USA > Iowa > Mahaska County > The history of Mahaska County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics > Part 47
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HISTORY OF MAHASKA COUNTY.
couple of times with the butt of the pistol he fell back exhausted. As soon as Myers fired the first shot an indiscriminate discharge of weapons took place. Gary emptied his pistol without effect, and was himself shot through the wrist, and a Dr. Spain was shot in the leg. This of course broke up the meeting, and the voice of Capt. Seevers above the din of battle order- ing every man to his home cleared the ground of every Democrat in a very few minutes. Few Republicans were present, and these placed Sergt. Al- loway in a spring wagon, but he died before reaching Peoria. His body was taken to the house of B. F. Winterinte, from whence the funeral took place a few days afterward, and the procession is said to have been one and one-half miles in length, showing that by some in Mahaska a soldier's life was not lightly valued. Alloway was to have been married in a few days to a cousin of his murderer.
The day after the shooting Sheriff Allumbangh and two marshals, Jesse Dodd and Win. Johnson, went up to Sugar Grove, and after some difficulty succeeded by strategy in arresting Myers, who was lodged in jail at Oskaloosa.
After a trial at Ottumwa, and again at Albia, without successful convic- tion, and in the last of which testimony was introduced to prove that Gary had fired the ball which killed Alloway, the county having already been involved some thousands of dollars in costs, resolved to dismiss the case, and Myers was allowed to go unpunished.
We have it from those who claim to have seen it that a three-striped flag with butternut trimmings was exhibited and cheered at the meeting at which this shooting took place, a statement scarcely credible were it not supported by other circumstances equally culpable.
TIMES OFFICE RAID.
At the time of the killing of Alloway, A. A. Wheelock, an ultra-Demo- crat, was in charge of the Times, as editor and proprietor. The Times was a Democratic paper which had been running in Oskaloosa since 1854. In commenting upon the murder of Alloway Wheelock gave publicity through his columns to sentiments something like this: "Alloway was nothing but a Lincoln hireling, employed in killing his betters," and intimated lie did not consider the death of a soldier as of much consequence anyway.
Alloway, as has been mentioned, was a sergeant in Co. H, Third Iowa. Several copies of the Times of the above-mentioned issue found their way into the camp of Co. H, and proved quite inflammatory diet to his old com- rades, as might well be expected. Men who are exposing their lives for their country's sake do not appreciate the innuendoes and sneers of those who stay at home and possibly sympathize with the enemy. Co. H was at this time at Natchez. A meeting was called in which it was resolved that certain alternatives should be offered Mr. Wheelock by the indignant Co. H. These were three: to retract his statement, to take Confederate money for his paper at face value, and thus tangibly manifest his confi- dence in the " betters " of Union soldiers, or to suffer suppression when Co. H could reach him by physical force. The first two alternatives were of- fered him by mail, but were rejected. The soldiers determined to enforce the third. It was known that part of Co. H of the Third Infantry, Co. C of the Fifteenth and Co. H of the Eighth would be at home on veteran fur- lough about the same time. Hence a correspendence was opened up be- tween certain parties of each company, in whichi an understanding for mu- tual aid was come to in the matter of the Times suppression.
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HISTORY OF MAHASKA COUNTY.
The soldiers returned in March, 1864. Co. H had a meeting in the hotel at Eddyville, where quite a portion of the veterans expressed their disap- proval of violent measures, and proposed letting the matter drop; but not so with some.
The following morning the stage drove up to the Madison House with eight men in blue of Co. H, Third. These went around to the Times office and told the editor they were the comrades of Alloway, and they wished the publication of the Times suspended during their short stay of thirty days at home. "By what authority?" said Mr. Wheelock. "By military au- thority." The soldiers then left.
In the next issue of his paper, Mr. Wheelock stated that he had been threatened by furloughed soldiers; that he desired no quarrel with them, and expected to attend to his own business; if physical force were resorted to, that the soldiers would have to face the Democracy of Mahaska county.
The following Saturday afternoon was secretly selected by the soldiers as the time for " business." That there were quite a number of the Democracy in the city prepared to defend the Times, and armed for that purpose, was evi- dent, for some appeared on the street that afternoon. Portions of the three companies above mentioned were in Oskaloosa. They had at the armory ninety stand of arms, loaded, which they were prepared to use if a riot ensued.
