USA > Missouri > Carroll County > History of Carroll County, Missouri : carefully written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of its townships, cities, towns and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri ; the Constitution of the United States, and State of Missouri ; a military record of its volunteers in either army of the Great Civil War ; general and local statistics ; miscellany ; reminiscences, grave, tragic and humorous ; biographical sketches of prominent men and citizens identified with the interests of the country > Part 40
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There were four ladies at the house, Mrs. Mitchell, Miss Susan Mitchell, Mrs. Stephen Mitchell, and Mrs. Jabez Calvert, the latter with her infant child. The horses were turned loose in the yard, and fed with oats which Mr. Dugan was compelled to bring and supply to the animals, and dinner was prepared and eaten. After dinner, some of the men amused themselves by playing on a violin; others, by chafing and talking to the ladies, and still others, tired out by their hard ride, were lying in the yard asleep, for a guerrilla could fall asleep in a minute, and awaken in an instant at the command, "saddle up!"
In the meantime, about a dozen citizens had collected at Capt. J. W. Hudson's, a few miles east from Mrs. Mitchell's, and started in pursuit of the guerrillas, determined to attack them at the first opportunity, and res- cue, if possible, Messrs. Darr and Dugan, whom it was supposed would be taken into Ray county and killed. Accidentally, the guerrillas were discovered at Mrs. Mitchell's, and Hudson and his men left their horses in
,
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charge of one man, and proceeded through a corn field, which came up . within a few yards of the back of the house. The citizens, or "home guards," were indifferently armed, and the guerrillas carried from two to four navy revolvers in their belts, with two or three extra loaded cylinders in their pockets, and consequently they-the citizens-were in some trepi- dation as they reached the fence, within twenty steps of the house. At a signal a portion of the men fired into the entry, riddling chairs and other furniture, and causing a general stampede. Mrs. Calvert was in the entry, and one of the guerrillas was playing with her child. She was slightly wounded across the breast, and the infant was also wounded on the chin and hand. Miss Susan Mitchell was also wounded in the hand. As soon as the firing began, Mr. Dugan attempted to escape, and running towards his friends was shot dead by one of them, who was too much excited to distinguish him from a guerrilla. Mr. Darr took advantage of the confusion, and made good his escape in safety on foot.
As soon as Hudson's men opened fire, the guerrillas, used to all kinds of warfare, rallied, and drawing their revolvers returned the shots. Only one of their number, Hiram Guess, was scratched. A few rounds were interchanged, some of the guerrillas knocking out the chinking of one of. the rooms, and using the openings as port holes. Alarmed at the firing, some of the horses of the citizens broke away, and the citizens themselves, seeing what a miserable failure their attack had proved, retreated. It was but the work of a few moments for Anderson and his men to mount and pursue, and once in the saddle they were at home. Some of them started around the field to where Hudson's horses were, and prevented some of the citizens from mounting. A. guerrilla, named John Maupin, pursued Mr. John Kirker, whose horse fell. Maupin came upon him, shot him, and, springing from his horse, scalped him, and then with his bowie knife cut off his head, mutilating the body in a shocking manner. Mr. James Walker was slightly wounded on the throat. Mr. John Warnock was slightly wounded on the middle finger ot the left hand; a shot at the same time struck the barrel of his gun, as he was in the act of shooting left- handed, between the thumb and finger of the right hand, and he actually caught this ball in his hand without further injury than a slight scratch. Mr. Alex. Hayward was shot through the .calf of the right leg, while being pursued, and before he got to the brush. Mrs. Stephen Mitchell, at the first firing, attempted to make her escape to a neighbor's. Ander- son himself, and Arch. Clements, followed her, and she not obeying the command to "stop," Anderson brought her down with a pistol ball, which took effect in the top of the right shoulder, and came out under the left shoulder blade. When afterward reproached, by some of his men, for shooting a woman, Anderson said, "Well, it has got to come to that before
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long anyhow." Mrs. M. recovered, and is still living, the wife of the county surveyor. Edwards' "Noted Guerrillas" says that Anderson "accidentally shot a lady during the melee;" but, like many other state- ments made in that volume, this one is incorrect.
