Conspiracy trial for the murder of the president
Yüklə 2,75 Mb.
|
[226] Q. It is a very disloyal neighborhood? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you know J. Z. Jenkins, who has given testimony here? A. Yes, sir: I know him well. Q. Do you know his reputation for loyalty or disloyalty? A. He pretended to be a loyal man in 1861, as a great many in Prince George’s and St. Mary’s and those lower counties, did; but I never considered him a loyal man, because, if he had been, he would have co-operated with me and others who were endeavoring to discharge our duty to our country. Q. What has been his reputation and conduct since? A. He has been disloyal. I call him a rebel. I do not call such men Southern sympathizers; I call them rebels. Q. So far as you have known, or have reason to believe, he has been open and outspoken in his sympathy with the rebels? A. Very much so. Q. Do you know the prisoner at the bar, Dr. Mudd? A. I am slightly acquainted with him. Q. Do you know him when you see him? A. Yes, sir. Q. State whether or not, on any occasion during the past spring, you know of his having come to Washington City. A. I think, about the 1st or 2d of March, Dr. Mudd drove past me in the morning, coming to the city of Washington. I drove on after him. Q. On the road between his house and the city? A. Yes, sir; I think, about eight miles from the city now: and he having a fiery horse, and I wishing to take my time, he drove past me, and I drove after him. Q. How far did you follow him? A. On up to the city. Q. You think that was on the 2d or 3d of March? A. The 1st or 2d of March last, I think. I know it was before Inauguration Day. Q. Are you certain it was before Inauguration Day? A. I know it was. Q. And you feel assured that it was after the 1st of March?
Q. Between the 1st and 4th of March? A. Yes, sir; between the 1st and 4th of March, to the best of my knowledge. Q. Where did you lose sight of him? A. There are several hills on the way. I could always keep him in view. Q. But in the city? A. I put my horse up at the Navy Yard, in Pope’s stable, and rode down in the cars to my office. Q. You lost sight of him there? A. Yes, sir. Q. You did not see him when he returned from the city? A. No, sir. Q. You do not know where he stopped in the city? A. No, sir.
A. About fifteen years. Q. Have you been a resident of the same county with him for the last four years? A. Because of my abolition proclivities, I was not permitted at times to remain in the county or in the State. Q. Were you there in 1861, in the early stage of the Rebellion? A. I was. There was a writ out for me in 1861, and occasionally I visited my house in secrecy; but I know Mr. Jenkins, and every one who knows him knows him to be a rebel. Q. What was the status of Mr. Jenkins in 1861? A. He pretended to be a Union man; but I knew him to be a hypocrite. Q. You state that you have known him to be a rebel, or a rebel sympathizer? A. Well, I make use of the term “rebel,” because any one that is opposed to our Government is a rebel at heart. Q. How did you know him to be opposed to the Government? A. I know it from his conduct. Actions speak louder than words. [228] Q. What were his actions? A. His general deportment and conduct, saying that the country would go to ruin, and the South would be successful. Q. Did he say that to you? A. He said it to other gentlemen who repeated it to me. I hold a secret commission under the Government. Q. You did not hear him state it? A. I did not hear him state it. I did not associate with him. Q. Do you not know, that in 1861, Mr. Jenkins was a loyal man, that he labored himself, and that he urged others to labor, to keep the State of Maryland in the Union? A. No, sir. Q. Are you not aware that he came to this city in 1862 and 1863 in order to get citizens who formerly resided in Maryland, but had moved to this city, and had not been here long enough to lose their residence in the State of Maryland, to return, and cast their votes for the Union ticket in the State of Maryland? A. I do not think Mr. Jenkins ever voted for the Union ticket in Maryland. Q. Do you not know that he raised a flag after the first battle of Bull Run; and that, when it was threatened to be torn down by rebel sympathizers, he gathered a band of twenty or thirty men, armed Union men, and staid by it all night? A. He may have done a great deal; but I have never seen it. Q. You know nothing of this? A. I did not know it. Q. You hold a secret commission, and all you know of Captain Jenkins is from what you have heard? A. I never heard him called captain before: that is a new name. Q. Well, Mr. J. Z. Jenkins? A. He goes by the name of Zed Jenkins down there. He is commonly known by that name. Q. You have not heard this? A. No, sir; never. Q. Then all that you know of J. Z. or Zed Jenkins, or whatever
