John Wilkes Booth & his family, including his father Junius Brutus Booth, mother Mary Ann, & brother Edwin Booth; Tammany Hall is the hot spot for Democrats trying to support President Buchanan's desire to purchase Cuba from Spain for $30 million; freedom seeker Joshua Glover, abolitionist Sherman Booth, & the Supreme Court re: Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

As promised, here is the recap for Manhunt episode 2 titled "Post Mortem," I tried to keep it short but it was impossible. The story had so many micro-scenes with all of these little things they wanted the viewers to know, and in the process I'm guessing they confused a lot of people. Even my wonderful husband who has heard the audiobook at least 4 times - and has to listen to me talk all the time about the assassination - was confused. That's not at all a good sign. Hopefully this will help people understand the players & scenes a little better. Next I'll be working on my facts vs fiction videos for each episode, so be on the lookout for those!

As I mentioned last week, I've been a longtime fan of the book "Manhunt" is based on, and I'm so excited to see the first two episodes drop. Here is the recap for episode one. Episode two will be following later today or tomorrow.

This Week: Update on Daniel Sickles murdering Philip Barton Key; Abraham Lincoln gives a speech in Chicago; John Brown gets the freedom seekers to Canada after 82 days, then meets with Allan Pinkerton & Frederick Douglass; Ulysses S. Grant moves his family into rental home in St. Louis, Missouri

Join me each week as I spotlight people & events that eventually lead us into the four-year battle. If you'd like to start at the beginning, there is a playlist of all recap videos to-date, starting with January 1, 1859.

I've been obsessed with the Lincoln assassination and the aftermath since I was four. When I heard that one of my favorite books, "Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson was going to be made into a miniseries on Apple TV+, I was thrilled...but also cautious in my excitement. Hollywood has a horrible habit of changing history to fit the story they wish to tell. So, I decided to do a very deep dive into the trailer, break it all down, and also provide some background to help make sense of everything. It overall looks promising, but there are a few key things that it appears Hollywood has changed. Manhunt's first two episodes drop this Friday, March 15. Update 3/14: It does appear they will show Booth stabbing Major Henry Rathbone at Ford's Theatre - no idea why the actor is not listed in IMDB! -

This week: The largest sale of enslaved people in Georgia takes place, now known as the Weeping Time; Harriet Tubman purchases land for a family home.

Join me each week (Tuesday) as I spotlight people & events that eventually lead us into the four-year battle. If you'd like to start at the beginning, there is a playlist of all recap videos to-date, starting with January 1, 1859.

This week: Wanted, A Leader; Congress cuts military budget; J.E.B. Stuart in Kansas; John Brown in Grinnell, Iowa; Daniel Sickles & the murder of Francis Barton Key.

Join me each week (Tuesday) as I spotlight people & events that eventually lead us into the four-year battle. If you'd like to start at the beginning, there is a playlist of all recap videos to-date, starting with January 1, 1859.

This week: Oregon becomes a state; Indiana gets its Senators; the Lecompton Constitution; President Buchanan wants war powers; fake news about John Brown; horrible consequences for the Doy freedom seekers; how much does it cost the President to live at the White House; a letter in the African Repository

As always, I invite you to join me each week (Tuesday) as I spotlight people & events that eventually lead us into the four-year battle. If you'd like to start at the beginning, there is a playlist of all recap videos to-date, starting with January 1, 1859.

I apologize for the delay! As you can see by previous blog posts, I spent a couple of weeks down South, and I didn't have time to work on the most recent video until I got back home.

This week: Arkansas passes a bill to rid the state of all free African Americans; Virginia is not pleased with President Buchanan; Abraham Lincoln as speaker & lawyer on his 50th birthday; Louisiana discusses a bill that would allow them to import enslaved people from outside the U.S.; Edwin Stanton; Pierce Mease Butler squanders his fortune & it's the enslaved people that will pay

As always, I invite you to join me each week (Tuesday) as I spotlight people & events that eventually lead us into the four-year battle. If you'd like to start at the beginning, there is a playlist of all recap videos to-date, starting with January 1, 1859.

Greetings from back home in Kentucky! We've barely unpacked, and I have so many photos & videos to download that it will probably take a full day to get them all organized on my external drives. I figured I should write down my thoughts on the jam-packed last part of our trip before I start forgetting stuff! If you missed Part One, you can read it here.

We first stopped by Rosemont (Plantation) outside of Woodville, Mississippi. This is Confederate President Jefferson Davis's boyhood & family home. As you can see from the photos, even though everything I looked at said it would be open, it clearly was not. I couldn't see a house or anything from the closed fence, so it was a bit of a bust. I have been to all of Abraham Lincoln's homes, and I was really trying to be fair here. Oh well, I tried my best! Moving on...

I'm a big William Tecumseh Sherman fan, so I had to stop here. Sherman himself arranged for the two brass cannons to be donated to the school. I had seen some stuff online that said they were removed back in 2019, but they are there now. It might seem like an odd donation, but Sherman was the first Superintendent of the Louisiana State Seminary of Learning & Military Academy in Pineville, Louisiana, from late 1859 to early 1861. Once Louisiana seceded from the Union, Sherman could not continue in his role as he did not support the rebellion. This school eventually became Louisiana State University, so there is a presence here (and the next location) on campus acknowledging this history. As for the cannons, it's said the Confederates fired them on Fort Sumter (4/11/61)...but they were produced in Massachusetts in 1861, so it's possible that it's not factual.

