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Rich Hill: The Fugitives Seek Shelter:
After leading Dr. Samuel A. Mudd's house on April 15, 1865, John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, and his accomplice David E. Herold avoided Zekiah Swamp and made a wide arc around the village of Bryantown. Unsure of their surroundings, they soon enlisted the aid of a guide, Oswell Swann, who led them across the swamp to Rich Hill, the home of Samuel Cox. They arrived here shortly after midnight on April 16. According to Swann, Cox admitted the pair to the house where they remained "3 or 4 hours." Cox, however, later denied that they came into the house, and a young girl supported his testimony. Nevertheless, Cox did arrange to conceal the pair in a nearby pine thicket for several days, where they received food, newspapers, and information. Rich Hill is now a private dwelling.
They hid in the woods until the night of April 21, when Cox's foster brother, Thomas A. Jones, helped them escape across the Potomac to Virginia. |