In 1902, Oakes helped organize a football game to raise money for sports equipment. Spectators paid ten cents a head to watch Oakes lead the "Oakites" against the "Miminites" under the charge of fellow student Sam Mims.

The Tech sports program began in earnest around 1904 when additional land west of the college was acquired to serve as athletic fields. The students themselves had to chop brush and burn stumps to clear the fields. The work probably made for a good training regimen.

Oakes joined the Cincinnati Reds as an outfielder in 1909 and his speed earned him the moniker "Dixie Flyer." In his first year in the majors, Oakes batted .270 and was credited with only five errors in 120 games in the outfield for the Reds. After the season, he was traded to St. Louis in a five-player deal and inherited the nickname "Rebel."

Oakes played for the Cardinals from 1910 to 1913. In 1911, Oakes single-handedly dealt a devastating blow to the league-leading Phillies when he plowed into catcher-manager Red Dooin at home plate. Dooin, who led the team with a .328 batting average, suffered a broken leg and the Phillies never recovered, dropping to fourth in the league, 19½ games out of first place.

In 1914, Oakes joined the newly created Pittsburgh Stogies of the short-lived Federal League as a center-fielder. After a month of mediocre performance, Pittsburgh's manager was fired. Rebel Oakes was named the new manager and the team renamed the Rebels. Oakes continued to play as well, chalking up a .312 average for the season.

Pittsburgh Baseball Club - Oakes is third from left

1914 was a dismal year for the Rebels, finishing last in the nine team league. But Oakes brought the team back in 1915 to end the season in third place with an 86-61 record, only a half-game out of the league championship.

Oakes coached the Rebels for two years, posting a 147-145 record as the league's youngest manager. But the next year, the fledgling Federal League fell apart and the Rebels were dissolved.

The major league career of Tech's first pro athlete had come to an end. His career batting average over seven seasons was a respectable .279 and his venture into managing earned him notoriety not received by most players of the era.

Oakes brought recognition and credit to his hometown and his college. Tech was mentioned in news articles during his career. A 1915 issue of Baseball Magazine described Oakes as an "aggressive leader and inspiring player, who is respected by mates and opponents, too."

While Oakes was playing in the majors, baseball cards became a big hit. Cards did not come with chewing gum, however, but were inserted into packs of cigarettes. Today, a Rebel Oakes card is highly desirable, with some selling for thousands of dollars.

As an avid outdoorsman, he would return to his plantation near Homer during off-seasons. After retiring from baseball, Oakes ventured into oil exploration. In 1936, Oakes and his partner brought in the first well in the oil-rich Lisbon Field. The economic impact of the discovery changed north Louisiana forever.

Oakes died in 1948, but he left a legacy for future Tech athletes. Over a dozen Tech players have followed Ennis Telfair Oakes into major league baseball. His induction into the Tech Athletic Hall of Fame is long overdue.

RUSTON'S CHAUTAUQUA: Louisiana's Cultural Epicenter

2011-04-16T11:30:00.002-05:00

Toma Lodge in Ruston is a quiet upscale neighborhood of fine homes, towering pine trees, and well manicured lawns. Right away, visitors note the subdivision is unlike most contemporary growth in which lots are razed to facilitate construction and then replanted with spindly trees and shabby shrubs, giving the landscape an artificial look. In Toma Lodge, it is clear the homes were planted carefully around century-old trees in a park-like setting. Toma Lodge looks like a park because it served as a semi-private natural sanctuary for decades.

Toma Lodge Estates and the adjacent Christ Community Church lay on land with a history that would surprise most of the neighborhood’s residents and the church’s members. Around the turn of the 20^th Century, thousands gathered each summer on the grounds now occupied by expensive homes and a beautiful house of worship for sessions of the Louisiana Chautauqua. Among them were the most prominent politicians, religious leaders and public speakers in the nation.

The Chautauqua Society was founded in New York in 1874 with the goal of providing educational enrichment and inspiration in a picturesque natural setting. It was much like a summer camp offering a mixture of education, religion and recreation. The Chautauqua movement spread quickly across the United States as 45 states established Circuit Chautauquas that offered lectures, music, speeches and plays in rural and small-town America. In 1889, the Louisiana Educational Association voted to establish a Louisiana Chautauqua on a 15-acre tract just north of the outskirts of the fledging railroad town of Ruston.

Ruston was selected for the state's Chautauqua because of its gently rolling hills, forest scenery and peaceful setting as well as enthusiastic local support for the endeavor. In a report of its 1889 decision, the leaders of the Louisiana Educational Association noted the “refined culture of [Ruston’s] people, their public spirit, their hospitality, their intense interest in all forms of thought and learning showed that they would give generous, united and untiring support to such an institution.” When Ruston was founded in 1884 with the coming of the railroad, it had attracted some of the best educated community leaders from regional towns bypassed by the new line. By the time the Chautauqua was created, Ruston already boasted a small college—Ruston College—an opera house, and other cultural endeavors.

Thomas. D. Boyd, President of the Louisiana Educational Association, wrote in a circular letter in April 1891 that Northern Louisiana was renowned for its “healthfulness and pleasing rural scenery." Since the Chautauqua programs were held during the summer, the region also offered an escape from the oppressive southern Louisiana heat. The Ruston site encompassed a number of “mineral springs,” offering visitors what were purported to be “healing waters.” A large two-story hotel, named the Chautauqua Springs, was erected along with cottages and an outdoor auditorium with a capacity of 2,000.

The popularity of the Louisiana Chautauqua as a place for retreat and renewal quickly spread and people from outside the state attended its annual programs. Those arriving from points east and west on the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific Railroad were transferred the two miles from the Ruston depot by carriage. Many participants were said to have loved the "tonic effect of the pure pine air" while they gathered under the mature trees covering the Chautauqua property. For families who wished to remain all summer, cottages were available with discounted accommodations for servants and attending nurses. A single room for an adult in the hotel went for $25 a month. Teachers paid $15 a month.

     Offerings at the Chautauqua ranged from sermons by nationally-known ministers to theatrical productions. Lecture subjects included poetry, art and languages. William Jennings Bryan, three-time Democratic Presidential candidate, was one of the most popular of all Louisiana Chautauqua speakers. As the program increased in variety and magnitude, a building was constructed for music classes and another for the science curriculum. When the Arkansas Southern Railway laid its line along the property in 1900, a small depot was built for travelers arriving from the north and south.

     The project flourished for about fifteen years before it closed in 1905 in bankruptcy and the property of the Chautauqua was sold.   The grounds and buildings fell into disrepair. In 1906 a similar project for African Americans started at Grambling with the creation of the Louisiana Colored Chautauqua but it lacked the financial backing and statewide support of the earlier effort.

