USA > Missouri > McDonald County > Illustrated history of McDonald County, Missouri: from the earliest settlement to the present time > Part 10
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Tim had been at McRae's helping the women kill hogs. It was along in the evening and he and the women were snowballing, when a party of Indian scouts under Capt. Stevens came along and took him prisoner. They went on down the creek about two miles where they halted and the Captain ordered two Indians to shoot him. He was shot twice in the head and then stabbed.
His brothers, Jim and William, both loyal men, made complaint to General Blunt and the matter was investigated. Capt. Stevens reported that on coming down the creek they had captured Nathaniel McRae, who convinced him that he, McRae, was a good, loyal citizen, but told him that Tim Wimpey was a bad bushwhacker. He said they would find him on down the creek helping some women kill hogs. He was but a boy, but very dangerous.
The reason given for McRae,s animosity is that he attempted to steal Wimpey's horse some time before that and Tim would have killed him had his gun not missed fire.
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HISTORY OF MCDONALD COUNTY.
MISCELLANEOUS INCIDENTS.
The first Union man killed in the war is said to have been William Hamlin, who was shot by Rice Robinson, in April, 1861. Mark Harmon and Russell Spencer were killed early in 1862 on account of their unswerving loyalty to the government. These were followed later by many murders and depredations committed by the Confederates, generally bands of bushwhackers.
The Union people suffered the most severely during the raid of the Confederates in 1861 and 1862 but were never safe until after the close of war. The number of Union men killed in this county has never been fully ascertained.
Bands of Union scouts were constantly making raids through this county and a spirit of retal- iation was often manifested. A number of men were shot down in retaliation for like of- fenses perpetrated on their friends, and many more killed with arms as bushwhackers. Up- wards of forty men of this county were thus killed during the four years of the war. This does not include those killed in battle, or in actual service.
Nearly every man and boy able to carry a gun was in the service on one side or the other. More than a hundred and fifty from this county
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served in the Confederate army, while a hundred, or more, were enlisted in the United States or State service for the Union.
Among the leading bushwhackers was Bill Hinson, who burnt the court house at Pineville in 1863. He or some of his gang also burnt Hugh L. Testerman's house and the residence of C. B. Walker. He was afterwards shot at Neosho.
On the Union side, Lieut. Christian was a terror to the evil doers. He was possessed of great bravery and his expeditions into this county were very much dreaded by his foes. He was afterwards killed and scalped by the Confederates. Col. Kelso was the most noted Union scout in this section of the state. He made many dangerous and daring expeditions, and became an object of equal dread and hatred to the bushwhackers. He however escaped unharmed and after serving a term in Congress after the close of the war, went to the Rocky Mountains where he made quite a fortune.
A detatchmentof Prices army were camped near Pineville in October 1861.
Hugh Testerman had quite a lot of apples in his orchard to which the soldiers freely helped themselves. Mrs. Testerman, his first wife, gath- ered a lot of the apples and put them away near the house. A few of the soldiers gotafter
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these one day, and she promptly ordered them away. One of them refused to obey and was proceeding to help himself when she shot him, inflicting a dangerous wound. The fellow was laid up for some time, but it is believed that he finally got well.
This put a check on the apple stealing, but came very near costing "Uncle Hugh" his life. The comardes of the wounded man seized Mr. Testerman and would have killed him, but the Confederate commander ordered hisrelease and placed a guard to protect his property.
In the early part of the war Col. Shields of Southwest City, recently deceased, was taken prisoner by a company of Kansas troops and was about to be shot when John Martin of Pine- ville, a Union man, secured his release.
On another occasion J. P. LaMance, who at that time held a commission in the Confederate service, was on the point of being executed by some Union troops, when John V. Hargrove interfered and saved his life. As an officer Mr. LaMance had been very lenient towards Union men, and did his utmost to save their lives and property. Afterwards, when the control of this county had shifted to the other side, his kindness was remembered by hisold neighbors.
On June 23, 1862, there was a skirmish at
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Pineville between the Second Wisconsin Cav- alry and the Confederates under Major Russell. The latter were defeated, with the loss of several prisoners and considerable property.