After dispersing the home guards Anderson's men passed on to the house of Mr. Stephen Mitchell, (whose wife they had shot), which they first plundered and then burned. Then they went to .Mrs. John Nance's house, which they also sacked and burned; thence to Mr. John Hays's residence which they robbed but did not burn. Fortunately for Mr. Hays he had left the house but a few moments before his guer- rilla visitors arrived. After leaving Mrs. Mitchell's the guerrillas took a Mr. Latham prisoner and compelled him to guide them. Leaving Hays's they passed through the fields to San Francisco, where they released Mr. Latham and took Mr. Henderson and Mr. Baker as prisoners and guides. Next they went to the house of Thos. C. Mathews and took him and Wm. H. Graham prisoners. . It was now about dark.
Capt. Calvert's company and Capt. Cary's men were here within twenty minutes of the guerrillas, but owing to the darkness and the absence of Mrs. Mathew's family, who left when the guerrillas did, they could not tell the course or discover the track Anderson had taken for some hours. Meanwhile the guerrillas passed by A. Grow's westward on the prairie, where they camped from about midnight until daylight. A part of the militia camped at Mr. Brown's.
In the morning Lieut. Wm. Beatty, Jr., with a part of his company was on the look-out near Turkey creek bridge, and espied the guerrillas. He soon communicated with Capts. Cary's and Calvert's and one other com- pany of Ray county militia and the whole force, about 125 men, were soon in hot pursuit of the eleven guerrillas. Beatty and his men were often in sight of them. In the borders of Ray county, at a place called Russell- ville, they came upon Mr. Russell and his son, the latter a young Federal officer home on leave of absence. After talking pleasantly with them for a few minutes the guerrillas suddenly shot down the unsuspecting Federals, jumped from their horses and stripped and robbed them, and rode away with the wailings of the murdered men's family in their ears. Soon after they met a young man named Oliphant, whom they halted and An- derson inquired, " What are you?" "I am a union man," replied Oli- phant. "Can you kill a bushwhacker?" interrogated Anderson. "Yes, I can." "Well, d-n you, you'll never have a better chance, for we're all bushwackers." Then they began abusing him. First they stripped him. Then they whipped him with switches until he was well nigh dead. Then they made a noose of the bridle reins of his mule, put it about his neck, and fastened the other end to the mule's neck. Then they tied his saddle, a shabby affair, to the mule's tail and turned the animal loose, expecting it
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would run away and drag its owner to death. The mule, being gentle, did not run. It went but a few feet and stopped. The guerrillas followed it and urged it into a run, being determined that it should drag Mr. Oli- phant to death.
The Carroll militia followed Anderson well into Ray county, and there turned over the pursuit to the militia of that county. Three of the guer- rillas were dismounted in a skirmish that day, but none of them were killed, wounded or captured. Messrs. Henderson, Baker, Graham and Matthews were not hurt, but were released north of Richmond and all returned home in safety.
While riding with Anderson in this county Mr. Wm. Z. Darr states the guerrilla chieftain delivered him a long lecture on the shortcomings of pro- fessed " southern " men in Missouri who, he said, were rendering great service to the Federals by keeping on friendly terms with them and who ought to all go to bushwhacking and neither ask .or give mercy. At times he characterized these recalcitrant southerners as "no better than Yankees." He also asked Mr. Darr where there were any members of the militia living not in service. Being informed that some of them lived on Hurricane and Big creeks, and were 'at home with their families, he expressed a strong desire to go among them. " By G-d, " he said, " I'd like nothing better than to go over there and clean them up." Mr. Darr had some difficulty in persuading him to forego his pleasurable mission.
To say that the county was thoroughly excited by these sanguinary incursions of but a handful of desperate men, would give a very inade- quate idea of the situation. The name of Bill Anderson was on every tongue, and extraordinary as were his deeds they were greatly magni- fied and exaggerated. It is but the truth to say that, while among the militia there were many men of undoubted great personal courage, the most of them did not court an encounter with the ferocious guerrillas, of whose fighting qualities they had heard such wonderful accounts, and whose horrible work some of them had seen. One reason for this was that the militia were poorly armed, the most of them having but a musket apiece, while each guerrilla carried from twenty-four to thirty-six shots and was a proficient in revolver fighting, a spcies of warfare which they uniformly forced. Yet the militia companies constantly scoured the country in . search of the guerrillas and a fight with them. At last they found them and it.
BILL ANDERSON'S THIRD RAID-THE FIGHT AT SAMBO SLOUGH.
On the 13th of August, 1864, Bill Anderson, at the head of about 75 men, some say 100, again entered Carroll county, this time from the west, and coming in at Miles' Point. After leaving the Point, the next place
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where the command stopped was at Col. Austin's .. Here they procured water and passed on down the bottom.