      In 1922, Thomas L. and Maggie Hodges James acquired the Chautauqua property as well as adjoining tracts for a total of about 90 acres. James was a prominent Ruston businessman responsible for constructing some of the major highways across America. His wife Maggie came from a prominent Louisiana family with a love for nature. Maggie's brother, A.J. Hodges, a pioneering conservationist, established Hodges Gardens near Many, a 4,700-acre natural haven. Hodges Gardens was recently refurbished as a Louisiana state park.

     Maggie inherited her family's passion for the outdoors, conservation and gardening. Together with her husband, she created a family botanical garden and extensive arboretum, calling it Toma Lodge, an integration of the names Tom and Maggie. Maggie designed sweeping gardens and arbors and oversaw the construction of barns, greenhouses and a henhouse.   A staff of seven full-time gardeners maintained the family retreat, including a magnificent rose garden, fountains and a swimming pool.

     Following the deaths of Maggie and Tom, T.L. James & Company assumed management and maintenance of the estate in 1964. James family members continued to spend summer afternoons enjoying the pool and the grounds were open to public viewing. The gardens maintained their popularity as a backdrop for photography sessions for school groups and brides-to-be. Motorists routinely cut through Toma Lodge to enjoy a short drive among blooming azaleas, daylilies and roses. Over the years, many Ruston teens were guilty of sneaking into Toma Lodge at night to enjoy the pool and a police officer was installed in a small cottage on the property to watch over the grounds.   But the sanctuary slowly assumed an unkempt appearance without Maggie James to preside over its upkeep.

    Trott Hunt, great grandson of James, bought Toma Lodge in 2000 and initiated a development plan for the property. Hunt's plan for restricted development in conjunction with tree preservation struck a balance between perpetuation of an urban forest and new construction. Trees were selectively cut and dilapidated buildings removed. Large azaleas and other large planted by Maggie James was preserved or moved to new locations. The swimming pool was refurbished, tennis courts added and the original James Lodge retained as a community center.

Christ Community Church relocated to the property in 2004. Church members were drawn to the appealing natural sanctuary with its convenient and visible location just minutes from downtown Ruston. Construction priorities included saving as many trees as possible and giving the impression that the church had always existed in the forest. Curving driveways and strategically-designed parking lots circumvent mature trees. To further integrate the church into the setting, harvested oaks were transformed into exposed ceiling beams, a pulpit, and a 15-foot cross.

The influence of the Chautauqua persists in the form of Louisiana Tech University, an institution that continues to grow in stature and prestige. Hallie Townsend, a longtime principal at Ruston High School, noted in his 1929 college thesis that Ruston’s support for the Chautauqua was instrumental in Tech’s creation in 1894. The Chautauqua was then at the height of its popularity and, according to Townsend, the notoriety it brought to Ruston among the powerbrokers in Baton Rouge aided in bringing Tech into existence.

The neighborhood still displays the handiwork of Maggie James and her staff. Although all remnants of the Chautauqua are long gone, ancient azaleas and camellias from James’s gardens dot the landscape. Sequoias and an impenetrable tangle of bamboo grow incongruously among the southern pines and white oaks. Gnarled crepe myrtles and magnificent magnolias stand out from newly planted ones. A sense of solitude remains despite the stately homes that somehow refuse to intrude on the majesty of nature.

CIVIL WAR SESQUICENTENNIAL

2011-02-13T14:18:00.000-06:00

The American Civil War began in 1861. Did you know 2011 was the 150th anniversary, or sesquicentennial, of the war? Some states are marking the anniversary with special events. What is your state planning? There has been some controversy over how this significant historical event should be commemorated 150 years later.

A good link to learn more: www.civilwar.org/150

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

2011-02-13T13:35:00.006-06:00

We take photography for granted. It has been around throughout our lives. It's hard to imagine a time when family or special events could not be preserved permanently through photographs.

To some degree, photography has lessened our reliance on the written word. We don't have to use descriptive terms when we can simply include a photo. As they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words."

Long before photography, people had to use descriptive prose to "paint a picture" for the reader. Take this description of one great American as written by a friend:

"Straight as an Indian, measuring six feet two inches in his stockings, and weighing 175 pounds. . . . His frame is padded with well-developed muscles, indicating great strength. His bones and joints are large, as are his hands and feet. He is wide shouldered but has not a deep or round chest; is neat waisted, but is broad across the hips and has rather long legs and arms. His head is well-shaped, though not large, but is gracefully poised on a superb neck. A large and straight rather than a prominent nose; blue gray penetrating eyes which are widely separated and overhung by a heavy brow. His face is long rather than broad, with high round cheek bones, and terminates in a good firm chin. He has a clear though rather a colorless pale skin which burns with the sun. A pleasing and benevolent though a commanding countenance, dark brown hair which he wears in a cue.

"His mouth is large and generally firmly closed, but which from time to time discloses some defective teeth. His features are regular and placid with all the muscles of his face under perfect control, though flexible and expressive of deep feeling when moved by emotions. In conversation, he looks you full in the face, is deliberate, deferential, and engaging. His voice is agreeable rather than strong. His demeanor at all times composed and dignified. His movements and gestures are graceful, his walk majestic, and he is a splendid horseman."

Any ideas who this might be?

See below...

George Washington at age 26.

Books Available

2011-01-17T17:52:00.001-06:00

These are my books related to Louisiana history.

Neither Fear Nor Favor: Deputy United States Marshal John Tom Sisemore, $18.95

Fish Out of Water: Nazi Submariners as Prisoners of War in North Louisiana During World War II, $10.95

Greetings from Ruston: A Post Card History of Ruston, Louisiana, $14.95

Books can be ordered from amazon.com or by contacting campruston@gmail.com.
Also check out my articles in the bi-monthly MINUTE MAGAZINE. http://issuu.com/theminutemagazine

NEW BOOK AVAILABLE

2010-11-15T09:08:00.009-06:00

My newest history book is now available and selling well.

GREETINGS FROM RUSTON: A Post Card History of Ruston, Louisiana

First Baptist Church, 1920s

The book tells the city's history with the use of over 100 vintage post cards and interesting anecdotes. Many of the post cards are over one hundred years old.

The book is available through http://www.amazon.com/ (see the link), by e-mailing me at campruston@gmail.com and at these Ruston businesses:

   Townsend House Gifts
   Karen's Hallmark
   Ruston Chamber of Commerce/Visitor's Bureau
   Rumo's Barber Shop

   Get yours soon!

