USA > Missouri > Macon County > General history of Macon County, Missouri > Part 19
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In less than a month after the fall of Fort Sumter there was a largely attended meeting at the Court House in Bloomington for the purpose of endorsing the Governor's course in refusing to furnish troops to President Lincoln. The meeting was held May 11, 1861. A delegation went out from Macon, headed by a brass band; waving over it was a Southern flag, containing 15 stars. Captain William Griffin was Chairman of the meeting and Web M. Rubey, now living in Macon, Secretary. Hon. Jolin S. Green and E. C. McCabe of Palmyra addressed the assembly. Strong resolutions were passed against the "Republican" Abolition administration. Governor C. F. Jackson was upheld as "a true patriot, and one who will stand by the rights of Missouri and of Southern rights at all hazards." The "Silver Grays," and the "Macon Rangers," were the names of two companies first organized and drilled for service in the Confederate army.
Two companies of volunteers were raised for the Federal army by Captain William Forbes and C. R. Haverly. About the same time a company known as the "Home Guard" was enrolled.
The first Union troops to reach Macon were composed of Iowa and Illinois regiments under the command of Brigadier General Stephen A. Hurlbut. The first thing the troops did on reaching Macon in June, 1861, was to cut down a "Rebel" flag pole. When this pole fell Dr. F. W. Allen was hearing a Latin class in the Macon College. Stopping the lesson, he rushed down into town and denounced the proceedings.
A company of the Sixteenth Illinois was sent to Bloomington to disarm the citizens there. Those disarmed were arrested, but after- wards released. Quite a number of Union regiments were organized at Macon. At one time 7,000 Federal troops were quartered there. Breastworks were thrown up in the east part of the city and occupied by the State M. S. M.
A company of Confederate met at Penny's Bridge in August, 1861, and elected Ben Eli Guthrie, late a student of McGee College, as captain. The company joined General Price and took part in his Missouri operations during the fall and winter, 1861-62. Colonel Robert S. Bevier, for whom the town of Bevier was named, commanded
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a regiment under General Price, in which regiment were a large number of men from Macon county. This regiment was actively engaged in most all the large battles of the West. Colonel Bevier has written an interesting volume of the war, including the part taken by the Macon county volunteers. The work is entitled "The First and Second Missouri Brigades." Colonel Bevier was an enterprising, public spirited citizen, a spendid comrade and an ideal soldier.
During the occupancy of Macon by the Federal troops, when General Lewis Merrill was in command, a court martial was held to try ten prisoners charged with capital crimes against the government. The defendants were Frank E. Drake, Dr. A. C. Rowe, Elbert Ham- ilton, Wiliam Searcy, J. A. Wysong, J. H. Fox, Edward Riggs, David Bell, Jolm H. Oldham and James H. Hall.
All of the men were found guilty and sentenced to death. The execution occured in the presence of a large crowd on September 25, 1862. In the cemetery at Kirksville, Missouri, is a monument at the head of Oldham's grave containing this inscription :
"John H. Oldham, son of J. G. and P. A. Oldham; born Marchi 15, 1839, a citizen prisoner, who was murdered by being shot to death September 25, 1862, by order of Merrill, a Federal officer at Macon, at the instance of others well known to his father."
William Searcy who was among the executed ones, was captain of an irregular band operating in the northern part of the state. He and a part of his force were captured while making an attack on Lancaster. Searcy was wounded by parties firing from the court house. He was taken by his men and carried out of town, but it was soon apparent that he could not be taken far, and he was left at the home of William C. Ray, a mile and a half north of Lancaster. Searcy's men, fearing pursuit, moved on, leaving their captain to his fate. In the evening some Confederate officers were informed by a woman that the noted Captain Searcy was lying wounded in a farm house near town, and they took a force out, fearing an ambush. Searcy was found badly wounded with every indication that he would die. Some men who had been attending him were made prisoners. A pallet was provided in the court house at Lancaster, for him to die on. But he fooled the doctors and got well. Then he was taken to Macon, where he was tried and convicted of being a bushwhacker.
Five of the executed men were claimed by their relatives. The others were buried under military direction.
