Telling My Story to Los Gatos Rotary

 Chasing History: Exploring My Ancestral Roots - Post #27
by Tonya Graham McQuade

Yesterday I had the opportunity to be the featured speaker for Los Gatos Rotary and to share the story of my letters, research, travels, and books. I was both nervous and excited! While I loved being able to share my story, I quickly realized that it is impossible to explain Missouri's Civil War history, share excerpts from both the letters and my books, and describe my research and travels in 30 minutes. LOL. I frequently run into the same issue in my classroom - I get overly ambitious because I'm so excited about the subject matter!

At any rate, I thought it would be worth "resharing" some pieces of my presentation. I am still processing the research from my two trips in April and October, and trying to condense my thoughts into a 30 minute window was actually a helpful process. I also had the opportunity to attend a two-day online writing workshop on Friday and Saturday to learn more about the publishing process, and I'm mulling over those lessons as I think about reaching out to possible publishers in the new year (the agents at the conference all agreed that submitting anything after Nov. 15 was a bad idea because everyone is in "holiday" and "clear off the desk" mode).

I also recognize that I still have plenty of work to do on both manuscripts before they are ready to take that next step ... but I hope to at least have the non-fiction version to the point soon where I am ready to share it with some "beta readers" for their thoughts and feedback. If you are interested in being one of those readers, let me know.

My presentation began with an explanation of how this whole journey got started with Jeremy's message on Ancestry.com last February. That story alone got lots of reactions - and yes, I know what a gift is was that literally showed up on my doorstep. I still can't believe that the first two people to whom he reached out were not interested. 

Besides the letters, there were all the other amazing items ... tintype photos, pieces of material from my ancestors' dresses, family tree records, my GGG Grandfather's eyeglasses ... and of course, the flag that my GG Grandmother made for her father, which he carried with him throughout the war!

It was that flag that inspired by book idea - I lay awake during the night, thinking of a book opening for Missouri Daughter in which Mollie (aka. my GG Grandmother Mary Ann Hale) is making the last stitches on the flag so she can finish it in time for her father's departure the next day to join up with his regiment in St. Louis.

As I explained to Rotary, prior to reading those letters, my ancestors were just names, dates, and photos - and I thought I would never have the opportunity to know more than their faces as seen below. In the photo on the left, Mary Ann and Bailis sit with their ten children, my great grandmother Nora (the second youngest) standing at the center in front. Her parents, on the right, were etched in my mind as always being old but fortunate enough to live to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Now, having read 40 letters, most of 4 pages each, written by James Calaway Hale, I feel I know him in a way few people get to know their great great great grandfather. Again, what a gift to land on my doorstep!

From there, I went on to explain why Missouri is such a pivotal state to understanding Civil War history. All of the events listed here were essential contributors to the war ... and all took place before the firing on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. They are all explained in detail in the books I'm working on.

Furthermore, while the entire country was clearly torn apart by the war, border states like Missouri were even more torn apart since family members and neighbors often ended up on different sides. In St. Joseph, the largest city near where my GGG GF and his family lived at the time, about 2,000 men fought for the Union; another 2,000 men, for the Confederacy. One of the questions I ask in my book is, how did they all come back together again after the war? Did families reconcile and once again sit down to dinner together? Did church members once again join in worship? Did neighbors let their children play together? Once pardons were officially given by the U.S. government, were they as easily given among individuals?

In my presentation, I shared an excerpt from the letter to Bailis from "Cousin Rachel of Rebel Rendezvous," where she basically tries to "smack talk" him into joining the Southern cause. Did they meet again after the war? How did that conversation begin?

Soon after this, I ran out of time and had to "fly" through the slides in which I described my recent trips to Missouri and the research I have done and continue to do. I am now working on the digital scrapbook for my Missouri trips, starting with the first one, and am realizing how much more "processing" I still need to do of the information I acquired on that first visit. My summer was so busy with travel, and now I am so busy with teaching, that it is difficult to find the tine to devote to this "passion project"  that I am so anxious to pursue!

A lot of the work I still need to do involves going back through photos and reading all the photos of displays I did not have time to read at the time. From those displays, I take notes, compare the information to other information I have gathered, and figure out if and where those details might fit into my book. I also have to be careful not to "reinvent the wheel," so to speak, by writing about something I have already described somewhere else. When a document gets to me 125+ pages, single spaced, it's easy to lose track of what you've already written!