SHOWDOWN IN RUSTON

2010-11-14T10:21:00.004-06:00

Gunfight changed railroad town in 1898

By Wesley Harris

John Tom Sisemore

The conventional view of Louisiana history invokes images of genteel Southern chivalry rather than the hurly-burly associated with the rough and tumble Old West. Yet Louisiana experienced wild and woolly times in the 19th century, requiring the services of lawmen like John Tom Sisemore. Although not a big man—he wore a size 4 shoe—Deputy U.S. Marshal Sisemore was tough and solidly built. His children would later remember townspeople referring to their father as "full of dynamite" and "the shortest six-foot fellar we ever saw."

In 1884, the town of Ruston rose from the red-clay hills when the railroad finally spanned north Louisiana. The Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific Railroad—or the "Very Slow and Pokey," as it was known locally—replaced the Wire Road as the main transportation route between Vicksburg and Shreveport. Vienna and other Wire Road communities all but disappeared when the railroad bypassed them.

With Vienna's demise, the courthouse was moved to Ruston. New schools were started, including a small college, the forerunner of Louisiana Tech. A Chautauqua program was established for educational and cultural activities amid shade trees and bubbling springs north of town. Fiery politicians, preachers, and pontificators visited the Chautauqua to lecture and exhort.

Bad men came as well. Routine gunfire and rowdy disturbances clashed with Ruston's hunger for sophistication and culture. Believing liquor to be the root of the community's ills, in 1894 the town fathers proposed an ordinance prohibiting the sale or possession of alcoholic beverages. It passed overwhelmingly.

As a federal marshal, Sisemore scoured north Louisiana, raiding stills and arresting bootleggers and outlaws. His name struck fear among whiskey runners.

One reporter wrote Sisemore was "an efficient officer who made it exceedingly risky for the moonshiner to run his business in North Louisiana. He is a terror to the whiskey element and all outlaws in general." Sisemore's pursuit of robbers and moonshiners became regular fodder for north Louisiana newspapers. He worked often with federal revenue agents who could destroy stills but relied on deputy U.S. marshals for arrest powers.

While federal officials were interested in moonshine because of its producers' aversion to paying taxes, communities like Ruston objected to alcohol for moral and social reasons. The town's founder, Robert Russ, was a staunch Baptist. In a letter to the Ruston Leader after the 1894 election, Russ wrote: "The votes have been counted. The decision has been made by a large majority…all persons are prohibited from selling in any quantity all alcoholic or vinous spirits. Remember this is clothed with the strong arm of the law, the voice of the people. The law should be upheld and executed and when we fail to do this, we fail to do our whole duty."

Ruston lawmen had their hands full. Removing the lawless element shooting up the town and enforcing prohibition was no small task. Some of Ruston's early police chiefs served as little as one month before surrendering their badges within the gleeful taunts of the troublemakers.

Marshal Sisemore's chief adversary was Frank Mullins of Simsboro. Claiming photography as his profession, Mullins operated a "studio" near Ruston’s train depot. It served as a front for his true business—running whiskey. Mullins was arrested at least a dozen times in Ruston, usually for selling liquor without a license, but the fines were just a cost of doing business.

By 1896, Sisemore had been asked to serve as a part-time officer in Ruston in addition to his federal duties. The marshal charged Mullins with federal violations and with violating Ruston's city ordinance on selling whiskey. "A bad feeling has existed between Sisemore and Mullins," reported the Shreveport Times, "and everybody expected trouble between them every time they met." During one difficult arrest, Sisemore shot Mullins. Mullins served a year in the Lincoln Parish prison while his younger brother Will kept the alcohol business in operation. Another Shreveport paper, the Evening Journal, speculated that the enmity between the two rose from Mullins' alleged assassination of a government witness to prevent his testimony—Sisemore's own brother-in-law.

On December 14, 1897, Sisemore and Mullins exchanged gunfire but neither was injured. Mullins cried foul and a grand jury indicted Sisemore for assault. But Sisemore had sizable support in Ruston. In fact, in January 1898, after years of futile attempts at finding a strong police chief, city officials begged Sisemore to take on the job. A unique arrangement was approved allowing Sisemore to continue as a deputy federal marshal while serving as Ruston's new chief. Sisemore bought a house for his wife and five children on a hill just south of downtown Ruston.

Sisemore and Mullins met in a final showdown on the stormy evening of February 26, 1898. Lightning pierced the sky occasionally, casting ghostly shadows across Ruston’s business district. About 8:00p.m., a string of gunshots filled the air and Sisemore prowled the rain-dampened streets in search of the culprit. Mayor Fred Price also heard the gunfire between thunderclaps and, armed with his shotgun, rushed from his home to investigate. He had nearly stumbled between Sisemore and Mullins in the murky night when he heard voices.

"It was very dark," Price later testified. "I spoke and said hello to attract their attention, but I heard somebody say, 'Who is that? Is that you, Frank?' The answer was 'Yes, that's me.' I recognized Sisemore's voice and I thought the other was Frank Mullins. I could see neither of them, only when the lightning flashed... Sisemore then said, 'Is that you doing this shooting around here tonight?' Mullins replied, 'No, but by god I've got the fixing for you.' Sisemore said, 'You are a liar'—he may have said, 'You are a damn liar'—and immediately both parties fired simultaneously."

Other witnesses would contradict Price and accuse Sisemore of firing again at the mortally wounded Mullins as he fled. One man reported the gunshots had sounded as if they came from the same gun, hinting that only Sisemore had fired.

Mullins, riddled with shotgun pellets, limped to his boardinghouse where the landlady discovered him near the front door. Mullins encouraged Mrs. E.M. Sherwood to go to his room and locate his revolver to prove he had been unarmed. The many witnesses to his dying statement announced that Mullins insisted Sisemore had shot down an unarmed man. Before he died, Mullins urged his family not to seek revenge but to let the courts deal with Sisemore.

Sisemore was indicted again by a grand jury, a surprise to many citizens. The Shreveport Times announced, "Mr. Sisemore has the sympathy and backing of almost the entire law-abiding community, and will doubtless be exonerated when his case comes to trial."

A record cotton season filled the streets with wagons, mules, and farmers as the trial began on September 14, 1898. In a packed courtroom, jury selection was made difficult by the vehement opinions both for and against Sisemore. The prosecution subpoenaed 19 witnesses; the defense, 15. It would be the biggest trial to date in Lincoln Parish.

Testimony was heard that the gun recovered from Mullins's room was dotted with mud, as if it had been dropped on the wet street. Witnesses revealed Mullins had visited his room before Mrs. Sherwood found him bleeding by the front door. A youngster declared Mullins had been shooting off his gun on a street where spent cartridges had been discovered.

The jury quickly returned a not guilty verdict. The Shreveport Times reported, "The verdict meets with general approval." The charges from the earlier shooting were dropped. But soon rumors circulated that Sisemore had been targeted for assassination.