The Harris House, erected and named after its owner, Ben Harris,
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was situated a short distance south of the Hannibal and St. Joe tracks. It was a two-story frame structure, of ample dimensions. When put up it was the leading hotel of the town. The Federal occupaney caused Harris to abandon his property, and go South, as he was an ardent Confederate. The east part of the building was used by the Federal authorities as a military prison. A great many prominent and well-to- do citizens, whose loyalty to the Union side was questioned, were con- fined here from time to time. General Merrill's headquarters were close to the prison. At one time there were 144 military prisoners in the Harris House.
Until very recently no newspaper man had ever developed the story of the battle of Painter Creek, in west Macon county. It was, possibly, one of the most enrions engagments of the Civil war. Not a man was killed or injured by ball or bayonet, though the "fight" began before noon and continued until dark. One man-a Confederate-was drowned while trying to swim his horse across the stream. That was the only casualty.
The encounter between Colonel Joseph Porter's Confederates and some Federal regiments under General Wolfolk was part of a wide- spread plan to surround and capture Porter with the 2,000 recruits he was trying to get sonthward for service in the Confederate army.
Porter was only concerned in breaking through the Union lines. He knew the greater number of his men couldn't fight ; had no discipline and had never been under fire. But he was in the heart of a section swarming with Federal militia and government troops, and it was impossible to get out without a battle. Some 500 of his men were sea- soned, and could be relied on to execute orders under fire. The balance were mostly young farmers, good riders, but not used to posing as targets.
There had been a pretty severe encounter between MeNeil and Porter at Kirksville on August 6, 1862. Many Confederates were killed and captured, but Porter drew off his men and hurried southward through the rough wilderness of Macon county. The vigilant MeNeil, learning his ronte, ordered a strong force to move westward and inter- cept the fleeing Confederates.
Charley Coleman was then a farmer lad living about the hills bordering Painter Creek bottoms. Some one informed the Federal authorities that he had piloted Porter and his shattered army through the woods, and he was summoned to Macon and put under a heavy bond to refrain from further friendly acts towards the "rebels."
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Mr. Coleman is now a resident of Macon, He thus described the only battle that ever occurred on Macon county soil :
"It was two days after the fight at Kirksville, in which Porter got the worst of it," said Mr. Coleman. "I was living with my stepfather on the second bottom of Painter Creek, in Valley township. Mart and John Souther and myself learned that Porter was coming south and we went up toward Goldsberry to meet him. We met old Mr. Bradley and he said he had seen 'an awful big army' pass north of him ; he supposed they were Federals. We rode on in the direction of the army, and learned instead of Federals they were Confederates, Porter's men. The whole prairie seemed to be covered with soldiers. It appeared to me there were enough men to put the whole government out of business. It didn't occur that there might be several times as many of the other fellows, but I learned something before the day was over.
We were very cordially received by the officers, and rode on south- ward with the troopers. A great many of the men were wounded, had their arms in slings and handkerchiefs tied around their heads. It was so close to the Kirksville fight that the raw recruits were still in a state of panic, looking about at every sound, as if expecting an enemy. All were terribly hungry and weary. When we reached my stepfather's the women folk got busy cooking things to eat and passing out food as fast as they could. Some of the troops were so hungry that they seized the meat before it was done and began devouring it.
There was no apparent attempt at discipline. The soldiers just scattered over the place, eating and resting, their guns lying wherever they happened to throw them. While in this unprepared state a courier, on a foaming horse, galloped in shouting :
" . The Federals are coming !'
"It was worse than if he had warned them of an approaching cyclone. The terrible Federals had licked them at Kirksville, and now, many miles back in the wilderness, they were still pursuing. They imagined Federals rained from the clouds; they seemed to be every- where. In a moment the eamp was in the wildest confusion. Some of the recruits fled without waiting to see what a Federal soldier might look like. One youth in his eagerness to get away jumped his horse into the creek and was drowned.
"But the panic didn't extend to Porter and his seasoned officers. They shouted orders across the fields and soon had the force whacked into line, and positions were taken where the creek embankment could be used as a breastwork. I thought of a couple of horses I had, and in
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order to save them from the Federals I started down on the bottoms, intending to hide them behind a bluff. When I got there, however, I found the place taken by Porter's frightened recruits, and women and children, all anxious to get out of gunshot range.