Kathy, the Andrew County genealogist I met on our recent visit, is one of the readers I am looking to for helpful feedback. She has already provided me with a lot of useful and interesting information related to land deeds, schools, guerrilla activity, and other Andrew County history. I'm still reading through many of the materials she gave me, as well as brochures I picked up and books I purchased on that trip.

It was especially nice to have my husband Mike, as well as my parents, in the audience for my Rotary presentation. I shared this photo of my father, as well as his mother back in 1970, at the grave sites of Bailis and Mary Ann Petree in Kirksville, Missouri - and told how I had visited others as well. I find it so interesting that four sets of my great great grandparents are buried throughout Missouri - two from mother father's side and two from my mother's - and that I likely have six sets of great great great grandparents buried in Missouri as well. From what I can tell, they all died in Missouri, but I have not yet found information on where they all are buried.

The more work I do, the more I realize I still NEED to do. Sigh. The writing workshop I attended also left me fairly certain that my best road forward - esp. with the non-fiction book I hope to finish first - is to reach out to some university presses that have published other Civil War books. The "Ninth Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium" is also happening in August in Virginia - I'm debating whether I should go. It sounds like a great opportunity, but I'm also planning (and paying) for Anna & Nick's wedding in September. Lots of opportunities ... lots of decisions ... lots of work to do.

Thanks for reading! If you want to be sure not to miss a post, I'm creating a "subscriber email list" since the blog notifications don't seem to work very well. If you would like to be added to my subscriber list, please email me at Tmcq1966@gmail.com with your name and email address. 

Tune in next time to learn more about my visit to the Patee House Hotel in St. Joseph - the headquarters for the Pony Express and the place where Union troops set up their base during the Civil War.

Exploring the Pony Express - and Creating a Family Connection

 Chasing History: Exploring My Ancestral Roots - Post #26

by Tonya Graham McQuade

"The First Ride of the Pony Express," by Charles Hargens Jr.

One of the historical events I will be incorporating into my book Missouri Daughter is the opening of the Pony Express on April 3, 1860. Since this is a historical fiction account, I am taking some liberties by placing my great great grandfather Bailis Petree there for the opening ceremonies. He certainly might have been there, right? He was living within 15 miles of St. Joseph at the time, and in a city with a population of only 9,000, many thousands gathered to watch the celebration, according to news reports. Wouldn’t a young man of 20 have been anxious to witness this important moment in history?

The advent of the Pony Express comes up early in the book, as Bailis recalls his time serving in the militia starting in October 1861. Here’s a brief excerpt:        

His arrival with the militia was so different from the last time he had visited St. Joseph back in April of 1860. Then, he and brother Benjamin had made a special trip to watch the first rider, young Johnny Fry, set off on the newly-opened Pony Express route to deliver mail all the way to California in just ten days. Bailis smiled, remembering how excited he and Benjamin had been when the cannon had fired, alerting the eager crowds that Fry had set off. Crowds lined the street, cheering as he rode by, then watched as Fry boarded a ferry with his horse to cross the Missouri River into Kansas, where he was expected to ride at breakneck speed for eighty miles, all the way to Seneca, Kansas, before another rider took over.

Bailis couldn’t imagine racing like that across the country. The riders would each cover about 75-100 miles, changing horses several times along the way, and would pass through Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada on their way to the final stop in far-away Sacramento, California. He’d seen the posters advertising for riders:

"Wanted: young, skinny, wiry fellows. Not over eighteen. Must be expert riders, willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred. Wages $25 per week.”

 

Those ads certainly had not tempted him - he already had his eye on Mollie and didn't want to miss out on his chance to make her his wife - but he remembered wondering what it would feel like to have crowds cheering for him as they did for Johnny Fry.

While standing at the river, watching Fry disappear in the distance, he and Benjamin had also perused the long line of wagons waiting to be ferried across to the Kansas side, from there to begin their long journey along the Oregon Trail to the Pacific Coast. Thousands crossed here every Spring on their way to start a new life. Benjamin had made that journey with their father and older brother John back in 1849, bound for California to look for gold, and Bailis loved to hear the stories they told of their adventures. He had wondered, as he looked out at the wagon train, whether he would ever make such a journey – and whether, if he did, he would travel by wagon or whether there might eventually be a train he could take all the way to California.

