Career Criminal Masquerades in the Civil War Era and Gilded Age

Charles Cowlam’s career as a convict, spy, detective, congressional candidate, adventurer and con artist spanned the Civil War, reconstruction and Gilded Age. Historian Frank W. Garmon Jr. will discuss Cowlam’s swindles which touched many of the era’s most prominent figures, including Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant. Free and open to the public. 2 pm.