"The Federals had taken their position on the bald knobs, and were pouring into the Confederates what seemed destructive fire. Porter replied, his men fighting stubbornly, not giving an inch. Once or twice the Federals started to rush them, but a hot fire sent them skeltering back to cover. It was pretty evident that all of Porter's men were not panic-stricken. His fire seemed to be the most effective and I believed if he had rushed the Federals he would have sent them flying back on the jump. But his object was to save his recruits, and he couldn't afford to take chances.
"At one time a rider rushed up to the settlement and announced that the Confederates had been 'cut to pieces;' that Porter was a prisoner and the survivors were scattering over the prairie.
"But I noted the firing kept on steadily, growing hotter from the Confederates' side as the sun went down, and slackening over on the hills where the Federals were.
"Nobody did anything that day but watch the battle. From the terrific discharges of musketry we imagined the ground must have been covered with slain. I didn't see how human flesh and blood could last a minute under such a riot of smoke and fire. The woods were canopied with smoke and the smell of gunpowder filled the air clear out to where the terrified spectators were. We supposed the war was being settled right then and there; that history was being made same as at Naseby, Waterloo and Yorktown.
"During all this frightful hubbub, this carnival of death and destruction, Miss Lizzie MeKittrick, who taught the district school in the neighborhood, was the only quiet and self-controlled person in the zone of shot and shell. She kept her students steadily at their books, and went about her school room tasks same as if nothing more exciting than a Sunday-school picnic was happening over on Painter Creek. She could hear the sound of musketry, the cries of the soldiers and the roar of the cannon same as we could, but she didn't worry a bit. Her duty was to keep her scholars out of gunshot range, and she did that by closing the doors and refusing to let anyone go out.
"It wa's getting towards dusk when we heard a bugle sound amid the bald knobs, and soon the news came that the Yankees were retreating. Then we went out to bury the dead, and what do you think? There wasn't a man killed on either side except the young Confederate who
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jumped his horse in the stream! The two armies had shot enough lead at each other to sink a battleship, and yet there were absolutely no injuries.
"Porter rounded up his men and withdrew to the north, the direction from whence he came.
"Next day the Federals, considerably reinforced, trooped by on his trail, determined to bag the fleeing 'Rebs' at all hazards. They took with them Johnnie Williams and Mart Sonther as guides.
"Porter, learning of the determined pursuit, and knowing he couldn't hope to get away without showing his teeth, crossed the Chari- ton river at See's ford, and arranged an ambush on the other side. There's always plenty of water in the Chariton, and the only place to cross thereabouts was the ford.
"The Federals, hot on the trail, and spurred on by peremptory commands from headquarters, charged into the stream blindly. Porter had concentrated his fighting men at the ford and when the leading troops of the enemy were mid-stream they poured a terrific fire upon them at short range. Those who could retreated from the water in a hurry. Several were killed outright and a great number wounded. It stopped the pursuit and next day I hid myself in some brush and saw the Federals riding southward, away from Porter. They had all they wanted of him. Porter then made his way eastward, got safely through the line in Missouri, and I presume managed to deliver his recruits to Price."
The late William H. Sears was one of Miss MeKittrick's scholars during the Painter Creek fight. He said his teacher had quite a job enforcing order that exciting day, but that she was as calm and unruffled as a May morning during all the roar of strife, and kept the best of discipline. Mr. Sears saw the dead soldier referred to by Mr. Coleman. He heard of no others being killed in the singularly noisy but harmless battle.
In 1862 Major Thomas Moody, who is yet living in Macon, was the commander of an enrolled militia force, and was of course subject to the orders of General Lewis Merrill, commander of the post at Macon. Most of Major Moody's men were Missourians, and had been reared in these parts. Major Moody himself had been a Missourian since 1840. General Merrill ordered Major Moody to select from his men a firing squad for the execution of the ten men under sentence of death by the court martial. Major Moody promptly and earnestly protested, and
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suggested that it would be in better taste to assign the npleasant duty to troops from other states.
