History of Boone County, Missouri., Part 39

Author:
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: St. Louis, Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 1220

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Resolved, 1. That we unhesitatingly link our destinies, our interest, our honor, our fate and our all, for weal or for woe, with our Southern brethren; and we will, as an unholy, unjust and unnatural war is forced upon us, unsheathe the civil sword in defence of our rights and hold it up (reeking with fraternal blood) to the gaze of the civilized world, as a faithful witness of the justice of our cause.

2. That the secession of a State, or the withdrawal of the powers delegated by it to the Federal Government, is but a peaceable, sovereign, inherent and inalienable right of a free people (from whom all good governments derive their just powers), to change, throw off, or revolutionize their government when it becomes oppressive or dangerous to their rights, liberties or institutions.

3. That the committee appointed by the State Convention for the purpose of calling that

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body together when the state of the country demanded it, are earnestly requested to convene said body at as early an hour as is practicable, that it take such action as will place Mis- souri in her proper position with her sister States of the South who have been compelled by the fanaticism of the North and by Federal aggression to resume the exercise of the powers delegated by them to the Federal Government.

4. That the Governor of the State of Missouri be and is hereby requested to take speedily such steps as are requisite to put our State in a defensive posture, and to place her on a war footing.

5. That we regard with scorn and contempt the demand made by Abraham Lincoln on the Governor of Missouri for troops to aid in carrying out his unholy and iniquitous crusade for the subjugation of our Southern brothers, under the specious and insidious pretext of enforcing the laws of the Federal Government and preserving the Union and the Constitu- tion, which has been by him and his party grossly insulted, violated and trampled under their unhallowed feet. And we most cordially indorse the prompt, manly and patriotic re- sponse of Governor Jackson to his presumptuous demand.

6. That the course of John B. Henderson, and the opinions avowed by him in the late session of the Missouri convention, are inconsistent with our honor, interest and feeling, and that we request him not to assume to act as our delegate in any convention or consulta- tion of the border slave States.

7. That we totally disapprove of the votes given by the convention refusing to pledge Missouri against Federal coercion and in favor of seceding with the other border slave States.

8. That the people of the several counties throughout the State be requested to meet in convention, and that they recommend that the State Convention be convened at as early an hour as practicable, and to instruct their delegates to vote for the immediate withdrawal of Missouri from the Federal compact.

9. That a committee of three be appointed to correspond with our delegates, and instruct them to vote for the immediate withdrawal of Missouri from the Federal Government, and to propose memorials to the voters of our district, to be signed by them, requesting the im- mediate resignation of such as may refuse to comply.

10. That the adjournment of the convention to December, after it had by its votes deter- mined to do nothing under any circumstances to change the Federal relations of the State, was apparently designed to prevent the people from selecting delegates of different senti- ment to meet and alter the condition of things, and was, therefore, anti-republican in spirit and design.

11. That in view of the perilous condition of public affairs and the inauguration of civil and probably servile war, we deem it prudent and proper to take such steps as will crush out and suppress discontent and insurrections among slaves and free negroes, and to prevent them from being tampered with or instigated to disobedient and rebellious acts by any de- signing white men who may be regarded as enemies to our peace, security and happiness. · It is therefore recommended that meetings be held as soon as convenient in each civil town- ship in the county to consider the premises and adopt such measures as may be deemed best.

12. That all who concur in the above resolutions are cordially invited to a participation in this meeting and a co-operation with us in the promotion of all its objects, regardless of past party divisions or prejudices.

And upon motion of Col. John W. Rollins, were unanimously adopted. As each resolution was read, loud and deafening applause ensued. The whole batch of resolutions was voted for not only unanimously, but with a vim never before witnessed here. Col. Rol- lins, responding to a call, delivered a brief but eloquent speech, de-

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claring his entire devotion to the South - that their destiny was one for weal or for woe, glory or shame ; that he would apply the torch to his own home -that he would see the verdant fields of the South burnt black and crisp - that he would go farther : that he would lay the knife to his last child rather than purchase their security by a cowardly and shameful submission to Black Republican rule ! The Colonel was loudly and rapturously applauded.

