A book by John & Roberta Wearmouth entitled Times of Port Tobacco can be a good source of information to anyone interested in reading about some 
of these  families.  I found the reference to Ellerslie in a footnote concerning Smoot's book.  ("Smoot lived at Ellerslie, about a mile from Port Tobacco".)
Laurie, are you sure you don't need a summer place? 

This is the former residence of Richard Smoot. Nice.

http://www.weichert.com/24493896/?cityid=41241&spg=1&tsf=sbl&ldview=ldphotos

Dave,
After having issues with my scanner, I decided to simply take a photo from my book and import it to my collection, which accounts for the poor quality.
Then I sent it as a normal attatchment .  What I wanted was the billboard-size picture like the one that John E. has posted.  This is my first attempt at
posting pictures.  Can you give me any pointers about posting scanned photograghs?

Joe
   

Taken from a pencil sketch of Hon. Frederick Stone. (undated)

Just an offering related to this questionable photo of a person in the crowd below Lincoln as he gives his inaugural speech on March 4th 1865. (left)

(It is in further testimony that Samuel A. Mudd was here on the 3rd day of March last, the day preceding the inauguration, when Booth was to strike the tratoriuos
blow, and it was, doubtless , only by the interposition of that God who stands within the shadow and keeps watch above his own, that the victim of this conspiracy
was spared that day from the assassin's hand that he might complete his work and see the salvation of his country, in the fall of Richmond and the surrender of it's
great army.  Dr. Mudd was here on that day (the 3rd of March) to abet, to encourage, to nerve his co-conspirator for the commision of this great crime.  He was
carried away by the awful purpose which possessed him, and rushed into the room of Mr. Norton at the National Hotel in search of Booth, exclaiming excitedly;  "I'm
mistaken; I thought this was Mr. Booth's room."  He is told Mr. Booth is above, on the next floor.  He is followed by Mr. Norton because of his rude and excited behavior,
and being followed, conscious of his guilty errand, he turns away, afraid of himself and afraid to be found in concert with his fellow confederate.  Mr. Norton identifies
the prisoner, and has no doubt that Samuel A. Mudd is the man.)

Excerpt from the Summation of John Bingham, Special Judge Advocate in the Lincoln Assassintion Conspiracy Trial.

 

I found this book while googling.  The name of the book is "Freedom" A Documentary History of Emancipation 1861 to 1867, selected from the holdings of The National Archives.  District of Columbia Freedman's Bureau Assistant Commissioner to the Chairman of a Congressional Committee Washington, DC November 20th 1867.

Sir - In compliance with request contained in your letter of Sept 24th 1867, inclosing circular from "Committee on the Treatment of Prisoners of War and Union Citizens".  I have the honor to submit to your committee the following Outrages as shown by the records of this office. 

On th 28th of May 1866, Henry Seward made an affadavit that in December 1861while in conversation with Samuel Cox living five (5) miles south of Port Tabacco, he (Cox) confessed that in August 1861 he had murdered one of his slaves, Jack Scroggins by whipping him to death.  This statement is corroberrated by an affadavit made by Jim Sims - and William Jackson (at a different time) who testified that Scroggins was flogged to death for having escape to the Federal lines, whence he was recaptured - and on the 12th of May 1866 William Hill, an employee at the Senate Post Office reports this case and states that in whipping Scroggins to death Cox was assisted by Frank Roly (?) his overseer and two other men.  All these parties are living at the same place and have never been arrested. 

                                                                                                                                                                                  [Charles Howard]


]

Can anyone explain how the story of Jack Scroggins was exposed as a myth?  J.S was a slave owned by militia leader Samuel Cox of Rich Hill.  Story goes, J.S either
went (or escaped) with Federal troops, only to be returned to his owner who alledgedly killed him.  Ed Steers explains this as a true event in Blood on the Moon
while Mike Kauffman reveals  the story as a "clumsy fabrication".  As disturbing as this story is ,one can only hope it was just that.  A story.

According to Atzerodt's statement, it was thirty five to forty miles from the "right turn" at TB.  This would be present day Accokeek Rd. which ends at Indian Head
Hwy., also a colonial era road.  A left here and it's only a few miles to Bumpy Oak Rd.  If this is the route that Atzerodt described then he knew it was thirty five or
forty miles from T.B. to Loch Leven/Maryland Point.
   

The only one that I can find is by George Alfred Townsend.  (GATH)  Without giving a source, he claimed that  "some in Port Tobacco told me that the
grey horse of Herod was never killed and was sold some time after the war".  "Others say both horses were shot in the swamp".

Laurie,  Kings Creek and Goose Bay are both within walking distance of Loch Leven.  I'm not sure if this makes any difference at this point, but I did want to
reply to your question.  On a visit to Port Tobacco one day, I saw a lady working in the yard of the Chimney House.  When Iinquired about the location of
Atzerodt's shop, the lady showed me the spot which lies nearly in her back yard.  With the Marsh Rd. running between the Chimney House and the St.
Charles Hotel,  the Atzerodt shop used to sit on the C. H. side of the road.  This was the same lady who told me about Atzerodt staying here with a Mrs.
Wheeler.  I think she also said it was used as a boarding house back then.  I'll double check.  Laurie , I think you and I are speaking of the same lady.  I can't
remember her name, but I think she headed up the Charles Co. Historical Society.