That was not the only time Major Moody took issue with his chief on a matter of military duty. Because of its known sympathy with the Southern cause. General Merrill decided that he would wipe Bloom- ington off the earth. He gave Major Moody orders to take his men over there and burn up the town, leaving not one building. Major Moody never intended to obey such a harsh order, but on the moment he had no answer ready for the unexpected command. He thought over the matter for several hours and next morning went to his chief with this idea :
"General," he said, "I want to speak to you about that Bloom- ington matter."
"Good! Have yon razed the old town yet ?"
"No, sir, I haven't been there, but I have got a plan that will work a good deal better than to burn those people out."
"Let's have it," said General Merrill.
"There will be an election this year and I will run for the legis- lature," said Major Moody. "If I am elected I will have a bill put through to remove the county seat from Bloomington to Macon; that will do as much good as to burn the town."
The idea seemed to be pleasing to the grim general. A smile crossed his stern features as he said to Moody :
"That is a great head you got, Major. We'll run you for the legislature and see to it that enough of the boys get out to elect you. If I find any man scratching you I'll run him in the guard house!"
Major Moody was elected and in 1863 he secured the passage of the bill which resulted in the county seat being removed from Bloom- ington to Maeon. It was recorded that this was done as "an act of military necessity." The land donated to the county for public build- ings at Bloomington by Cochran and Hubbard reverted back to the heirs. Poor Bloomington could raise no effective protest, because at that time it was virtually "outside of the Union."
It was during the year the act was passed removing the county seat that Bloomington was raided by a company of guerrillas. At that time there was a depository, known as the Bloomington branch of the Western Bank of Missouri. George Shortridge was cashier and Dr. .J. B. Winn, one of the directors. During the raid the bank was robbed of abont $16,000. The commander of the raiders was not known. Dr. Winn said that the leader claimed to be Quantrill. but there was no
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record of Quantrill's ever having been as far as this up the state. It may have been Anderson or some others who confined their operations to central and northern Missouri.
Dr. Winn described the visit of the guerrillas to old Bloomington as follows :
"The gang first went to the house of the cashier and made him go over to the bank with them. A guard was left at the cashier's house to prevent anyone from leaving to give the alarm. With drawn revolv- ers, the robbers forced the cashier to open the vault, from which they took about $16,000; a large portion of the money was the bank's paper, in big, uneut sheets.
"The day after the robbery Mr. Shortridge came to Macon, enlisted the aid of a company of Federal soldiers and pursued the robbers to a point between Bloomington and Bevier. There a place was found where they had evidently halted and divided the money, as there was several pieces of paper scattered about. The soldiers were unable to get any elne of the bandits.
"Not long after this there was another alarm. The rumor was that an outlaw band was headed for Bloomington for the purpose of robbery. The directors of the bank hurriedly met and decided to remove all the specie that night. Every man took a portion of the money, leaving a receipt for it and was responsible for its return.
"I put my apportionment in my old-fashioned saddle-bags, which I used in carrying medicine to my patrons. Arriving home in the dead hour of night, I dng a hole in the center of the barn floor, where my horses stood. deposited the money and carefully covered it up. I think it was all in silver. After the seare had blown over every man hunted up the money he had hidden and returned it to the bank."
Dr. Winn told of his having buried some of his private gold in quinine bottles, which he permitted to remain underground all through the war. He thought he removed most of this, but in 1901, after his farm had been sold to other parties the idea occured that he might possibly have overlooked some of his hidden treasure. He went out to Bloomington and made a search for it, but never succeeded in finding any more. He decided that time had obliterated the landmarks and that if any of the gold was ever recovered it would be through chance excavation made by plows or shovels.
One of the most dramatic incidents of the Civil war occured Sep- tember 17, 1864. General Lewis Merrill was still commander of the North Missouri department, with headquarters at Macon. George Washburn, Amos Long and Thomas Reeves had been tried on the charge
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of being spies, and were sentenced to be shot. Long and Reeves were young married men. Waiting the day of execution the three condemned men were confined in the college building at Huntsville. They made their escape on one occasion, but were re-captured and guarded with extra vigilance.
Twenty-four militiamen were ordered to draw ballots from a hat, which was passed to them by an officer. Twelve ballots had upon them a capital S. That meant, "shoot." The other ballots were blanks.
