USA > Missouri > Livingston County > History of Caldwell and Livingston counties, Missouri, written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of their townships, towns and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri; a reliable and detailed history of Caldwell and Livingston counties--their pioneer record, resources, biographical sketches of prominent citizens; general and local statistics of great value; incidents and reminiscences > Part 81
USA > Missouri > Caldwell County > History of Caldwell and Livingston counties, Missouri, written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of their townships, towns and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri; a reliable and detailed history of Caldwell and Livingston counties--their pioneer record, resources, biographical sketches of prominent citizens; general and local statistics of great value; incidents and reminiscences > Part 81
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
some of the hardest and best fighting of the day was done. Gen. Slack was wounded very badly early in the conflict, and forced to leave the field. A musket ball struck the posterior portion of the hip, passing through the body, coming out in front through the groin. For a time his life was in great danger. In the same engage- ment sixteen Livingston county Confederates were killed, viz., Lieut .- Col. A. J. Austin, of the 1st regiment of cavalry, Slack's (4th ) division, and the representative of the county ; ten men of Co. A (Capt. N. G. Dyes), of the 1st regiment of infantry (Col. John T. Hughes), 4th division, as follows: James P. Minnick, Jesse Minnick, W. . Black Martin, M. P. Duncan, William Hutchinson, J. T. Rosson, L. M. Doyle, Nathaniel Tippet, John Ballenger and Wyatt Jennings. Capt. Dyes' company, all Livingston men, from the vicinity of Spring Hill, lost more men than any other company on the Southern side. Other Livingston men killed in other companies were Samuel Bowman, James Stanford, Henry C. Lansing, John H. Wolf- skill and James Cloudas.
At the battle of Carthage Capt. John N. Stone, of Utica, com- manding Co. D, 1st regiment cavalry (Col. Rives), 4th division, was shot from his saddle and killed by a cannon ball, which passed through both legs. The list of wounded at Carthage and Wilson's Creek can not here be given.
Quite a number of the Livingston men entered the Confederate army, and served on that side during the war, some in Arkansas and Missouri, and some east of the Mississippi.
RETURNING CONFEDERATES.
Elated and confident upon the capture of Lexington, Gen. Price and Gov. Jackson meditated an advance into Northern Missouri, intending to occupy Chillicothe as a base of operations against the Federals in this quarter. But the movements of the Federal forces against their rear compelled Price and Jackson to retreat to the southwestern quarter of the State, and the Missouri was not crossed by the army of the State Guards.
After the fall of Lexington, however, some of the Livingston county men obtained leave of absence and made stealthy and brief visits to their homes. Their presence was known to but few, and they soon returned in safety to Gen. Price. A few remained and engaged in irregular warfare against the Federal cause, doing in the end, however, more harm than good to their own side.
763
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
FEDERAL MOVEMENTS.
After the 16th Illinois and 2d Iowa the next Federal troops sent into the county were detachments of the 50th Illinois, Col. Bane, who came to Chillicothe. They were followed by the 3d Iowa infantry, under Maj. W. M. Stone, afterward Governor of Iowa. Chillicothe was made a Federal base of operations, and the organization of Federal regiments was here begun. Gen. John Pope was placed in command of the dis- trict of North Missouri in the summer of 1861 (July 29), and the same day he placed Gen. Hurlbut in charge of the troops on the line of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad.
The 50th Illinois made for itself a hard name among the people of Confederate sympathies. It made frequent incursions into the coun- try, and some of its members made a practice of billeting or quarter- ing themselves upon the citizens for meals. It was some of this regiment that, by orders of their commander, burned the house of John Blackburn, in Jackson township.
While the siege of Lexington was in progress Gen. S. D. Sturgis was sent up from St. Louis to Mexico by Gen. Fremont to co-operate with Gen. Pope in a movement to " annihilate " a strong Secession force under Gen. Thomas A. Harris, before it could reach the army of Gen. Price. But the annihilation scheme failed, as did a large majority of Gen. Fremont's schemes, and September 14 Sturgis was ordered to proceed to re-enforce Mulligan at Lexington, using the Han- nibal and St. Joseph Railroad to Utica, and from thence marching across the country to Lexington, by way of Austinville, Grove and Morton.
Gen. Sturgis' force was composed of the entire 27th and four com- panies of the 39th Ohio regiments of infantry. At daylight on the morning of the 18th he left Utica, and by marching day and night reached a point four miles north of Lexington the next morning. Here he was met by 4,000 of Gen. Price's forces sent to intercept him and keep him from re-enforcing Mulligan, and without risking an engagement he retired, first to Richmond, then to Camden, then to Liberty and Kansas City. En route to Lexington such was the rapidity of his march that Sturgis' men out-traveled the baggage wagons, and the latter were left at a farm-house.
