Sad Story of Elizabeth Carroll

I have not been able to determine who Elizabeth Carroll's parents were.
Source: The Washington Post, Feb. 17, 1907, p. 12.

Maryland Dishes for Rome

Source: New York Times, december 3, 1897, p. 1.
Virginia MacTavish was the daughter of Marcella Scott MacTavish. She and her mother lived in Rome near the Borghese Steps. Queen Margherita was the wife of Humbert I, king of Italy.

Marriage of Philip Carroll in 1923

Source: New York Times, August 14, 1923, p. 15.

Charles Carroll Robbed in 1912

Source: The Washington Post, July 10, 1912, p. 1.

Confederate Postcard Using Charles Carroll

Bertrand de Kergolay decorated as War Hero in French Army

Source: The Washington Post, February 12, 1915, p. 7.

Baron de la Grange and Bertrand Kergolay in German detention camp, 1917

Source: New York Times, November 28, 1917, p. 2.

Marriage of Mlle. de la Grange in 1908

Source: The Washington Post, August 25, 1908, p. 7.

Baron de la Grange Marriage During World War I

Baron Amaury de la Grange was the nephew of Baron Louis de la Grange and his wife, the former Anita Carroll, daughter of John Lee Carroll.

Source: The Washington Post, December 17, 1916, p. MT5.

Headline: The Romances of Rich American War Nurses: Proof that Pity Is, Akin to Love and That Cupid Finds an Easy Way Into Hearts Softend by Sympahty In These Recent Weddings of Ministering Heiresses and the War Heroes They Have Helped Back to Life and Health.

"Cupid, with the wireless of love, has linked the trenches of Champagne, the Somme and the Dardanelles to the mansions of Fifth avenue and Wahsington. Thanks to him, the romance of the great war has become international. Through him the United States is paying back some of the millions of profits ahta have come to it because of Europe's travail.. . .
In these alliances there is none of the sordid barter and sale, on the one hand, for money to replenish empty coffers, and on the other for a title, which have marred so many marriages between wealthy American women and fortune-hunting counts and dukes.
Take, for example, the romance of Emily Sloane, whose marriage a little mroe than a year agao was food for wonder in the social worlds of New York and Paris. The daughter of Henry T. Sloane, of New York, and the sister of Mrs. William Earl Dodge, who has just obtained a divorce, had been thought to have renounced all ideas of wedlock. With her sister she is heir to an estate whose value is estimated at $20,000,000. Fortune hunters and sincere admirers on two continents, in New York and Paris, had laid siege to her heart prior to 1914, but she evinced no more than ordinary interest, no matter how eligible they were.
Her early life had been saddened and embittered by the marital unhappiness of her father and mother, who were divorced, the latter becoming the wife of Perry Belmont, and among the families with which she had been intimate there was more than one which had a skeleton in the closet in the form of an unhappy international marriage which had been built on the quicksands of ambition for social presitge and need of wealth. She devoted her time chiefy to philanthropic and charitable work, although not by any means foregoing social diversions.
She was as well known in the solons of the American colony in Paris as in the villas of Lenox and the town houses of New York, and it was not unnatural that when the war broke out her sympathies should turn to France. She was foremost in the work of organizing the Lafayette fund, through which the society women of New York raised money for the manufacture of comfort kits to be sent to French soldiers.
As secretary of the organization Miss Sloane not only raised money, but herself packed kit bags, and following the rule of the organization, inclosed in them a slip bearing her name as the sender.
One of the Lafayette kit bags sent from New York fell into the hands of Baron Amaury de la Grange, lieutenant in the French army in the trenches of Champagne. He opened it and found therein a slip of paper bearing the name "Emily Sloane." The name was familiar to him. He remembered Emily Sloane as one of the talented, charming American women with whom he had danced and exchanged repartee in various social functions in the salons of Paris. Their acquaintance had been merely a pleasant one. He wrote to her thanking her for the kit, telling her what comfort her gift and the sentiment that called it into being gave him, and recalling their meetings in Paris.
She answered his letter and the desultory correspondence of the front, which feeds alike love, hope and fear began. His missives, written on scraps of paper, blurred by mud and water, told little of himself or his life in the trenches.
One day she read that he had been decorated with the Cross of War for carrying a wounded comrade out of a trench in the face of a murderous fire.
He won more than the Cross of War by that act. He won the heart of Emily Sloane, already at the point of capitulation! They met at last in a hospital where Miss Sloane was visiting and seminursing. And so she became the Baroness de la Grange."

Another article on the marriage said that Miss Sloane arrived Tuesday, September 15, 1915 and they married the following day. The Baron returned to the front on Sunday "to take up his service as a lieutenant aviator."

Death of Mary Louisa Carroll, Countess Jean de Kergolay

Source: New York Times, December 22, 1931, p. 23.

Charles Carroll given Legion of Honor

Source: New York Times, April 24, 1918, p. 13.

Sudden Death of Charles Carroll in 1921

Source: The Washington Post, October 7, 1921, p. 5.

Mr. & Mrs. Charles Carroll Celebrate 25th Anniversary

Source: The Washington Post, November 16, 1912, p. 5.

Charles Carroll Honored

Source: The Washington Post, December 1, 1912, p. 6.

Obituary for the Duchess of Leeds

Death of Count von Hussenstam

Note that the Count was on the Staff of Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph during World War I and thus directly contributing to the war effort against the Allies.

Agnes Carroll, Countess Heussenstamm, an enemy alien in World War I

The Congress passed a law allowing seizure of the property of any women married to either Germans or Austrians during World War I. As this article notes, Agnes Carroll was one, though I doubt that the war continued long enough for her property to be seized.

Address to Brazilian Foreign Minister by James Fenner Lee

James Fenner Lee married Cornelia Read Carroll after Albert Carroll's death. Brazil became a republic in 1889.

Death of the Duchess of Leeds in 1874

A tourist visits Doughoregan Manor in 1891

The Diarist, Fannie Miller, was travelling with the Shriver family of Maryland, a prominent Catholic family.

From St. Charles we drive to Doughregan Manor, the summer home of the Carroll family, who are now in Europe. The house is in colonial style of architecture, painted white, a veritable home of comfort and beauty.

Handing over our equipage to the care of an aged negro, whom I understand to have been an attaché to the servants' staff of the famous Signer, we wander around to see the conservatory and spacious, neatly-kept lawns, the fine old trees, beautifully-modeled flower plots, and, not least, the handsome chapel, where I note a slab of marble mosaicked into the wall, on the gospel side of the altar inscribed: --

Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Born Sep. 20th, 1737. Died Nov. 14th, 1832.

On religious occasions in the slave days the body of this chapel was filled with representatives of the dark race owned by the Carrolls, the pews on each side of the altar being reserved for the family and their friends.

It was a novel sensation to me to kneel and
[p. 114]
pray before the altar upon which had been laid the petitions of the brave hero who erected this shrine and was equally faithful to his country and his God.

Mention of Marchioness Wellesley , granddaughter of Charles Carroll

Historical Context: Marianne Caton Patterson married the Marquis of Wellesley in 1825 after being widowed.

"On our return from church we went, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Bates, to pay a visit to Lady Wellesley, [2] who had been for some weeks confined by indisposition to the house.
[p. 56]
This celebrated granddaughter of Charles Carroll, [1] is still a superb woman, and although thin, and pallid, by illness, possesses the remains of great beauty and charm of manner, for which latter, she is quite conspicuous. I thought her intelligent and gentle. She made several enquiries respecting the last court drawing-room, and remarked, that not being herself able to attend, "the Duke" had sent for her inspection, the diamonds, that afterwards ornamented the dress of her niece, the Marchioness of Douro, and that Mrs. Murray was occupied from early in the morning, until the hour for going to court, in sewing on the diamonds, of the boddice alone."

Paige, Harriet Story White, 1809-1863, Diary of Harriet White Paige, June, 1839, in Daniel Webster in England: Journal of Harriette Story Paige, 1839. Gray, Edward, ed.. Boston, MA: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1917, pp. 370.