At another time the Federal army was advan- cing down the valley towards Pineville and a detatchment was sent in advance down the ridge. They planted four cannon on the point of the hill north of Testerman's house and threw a number of shells over the town and in the bottom across the river where the Price farm now is. The Confederates had retreated a short time before, and the Union army passed through and went on up Little Sugar.
In August, 1863, there was a sharp engage- ment in the bottom just across the river from Pineville between Col. Coffee with about 500 Confederates and a portion of the Sixth Mo. Cavalry. Coffee lost quite a number wounded and prisoners and much of his munitions.
Jim Cowan reports a little fight on Granny's Branch in which he was a participant. He was with a company of Union soldiers who were out on ascout. Some three or four were some dis- tance in advance when they were suddenly fired on by fifteen or twenty of the enemy. Arunning fight ensued, the balance of the party coming up in a short time. Four or five of the Confederates were wounded but no one was hurt on theother side.
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HISTORY OF MCDONALD COUNTY.
M. N. LaMance had a very narrow escape from death at the hands of some Kansas troops. They took him prisoner at his home in Pineville, he being then a mere boy, and had the rope around his neck to hang him. His mother ran into the crowd and begged for his life. For some time she was repelled and every effort but force was used to induce her to leave. At last some one set fire to their house and, pointing to it told her to go and save it. She refused, saying, "'No, the house may burn, but I must save my boy." This touched the hard hearts of his would be executioners and they went and extinguished the fire and then released the boy. This was the principal cause of his joining the Southern army which he did soon afterwards.
A VENDETTA.
THE following story of vengeance being meet- ed out to the perpetrators of a crime is related as told by one who claims to know the facts and vouches for the truth of the statements.
As has been before related, Mark Harmon was killed by a band of men early in 1862 for being a loyal man. He had been away and was on his way home when he was met by a possee of nineteen men. Knowing that his life had been threatened, he took refuge behind a tree
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and determined to sell his life as dearly as pos- sible. His enemies without exposing themselves gradually formed a circle around the tree and soon brought him down with their rifles.
His son Dan was in California, but David and John were here in the Southwest. Besides his sons Mr. Harmon had many friends among whom was Col. Kelso, who determined that his murder should not go unavenged. They made enquiry in the neighborhood and ascertained from dif- ferent women that a band of nineteen men were in the neighborhood that day, a few of whom they knew. Not long afterwards one of these men was taken prisoner some two or three counties east of here. He would have been sum- marily dealt with, but Harmon's friends request- ed that he be delivered to them. They took him off some distance from the camp and told him they would give him one chance for his life.
If he would give the names of all the party that killed Mark Harmon, they would turn him loose and not pursue him until he had an hour's start. If they caught him after that they would kill him. He accepted their terms, gave the names of the other eighteen and made his escape. He went east and joined the Federal army and some time afterwards was shot for insubordi- nation.
A careful and systematic investigation was
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then made and the truth of his statement as to the guilty parties fully verified. From that day they were a doomed set of men. For three years their pursuers hung on their trail, neither giving nor asking mercy. Before the close of the war seventeen of the band were killed. One man by the name of Adams went to Texas soon after Harmon's death and is said to be the only one of them who escaped. On the other hand it is claimed that there were two living in Texas after the war.
The incidents of the cruel war might be ex- tended indefinitely, but the foregoing are suf- ficient to give to the rising generation an idea of what our people on both sides did and suffered during the four years of the Great Civil War.
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HISTORY OF MCDONALD COUNTY.
CHAPTER XII.
MISCELLANEOUS.
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THE JULY FLOOD.
Pineville News, July 19, 1883 .-
Last Saturday was a day that will long be remembered by the citizens of the Southwest as the occasion of the heaviest rainfall ever wit- nessed in this county. The rain here began about daylight Saturday morning and continued during the entire day, occasionally abating only to come again with increased fury, until the whole face of the earth seemed one solid sheet of water. The damage done in McDonald county is almost incalculable. The roads are washed out until in many places it is impossible to pass with wagons, while farmers who live along the various water courses in the county, have suf- fered, in many instances, irreperable loss, their fences having been washed away and growing crops overflowed and washed up until it is impossible for them to mature into anything like a medium yield.
