The organization meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month September
through May. Meetings are held in the Williamsburg Regional Library
Theatre located at 515 Scotland St in Williamsburg, VA, unless otherwise
posted. The meetings begin at 6:30 PM. Membership is open to the
general public.
NOTE: THIS MONTH'S MEETING IS ON THE THIRD
TUESDAY OF SEPTEMBER
September's Speaker
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
September 17, 2024 at 6:30 PM
Frank W. Garmon
“A Wonderful Career in Crime -
Charles Cowlam's Masquerades in the Civil War Era and Gilded Age"
Join us on Tuesday, September 17th for the meeting of the
Williamsburg Civil War Roundtable, commencing at 6:30 PM in the
Williamsburg Regional Library Theatre. The library is located at 515
Scotland Street in Williamsburg.
The program will also be presented online via a Zoom link for our
members and friends near and far. The details for the Zoom link will be
provided by a follow-up announcement several days prior to meeting date.
Charles Cowlam went by many names and lived an eventful life. He was
the only man pardoned by both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis,
served as a detective in Washington after Lincoln’s assassination,
performed police work for the IRS, British, and Canadian agencies, ran
for office in Florida, and landed in the National Home for Disabled
Volunteer Soldiers. Cowlam gained none of these distinctions by his own
merit, but rather through systematically relocating and lying about his
past. Along the way, the lifelong criminal perpetrated plots to defraud
honest citizens for his personal enrichment.Cowlam’s cloak-and-dagger
behaviors left him just as difficult to track through history as he was
during his lifetime. Until Garmon’s work, there has been no substantive
examination of Cowlam, and only his dual pardons brought any notoriety
to his name.
Author Frank W. Garmon’s presentation will explain how Cowlam pulled off
his incessant schemes. Principally, Cowlam spun his lies during the
optimal time period to do so. Early in the nation’s history, most would
be cautious, if not outright distrustful, toward new arrivals. By the
middle of the 19th century, migration into urban areas and the frontier
was advancing at an unprecidented pace, and continued in the postwar
era. One’s qualifications and previous dealings were often difficult or
impossible to verify, and a shrewd shyster could leverage half-truths to
enter respectable occupations and high society. Cowlam succeeded in
crafting stories that were difficult to disprove, always emphasizing a
sense of urgency to explain why he was the man for the job.
Frank Garmon is an assistant professor of American Studies at
Christopher Newport University, and many of his other publications
discuss economics and political power in the early republic. The author
seamlessly transitions to the study of how a convict convincingly
subverted societal norms and situated himself into positions of civic,
professional, and political importance.
Membership Dues for the 2024-25 season are due in September. Registration form here
Last Meeting
On May 28, 2024, Patrick Schroeder presented “Forgotten Friday: The April 7,
1865 Actions in Cumberland County, VA”.
Largely overlooked owing to the events at Sailor’s Creek on April 6 and
at Appomattox on April 9, 1865, multiple engagements and events occurred
in Cumberland County largely overlooked by historians and the public.
There are four separate battles resulting in the death, and wounding and
capture of three generals and the final engagement on the fringe of
forcing Lee’s surrender in Cumberland County. The Gen. Barlow vs. Gen.
Gordon fight along the South Side Rail Road, the repulse of Gen. Crook’s
cavalry near the Coal Pits, and the 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. battles near
Cumberland Church, are all fascinating and horrific in their own right,
resulting in hundreds of casualties. Also, the first correspondence
delivered between Grant and Lee occurred in Cumberland County.