The venerable vice-president, Judge Persinger, for twenty-four years Judge of the County Court, was vociferously called for. In response, the Judge referred to his past political associations. He said that he was formerly a Whig, afterwards acted with the American party, and still later a member of the Union party ; that he had taken strong Union ground during the contest for delegates to the late State Con- vention, actuated as he was by the delusive hope that proper compro- mises would be made, the Union reconstructed, and quiet restored ; that this hope gradually gave way as Lincoln's acts, one by one, were made known, until now no hope was left - that one course only was left for Missouri ; that her interest, honor, sympathy and destiny was with the South. He was repeatedly interrupted by loud applause and " Go on, old man, we want to hear from you."

Col. Eli E. Bass (delegate to the State Convention), one of the vice-presidents of the meeting, was called for and took the stand. Col. Bass said : - " Fellow-citizens : I am glad you have given me an opportunity here to-day, since there seems to be great dissatisfaction among you at the course pursued by me as your delegate to the State. Convention, of explaining my vote upon the amendment. offered by Mr. Bast, of Montgomery, to the third resolution of the majority report of the Committee on Federal Relations." Col. Bass stated that he voted nay under a misapprehension of the import of the amend- ment ; that a day or two before the vote was taken he had seen a pro- posed amendment of Mr. Bast, which the latter said he intended to introduce, and which at the time of voting he understood to be under consideration ; that he (Col. Bass) was then and would still be under similar circumstances opposed to that amendment which differed wholly in its effect from the one finally presented by Mr. Bast, of Montgomery ; that he was astonished afterwards to see his vote re- corded against the Bast amendment; that he cordially indorsed said amendment. The Colonel further stated that he approved of the pro- ceedings and objects of the meeting - when, on motion of S. Turner, Col. Bass was exonerated by the meeting from any reflection or cen-

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sure on account of the said vote, after which, at the suggestion of the chair, three cheers were given for Governors Jackson and Magoffin. On motion, the meeting adjourned.

A similar meeting expressing similar sentiments, was held in Roche- port, on April 19, of which Dr. C. I. Chandler acted as president, and B. F. Dimitt, as secretary. A committee composed of Dr. John Wilcox, Dr. A. Patton, H. Wheeler, F. F. Kirby and John Shindler reported the resolutions, and a request was made that G. G. Vest and Lewis W. Robinson address them at their earliest convenience. During the absence of the committee on resolutions, " a call was made for Col. John Hinton, who responded in an able, eloquent and pat- riotic speech, in defence of the rights and liberty of the South, and was frequently cheered and applauded with great enthusiasm." F. F. Kirby was appointed to solicit names of members 'of a " Home Guard."

Having copied the proceedings of a " Southern Rights meeting," held by a portion of the citizens of Boone, during the early stages of our civil war, it is but fair that those on the other side be also heard, and for this purpose we copy from the Statesman of May 10, 1861, the proceedings of a

UNION MEETING IN BOONE COUNTY.

Pursuant to public notice, one among the largest meetings ever held in the county convened in the Court House on Monday, May 6, 1861, to express opinions in regard to the then present crisis. At 1 o'clock the meeting was called to order by Col. Switzler, on whose nomination Mr. James McConathy, Sr., was elected president. On taking the chair the president requested Col. Switzler to explain the objects of the meeting, which he proceeded to do in a speech of considerable length ; whereupon, on motion of Elder T. M. Allen, Dr. M. R. Arnold was elected secretary.

F. T. Russell, Esq., moved that a committee of seven be appointed to draft resolutions expressive of the sense of the meeting, and the chair appointed the following : F. T. Russell, Ishmael Vanhorn, David Gordon, Henry Keene, John W. Hall, Joel Palmer, Maj. James Brown.

On the retirement of the committee, on motion of Col. Switzler, Judge Curtis Field, Jr., of Richmond, Ky., who was present in the audience, was requested to address the meeting. As, in his opinion, the crisis demanded that each State should decide for itself its own

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duty, and as he was a citizen of Kentucky he did not deem it proper to take up the time of the meeting with any remarks of his own, and, therefore, begged to be excused.