A. I had occasion to call at the different polls, having the supervision of those matters; and Zed Jenkins always endeavored to raise a fuss at the polls, and to dissuade loyal men voting for the country, and for the Union cause in Maryland. Even at the last election in 1864, he said he would not vote for the damned abolition Government to save anybody’s life. Q. Did you hear him state that? A. Our enrolling officer is here, and he will testify to that fact. Q. Did you hear him state that? A. No, sir: I was at my other polls. We had to lay the matter before General Wallace, and put him under arrest for the course of conduct he pursued. He never could have demonstrated his loyalty there. I positively state on oath that I know Mr. Jenkins is not a loyal man. By the Judge Advocate: Q. I understood the witness to speak from the reputation this man Jenkins bore, more than from his personal knowledge. A. He bears that reputation in common with others in his neighborhood. I do not know a loyal man in the neighborhood except Mr. Roby and his son and a few others. We were in danger all the time,—so much so, that I called upon General Augur for a guard; and the Secretary of War gave me an order for that guard. I had it in my possession. By the Court: Q. You say you are a Presbyterian minister? A. Yes, sir. Q. What branch of the Presbyterian Church? A. The New-School Church. Q. You are still in connection with the church? A. I am a member of the Presbytery of the District of Columbia. Dorley B. Roby, a witness called for the prosecution, in rebuttal, being duly sworn, testified as follows:— [230] By the Judge Advocate: Q. Are you acquainted with J. Z. Jenkins? A. I am acquainted with him; have known him for several years. Q. Has he borne the reputation of a loyal man during the Rebellion? A. For the last three years, he has been one of the most disloyal men in our country. Q. Have you personal knowledge of his disloyal conduct and observations? A. Yes, sir; and from my personal observation of his conduct and conversation, I pronounce that opinion. Q. Has he been uniformly so? A. Uniformly. He got so outrageous, that I had to apply to General Wallace, in Baltimore, to have him arrested. Since that time, he has behaved himself a little better. Q. Is he known and recognized of all there as an open, outspoken enemy of the Government? A. Yes, sir. I have heard him curse the President of the United States, damn him to all intents and purposes; and he said old Lincoln, the damned old son of a bitch, had offered him an office under him, but he would not hold an office under any damned creature or any such damned Government. Cross-examined by Mr. Clampitt: Q. How long have you known Mr. Jenkins? A. For four or five years. Q. Were you a resident of the county with him in 1861? A. I was not a resident of the county in 1861. Q. Were you a resident of the county in 1862? A. In 1863, I was a resident of the county. I was well acquainted with him in 1863. Q. You were not a resident there in 1861 and 1862? A. I was backwards and forwards there. I was born in Charles County, and raised in Prince George’s, and have been through there backwards and forwards all the time. Q. Then you did not know him to be a Union man in 1861?
Q. What time did he abandon the Union party? A. He abandoned the Union party about three years ago this fall. He lost a negro man, and it seemed that his loyalty extended only as long as the negro lasted. As soon as he lost the negro, he abandoned the Union principles. Q. Do you not know, that in 1862 and 1863, he came to Washington City to get citizens who had left Maryland, but had not remained from the State long enough to lose their residence there, to return, and vote the Union ticket? A. I do not know any such thing. Q. Do you know that, in 1861 and 1862, he was considered to be a loyal man from the fact that he raised a Union flag after the first battle of Bull Run? A. I think the only flag he ever did raise was a Know-Nothing flag; and he raised that flag some time before that. Q. What is a Know-Nothing flag? A. It was a flag that the Know-Nothings used. It might have been the United-States flag. It was raised by that party. Q. Then, if I understand you, the United-States flag and the Know-Nothing flag are synonymous? A. Yes, sir. Q. Then Know-Nothingism is the United States? A. Yes: that is the reason I belonged to them. Q. As a general thing, were not the Know-Nothings considered in Maryland to be a body of Union men, and Democrats the pro-slavery men or disunion and rebel sympathizers? A. Yes: the Know-Nothings were generally considered Union men; but there were a good many like Mr. Jenkins, who went over to the rebels as soon as there was a division of parties. Q. Is there a suit pending between you and Mr. Jenkins in the United States District Court? A. At no time, and under circumstances, have I ever had
Q. Do you know of any suit pending between you and any citizens of Maryland? A. I know of a suit pending against my son, Andrew V. Roby, who was appointed Deputy United-States Marshal for the purpose of carrying out General Schenck’s order at the election. He was ordered to have every man arrested who interfered with the election. Colonel Baker had a company of men there, and my son suggested to Colonel Baker’s captain that he had better arrest that man. He did so; put him on a chair, and took a bottle of whiskey out of his pocket, and let him remain there until night. I was there; I was Deputy United-States Marshall also: and at night I thought the poor fellow had got sober; he looked very penitent; and I suggested to the captain that it was not worth while to bring him up to Colonel Baker’s, but to let him go, and perhaps in future he would behave better. He did so at my suggestion. Q. What is the nature of that suit pending between Mr. Jenkins and your son? A. A prosecution for false imprisonment, I believe