We then drove several blocks to the LSU Memorial Tower, which houses The William A. Brookshire LSU Military Museum. The Museum was unfortunately closed (that's on our list for next time), but there were two writings outside the tower that referenced William T. Sherman; one was a carving that lists the first Board of Supervisors & Faculty, and the other was a plaque that mentions the history of the military academy, and that Sherman was the first President. For Sherman, this was his dream job after years of struggling to find himself. I think he'd be quite pleased to be remembered so favorably.

Our first stop in Natchez, Mississippi. Forks of the Road was once the second highest volume slave market in the Deep South. It now has several informative displays that talk about the slavery & also how the slave market impacted the town & its residents. There are slave chains laid in concrete, and a list of former enslaved people who served in the Civil War as U.S. soldiers during the Mississippi Valley Campaign. Even beyond this space, if you continue walking west down St. Catherine Street, there are additional markers that also relate to this site.

William Johnson was born a slave but freed by his enslaver at age 11; his enslaver had also provided freedom to his mother & sister years earlier. After a successful apprenticeship, he had a place for his business & home built in downtown Natchez, and this is what you visit today. The whole building is actually a duplex, with the left side being owned by his neighbor, Ronald McCallum, and the right-side building was owned by William. There is also a building in the back that was used as a kitchen & slave quarters. McCallum's first floor is used by the National Park Service as a visitor space, and Johnson's first floor serves as a museum. The top floor is currently closed for renovations but will showcase the Johnson residence & items from the family when it reopens. William's life is quite fascinating, and I'm eager to do a spotlight video about him in the near future because it's too much to share here. He ends up being one of the most successful black men in the state, both as a barber & landowner. He also owned slaves, which is just part of the complexity of his story. A key focus at this museum is his diary, which he started in 1835. His writings & drawings give a unique insight & perspective into his life & the lives of those he knew. William was murdered in 1851 due to a boundary dispute, and his killer was never convicted due to laws at the time that said a black person was not allowed to be a witness against a white person. I'm not doing the man justice here, so just stay tuned for a future video!

Two different sites, but within a few miles of each other. The Davis Plantations marker talks about the plantations Jefferson Davis & his older brother Joseph once had about 4 miles east of this sign. The land has since become an island in the middle of the Mississippi, so without a boat this was the closest I could get. It's ok, there are no buildings left of either Davis plantation. Winter Quarters was built in 1805, and at one point included over 2,000 acres and more than 300 enslaved persons. The family was away when the area was swarmed by the Union army in the Vicksburg campaign of 1863, but the overseer was able to get a letter of protection from two advance officers, General McPherson & General Smith. It was the only plantation home (out of 15) on the banks of Lake St. Joseph left standing, with the others being destroyed on General Sherman's orders. Excuse the raindrops on the Winter Quarters photo, we couldn't get the rain to stop! The home is temporarily closed, so we were not able to see inside.

The sun certainly came out here, and it made the ruins even more spectacular. Windsor Plantation was built by Smith Coffee Daniell II, a successful cotton planter in 1861. Unfortunately, he would die before it was completed, leaving behind his wife Catherine, their five children, and their yet to be born sixth child. The house, one of the largest private residences in the state before the Civil War, was built near Bruinsburg, MS, where Union soldiers crossed the Mississippi River during the Vicksburg Campaign. 17,000 Union soldiers would have come across the Mississippi River and seen the five-story home with these magnificent columns. General Ulysses S. Grant even used the home as his headquarters for a few days. Catherine & her children were able to remain in the home during the war. In 1890, a party-goer left a cigar on an upper balcony, and the entire home burned, leaving only some broken family items and what you see on the site today. Time has produced more destruction to the columns, but there is currently a $3.7 million restoration project going on. Though we spent a good hour taking photographs & video, I don't know if anything can do the magnificent site justice. The size & magnitude left us in awe.

This was my first time to the Vicksburg Civil War Museum in downtown Vicksburg, Mississippi. It was a quote from the owner, Charles Pendleton, on his website that made me really want to stop by: "Our goal is not to educate you but to inspire you to become more educated." I love that mission and I really loved the journey we got to take during our visit. While there are countless relics from the military side of the war, there is this other part of it that takes you on a thoughtful & impactful journey. A real sharecropper's cabin serves as a slave cabin here, and I won't give away what's inside because I want you to be as hit in the gut as I was when you hopefully go to visit. This museum encourages everyone to think more deeply about parts of our history that shouldn't just be glossed over and encourages meaningful conversation. Mr. Pendleton's passion in helping each visitor walk away wanting to learn more is felt throughout, and the man himself was even on hand for questions, comments, etc. He'll ask you some questions when you first come in, but don't be intimidated. There's no punishment for wrong answers. The big question is whether you'll leave thinking differently about your answers and feeling motivated to look into things that maybe you never thought of before. Hopefully, the answer is a positive one. Also, do what we did & ask him why he's dedicated all his time towards this venture, because it shows what can happen when one person starts a honest journey to find answers to difficult questions. I left feeling inspired to learn more about a few concepts he introduced that I had not seen a lot about in all of my other historical site visits & research, and I plan on returning again in the future to see if there are any new things that hit me the second time around. This is a must-see if you're ever in or near Vicksburg!