Maj. Rollins was then loudly called for, and responded in a speech of an hour and a half, at the conclusion of which the committee, through Mr. Russell, their chairman, reported the following preamble and resolutions : -

WHEREAS, Civil war has been inaugurated in the United States, brought about by the extreme men of the North and the extreme men of the South; and whereas the State of Missouri occupies a position central between the two extremes, and has hitherto earnestly opposed all hostile demonstrations on the part of either; therefore,

Resolved, 1. That the true policy of Missouri, at present, is to maintain an independent position within the Union-holding her soil and institutions sacred against invasion or hos- tile interference from any quarter whatever.

2. That we approve and indorse the reply of the Governor of the State of Missouri to the Secretary of War, in refusing to furnish troops for the purpose of coercing our Southern brethren.

3. That patriotism and policy, and the preservation of the public peace, alike require on the part of the Federal Administration a prompt and immediate recognition of the Southern Confederacy, as a government de facto, and forming an alliance, offensive and de- fensive, with it, for mutual protection.

4. That in our opinion Secession is a remedy for no evil, real or imaginary, but an ag- gravation and complication of existing difficulties; but if we are reduced to the necessity of engaging in the present war and strife, that then we will stand by and co-operate with the South.

5. That, to the end that Missouri may be fully prepared for any contingency, we would , have her citizens arm themselves thoroughly, at the earliest practicable moment, by regular action of the State.

6. That as we hear that the Border State Convention will be held at Frankfort, Ken- tucky, on the 27th inst., we therefore urge the delegates from Missouri to said Convention, to attend the same.

7. That we approve of the course of our delegates to the State Convention, Messrs. Woodson, Bass and Flood, and that we believe they truly and faithfully reflected the wishes and sentiments of those by whom they were elected, and that their action upon the impor- tant measures before the Convention is fully indorsed by this meeting.

The question being upon the adoption of the resolutions, Mr. Guitar moved that the vote be taken upon the resolutions separately, which motion carried. The preamble and the first and second resolutions were adopted unanimously.

When the third resolution was read Mr. Guitar rose in his place and said he had no desire to disturb the harmony of the meeting, or to influence the action of any one participating in it, that he could cheerfully indorse all the resolutions except the third and fourth, but these he could not indorse and desired briefly to state his reasons.

This, he said, was no time for men to be pandering to the prejudices of each other, no time for courting the wavering or cower-

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ing before the strong ; the question was narrowed down to a single issue : Are we for our country or against it? Shall Missouri abandon the Union and range herself under the ensign of the Rattlesnake and Pelican, or will she still rest under the shadow of the glorious Stars and Stripes? This was the question, the only question, demanding an answer at our hands.

The third resolution was, in his judgment, a clear recognition of the right of secession, the most damnable political heresy ever invented by the brain of the vilest political demagogue. He should never countenance it, either directly or indirectly.

He said the resolution required the government to recognize the Confederacy as a government " de facto." It had no existence, in his opinion, either as a government in fact or of right, unless we ad- mit the correctness of the principle upon which it is founded, the right of peaceable secession ; otherwise it is but revolution inchoate, and its consummation remained subject to the vicissitudes of war.

He said further, the third resolution required us to form an alliance, offensive and defensive, with the Southern Confederacy. In answer to this he only had to say, that if the Government of the United States had become too weak or too corrupt to protect our rights and redress our wrongs we ought to revolt and throw it off before enter- ing into an alliance with a foreign power.

The fourth resolution, he said, required us in any event, to join the seceded States, notwithstanding the developments of the future might show it to be our duty and our interest to unite ourselves with a cen- tral Confederacy. Be that as it might, there was one feature en- grafted upon the organic law of the so-called Southern Confederacy which would forever keep him out of it; that was the right of " peaceable secession."

He said he cared nothing for the fate of the resolutions, but hoped the friends of the Union would dare to do and say what they thought was right. For himself he had not, and would not, occupy any equivocal position, when the liberties and destiny of his country were at stake. He was for his country, and should remain so. He prided himself in her glory, and was willing, if need be, to participate in her shame. If, he said, the glorious old ship of State shall be dismasted by the storm, deserted by her crew, and left to founder and sink amid the waves of anarchy which will engulf her, it would be glory enough for him to go down with the wreck.