On the evening of November 17, Sisemore ate supper with his family and played with his youngest son by the fire. Pocketing his children's letters to Santa Claus on the pretense of mailing them that night, Sisemore followed his evening routine of making a final patrol through town. As he walked toward downtown Ruston, Sisemore heard a noise in a pine thicket nearby. Drawing his revolver, he approached the trees slowly. A shotgun blast knocked Sisemore to the ground. A second shot missed.

Neighbors carried Sisemore to his bed by neighbors and doctors hurried to the scene. With his sobbing family and concerned friends gathered around, Sisemore whispered he did not see his ambusher. Soon Sisemore joined his nemesis Frank Mullins in death. The Shreveport Times reported the shooting on page one with the headline, "A Cowardly Murder: Deputy United States Marshal John T. Sisemore Shot to Death by Assassins." The article noted Sisemore "for the past few years has been a terror to the moonshiners...and always fearlessly discharged his duties...regardless of fear or favor."

Telegraphs were sent in all directions requesting bloodhounds to track the killer. The U.S. marshal and a deputy rushed from Shreveport to aid in the manhunt. Rewards were offered. Frank Mullins’s associates were blamed for Sisemore's death. One news story reported, "While so far as is known there is no direct evidence, yet every citizen of Ruston seems to have settled to their own satisfaction who the actual criminals or instigators of the crime are." No suspects were arrested, but Sisemore family members tell the story of a killer hanged in El Dorado for another murder. Before his execution, John Henry Thomas reportedly confessed to killing Sisemore for $50.

Sisemore's funeral.

We will never know if Mullins was shot in a "fair fight" or who killed Sisemore. But we do know Ruston founder Robert Russ appreciated the town's newfound tranquility. The removal of the alcohol element, Russ wrote, "added more to the material, social, and religious growth of Ruston than all other agencies put forward by its citizens. Money that once went to saloons now goes to beautify and make happy homes. Wives and daughters who once had sad faces, now carry smiles and contentment. Ruston is now the refuge for virtue, happiness, and law abiding citizens."

Sisemore’s brief career and death helped mold Ruston’s path into the new century. The attitudes towards alcohol and lawlessness in Ruston’s early days endured for decades. The city would remain "dry" for nearly 75 more years before allowing alcohol to be sold again in the 1970’s. Despite the controversies they created, men like John Tom Sisemore were sought by struggling communities committed to maintaining law and order.

RACIAL TENSIONS RULED LOUISIANA IN THE 1800s

2010-07-22T19:09:00.023-05:00

Despite the battles fought in Louisiana during the Civil War—Port Hudson, Mansfield, Pleasant Hill, and others—more violent deaths probably occurred in the state during Reconstruction than in the war itself. Lawlessness reigned in many parts of the state from the war’s end in 1866 through the 1870s, from highway robbery to the intimidation and murder of freed blacks and office-holding carpetbaggers.

In many instances, local white citizens who viewed the new freedoms given former slaves as an affront to Southern society resorted to vigilantism to put blacks in their place and terrorize the Republican officials who protected them. With most parish and state offices held by Republicans, the largely Democrat populace often bypassed despised local lawmen and took care of criminal offenders themselves.

Reconstruction officially ended in 1877 with the removal of federal troops from the South and white Democrats resumed control over most public offices. The animosity of the post-war years remained.

The Crescent Plantation arose from the Mississippi Delta soils of what is now Madison Parish in the 1830s. Consisting of over two thousand acres, the estate on Brushy Bayou was one of the largest in northeast Louisiana. In the 1890s, the plantation was the home to numerous black freedmen and their families who still worked in the same fields their ancestors tilled as slaves. Most owned little or nothing—a pig or two, perhaps a milk cow or a horse. A few owned firearms but mostly they possessed little more than their fathers had before the Civil War.

While the prominent Darcy family owned the Crescent, the workers were supervised by a white man named J. K. Boyce. Little is known of Boyce. His name does not appear on the Madison Parish tax rolls of the late 19th Century. He probably lived in a small home on the plantation. Whether he had family on the plantation is unknown.

Toward the end of April 1894, Boyce’s lifeless body was discovered on the plantation.

The story of the hunt for the culprits were told in an Associated Press story that appeared in newspapers across the country:

FOUR LYNCHED.

Vengeance Fellows the Murder of Overseer Boyce.

The Unfortunate Affair Has Already Resulted in Nine Deaths.
Boyce, Who Was Killed First, and Eight Negroes Who Were Killed In Retaliation –Bloodhounds Tree the Negroes – Twenty-Five Assassins Caught.

New Orleans, La., April 28. Four more of the Negroes who were connected with the murder of J. K Boyce, in Madison parish last week, were captured Thursday night by the sheriff's , posse, and, as was expected, were lynched seen afterward. This affair has already resulted in nine deaths. Boyce, the white overseer, who was first killed, and eight Negroes, who were killed in retaliation: Harris Williams shot, and Tom Claxton, Dave Hawkins, Sam Slaughter, Shell Claxton, Temp Claxton, Scott Harvey and Tony McCoy, lynched. Of these the first three were lynched Sunday night, and the other four Thursday night.

The killing of Boyce occurred last Friday, and ever since then the posse has been hunting for the Negroes who were supposed to have had part in the affair. The posse, which was composed of 200 white men, half the total number in Madison parish, where the Negroes are twelve to one white, split up into half a dozen parties and scoured the entire country. The Negroes were supposed to have taken refuge in the triangular swamp between Milliken's bend and Omega and the river. All these points were watched, particularly the river, to prevent the Negroes from escaping into Mississippi. Bloodhounds were obtained to track the men, but the scent was cold.

After several days' hunt the sheriff dismissed most of his posse, but some fifty men remained on duty. Thursday, however, the scent was taken up by the dogs, and it was evident that the pursued men had been cornered in Buckhorn weeds, a comparatively small body of swamp. The sheriff called for reinforcements and 200 men responded.

The gang were treed in a cabin between the weeds and river. They had made arrangements with a Negro to take them across the river, and would have succeeded in escaping to Mississippi if it had net been for the prompt action of the posse.

The posse surrounded the house and called for the owner to come out. He played deaf and would net answer, and he was told if he did not come out, and surrender the men the officers would fire on the house. He still refused to answer, and a volley was fired into the roof of the cabin. The Negro came out and said the fugitives were not in, and that he did not know where they were. The posse then searched the premises, and in the loft of a small crib in the yard four of the assassins were found huddled up together, Pomp Claxton, Shell Claxton, Scott Harvey and Tony McCoy. They were promptly arrested, and Sheriff McClelland deputized twelve of the posse to take them to Tallulah.