TROUBLE IN THE FORKS.
A portion of the time in the autumn of 1861, the 3d Iowa was stationed at Grand river bridge. The 50th Illinois and 39th Ohio,
.
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
with some detachments of the cavalry at Chillicothe, were sent up into Jackson towrship to disperse some bands of Confederate recruits and bushwhackers under Joe Kirk, David Martin, Jim Ryder, Lewis Best and others, who were greatly annoying the Federals and their sympa- thizers in that region.
The expedition consisted of two columns : one, composed of a detachment of the 39th Ohio, crossed Grand river at Graham's mill and went west into what is now Sampsel township. At Hale's branch (sec. 13-58-25), four miles west of Graham's mill, this detachment was fired on by Joe Kirk and his company, who were in ambush in a well chosen position near the road and waiting for it. One Federal was killed, half a dozen wounded, and the detachment retreated.
The other column, a detachment of the 50th Illinois, and some of the cavalry, went northwest of Graham's mill and into the northwestern portion of the township. The day was Sunday, and a number of the citizens were at Lilly Grove Christian Church, where services were being held. The Illinois troops visited this church, to the great alarm of certain attendants, but harmed no one. Up on the Blackburn prairie they were not so pacific. They burned John Blackburn's house and a number of Mr. Hutchinson's haystacks, and did consid- crable foraging. They alleged that Blackburn was " in the brush," that he was a guerrilla and a bushwhacker, and had fired into trains, ete. After his house was burned, while gazing upon its ashes, Black- burn swore that he would fight the Federals as long as he lived. And he did.
The rebel partisans in the forks sunk the ferryboats in Grand river to prevent the Federals from crossing, but Col. Wilson, of the Illi- nois 16th, sent a force to Darr's ferry - now Graham's mill - in time to protect it. The leading spirits of the Confederates at this time were Joe Kirk, David Martin, Lewis Best, Chas. Cooper and Jim Ryder. All knew the county thoroughly, all were desperate fighters, and for some time they held Jackson township as completely as the Federals held the rest of the county. Joe Kirk posted writ- ten notices on the trees and elsewhere, warning the Federals to keep out of the township " until invited." Said one notice : " We were here first, and we will be here last. Look out !"
FIRST UNION MILITARY COMPANY.
The first company organized to render service to the Union cause in Livingston county was a company of Home Guards, numbering in all 67 men, formed in June, 1861, soon after the appearance of the
765
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
first Federal troops. The officers of this company were Peter Sutliff, captain ; A. C. Stone, 1st lieutenant ; James W. Anderson, 2d lieutenant.
The company was an independent one, belonged to no regimental or battalion organization and was known as the Livingston County Home Guards. It did considerable active duty in scouting through portions of this and Carroll, Ray, Caldwell and Daviess counties. It was finally mustered out by order of Gen. Pope.
Later in the fall Union Home Guard companies were organized at Utica, on Shoal creek, and at Spring Hill. Of the latter company Greenberry Lyons was chosen captain ; it numbered about 50 men. The captain of the Utica company was Thos. H. Reid.
ORGANIZATION OF TROOPS FOR THE UNION SERVICE - CO. E, MERRILL'S HORSE.
In the month of September a company of Federal cavalry was organized at Chillicothe, being recruited principally from this county. This company, 70 members of which were citizens of Livingston, afterward became Co. E, 2d Missouri cavalry, better known as " Merrill's Horse," from the name of the colonel, Lewis Merrill. The Livingston company was at first officered as follows: Captain, Garrison Harker ; first lieutenant, Wm. N. Norville ; second lieutenant, S. W. McCoy. These officers were commissioned September 3, 1861. A year later Capt. Harker was promoted to major, Lieut. Norville became captain, S. L. Watson first lieutenant. There were other changes in the official roster from time to time during the company's service, occasioned by expiration of term and resignation.
Co. E served in Missouri and Arkansas and took part in numer- ous battles and skirmishes. Its members were efficient soldiers, and their record is a good one. They were chiefly from the southern portion of the county.
THE 23D MISSOURI.