I like to imagine Bailis standing there, watching history be made and reflecting on his own family history. On our recent trip to St. Joseph, I stood at that exact point on the Missouri River. I looked across to the Kansas shore on the other side, imagining what it might have felt like to cross in one of those wagons, knowing a four to six month journey lay ahead - anticipating the plethora of obstacles and challenges that might present themselves to the wagon train along the way. I also imagined what it must have been like for those young Pony Express riders - many barely out of their teens - to set out on their own across that vast terrain, with no fellow travelers riding alongside.

Missouri River - Point of Ferry Crossing

For eighteen months, from April 1860 to October 1861, Pony Express riders raced across the Central Overland Route to deliver mail in an average of ten days to the more than half a million people now living out west, anxious for news and communication. They rode across prairies, plains, deserts, and mountains, facing threats from wild animals, blizzards, excessive heat, raging rivers, accidents and injuries, sickness, Native American attacks, and in one case, even a cyclone. During its operation, more than 200 men became riders, swapping horses at relay stations every 10-15 miles as they rode 75-100 miles to the next home station, where another rider would take over. At those same home stations, riders would wait for mail coming from the other direction, then would begin their return ride. The trail measured almost 2,000 miles between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, and passed through Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada.

Map of the Pony Express Trail by Artist William Henry Jackson

Why St. Joseph? It beat out both competing Atchison, Missouri, to the north and Leavenworth, Kansas, to the south because it had all four things the founders were looking for: a telegraph to the east, a good road (or trail) to the west, office space for local agents (which they found at the Patee House Hotel), and - most importantly - the westernmost terminus of a railroad to the east: the Hannibal-St. Joseph Railroad, which had begun operating in 1859.

Pony Express Mural in St. Joseph, Missouri

The Pony Express Museum in St. Joseph was our first stop on our second day in Missouri - and there, we learned all about this history-making mail delivery service. Housed in the old Pony Express Stables, from which the first Pony Express Rider, Johnny Fry, emerged on his horse to begin his ride, the museum provides information on the history of the Pony Express; describes some of its many riders; shows maps of the various trails and stations; exhibits displays of a blacksmith shop and forge, a tack room and harness shop, and a wheelwright shop; presents a covered wagon with supplies; shows Civil War era weaponry; and much more.

Mike standing in front of the Pony Express Stables

William H. Russell, Alexander Majors, and William B. Waddell (partners in a freighting firm) agreed in January 1860 to start a pony express relay system from St. Joseph to Sacramento. Their goal was to prove the Central Overland Route could be used year round. They hoped to win the $1 million government mail contract (though they only ended up getting a portion of that contract). Within three months, they formed the Central Overland, California, and Pikes Peak Express Company; then, they hired 200 riders, purchased 400 horses, and established 165 stations 10-15 miles apart. Riders changed horses at each station. Each rider rode between 75-100 miles and changed horses 8-10 times per ride.

Pony Express Monument in St. Joseph, Missouri

Who were these riders? Riders were primarily young men, preferably orphans, who weighed 110-120 pounds. They were expected to take the following oath: “I, _____, do hereby swear, before the great and living God, that during my engagement, and while I am an employee of Russell, Majors, and Waddell, I will under no circumstances use profane language, and that I will drink no intoxicating liquors, that I will not quarrel or fight with any other employee of the firm and that in every respect I will conduct myself honestly, be faithful to my duties, and so direct all my acts as to win the confidence of my employers. So help me God.”

Pony Express Rider's Oath

Rider Johnny Fry was the first to depart from the Pony Express Stables. Fry, born in St. Joseph in 1840, was a well-known rider in local horse races. After leaving the stable, he raced on his horse named Sylph to the U.S. express office to pick up the mail, which had just arrived on the Hannibal-St. Joseph railroad after a late start in Hannibal. There, Mayor Jeff Thompson sent the mail on its way with a slap on the pony’s rump and said: “Citizens of St. Joseph, I bid you three cheers for the first overland passage of the United States mail. Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!” 