About two o'clock in the afternoon the soldiers of Co. H, Third Iowa, left the Madison House aud proceeded to the Times office on High street, a few steps from the northeast corner of the square. They entered the press-room, and carrying the forms there lying, to the windows, threw the type in the street. The fonts were emptied in a like manner, and a few minutes left the Times office with only a few scattering type in the build- ing. Nothing else was touched. The soldiers then left and met their com- rades outside. Not a shot was fired by either party. The suppression was successful. The Times did not again appear. Mr. Wheelock soon after- ward left Oskaloosa, and has since experienced a more prosperous journey in another walk of life.
KILLING OF THE MARSHALS.
In the draft of 1864, certain men drafted from Sugar Creek township in Poweshiek county, failed to report themselves in obedience to orders, and under the law became deserters. On Saturday, October 1st, the Provost Marshal of the fourth district of Iowa, with headquarteas at Grinnell, sent out two officers with orders for arrest of these deserters. These officers were Capt. John L. Bashore, of Appanoose county, Deputy Provost Mar- shal, and Josiah M. Woodruff, of Knoxville, with headquarters at Oska- loosa. These men entered Sugar Creek township before noon, and meeting with a certain Mike Gleason, made some inquiries as to the men of whom they were in search, thinking Gleason to be a loyalist. After leaving Gleason they proceeded to the house of Craver, where they stopped for din- ner. After refreshments they had not proceeded far when they met three men, John and Joe Fleener (who were brothers-in-law to Myers, who had shot Alloway in the previous antumn), and the man Gleason. The manner of the men convinced the officers that they meant mischief, and Bashore sprang out of the buggy in which the marshals were riding, and with re- volver in hand commenced remonstrating with the men, telling them they were not the citizens of whom they (the marshals) were in search, and they had no business with them. Woodruff remained in the buggy. Almost immediately the Fleeners and Gleason commenced firing. Woodruff was
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HISTORY OF MAHASKA COUNTY.
shot through the head and killed almost instantly. Bashore was shot in the back, the ball entering near the kidneys, from the effects of which he died in a few hours, but not before giving an account of the shooting. Gleason was shot, probably by Bashore, in the thigh, and was so severely wounded he was not able to leave the spot, but had strength enough to break his gun over the head of the prostrate marshal. The Fleeners made good their escape, leaving Gleason to his fate.
Several citizens hearing the shooting came to the spot immediately, and removed the dead and wounded to the house of Craver, near by.
If the testimony of Gleason is to be believed, he went, after meeting the marshals in the forenoon to a meeting of the so-called " Democrat Ran- gers " in that vicinity, and it was there decided that the marshals should be " attended to," and certain parties were appointed to take care of them. Certain it is that several wagon loads of men passed the spot after the marshals were shot and while lying in the road, without offering assistance. Where they had been is a matter of conjecture.
By marshal James Matthews, of Grinnell, two companies of militia from Grinnell and Montezuma were at once ordered to the scene of the shoot- ing, to assist in making arrests, and on Sunday evening Gleason, with seven others, were sent to Oskaloosa poder guard. The seven additional men arrested were Andrew Powers and son Joseph, Solomon Watson and son George, John Maloney, Allen McDaniel, and Perry McFarland. These were subsequently sent to Davenport under a strong guard, and as there was no evidence sufficient to convict them, they were soon after re- leased. A number of other arrests were made, but of little consequence.
On Monday following the bodies of the dead marshals were brought to Oskaloosa, and the sight of their marred forms ronsed the crowd to such a frenzy that nothing but a strong guard and brick walls saved Gleason from speedy punishment. The following day the corpses were removed to Cen- terville and Knoxville, the separate homes of these victims of mad and un- provoked assault.
All efforts to find the Fleener brothers were unavailing. They immedi- ately left the country and have never been publicly seen since. We are informed that they now live in Kansas under assumed names, and that of late year one of them made a visit to Sugar Creek in disguise, but did not remain long.
Gleason lay in jail at Oskaloosa for a number of months waiting for his wound to heal. He was finally brought to trial and was sentenced for a long term in the state penitentiary, where he has since died.
Some accounts state that there were a number of men secreted in the surrounding bushes at the time of the murder, who assisted in the shooting but this is not probable in view of conflicting circumstances, and it is likely that " the Fleeners " and Mike Gleason were the only parties actively en- gaged in the bloody work.
This, of course, was a most dastardly and unwarrantable deed, as were all cases of violence against marshals in different parts of the country, where they were were simply performing their duty under orders-they being in no way responsible fer the conscription laws which they were sworn to support and enforce.
OTHER DIFFICULTIES.