In the month of August Hon. Jacob T. Tindall, of Trenton, began the formation of a Federal regiment composed of Union men from this quarter of the State. This regiment, the 23d Missouri infantry, had its headquarters at Brookfield. Companies came in from Har- rison, Grundy, Mercer, Linn and other counties, and by the 1st of September seven companies were formed. September 1 the regiment was ordered to St. Louis, where it remained till October 15, when it was sent to Macon City, and November 1 was ordered to Chillicothe.
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
Here it relieved the 39th Ohio, Col. Groesbeck, and the 50th Illinois, Col. Bane.
The 23d Missouri remained at Chillicothe from the 1st of November until in March, 1862. During the winter the companies were quar- tered in buildings in the town. About 50 men from this county joined the regiment at this time. The railroad bridges were strongly guarded.
While Tindall's regiment was stationed in the county detachments, mounted on " pressed " horses, did a great deal of scouting through the country, accomplishing nothing of importance, however. In February, 1862, four companies, under Lieut .- Col. Quin Morton, made a march towards Lexington and return, but the trip was barren of results.
Soon after going into quarters at Chillicothe hundreds of the 23d were attacked with measles. The official records show that " more than 400 men " belonging to the regiment were in the hospitals or under treatment at "one time." (Mo. Adj. Gen. Rep. 1865, p. 197. ) Quite a number of cases terminated fatally. In addition there were some deaths from a disease resembling spinal meningitis. This latter disease was not generally understood, and some ignorant alarm- ists started a report that its victims had been poisoned by the " secesh sympathizers " of the town. There was no sort of foundation for this report; it was as false as it was cruel.
In March, 1862, Col. Tindall's regiment was ordered away from this county to join Gen. Grant's army on the Tennessee. It took part in the great battle of Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing, where Col. Tindall was killed, and the greater portion of the regiment either killed, wounded, or taken prisoners.1 Subsequently it reorganized and recruited and served creditably until the expiration of its time.
Col. Tindall was as well known in this county as at his own home, in Grundy. He was a good lawyer, and prior to the war had an extensive practice here. His administration of affairs as a military commander was as acceptable as was to be expected. He was a thorough Unionist, a brave soldier, and his untimely death was generally regretted.
LEWIS BEST'S EXPLOIT.
After the battle of Wilson's Creek, the 1st Kansas regiment, Col. Dietzler, was ordered back to its State to recruit its badly broken
1 Official report shows 30 killed, 170 wounded, and 375 taken prisoners (Adj. Gen Rep. 1865, p. 199).
767
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
ranks, having lost 284 men out of 770 in that one engagement. On its way to Fort Leavenworth from St. Louis, the regiment stopped at Chillicothe, where there were already about 1,500 Federal troops.
In the latter part of September, or probably the 1st of October, two Federal soldiers whose identity can not now be well ascertained, but who are said to have been paroled prisoners captured at Lexington, left the cars at some point near here, and stealing two horses north of Chillicothe were riding toward Iowa. About eight miles north of Chillicothe, on the Trenton road, at the crossing of a small branch, they were bushwhacked by Lewis Best and two of his men. Both were first shot with doubled-barreled shot-guns and then Best cut their throats and plunged his bowie-knife repeatedly into their bodies. The same evening he halted at Mr. Hirsh's house near Farmersville, showed him his gory knife still reeking with the blood of the two soldiers, and said, " I put two d -- d Yankees out of the way - I have been butchering. See !"
The bodies were found frightfully mutilated in the brush just north of a little creek, and west of the house now owned by Mr. Wait (sec. 30-59-23).
" PRENTISS' PETS."
December 18, Gen. B. M. Prentiss, with a Federal force of near 2,000 men, arrived at Chillicothe terminating an expedition from St. Joseph (which place he left December 4), through Platte, Clay, Ray and Carroll counties. His force consisted of four pieces of artillery, 475 cavalry, and 1,175 infantry. (Rebell. Rec., Vol. VIII., p. 404. ) At the time of Prentiss' arrival at Chillicothe, the greater portion of Tindall's regiment was stationed at the Grand river bridge. ( Ibid., p. 446. ) Under orders from Gen. Halleck, Prentiss soon left for the eastern part of the State, taking with him four companies of his com- mand and sending the remainder back to St. Joseph. Prentiss' men demonstrated an almost phenomenal fondness for chicken meat during their short stay, and stripped some hen roosts completely.
KILLING OF L. D. KIRK AND THOMAS CURTIS.
