USA > Pennsylvania > Columbia County > History of Columbia County, Pennsylvania. Sponsored by the Columbia County Historical Society and Commissioners of Columbia County. Volume One > Part 10
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IICivil War Brought Local Problems: Earlier Wars
The War of 1812 and the Mexican War, 1846-48, did not seem to have much effect on the growth and development of Columbia County. However, the Columbia Guards, recruited at Danville from the whole county before its division, rendered important and excellent service in the Mexican War. Civil War - Columbia County Played Honorable Part
The bitter sectional controversies leading up to the Civil War did not seem to affect seriously the County's development, until the actual armed conflict broke out following the attack on Fort Sumpter in 1861. W. W. Ricketts, later to become a colonel, a former cadet of West Point, speedily raised a company of volunteers at Orangeville. The final summary of the part that Columbia County took in the war to preserve the Union shows that it was a worthy and honorable one. As the first wave of enthusiasm subsided, however, and the war dragged on through its four years of terrible loss of life, the draft quotas became harder and harder to fill in all parts of the country, as well as in our county. Columbia County had been decidedly Democratic in all the elections since its creation. Loval supporters of the national Union, here as elsewhere, volunteered for the armed services or cheerfully accepted the draft.
Opposition Developed
As the fearful costs and loss of life mounted, hope waned. Some Democrats in the country at large, as well as in Columbia County, disapproved of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and argued that the character of the war had been changed to one to free the slaves rather than to preserve the Union. The partisan criticism by those Democrats opposed to the war, called Peace Democrats, became so extreme, that in the light of later history, a reader could not but wonder if volunteering and the draft had not been made more difficult. It was maintained by one newspaper that Lincoln could have preserved the Union in "one month" if he had given up
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freedom for the Negro." Such newspapers insistently urged, " .. vote out the Lincoln government."
Opposition to the Draft
There was draft evasion and obstruction in other parts of the country and in other counties, of Pennsylvania. In some cases this opposition was terrible and alarming" with rioting and loss of life, as in New York City. A considerable number of men in the northern townships and in the nearby portions of Luzerne refused to report for duty. Groups, possibly informal meetings, seem to have considered resisting, evading, or avoiding the draft. As part of conditions generally known, the draft was not always fairly or honestly administered.
Evidences of Opposition
In the spring of 1864, the enrolling officer in Mifflin Township encountered what seemed a threat of resistance, but after a conference, the enrollment was allowed to proceed. Military authorities were led by official reports to believe that there were large bands of deserters and delinquent drafted men, armed and organized for resistance. These reports were given greater weight, when in August a lieutenant with a squad of eight men was on patrol near Raven Creek after midnight. A group of unknown men was encountered and ordered to halt. Firing broke out. Accounts are conflicting as to which side fired the first shot. The lieutenant was killed. The civilians were able to make good an escape. Another incident associated with these bitter times, although th exact timing is not known: The barn of a farmer who was fully loyal to the war effort was burned and a coffin left on the house porch.
Troops to Columbia County
Such developments here and elsewhere led government leaders in Pennsylvania to feel that all draft resistance must be checked. The first of several counties in which resistance was to be over-awed was Columbia. On August 13 a detachment of United States troops arrived in Bloomsburg. Leaders in Bloomsburg assured the military commander that there was no organized resistance. J. G. Freeze, 4 a prominent Democrat, consented to inform the delinquent conscripted men that the charge of desertion would be dropped if they reported within five days. The conscripts did not report. Arrests and Trials
The soldiers then marched to the Benton region' and after a few days of quiet, some hundred men were arrested at their homes. About forty-four were later marched to Bloomsburg, and finally transferred to Fort Mifflin in Philadelphia. These prisoners, some of them elderly, were treated with insufficient consideration. All suffered from long marches, poor and scanty food, and filthy and unhealthy conditions of imprisonment. They were
2The student needs to compare this statoment with the authenticated policy of Lincoln and the rest of the government as it developed.
Consult histories of the county and of Pennsylvania,. also p.7, this Ch. 4Freeze had been appointed aid to the Governor with the rank of colonel. He is frequently referred to with this title.
5A group of persons in carriages, followed from Bloomsburg, presumably to witness the outcome.
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charged with conspiracy to obstruct the draft and were tried by military courts. Only seven were convicted. One paid a fine of $500.00. The remaining six were later pardoned by the President. Numbers had been discharged on account of sickness, almost surely incurred from the harsh conditions of transportation and imprisonment. One died, probably as a result of such conditions. Others were discharged, presumably for lack of evidence against them. The persons arrested, in general, were persons esteemed in their communities and looked up to as leaders. Many had endeavored by persuasion and personal subscription for bounties, º to help fill the draft quotas of the county. They came to be known as the Fishing Creek Martyrs.