At Hill's Landing, the same evening, Anderson found James Warren, a citizen of Carrollton, and a member of Company M., Seventh M. S. M., Col. Phillips' regiment, who had been at his home on furlough and was on his way back to his command, and waiting the arrival of a. steamboat to take him to Boonville. He was killed outright and robbed. His remains were brought to Carrollton and buried. Warren was thirty-three years of age and left a wife and three children. '
Not far below the Landing Anderson went into camp for the night. Some of his men scouted about the country that night and approached the federal pickets at Carrollton, where the garrison was on the qui vive and greatly exercised at the news that had been reported. The next morning Anderson moved off toward the east leisurely and apparently inviting an attack. He had at least 75 men, nearly all of whom had seen a great deal of guerrilla service and were heavily armed and well mounted and were accurate shots in conflict. He wished nothing more than that twice his number of militia men would come upon him.
The news that Anderson had passed through Ray county on his way to this was communicated by Capt. Tiffin, of Ray, to the garrison at Carrollton on the evening of the 13th. Preparations were instantly made to receive him should he attack Carrollton, as it was thought he would, or to pursue him if he did not. The militia in the coutry were called in and armed as well as possible. Tiffin himself came up with his company of fifty men. Everything was gotten ready for a fight the next day.
One of the militia warned out was an Irishman named Kelly, living north or Carrollton. He was met on his way to the rendezvous, his gun on his shoulder and a lugubrious expression on his countenance. He was accosted:
"Where are you going, Kelly?"
"A-huntin', bejabers!"
"Hunting? Hunting what?"
"Begorra, something I don't want to find."
"What is that?"
"Bill Anderson, the murderin' blaggard, and may the divil fly away wid him."
It is safe to say that there were many others besides Kelly who hunted Bill Anderson with the fervent hope that they might not find him.
The next day was Sunday. In the forenoon the companies of Capts. Calvert and Tiffin moved out after the guerrillas, and were. soon on the trail. The militia numbered probably 150 men, as stated by Col. J. B. Hale, to whom Tiffin and Calvert reported. Anderson and his men were in camp, near the Wakanda, near the center of section 11, township 52,
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
range 22. They had pickets out, who discovered the approach of the federals and fired. As soon as Capt. Tiffin, who was in the advance, saw the bushwhackers, he opened fire and ordered a charge.
Anderson and his men were soon in their saddles, and were but little disconcerted at the suddenness of the attack. They had a prisoner with them named Fox, whom they killed when the fighting began, and then turned their attention to the foe. Fox was a citizen of this county.
The militia were soon repulsed. Numbers of them were not in the fight at all. Only about fifty men followed Tiffin, and some of those that stayed back, it is said, fired into their own men. . Tiffin passed clear® through the guerrillas, and then back to the main force in the rear. Had all of the militia fought with equal courage the result would have been different .:
The yelling and shouting of the guerrillas, the rapid firing from pistols, carbines and muskets, the confusion incident to a fight of the kind, made a very exciting scene, taken all together. The affair was a deadly one, too. About eight or nine militia men were killed or mortally wounded. Two members of Calvert's company, Wm. Young and Robert Hudson, were killed, and one, James Kenton, was mortally wourided, dying the next day. James Howell, of Co. C, 4th provisional militia, was wounded in the knee. The wound itself was slight, but he had just recovered from the measles, and the severe exercise and exposure, together with his hurt, caused a relapse, and he died on the 26th. Several of the Carroll men were wounded.
Mr. Young was 33 years of age. He left a wife and children. . He was a member of the M. E. church, south, and a religionist. In the fight he received several wounds. James Kenton was 22 years old and unmar- ried. He was also a member of the Methodist church, and was a citizen of Carrollton. Howell was a young man from Ray county.
Three of the Ray county men killed were - Searcy, Joel Spitzer and James A. Hess. The latter was a recruit belonging to Co. B, 44th Missouri volunteers, and, like many others, had volunteered to go on the expedition after the guerrillas, and was only a militiaman pro tem. Neither the names of all the killed or of all the wounded can now be ascertained. It is asserted by some that only ten of the militia were killed or died, but the majority of the statements place the number at about 15.