The crowd cheered as the horse and rider boarded the ferry boat Ebenezer to cross the Missouri River. The mochila, or knapsack, Fry carried contained 85 pieces of mail, including an edition of the St. Joseph Daily Gazette. Fry rode the first 80 miles – the next rider took over in Seneca, KS. Fry arrived back in St. Joseph on April 13th with first eastbound mail – during the celebration, militia groups paraded, bells rang, cannons boomed, and bonfires lit up Main Street.

“Citizens paraded the streets with bands of music, fireworks were set off ... the best feeling was manifested by everybody” (New York Times, 14 Apr 186o). 

As a nearby signpost explains, eight months after the start of the Pony Express, South Carolina seceded from the Union, and soon Civil War began, dividing the city of St. Joseph. Approximately 2,000 St. Joseph men fought for the Union, another 20,00 for the Confederacy. Early in the war, both sides stridently displayed their banners and flags. When the newly-appointed postmaster raised the U.S. flag on the roof of the Post Office, former St. Joseph mayor Jeff Thompson - the same man who had celebrated the opening of the Pony Express a year earlier - led an unruly mob that displayed their southern sympathies by tearing down the flag, ripping it to pieces, and throwing the flagpole into the Missouri River. The mob tore through town, removing other U.S. flags and harassing Union supporters. Eventually, the City Council prohibited the flying of flags of any kind.

Conflicts continued in St. Joseph - with both sides inflicting damage on the other - until Union troops occupied the city in September 1861 following a period of destructive guerrilla activity. Though resented by Southern sympathizers, their presence offered the protection Union-supporting residents desired, keeping guerrilla attackers at bay, protecting the strategically important western terminus of the Hannibal-St. Joseph Railroad, and requiring all residents to present passes to leave and enter the city (and requiring them to show proof of allegiance in order to attain passes). By then, of course, many Confederates - including former mayor Jeff Thompson - had fled the city. He went on to become a Confederate Brigadier General and earned the title “Missouri’s Swamp Fox” for his many successful and daring raids on Union weapons and supplies.

Part of a mural that once was displayed in the Robidoux Hotel

During the early days of the war, the Pony Express is credited with helping to keep California in the Union by providing rapid communication, bringing the news first of Lincoln’s election and later of the firing on Fort Sumter. California was important to both the North and South because of its gold, many fortifications, and large population. Soon after the war began, however, the Pony Express ended its run - its death knell sounding on October 24, 1861, with the advent of the first transcontinental telegraph connecting existing telegraph network in the east with a small network in California. After only 18 months of service, this telegraph line - which allowed for instantaneous communication of important news - drove the Pony Express out of business. Its owners lost their fortunes in the venture.

Many Pony Express riders went on to fight in the Civil War - on both sides. Johnny Fry served as a civilian scout and messenger for the Union army. He was killed October 3, 1863, in Baxter Hills, Kansas when William Clarke Quantrill and his Confederate guerrillas made a surprise attack on the encamped Union men. Fry was with two other Union men just outside the camp when the guerrillas dressed in stolen Union uniforms approached; Fry was killed in the gunfire that followed and was buried in a mass grave next to a memorial dedicated to the massacre at Baxter Springs.

I plan to work that into my book as well - I figure Bailis would be affected by reading the news of Fry’s death, especially if he had been there to watch him race out of the stable doors on that first historic ride. What do you think?

Dedicated in 1886, this monument at the Baxter Springs National Plot 

is inscribed with the names of 163 soldiers and officers, 

including the names of the 132 soldiers killed 

during the Battle of Baxter Springs.

Tune in next time to hear about the Pony Express Headquarters at Patee House Hotel and to hear more about the extensive museum collections they have there - including information about life in St. Joseph during and after the Civil War, the Hannibal-St. Joseph Railroad, boats and ships on the Missouri River, the Buffalo Saloon (where I plan to have Bailis and his brother go for a drink), schools and churches, business and industry, and more. And don't forget to subscribe by email above and "follow" me on this journey!