Description of the inauguration of John Lee Carroll

Historical Context: Thomas Sully's portrait of the aged Charles Carroll has hung in the Maryland State House since 1834. It now hangs in the New Senate Chamber.

Source: The New York Times, January 13, 1876, p. 5.

Gov. Carroll of Maryland
Annapolis, Jan. 12--John Lee Carroll was inaugurated Governor of Maryland to-day in the Seante Chamber, in the presence of both Houses of the Legislature and the Judges of the Court of Appeals. The oath of office was administered by Chief Justice Bartol. Gov. Carroll is the grandson of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and is the thirty-seventh Governor of this State. . . . Many ladies and distinguished gentlemen were present, among them State Senators Bayard, of Delaware, and Dennis of Maryland; also, Mayor Latrobe, of Baltimore. The band from the Naval Academy furnished the music. A full-length portrait of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, by Thomas Sully, looked down upon the scene. It is probable that no more brilliant assemblage has gathered in the old Senate Chamber since the day George Washington resigned here his commission of Commander in Chief of the American Army on the 23rd of December, 1783.

Lord Hartington on the war in America in 1863

Comments of the Marquis of Hartington after returning from the United States in 1863.

Lord Hartington was one of the M.P.’s for Lancastershire, a section of England with many textile workers who suffered greatly from the “cotton famine” after the outbreak of the Civil War. Hoping to pressure England into recognizing the Confederate States as an independent nation, the Confederate government refused to sell their cotton. Historians have pointed to this as one of the initial mistakes of the Confederacy, since the millions that the cotton sales would have brought in were lost, and much cotton had to be destroyed to keep it from falling into Yankee hands. By 1862, import of cotton from America had fallen by 96%. Early in 1863, more than 500,000 people, one-fourth of the population of Lancashire, was receiving government assistance.

Lord Hartington refers to getting cotton from India, and this was obtained and replaced much of the cotton from the South. Egypt, Turkey, and Brazil also began supplying cotton. In the South, cotton would never again be king.

Lord Hartington visited in Baltimore with Confederate sympathizers, very possibly with the Carrolls and the Hulls. Eleanor Thompson’s letter to Jefferson Davis (see archives) tells us that Harper was appointed to escort Lord Hartington through the Confederacy. He may have had to escort the British peer into the Confederacy, as well, because Lord Hartington had to “run the blockade” across the Potomac to get into Virginia since he was unable to secure a pass from the Federal government. Lord Hartington’s assessment of the southern determination to win the war is eloquent and represents much of the British thinking at the time; that is, that the Union was forever severed.

Source: The Times (London), March 26, 1863, p. 7.

“It has been said that, in the few remarks which I made at Preston the other day, I took a rather gloomy view of the state of things I have seen in America. I am afraid that I do take a rather gloomy view of those events; but I am also afraid that facts justify me in doing so. I do know where to look for peace in America. I cannot look for peace to come from the Southern Confederacy. I spent a short time in the Southern Confederacy, and the result of my observation—not the result of a conversation with a few politicians, nor what I had read in violent articles in interested political papers, but in information gathered in the calm conviction of the people of that country, as expressed in their daily conversation, lives, and conduct—led me to suppose that they will never, under any circumstances, return to that Union they have learned so cordially to detest. I have seen men who have spent their whole lives in affluent circumstances and in rural pursuits, men who have led quiet and peaceable lives,--I have seen them serving as privates in regiments of their States, serving badly clothed, badly fed, perhaps hardly with shoes upon their feet; but, in spite of their previous education and peaceable habits, these men are as savage and as bloodthirsty as if they had been trained up from their very youth to delight in war. I have seen men who have lived all their lives in poverty, who you would say had nothing to lose and nothing to gain, who had no interest in slavery, but who have joined with as much readiness as those who had the ranks of the army—I have seen these men in their camps as cheerful as possible, and asking for nothing but again to be led to battle with the enemy. This is not confined alone to the men, but the women in the Confederate States appear to have changed their very nature. They scarcely stop to mourn their relations and friends deceased; but they urge on the survivors, and would refuse to own them if they should hesitate for a moment to follow the footsteps of those who had gone before them. I say such a people, animated with such feeling—call it, if you like, patriotism or bloodthirsty ferocity—I say this is not a people who are going to give in. They will fight and bleed, and will accept no compromise; they will fight to the very last. Their terms are clear and simple enough—they ask that every Northern man shall withdraw from Southern soil, and until that object is gained, they will continue to fight. They may be exterminated, driven from their cities; the enemy may occupy their strongest positions, and have possession of their rivers; but they will not come back into the Union. It is possible that they may be exterminated, but I do not think the circumstances of war give us any reason to suppose the North will be so far successful. It is not impossible that North America will fight almost to prevent the dissolution of such a magnificent future as they had hoped for, because they have not yet realized the fact that they are beaten. They have not felt as the Southerners the horrors of war at home. The war has been conducted upon Southern, and not upon Northern soil. In the great cities of the United States trade is as flourishing as ever; they have as much money and as many luxuries. The men who join the war are not so much missed as in the South. The defeats they have suffered they attribute to want of capacity in their Generals, or the maladministration of their Government. There is a party in the North favourable to the success of the South, and who have co-operated cordially with them, and now, in the reverses of the North, are beginning to speak more openly for peace. There is such a party, but I do not fall back upon it. There is, too, a party for whom I have the highest respect in the United States, who love and revere the Union, but who love and revere more the constitution under which that Union formerly existed, and who are much more attached to their own States than to the Union generally. They wish to carry on the war for the restoration of the Union, and to carry it on under the constitution; but they do not wish to see the privileges of their separate States swallowed up by the great central Government at Washington. But I do not believe that if this party were in power they would be able to carry on efficiently a war so gigantic as that now being waged. I believe the only chance is by putting an almost despotic authority in the Government. The question is whether the Democratic party will yield up their Sates rights, or whether the other party will give up their centralizing efforts. That question, I think, will soon be ended. There is the conscript law which was passed, which affects all States rights and all State privileges. If the States and the constitutional party in the States will stand by the law, the war will be indefinitely prolonged; but if they think the time has now come to make a stand for constitutional principles, I think the Government will not be able to raise the men required for the war much longer, and that issue will be within a reasonable time. I will say, in conclusion, to you, as a Lancashire man, that however long this unfortunate war my last, and however long it may be before we again receive those supplies of cotton which we need, I still have faith that Lancashire and Lancashire men will get through this crisis. (Applause.) England has proved to the world, and I think also to America, that Cotton is not King, and I think that Lancashire will have cotton from America or from Indian, and if she cannot have cotton she will have something else. Her capital is still here; her wealth and her power, buried in her coal mines, are still here; her labouring population, with strong arms and honest hearts, are still here. She has passed through other crises and trials before, and has come out stronger; and I have faith that she will come out of this, poorer indeed in gold, but I believe stronger in the confidence she has in her people, and richer in lessons of wisdom and experience. (Loud applause.)

John Lee Carroll & Jousting

Believe it or not, jousting was made the state sport of Maryland in 1962. Though jousts were held in Maryland and Virginia since colonial times, the era of modern jousting in Maryland began with William Gilmor (of the family that would produce famed cavalryman, Harry Gilmor.) Gilmor had witnessed the famed Eglington Tournament in Scotland in 1839 and in the following year, hosted a tournament at his estate outside Baltimore. Tournaments were held at Doughoregan when the Carrolls were children, and the sport was ideal for Marylanders who cherished the novels of Sir Walter Scott and the notion of the knightly chivalry. The language of chivalry was repeatedly used throughout the Civil War; for example, Harper's commander, Jeb Stuart, was referred to as the "plumed knight" for the feather in his hat. So great was the infatuation of the southerner with Scott's "dreams and phantoms" that Mark Twain claimed there would not have been a Civil War without him. The tournaments became especially popular in the South after the Civil War as a way of honoring the Confederacy and what the "knights in gray" perceived to be the ideals that motivated that war.

The Yachting Carroll Brothers

Source: The New York Times, April 19, 1890, p. 5.

Marriage of Mary Ellen Carroll in Paris

It shows how large a percentage of the family was living in Paris that the wedding was held in that city. Source: The New York Times, April 27, 1897, p. 7.

