We Met At Mrs. Acklen's

From Confederate Echoes: A Voice from the South in the Days of Secession and....., by Albert Theodore Goodloe:

Mrs. Acklen's Home (Belmont) In Nashville

The first night was spent at Mrs. Acklen's, the widow of Joseph H. Acklen*, not far out of Nashville. Uncle Calvin Goodloe had come to Nashville, on his way to Washington, on secret service for Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, commanding the Confederate army in Georgia, and we had arranged to spend the night together at Mrs. Acklen's, where, indeed, Uncle Calvin was stopping for a time. He and Mrs. Acklen were old friends and I had known her several years. He gave me the gratifying information that the Yankees were not then occupying Florence, and that I could likely cross the Tennessee River there if I could soon reach there in safety. *(My 1st cousin 5x removed)

Mrs. Acklen

Pike Was Chosen To Trace The Mississippi

The Expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike, Volume 1 (of 3) by Pike

I was chosen to trace the Mississippi to its source, with the objects in view contemplated by my instructions; to which I conceived my duty as a soldier should induce me to add an investigation into the views of the British traders in that quarter as to trade, and an inquiry into the limits of the  territories of the United States and Great Britain.

In the execution of this voyage I had no gentleman to aid me, and I literally performed the duties (as far as my limited abilities permitted) of astronomer, surveyor, commanding officer, clerk, spy, guide, and hunter; frequently preceding the party for miles in order to reconnoiter, and returning in the evening, hungry and fatigued, to sit down in the open air, by firelight, to copy the notes and plot the
courses of the day.

The Goodloes And The Alabama Waltz

From The Huntsville Historical Review:

"In her book, Loyalty and Loss — Alabama Unionists in the Civil War and Reconstruction, Margaret Storey describes many of the incidents of Alabama unionist espionage...".

"...Franklin County planter John C. Goodloe, considered by Federal commanders 'one of the best posted [men] on the south side of the river,’ crossed the river a few times in 1864 with news of Confederate activities."

"The family of John Calvin Goodloe...insisted, on the contrary, that he was a spy for the Confederacy, but had convinced the Yankees that he was a Union man... . The early evidence comes from [his] nephew...who published a book on his wartime experience, Confederate Echoes, in 1907."

"Happily, the research also afforded lagniappes:..."The sheet music, *Alabama Waltz (1835)...was found in an antique store in Huntsville, Alabama in 1991, and traced to its origin in Lexington, Kentucky, where the young Miss Turner [Mrs. John C. Goodloe] was apparently in attendance at a boarding school."

*See picture of the sheet music where the Alabama Waltz was dedicated to Miss Harriet Turner.

Enoch Crosby

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 The Spy Unmasked, or Memoirs of Enoch Crosby, alias Harvey Birch.  A discussion of the prototype for the novel's spy, Harvey Birch, including Enoch Crosby.

The (Early) Life Of Pauline Cushman

Life of Pauline Cushman: The celebrated Union spy and scout. 

Pauline's father....abandoned his enterprises in the Queen City of the South [New Orleans] and removed to Grand Rapids in the State of Michigan when Pauline was about ten years of age. He there opened an establishment for purposes of trade with the Indians, as Grand Rapids was still little more than a frontier settlement... . 

Pauline's memorial at FindAGrave.

Map Of Fort DuQuesne In Stobo's Memoirs

Source [Fort DuQuesne 1756]

Enoch Crosby Alias Harvey Birch

The Spy Unmasked, or Memoirs of Enoch Crosby, alias Harvey Birch (Google version), "the hero of Mr. Cooper's take of the Neutral Ground..." was dedicated to James Fenimore Cooper.

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"Enoch Crosby was a native of Harwich, Barnstable, Massachusetts, on 4 January 1750.  As a child he moved to Dutchess County (later Putnam), New York, and grew up in a family of 'staunch Whigs.'"

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Commodore Barney's Young Spies

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"I [Commander Barney] propose that you shall continue to act as oystermen; but without spending much time at the labor. In other words, I want information from the enemy, such as you can gather, and have spent considerable time explaining where and how you may communicate with me. That part of the business need not be repeated."

The Spy -- A Story By Cooper

The Spy: A Tale Of The Neutral Ground is a novel by James Fenimore Cooper.

"I wish from the bottom of my heart, this unnatural struggle was over, that we might again meet our friends and relatives in peace and love."

"It is much to be desired," said Harper, emphatically, again raising his eyes to the countenance of his host.

"I hear of no movement of consequence, since the arrival of our new allies," said Mr. Wharton, shaking the ashes from his pipe, and turning his back to the other under the pretense of receiving a coal from his youngest daughter.

"None have yet reached the public, I believe."

Literature and the American RevolutionThe Spy presents a cast of real Americans, the Wharton family, living in Westchester County, just north of New York City in 1780, when the Revolution had turned their neighborhood into a hostile, if neutral, ground. One of the engagements described in the book took place in what is today the Bronx; the events in the novel otherwise occur in Westchester, Dutchess and Putnam counties. Much curious local history, which apparently fascinated Cooper, is also related about local brigands called "Skinners" and "Cow Boys."

A 1779 Search Warrant For John Edgar's House

Manuscripts guide to collections at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign included the following: 

EDGAR, JOHN. SEARCH WARRANT, August 23, 1779. 1 item, transcript. 69-1587. This transcript is of a search warrant issued by Captain R. B. Lernoult, British commander at Detroit. The warrant was issued to search the house of John Edgar and to seize papers and arms.

A deposition against John Edgar:

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More about John Edgar, for whom Edgar County, Illinois, is named:

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