Following Family Footsteps in Andrew County, Missouri

Chasing History: Exploring My Ancestral Roots - Post #25

by Tonya Graham McQuade

I never thought I'd be making three separate trips to Missouri in less than four years, but then, I didn't know I'd be writing a book based in Missouri! Mike and I just returned Sunday night from my third trip, and I've got a lot of new information to process, books and articles to read, conversations to recall, notes to record, and writing to do! 

My first trip to Missouri was in April 2019, when I flew to Springfield with my mom and sister-in-law Laurie over Spring break. Our primary destination at that time was Branson, where we saw two concerts and two shows, plus visited the Titanic Museum. We also visited the Precious Moments Park & Chapel in Carthage, the George Washington Carver National Monument in Diamond, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder House & Museum in Mansfield.

In April of this year, as I shared in earlier posts, Mike and I flew to St. Louis, then visited the cities of Hannibal, Centralia, and Jefferson City, before being joined by my parents, with whom we explored St. Louis then traveled to Kirksville to do family research on my great grandparents, Nora Elma Petree and William Francis Traughber, and two different sets of great-great grandparents - Bailis Petree and Mary Ann Hale Petree in Kirksville, and Francis Marion Traughber and Marnie Bryson Traughber in Centralia.

This trip took me one generation further back - to Andrew County, where my GGG Grandfather James Calaway Hale and Bailis's brother, Benjamin Petree, lived with their families at the time of the Civil War. This trip, of course, was inspired by the letters they wrote - and the need to gather more information about this northwestern corner of the state, which sits on the 1836 Platte Purchase and which plays such an essential role in the books I am writing.

A sign outside the Courthouse explains some history of Andrew County

With that goal in mind, Mike and I flew to Kansas City to begin this third adventure in Missouri - with a busy itinerary (as usual) scheduled for the next four days. I'll be talking about many of the places we visited in my next blog posts.

In Andrew County:

• Andrew County Historical Society & Museum
• Downtown Savannah/Savannah Square
• Family Farms in Andrew County (near Savannah and Rosendale)
• Fillmore Cemetery

In St. Joseph (in Buchanan County about 20 miles south of Savannah):

• Pony Express Museum
• Patee House Museum (Pony Express Headquarters & Civil War Site)
• Jesse James House & Museum
• Missouri River - Site of Ferry Crossing
• Site of Hannibal-St. Joseph Railroad Terminal
• Robidoux Row Museum (St. Joseph history)
• St. Joseph Museums (Black Archives, Native American, Doll, and Glore Psychiatric)
• Vineyard Mansion & Carriage House (the B&B where we stayed)
• Wyeth-Tootle Mansion 
• "Voices of the Past" at Mt. Mora Cemetery

Andrew County Museum in Savannah, Missouri

Our first stop was at the Andrew County Historical Society and Museum, where I met with Genealogist Kathy Ridge, who had offered to help me with my research. She was very excited to hear more about the Civil War letters I had and to see (and scan) the sampling of originals I brought with me. I'm very excited to have her as a resource and a reader for my manuscript!

Genealogist Kathy Ridge showing us one of her book recommendations

When we arrived, we discovered Kathy had already been hard at work, gathering information about various Hale family members (including GGG GF James Calaway Hale and two of his brothers, Elijah and Meshack, who also settled in Andrew County) and tracking down land purchases and sales through deed records. She discovered that Meshack, who was 13 years older than James, made his first land purchase in Andrew County in Nov. 1845 - just four years after the county was first established. James made his first purchase in Jan. 1850, with Meshack buying another adjacent property. 

Meshack was the brother who, according to a note I found on Ancestry.com, was killed by Confederate sympathizers in 1861 - an event I include in my book. According to the letter I have written by his wife while traveling along the Oregon Trail a year later, he died on June 9, 1861 - but she provides no details about his death. Kathy did not have any records of a guerrilla attack on that date, but of course they were not all recorded, and she said no newspapers exist from that time period because each side kept attacking newspaper offices supporting the other side. (And yes, that will also come up in my book). She said she will do some digging to see if she can find any more details on Meshack.

With her help, we were able to find the location of the farm on which James and his family lived in the 1860's, as well as the farm to which his daughter Mary Ann and her husband Bailis Petree (my GG GP's) later moved near Rosendale. That's where my great grandmother Nora Petree and six of her siblings were born (the other three were born before the move). Mike and I were able to later drive to the general areas of the sites, but the 1860's farm is now a quarry. The area near Rosendale is still rural farmland, as seen in the photo below.