Charles Carroll and the "Dandy Fifth" Regiment of Maryland Infantry

Harper just confirmed for me that his grandfather, Charles Carroll, was in the 5th Maryland Regiment during the Spanish American War. The regiment was assembled first at the Pimlico Race-track with the soldiers "messing" under the stands, and spent most of the very brief war at camp in Chickamauga, Ga. near the old battlefield before being sent to Tampa on June 5th. They were in Tampa when the armistice was signed and then sent to Huntsville, Alabama before being mustered out in Baltimore on October 22, 1898, six months after they formed. I have found an old newsreel of the "Dandy Fifth" (so-called because of its many wealthy members) of the regiment marching at a parade to honor Admiral Dewey in 1900. I don't know if your ancestor is among them, but it is worth a look.
http://www.hellobaltimore.com/baltimore/images/dandy%20fifth.mpeg

Obituary of Thomas Sim Lee, 1902

Historical Context: Thomas Sim Lee was Harper Carroll's father-in-law, father of Mary Digges Lee.
Source: Clipping from The Valley Register is the Frederick Historical Society, June 13, 1902.

China from John Lee Carroll winds up with descendant of Patrick Henry

Historical context: This article was on a web site called "Richmond Then and Now" and does not give the date of the article's publication. The oldest Thompson girl, Margaret, married Paul Jones Carrington, and this may be how some of the Carroll china wound up with the Henry/Carrington family.


Richmond Times-Dispatch Circa 1935
Antique Secretary Was Desk of Patrick Henry

Antique Secretary Was Desk of Patrick Henry
By Jay-Bee

Antique Virginian furniture, as such, "just ain't" quoths our Franklin Street dealer-collector, "for the reason that Virginia was an agricultural settlement and not given to the handicrafts," but---,Few indeed are the persons, however much they may be sticklers for authenticity, who would deprive a cherished possession of Patrick Henry of the right to assume the title of "Virginia antique." Such historic lineage carries with it the same sort of poetic license which countenances the bestowing of the "colonel" and "captain" flourishes so dear to our Southern salutatorians.
All of which is merely by way of introduction to an old, old "secretary" or combination writing desk, bookcase and drawers which is housed under a Richmond roof, the possession of descendants of the great orator and patriot.
(I have omitted details of the furniture)
Alexander Spotswood Henry, son of Patrick Henry, inherited the secretary from his father, and it remained in the Lynchburg home of the former for several decades. Later it passed to Alexander's daughter, Sarah Winston Henry, who became the bride of Dr. George Cabell Carrington of Halifax Courthouse, Va.
Now it is the prized possession of Mrs. Richard Bruce Carrington of 1008 West Forth-third Street, Forest Hill, widow of the great-grandson of Patrick Henry.
Old China From the Baltimore Carroll's
Mrs. Carrington uses the bookcase of the old secretary to display to advantage some rare old china plates which came into her possession from the estate of former Governor John Carroll of Maryland. The old plate was made in England and carries the old English "C" of he Carroll name prominently in the center of the pieces. . . .
Other relics of the famous Henry and Carroll menages which have come down through the years to Mrs. Carrington include some valuable old portieres which she is still using in her Forest Hill home, and some rare and ancient chinaware depicting Martha Washington and Mount Vernon in delicate colors.

Story about Susan Thompson Hull's attempt to help a rebel caught spying

Though this story is not signed by Susan Hull, the style of writing is very much her own.

Augusta: "John M'Cue, a Typical Southern Boy," by Unknown, 1912
Summary: Following the death of John McCue, this account was sent to the Confederate Veteran regarding McCue's involvement in the Civil War. The story tells of McCue's fervent desire to be a soldier, despite his tender age, his experience in combat, and trial for espionage while in Baltimore, Maryland.
[The following was in an unsigned letter from Baltimore.]
The death and burial at Staunton, Va., of John McCue, a well-known engineer and member of one of the first families of the Old Dominion, recall to many old residents of Baltimore an interesting trial by court-martial in this city in Civil War times. As a boy of fifteen and a Confederate soldier he was tried for his life as a spy.
When the war broke out, the spirit of the South of '61 beat high in the breast of young John McCue; but he was a mere boy -- twelve years old -- and his father, Capt. John McCue, Sr., who was in the Confederate army, forbade the boy enlisting. To "keep him out of trouble" young McCue was sent to the Virginia Military Institute, where it was thought the gray uniform and drilling would be sufficient to satisfy his military appetite.
The war dragged on, class after class of sturdy youngsters left the institute to join the Southern army, but still John McCue was too young. Then came the dark days of 1864, when the beautiful Valley of the Shenandoah was overrun with the blue troopers. In those days in Virginia boys became men in a day, and the Virginia Military Institute cadets were ordered to join the little army gathered to oppose the march of the invaders. They fought at New Market, and historian and poet have told how those boys charged up to the muzzles of the Federal cannon, bayoneted the gunners, and planted their little flag on the battery.
But the fame won by the cadets on the field of New Market was denied John McCue. When the cadets marched to meet the foe, they left at the institute a dozen weeping boys, including John McCue, too small even to march with them. That was the last straw. A few weeks later there rode into the camp of Mosby's Rangers -- Mosby, "the guerrilla" -- a mite of a boy on a pony almost as small. John McCue had run away from school. "I want to enlist" stammered the stranger.
A roar of laughter went up from the hardened veterans of many a fight, and the lad's face turned purple.
"Where're your arms?" asked a ranger, looking serious.
"I've got a pistol," said McCue, producing a toy such as boys used to burn powder on the Fourth of July.
There was another shout of laughter, and Judge Dorsey, of Howard County, one of the rangers, said "My boy, if you shot me with that, I'd think a mosquito had bitten me."
But the rangers knew a man when they saw one, no matter what his age and size, and John McCue was allowed to stay with the band to "show his mettle." He did not have long to wait. When the Rebel yell rang out on the valley air and the Colts began to pop, John McCue rode in the front rank of gray. In the melee he rode up to a Federal cavalryman, thrust his tiny pistol in the man's face, and shouted, "Surrender!" and five minutes later, mounted on a bay horse branded "U. S.," and with carbine slung over his shoulder and a big Colt in hand, John McCue joined in the chase.
CAPTURED IN MARYLAND.
Soon afterwards McCue and several comrades were scouting in Maryland, when they ran full tilt into a party of Federals. In the fight McCue was knocked from his horse, and after a struggle was helpless in the grasp of a big soldier in blue. He was brought to Baltimore and locked up in Fort McHenry to be tried for his life as a spy. At that time his father, Captain McCue, was a prisoner of war in Fort Delaware, and he wrote to Mrs. Robert Hull, of Baltimore, to try to save his boy. She went at once to Captain Wigel, provost marshal of Baltimore, and explained the case to him, asking permission to employ a lawyer to defend McCue. Captain Wigel gave her the permission, but advised her not to employ a "secesh lawyer." Frederick Bruen; a Southern sympathizer, offered his service to defend the boy; but Mrs. Hull finally secured the services of Milton Whitney, of Baltimore, famous as a criminal lawyer.
Mrs. Hull was permitted to summon witnesses for the boy, but the only one she could secure was his father, who was brought from Fort Delaware under guard. Believing that the boy would be executed, Mrs. Hull summoned his father, so he could say good-by to him.
On the stand in his defense young McCue exhibited superb courage, claiming that he was a Confederate soldier and not a spy. He old the court he would answer any question about himself, but none about his comrades.
When the last day of the .trial came, Mrs. Hull had given up hope. Addressing the court, Mr. Whitney began to make an appeal for mercy, and said that young McCue had been "conscripted."
Hardly had he uttered the obnoxious word when McCue jumped to his feet, stopped Mr. Whitney, and shouted: "I was not conscripted I ran away from school to join the army. Take me out and shoot me now, but don't tell my people I said I was conscripted."
That ended the trial, and Mr. Whitney turned away in despair. As the boy was taken back to prison to await sentence he said to Mrs. Hull: "Ask them not to shoot me in the face. My mother hasn't seen me for so long she would not know me."
By the stand of one member of the court-martial, Colonel Bowman, the boy's life was saved, but he was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor. Some time after the war young McCue's family and Colonel Bowman interested General Grant in the case, and John McCue was pardoned. While in prison McCue was set to work making nails. The knowledge he learned there stood him in good stead, for later he entered the nail business and was connected with a large nail manufacturing company at Iron Gate, Va. At the time of his death he was engaged in engineering work in Canada.
Bibliographic Information: Source copy consulted: "John M'Cue, a Typical Southern Boy," Confederate Veteran, Volume XX, 1912, pages 116-117.

