Today, I’ve added two new galleries to the Picture Galleries section of the site.
The first is Rich Hill, the home of Samuel Cox in Charles County, MD. Cox was a well-known Confederate sympathizer who held the honorary title of Captain (later Colonel) for commanding a volunteer militia at the start of the Civil War in case Maryland decided to secede from the Union. Booth and Herold made their way to Cox’s plantation after leaving Dr. Mudd’s. Cox gave them food and a chance to rest before having his overseer, Franklin Robey, hide them in a nearby pine thicket. He then sent his adopted son, Samuel Cox, Jr., to retrieve Confederate mail agent Thomas Jones. Jones and Cox were foster brothers and Cox knew he could trust Jones to care for and help the conspirators. Rich Hill still stands today but is in dire need of repair and restoration.
The second gallery is devoted to the “Booth” mummy. The mummy is that of Enid, Oklahoma drifter, David E. George who took his own life in 1903. Before his death, George told residents of Enid that he was actually John Wilkes Booth. When the news spread, Memphis attorney Finis L. Bates came to identify the body. Years before in Texas, a man by the name of John St. Helen confided on his assumed deathbed to Bates that he was actually John Wilkes Booth. St. Helen survived his illness, told his whole tale to Bates, and skipped town shortly thereafter. Bates came to Enid and identified David E. George as John St. Helen. The local undertaker embalmed the body and it was a local attraction in Enid for many years. Bates bought the mummy and had it carted around carnival sideshows to expound his theory (and book) about Booth’s escape. While not John Wilkes Booth, the George/St. Helen mummy is an interesting piece of pseudo-history all its own.
Click here, or the link at the top of the site, to visit the Picture Galleries see more images of Rich Hill and the “Booth” Mummy.
LincolnConspirators.com 
Dave, your site just gets more useful and informative. The photo galleries are astonishing; you have an aptitude for things visual and folks will derive great benefit, much information and insight from what you are doing. I know I have.
Thanks for all your hard work; it is much appreciated!
–Jim
Thanks a bunch, Jim. I know you definitely share my appreciation for visual materials.
I have heard for fifty years that there are still weapons hidden in the grounds behind Rich Hill intended for the Confederacy and that there is an ancient graveyard somewhere in the wilds behind that house.
There is a famous story about a Cox slave named Jack Scroggins, who went to a Union camp to report that his master was smuggling weapons across the Potomac. Cox went after him and demanded his return. At that point in the war, the Fugitive Slave Act was still being enforced, so Jack was returned to Cox with the promise that he would not be punished.
As soon as they were out of sight of the camp, Cox and his overseer tied Jack to the back of the horse and dragged him home. They then tied him to a tree and beat him over and over and left him to die. We have included Jack’s story in the new exhibit which opens at Surratt House in February — Between the Lines: Southern Maryland in the Civil War.
I’m looking forward to the new exhibit, Laurie, and thanks for posting this story.
Laurie wrote:
>>I have heard for fifty years that there are still weapons hidden in the grounds behind Rich Hill . . .
Get the metal detectors and shovels in the back of my Cruiser, me hearties! ROAD TRIP!!!
–Jim