Farm area near Rosendale, about six miles north of Savannah

According to a note I have written by Nora's sister Lettie, her parents moved in 1867 and resided on a farm six miles north of Savannah, MO, prior to moving to Kirksville in Adair County (which I visited on my trip to Missouri last April). All ten of the Petree children were born in Andrew County, with all born on the farm outside Rosendale except the first three - James, Louis, and Ernest - who were born 2 1/2 miles south of Savannah. This information matched up exactly with the map Kathy had highlighted showing the various land purchases.

During the Civil War, James and his family lived in the highlighted area 2 1/2 miles south of Savannah; Mary Ann and Bailis later moved to the highlighted area 6 miles north of Savannah

Kathy proved to be a wealth of information, with thick folders filled with articles, documents, timelines, and research notes related to the Civil War, guerrilla battles, slavery and slave-holding families in Andrew County, land deeds, schools, churches, cemeteries, newspapers, and more. She shared many book suggestions, and I took lots of photos of news articles, maps, and other notes. The museum, too, had many interesting displays on a wide variety of topics, teaching about the rural history of Andrew County since 1841, as well as providing helpful timelines and descriptions of important historical figures and information about the Civil War and Slavery in Andrew County. 

Part of the Civil War Display at the Museum

On one of the large display maps, I found Bailis's name listed on a small plot of land. In another display, there was an 1890 picture of Civil War veterans living in Fillmore, but unfortunately, my GGG GF James Calaway Hale was "absent" on photo day. Boo. I'm pretty sure he was living there at that time - that's where he was buried in 1899. 

The name "Baylis Petree" appears here towards the center

Veterans of the Civil War living in Fillmore in 1890, with Benjamin Petree kneeling on the left

After becoming museum members and buying a large book on the History of Andrew County at the gift shop, Mike and I headed out to explore downtown Savannah, which was the nearest town to the family farm during the war and served as the county seat. I was able to see old photos and illustrations of Savannah Square, but today's downtown has changed significantly. 

Savannah Square in 1868

The current courthouse that dominates the square was built between 1898 and 1900. A two-story rectangular brick structure stood as the courthouse in the 1860's.

Andrew County Courthouse in Savannah, Missouri

The view from the front of the Courthouse

From there, we drove out to Fillmore Cemetery to see if we could track down the tombstone for James and his wife Elizabeth (my GGG GM) - and after walking up and down quite a few rows and seeing various other more distant family members' graves, I spotted it. It still stands tall, bearing their names as well as that of their daughter Amanda Hale Jenkins, who died in 1890 before either of her parents. I have not been able to figure out what happened to her husband Benjamin Jenkins (and have found no death date for him). They married in 1868, but by 1880, she was back living with her parents (according to Census Records). 

Tombstone for James Calaway Hale & Elizabeth Caroline (Brown) Hale,

as well as daughter Amanda M. (Hale) Jenkins, in Fillmore Cemetery

Fillmore is definitely a very rural area, surrounded by lots of corn fields and cows. It's a very peaceful place, though, and it felt fulfilling to touch the names on the tombstone and walk in the footsteps of these ancestors who I feel like I've gotten to know through the letters they left behind.

I hope you've enjoyed hearing about the first day of this recent Missouri adventure. Tune in next time to hear about our visit to the Pony Express Museum and learn more about how the Pony Express fits into the book I'm working on, Missouri Daughter.

A Letter from Rebel Cousin Rachel

Chasing History: Exploring My Ancestral Roots - Post #24

By Tonya Graham McQuade

Envelope addressed to Mr. Bailis Petree, St. Joseph, MO (Feb 25th, but year unknown)

In today's post, I'm sharing one of the most unique letters that was included in the box of old family letters I received back in February - this one from someone named Rachel (I have not figured out who she was in my family tree) to "Cousin Bailis" (my GG Grandfather). She signed the letter "Rachel of Rebel Rendezvous" - and basically wrote him a letter telling him he needed to see the error of his ways and join the Southern cause. Another cousin added a note at the bottom and signed it "Nancy Neutrality." That certainly made me laugh.