A. Yes: the Federal authorities took steps to have it removed to the United States Court; and they have the management of it now. John L. Thompson, a witness called for the prosecution, being duly sworn, testified as follows:— By the Judge Advocate: Q. Where do you reside? A. In Maryland. Q. Are you well acquainted with J. Z. Jenkins? A. I am pretty well acquainted with him. [233] Q. How long have you known him? A. Ever since I can remember. Q. What has been his conduct and conversation, and his reputation for loyalty or disloyalty? A. He was four years a loyal man, and about two years and six months he has not been. Q. You mean four years ago before the last two years and six months? A. Yes, sir. Q. What has been his conduct as a citizen for the last two years and six months? A. I think he has been on the Southern side. Q. Will you state what has been his reputation? How is he regarded by the country at large? A. I cannot tell you. He was not much respected, I think. Q. Is he regarded as a loyal or disloyal man? A. As a disloyal man. Q. Is he open and outspoken in his disloyalty? A. Yes, sir Q. You are yourself a loyal man, are you not? A. Yes, sir. Q. And have been so throughout the Rebellion? A. Yes, sir. Q. Will you state whether or not you had any difficulty with Mr. Jenkins, growing out of your loyalty? A. Yes, sir. Q. What was it? A. I went to Mr. Roby’s son to aid me when I was drafted, he being a loyal gentleman; and he said he would let me cut my throat in consequence of it. Q. Jenkins said that? A. Yes, sir, and drew his knife against me. Q. Why did he do it? A. I do not know what was the cause of his doing it; because he hated the Government, I suppose: it must have been against the Government. Q. What kind of knife?
Q. Do you know anything as to the reputation for loyalty or disloyalty of Mrs. Surratt? A. I think she was not loyal. Q. Have you lived in her family? A. Yes, sir. Q. How long? A. I lived in her family two years. Q. What makes you say that she was not loyal? What evidence have you? A. I had her evidence to believe that she was not. Q. From her conversation, conduct, or what? A. From her conversation. Q. What was the character of that conversation? Cannot you give some idea of it to the Court? A. No, sir; I cannot: it was against the Government. Q. Was it always so? A. Yes, sir.
A. Ever since I was a child. Q. Did you know him in 1861 and 1862? A. Yes, sir: I have known him ever since I knew myself. Q. You say he was considered a Union man in 1861 and 1862? A. Yes, sir. Q. Was he considered so in 1863? A. No, sir. Q. Do you not know that in 1863 Mr. Jenkins came to Washington to obtain voters,—men who had lived in the State of Maryland, in his and your county, but who had not lost their residence by thus removing from the State of Maryland,—and carried them there to vote the Union ticket? A. I do not think Mr. Jenkins did that. Q. You know nothing of that? A. No, sir. Q. You know nothing of his erecting a Union flag, and getting a band of men to surround it, and remain by it all night?
Q. Do you know that he did it? A. Yes, sir I do so. Q. Do you consider that a disloyal act? A. That was a loyal act of him at that time, because he was loyal then.
A. Yes, sir. By Mr. Clampitt: Q. What caused the sudden change in Mr. Jenkins’s loyalty? A. I cannot tell. Q. Did ever you have a conversation with him? A. Many a time. Q. Did you ever hear him make any disloyal remark? A. Many a time. Q. What did he say? A. He said that he hated the Government on the face of the earth. Q. What Government? A. This Government. Q. Did he state his reason for it? A. He did not. Q. Did he say any thing about the emancipation of slavery in the State of Maryland? A. He did. Q. What did he say? A. He said that it was all wrong. Q. Did you ever hear him state, in 1863 and 1864, that he considered himself to be as good a Union man as there was in the State of Maryland, but that he was opposed to some acts of the Administration? A. I never heard him say any thing about that. By Assistant Judge Advocate Burnett: Q. Which side did he say would fight for in case he was forced to fight? [236] A. He said he would go with the South. Mr. Ewing and Mr. Stone having appeared, William A. Evans was recalled, by consent, for cross-examination. By Mr. Ewing: Q. Will you state whether you have been acquainted with Dr. Mudd? A. I know Dr. Mudd. Q. Where have you seen him? A. I have seen him at different times for the last fifteen years. I was preceptor in the family of Colonel Warren in 1850, and knew Dr. Mudd ever since. I have never been introduced to Dr. Mudd. I thought it of no use keep such company. They were opposed to my views and feelings, and did not wish to keep company with me. Q. I did not ask you your reasons for not keeping company with him: I asked you where you knew him. You were preceptor in what family? A. The family of Colonel Warren, contiguous to Nottingham,—John Henry Warren. Q. When did you see him there? A. I did not say I saw him there. Q. Where did you see Dr. Mudd before this occasion of which you speak? A. I have seen him in Bryantown, at the Catholic church. Father Courtney was the pastor of the church. I was sent there to be examined by Colonel Warren, before I took charge of his family. He [Dr. Mudd] was there at church. Q. When was that? A. That was in December, 1850. Q. Was that in the town of Bryantown? A. It was contiguous to the town, at the college or seminary. Q. What time in 1850 was that? A. I told you already it was in December, 1850. Q. You were never introduced to Dr. Mudd?
