Lewis Pence Shenandoah Va Hawksbill Creek Area
Hello. Trying to find parents and linage of Lewis Pence who was in Shenandoah Va, during the Civil War.He was a farmer and aided Confederate partisians in the area after Union soldiers killed his tweleve year old son.There is a docutmented story that he led Booth and two others from Rockingham County to Harpers Ferry and to a cave where Booth hid for a week in 1865.(This is of course if the tale is true that Booth escaped to India and was not killed in the barn like official stories reported.There is much to coloborate this theory)A few years later Frank A. Weaver, a polition, was told to contact Lewis Pence of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and "he would know of a cave known locally as Bear Hole."This cave is in a limestone area near Elkton(formerly Conrads Store)and close to Hawksbill Creek.It is said Mr, Pence remembered leading this man and two others to the cave when they came to his home some years earlier and he suspected it was Booth.He agreed to do this andand not speak of it.He recieved letters from India from John B. Wilkes (the name John Wilkes Booth was supposed to now be using) thanking him for his help and was well paid for the job.He kept these letters but in his old age became worried and discussed this with a layer he knew called Henry Showalter.The layer advised him to dispose of the papers "as if it is known that anyone in your family helped the assinator of Pres. Lincoln it would not go so good with you even at this late date"The time period would have been anywhere from 1867 to 1870 so this Lewis Pence would have been in the area in that time period.Soon after this John B. Wiles arrived in the US from India.
My husband is a descendent of both the Hawksbill Pences and the Shenandoah Valley Pences.Trying to find the connection,If you have any info or clues, please contact me.Not looking to stirr up trouble over Lincoln's assination.Just curious and would like to know how this Lewis Pence is connected.I have a picture of him and his wife from a book called "Dark Union".A story about the secrets, profiteers, politicians and Booth conspirator that led to Lincoln's death.Hope to hear from someone.
Sandy