I wanted to include the letter in the book I'm working on, Missouri Daughter, so here you can see how I have drafted it in. I'm still trying to figure out one of the names Cousin Rachel mentions - Ed Pace/Bace - and I am not certain about the skirmish to which she alludes involving Pace/Bace and Silas Gordon. There were many attacks by Bushwhackers on Union soldiers and their supporters. However, the details about the Platte River Bridge disaster on September 3, 1861, are historically accurate, and Silas Gordon is suspected of helping to lead that attack. My GG-GF Bailis Petree served in the Missouri Militia from Oct. 1861 to Feb. 1862 in the St. Joseph area, so it's likely he was tasked with helping to find Gordon and his men.

What the letter certainly captures, though, is how the Civil War tore many families apart - and this excerpt ends with Mollie pondering the divisions that now exist between her and the cousins with whom she played as a child, as well as how difficult it would be for her father if he ever came face to face with his nephews on the battlefield.

Rachel's actual letter, pgs. 1 & 4

Excerpt from Missouri Daughter, Chapter 7:

Later that afternoon after returning from town, Bailis walked in with a strange look on his face and words clearly itching to escape from his mouth. “Would you look at this?” he said to Mollie, a sense of disbelief in his voice. “Look at this letter I just received from cousin Rachel.” 

Mollie took the letter from Bailis’s outstretched hands and began reading:

February 25, 1863

 

Hurrah for Jeff Davis, for Beauregard, for Price, for Jackson, and every other brave man in the Southern army! Rebel Rendezvous

 

Dear Cousin:

 

Bailis, you see by the state of this that I have emigrated; pens and ink are more plentiful here than farther south, but I do not care for that. The farther north I go, the better I like the dear, dear South.

 

Now dear cousin Balis, why do you not come to see your rebel cousin and bring her to light the lamp of secession with, for as you surely know it has long since been blown out by these Northern winds, and we sainted rebels are wandering from our way. I am afraid we will wander so far North that we will not find our way back, and we will forget all our secessionist paths and rebel haunts - for Bailis, we all forget what we do in less than a week after.

 

Dear cousin Bailis, I should like to hear your opinion of the three last fights in Kentucky and Tennessee. I want to know if you are foolish enough to call them victories. If you do and anticipate any more such, you are to be disappointed for our valiant Jeff has determined to act on the defensive no longer. It is going to be entirely on the offensive (I don’t know if you have thought it very offensive all along). We are going to learn you that we don’t care for or mind your cannon balls and bombshells. We are coming north to your own soil to fight you. We are going to fight you with Bowie knives. We are going to show you what Southern chivalry is.

 

Bailis, I do not write this to hurt your feelings. It is to warn you of your danger. I fear I shall have been a traitor to my country if I say much more on this subject, but then you are my very dear cousin, and I have a faint hope of convincing you of the error of your ways, for you surely see it will be sure destruction to you. You may think you are safe away up here so far north, but just wait until warm weather comes when the wind ceases to blow, and when we can once more live in the hazel dells. Then and not till then will you see your blunder, benighted Bailis.

 

Bailis, I have heard it hinted that you were among the number that fought the brave Ed Pace (Bace?) and his brave little band. Oh! the grief of the south when they heard of his death, he having fallen behind a tree. And there was the brave Gordon! But he is now safe going south with the Arkansas traveler. I also hear your friends are making fun of our General Price. I tell you – beware! Oh! Take care - you will yet have to dance to a new tune of the Arkansas traveler.

 

Bailis, I hope you will not have any hard thoughts on this. I mean to make you mad. I hope the scales will fall from your eyes and you may get later to be President of the Southern Confederacy.

 

Bailis, if I have any more cousins in the Federal armies, I want you to read this letter to them; and if they are officers, give it to them that they may study it well and may finally see how they are bewildered and led astray. Dear Bailis, come to see me soon, and bring the rest of my cousins (if I have any) with you.

 

Answer this immediately and relieve the anxiety of your cousin,

Rachel of Rebel Rendezvous

 

Cousin Nancy is here from the south and wants to write you a few words.

 

Cousin Bailis,

I take no sides, but the South is a kind country, cousin. I hope the south will be victorious. Cousin Deb sends her love to you.

