In Raleigh this day the first Convention of the Colored People of North Carolina convenes, a gathering “novel to the white people.” Prior to the end of the war and the defeat of the Confederacy, such an assembly was not merely unlawful, but inconceivable. Even now, many delegates from distant towns and cities traveled to…
During the war Sussex County, New Jersey harbored an inordinate amount of Peace Democrat sentiment, evidenced in a solid majority vote for George McClellan, running against Abraham Lincoln, in the November presidential election. Sussex County is also a place where the Baptist presence is strong, evidenced at local fairs and celebrations, during which the Baptist…
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…