USA > Missouri > Clinton County > The History of Clinton County, Missouri : containing a history of the County, its cities, towns, etc., biographical sketches of its citizens, Clinton County in the late war, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men etc > Part 37
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ing, "Certainly, Miss Payne, I accord you that privilege; but you must know that a soldier has no discretion in such matters. Your father is a perfect stranger to me ; I would not know him if I were to see him. I know no cause for his arrest, but it is my duty, as a subaltern, to obey the orders of my superior officers." I then asked if he would take my father immediately to St. Joseph, as his' orders emanated from there. He replied, "No, only to Plattsburg. I shall there turn him over to Cap- tain Coleman, who will send him to Colonel Harding."
My sister accompanied the men through the house. They merely walked through the rooms, not making any search, being convinced he was not in it. The men scattered over the yard and garden, helping themselves to whatever they pleased. The lieutenant seated himself in the hall and talked in an insolent tone about "bushwhackers." My mother answered that citizens were not responsible for bushwhackers, as they had been disarmed and were themselves defenseless; that those who had the arms ought to get them out of the country ; that her hus- band, being from home the greater part of his time in the discharge of his ministerial duties, knew very little about such matters, probably less than any other man in the community. He again reiterated in the most positive manner that so far as Mr. Payne was concerned he had no charges against him of any kind ; he was obeying those higher in author- ity than himself in seeking to arrest him.
My father had dropped in at a neighbor's house to while away a social hour, and there my little brother found him. Conscious of his own integrity, he felt he had no reason to shun any one, so upon receiving the information, he immediately returned home. I met him at the gate and told him what was on the tapis whilst walking with him to the front door. The lieutenant arose as my father approached, and said he pre- sumed he addressed the Rev. Mr. Payne. My father told him he did. He then introduced himself as Lieutenant Morton, of the Missouri Twenty-fifth, and remarked : "Mr. Payne, it is my duty to arrest you." My father said, "Your orders, sir." He replied in a bluff tone, "I never show them. You must prepare to go with me." While my father was giving some orders about his horse, I learned from the lieutenant that he was not going to return to town immediately, but was going on a bushwhacking scout as far as Smithville, a small village in Clay County, (which was at the time under the control of a very lawless set of men), and would not return till the following day. My fears were aroused. I inquired if he intended to take my father with him. He said he did. I tried ineffectually to change his purpose. He said he had a good many arrests to make-he would have plenty of company, and they would all be sent to headquarters together. The story was not improbable in one sense, for often as many as a dozen citizens were arrested out of one neighborhood in times of excitement, made to work on entrenchments, carry water, cut wood and perform other menial service; and the worst fears I had experienced had been on this account. But learning he would drag my father over the country wherever whim or caprice might suggest, keep him over night without reporting him to headquarters, and that, too, when the most positive assurance had been given that he was acting under orders emanating from thence, the most violent apprehensions were excited in my mind, and if I could at that moment have concealed my father I would have done so. I communicated the intelligence to
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him-saw his suspicions were aroused, but that he did not wish to betray any anxiety to the family. He appealed to the lieutenant to know if such was the intention. Upon being informed that it was, my father told him that he had taken a long ride that morning, and felt physically unequal to the ride ; that he would pledge his word and honor as a gen- tleman to report immediately in Plattsburg. He said he could not think of such a thing ; that he would be answerable to his superiors were he to allow it. My father then proposed to detail a trusty guard. This he also refused ; said he had not a man to spare. The only alternative was to go with him as quietly as possible. His victim was in his clutches, and he did not intend he should escape. One of the privates took my father's bridle, in the presence of this officer, for which he substituted his broken one; after which he was ordered to mount. I looked in every face as they passed me, hoping I might find one to whom I could appeal to befriend my father in the hour of need. Not one redeeming counte- nance met my anxious gaze. My mother turned to me and said sadly, "What a rough looking set of men to have such a man prisoner." Alas ! my own terrible forebodings re-echoed the thought, but I said, " Mother, the Lord preserved Daniel in the lion's den, and surely He will shield His faithful servant from harm."
