An Enterprising Lady

[John Hartwell]

From Fold3.com, Subversion Investigations, Turner Files (#1326). I have as yet been unable to find any more information on this case.

 

[PeterT]

Interesting letter ... great handwriting!

Is he implying there were Union officers assisting her with passes etc ("extraordinary immunities")?

 

[John Hartwell]

Interesting letter ... great handwriting!

Is he implying there were Union officers assisting her with passes etc ("extraordinary immunities")?

That seem to be exactly what he is implying (at least by "popular rumor"). Locating the Court Martial record could be very interesting.
Since the signature is different from the handwriting in the text, I expect it was written by a well-practiced War Dept. clerk.

 

[PeterT]

That seem to be exactly what he is implying (at least by "popular rumor"). Locating the Court Martial record could be very interesting.
Since the signature is different from the handwriting in the text, I expect it was written by a well-practiced War Dept. clerk.

I'll stand by for further information. I really like these side stories of the war.

 

[MajGenl.Meade]

I found this in Blood and War at my Doorstep by Brenda Chambers McKean

She is also mentioned in Confederate Heroines: 120 Southern Women Convicted by Union Military Justice
by Thomas Power Lowry

Also fold3 has her in Letters Received by the Attorney General - 9 pages with one missing - under Caroline van Slyck. Final decision seems to be that the government was embarrassed by provost courts assuming too much power and moving out of their jurisdiction

 

[MajGenl.Meade]

H S Olcott was one of Baker's men. His fingerprints are all over "subversion investigation" files in Baker's filing cabinets

Ha! And fold3 with search H S Olcott produces various Union Citizen's Files naming our Mrs Caroline van Slyck

Either that first thing about "nine days" was wrong or she was arrested a second time:

 

[Drew]

Interesting letter ... great handwriting!

Is he implying there were Union officers assisting her with passes etc ("extraordinary immunities")?

Beast Butler as Military Governor of New Orleans provided "extraordinary immunities" to his family and cronies who were trading with the enemy.

I'm thinking he wasn't getting his cut in Virginia and so arrests were made. I hate to be a cynic, but there you have it.

I agree the penmanship in the letter is really good.

 

[Allie]

If the monetary estimates are anywhere near correct, that's a very large amount of money. In 1860 in the South, 50k was enough to buy a good sized plantation and the slaves to run it, or if you were a Unionist, pretty much anything else you wanted. I'm not sure there's anyone worth $250k in the entire county of Lauderdale, TN.

 

[M.Warren]

Im not sure if this is your lady, Gentlemen, but I'd heard this story some time ago while studying the 65th NC cav. movements and action in Eastern NC, and that it had ties to the Union army, as well as many very wealthy members of Northern and Southern societies. If nothing else, maybe it will give you the clue you need to move on with the mystery. Van Slyck was a common name in the Union Army/Navy during the ACW. Caroline was also listed above as being from Currituck N.C. Something says this is related, and a good bet on where those goods were going and the connections could have made it go away, like a "mistake". Good luck to you all and I hope it helps!

Alexander Campbell was an engineer in charge of construction when the Albemarle & Chesapeake Canal was dug at Coinjock in the late 1850's. Alexander had a wife named Caroline, who was from London. Caroline was described as "young Englishwoman of ruddy complexion and sanguine temperament". Alexander died on 18 Sep 1861, and left Caroline quite the wealthy lady. She immediately left NC with a man she'd met in 1857, through her former husband, the mans name was George Van Slyck, a resident of NY. New York is where Caroline joined him in late November of 1861, when they were engaged to be married. Caroline Campbell Van Slyck owned a mansion in NC called the Daneil Lindsey house/Van Slyck Inn where she'd lived with her former husband, Alexander and also the location of the Currituck Shooting Club. The Currituck Shooting Club where Caroline Campbell met her soon to be husband George Van Slyck, while married to Alexander Campbell, was formed in the law offices of Philo T. Ruggles, Esq., in New York City on 8 Jun 1857, by, Stephen Tabor, Samuel T. Tabor, Stephen H. Townsend, John T. Irving, Archibald T. Finn, Richard S. Emmet, Benjamin H. Lillie, George H. Fox, Elias Wade, Jr., Dwight Townsend, William J. Emmet, Valentine Hicks, Edwin Post, George S. Gelston, and William H. Furman, Membership in the club became very prestigious, and attracted members such as J. P. Morgan, William K. Vanderbilt, Dr. William Seward Webb, and many members of the Havemeyer family, and James Stillman.

 

[Northern Light]

Is that supposed to say attacked? Why would they attack their own members?

 

[Drew]

Is that supposed to say attacked? Why would they attack their own members?

I think he meant "attached."

 

[M.Warren]

Is that supposed to say attacked? Why would they attack their own members?