Another occurrence which excited considerable comment and ex-
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citement at the time, occurred in the southeastern part of Mahaska. Joseph Macon, an ex-sheriff of Mahaska, got into a quarrel with a soldier of a Union organization known as the "Border Brigade." The difficulty occurred in Oskaloosa in June, 1863. Joseph Macon was an extreme Dem- ocrat, and a number of the members of the Brigade took it upon them- selves to be the champions of their comrades, which championship they displayed in a most cowardly manner.
A short time after the Oskaloosa difficulty Macon had occasion to go to Eddyville to meet a relative, an old gentleman, at the train, that being at that time the railroad point nearest Oskaloosa. Having found his passen- ger and started for home, just as he was leaving town a party of the "Brig- ade " present in Eddyville, commenced firing at him, but without effect. Macon urged his horse to the top of his speed and temporarily escaped, but finding he was pursned, he left his buggy in charge of his companion and took to the woods, where he concealed himself until his baffled enemies abandoned the search, and he was permitted to return home.
We believe no arrests were made in this case and Macon was not further molested.
In another case a man named Street, from some of the southern conn- ties, was to be taken to Des Moines, having been sentenced to imprison- ment there for treason. It was resolved, by what has been known as the "Skunk River Army," to rescue the prisoner as he should pass through Oskaloosa in the stage. On the day appointed for his removal to Des Moines, abont one hundred armed men appeared in Oskaloosa, intending to intercept the stage. But unfortunately for the deliverers, the anthorities were forewarned of their purpose. The stage containing the prisoner did not enter Oskaloosa by the usual route, but branching toward the north outside the limits, proceeded to the jail, escorted by a company of Eddy- ville militia, which had been sent on in advance. This thwarted the inten- tion of the insurgents, who returned to their homes, when the prisoner was taken on the same night.
A BIG FRIGHT.
Most towns in Southern Iowa had their day of a big scare sometime or other during the war, and Oskaloosa was not an exception.
One morning, probably in the fall of 1863, it was reported in town that Bill Anderson with his guerilla band was marching upon the city. The source of the rumor was unknown, but in such panics as similar reports usnally cause, the origin of reports is not sought after, and people are deter- mined to believe the worst, and nothing but the worst.
In this case, bells were rung, whistles blown, and riders scoured the country for aid. The schools were dismissed, and the larger boys, with all other available citizens, were formed into militia companies, and the day spent in drilling on the square. No pickets were ont, and had a dozen rebel cavalry charged down one of the streets unannounced, they could probably have cleaned out the whole militia force, which would undoubt- edly have discovered the utility of heels as a defense against rebels.
About the time the guns began to get heavy and the boys were feeling weary, word came that Anderson and his bushwhackers were far enough beyond the Missouri line. The next morning not a man could be found who had experienced any alarm, but all had drilled because " the others did," and " for the fun of the thing."
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WAR HISTORY.
MAHASHA COUNTY WAR RECORD.
IN the presidential election of 1860, Mahaska county polled 2971 votes. In the War of the Rebellion she sent to the field 1274 of her strongest, most promising and vigorous sons.
At the time of the outbreak of the war, Mahaska was absorbed in the vocations of peace. Her great agricultural opportunities were beginning to be known She was just recovering from the panic of 1857, which had so prostrated business throughout the Northwest. The country was alive with industry and hopes for the future. Those who had been in the coun- try in the days that had " tried men's souls," and their descendants, had begun to see the dawning of a better day. "When immediately surrounded with peace and tranquility, they paid but little attention to the rumored plots and plans of those who lived and grew rich from the sweat and toil, blood and flesh of others-aye, even by trafficking in the offspring of their own loins." But still the war was upon them, the thundering of cannon within the nation's very gates, before the people of the Northwest realized the issues at stake.
April 12, 1861, Fort Sumpter, near Charleston, South Carolina, was fired upon, by what the more charitable of the nation believed to be a drunken mob. But the surrender of Capt. Anderson, made necessary by the mur- derons and continued fire of the enemy's guns, awakened the whole North from its dream of security and perpetual union.
When the cloud of treason darkened Freedom's light in Sumpter's sky, Bravely stepped they forth to battle, They to conquer or to die.
April 15th, the following proclamation of the President sped over the wires from the National Capital to the land beyond the Mississippi:
WHEREAS, the laws of the United States have been, and now are opposed in several States by combinations too powerful to be suppressed in an ordinary way, I, therefore, call upon the militia of the several States of the Union to the aggregate number of 75,000 to suppress said combination and execute the laws. I appeal to all loyal citizens for State aid in this effort to maintain the laws, integrity, National Union, perpetuity of popular government, and redress wrongs long enough endured.