Feeling the uselessness of attempting to follow him, and fearing the worst, yet hoping the best, I went to Plattsburg the next morning, accompanied only by my little brother, to learn what disposition had been made of him. On reaching town I found that Captain Coleman, instead of being at his post to receive his prisoners, had gone with Lieu- tenant Colonel Porter, Thomas Viglini, the provost marshal of the county, and others, to St. Joseph. The scout under Morton had not returned ; and so secret had been the expedition that no one to whom I applied could give me any information, not having even heard that my father stood in any danger of arrest. Upon expressing my fears that personal violence would be offered, my friends assured me my apprehen- sions were groundless ; that whilst the men might be capable of any villainy, it would be too barefaced to attempt such a thing with a man like my father. No officer would have the hardihood to risk his reputa- tion by such an outrage ; he was too well known ; the authorities would be compelled to take action in the case. I was told it would be useless to apply to Major Green, who was then in command of the militia, and whose headquarters were at the court house, while the Twenty-fifth was camped at the fair grounds, and were not under his control.
A prey to the most torturing doubts and maddening suspicions, I was on my horse in the street when I discovered the scout coming in. 1 waited to see if my father was with them; but oh ! the unspeakable anguish of that moment ! Instead of seeing him I recognized his horse and saddle, rode by a drunken soldier. If ever the human countenance expressed the fiendish malignity of Satan, it was written in that man's face. I tried to stop him to learn where the owner was. He loaded me with the vilest abuse ; said he did not care a d-m where he was ! If I had seen my father murdered before my very eyes I could not have been more awfully certain of his fate. I believe I screamed. Mr. James Stonum ran to me and asked me what was the matter. I told him as well as I could. He said it looked bad, but probably they had taken my father's horse and given him a more indifferent one to ride ; that part of
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the scout had gone to the fair grounds by another street. Perhaps I would find him there, and he kindly offered to accompany me. He walked at my bridle and questioned every soldier. All told different stories, but two at last told me positively that they had come past our house and "left the old man at home ;' that they had really nothing against him. When asked how the horse, then, came into their possession, I was satis- fied when they told me they were pressing horses every day, and had brought it on to town. Morton had not returned, and I was about to turn back from my fruitless errand, when my friend said : "I do not wish to needlessly alarm you, but I am far from being satisfied with these men's stories, and I advise you not to return home without seeing Lieutenant Morton. It is possible your father may be with him." We started back to town and met the lieutenant ; stopped him and asked for my father. He replied, "Left him in the brush." I cried out, "Then you have mur- dered him !" He dropped his head and never looked me in the face again. He said if it was any satisfaction to me to believe him murdered, I was welcome to think so ; but he had made his escape from his sergeant and two men near the railroad and was in the brush, where he belonged ; that he would sneak in that night ! I replied that if he knew anything of my father, he would know he never associated with men of doubtful character ; that such men as Hall and Bassett, who lived in the district, ought to know more of him than a stranger like himself ; that he had no reason to fear being brought to trial, as he was well known to every leading man in the district, and did not doubt he could clear himself of any charges that might be brought against him. He said he knew he was well known ; that these preachers had more influence than any other class of men, and if they all had the benefit of a rope the country would be better off. He would deny that he had killed him, but I could see he wished me to believe he was dead ; and yet I begged of this heartless wretch-in a manner I would have scorned to have begged for my own life-to tell me where his body might be found. My every prayer was met by a cruel taunt and brutal insult. Being convinced I could gain no concessions from him-that he only exulted in the torture he was inflicting-I left him to seek assistance elsewhere. I met with much expressed sympathy, but no real help-everybody was afraid! If he had been taken, who would be safe ? Crushed with despair, I turned my sorrowful steps to mect the waiting, anxious hearts at home. How I reached there God only knows ! The one mad conviction welled up from my agonized heart-I was the messenger of woe to the loved ones ! The lightning bolt that would pierce my darling mother's heart would first fall from my lips ! How could 1 go, yet how could I stay away ! When the horrible desolation of the murderous assassin comes home to our own hearts, who can tell its bitterness save those who have loved and lost and suffered alike! We tried to rouse the neighbors to look for him, but they were afraid to go that night for fear of being called bushwhackers. How we lived through its long wretched watches is known only to Him who never slumbers or sleeps! Two young ladies went to town next morning to obtain permission to look for the body, fearing the consequences for their friends were they to undertake the search without it.