Laurie,  The Loch Leven your looking for is located at the intersection of Brentland Rd. and Fergusson Fuese Pl. in Welcome MD.  In 1860 it was occupied
by Wilson Compton and his family. including his 14 yr. old nephew Barnes Compton. The same Barnes Compton owned Chimney House, home of George
Atzerodt.

Laurie,
Something tells me that those folks will be here sooner or later.  That Fort Zachia...uh well.. I know nuttin!  Four pieces of iron have managed to keep me busy
for nearly two years.  Finding a few referances to the horses after reading hundreds of trial transcripts can be trying.  I did find something else about Herold's
horse.  John Fletcher testified that the horse he wanted was a lady's saddle horse and he wanted english iron stirrups. (ladies stirrups).  Why ?  He also asked for
a double reined bridle with two bits on it. The stirrup that the farmer picked up in the Zachia Swamp below Rich Hill is a lady's english iron stirrup from a lady's saddle   
horse.  The pieces of bridle came from a double reined bridle with two bits on it .  Hmmm.  Laurie , That's about as much as I can find , at least I can tell the "old
fella" that what he found was exactly what Herold ordered for his horse as far accoutrements were concerned.  Thanks for all of your help.
Joe   

Laurie,  I know, and I won't.  Strange how things seem to come full circle near the end of the story.  I think I mentioned this to you soon after we met.  Each time I
walked the open fields that lead to the swamp ,I would come home with a pocketful of prehistoric stone tools ,arrowheads,speartips ect.  When I asked about them,
the farmer told me the indians left them.  Then he showed me the artifacts that he collected over the past sixty-five years.  He has thousands of them.  Axes,adzes,
manos,metates,pestals,effigies and on and on.  I contacted Dr. King not long after you told me that they might be looking for these possible"Paleo sites".  I also tried to
make arrangements to take her and her team to visit the site.  After contacting and leaving phone numbers, I have yet to hear from them about visiting.  That was a
year ago.  Some good did come of it.  He gave me full access to the site and since then his collection has grown by nearly another thousand!  I collect,clean ,tag,and bag.Then I give every one back to the farmer.  Some day somebody may actualy want to see this ,that's why the collection should stay together.  But ths just me.
Laurie,I went back down to the Linden horse farm today and spoke with the equestrian instructor/historian that manages the farm.  This is what she told me after examining the stirrup and bridle parts.  The stirrup is from a ladies saddle horse.  It is an" English" iron stirrup with an approx. date mid to late 1800s.  The bridle part
came from a double reined bridle with two bits.   

I kind of moved Randal over about ten feet or so from a spot i'm interested in.  I didn't think it would be right to fill the boots of such a nice guy with a nasty funk
that can linger for days.  I easily sank fifteen inches and stepped out before the mud flowed over into my boots.  If this place was covered with water back then I
think it may have masked the odor to an extent.  In "Twenty Days " Thomas Jones was said to have gone near the place where the horses were taken and became worried when he saw the buzzards circiling over the area.  The problem with this fellow is you can't tell when he's telling the truth.  (Must be that Code of Southern Maryland thing.)   No reason not to believe that wild animals couldn't play a part as well.  During one of our "Let's scare Gleason half to death sessions", the farmer
did tell me that there are places out there where a person of my size could sink completely. I'm 6' 3". I told him ok as long as that's not the place you're taking me.
I was kind of surprised to see how small this stirrup was , but after seeing the small slender boot at Ford's Theater that belonged to Booth it made me wonder.
Wouldn't a rider need the correct size stirrup for his boot? I'll make a point stop by the horse farm this weekend.         

Bronte,  if I were using my noggin at the time, I would have backed up a few feet before I took that picture of Randal in the Zachiah Swamp.  That would have given a  better veiw of the short rolling slopes that lead from dry land into the swamp.  I'm standing on dry land taking his picture.  I should note that this area ,up until a few years ago, was completely covered with water.  If it happened, the animal could have simply fallen on it's side and sank in the mud. We can see this looking at the bases of the trees in the photo.  So on any give year, portions of the swamp that are covered may not be the next.  Although the swamp's tributaries run north to south, the swamp "sloshes" back and forth from east to west and vice versa, taking with it huge amounts of sediment and pretty much anything else in it's path. My point being that it was at one of these times when the farmer saw the eyeloop of the stirrup and pulled it from the mud near where Randal was standing.  This was nearly four years ago.  For the last two I"ve been trying to get everything I can on these horses.  That's how I ended up here.  These guys are great.  As you can tell ,there are  many opinions on this , and when you read about the horses it's no different.  That's why I keep at it.  Besides I do all of this stuff for fun.  No articles, books, no buying or selling of any relics.  Even though I am a bit partial toward the "farmers story" I still listen to the opinions of others.  Oh, and this is also a fairly remote place.  One house lies on this one thousand acre farm.  You might hear the shot, you just can't figure out where it came from.  Randal's photo was taken twenty or thirty yards into the woods after crossing the open field that leads to the swamp.  Hope this helps.  I had a hard time imagining what this place looked like until I saw it.