Nice catch, Northern Light. Not surprising I made the mistake of course, but good eyes, none the less. Thank you.

 

[M.Warren]

I think he meant "attached."

Attracted. Sometimes spell check helps, others not so much..

 

[Drew]

The take away is of course that Mrs. Campbell/Van Syck had friends in high places. Butler I'm sure learned this the hard way.

Thanks for posting.

 

[M.Warren]

The take away is of course that Mrs. Campbell/Van Syck had friends in high places. Butler I'm sure learned this the hard way.

Thanks for posting.

Indeed they did. You're welcome. I hope it leads somewhere. Grand Duke Alexander Aleksandrovich (second son of Tsar Alexander II), who would become Tsar Alexander III, of Russia, in 1881 and The Grand Duke Konstantin (the younger), Prince Stcherbaton were just a few of their not so American connections. When this gaggle of royalty visited the shooting club/Inn/mansion, Max Strakosch, a renown opera manager in New York, brought Lillian Adelaide Neilson to Norfolk to perform for the imperial visitors at the Church Street Opera House. The Hygeia Hotel at Old Point Comfort hosted the imperial visitors with a seven course dinner. There was a train trip to Washington, DC, to meet with the president and government officials. Some of the people of the borough of Norfolk were not as excited as others about the imperial visit, and some dowagers began complaining to city officials that certain members of the entourage had "relieved themselves" in their flower pots. The visitors were quickly escorted to Poplar Branch and were hosted at the Van Slyck inn where they shot ducks. William Henry Walker was their guide, and the Grand Duke Alexander tried to persuade him to come home to Russia and offered him a lucrative position on one of the royal estates, but he declined the offer. The Grand Duke Alexander (1845 - 1894) married Princess Dagmar of Denmark, who was known as Empress Maria Fedorovna in Russia. Their son became Tsar Nicholas II, and he was the last Romanov emperor of Russia, and he and his family were assassinated at Ekaiterinberg in 1918.

Its also worth noting that on 16 May 1878 Caroline Campbell Van Slyck was again remarried to David B. Nye, in Boston, at the residence of J. C. Curtis, by Rev. James Freeman.

 

[Northern Light]

Very interesting!

 

[MajGenl.Meade]

It's terrific! George van Slyck - Currituck - yes, that's them all right. (Why do I get excited about this side-line stuff?). It's because we pool information and when it works - it's awesome!

 

[Drew]

Indeed they did. You're welcome. I hope it leads somewhere. Grand Duke Alexander Aleksandrovich (second son of Tsar Alexander II), who would become Tsar Alexander III, of Russia, in 1881 and The Grand Duke Konstantin (the younger), Prince Stcherbaton were just a few of their not so American connections. When this gaggle of royalty visited the shooting club/Inn/mansion, Max Strakosch, a renown opera manager in New York, brought Lillian Adelaide Neilson to Norfolk to perform for the imperial visitors at the Church Street Opera House. The Hygeia Hotel at Old Point Comfort hosted the imperial visitors with a seven course dinner. There was a train trip to Washington, DC, to meet with the president and government officials. Some of the people of the borough of Norfolk were not as excited as others about the imperial visit, and some dowagers began complaining to city officials that certain members of the entourage had "relieved themselves" in their flower pots. The visitors were quickly escorted to Poplar Branch and were hosted at the Van Slyck inn where they shot ducks. William Henry Walker was their guide, and the Grand Duke Alexander tried to persuade him to come home to Russia and offered him a lucrative position on one of the royal estates, but he declined the offer. The Grand Duke Alexander (1845 - 1894) married Princess Dagmar of Denmark, who was known as Empress Maria Fedorovna in Russia. Their son became Tsar Nicholas II, and he was the last Romanov emperor of Russia, and he and his family were assassinated at Ekaiterinberg in 1918.

Its also worth noting that on 16 May 1878 Caroline Campbell Van Slyck was again remarried to David B. Nye, in Boston, at the residence of J. C. Curtis, by Rev. James Freeman.

Thanks again. It really speaks volumes.

Mrs. Campbell/Van Slyck is shooting ducks with all of these people and Butler is going to court martial her. Right.

Perhaps I've a twisted sense of how the world works, but this is all very entertaining. Wonderful stuff, M. Warren.

 

[MajGenl.Meade]

Well, she certainly may have benefitted from those connections but note that her husband's letter pleads for her return home after being forcibly detained for "almost a year". The final documents in the case appear to indicate that it wasn't until April 1865 that she was finally cleared - the relevant fold3 document (not shown here) effectively says "if she hasn't been released already, you're ordered to release her now". Better late than never, I guess

 

[John Hartwell]

Thank you all. I had no idea what I had stumbled on!

jno