A written permission was given by the provost marshal for the friends to look for Mr. Payne, who was missing, and reported to be mur-
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dered. Some neighbors had collected in the meantime and found him about three miles from home, shot twice through the heart, the breast of his coat and hands being powder burnt. He had upon his person his "protection papers " and the letter from General Hall to Major General Schofield. A neighbor went for the coroner (Mr. O. P. Riley to hold an inquest. He applied to Major John Green to furnish him an escort, who, instead of doing so, remarked if he undertook it he thought it more than likely some one would be employed to hold an inquest over him! The provost marshal said if he was a coroner he would consider it more than his life was worth to risk it. Whether Mr. Riley considered these speeches as threats I can not say ; but two things are certain-there was no escort furnished, and he did not go. He himself told me he knew he could not obtain a jury who would dare to render a verdict according to the facts.
The miscreants who thus foully murdered a good and true man, in giving an account of the hellish deed, said that they asked him if he did not want to pray, and while engaged in prayer they took his life! I have often wondered that if, in humble imitation of his suffering Master, his last prayer was not: "Father, forgive them ; they know not what they do."
Miriam watched with a sister's love over the frail ark containing the infant Moses, whose destiny had been placed at the mercy of the Nile to escape the sword of the tyrant. "Rizpah, from the Rock Gibeah, guarded with sleepless eyes her loved dead, slaughtered for the sins of Saul, and suffered neither the birds of the air nor the beasts of the field to prey upon them by night or by day." But no such melancholy priv- ilege was ours. No eye of affection watched the death sleep of our darling dead. His body lay out on the common more than twenty-four hours before we succeeded in having him brought home. We were warned it would not do to attempt a public burial-that the less the demonstra- tion the better. Although a Mason, no resolutions of respect were offered ; a Christian and a minister, yet we were denied the prayers of consolation which he had so often offered for others! He was buried as privately as possible in the yard at home! He, too, " with dyed garments has trodden the wine press alone." No loved one to wipe the death damps from his noble brow-to fold the pulseless hands and close the glazing eye. Nor have we a farewell word or a whispered blessing to soften the horrors of recollection!
'Tis the disposition of some to bow to the storm-'tis mine to brave it. I knew it would be useless to attempt to have the murderers brought before a civil tribunal. As the civil law was almost entirely powerless, and the military in a great degree implicated in the "deep damnation of his taking off," I still determined to do all I could by seeking a military investigation. I thought if they would take action in any case, they would not let such an outrage go unrebuked and unpunished. The manner of his death would speak in thunder tones to the authorities of the utter inability to reach him in any other way than cold-blooded murder. It could not even be said we have a law, and by the law he must die.