Q. When did you see him next after December, 1860? A. At different times in Washington City. Q. At what places? A. On the street, and about the hotels and other places. Q. Did you ever meet him in any house? A. I think I met him at the National Hotel. Q. Did you ever meet him at the house of any citizen? A. I think I saw him last winter going into the house of Mrs. Surratt on H Street. Q. What time last winter? A. I could not say. I am called at different times to attend funerals, baptize children, &c.; but I could not say without referring to my journal. I could not swear to it. Q. Were you at Mrs. Surratt’s house last winter? A. I never visited Mrs. Surratt’s house in all my lifetime. Q. Where is this house into which saw him enter, that you think was Mrs. Surratt’s? A. On H Street, I think. Q. Whereabouts on H Street? A. I could not say positive; between Ninth and Tenth, or Eighth and Ninth Streets,—somewhere along there. I never placed the street, but I was told it was Mrs. Surratt’s house. Q. Who told you it was Mrs. Surratt’s house? A. I asked, because I saw rebels going there,—Jarboe and others; and I wanted to know whose house it was. Q. Whom did you ask? A. I asked a policeman, and some one living contiguous to the house; and I was told it was Mrs. Surratt who resided there. Q. You say it was between Eighth and Ninth, or Ninth and Tenth Streets? A. I cannot state positively; but I think it was on H Street. I was passing, along there, as business called me that way to see a minister: I know it was on H Street; I am positive it was on H Street. Q. Cannot you recollect between what streets? A. I cannot.
A. It was. Q. Are you certain of that? A. I think so. Q. What kind of a looking house was it? A. It was a brick house, I think. Q. Two-story or three-story? A. Perhaps two-story, and an attic: I cannot say; I cannot positively swear as to that. Q. Is it built out square on the front of the pavement, or does it set back in the yard? A. I cannot recall my recollection positively as to that: I would not like to swear to what I do not know. Q. Is it painted red, or painted another color? A. I cannot say. This was during last winter; and I see so many houses, and go into so many, that I cannot recollect. Q. But you recollect distinctly of his going into Mrs. Surratt’s house? A. I was told it was her house: I knew nothing about it. Q. But you recollect distinctly of Dr. Mudd going into that house? A. He went into that house. Q. And you think it was on H Street, between the Patent Office and President’s house? A. I should think so. Q. Was there a porch to the house? A. I cannot say. Q. Can you recollect nothing about the house? A. No, sir: I did not pay particular attention to it. I saw Jarboe going in there. Q. Where did you see the policeman when you made the inquiry? A. The policeman was walking along the street; and I also asked a lady. Q. Who was the lady? A. I cannot say. Q. You did not know her?
Q. Where was the lady? in a house near by? A. She was contiguous to the house, standing on the pavement, or sweeping the pavement, or something of that sort, at the time. Q. On which side of H Street was it? A. It was on the left side coming down this way. Q. That is, on the north side of the street? A. I think it was the south side. Q. You think it was the left-hand side going towards the Capitol? A. I do not know the cardinal points of the compass here. Q. Was it the left-hand side going towards the Capitol? A. I think it was on the right-hand side going towards the Capitol. Q. Which way were you going? A. I was riding down the street, going to see the Rev. Mr. J. G. Butler, of the Lutheran Church. Q. Did you see Mr. Butler on that day? A. No, sir. Q. Did you call to see him? A. No, sir: I was going to a Union prayer-meeting, and did not see him. Q. I thought you said you were going to see Mr. Butler? A. I wanted to see him, and, at the same time, call at the Union prayer-meeting. Q. Did you go to the Union prayer-meeting? A. I did. Q. Where was it? A. In his church. Q. Did you see Mr. Butler there at the prayer-meeting? A. No, sir. Q. Whom did you see there? A. A great many. Q. Name some of them. A. Ulysses Ward, and other members of different churches. Q. Name some others. A. I cannot name them. I cannot state positively who were there. There were members of different churches assembled there. Yüklə 2,75 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
|