The Cow Skin river at this place was three
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feet higher than ever known by the oldest citi- zens, and some estimates place it five feet higher than in 1872.
Among those who have lost most heavily, commencing at Jasper Brown's saw mill on Big Sugar Creek, is the school district in which the mill was located, lost the lumber that it had bought to build a new school house, while many individuals lost small amounts of lumber they had had sawed and left stacked in the yard. The farmers along down the creek lost all their fences that were on the bottoms. I. H. Prater who lives on what is known as the St. John farm says there were 10,000 rails washed away on that farm and fifty acres overflowed. The water rose until it stood three inches deep in Abraham Price's house, and the entire bottom below was submerged. J. H. Hannah's saw mill was washed away, also all his saw logs and a lot of lumber. The Langley boys lost 1,000 bu. of old corn they had penned up near the river. Pleas Manning lost nearly all of his wheat, as did Judge Shambaugh. It is estimated that ten thousand dollars would not repay the dam- ages done on the three farms belonging to Messers Manning, Langley and Shambaugh.
The damages on Indian and Buffalo creeks were equally as great as that on the other streams mentioned. Taking all together $150- 000 would not more than replace the damage done in the county.
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HISTORY OF MCDONALD COUNTY.
HIDDEN TREASURES.
DURING the war, Asberry Carter, a single man twenty five or thirty years of age, was one of the residents of Pineville. He was possessed of considerable means, in cash which he kept buried at various places in the vicinity, frequent- ly moving it. J. H. Moffett informs me that he saw one place near where Mr. Foley now lives,
where Carter had dug up his money. Atanother time Mr. Moffett saw where he had dug it up from between two oaks or black jacks on the south side of the river near where Abe Price now lives. It is also reported that it was once buried in what is now Neff's field. The amount is $2,600, about $1,900 in gold, the remainder, I believe, all in silver.
One day in 1862 or 1863, Carter went down the river to Thomas Bradley's, who lived about two and one-half miles below Pineville on what is now known as the Bonebrake farm. While there a couple of Indians came along and he and Bradley traded, or talked of trading hats or some other small article with them. One of the Indians got hold of a handkerchief of Carter's . which he did not wish to part with. He snatch- ed it from the Indian's hand whereupon the In- dian shot him dead.
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HISTORY OF MCDONALD COUNTY.
As Mr. Carter had never revealed to any one the place where hismoney was buried, it re- mains a secret to this day. Some think it is on the bluff east of Mrs. Yonce's residence. Oth- ers say it was down the river bottom not far from the grave yard. Others think it is near the school house. For many years after the war hundreds of searches were made, and every spot that indicated that the soil had been bro- ken was dug up and examined. As late as the summer of 1895 an old gentleman from Kansas thought he had the place located. He was seen day after day near the school house a few yards in front of the dwelling of the writer stepping off the ground first one way and then another, as if carefully measuring the locality. After several days surveying he located the place at the root of a small tree, claiming the money had been hidden in a hollow stump at that point.
Taking a few men into his confidence, he re- paired there one night with pick and shovel and made a search. They ascertained the fact that the tree was growing from an old stump that had practically rotted away, but no money was found.
Thus ended the last, as all former searches had ended, in disappointment, and the fortune of Asberry Carter still lies hidden near our lit- tle town, perhaps within a stone's throw of the home of some family who are suffering for the comforts of life.
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HISTORY OF MCDONALD COUNTY.
HENRY SHELL'S MONEY.
HENRY SCHELL, father of the several men of that name who now live in this county, was one of the oldest settler of Mountain township. By his thrift and industry he had not only acquired a good farm, but had considerable money which he kept about the place. When the war came up he kept his money buried as a precaution against robbers which infested the county. The exact amount is not known, but is suspected to be something over $300. On July 11, 1863, Mr. Schell was killed by some Union scouts who were on a raid in this section of the state. He had never revealed to any one the place where the money was secreted. After the war was over the family felt that they would be safe in pos- session of it, and began to search forit. Every nook and corner of the premises and buildings was hunted over time and again. The garden was plowed several times and every particle of dirt examined, but years passed by without any return for their labor. Finally some of the money was found in an old stump, the amount not remembered. One day an arrangement had been made for all the interested parties to meet and continue the search. None came but Henry and Jessee Schell, two of the sons. They went
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HISTORY OF MCDONALD COUNTY.