The Negroes were without guns having thrown them away in the flight. When pursued by the bloodhounds, of which they were afraid, they scattered, too, and only came together Friday night, when they were caught. One of the men, Tem Griffin, was lost sight of and not captured, and it is thought has escaped to Mississippi.

As the sheriffs deputies, with the prisoners, got near Milliken's bend, an effort was made by a crowd to take them away from the officers, but the officers resisted and got as far as the Sherly place, about two miles from Tallulah, when a crowd of about two hundred met them, overpowered the officers und took the four Negroes to the Crescent place, where the four leaders, Shell Claxton, Pomp Claxton, Scott Harvey and Tony McCoy, were hanged on a tree about one hundred feet from where they killed Boyce. The execution was conducted very quietly, the people living in the city knowing nothing about them until Friday morning, when they were surprised to find four assassins hanging near their doers. The only one of the pursued Negroes at large is Tom Griffin. If caught he will be lynched like the others, but it is thought he has escaped.

There were twenty-six Negroes in all on the Crescent plantation who were suspected of complicity in the killing of Boyce. Eight have been killed, one is at large, and seventeen are prisoners in the parish jail. It is scarcely likely that there will be any more lynchings unless Griffin is caught. The prisoners will be tried for murder and will probably be hung legally.

* * *

My research into the fate of the seventeen prisoners continues.
* * *

The Crescent Plantation’s two-story frame mansion of late Greek Revival architecture still remains, testament to the strife of the Civil War and the dark, bloody days of Reconstruction. It is located on Louisiana Highway 602, about two miles from its intersection with Interstate 20, a few miles southeast of Tallulah.That 26 men were involved in one murder sufficiently to face criminal charges seems farfetched. Perhaps some or most were present at the event but mere presence does not establish the elements of the crime of murder. More likely, vengeance struck a wide swatch through the plantation population, marking all adult black men tacitly responsible for Boyce’s death.

DESTROYING HISTORY

2010-03-03T15:55:00.000-06:00

The Dr. Samuel A. Mudd House, where John Wilkes Booth found refuge after assassinating President Abraham Lincoln in 1865, is one of the most notable historic sites in southern Maryland. Mudd gave medical treatment to Booth who injured his leg fleeing Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. The doctor was convicted of aiding and conspiring with Booth. In February, an arsonist set fire at an entrance to the Mudd House, causing only slight damage to an exterior door. A catastrophe was averted when the fire apparently burned itself out before the building was ignited.

Intentional acts to destroy our history are inexplicable. Why? What could be accomplished by burning down the Mudd House or destroying any other historic site? Yet, it occurs quite often. Sometimes the motivation is pure greed, as in the destruction wreaked on the Vicksburg National Military Park by relic hunters. In 2007, park rangers discovered over 100 holes dug in attempts to recover loot from the famous Civil War siege. A few years earlier, eleven monuments at Vicksburg were spray painted by a vandal. Vicksburg's supervising ranger said, “The park is continually plagued by varying degrees of looting, digging and excavation. They're stealing America's heritage. This belongs to the American people.”

Under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979, it is illegal to excavate, remove, damage, alter or deface archaeological resources on federal or Indian land. It's also illegal to traffic materials or items found on such land. There are also state and federal laws against defacing or vandalizing property or stealing artifacts from private or public land.

A few years ago, someone attempted to burn down a 150-year old "dog-trot" style log house near my home, one of the few historic sites to be preserved in our region. There is no logical explanation for such behavior. Yet, the fact it is one of the few surviving historic sites nearby is evidence that we have done very little in my area to preserve our past. I find local history fascinating but it seems we have gone out of our way to raze it, obliterate it, and forget it. As a youth, I marveled at the wonderful Victorian homes in our town with their intricate gingerbread trim and stained glass windows. They are mostly gone now, victims of "progress" in the form of big, boxy grocery stores and auto parts shops. This is a town where marshals and outlaws engaged in shootouts. Where thousands of German POWs were held during World War II. Bonnie & Clyde committed crimes here. But most residents have no knowledge of this history. Even the city's 125th anniversary was overlooked last year.

When we forget our history, we might as well be burning it up because it disappears either way.

THE JOHN WILKES BOOTH PISTOL

2010-02-10T14:38:00.009-06:00

Was the pistol used to kill Lincoln stolen from its display in Ford's Theatre?

A small pistol reposes in a display case in Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. A sign identifies it as the weapon used by John Wilkes Booth to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. But is it the gun used to kill Lincoln or a clever fake planted during a burglary in the 1960s?

According to one source, the murder weapon was stolen from Ford’s Theatre one hundred years after Lincoln’s death. The stunning allegation arose in 1997 during the adjudication of a New England estate. Suzanne Kelley, the National Park Service site manager for Ford’s Theatre, said a man cleaning out his deceased mother’s home found some suspected stolen items. The man called police, believing his brother, now serving time in prison, secreted the valuables in the house. The incarcerated son was a member of a burglary ring that operated in New York and Massachusetts between the late 1960s and the early 1980s.

Police in Massachusetts interviewed the brother in prison, questioning him about the stashed goods. Suddenly the career criminal startled the officers with an amazing revelation—members of his gang had stolen the original Booth pistol from Ford’s Theatre, replacing it with a replica in the late 1960s.

Local authorities notified the U.S. Park Police in Boston which in turn called the National Park Service. Was the Park Service sure it still had the assassination weapon? While Ford’s Theatre was already a historic site and protected around the clock by guards at the time of the alleged theft, security thirty-five years ago was much less sophisticated.

Historical records of the Booth pistol were unable to resolve the issue of authenticity. Site Manager Suzanne Kelley was skeptical of the report, but the jailed burglar insisted his story was true.

“It seemed too fantastic,” Kelley said, “but we wanted to be sure.” To have a fake pistol on display would be a tragic blow from a historical perspective. If the display weapon was a counterfeit, an investigation would be initiated to track down the real Booth pistol. But recovery of such an infamous artifact stolen over three decades ago would be all but impossible.

Authorities would need the latest scientific technology to solve the mystery.

Booth and His Mission

Although a popular actor, John Wilkes Booth ended his full-time stage career in May 1864. The Maryland native wanted to spend his time engaged in a new interest—supporting the Confederate States of America. Within months, Booth was working actively with the Confederates. A plan to capture President Lincoln and exchange him for Confederate prisoners of war brought Booth together with John Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, George Atzeroldt, and others. The scheme collapsed when on the day chosen for the capture, President Lincoln changed his itinerary and did not travel on the road where conspirators were waiting.

This March 17, 1865 failure was quickly followed by two major Confederate defeats. Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, was abandoned to Union troops and on Palm Sunday, April 9, Robert E. Lee reluctantly surrendered his army to General Grant.