The Milligan Case
Here is where our local history touches further that of the country as a whole. In Indiana, one, Milligan, had been arrested and convicted by military authorities of traitorous conduct. Milligan's case was appealed and came before the Supreme Court of the United States. Charles R. Buckalew, then a United States Senator, one of our county's famous leaders and a Domocrat, was familiar with the whole situation here. He advised with the attorney for the prisoner in this case. This attorney has stated that Buckalewis advice was very helpful to him in winning the case. The decision in this case is part of the established law of the land. It is that where the civil courts are open and functioning and not in the immediate area of military operations, military arrests and trials of civilians are unconstitu- tional. This decision was rendered in 1867.
Wild Rumors and Probable Facts
Certain additional events must be recounted back in our county. Search was made for a fort with mounted cannon, which, according to wild rumors, had been constructed in the fastness of North ifountain. The soldiers, after weary searches through the difficult terrain, come to the same conclusion that we reach: There was no such fort. But this is not to say that there were no plans and no wild talk for resistance along with some plans, more or less matured, to support them. On the contrary, it should also be recalled that at a mecting in the Benton region, after the soldiers had arrived in Bloomsburg, the so-called Rantz meeting, certain persons indulged in wild talk of resistance. Wiser heads, however, advised all to return to their homes, go about their peaceful occupations, and offer no resistance. Some persons giving such counsel of prudence and non-resistance were later arrested, as noted above.
Abuses
In carrying out the search for draft evadors, the soldiers, all too frequently, were harsh and crucl. One teen-age boy, Leonard Cole, was suspended briefly by means of a rope around his neck, in order to make him confess where his father was. This the boy refused to do, even though he was suspended until he lost consciousness. His loss of vision with early death was attributed to this experience. It is also alleged, probably truly, that the soldiers raided the farms for chickens, hay, pigs, and sheep; that they cut sugar trees and robbed fences for firewood, they they even commandeer- ed pies and cakes from kitchens.
6. It was legal and proper to pay for a substitute for one who was drafted or to help fill out a quota.
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Soldiers at Elections
Although there was a law forbidding the presence of troops at elections, detachments of soldiers appeared at polling places in most of the townships of the northern and central parts of the county. This action seems to have been solely on the responsibility of the local commander. It was contrary to assurances and orders given by the superior officers that there would be no such interference . Democrats interpreted this action as an effort to intimidate them. The numbers, both of Republicans and Democrats, voting in this election were sharply reduced, although the Democrats carried the election locally. The possibility of guarding the Republicans against intimidation by the Democrats, must also be kept in mind although we have no direct evidence to that effect. The action was clearly illegal and a case of exceeding his authority on the part of the local commander. To give further details: The only remaining election officer in Benton, after the previous arrests, was arrested. Certain persons, a few, were arrested on the way to vote. Election returns were demanded by officers in two cases, being refused in at least one case. Even the Sheriff and Clerk of the County Commissioners were arrested and taken to Harrisburg, until they were released within a few days, after forceful protests.
Summary
By December 1, 1864, the last of the soldiers left, most being transferred to other locations where resistance was feared. The so-called Fishing Creek Confederacy never existed. That there were draft evasion and bitter opposition to government policies is undoubted. This was fomented by partisan newspapers and almost surely exaggerated by government supporters. That the government was justified in doing something is a fair conclusion to draw. The troops were sent to over-awe resistance and to "remain until ever deserter, delinquent drafted man and abettor of rebellion be arrested or run out of the county." In performing such service, soldiers and subordinate officers were guilty of unnecessary harshness, ruthlessness, and cruelties, and of grossly exceeding their authority. The whole procedure was at a cost of half ' a million dollars. The scars of this whole episode were long in healing.
III. Disturbances in the Coal Regions
Beaver and Conynghem Townships at the southeast and south, respectively, were discovered to contain coal measures, a continuation of the more extensive deposits of the neighboring Luzerne and Schuylkill Counties. These will be referred to later. Certain disorders which broke out in these coal regions in the years following the Civil War created serious disturbances in Conyngham Township also. These were all associated with some Irish immigrants in the coal regions. This is no more a reflection on all Irish, than the outrages associated with the draft disturbances of the County, just previously described, are a reflection on well balanced and law abiding persons, whether Democrats or Republicans.
Mollie Maguires
Among Irish immigrants before the Civil War wore numbers who had become accustomed to violent resistance of the exorbitant rents charged by their English landlords in Ireland. Carrying this tradition of violence to America, an organization grew up called the Mollie Maguires, a name brought over from their home land. During the Civil War, the opposition to the draft in Cass Township, Schuylkill County, was so extreme, that the draft could not be properly enforced there without bloodshed, which the authorities did not wish to incur.