The first service assigned forces will probably be to re-possess forts, places, and property which have been seized from the Union. The utmost care should be taken consistent with our object, to avoid devastation, destruction and interference with the property of peaceful citizens in any part of the country, and I hereby command persons commanding the aforesaid combinations to disperse within twenty days from date.
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HISTORY OF MAHASKA COUNTY.
I hereby convene both Houses of Congress for the 4th day of July next, to determine upon measures for the public safety as its interests may demand.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States.
By W. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
Of this call for volunteers only one regiment was required to fill the quota of Iowa. The proclamation of Gov. Kirkwood calling for this regi- ment was issued April 17th, from Iowa City. The urgent exhortation of the Governor was patriotic but not necessary. The men of Iowa sprang to arms as one man, and hundreds of volunteers were offered which the State did not need. Company H, of the Third regiment, Capt. Warren, was the first one ready in Mahaska county, being filled June 1, 1861. This com- pany had made application for a place in the First regiment, but too late for a rank in the same. By the first of July, Iowa had provided for the Nation's use six regiments of volunteers, and still the enlistments were going on. In July, 1861, Co. C of the Seventh Iowa Infantry, left Mahas- ka, and a little later Co. H of the Eighth Iowa, marched. Next was Co. C of the Fifteenth.
Then came that well remembered lull in the conflict, when sanguine men grew more hopeful, and the desponding less in despair; a time when it was hoped the war would soon end, and once more would be " beaten the swords into ploughshares, and the spears into pruning hooks." But soon was the spirit of the north again ronsed, and the blood of chivalry of Mahaska sent leaping in boiling currents through veins swollen with righteous wrath, as the terrible news of Shiloh, of thousands slain, and Mahaska's sons in southern prisons, came to fathers, brothers, and friends of those who had gone to the front.
The call of President Lincoln, for three hundred thousand men, met a most liberal response from Mahaska. From the plow, from the workshop and counting house, leaving the school-room, the desk, the bar, the pulpit, the press, men of every rank of life, of all ages, grey-beard and youth, those who showed themselves the bravest of the brave, came forth and enrolled their names among those who were ready to face the cannon's mouth, if neccessary to die for their country. Four companies were enrolled for a sin- gle regiment, the gallant Thirty-third. Those who were kept at home by age, infirmity or sex, did noble service too. They assisted with their hands, their money and their words of cheer. Ethically considered, to the wives and mothers who gave up their husbands and sons, their natural protectors, and with a passive self-sacrifice, suffered them to go to the field of carnage, an even greater debt of gratitude is due than to those brave men who then act- ively, and with less self-denial rendered their service, and suffered like hard- ships, in the preservation of that other mother-life, the nation itself.
Company C, of the 40th Iowa, was raised at the same time. Finally was sent Company I, 47th Iowa. Besides. these full company organizations, numerous squads and individuals enlisted in other companies in this and other States, of whom record is made in the following pages.
In September, 1862, the Board of Supervisors of Mahaska county passed a resolution offering a ten dollar bounty warrant, receivable for county taxes, to all volunteer privates from Mahaska county. This offer continued in force until January, 1863.
The ladies in Mahaska county did much for the aid of the soldiers during
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the war. Aid societies were formed, sanitary supplies sent, widows and or- phans of soldiers relieved, a good and noble work which time will reward.
During the summer of 1864, alone, the people of Mahaska county made the following subscriptions:
Sanitary Commission, over. $1,000
Christian Commission, over. 1,000
. 1,000
Freedmen's Aid Commission
.... 2,000
Soldiers' Orphan's Home.
$5,000
Forty-five men were drafted from Mahaska county, November, 1864. Of these we were not able to secure a complete list. In fact we are quite un- willingly driven to an apology for the meagerness of parts of our war history. Newspaper files could not be found covering the war period, a most impor- tant era in the history of the county, and we have been obliged to depend very considerably upon the frail memory of mortals in regard to facts whose occurrence is removed by years.
January 10, 1865, a committee appointed to solicit donations for soldiers' families, about ten days previous, submitted the following as their partial report, with the statement that some townships had not yet reported: "Des Moines, $150; Harrison, $175; White Oak, $450; Adams, $125; Madison, $275; Richland, $309.89; Pleasant Grove, $200; Monroe (south part), $93; Prairie (New Sharon), $65.75; Union, $247.06; Oskaloosa, $1291.67. Total, $3,382.37."