These setbacks filled the conspirators with a sense of urgency. Booth decided to assassinate Lincoln. Powell was to kill Secretary of State Seward, and Atzerodt’s target was Vice President Andrew Johnson. Booth hoped to throw the country into political chaos.

Lincoln Unprotected

The Secret Service did not exist when Lincoln became President and his security was less than airtight. Numerous Washington police officers were detailed to the Executive Mansion, but Lincoln refused to have bodyguards shadowing his every move. Guards in the White House wore plainclothes and concealed their firearms. Uniformed sentries were posted outside and soldiers were often encamped on the grounds, but the President’s home was considered the “people’s house.” Entry into the premises was not difficult. As the Army of the Potomac grew, a steady stream of common soldiers casually dropped in to wish their Commander-in-Chief well.

Troops frequently accompanied Lincoln during his travels. Throughout the war, no member of the First Family left the White House grounds without an escort. By 1864, four Metropolitan policemen served as Lincoln’s personal bodyguards.

The principles of executive protection had yet to be developed and plans for Lincoln’s safety were often haphazard. On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth took advantage of a lapse in security and changed history.

A Pistol Shot

Lincoln and his wife, in the company of Army Major Henry Reed Rathbone and his fiancée, Clara Harris, attended a performance of Our American Cousin, a play performed at Ford's Theatre. At about 10:15 p.m., Booth entered the box occupied by the President and his companions unchallenged. The actor fired one shot into Lincoln's head, mortally wounding the President. Booth dropped the pistol, stabbed Major Rathbone in the arm with a knife, vaulted over the railing of the box to the stage, and escaped through the back of the theater to his horse.

Lincoln was carried across the street to Petersen's House, a collection of boarding rooms. Surrounded by his family and political colleagues, Lincoln clinged to life throughout the night.

On the morning of April 15, 1865, Lincoln died, about nine hours after the assault.

Within hours of Lincoln's shooting, Booth fled Washington on horseback and met Herold on the road. On April 26, Booth and Herold were surrounded while hiding in a tobacco shed in Port Royal, Virginia. Herold surrendered to the Union troops, but Booth held out. The barn was set on fire. When the fire and smoke failed to force Booth from the barn, Sergeant Boston Corbett, acting against Secretary of War Edwin Stanton's official orders to return Booth to Washington alive, shot and killed the actor-turned-assassin.

Artifacts of an Assassination

During Lincoln’s autopsy at the White House on April 15, physicians removed the fatal bullet. It remained in storage at the War Department until 1940, when it and other Lincoln assassination items were offered to the Department of the Interior. These items included the knife used to stab Major Rathbone and the pistol. The Interior Department accepted all of the items but kept the bullet in storage as it was considered improper for public display. In 1956, the Department of the Army requested the return of the bullet and the Department of the Interior complied. In that year, the bullet was placed on display and may be viewed today along with fragments of Lincoln's skull at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington.

The pistol recovered from the state box after the Lincoln shooting was a silver-inlaid model of the pocket type produced by Henry Deringer, a well-known Pennsylvania armsmaker. Though initially recognized as a supplier of long arms, Deringer gained renown for his percussion dueling pistols that first appeared in 1825 and were sought by military officers and political officials. The manufacture of a smaller version of the dueling pistol in the late 1840s and the pocket pistol in the early 1850s solidified Deringer's position as a manufacturer of quality firearms.

The Deringer pocket pistol achieved its greatest popularity during the mid-1850s and was a favorite of civilians seeking a compact, easily concealed firearm. Although the Deringer pistol was limited by its single-shot capacity, its light weight and small size gave it a distinct advantage over bulkier, unconcealable alternatives. The one-shot limitation was often overcome by carrying two pistols. The pocket pistols were sold as pairs for approximately $22 to $25.

With the advent of breechloading firearms, self-contained cartridges, and the Civil War, the demand for Deringer pistols and other percussion weapons declined sharply. The lack of a standardized caliber among Deringers made them impractical for military use. Because each pair of Deringer pistols included a bullet mold specific to the caliber of the two matching pistols, loss of this mold virtually precluded the proper fit of ammunition for the set. With its obvious inadequacy as a military weapon, sales of the Deringer pistol during the war were low. Following the death of Henry Deringer in 1868, the market for pocket pistols opened to competitors eager to apply the breechloading system to a concealable weapon.

The Deringer pocket pistol is a small, short-barreled, single-action percussion design. The barrel ranged in length from less than one to four or more inches and was made from wrought iron browned with a chemical solution that imparted copper-colored streaks to the barrel. Partially round and partially octagonal, the Deringer barrel was flattened and slotted on top to accept a blade-style front sight and was rifled with seven grooves, right twist, and the caliber varied from .33 to .51 inches.

A typical Deringer pistol had a black walnut stock with a checkered grip, a checkered hammer thumb piece, and an S-shaped trigger guard. The mountings of the pistol were engraved German silver or sometimes gold or gold-plated. Mountings were attached to the stock with pins, with the exception of the sideplates and buttplate, which were affixed with bolts or screws. The lockplate and barrel were stamped with the trademark “DERINGER PHILADELA” and sometimes included an additional stamping on the top of the barrel indicating an agent's name and address. No serial numbers were used by Deringer, but letters or digits were sometimes stamped or punched on various parts of the pistol.

The Lincoln assassination ensured permanent notoriety for the Deringer pistol while simultaneously introducing the word "derringer" into the American lexicon as describing a concealable, short-barreled nonautomatic pistol. The use of “Deringer” refers to a pistol manufactured by Henry Deringer, while “derringer” means a pocket pistol of any make.

The Department of the Interior established a museum in the basement of Ford’s Theatre, displaying the pistol along with the suit Lincoln was wearing the night of the attack. Photographs of the pistol taken in the 1930s, ‘50s, and ‘60s would take on grave significance when the weapon’s authenticity was called into question.

Fake or Original?

On July 28, 1997, a National Park Service curator and a U.S. Park Police captain removed the Deringer pistol from its case at Ford's Theatre and carried the firearm to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for examination. This was not the FBI’s first role in answering questions about the Lincoln assassination. In its first years of existence in the 1920s, the FBI investigated allegations that Booth lived for many years after Lincoln’s death. In 1948 the FBI Laboratory examined a boot said to be worn by Booth on the night of the assassination and studied Booth’s diary in 1977.

The FBI Lab was asked to determine if the pistol displayed at Ford’s Theatre was the same weapon used to kill Lincoln. To aid in the analysis, the Park Service provided technical descriptive materials and historical photographs pre-dating the time of the alleged theft.