Charles Carroll helps Confederate prisoner escape July, 1862

Historical Context: The article refers to Charles Carroll and his wife being at Carrollton, but they were likely in the country at Doughoregan. The pro-Confederate sympathies of Baltimore are clearly displayed in this article thirty years after the war. Laurel, Maryland is in Prince George's County, the county adjoining Howard County. Col. Alexander's home would have been approximately ten miles from Harper Carroll's home, Homewood.
After Alexander's escape from Ft. Henry (aided and abetted by Charles Carroll) he became commandant of Castle Thunder prison in Richmond, a position that made him hero to some, villain to others. It was because of this wartime activity that he had to flee to Canada to wait until wartime passions cooled.

From the Baltimore Sun, 2/22/1895
A BRAVE CONFEDERATE. Death of Col. George W. Alexander at Laurel, Md. QUIET CLOSE OF A NOTABLE CAREER. Sketch of Dashing Exploits on the Water and on Land - The Daring Plan to Capture the Pawnee - Bold Escape from a Military Prison - Other Experiences.
[Special Correspondence of Baltimore Sun.]
LAUREL, MD., Feb. 21. - Among a large circle of friends the news of the death of Col. George W. Alexander, at his residence, in Laurel, Md., yesterday, of paralysis, will be received with deep regret. For some years past his strength had been impaired by successive strokes of paralysis. Each stroke lessened greatly the sum total of his resources for the battle of life, but his spirit was untouched, and to the end he bore his prolonged physical sufferings with resolute cheerfulness. Indomitable vigor, courage and fortitude were his characteristics, and these traits were displayed in the sad drama of the sick-room as forcibly as they had been in the stirring scenes of his early life. He was sixty-six years of age, and was born at Francisville, Pa. Early in June, 1861, he was elected first lieutenant of a company of Confederate soldiers. He was subsequently promoted to the rank of captain and then colonel in the Army of Northern Virginia. He was a member of the Society of the Army and Navy of the Confederate States of Maryland. He will be buried Friday, 1 P. M., from St. Phillip’s Protestant Episcopal Church, Laurel.
An Adventurous Life.
Before the war he was appointed an assistant engineer in the United States Navy Oct. 31, 1848, and remained in he service till April 6[?], 1861, when, after several promotions, he resigned to take command of an expedition fitted out by Baltimore merchants to recapture Sombrero, an island of the West Indies, which had been taken from them by certain New Yorkers. The island is now valueless, but was then of importance on account of the deposits of guano it contained.
The vessel sailed for its destination under Alexander’s command, but was wrecked in a storm near Point Lookout. The crew was hospitably received by the Thomas family at their Mattaponi residence. Here Alexander met Richard Thomas, an adventurous spirit, who had served under Garibaldi in his Sicilian campaign. On the 15th of June they went to Baltimore together to enlist men for the Confederate service. A company of 62 was raised and taken on two steamers of the Patuxent line to Millstone Landing. On reaching the Mattaponi estate they were organized and drilled as a company of Zouaves. Richard Thomas was Captain, George W. Alexander first lieutenant, J. W. Torsch second lieutenant, and Frank Parsons third lieutenant.
The people about Mattaponi were heart and soul with the Maryland Confederates, but the increasing vigilance of the Federal government made it dangerous for them to remain long in Maryland. They must cross the Potomac into Virginia. A large swineboat was the only craft available. It was hauled sixteen miles across the isthmus by ten yoke of oxen. On the way it got stuck in the mud near a church where preaching was in progress. Alexander requested the preacher to “let up” in his sermon so that the congregation might help the boat. The preacher refused, but Alexander insisted, and the people settled the matter by trooping out to the scene of difficulty. Putting their shoulders to the wheel they soon set the team on its way. Arrived at the river, they improvised sails and rigging and started to cross at 11 P. M. A passing federal gunboat patrolling the river frightened them back, and it was 1 A. M. before they finally got off. A landing was made at Machodoc Creek.
Planning the Pawnee’s Capture.
Governor Letcher received the Marylanders cordially and assented readily to a plan conceived by Thomas to capture the warship Pawnee, then lying at anchor in the Potomac off Alexandria. His idea was to seize first one of the steamers plying between Baltimore and Washington and to board the Pawnee while the mail was being delivered from this steamer on board the warship. With money obtained from Governor Letcher, Thomas went to Philadelphia and obtained a supply of Sharp’s rifles and revolvers, which he directed to be shipped to Baltimore. On June 28, with eight men, he took passage at Baltimore on the St. Nicholas, (Captain Kirwin,) for Washington. At Point Lookout Lieutenant Alexander, with eight well-armed men, disguised as passengers, came aboard, according to a pre-arranged plan, having crossed the Potomac at Bly Creek. The Lieutenant found Thomas in a cabin disguised as a French lady, and received from him the keys to the trunks in which the arms were concealed. Retiring then to his stateroom Thomas donned his uniform, and slipping down the stanchion outside to the waterdeck gave the signal, per a chi, to his men. Within five minutes the captain, pilot, and engineer were looking into the muzzles of pistols and submitted. Lights were put out and the St. Nicholas was headed for Coon river, where, at midnight, Captain Hollins, of the Confederate States Navy, came aboard to direct subsequent operations. It was part of the plan that Colonel Bates, with the First Tennessee should come aboard at the same time and take part in the attack on the Pawnee. He did not arrive until noon next day, and this delay caused the expedition to be abandoned. The St. Nicholas had missed her regular trip and was already an object of suspicion. She was accordingly headed for the bay, where she captured three vessels laden with coffee, ice and coal, worth $400,000, which she took up the Rappahannock to Fredericksburg. The prisoners were taken to Richmond, where Thomas was promoted to colonel and Alexander brevetted captain.
Escape from Fort McHenry.
In the July following Colonel Thomas, with Captain Alexander and Lieutenant Blackston, in a second expedition captured the Georgeanna. At Millstone Landing Thomas, assuming a disguise, took passage in the Mary Washington for Baltimore to cash a draft given him by Governor Letcher, but was recognized by Captain Kirwin, who happened to be a passenger, and was arrested. Alexander, hearing of this mishap, tried to escape with his men from the Eastern Shore to Virginia, but was taken. He and Thomas were indicted for treason and piracy and were shut up in Fort McHenry to await trial. A sentinel one day exhibiting undue “impudence” they together set upon him and beat him, for which they had six weeks, with bread and water, in an underground cell. After their removal from the cell Alexander resolved to try to escape. His wife had just arrived from Richmond, having crossed the Potomac at night in a small boat in such weather as would have kept most men ashore. By an order of the Secretary of War she was permitted to visit her husband daily. A plan was formed. She brought him a life-preserver in the form of a waistcoat and clothes-line, both concealed under her hoop-skirt. Standing near the corner of the cell she cut the string that supported the waistcoat and line and kicked them under the cot. She had brought also a letter-head which depicted Fort McHenry and its surroundings. On this, after careful observation, she had dotted in blue ink the positions of the various sentinels about the fort. It was a Saturday. She made Alexander promise he would wait till Monday, so she might see him again before he should make his perilous attempt. And so they parted. But as twilight came on Alexander resolved to escape that very night and be his own messenger to his wife. About dark, Colonel Thomas left the cell ad walked up and down with the guard in front of the door. Meanwhile Alexander arranged his bed so that it would seem to be occupied, and, getting behind the door, put on the life-preserver and over that a Federal uniform his wife had also brought him. Stepping, then, to the door as the guard’s back was turned, he moved briskly forward. Meeting the guard as he returned on his beat, Alexander saluted him and was saluted in turn, the guard not suspecting his identity. The mortar batteries that had been erected to fire on Baltimore in case of need were soon reached. In passing one of them he knocked down a crow-bar. It fell with a clang, so loud that the fugitive thought all the bells of Baltimore had struck. He hurried the faster to the rampart on the Patapsco side. The height was considerable and the clothes-line was provided for this place, but he had forgotten it. There was nothing to do but to jump. Jump he did and landed on hard ground. Attempting to rise he found his right leg and shoulder badly injured. But with some effort he crawled into the water and eluded the guard who was passing. The cold water lessened his pain, but the sky was black and the wind was roughening the Patapsco. When at length he inflated his life-preserver and struck out, weak and faint, his prospect of seeing his wife ____ seemed a gloomy one.
He swam, however, with such speed as he could, and after two and a half hours reached land at a point near Riverside Park and crawled to where he saw a light.
It shone from the window of a cabin, and in the door sat an old man. “Badly hurt” was his reply to inquiries, and he was carried into the house by the old man and his daughters. Presently the girls recognized him, for they had seen him at the fort. The old man at once said Alexander must go. His property would be confiscated if an escaped prisoner were found harbored there. But the girls interceded for him and at length prevailed upon their father to get a buggy and take him elsewhere. They themselves got into the buggy and concealed him with their skirts as he lay in the bottom of the vehicle. He was taken first to the house of W. H. Norris. He was then taken in a carriage by Owen Norris to Hoffman street, where he saw his wife for a moment, and thence to the home of E. Law Rogers, where, at 4 P. M., he had the services of a surgeon. Later he was taken to Carrollton, where CHARLES CARROLL and wife received him with the utmost kindness.
There was an offer of $10,000 for his capture.
When able to move Frank Key drove him in a buggy to a point below Fort Washington, where, in company with Lieutenant Durbott[?], he crossed the Potomac, eluding the gunboat that passed and repassed as they lay above on the bank awaiting their chance.
Appointed Provost Marshal.
Soon after Lieutenant Alexander was appointed provost marshal of the eastern district of Virginia, where he did good service in preserving order in the Confederate capital. Among his various duties was the management of Castle Thunder, which he brought into the best condition the resources of the Confederacy would permit. Colonel Alexander’s talents as an executive were here admirably exhibited, and President Davis on more than one occasion owed his safety to the vigor and foresight the “provost marshal of Richmond” brought to his office.
After the War.
After the civil war Colonel Alexander went to Canada, where he taught French in a college till it was safe to return home. For many years he resided in Baltimore, with great success putting his scientific education and executive ability to use in his business as sanitary engineer. During the last years of his life, after he became physically incapable of business, he resided in Laurel, Md., where he died. He leaves a widow, who shared fully with him his perils, his successes and his sorrows, and is one of the sweetest heroines of the civil war.