Two men from Mahaska became generals, and by a singular coincidence they were brothers. These were the lamented Gen. S. A. Rice, commissioned Brig. General, August, 1863, and Elliott W. Rice, of the Seventh Iowa In- fantry, promoted Brigadier General about the same time with his brother, and afterward breveted Major General.
Capt. Comstock of Company C, 33d Infantry, had been a volunteer in the Mexican war, the only one from Mahaska county. He enlisted Oct. 25, 1848, at Hannibal, Mo., as private in 14th Tennessee Regiment. Mustered out August, 1849.
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Having thus hurriedly sketched in general terms the history of Mahaska in the war, there yet remains another duty for our pen. This is, to collect the names so far as possible, of those brave men who left their homes at their country's call; and to place on imperishable record the enlistments, promo- tions and casualties of the humblest knight in Mahaskian chivalry. This is a duty we gladly perform, not alone for those yet living, but for the memory of those whose blood was made to fatten southern battle fields, whose loss a multitude of widows and orphans have mourned with a bitterness which no pension can ever sweeten, nor crown of glory drive away. When another generation has passed, we trust an occasional gray haired veteran, bowed with the infirmity of years, will point to these pages with the commendable pride of a volunteer of 1812, in this day; while the orphans of the slain and their children, will look upon this brief epitaph of their forefathers, as an undying witness that the blood of their loyal ancestry, not only pulsated with a patriot's devotion, but fatally left its living fountain upon the nation's battle-field.
All hail to our gallant defenders, all hail! Our noblest, our bravest, our best; Proud peers of the world's worshiped heroes ye stand, By freedom's dear attributes blest.
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HISTORY OF MAHASKA COUNTY.
Ah, the voice of the past to your heart and ours, It brings in its eloquent breath
The wild tones of victory, softened and blent, With the low mystic cadence of death. But the angel of faith with her magical wand, Lifts the vail from our grief, and behold!
The invisible arm of a pitying God Hath gathered them into the fold.
The following is compiled in part, from the Adjutant General's Reports:
THIRD INFANTRY.
This regiment contained volunteers from all parts of the State. It was one of those bodies of volunteers which sprang to arms at the first call for men, and was an enthusiastic command from the very beginning of service. The volunteers were sworn into the service at Keokuk, on the 8th and 10th of June, 1861. The regiment left the Gate City on June 29, and proceeded by river to Hannibal, Missouri. This State was then in an unhappy condi- tion. Guerillas, horse-thieves, and rebel bushwhackers were continually harassing the Unionists of the State. The regiment was ordered to Chilli- cothe, where the men first met their colonel, Nelson G. Williams, of Du- bugne county. During part of July and August most of the regiment sta- tioned at Chillicothe were drilled seven hours daily. Rigid discipline, irk- some camp duties, and fruitless marching and couter-marching began to breed a spirit of discontent. For some offense Colonel Williams had been ordered to St. Louis in arrest. The regiment proceeded to Macon City, and from thence to Cameron early in September. The regiment was under com- mand of Lieutenant-colonel Scott. Scott, with five hundred able men of the Third Iowa, about seventy home guards, a squad of artillery, and a sin- gle six-pounder gun left Cameron on the afternoon of September 15th, and reached Liberty early on the 17th, expecting there to co-operate with Colonel Smith, Sixteenth Illinois, against the rebel general Atchinson, commanding three regiments, two battalions, and one battery-about four thousand men. The enemy had marched through Liberty the evening before, and proceeded to Blue Mills Landing, where they expected to cross the river. Colonel Smith had not arrived. The troops under Scott were impatient for battle, and firing being heard in the direction of the landing about eleven o'clock, the eagerness of our troops for battle was difficult to restrain. The inter- vening country between Liberty and Blue Mills was covered by a thick for- est and underbrush, and impenetrable in line of battle. Yielding to the elamor of his men, Scott marched in column into the woods, with skirmish- ers in the van. They had not proceeded far when surprised by rebel am- bush, and were under fire along the entire line. The eannon was brought into action, but only fired two rounds when so many of the gunners were killed that the piece could be no longer worked. The men fought bravely, but were compelled to fall back, which they did in good order, bringing off the cannon by hand. In a short time ten out of sixteen officers had fallen, killed or wounded. On reaching the open field a battalion was formed, but the rebels declined attack. The retreat was continued to Liberty. During the night the enemy crossed the river, and moved rapidly toward Lexington. The loss to the Third Iowa in this engagement was ninety-four in killed and wounded, and though a rash adventure and severe lesson, the effect on the
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