The execution hour was two in the afternoon of the day mentioned. The condemned men were lead out to face the firing squad. They started to blindfold Washburn, but he protested.
"Gentlemen," he said, "I have lived like a soldier. I beg of you to let me die like one."
They took off the bandage and ordered him to kneel. Again he protested and again they humored him. He was shot standing, looking clear-eyed into the rifles. Washburn was thirty years of age, a native of Shelby county, Missouri.
Long and Reeves were next ordered to face the squad. It seems the captain knew something of the earnest efforts being made to secure from General Merrill a pardon for Long and Reeves. He looked up and down the road, expecting every moment to see a messenger upon a foaming horse. Many little strategems were resorted to to delay the execution, but at last the captain concluded no reprieve was coming and he ordered the men to get their guns ready for firing. The two condemned Confederates were blindfolded. The captain walked leisurely from them to the the head of the firing line and was just about to call out the fatal order when he observed dust down the road and knew that somebody was riding hard towards him. It proved to be the long expected courier from Merrill carrying the reprieve. So hard had the horse been ridden that it staggered and fell to its knees as the courier dismounted and handed the order from the general to the captain of the firing squad.
Then occurred the drama of the afternoon. The wives of the two men, who were among the crowd assembled to witness the execution, threw themselves hysterically into their husbands' arms and eried out for very joy. The people acted like mad, shouting, jumping and hugging one another. They were so happy that these two young men had been called back from the grave. But suddenly there was a hush as they thought of one man for whom no reprieve had come. Poor George Washburn was lying on the ground waiting the services of the under- taker. He could respond to no hand-clasps ; could open his eyes to his
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loved ones no more. Many remarked the firm lines of the soldierly face as it lay on the green sward, under the slanting rays of the Sep- tember sun. And all knew that whatever his wrongs George Washburn had died like a man.
William Wisdom, a Randolph county man, has in his possession a draft issued from the provost marshal's office at Macon November 16, 1864. Those were the days when the war had assumed tremendons proportions and it was hard to get men into the army. Some people made it a business of providing substitutes for those who were drafted. It is stated that Mr. Bradsher, the party who was the subject of the draft set out below, had to pay $900 for a substitute to go to the war in his place.
Following is a literal copy of the draft served upon Mr. Bradsher :
"Provost Marshal's Office, Eight District, state of Missouri, Novem- ber 16, 1864, to Augustin Bradsher, Salt Springs township, Randolph county, Missouri. Sir: You are hereby notified that you were, on the 16th day of November, 1864, legally drafted in the service of the United States for the period of one year, in accordance with the provision of the act of Congress 'for enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes,' approved March 3, 1863, and the act amenda- tory thereof, approved February 24, 1864. You will accordingly report, on the 30th day of November, 1864, at the place of rendezvous, in Macon, Missouri, or be deemed a deserter, and be subject to the penalty pre- scribed therefor by the Rules and Articles of War.
"Henry W. Hollingsworth, Captain and Provost Marshal, Eighth District of Missouri."
Following was the order for the drafted man's transportation to the point where he was to be enlisted :
"Provost Marshal's Office for the Eighth District of Missouri ; Hannibal, November 16, 1864. To the North Mo. R. R. Co. Please fur- nish transportation from Allen to Macon, Missouri, at government rates for Augustine Bradsher. Distance, twenty miles.
"Henry W. Hollingsworth, Captain and Provost Marshal, Eighth District of Missouri."
In the stories of the warfare on the border, the fierce feud between Jayhawker and Missourian, it was claimed by those who seemed to speak with authority that Quantrill now and then spared, but Anderson never. Of all the sombre, merciless men who rode under the black flag, Anderson was counted the most relentless. Some said the man's heart
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only thawed when he saw the blood running. His apologists-and he had some able ones-urge that two of his sisters were slain by the Jayhawkers, and say that the day the news reached him he began cutting notches on his revolver. Not only were blue-coats waylaid and ridden down, but the man who hid a horse, or failed to furnish feed, or reported his movements to the opposing forces was executed without compunetion. Even Southern sympathizers dreaded the name of the man, because he drew but faint lines between those of one side or the other when the mood to kill was on.
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