FBI scientists started with a basic physical examination of the Deringer pistol, which revealed a number of imperfections unique to the firearm. The most obvious was a significant fracture or crack in the forestock that showed evidence of previous repair. If this was the Booth pistol, perhaps the crack occurred when the assassin dropped the pistol in the state box. Or the crack could have predated the assassination.

Impression toolmarks in the barrel above the fractured portion of the stock and an S-shaped defect in the metal of the pistol's barrel were additional unique features found on the Deringer. Variations in the shading and grain of the pistol's black walnut stock were also noted for comparison purposes.

The Firearms-Toolmarks Unit examined the lead bullet removed from Lincoln's brain. The scientists wanted to use modern technology to determine if the bullet had been fired from the questioned pistol. The ability to perform ballistic comparisons has improved significantly in recent years. Police now have computerized databases of fired bullets and cartridges from crime scenes to compare to weapons recovered by police.

FBI scientists discovered the fatal bullet had suffered corrosion with the passage of time and was too oxidized for an accurate ballistics comparison. Because the age and historical value of the Deringer—if it was the Booth pistol—no attempt was made to test fire the weapon for fear of damaging it. Analysis of the bullet did not answer the question of authenticity of the pistol.

It would be the vintage photographs that would solve the mystery. Photographic superimpositions using the display pistol and the images dating from the 1930s showed similar features. Much like comparing fingerprints, the FBI examiners matched up unique identifying characteristics including swirl patterns in the grain of the stock, pit marks on the barrel, and damage to the stock of the pistol. All the pistol’s unique marks and flaws matched the historical photographs submitted by the National Park Service for comparison. The FBI concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that the Deringer pistol displayed at Ford's Theatre was the same pistol photographed during the 1930s. This finding eliminated the possibility the pistol was stolen from the theatre and replaced with a replica during the 1960s.

Suzanne Kelley was relieved the authentic Booth pistol was still in the possession of the National Park Service. Without revealing any secrets about Ford’s Theatre security, Kelley said the historic site has a state of the art system. “We have it all,” she said. “I don’t lose any sleep over the security of our artifacts.” In addition to the sophisticated hardware and armed officers, Kelley said “visitors are our best deterrent.” Many Americans consider Washington landmarks sacred places, according to Kelley, and most visitors will not hesitant to report any activity that might deface the structures. The museum has since been renovated with even better security precautions.

FROM LOUISIANA TO LITTLE BIGHORN

2010-02-01T17:15:00.004-06:00

Custer's Men Rode the Hills of North Louisiana

The story of George Armstrong Custer and the destruction of his command at the Little Bighorn in Montana is well known. The “Custer Massacre” has been immortalized in movies, books, and music, albeit often with sensational inaccuracy. But only the most ardent Custer historians know of the significance of Custer and his famed 7th Cavalry in Louisiana history.

After a distinguished military career during the Civil War in which Custer experienced a meteoric rise through the ranks to become the Union’s youngest general, the brash redhead was sent to Alexandria in 1865 by General Philip Sheridan to take command of a cavalry division. After a respite in New Orleans following the long journey from Washington, Custer, accompanied by his wife Elizabeth, marched the troops from Louisiana to Hempstead, Texas, anticipating possible military action against Mexico. Elizabeth later wrote of her hardships in her book, Tenting on the Plains, published in 1887, recalling the exhilaration she experienced when the party finally departed the thick pine thickets of Louisiana for the open terrain of Texas.

In the early 1870s, the 7th Cavalry Regiment was scattered through seven Southern states, supporting United States Marshals in the difficult days of Reconstruction as Southern Democrats and Radical Republicans struggled for political control of the government. Much of north Louisiana saw more violence and bloodshed in the ten years after the Civil War than during in the conflict itself. Lynchings of freed blacks, assassination of Republican officeholders, and a host of brutal crimes were commonplace.

While the 7th Cavalry was in the South, Custer was relegated to post duty on the Great Plains. With his sympathies allied with the Democratic Party, his superiors kept him out of the struggle to wrest political control of the southern states.

Benjamin Hubert Hodgson was a lieutenant commanding a company of 7th Cavalry troopers working with U.S. Marshals in the area from Shreveport to Monroe. In October 1874, Hodgson and his cavalryman were accompanying Deputy U.S. Marshal Edgar Seleye as he arrested members of the notorious White League for various offenses against black citizens and Republican officeholders. After Seleye arrested J.G. Huey, a well-known Vienna citizen, the local judge issued a writ of habeas corpus for the marshal and troopers to deliver the prisoners to his court and explain the reason for their detention. Hodgson spurned the sheriff and continued toward Monroe to make more arrests. Along the way, Hodgson and the deputy marshal decided it prudent to cut the telegraph wires so the enraged citizens of Vienna could not alert Monroe of their approach.

The failure to heed the judge’s order and the damage to the telegraph wires led the Lincoln Parish sheriff to arrest of Hodgson and Seleye and return them to Vienna where they were jailed. Telegrams to their superiors brought a flurry of action. More cavalry and infantry from Shreveport and New Orleans were ordered to Vienna in the belief the federal men might be in danger while lawyers were dispatched to represent them before the Vienna court. Just as important as protecting the men was the need to avoid treading on local judicial authority and risk an uprising among the citizens.

After some delicate negotiations, fines were paid for contempt of court and damage to property and the lieutenant and marshal were released. The judge was a hero to the locals for standing up to the federal government. J.G. Huey eventually became one of Ruston’s first police chiefs.

Eventually the Republican administration decided to withdraw troops from Louisiana and Reconstruction came to an end. The 7th Cavalry moved to the Dakotas to deal with the Sioux Indians.

The common notion that George Custer and his entire regiment were wiped out at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876 is inaccurate. Custer had divided his forces to attack a large Indian village on the banks of the Little Bighorn River. Lt. Hodgson was part of the group that broke off and rode down steep bluffs and over the river to charge the village. Custer took another force further down the bluffs to engage the Indians from the opposite direction. Both groups of soldiers were quickly swarmed and attempted to retreat to the high bluffs. Lt. Hodgson was cut down by gunfire as he recrossed the river but others managed to escape to the high ground, hold off the Indians, and survive. Custer and all the men with him in the separate force were killed.

John H. Day was a common soldier in the 7th Cavalry. As a private in Company H under the command of Captain Frederick Benteen, Day was part of the unit that separated from Custer. Day was among those who were forced to retreat up the bluffs under the Indian counterattack. Day survived the Little Bighorn and later returned to Louisiana.