On the 12th of April, 1861, J. T. Jennings ( commonly called Tom Jennings ) shot and killed L. D. Kirk and Thomas Curtis on the north- east corner of the square in Chillicothe. The shooting of Kirk was intentional and deliberate ; that of Curtis was accidental. The circun- stances leading to the tragedy were these : -
For a long time there had been a feud between the Jennings and Kirk families and certain of their partisans in the forks of Grand river and
768
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
in the neighborhood of Spring Hill. The Kirks were brave men, not afraid to fight, and L. D. Kirk ( whose Christian name was Lorenzo Dow, and who was commonly called " Dow,") was the hero of many a desperate personal encounter, not only in Missouri, but on the plains and in California. He was a man of large stature and well propor- tioned, and is said to have been a splendid specimen of physical strength. On one occasion he had been shot by old John Stewart, of Spring Hill, who thrust a shot-gun out of a window as Kirk was walk- ing along the street in Spring Hill in front of Stewart's store, and gave him the contents. He had also been wounded in some of his combats, but was not at all permanently injured.
" Dow " Kirk had threatened Tom Jennings, and had gone so far as to say that " he and I can't both live in the same county." Of these threats Jennings had full knowledge, and " forewarned was fore-armed."
On the day of the tragedy Kirk had come to town in his wagon for some groceries and other supplies, and was loading or stowing away his purchases, unconscious of danger. Jennings crept through the public square, then fenced with a panel fence, to the northeast corner, only about the width of the street from where Kirk was, took deliberate aim and fired at his enemy. At the crack of the gun Thomas Curtis, who stood fully ten feet from Kirk's wagon, fell to the side- walk dead, two buckshot having struck him in a vital part. Kirk fell back into his wagon, with part of his body hanging over the side, and called for help. Jennings had walked away some distance after he had fired, but hearing Kirk's cries he walked back, leveled his gun and discharged the other barrel at his struggling, prostrate form. Kirk died almost instantly.
Jennings surrendered himself into the hands of the authorities and underwent a preliminary examination before Justices J. M. Alnutt and A. S. Hughes, of Chillicothe. A number of witnesses who saw the shooting, and others who testified to certain incidents and circum- stances connected therewith, were examined. The evidence of C. C. Pratt was as follows : -
I was in Chillicothe yesterday, the 12th inst., and standing on the east side of the public square in front of Dunglin & Morling's store, and saw the shooting; the gentleman, Thos. Jennings, is the man. The first I saw of Mr. Jennings he was in the court-house yard, probably twenty yards from the north fence, on the east side, and about ten feet from it, going along up the side of it in a northerly direction. He was in a stooping posture, going in the direction of the northeast corner ; he had what I took to be a double-barreled
769
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
shot-gun ; he was in a stooping posture as he proceeded, and advanced to the fence on the north side of the square. He then appeared to take sight over his gun between the bars of the fence ; he then raised to his feet and appeared to take deliberate aim ; he then lowered him- self in a stooping posture, then raised again, took deliberate aim, and fired one barrel of his gun. I saw one gentleman on the sidewalk fall immediately ; the one in the wagon did not fall as quick ; his back was toward Jennings and when the gun fired his feet caught in some- thing and he fell backward and hung over the side of the wagon. As soon as Mr. Jennings fired he walked ten or fifteen steps in a southwest direction ; about this time I heard the man in the wagon call for help two or three times, and Jennings then walked back to near his former position and deliberately fired the second time, pointing towards the man in the wagon. Shortly after that a number of gentlemen moved the man from the wagon to the sidewalk ; I went around to where he lay and he was dead. The shooting took place near 11 o'clock in the forenoon. * * * As soon as Mr. Jennings fired the second shot he walked away, passing around the north side of the court-house. * * I did not know Mr. Kirk, but it was the man in the wagon who called for help.
This evidence was corroborated by Dr. W. W. Woodward, F. L. Morling, A. Craig, Dr. Wm. Keith, Wiley. Clark and Robt. S. Moore.
The defense sought to establish that Jennings was in constant peril of his life from threats made by Kirk, who had declared to different persons that he and Jennings could not live in the same county, and that he meant to kill him, etc. This peril, the defense claimed, was all the time deadly and practically imminent, and hence Jennings was justified in shooting Kirk on sight. One of the witnesses for the defense was Joseph Weldon, who testified as follows: -
L. D. Kirk, the deceased, told me that about a year ago * or longer, he was riding with Thos. Jennings and held a pistol to the back of his (Jennings') head for the distance of half a mile; tried to fire it off; thought it was cocked, but it would not fire; on examination he found the pistol had been only half cocked. The next day, on his farm, he drew his pistol and fired at a rabbit, and the pistol fired just as clear as it ever did; he said that he intended to kill Jennings. I heard Kirk say at another time, in reference to Tom Jennings, that he would " get him." I told Jennings these things about two months ago, and told him to be on his guard. I always considered Kirk a dangerous man.