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Labor Troubles and Reign of Terror
After the war, the Mollie Maguires joined in resistance on the part of laborers to low wages and dangerous working conditions. For a time such resistance centered around the "Mollies". Their procedure was to intimidate by threats followed up with murder of mine officials, and especially of mine supervisors. In the late sixties and carly seventies, practically a reign of terror developed, especially in the regions of Schuylkill and Northumberland Counties adjoining our County. Murder was organized. Mon of high standing and respect were slain in cold blood. Passenger trains were given special guards. Juries were intimidated, so that when persons were brought to trial they could not be convicted. The "Mollies" boasted that they so controlled the general government that even if convicted they would be released by pardon or otherwise.
Rea Murdered
On Sunday, October 8, 1868, Alexander Rea, agent for the Locust Mountain Coal and Iron Company of Centralia, was murdered near the road to Mt. Carmel. The motive was to rob the victim of pay he was thought to be carrying to the workers. This brought the violence into the territory of Columbia County. After certain arrests were made and trials held at Bloomsburg, the persons accused were acquitted. This result resembled the pattern all too common in other counties.
New Arrests and Trials
Years passed. Then a new series of arrests were made and accused persons were brought to trial in Pottsville and Mauch Chunk, the county seats, respectively of Schuylkill and Carbon Counties. This time the results were different. A quiet looking witness was called to the stand. The accused "Mollies" were dumbfounded. They recognized him as James McKenna, one of the loudest boasters and threateners of their group, who had spent considerable time endeavoring to "float" counterfeit money. If they had searched their memories carefully, they would have been able to recall that this McKenna had actually never participated in any murder, and that in some of their seemingly carefully laid plots, the intended victim seemed to have been warned or had been able to escape.
Their McKenna, on the witness, stand revealed that he was John MCParle a that he had been able to become a member and actual secretary of one of the "Mollie" branches, that he had feigned lawlessness and counterfeiting, and that he had given regular reports to the Pinkerton detective forces from whom he had accepted this highly dangerous mission. His testimony, in large measure, brought about conviction and sentencing of many of the "Mollies" with prison terms and death. The condemned were confident that they would be reprieved or that judges or the Governor would liberate them. No such action took place. Armed soldiers prevented any attempt at violent liberation. In due time six were hanged at Pottsville, and four at Mauch Chunk. New Trials at Bloomsburg
Apparently these events led one of the desparadoes, a certain Daniel Kelly, who was serving sentence of imprisonment for larceny, to fear for his life. Suspicion pointed to him as implicated in the Rea murder. He offered to turn state's evidence in return for a promise of immunity. In order to secure evidence, he was given this promise. As a result three men were arrested and tried in one of the most sensational trials ever held in Blooms- burg. Largely on the basis of Kelly's evidence,' the accused were found guilty and hanged by means of gallows borrowed from Carbon County for the purpose and set up on what is now the playground of the Bloomsburg High School. This took place in 1877. With the Bloomsburg trials and executions, the terrible power of the Mollie Maguires was broken forever.
7One of the convicted men later confessed that Kelly's testimony was substantially correct.
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TO FIND OUT HOW EFFECTIVELY YOU HAVE READ
1. What was the one-time size of Northumberland County? Why were new counties needed?
2. Why was it an advantage to a town to be a county seat?
3. Recount the strivings and contests for the county seat of Columbia County.
4. Explain the erection of Montour County.
5. What reasons can be given to account for the sending of troops into our County during the Civil War? Give an account of the incidents connected with the presence of soldiers in Columbia County during 1864.
6. Who were the liollie Maguires? Explain how events in Columbia County aided in suppressing them.
INTERESTING THINGS TO DO
1. What counties have been formed from old Northumberland, sometimes called Mother of Counties?
2. What was the approximate territory included in original Columbia County? Describe it in terms of stream valleys.
3. In what ways might boundary lines of Columbia and her neighboring counties be improved?
4. Using Battle, History of Columbia and Montour Counties - mark cut on a map changes in townships along the western boarder of present and former Columbia County.
5. Discuss the possible influence of exaggerated statements and unjustified criticism of persons, government officers and public policies. Should war time conditions be treated differently from peace time conditions?
6. Discuss legality of the action of soldiers sent into our county under (a) state law; (b) elections; (c) policy of U. S. Government; (d) Miligan decision. 7. Give report on Pinkerton Detective Agency.
Check your vocabulary:
county seat partisans conspiracy
petitions
remonstrance Whigs
civilians
intimidated
acquitted
feigned taxables
fervor
discreet
dismemberment
log-rolling
emancipation
delinquent
presumably exorbitant
fastness
deserter
dumbfounded
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Outline Map of COLUMBIA. COUNTY, Pennsylvania
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Student's name & sect.
Teacher
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Gross mountain arcas
Streams
Boundaries: - Artificial boundaries
Prepared by Edwin M. Barton "From government sources, 1958
Follow natural features
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