I found an old favorite digging through archives this evening. "Homeland and Hinterland: The Current and Jacks Fork Riverway". The book is a fascinating historical examination of Southeast Missouri Ozarks history.  Pages 60-61 record a unique example of how some men were targeted for more than their loyalty to either North or South.  Judge Joshua Chilton is an example of such targeting. Chilton is said to have been a friend of both Confederate General Sterling Price and Confederate Governor Jackson. However, the book notes that Chilton's family stated he tried to remain neutral. The Union party who murdered him was led by a Lt. Reed (who just happened to be a political rival of Chilton's before the war). A screenshot of the account provides the rest of the story.

This happens to be a subject I have brought up in conversations often. Some of Missouri's most loyal supporters of the Union were slave holders. It's why they supported the Union. They felt that it was the best way to preserve their "property" and it worked for a while. Slaves that belonged to those who supported secession were confiscated. Those who were loyal were allowed to maintain the "peculiar institution". The Missouri Historical Review October 1921- July 1922 Vol. 16 contains the following information:

I was browsing through "The History of Southeast Missouri" and found heroic account of a young boy who was part of Tappan's Arkansas Regiment during the Battle of Belmont, Mo.  According to the book, this young boy was carrying not one but two flags. The boy showed no fear and was one of many wounded in the Confederate's retreat from their camp to the river bank. It is said he shouted one last shout of honor before he fell into the river and drown. Below is a a screenshot of the account from "The History of Southeast Missouri" .

Combing through the Ponder papers from the Missouri Historical Society I found another piece of valuable information. In a letter found in the archives, the author reveals that William Leeper burned the Ripley County Courthouse down in May, 1865. I also learned something else. Leeper was a Campbellite preacher. Below is the letter naming Leeper as the arsonist.

I was examining the Jerry Ponder papers (found in the Missouri Historical Society Archives) and found a piece of correspondence from a M. Barnhart of Warm Springs, Arkansas to Jerry Ponder of Ripley County, Missouri. According to Barnhart.. What records were left for Ripley County during the war , were kept by a local militia unit, the 15th Mo Cav Reg, Conf, all records military & civil were burned in May, 1865 before the unit went to Jacksonport, Ark. to surrender.

I found a real gem while doing some research today. The Confederate Battle Flag and Confederate Monuments have been under assault for years now but there can be no doubt the past year has seen these attacks increase in frequency. One of the reasons enemies of all things Southern give for wanting to eradicate historical symbols is the claim that they represent "white supremacy". Today I stumbled upon "Confederate women of Arkansas in the Civil War , 1861-'65"  . In this book an article from the May , 1900 issue Confederate Veteran entitled "Vivid History of Our Battle Flag", written by General W.L. Cabell , Quartermaster of the Confederate army of Virginia.  Cabell describes the Confederate Battle Flag as a red flag with a blue St. Andrew's Cross with white stars.  This description confirms that the flag was not a secular symbol, nor was it a "white supremacists" symbol.  According to Franciscan Media : "Andrew was Saint Peter...

Thank You to the Banner Press newspaper (Marble Hill, Missouri) for taking the time to conduct an honest interview with me - Clint

Alfred P. Murrah Building April 19, 1995 Most accepted version of the Oklahoma City bombing stories state: "The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorist truck bombing on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States on April 19, 1995. Perpetrated by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, the bombing killed 168 people,[injured more than 680 others, and destroyed one-third of the building.[ The blast destroyed or damaged 324 other buildings within a 16-block radius, shattered glass in 258 nearby buildings, and destroyed or burned 86 cars... The official investigation, known as "OKBOMB", saw FBI agents conduct 28,000 interviews, amass 3.5 short tons (3,200 kg) of evidence, and collect nearly one billion pieces of information. The bombers were tried and convicted in 1997. McVeigh was executed by lethal injection on June 11, 2001, and Nichols was sentenced to life in prison in 2004. Michael and Lori Fortier ...

In an earlier post entitled "SAM HILDEBRAND PAYS A VISIT TO BOLLINGER COUNTY"   I touched on the subject of German immigrants serving in the ranks of the Union Army. How many did not speak English and were not U.S. citizens. Though they immigrated to Missouri because of a failed Marxist revolution in Germany, they were seen as an asset by those combating Southern nativists throughout the "Civil War". It was only after the war was over that the those who welcomed their presence, realized the threat that they represented. Thus was the case with Carl Shurz. In "The Wars of Carl Shurz" published in the June 2, 2012 New York Times states: Carl Schurz German Marxist Revolutionary, Lincoln Appointee and Union General "Schurz was a student at the University of Bonn when, in early 1848, news reached the German states that the French people had deposed their king and established a representative government. He immediately joined a group of revol...

Missouri Bushwhacker Sam Hildebrand The following is another "interesting" piece of information that is found in "Sam Hildebrand's Confession." On pages 251- 253 Hildebrand relates the story of being in the Lewisburg, Arkansas area in the Winter of 1864-1865.  Included in this section of the book is the fact that organizations such as the Freedman's Bureau would incite freed slaves to turn in Southern sympathizers and commit all kinds of "villainy" against the Whites. During the early part of the winter of 1864, several persons from the vicinity of Lewisburg, Arkansas, came to our Headquarters and reported trouble with the negroes and scalawags in that part of the State. Lewisburg is a small town on the north side of the Arkansas river, about fifty miles above Little Rock; the country around this place is very fertile, and before the war, was inhabited by a wealthy class of farmers of the highest cast of honor and intelligence, the most of ...

Missouri Bushwhacker Sam Hildebrand "Sam Hildebrand's Confession" is certainly and interesting read. On pages 196-197 Hildebrand writes about a visit to Bollinger County, Missouri on May 25, 1864. He writes of going in the direction of "Dallas" in Bollinger County [present day Marble Hill, Mo.] and encountering 7 federals [Union soldiers}. Hildebrand notes that at the time Dallas was garrisoned by approximately 100 "Dutch" soldiers. During this time it was common to refer to German immigrants as Dutch and Hildebrand relates the story of one that they captured who spoke in "broken English" who they executed stating, "We quietly sent his spirit back to the Rhine where it belonged" They were seen as foreign invaders upon Missouri soil by native Southerners and it makes one wonder what feelings a citizen would have today if immigrant soldiers were garrisoned in a local community.