Not all the casualties were on one side. Anderson lost one man killed, a young guerrilla, 18 years old, named Dock Rupe. Among the wounded were Anderson himself, Cave Wyatt, Arch Clements, Sandy McMacane, Peyton Long, Wm. Reynolds, Hiram Guess, Theo. Castle, Frank James and Jesse James. The two latter have since become notorious by reason of their many train robberies, bank robberies and land piracies generally. In the Wakanda fight Frank James was only slightly hurt, but Jesse was
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
quite severely injured .. He was but 18 at the time, and a revolver ball hit him fair in the breast. He was taken to the residence of John Rudd, on the old Pritchard farm, near De Witt, and nursed by Mrs. Rudd and Mr. and Mrs. S. Neale. Rudd was in the confederate army at the time. As nurses there accompanied Jesse James his brother Frank, and three other guerrillas named Gooly Robertson, Nat. Tigue and Ol. Shepherd. The other badly wounded guerrillas found asylums at other points in this county and in Chariton. Some were cared for in houses; others lay in the thick brush, without shelter and with but the rudest medical treat- ment.
After re-forming their ranks, Capts. Calvert and Tiffin decided to press on after the guerrillas and fight them again. The latter had gone on after the fight, and were hiding their wounded and preparing to cross into Chariton. Taking the road to the Rock Ford they passed Grand river at that point, and soon were well on their way to Howard county. The militia followed them only to Rock Ford, at first. Afterwards, on the following Tuesday, a company of the 1st Iowa cavalry and some Liv- ingston county militia joined in the pursuit, which was kept up into Char- iton county.
Before reaching the locality where the fight 'occurred and at the cross- ing of Sambo Slough Anderson's men met an old man named Chapman, whom they shot several times and killed. They also plundered some houses in the neighborhood, notably one belonging to Mr. Allen, at home then on furlough from his regiment, the 7th Mo. Vol. Cavalry. Mr. Allen barely made his escape. The guerrillas sacked his house, taking his clothing, his razor etc., and telling his wife that her husband was a " g --- d d -- d abolitionist, and ought to be killed." Mr. A. is now a citizen of Carrollton and acting city marshal.
This fight, as before stated occurred in section 11, township 52, range 22, on land then belonging to a Mr. McElree. It is sometimes called the " McElree's ford fight," the "Simpson's ford fight," and "the fight at Sambo Slough," although the locality is a mile from the slough. "Ed- wards' Noted Guerrillas" attempts a description of the fight, locating it " beyond the Flat Rock Ford;" putting the number of Federals killed at 76, and giving a very wild and altogether inaccurate account of the affair.
Following the Sambo Slough fight, there was the most intense appre- hension and alarm felt throughout the county, Every stranger, or a man on horseback at a distance, was thought to be a bushwhacker. People secreted their valuables, their horses and themselves on many occasions. Southern sympathizers fared hardly. Whether they endorsed the acts of the bush wackers or not-and it is quite certain that the majority of them did not-some of the militia wanted to believe and professed to know that they did, and in the language of that day, "made it hot for them." Be-
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
tween the bushwackers and those of the militia that were maliciously dis- posed the people had a hard time of it.
On the 29th of August Col. J. H. Shanklin, who, on the retirement of Col. Hale from the service, had been placed in command of the district, s sued the following order:
HEADQUARTERS, CHILLICOTHE, Aug. 29, 1864.
I. George Deigel, David Gilbert, Jonathan Hill, Harrison Graham and J. F. Calvert, composing the Committee of Public Safety of Carroll County, appointed in pursuance of general orders from headquarters. Department of the Missouri, or any two or more of them, will proceed without delay to investigate any and all acts of lawlessness, robbery, or wanton destruc- tion of property that they may have reason to believe have been commit- ted.in Carroll County since the first day of the present month.
II. To the end that the investigation may be thorough; they will cause to come before them all persons supposed to have any knowledge of the commission of any acts as aforesaid and give their testimony under oath.
III. . Capt. Thos. S. Cary, in command of the E. M. M. forces, whose headquarters are at Carrollton, will detail a sufficient force to bring wit- nesses before the committee. The Sheriff of Carroll County and his depu- ties will also assist the committee in bringing witnesses before it.
IV. The testimony taken before the committee will be reduced to writ- ing, and with the report of the committee thereon will be'forwarded to these headquarters with the least possible delay.
By order of J. H. SCHANKLIN, Col. Commanding.
About the 1st of September, Calvert's company of the Provisional Mili- tia, which had been on duty at Carrollton, was relieved, and Capt. Thos. Cary's company took its place. Capt. Kelley's company, of the 17th Illi- nois, also appeared in the county, and remained for some weeks, leaving unpleasant reminiscences of themselves in the memories of many people by reason of their propensities for horseflesh. They carried away several good horses, which some of their owners had great difficulty in getting restored.