More letters from the Lee family

Lee Family Papers

I discovered these in the Frederick County Historical Society and believe them to be copies of letters found in the Maryland Historical Society, but have not yet been able to confirm this. They are written to or by the Lee family of Needwood, near Frederick, Maryland. Most interesting from the point of view of the Harper Carroll project is the April 18, 1865 letter about the assassination of Lincoln, and the September 16, 1865 letter from Mary Letterman to her brother Thomas Sim Lee mentioning Harper Carroll had been made a widower.

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Historical Context: Though not yet the great hero he was to become in the Mexican-American War, Winfield Scott was well-enough thought of in military circles to be made general-in-chief of the American army in 1841. This letter makes clear he and Lee had a personal friendship, one that may have been formed during John Lee’s military career. Scott’s daughter, Marcella, married into the Carroll-Lee clan when she married Charles Carroll McTavish, great-grandson of Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Whist is a card game played between two sets of partners that was popular in the 18^th and 19^th century.

General Winfield Scott to John Lee at Needwood, January, 1840

“I arranged to call this morning, but only got away from the War Office and ½ past 3. I have called to ask you up, with the hope of a good game of whist. Join us as soon as you may.”

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Historical Context: Henry Clay of Kentucky was selected by the Whigs to be their presidential candidate in 1844. Clay had long advocated the Whig agenda of internal improvements and a protective tariff for America’s fledgling industries. Despite Lee’s assurance of Maryland’s support, Maryland’s vote went against Clay. Democrat James K. Polk won a narrow victory, having attracted critical votes in New York for his expansionist policies, particularly his desire to annex Texas. Though he ran for the presidency five times, Clay’s political ambitions in that regard were never realized, despite a distinguished record of leadership in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Governor Seward to whom Lee refers was William Seward, who had served two terms as the Whig governor of New York from 1838-1842. With the decline of the Whig party, Seward joined the new Republican Party. He would later become Lincoln’s Secretary of State and issue many of the orders for the arrest of pro-South Marylanders. The Native American party was the Know-Nothing Party, an anti-immigrant organization that sprung up out of fears that American cities were being overwhelmed by Irish Catholics.

John Lee at Needwood to Henry Clay, Ashland, Kentucky October 21, 1844

“In my return home yesterday from Baltimore, where business called me for a day, I had the pleasure to find your letter of the 13^th inst. With its enclosure—I return today to Baltimore and shall proceed immediately on to New York—It is probably that I may meet with Govr. Seward in the city, as there is to be a great political gathering on the 23d inst. To which the Whigs of the Union are invited--& I learn will attend in great numbers—If he should not be there, I shall ascertain his locality that I may at the earliest moment have a personal interview with him—In the course of my journey, if any thing of interest occurs, I will write to you—

In Baltimore on the 18^th I saw Genl. Scott, that evening from Washington—He stated that he had been told in the course of the day at Washington by a distinguished Democrat that the Democratic Party in Massachusetts, Vermont and New York, &c would withdraw their Electoral ticket & support the Abolition ticket, in the event of their ascertaining that the Native American Party in New York had decided to vote for the Whig Electoral ticket—that a mutual agreement between the Whigs & Natives would justify a coalition between the democrats & Abolitionists--& that the consummation of such an arrangement was intended to defeat an election by the people, & devolve the choice of the President on the House of Representatives,--He appeared to think that this project was the latest suggestion among the leaders in Washington—

I communicate this statement,--although I deem the project impracticable;--as well from a want of time to perfect the plan, as from its open account of abandoning all principle and decency—

The intelligence from Virginia is highly encouraging,--& our friends are being sanguine in Pennsylvania—In this Sate I think there can be no reasonable doubt of the result—It is conceded by all that your vote will greatly exceed that given for Governor—We do not relax our efforts & the party is well organized throughout the State—

You have heard, I suppose, that Barrow has a bet of $5000—with Proffit on the general result.

With my best regards to Mrs. Clay

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Historical Context: In 1848, Zachary Taylor won the Whig nomination for president, despite Lee’s efforts to secure the nomination for Clay. Taylor, a hero of the Mexican War, was elected president and died soon after, leaving Millard Fillmore to inherit the presidency. During the short time he was in office, Taylor virtually repudiated the Whig economic program of internal improvements and a high tariff.

John Lee at Needwood to Henry Clay in Lexington, Kentucky, May 15, 1848

“You will have seen by the proceedings of our Whig State Convention that we adopted a resolution, offered reluctantly by a decided Taylor delegate, declaring that you were the first choice of the Whigs of Maryland, & Gen. Taylor their second choice.

I demanded that the sense of the Convention should be taken separately on the two branches of this resolution—which was strongly resisted—The first proposition that you were the choice of the State was carried unanimously--& the second by a bare majority of 54 to 49—being the full vote of the Convention—

So that the eight votes from Maryland in the National Convention are pledged to you—I hope you will maintain your present position—It was stated in the private meeting of the Convention by the same Taylor member that one of the Kentucky Senators had written to you to withdraw your name, as the chance was hopeless—I expressed my doubts of the fact, and the assertion was positively repeated—All the indications, I think, are favourable to your nomination and election…”

Historical Context: It is clear from this fragment of a letter than Winfield Scott had a financial embarrassment and several friends had assumed some of his debt, one of whom was John Lee.