to an old stable that was about rotted down and concluded to search there. On digging down by one of the logs they found two hundred and fifty odd dollars. Of the amount found $112 was in gold, the balance in silver. There is one package of fifty dollars that has never been found. Among the money found in the stable was a 1-frank piece, a 37 1-2 cent piece and one counterfeit 50 cent piece. Phillip Schell still has these as keepsakes which he prizes very highly.
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HISTORY OF MCDONALD COUNTY.
A WOLF STORY.
N. C. STAFFORD and J. H. Cowan, both re- spectable citizens of Cyclone township, relate quite an interesting adventure with black wolves. When the war ended they, with a few others returned to Sugar creek and all but Stafford went down to Jack Hampton's, he be- ing the only man then left in that vicinity. A turkey hunt had been planned for the night and the party were to meet about dark for that purpose. Stafford, instead of going down to Hampton's, went up to the Stafford premises. He found the timber all on fire and the buildings burning. On his way up he soon heard the sniff of a wolf. Soon another and another, and before he reached where the stables were on fire they were howling within a few yards and be- coming more numerous. He went on to where the dwelling was on fire, but the pack grew more numerous and daring, so he made his way a short distance down the hill to an old log building, which had been used as a school house. He took refuge in this from which he was rescued in a short time by the party who were to meet him at the Stafford place to hunt turkeys.
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HISTORY OF MCDONALD COUNTY.
There was an abundance of game before the war but during that four years it was practical- ly unmolested and increased in great abundance. The woods were full of turkeys and it was an easy matter to find their roosting places and slip up and shoot them in the night. This was the principal way of killing them by some hunters. Such was the plan for the evening in question, and they proceeded in quest of the game. The wolves, however were turkey hungry too, and followed the party, keeping in the dark so as to be out of danger of their rifles. Plenty of roosts were found and many shots were fired, but in every instance where the turkey fell more than a few yards from the hunters, it was grabbed by a wolf and carried away before they could get to it. Only get- ting three turkeys during the night out of per- haps as many dozen, the wolves getting the balance. There were a number of dogs along, but after one or two ventures, they could not be driven from the feet of their master.
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HISTORY OF MCDONALD COUNTY.
ADVENTURE WITH A DEER.
N. C. STAFFORD AND J. H. COWAN recount an adventure with a deer that for a time looked quite serious for the parties engaged. They were out hunting and came up with a buck which one of them had wounded where the dogs had caught it in a deep hole in the creek. Mr. Cowan caught it by one horn and pulled it along the drift to the shore where they threw it on its back and prepared to cut its throat. Staf- ford drew his long hunting knife, but as the cold steel touched the deer's throat it struck Stafford's hand with its hind foot peeling the skin from his wrist to his knuckles, while the knife whizzed away and stuck in the ground several yards distant. This left them unarmed and they could neither hold on nor let go with safety, but they finally stunned it with rocks so it could be finished with a knife. These two men for some three or four years after the war were engaged in hunting most of the time. A favorite method of kiling deer was by "shining their eyes", as it was called. The two would hunt together afetr night, one carrying a torch while the other carried the gun. The deer would stand and look at the light as though in wonder, while the hunter would take aim be- tween its glistening orbs and bring it down. Besides deer and turkey, they would occasion- ally get a bear or panther.
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HISTORY OF MCDONALD COUNTY.
CAPTURING A BEAR.
A few years before the war a large black bear on several occasions was seen to take refuge in a cave at the forks of Granny's branch, where is now Joe Mustine's field near Cyclone. Numerous attempts were made to get him out, but without success. One or more parties started to enter the cave and kill or drive him out. But the bear showed fight, and they beat a hasty retreat. Fires were then built in the mouth of the cave to smoke him out. After being satisfied that the bear was overcome with the smoke, they waited until it cleared away when three men with torches started in to search for him. In a few moments they heard a faint cry and one of the three came staggering back with the word that the other two were overcome with "fire damp" and he had just strength to return and give the alarm. Seizing larger torches to drive off the foul air, others rushed to the rescue of their two comrades and brought them out perfectly limber and apparently life- less. On being returned to the fresh air, how- ever, they soon revived. The dead bear, which weighed about 400 pounds was afterwards taken out, but the meat had spoilt.