Mr. Russell, in response, said that the fourth resolution negatived

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the idea of recognizing the right of secession by denouncing secession, urging that the recognition of the Confederate States as a government de facto was a measure of peace, violative of no principle ; that, in short, it was recognition or war, and we had to choose between them. He preferred recognition.

Maj. Rollins thought that he had an amendment which could recon- cile the difficulty and satisfy all. He therefore moved to amend the resolution as follows : after the word " that," in the first line, insert " whilst we repudiate the constitutional right of secession," which was adopted, the resolution, as amended, passed with one negative vote - Mr. Guitar, a number of gentlemen not voting.

The balance of the resolutions were then unanimously adopted, ex- cept the fourth, which was voted as the third, after which, at the unanimous request of the meeting, Elder T. M. Allen gave his views as to the duty of Missouri in the present crisis, taking uncompromis- ing ground against secession and for the Union - denouncing seces- sion as civil war, and making an eloquent appeal to the people to maintain an armed neutrality within the Union, and not be driven away by passion and prejudice into the dangerous experiment of revolution and anarchy.

The meeting then adjourned.

THE CAPTURE OF CAMP JACKSON,

On May 10, 1861, by the Federal forces under Lyon and Blair, greatly excited the people of Boone and of the whole State, for, re- gardless of their views as to the justness of the procedure, they looked upon it as the substantial inauguration of civil war within our borders. And so it proved, for very soon afterward it was followed by an extra session of the Legislature, seemingly with warlike intent, the sudden abandonment of the State Capital by that body and the State officers on the approach of the Federal arms, and the battle of Boonville (Monday, June 17, 1861), and the occupation of that city by Lyon and Blair.

Many of our citizens residing on the river border were in hearing of the cannonading at Boonville, and some of them were participants in the warlike events of that day. They were quick to recognize the booming of the guns as a signal of war, and those of them who on the evening of the battle saw for the first time about 150 Federal troops disembark from the ferry-boat and occupy the town had ocu- lar demonstration of the fact that the tocsin of civil war had indeed

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been sounded. These were the first government troops which " in- vaded the sacred soil " of Boone county. It was not long, however, before another force, coming up on a train from Mexico, disembarked at Centralia. A third and much larger force, consisting of six or seven hundred infantry and about one hundred cavalry, under command of Col. W. H. Worthington, of the Fifth Iowa Infantry, marched un- heralded into Columbia quite early on Wednesday morning, Septem- ber 4, 1861. They came from Jefferson City, occupied the University campus, and later in the day took up quarters in the building itself. At 6 o'clock in the evening, at the request of many citizens, Col. Worthington consented to a dress parade on Broadway, and for this purpose, the entire force marching to the strains of martial music and with the Stars and Stripes gaily glittering in the sunlight, appeared on that street, presenting that which was to all eyes, friendly and un- friendly, a magnificent pageant.

On the next day the command left for Jefferson City.

What they came for has never transpired. Certainly they did nothing, by arrest or otherwise, to indicate hostile intentions or to disclose the object of their visit.

SWEENEY'S RAID ON ROLLINS' FARM.

On Tuesday, October 22, 1861, about fifty cavalrymen under com- mand of Capt. Bob Sweeney, of Renick, marched through Columbia and encamped at the Fair Grounds. They were State or Southern troops, and it was not long before a portion of them made a raid on the farm of James S. Rollins, a Union man, and took therefrom six head of horses, among which were his carriage horses, and five head of mules, together with a two-horse wagon and all the plow harness they could find. Maj. Rollins was at the time absent in St. Louis. In the evening and the following morning they revisited the farm and pressed a sufficient quantity of corn to forage the horses of the whole command during their stay, which was till the morning after they arrived. Maj. Rollins' loss was about $1,500. As soon as this pro- ceeding was known, the leading secessionists expressed their strong condemnation of it, and, greatly to their credit, exerted themselves to induce Capt. Sweeney to return the property. Some of them offered, if he would return it, to furnish him an equal number of horses of their own. He seemed inexorable ; but was finally pre- vailed upon to return a horse belonging to J. W. Lamme, taken with the balance.

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ATTEMPT TO ASSASSINATE COL. SWITZLER.