“You may think you are at work for a friend without being found out; but you are mistaken. I know that you have gained over to my bill some 5 or 6 notes & I should not be surprised if you gained as many more. I am overwhelmed with my obligations to some half dozen friends. I am informed you are one….

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Historical Context: Harriet Carroll Lee was the sister to Charles Carroll of Doughoregan and wife to John Lee. Her son Thomas Sim Lee was in Rome studying for the priesthood. (See archives for more on this family.) Harriet Lee’s letter gives an interesting account of life in rural Maryland in 1864. She refers to her plan to free her “servants” (slaves) ultimately; indeed, the legislature of Maryland would take care of that for her in the fall, passing an act of Emancipation. Harriet’s daughter Mary had married Joseph Letterman, considered to be “the father of modern battlefield medicine” and her son Charles was a surgeon, first in the field, then in Washington at the office of the Surgeon General. She evinces a desire to move to Philadelphia, the home of her mother’s family, the Chews. A letter from Mary Digges Lee Letterman in the archives indicates that she eventually accomplished this move.

According to “All the Needwoods Owned by the 2^nd Governor of Maryland Thomas Sim Lee and Others” by Paul and Rita Gordon, at the Frederick County Historical Society, “Old Needwood” had fallen into such debt by 1824 that John Lee was forced by his debtors to transfer ownership of the property to trustees. Though the couple was allowed lifetime possession, their financial woes continued, for on March 13, 1846, there was a sheriff’s sale of some of their property. Harriet’s wealthy mother, Harriet Chew Carroll, rescued her daughter by paying off the sheriff and other debtors and deeding to property to her daughter; significantly, not both her daughter and son-in-law. Though John Lee was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from Frederick as late as 1851, he later moved to Washington and died there in 1871. The pamphlet on “All the Needwoods” notes that on August 4, 1864, Michael D. Fout bought the home and 144 acres of land from the trustee representing Harriet Carroll Lee. It remained in Fout’s possession until 1894 when it was purchased by William Enniss, who owned it for the next twenty years.

Harriett Lee to her son Thomas Sim Lee, June 12, 1864.

“Last month I wrote you, enclosing a draft for $230, which about this time, I conclude, will safely reach you. In that letter (of May 3^rd) I mentioned the prospect there was of a good offer for the farm, a person of wealth in Balto., who was well known to Trustee Mr. McAleer. He did not however purchase, (Mr. Doughterty,) on account of its inconvenient distance from his business, in Balto. Then other persons applied, and two residents of the county here, Messrs. Ahalt and Fout having made the best offer and agreed to have a safe investment on the land, have purchased it for $102.50 per acre all round, giving as much for the mountain land as for the cleared land. It is considered a safe & judicious sale by our friends here Ella and Outerbridge (Horsey) who have much experience of such matters. All here have now greatly increased difficulties to encounter in farming, the repeated Drafts of the War, having made white labor very scarce & very high, and the servants throughout the State being made restless and unsettled by the disorganized condition of the country, liable at any moment to be drafted or emancipated, as the politicians of the hour may decide and yet no decision made. This state of the affairs of Maryland rendered the dependence of farmers on servants working their land, very precarious, of course, and in consequence hundreds of farms have been sold throughout the state. In view of this unsettled condition of affairs here, & things likely to get worse, I concluded, if a safe arrangement could be effected, to make an entire change of investment for now that my children are settle in life, each having chosen a pursuit, it was useless to hope that either could remain here, and alone I could not continue, burthened by the heavy cares which my increasing years are now rendering still more trying to health & endurance. When our good and kind friend Mackey was with me she said, oh Mrs. Lee, I hope the time will come up when you will be released from all these cares and have time for your soul. That is now my hope, and in August, when I leave here, I want to secure rooms in a quiet neighborhood by the Cathedral in Logan Square Philada., Mary & Dr. Letterman being for the present in that City and Charles and his wife able occasionally to go there for the present at least. When Mary was last with me, we talked over our prospects, and agreed how delightful it would be if she & I can go over to see you in Rome! That is my earnest hope & desire, and forms the bright spot in the present arrangements, whilst continuing to farm here, it seemed wholly out of the question. Dr. Letterman hopes to be able to go after the War, but if Mary & I can effect it, we shall not wait, most assuredly,--and the coming winter or Spring will enable us to judge better, of its practicality. In a few days now, I am expecting Charley & Helen on a visit here, they having been unable to come up from his press of business in the office of the Surgeon Genl. At Wash., and Mary’s letter of a day or two since tells me Dr. Letterman has just received orders for West Point, whither & she has accompanied him & where he is on the Surgical Board for the Examination of the Cadet Academy. It is impossible for officers of the Army to count on their own time, as they must, in honor, hold themselves ready to go anywhere, at any time they are ordered, especially during this unfortunate war time—so they may be unable to come on here, even next month. I do not give up the property now, retaining possession until August 1^st, and then going on to secure rooms in Phila. But continue to address me here as usual (for I will make arrangements with the Postman at Burkittsville to secure all my letters) until I can write to you a settled address. It is a satisfaction to know, that the Turstee Mr. McAleer, (who) has the securing & investing safely of the property is considered one of the best businessmen in the State (Outerbridge says there is not better) and he has taken great pains to secure a safe investment for all the amounts when paid in, & we shall receive 6 percent for all, the land being a security for a part of the payment & interest being regularly due from it—the whole amount of growing crops, stock, and land, is expected to be near $50,000 and perhaps fully that, so I trust we shall all be more comfortable than hitherto, and I have made all the necessary calculations, to send the same amounts as hitherto, to my children and their father. I was anxious to provide good places for the servants, and they have a prospect which they seem to like much, Beck & Sarah having been engaged at good wages to remain here with the family who will come, on my leaving here in August, and the others being promised employment in the neighborhood. I have told them all, that I shall give them their liberty ultimately, and they will all do well I think, tho(ugh) two have walked off, John, and Tobias, and coolly hired themselves in the neighborhood, I hear—the laws at the same time still being unchanged, and the convention not having abrogated the provision of the state as to slavery—so this gives some idea of the little amount of law or order left, in this once tranquil & orderly country. I said truly to one of our neighbors this morning that ‘I prayed for the day when I would be freed from my slaves’ for the miserable convention that has long sitting in Balto., neither leaves them in obedience to their rulers, nor emancipates them,--so, many of them in City and country, are in a very inconsequent and turbulent state of transition. Mine have all been behaving very well to me personally, and last Sunday I had the satisfaction of taking a small class forward, at church, to make their first Communion, whom the attending clergyman spoke of as being well & carefully prepared for a Father. Father M’Atce was the Priest of that day, dent out to us from Fredk.—a very zealous earnest & impressive young Priest, our former attending to Father Tussfes being absent at Alexandria for a time. Give my best respects to Rev. Mr. McClosky & Dr. Chartard. I always read eagerly all accounts in the papers dating from Rome. Today I see it is officially announced that Bishop Spaulding is nominated as Archbishop of Balto., where no doubt he will be very acceptable. Are you quite well my beloved Son? Tell me all about your own health—please take good care of your teeth. I want you to keep in mind that much health & comfort depends on this. Use the brush & cold water abundantly to them before retiring every night.”

Historical Context: Elly was Charles Lee’s wife, Helen. It is interesting that Mrs. Lee addresses her daughter in the Quaker manner, with thee and thy.

Lincoln was shot shortly after 10 p.m. on April 14 and died at 7:22 a.m. the following morning. When Mrs. Lee wrote the letter, he had been lying in state at the White House and was just beginning the two week trip to Springfield, Illinois for burial.

The letter begins with an account of Elly’s illness, which I have omitted.

Mrs. Harriet Carroll to Mary Digges Lee Letterman from Georgetown, April 18, 1865

“We have been so engrossed with the awful calamity which has befallen our country that there has been but little else talked about since its occurrence. Everyone seems stunned and the sense of the loss which the South as well as the North has sustained is just now the prevailing feeling and clouds even the dreadful anticipations for the future. Seventh day was a sad day here. Everyone who called and all who were in the house from the parlor and the kitchen shared in the feeling of one common loss. I think I shall never forget the night on which it occurred. I had just laid little Sally down after feeding her at about one o’clock when I heard an orderly on horseback call to a Major Smith who lives next door to us--and give the awful intelligence—I scarcely slept thro’ the night as messengers were coming to and from for several hours—and as it was bright moonlight I could see as well as hear.