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HISTORY OF MCDONALD COUNTY.
CLAIB STAFFORD'S FIRST BEAR.
MR. STAFFORD relates the following account of killing his first bear. His father had a corn field and bear were so numerous that they had taken to it and were destroying the corn like a gang of hogs. Claib was quite a small boy, but his father sent him around the field one day to see if all was right, allowing him to take the gun. He heard a noise in the corn near where a large log was lying, at the side of which grew a sapling. He saw something black by this lit- tle tree which he thought was a large coon. He put his gun through the fence, took aim at the center of its breast and fired. Being a little un- certain as to his game he started back home, but soon met his father who had heard the gun fire and had started to see what was up. To- gether they approached the log, and there lay
a large bear shot through the heart. The log had concealed the lower part of its body, and its head was hid by the corn and branches of the sapling, exposing only a small partof its breast which he took to be a coon on the side of the little tree.
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HISTORY OF MCDONALD COUNTY.
ROBBERY OF THE MCDONALD COUNTY BANK.
TUESDAY morning, August 17, 1897, about ten o'clock our usually quiet town was thrown into a fever of excitement by the robbery of the Mc- Donald County Bank.
Mr. Shields was sitting under the awning north of the door, Mr. LaMance just to his left and Mr. Manning was sitting just inside of the door. All three were quietly talking when two men suddenly came around the corner of the building from the north side and told Shields and Manning they wanted the money and wanted it d-n quick. Mr. Shields began to remonstrate when he was promptly knocked over with a winchester, and sent on his all-fours after the cash. They were followed into the vault by one of the robbers a medium sized man who kept his winchester presented and with much profanity and threatening urged them to hurry. He produced a sack and compelled them to throw in the money. The other, a large, tall man stood in the door, guarded LaMance and kept watch of the outside movements. He was cautioned by the robber inside to keep his eye on the hardware.
Kin McDonaldand Mrs. Plumlee who had just driven up to the hitch rack in a buggy were
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HISTORY OF MCDONALD COUNTY.
were greeted with the remark, "You just sit still and you sha'nt be hurt. " Of course Kin complied.
LaMance stood twirling a bunch of keys and talking to the man in the door, and at one time the fellow laughed at one of LaMance's droll remarks. He would probably have been thrown off his guard had his demeanor not been observed by the leader inside, who cautioned him to watch more carefully.
They had come into town from the Big Sugar Creek road and hitched their horses at the back of Wear's lot just west of the Baptist church. A small young man, or boy, part Indian was left in the street in front of Col. Hooper's residence. Brit hooper and Mr. Case who happened to be near were held up by him, and he remarked to Brit that it was no use to get excited in a time like that.
Of course it all came like a flash of lightning from a clear sky. The first who saw it thought it was some boys scuffling, but as soon as the alarm was given men began to run for guns. But few could be found and most of them were not loaded.
Inside of three minutes they had secured the cash and started for their horses, compelling Shields and Manning to march at a lively trot in front of them thus preventing any shots being
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HISTORY OF MCDONALD COUNTY.
fired as they retreated. The robbers rode out as they came in, and a fourth of a mile above Tes- terman's house they met little Floyd Shields and exchanged horses with him. But one shot was fired, and that was a winchester shot from one of then fired in the air as they rode off.
They took to the hills about a mile east of town crossed Little Sugar and made for the Indian Territory. Late in the afternoon they were intercepted by a possee as they rode down a gulch into Butler creek bottom. A fight en- sued in which two of the robbers were slightly wounded and one horse killed. They abandoned the other horses and took to the brush the tall man, Whit Tennyson, having been separated from the other two by the Shields horse running away with him. Tennyson was captured the next day in the Indian Territory by Joe and Scott Yeargin of Southwest City. Heexposed the plot and in a few days the other two were captured at Weir City, Kansas.
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