Day married Eliza Eubank Parks in Monroe in 1886. Perhaps he had met her when the regiment was stationed in north Louisiana. Or perhaps he liked the country and moved back to Louisiana after his discharge. Although he survived the most well-known battle between the U.S. Army and Native Americans, Day could not avoid a violent death. After a series of arson fires that destroyed a number of Monroe residences, Day was identified as a suspect. The Lake Providence Banner-Democrat of June 23, 1894, tells the story:

JUDGE LYNCH AT MONROE.

A white man by the name of J.H. Day was speedily hanged in Monroe on Wednesday of last week. It appears that several fires had occurred in Monroe lately, which were without a doubt the work of an incendiary. On Wednesday of last week two fires took place in Monroe the same evening, and both were supposed to be the work of the same incendiary; a blood-hound was put on a trail and followed it to the house of one J.H. Day, who immediately was arrested and put in the calaboose. Later on in the night unknown parties, as usual, got the keys of the jail from the policeman who had charge of it, and Day was hanged to a tree not far from the house that he was supposed to have fired.

On analyzing the evidence given against Day, as printed in the Monroe papers, we find that it was all circumstantial, and we hesitate not to stamp as murderers the unknown parties who took it upon themselves to "dispose of Day." Why! because the dog followed a trail to Day's house, because cobwebs and whitewash were found on Day's clothes supposed to have gotten there by crawling under the houses to fire them, and because especially on his back gallery "were found pieces of plank which had been split for kindling, which in sap, heart and grain corresponded to the pieces of kindling used in firing the houses." Day was taken out of jail, and made acquainted with Ouachita parish summary proceedings of justice.

The motive for the arsons is never mentioned in the various newspaper accounts. There is no indication that there was any dispute or grudge against the victims. Perhaps Day—if he was the perpetrator—was acting out post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a malady first identified in combat veterans after the Vietnam War. Perhaps the horrors at the Little Big Horn still haunted him eighteen years later. Or maybe Day was a classic pyromaniac.

Eliza Day was buried in the Old City Cemetery in Monroe in 1901, possibly beside the unmarked grave of her husband. Recently a headstone was placed nearby for John Day, a soldier who survived the signature conflict between two opposing cultures but could not avoid Louisiana vigilante justice.

Former POW pays visit to Camp Ruston

2010-01-02T14:15:00.001-06:00

While World War II raged across the globe, Americans back on the homefront were heavily engaged in the war effort. There were training camps, military maneuvers, war bond events, and scrap drives. Rationing of food, rubber, and gasoline were necessary to fulfill military needs. Unlike the current Mideast conflict, World War II affected everyone personally and most people did their part to support their country.

One of the most fascinating aspects of homefront life during WWII was the presence of prisoner of war camps across America. There were hundreds of them, housing mostly German and Italian troops. The Japanese rarely allowed themselves to be taken prisoner. Camp Ruston, Louisiana was one of the largest in the country.

In June 2006, I met a former German prisoner of war when he returned to visit Camp Ruston. Horst Blumenberg lived at Camp Ruston from October 1944 to January 1946 after being captured in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Blumenberg was a sailor on the submarine U-664. "We were attacked, and when we tried to fire, our torpedo got stuck in the tube,” Blumenberg said. “We were on a crash dive. The first people who came out (of the submarine) were shot. I was the last one off and swam eight and a half hours before I was picked up by the USS Borie.”

Blumenberg was eventually transferred to an interrogation camp near Arlington, Virginia. He was the only one of his captured crew that was not sent to a Nazi camp in Arizona. “I was the only one at Camp Ruston. I said I wasn’t a Nazi,” he explained. “In 1943, it was a very dangerous thing to do that. If Hitler had won the war, I would have been a dead duck.”

Many German soldiers and sailors did not consider themselves Nazis. While some were very hardcore Nazis, many were just ordinary men who were drafted into the army.

Blumenberg brought several pieces of memorabilia with him to present to Louisiana Tech University, the repository for Camp Ruston archival materials. He allowed me to escort him to the site of old Camp Ruston and spent an hour talking about his experiences. I had previously interviewed Horst by phone and e-mail for a book I wrote about the U-boat sailors at Camp Ruston. In addition of Blumenberg, the entire crew of the U-505, the first enemy vessel captured by the U.S. since the War of 1812, was held at Camp Ruston.

After several years and many camps, Blumenberg finally made it back to Germany. His family had never heard of his fate.“By the time I got home, it was September 1947, and the war was over in 1945,” he said. “The few letters I wrote (as a POW) were heavily censored, and I never saw them again." As soon as Horst got home to Germany, he told his mother he was going back to America as soon as possible. He now lives in Kentucky and has been an American citizen for 50 years.

More to come on Camp Ruston....

Photo: Horst Blumenberg near one of the two remaining buildings at the Camp Ruston site, 2006

Digging the Past

2010-01-02T11:33:00.000-06:00

Hello. This is a sort of New Year's Resolution. I am currently writing a book with ideas for several more. The problem with writing books is it takes forever to get your thoughts and facts before a reader. Even with magazines, a nine to twelve month delay between my submission of the work to the publisher and the appearance of the article is common. This blog will solve the problem by permitting me to share with you long before my book or books are published.

Beware, I don't write much about "general" topics but very specific aspects that have captured my interest. Stories that I "dig," in other words. For example, my current book is about the crew of a German U-boat captured during World War II. Many books have been written about the U-505 submarine but mine will focus on the yet untold story of their secret internment in a POW camp in Louisiana. Publication later this year, I hope.

I've collected material for my next two books. One will be on the guns and knives used by John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirators in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and attempted murder of Secretary of State William Seward. A very unique topic, I believe, especially since dozens of books have been written on Lincoln and his murder but none has examined the weapons and their recovery. As a police investigator for three decades, my experience in crime scene analysis will permit me to discuss the collection of evidence in the case and reveal interesting stories of the tools of the assassins. The literature on the Lincoln assassination continues to increase with a flood of recent book releases so it is a subject that still captures the interest of many.

Perhaps within a couple of years, I will finish my research on crime during Reconstruction in Louisiana. My preliminary research indicates the murder rate was higher in the 1870s than today. Incidents with national and international significance occurred in north Louisiana during the late 1800s including the so-called "Colfax Riot," the "Coushatta Massacre," and the lynching of five Italians. There is compelling evidence that Jesse James robbed a stagecoach in Louisiana during this time, a crime not usually enumerated in the "official" list of misdeeds committed by the James & Younger gang. During Reconstruction, the famed Seventh Cavalry patrolled north Louisiana and many of the troopers who arrested members of the "White League" for crimes against newly freed blacks would later die at the Little Big Horn.

So, you can expect my blog to include entries on these topics and many more. Digging into the past is a passion and I can't wait to share some of my discoveries. I hope you will bring your shovel and do some excavating with me.