I was afraid to call Charley lest I might disturb Elly, but I found afterwards that she had heard enough to keep her awake and give her a fatiguing day afterwards.

Truly the South have (sic) lost their best friend. A number in this place who are sympathizers with the South, now feel it to be so—and a gentleman of that class, I understand, remarked that if he found the South had conspired to the awful deed, he would never have anything to do with them again.

I have some little idea of going in tomorrow. I did not think of it till yesterday. Mrs. Simpson called and invited me to ride in with her and have a view of the procession from Gen. Brice’s office and altho’ I never was very desirous to see processions, yet on this occasion which will form such a fearful and momentous page in the history of the Rebellion and occur country Elly thinks, and perhaps rightly, that I will regret it afterwards, if I do not avail myself of so favorable an opportunity. Some persons think that there are traitors in the City and look forward with apprehension tomorrow.

One of the young ladies has just returned from Washington and says that the procession to see the remains is a mile long and the streets crowded.

Truly a good man has been taken from us—and all our feelings are absorbed in the thought of what may be the consequence.”

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Historical Context: After leaving the military in December, 1864, Dr. and Mrs. Jonathan Letterman moved to California. Though he would later return to medicine, practicing in San Francisco and acting as coroner, he seems to have decided to try to strike it rich in oil first. Notice the reference to Harper Carroll.

Letter from Maryl D. Letterman to Thomas Sim Lee in Rome, September 16, 1865

“I wrote you a long letter from Santa Barbara on the 12^th of July last, & wrote to the Father Rector on the 27^th of the same month, so that you are supposed to know all about my temporary home. I left there about a fortnight since to spend a month in this City, partly for change of air, as I was not well and at the end of that time I am to join Dr. Letterman at the ranch where he is still hard at work boring for Petroleum. I shall be glad to get to my journey’s end & to be with my husband, whom I have only been able to see once a fortnight, since I came to Cala. For by necessity (we live) five miles apart. The Ranch on which we are going to live was the first place from which gold was exported, & is still rich in metal, tho’ there are not the necessary facilities for washing the ore. The oil is there in great quantities in surface springs, but the boring for a well, is very tedious. It is such a remote spot, they often have to wait a long time for the proper machinery, tools & pipes & the latter have caved in time so that there is full trial of one’s fathe and patience. Whe shall have only one neighbor—a Mexican gentleman, former owner of the property—he is very pious and has Mass at his house once a moth—the Church and the Post office are 35 miles off at San Buena Ventina—Santa Barbara County. Of course there will be some hardships—for instance servants will leave you at a moment’s notice& you must send up here, to get another, who will perhaps stay a month, & then wish to live in Town! But one must have some troubles, & while I have a good kind husband, who does every thing on earth to try to make me happy, I am grateful for my blessings. I wish I could give you some adequate idea of this wonderful interesting country. When I first came to San Francisco, I measured it by Eastern cities, and was disappointed. But now I am fresh from a country about 50 years behind the rest of the states & have seen the native Californians, part Indian, part Negro, and part Spaniard. And knowing this indolent inefficient union provable race, I am struck with admiration at the energy & enterprise of our countrymen who in fifteen years have built up a prosperous important city on these barren land hills, surrounded with gardens, fruits of all kinds of enormous size, & a fair share of every luxury convenience, for those who can afford to pay large prices. The climate is much more bracing than where we live, & but for the trade winds (which blow from May till October, & render it very unpleasant to be out from 11 a.m. until near Sundown) it should be delightful. The Jesuits have a flourishing College & Church where I heard an excellent sermon from Father Villesses. They are keeping the Jubilee this month & I get round in the morning to the Cathedral, where the good & gentle Archbishop is a model of piety to his lost congregation—I am much impressed by the number of men in Church here.

Your little god child grows & thrives, she is a blended likeness of both Parents, but most like her Father in her silent but warm temperament. I cannot tell you my dearest Brother how often I think of you & hope it may be God’s will that I shall see you once more. I know if anything prevents this, you will always take an interest in my little child, & pray for her Father’s conversion. When you write tell me all about your pursuits, your health, & who are your most intimate friends. All this is deeply interesting to me. How I long to see you a Priest with all the blessings & privileges of that state of life. I feel besides the benefit to yourself, you can do so much for us all & for those who have gone before on the long journey. I hear from Ma by every Steamer and very frequently from Charles and Helen, whose health, I trust, is now quite restored. The past Summer has seen many changes among our circle of connections. Harper Carroll is a widower, poor Hatty Bayard is dead leaving an infant two day’s old; I was quite shocked to hear yesterday of Mrs. Olvier O’Donnell’s death in Edinburg. I saw her late in March & the remembrance of her affectionate farewell is fresh in my mind. I hear she made a most holy end, & I suppose if ever a meek & sanctified Soul found acceptance her’s was that blessed lot; for she only lived for duty, & had the most delicate conscience. Her husband was not with her. . . .

Our little church at Santa Barbara was destroyed by fire a short time since. I think the great trouble of not being rich, is that it ties your hands in doing good. There is a newspaper report that there is an idea of canonizing Christopher Columbus; is it true? If so, I must read up all the accounts of his life. I can only remember the faith he showed when he prostrated himself & planted the cross in the New World, naming his first discovery after our Savior. Cassie sends much love to her Uncle; so would Dr. L. if he were here. God bless you, my ever dear Brother, pray often for your devoted Sister.

Historical context: Dr. Letterman became extremely depressed after his wife’s untimely death, and died only five year’s later at the age of 48.

W. H. Letterman (perhaps Jonathan’s uncle) to his sister-in-law Annie, Jonathan Letterman’s mother, October 29, 1867

“I have only a few moments to write and must say what I have to say in as few words as possible. You no doubt have recd. b telegraph the distressing news of the sudden death of Mary, Jonathan’s wife. I saw him about an hour this morning, and he seems absolutely crushed. He said he would like me to write you & tell what little there was to say.

On Sabbath morning she was putting on her bonnet to go to early Mass (nine o’clock) when she became deathly sick & commenced vomiting & purging. Jonathan thought it was cholera morbus & gave her the usual remedies, but finding she grew worse and seemed to be somewhat convulsed & sinking, he sent for two or three physicians, intimate friends. They both remained…all night, or at least Dr. Massey did who told me the particulars. She died at 3 o’clock on Monday morning. Up to some half hour before she died Jonathan said to me he did not think for a moment she was going, as he said it seemed to him like a stroke of lightening, when she lay dead before him. The vomiting & purging had nearly left her, & they thought of course that she would survive as it had not been bad enough to prostrate her so entirely. But finally & surely death had worked its way secretly and she passed away without pain, leaving your poor son almost heart broken. An examination was made this morning to unravel the mystery; a blood vessel had burst in the abdomen near the womb which Dr. Massey told me had been decaying some time as it was very thin & the blood slowly & secretly formed a pool which caused the intense sickness & fainting. No earthly remedy could have reached her case, & without examination they could not possibly have known the cause of her death. She spoke a few words to Jonathan, said she was resigned to go if it was God’s will to remove her, her two dear little children, she wished brought up in the Catholic faith & for this reason, she wished him if he should marry again, to marry a Catholic.. ..
Tomorrow at 10 o’clock the burial service will take place in the Cathedral.

Harper's Resignation as ADC to General Ewell

Unfortunately, two pieces of correspondence about the reasons for Harper's resignation, one from Harper and the other from Eleanor Thompson Carroll, were part of the correspondence of Jefferson Davis, now lost. In the microfilm copies of Davis' correspondence, the letters are noted as having been filmed but in fact were not. It seems likely that Ella's worsening health from tuberculosis prompted Harper's resignation and determination to get her out of the Shenandoah Valley and ultimately to Montreal, where they could be together. Harper says in his resignation that at the time he accepted the appointment, he was not in the service of the Confederate States. Indeed, he had not been officially in the service since May, 1862, and as a Marylander, was not subject to conscription by the Confederacy.