With this view I wrote to Hon. Silas Woodson, of St. Joseph, giv- ing all the facts I had obtained in the case. He promptly came to my aid by placing my letter before General Hall, who endorsed it, and sent
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it to Major General Schofield, requesting him to take the necessary steps to have the men brought to justice. A preliminary examination was ordered to take place before Major J. M. Bassett. I was summoned to attend. An inexperienced girl, I had never been in a court room nor heard an oath administered in my life. Solitary and alone I went, with- out counsel and against the advice of friends, sustained by the one mad hope of vindicating my father's memory by challenging those in power to justify the deed if they could. Major Bassett expressed much sym- pathy for me, and treated me very gentlemanly ; summoned all the wit- nesses I wanted, and allowed me to select a lawyer (Judge Tutt) and sub- mit the testimony to him, and pronounced with him the mass of testi- mony overwhelming, and said no military commission could fail to act on it. The evidence was expressed to Colonel J. O. Broadhead, provost marshal general of the state; was duly received and receipted for. Weeks lapsed into months, and, not hearing from the case, I wrote to Colonel Broadhead to know if the trial, which had just closed in St. Joseph, was a farce-the semblance of justice, without its reality. In answer to which I received a prompt reply, saying he felt a special inter- est in the case, and would do all in his power for its prosecution-that he had sent an order for the arrest of the men, would have them brought to St. Louis for trial, and would send for me to attend. That was the last I heard of it. During the trial in St. Joseph, Major Bassett stated there was little doubt that assurance had been given by Colonel Hard- ing that no investigation would ever be allowed, and appealed to General Hall to corroborate the statement. Not replying, I glanced at his face and read this determination ; "I would see the murderers punished, but don't expect any official assistance from me to have it done." I tried Major Bassett on this point again when General Hall was not present. All the expressions I could get was, if the case was presented in the right shape to the provost marshal of the state, Harding would be com- pelled to surrender the men.
After the close of the war, I wrote again to Colonel Broadhead in reference to the affair. After some delay he replied-said he had the men arrested- that Colonel Harding was much incensed because they were charged in the warrant with murder. They were brought to St. Louis and turned over to an officer of his department (he. did not call his name), with instructions that if the evidence was sufficient, to prefer charges before a military commission. The testimony was submitted, and he decided there was no case, and the men were discharged. So much for justice from military despots in Missouri !
Whether these men were arrested or not, I do not know. One thing I do know, however, and that is, that I was assured by the provost marshal general that when they were arrested I should be notified of the fact, and that an opportunity should be given me to appear and pro- duce the evidence of their guilt. This promise was never redeemed, and if the guilty murderers were arrested, instead of being tried, they were turned loose without the evidence being heard, with the seal of approbation of their murderous deed placed upon them by the highest military authority in the Department of the Missouri, and to the eternal disgrace of all connected therewith.
The murderers are still at large. Whether justice will ever be meted out to them depends upon the developments of the veiled future.
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But this I know, there is a Power, higher than the stars and deeper than the grave, that still rules in the counsels of men, and though they may escape human retribution, they cannot escape the divine. His blood, like the blood of the righteous Abel, will cry aloud unto Him who hath said, "Vengeance is mine ; I will repay."
I have already stated that when I resolved to make an effort to induce the military authorities to investigate the circumstances attend- ing the death of my father, I addressed a letter to the Hon. Silas Wood- son, who was then the judge of the twelfth judicial circuit, soliciting his aid and advice in regard to the matter. I take the liberty of transcrib- ing that letter herein, verbatim, although it was not written with the expectation that it would ever be published. This letter will show the estimation in which my father was held by the public, and the view that an impartial legal mind took of the affair at the time :
ST. JOSEPH, June 24th, 1863.
Miss M. Lucilla Payne : I was truly glad when I read your letter of the 19th inst., giving the horrid details of the assassination and death of your highly respected and deeply regretted father. Rumor had given several variant and unsatisfactory accounts of the sad affair ; hence the great anxiety I felt, in common with Mr. Payne's numerous friends here, to know the facts as they really transpired. I need not say that your letter fully satisfied our wishes in regard to the matter.
You have heard, I doubt not, before the present time, that the Twenty-fifth Regiment Missouri Volunteers have been ordered to Vicks- burg, and I suppose that they are now beyond the limits of the state. At all events they will be before a communication could reach St. Louis from here.