Nancy Neutrality, age 46

 

Nancy Neutrality, indeed! Bailis thought to himself. And that Rachel! Bailis remembered well the skirmish Rachel mentioned. His company had come across a band of guerrillas, led by bushwhacker Ed Pace, in their pursuit of the men responsible for burning the Platte River Bridge, and a number of shots had been fired. One shot took down Pace before the guerrilla band fled.

How could Rachel speak of him – and that evil Silas Gordon – as heroes? Innocent men, women, and children had been killed when that train derailed. Those guerrillas were not soldiers – they were outlaws, ruffians, and criminals, deserving of punishment. Bailis had been glad when the reports came in of the 18th Missouri Infantry’s success in capturing and executing some of Gordon’s men. Unfortunately, Gordon had slipped away – and now, here was his cousin, rejoicing in the fact.

"Oh, my. That is indeed quite a letter!” Mollie said with exasperation. “And to think Rachel believes that you are the one who needs to have the scales removed from your eyes so you can see the error of your ways! She cheering on this rebellion - and her family are still keeping slaves!”

 

“I’m not sure that’s true anymore,” Bailis replied. “Many of the slaves from that region have been freed by the Jayhawkers and have crossed the river into Kansas to freedom. I’ve heard that some have even joined up with that colored regiment Jim Lane put together, the one that was part of that skirmish at Island Mound over in Bates County against the guerrillas.”

 

“I hope all of them will gain their freedom soon,” Mollie said emphatically, her usually cool temper starting to flare. “How we have allowed that abominable institution to continue for so long is beyond me.”

 

Ever since she had read Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Mollie had felt even more certain of the need for Abolition. She had been extremely moved when she read of the determined Eliza hopping across the Ohio River on ice floes, her young son Harry clutched tightly to her chest, in an effort to prevent Harry from being sold down river and to escape her pursuing captors. Mollie had cheered when Eliza had finally reached Canada and been reunited with her husband George, who had made his own incredible journey to the North and freedom.

 

While Mollie’s parents had never kept slaves, some of the neighboring farms did - and her own Grandmother Hale in Tennessee had several slaves that her Uncle Enoch, with whom Grandmother was now living, hired out to help pay for her upkeep. Mollie hoped at least some good would come from this war – she hoped that the country would finally see an end to slavery.

 

“Now, calm yourself, Mollie,” Bailis encouraged. “I don’t want you getting upset. We both have cousins who have taken up the Rebel banner, but I don’t want to think of them as enemies. Think how your father must feel, knowing he could face his nephews on the battlefield! I pray that never happens. I’m glad his brothers Lewis and Enoch are too old to fight.”

 

“Yes, so am I. That would be too much for him to bear,” Mollie agreed, thinking of the Tennessee cousins she used to play with as a child.

*************************************************************

I hope you've enjoyed this peek at the historical fiction novel I'm working on, Missouri Daughter. While I have no way of knowing whether my GG Grandmother Mollie (aka. Mary Ann Hale) ever read Uncle Tom's Cabin, she certainly might have! She seems to have been well-educated and well-read.

According to Wikipedia, “Uncle Tom's Cabin was the best-selling novel and the second best-selling book of the 19th century, following the Bible. It is credited with helping fuel the abolitionist cause in the 1850s. The influence attributed to the book was so great that a likely apocryphal story arose of Abraham Lincoln meeting Stowe at the start of the Civil War  and declaring, "So this is the little lady who started this great war."

I may be giving Mollie stronger abolitionist views than she possessed, but she was definitely a strong supporter of the Union cause. I believe it's fair to assume she felt torn by the divisions in her country and in her family, and she must have worried what would happen if her father ran into any of his family members on the battle field.

It's hard to imagine what it must have been like for those family members to reunite after the Civil War to sit down to a meal together, celebrate together at a wedding, join in prayer for a family member at a funeral, or sit down together at a church worship service. But we know it happened - that in many cases they found a way to put their differences behind them. Perhaps there is a lesson there for today as many families struggle with political, religious, and cultural differences of opinion and wonder if they will ever find a way back to each other.

Stay tuned for a letter from Bailis's brother, Benjamin Petree, in my next post. And don't forget, if you liked this post, to "Subscribe via Email" to get future notifications.