During the evening of Sweeney's visit, and while a crowd of citizens was in front of the Statesman office, some of them in conversation with Capt. Sweeney, the editor of the Statesman being one of the crowd, an attempt was made by a man who was an utter stranger to him, and of whose presence or even existence he knew nothing, to assassinate Col. Switzler by a pistol shot in the back. Of this dem- onstration he was very soon informed by another stranger, Wil- liam Inge, of Pike county, a recruiting officer from Price's army, and an honorable, heroic man. In a short time, however, as he walked across the street, and when about the center of it, Mr. Inge, who followed him, detected a second attempt by the same man to draw his pistol ; an attempt unseen by Switzler, whereat Mr. Inge instantly drew a large navy revolver, and presenting it towards him, denounced him as a cowardly assassin thus to attempt to shoot a man in the back who had never spoken to him, warning him that if he moved a muscle he would fill him full of holes. There the affair ended.

Late in the afternoon of Tuesday about seventy-five cavalry, under Gen. S. B. Hatton, and early in the night another company under Capt. Searcy, came into Columbia and encamped at the Fair Ground. Next morning about eleven o'clock the whole force took up the line of march for a Southern camp six hundred strong near Concord, Callaway county, where they were still encamped on Thursday morn- ing meditating an advance upon a camp of loyal State troops said to be near Shamrock, under Gen. J. B. Henderson.

GENERAL PRENTISS VISITS COLUMBIA.

In November, 1861, Lieut. Col. Morse, of Foster's regiment of Missouri militia, from Hudson City (Macon City), visited Boone county in search of Sweeney's command, who had retreated beyond Glasgow into Chariton, whither he pursued. During the same month Gen. B. M. Prentiss, then of Quincy, Illinois, and commandant of the post of Jefferson City, remained in Columbia with a considerable force for several days. During his stay he ordered the arrest of one of his own soldiers for an outrage west of Columbia, and sentenced him to be drummed out of service without pay - which was done. General P. made a speech at the court house, had a magnificent dress parade on the street, and left for Jefferson City via Providence, his

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troops cheering Maj. Rollins as they passed his residence. The Major came out and acknowledged the compliment in a ringing Union speech.

On Saturday, December 7, 1861, Captain Sweeney and about 30 of his followers were captured in Saline county, opposite Glasgow, by a Federal force under Maj. Marshall.

Early on the same night the very lamentable death of Miss Kitty Spilman, a young lady, occurred near the residence of the late Wade M. Jackson, of Howard County, occasioned by a shot from a Federal picket, belonging to troops under the command of Lieut. Weatherby, a portion of Morse's command.1

COLS. GLOVER'S AND BIRGE'S TROOPS.

On Friday, December 27, 1861, about 200 Federal infantry, under command of Capt. John Welker, of Col. Birge's sharpshooters, reached Columbia from their encampment, Middleton, twelve miles north, and took up quarters in the University. On Sunday night they left for Sturgeon. On the next evening - the North Missouri Railroad having been burned in several places, thus cutting off com- munication with St. Louis- about 250 cavalry, under Col. John M. Glover and a portion of Captain Campbell's company of Birge's Sharpshooters, accompanied by several wagons, came to Columbia for the purpose of procuring supplies of flour, coffee, etc., for the Federal camp at Sturgeon. Cols. Glover and Birge were with them. Having no means with which to purchase the needed supplies, and at the early stages of the war not having adopted the policy of forcibly taking possession of what they needed, they experienced some trouble in procuring what they desired. Finally, the merchant firm of Thomas J. and S. F. Conley, who were Union men, sold them what they wanted to the amount of about $300, for which a receipt was given ; but it was some years after the close of the war, because of the red tape in the department at Washington, before they succeeded in collecting the bill.

THE FIGHT AT MT. ZION CHURCH.

On Saturday morning, December 28, 1861, several previous skir- mishes between Federal forces belonging to the Third Missouri Cavalry,

1 In the skirmish with the Confederate force near Renick, on the night of December 21, Lieut. Col. Morse was wounded in the thigh by a gun shot and died of the wound.

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History of Boone County, Missouri., Part 39

Author: Publication date: 1882 Publisher: St. Louis, Western Historical Company Number of Pages: 1220

Author:
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: St. Louis, Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 1220