On the 30th of August a Mrs. Mckinney of Miles' Point, was taken violently ill immediately after dinner. A physician pronounced her case poisoned by strychnine. She died in an hour or so. A negro girl, her servant, was suspected, and the Committee of Safety ordered her arrest. The girl, hearing that the militia were coming to arrest her, said to her colored friends, " I will save them the trouble," and when the militia arrived they found her dead. It was believed that she took a fatal dose of the same poison that she had given to her mistress.
About this time the militia arrested two horsemen who alleged that they were stock and grain buyers. One of them gave his name as Mad- dox, and said he lived near Breckinridge; the other gave his name as Work, and claimed tolive in Pike county, Illinois. Some citizens who had seen Anderson's men when they last passed through the county, claimed
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
to recognize them as members of the band, and they were started to Chil- licothe for examination. In the north part of the county the guards claimed that Work tried to escape and was shot. Many believed that he was wantonly killed.
Near the same time, a man whose name is best remembered as Wash. Minear was arrested near Baum's Mill, charged with being a bush- whacker, and was brought to Carrollton. The next morning he was also started to Chillicothe. The guards returned and reported that this pris- oner also tried to escape, when over near Grand River, was shot several times and soon died. There were many who believed that this prisoner was killed wilfully in retaliation for the murder of citizens in "the Gourd" by Anderson. Many of the militia were neighbors and relatives of An- derson's victims. The exact truth in reference to the matter can probably never be ascertained. The militia may have done their duty in the prem- ises and they may not. Many a Confederate prisoner made plucky attempts to escape and lost his life, and many a prisoner. was maliciously shot and the excuse given that ". he tried to get away."
Several detachments of militia passed through the county now from week to week "hunting bushwhackers." Major King, with a consider- able force, including some Carroll county detachments, went over into Chariton and Howard and defeated Clif. Holtzclaw's band of bushwhack- ers about the 10th of September. But yet, bushwhackers got into the county in spite of the efforts made to keep them out. Squads of them were in nearly every part of the county at times. They wore blue clothing, and were often taken for the militia and allowed to ride through unmolested. It is said that John Thrailkill passed through from west to east, going within a mile of Carrollton, and with only five men.
TODD AND THRAILKILL'S RAID.
About the 18th of September, another band of guerrillas ,led by Geo. Todd and John Thrailkill entered the county near. Mills" Point from the west and going eastward. They numbered about 150 men. Silas Gor- don was also with them, but what position he held does not appear. Near the residence of Col. Austin-or as some say, near Shanghai,- an ex-militia-man named Sibert was encountered and killed. When the band reached Col. Austin's, a young guerrilla, not more than eighteen years of age, was heard by L. K. Kinsey, Esq., and others, to boast that it was he who killed Sibert. As related by the youthful desperado, Sibert had crawled into a fence corner, among some high weeds, where he thought he was secure. He was seen by this boy, who crept stealthily up and poured the contents of a single-barrelled shot-gun into him as he lay prone and trembling in his weedy covert.
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.
At Col. Austin's the band halted and took supper. While there they announced that they intended to capture Carrollton.
Col. Austin argued with.them against the attempt. He told them that doubtless they could take the place, but in doing so, men would be killed on both sides, "and after you have gone, " said he, "the federal militia will take fearful vengeance upon all southern sympathizers, and many an innocent man will suffer for what you have done." The colonel's expostulations seemingly had some effect, for Todd seemed to conclude that after all it would not be best, especially after he was informed that the county funds had been removed by the treasurer to Chillicothe.
After leaving Austin's, Todd and Thrailkill passed down the bottom, and came near Carrollton, having determined to attack the place, notwith- standing the remonstrances of Col. Austin. They were deterred by a humorous circumstance. The militia and citizens had been apprised that a guerrilla force was in the neighborhood, threatening the town, and were on the alert. Pickets were put out and nearly every able-bodied man was under arms. Todd and some of his men came up about where south Carrollton now stands, to reconnoiter. Their intention was to. surprise the place. Suddenly they heard a trampling as of a body of horsemen crossing the Wakanda bridge, and seemingly coming towards them. They concluded that their object had been discovered, and that the militia were coming out to meet them. It was some time after night had set in and they could not see. The truth was that the tramping was made by the harmless "town cows" of Carrollton, wandering down to their resting place at the little lake south of the town! The cackling of the. silly geese saved ancient Rome on one occasion, and the tramping of a herd of innocent old cows saved Carrollton. If the town ever adopts a coat of arms, a cow rampant (or trampant) ought to have a conspicuous place thereon.
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