The letter is addressed to General Samuel Cooper, who had been Adjutant General in the old army and accepted the same post in the Confederacy when offered it by his friend Jefferson Davis. Though born in the North, General Cooper had married a granddaughter of George Mason and was living in Alexandria when the war began.

Harper's Citation for Bravery

http://www.civilwarhome.com/ewellwilderness.htm

Source: Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Chapt. XLVIII, p. 1075. The entirety of the OR has been scanned onto the web and is available on Cornell University's "The Making of America" site.

Wikipedia entry on Ewell: "Ewell led his corps in the May 1864 Battle of the Wilderness and performed well, enjoying the rare circumstance of a slight numerical superiority over the Union corps that attacked him. In the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, Lee felt compelled to lead the defense of the "Mule Shoe" on May 12 personally because of Ewell's indecision and inaction. At one point Ewell began hysterically berating some of his fleeing soldiers and beating them over the back with his sword. Lee reined in his enraged lieutenant, saying sharply, "General Ewell, you must restrain yourself; how can you expect to control these men when you have lost control of yourself? If you cannot repress your excitement, you had better retire." Ewell's behavior on this occasion undoubtedly was the source of a statement made by Lee to his secretary, William Allan, after the war that on May 12 he "found Ewell perfectly prostrated by the misfortune of the morning, and too much overwhelmed to be efficient."^[12]

Lee reasoned that Ewell's lingering injuries were the cause of his problems and he relieved him from corps command, reassigning him to command the garrison of the Department of Richmond, which was by no means an insignificant assignment, given the extreme pressure Union forces were applying to the Confederate capital."

May 12th was also the day that Jeb Stuart, Harper's old commander, died in Richmond. He had been shot the day before near Yellow Tavern defending the Confederate city.

Harper's Promotion to Aide de Camp

Source: Compiled Records, National Archives
Harper had been acting as ADC from the beginning of the spring, 1864 campaign, and was cited for bravery for actions on May 12th.

Harper's Pay, Nov. & December of 1861

Source: Confederate Archives at the National Archives
This is the first record of Harper having received any pay. Many Maryland soldiers suffered from lack of pay and supplies for months after joining the Confederacy, since no state claimed them. Some Maryland soldiers actually were paid by Maryland citizens who smuggled funds to Richmond. Others were funded by committees for the relief of the soldiers who took pity on the orphans. At any rate, it looks possible that Harper was paid nothing for his first months of service and only began being paid when he was detached to brigade headquarters to serve under General Stuart. It would be fascinating to know if he was able to get money from home, since at this time, there was a lot of smuggling of money, supplies and letters between Baltimore and Richmond.

Harper's Pay, Jan. & Feb. of 1862

Source: Confederate Archives at the National Archives

Harper's Pay, March & April, 1862

Source: Confederate Archives at the National Archives

Harper Carroll's discharge 1862

There was an enormous effort by the Marylanders who left to fight for the Confederacy to form a Maryland unit of infantry, cavalry, and artillery. This effort sputtered throughout the war, with the Maryland troops being first formed and then disbanded in 1862 and only nominally represented throughout the war. Both Albert and Harper were at times considered part of the Maryland Line, but both fought with Virginia organizations. Marylanders were at first idolized for having left a secure home and then repudiated first for being able to obtain a discharge after one year rather than being enlisted for the duration as other southern troops had been, and then for the failure of Maryland to rise and "shake off her shackles" during the invasion of Maryland in September, 1862 that culminated in the battle of Antietam. These discharge papers certify that Harper was able to leave the First Virginia Cavalry because as a Marylander he was not subject to conscription. Because the erratic paychecks ended in May, 1862, it is possible to track Harper's military career only through his letters. He seems to have done what many other wealthy and prominent soldiers did: sign on as a volunteer aide. In Harper's case, he served under Generals Fitzhugh Lee and Jeb Stuart.
The George Gaither who signed these discharge papers had been the leader of the Howard County Dragoons who had led his company from Maryland to Virginia the middle of May, 1861. The Howard County Dragoons had earlier been the Carroll Dragoons, who drilled under Colonel Carroll, Harper's father. Gaither would be captured soon after Harper's discharge and when he emerged from prison, went to England to work to arm the Confederacy and lobby for British recognition of the Confederacy. Captain Rambo was Andrew F. Rambo.

Notice that Harper was being paid for himself and his horse. One of the great weaknesses of the southern cavalry is that each cavalryman had to furnish his own horse.

Source: Records of the Confederate Archives, at the National Archives.
___________________________________________________________________

I certify that the within named R G H Carroll a private of Captain Geo R. Gaither Company K of the 1st Va Regiment of Cavalry, born in Baltimore in the State of Maryland, aged 23 years, 5 feet 7 1/2 inches high, light complexion, blue eyes, dark hair, and by occupation gentleman was enlisted by Capt Gaither at Leesburg on the 14th day of May 1861 to serve one year, and is now entitled to discharge by reason of expiration of enlistment & not being subject to conscription.
The said R G H Carroll was last paid by Capt. Rambo to include the 28th day of February 1862 and has pay due from that date to the present.
There is due to him fifty nine 20/100 dollars traveling allowance from New Kent Co. H., the place of discharge, to Leesburg, the place of enrolment, transportation not being furnished in kind.
There is due him 2 months 14 days self & Horse $59.20.
He is indebted to the Confederate States ________________ on account of _________.
Given in duplicate at Camp1 Va. Cav. this 14 day of May 1862.
W. R. Gaither
Capt. Commanding Company
__________________________________________________________________

For pay from 1 of March 1862 to 14 of May 1862, being 2 months and 14 days, at $24 for self & Horse Dollars per month. Amount $59.20
For pay for traveling from Richmond to Leesburg, being 175 miles, at 2 (ten crossed out) per mile. Amount $3.50.
Due for clothing overdrawn ________________________________
Balance paid $62.70
____________________________________________________________________

Recieved of Capt. Geo Gaither C.S. Army, this 19 day of May 1862, Sixty-two Dollars and 70 Cents, in full of the above account.

R. G. Harper Carroll

Charles Carroll letter May, 1849

Source: Rev. John McCloskey letters, Special Collections, Mount St. Mary's University. Both John Lee and his older brother Charles had been students at Mount St. Mary's. There is no record of either Albert or Harper having attended, despite their father's great affection for his alma mater. Both of the older sons elected to leave before graduating. Charles does not appear to have carried his education further, while John Lee returned to the school of his youth: St. Mary's in Baltimore. The "order" that was in charge of Mount St. Mary's was the Society of St. Sulpice, to which the Carroll family had been long devoted. The sword referred to belonged to Colonel Carroll and was loaned to John Lee Carroll for a celebration at Mount St. Mary's. He had carelessly left it behind. The religious gathering to which the Colonel refers was the 7th Provincial Council which brought together the Archbishops of Baltimore and St. Louis, twenty-three bishops from around the country, and seven religious orders.

D Manor May 11 1849

Rev & Dear Sir
Your favor was rec(eived) last night--and I enclose you the Rev Mr. Jenkins acct (account) for the amt (amount). I was assisting your order as requested in a former letter.
I had expected to have had the pleasure of seeing you in company with Rev. Mr. MCaffrey at the meeting of the As? Association? (of) Rev Prelates in Baltimore.
Charly is in the city with Mrs Carroll enjoying the eloquence of the Bishops who in their turn preach every day--He proposes shortly to spend a week with you at the College to which he entertains? a lasting attachment--John is attending to his Studies at St. Marys in Balt. Mr. Raymond speaks well of him, but I should much have preferred his remaining at Emmitsburg. He will be much obliged to you for the care taken of his Sword which Charles will bring down when he returns. They are both rapidly moving forward to take their position for life, and a very important era it is the life of a young nation, whcih so few can properly appreciate--but I trust that they will repay us all for the care and attention which has been given to instill proper principles and information
I am with great respect
Your ? Sevt (Servant)
Charles Carroll