In the fall months of 1864 many newly-freed blacks from the Border State of Kentucky enrolled in the Union Army. Also in late 1864, more and more emancipated black Baptists, no longer forced by their masters to attend white churches, began meeting autonomously. The ensuing months have witnessed a continued exodus of black Baptists from…
Today the owner of Ford’s Theater, the former site of the First Baptist Church of Washington, D.C. and the place where former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, agrees to lease the building to the War Department. In reality, the theater has been under the control of the U.S. government since the assassination. Military guards…
Today the four convicted assassins of former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln are hanged: Lewis Powell (also Payne or Paine), David Herold, George Atzerodt and Mary Surratt. General Winfield Scott Hancock, a hero of the war, is the officer in charge of the executions. Hancock is a Baptist. Lewis Powell, one of the most hated men…