James Fugate testified : -
* * * About a week before Christmas I and Kirk were playing cards at Utica, and during a conversation Kirk stated that he had out- lived many of his enemies, and that he and Tom Jennings could not
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
live in the same country ; said he had lived to dance on old Stewart's grave; said he had killed a number of men in California. All this conversation I had told Stewart, and told him to watch out.
Matthew McGaugh testified : -
I heard Kirk make threats against Thos. Jennings. Soon after a fight between Kirk and Cameron, in Utica, he (Kirk) said Tom Jennings had been fooling around there with a pistol during the fight, and that after the fight was over he ( Kirk ) went up to Jennings and pretended to be friendly with him, thinking that Jennings would put up his pistol, and then he would have a chance to get a " clue " at him, and he would have " put him out of the way," but he had no chance and went off and left him ; said he intended on the first good opportunity to make way with Thos. Jennings. I told Jennings this a couple of weeks ago in Chillicothe. *
Lafayette Woolsey testified : -
About three weeks ago I was down in the bottom and met Mr. Kirk as I was going to Spring Hill. * I told him * we had a fight over in Breckinridge - that Joe Weldon and John Pemberton fought, and Weldon whaled Pemberton ; it was about a dog that Weldon had taken from Pemberton, and. Pemberton sued Weldon, and made him pay for it. Kirk wanted to know if Thos. Jennings was there; I told him he was. He then wanted to know if Jennings was passing through there often, and I told him he was, going up to Weldon's. He then wished me to let him know some- time when Jennings was passing through, and I said I could if he had urgent business, and I wished to know what he wanted to see Jennings about, and he held back. I insisted on his telling me, and then he told me he was satisfied he and Thos. Jennings could not live in the same county ; that he intended shooting him, and he allowed to do it when no one else was present; said he had been shot several times that way, and he allowed to do the same. I told Mr. Jennings this last Thursday was a week ago.
It was proven that Jennings had no ill will against Thos. Curtis, but that on the contrary there was the best of feeling between them, and that Curtis was accidentally killed.
Jennings was committed to the Chillicothe jail, but in a few weeks some parties furnished him with a key and he made his escape, leaving the State and going to Nebraska Territory. A large reward was offered for his apprehension and he was arrested at Omaha and an officer started with him for Chillicothe. His friends in " the forks" got wind of his capture, learned when he would be brought back and a strong party of them obstructed the track of the Hannibal and St. Joseph near Breckinridge, stopped the train, took him from the officer and spirited him away to a secure rendezvous. It is said
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
that when leaving the train Jennings took with him the officer's revolver.
In a few days Jennings joined one of the companies that had been made up for Gen. Price's army and went South with it. Joseph Kirk, a brother of L. D. Kirk, was a member of the same company or battalion, and it is related that an exchange of shots took place between him and Jennings, near Millville, Ray county.
The grand jury at the November term of the circuit court, 1861, examined the case, but found no bill against Jennings, either for shooting Kirk or Curtis. But in the spring of 1862, Jennings returned to Livingston county, and was captured, and at the May term of the circuit court was indicted for the murder of L. D. Kirk. At the July term, July 22, he was tried and acquitted. Soon after he entered the Federal service. No indictment was ever found against him for the killing of Curtis, the latter's nearest relatives forbidding all legal proceedings in the matter, holding that the shooting was wholly accidental. Mr. Jennings is still a citizen of the county.
MURDER : OF WM. AVERY AND LYNCHING OF HIS MURDERER, SAMUEL HUSHER.
On the 31st of August, 1861, Win. Avery was waylaid and mur- dered by Samuel Husher, near the residence of the latter, in Jackson township, a mile east of south of Spring Hill. The circumstances leading to the murder are said to be as follows : There was a neigh- borhood feud existing in the community, between Matthew McGaugh, Wm. Avery and others, and Samuel Husher, Henry Cooper and others. At last Husher warned Avery that the next time he traveled the road which ran not far from his ( Husher's ) house he would be a " dead man."
It was on a Saturday evening and Avery was on his way to the house of a neighbor for a sack of corn. The neighbor's house was not far from the house of Husher. The latter was in ambush and when Avery came opposite fired upon him with a shot-gun heavily loaded with leaden slugs and killed him instantly. He then dragged the body into the brush a considerable distance and partially concealed it, after having first mutilated it in a horrible and revolting manner.
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