It has never been pretended here, as far as I have heard, that an order was issued by Colonel Harding or the provost marshal for the arrest of Mr. Payne. Had such an order been issued I am sure that I should have heard of it, as I have heard the matter freely spoken of by both officers and soldiers in the military service. I do not know to whom the records kept at Colonel Harding's headquarters were trans- ferred when he left, but I suppose that they were taken away by him, as he was succeeded here by an officer in the militia, and not the volunteer service. It matters not, however, whether your father was arrested with or without an order for the purpose so far as the investigation desired by you is concerned. It is not the arrest of Mr. Payne, but his murder, that concerns his friends particularly, and I am sure that no officer in the army would more readily excuse his death by foul means when properly arrested and under the protection of the law than if he had been arrested without authority. No one who recognizes the obliga- tions of law will excuse either officers or men in taking human life in the manner Mr. Payne was deprived of his. It was nothing more nor less than a cold blooded, heartless murder, in violation of all law, civil and military. The practical question, however, is, what can be done to punish the guilty perpetrators of the deed ? I regret to say, nothing at the present time, in my judgment. General Schofield, I think, would have been disposed, had he been fully in possession of all the facts, to have had the matter fully investigated before Colonel Harding's com- mand left the state. The command, though, is now beyond General Schofield's military district, and consequently he has no control over it.
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The only hope is that peace will once again be the lot of our distracted country-that the civil law will have its course, and all who have vio- lated it have the proper punishment meted out to them. Time never operates as a bar to a prosecution for murder. When one feels that a great wrong has been done-that innocent blood calls aloud from the grave for the punishment of those who shed it, how hard it is to have to acknowledge our impotence ! How sad to feel that we can do nothing ! All I can say to you, and to all of the dear ones allied to my departed friend, is, trust in that God in whom he trusted, nothing doubting. Trust that justice will in the end be done, and that the memory of your father will, at the proper time and in the proper way, be fully vindicated. Most profoundly do I sympathize with you in your distress. Be con- soled, however, with the thought that your father died regretted by the good on earth who knew him, and that he has gone to his reward in heaven.
Truly your friend, SILAS WOODSON.
My narrative is now closed. Peace has come. But, alas! justice has not been done to my father's memory, nor have his guilty assassins suffered the penalty justly due to their great crime. The new constitu- tion of Missouri has changed that time-honored law alluded to in Judge Woodson's letter, and under it every sort of crime, even murder, if com- mited by a heartless villain in Federal uniform, and whilst in the mili- tary service, must for all time go unpunished. Since civilization first dawned upon the earth no soldier has been punished by any government for any act committed in the regular discharge of his military duties. But I suppose that the infamy was reserved for the author of our present constitution to absolve from punishment the cold-blooded murderer of a peaceable, unoffending citizen.
M. LUCILLA PAYNE.
PEACE JUBILEE.
On the 2d day of April, 1866, Andrew Johnson, president of the United States, issued a proclamation declaring peace-the closing por- tion of his proclamation reading as follows :
WHEREAS, there now exists no organized armed resistance of mis- guided citizens, nor others, to the authority of the United States in the States of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Florida, and the laws can be sustained and enforced therein by proper authority, State or Fed- eral, and the people of said states are well and loyally disposed, and have conformed, or will conform, in their legislatures to the condition of affairs, growing out of the amended constitution of the United States, prohibiting slavery within the limits and jurisdiction of the United States ; and
WHEREAS, in view of the before recited premises, it is the manifest determination of the American people that no state, of its own will, has the right or power to go out of, or separate itself from, or be separated from the American Union, and that, therefore, each state ought to remain and constitute an integral part of the United States ; and
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WHEREAS, such states must necessarily be, and by the constitu- tion and laws of the United States they are, made equal and placed on a like footing as to political rights, immunities, dignity and power, with the several states with which they are united.
THEREFORE, 1, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do hereby proclaim and declare that the insurrection which heretofore existed in the states of Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Louisana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas and Florida, is at an end, and henceforth it is to be so regarded.
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