One of the Red Legs listed by William E. Connelley, was a man identified as "Pickles" or Samuel Wright. In his book John Brown and his Men, Richard Hinton described Pickles as "a reckless young fellow" who participated in a raid into Missouri in 1858 with John Brown. Hinton also claimed that Charles R. Jennison was one of the raiders. Pickles next appeared in the Linn County Herald in August 1859. The Lawrence Republican copied the report:
"The LINN COUNTY HERALD reported that "Pickles" Wright was decoyed to a grocery store located within a short distance of the Missouri-Kansas line, in the vicinity of Barnesville, on 5 Aug. 1859. The man who lured Wright to the store talked him into a game of "Seven Up." Within a short time the store was surrounded by about thirty armed Missourians. Wright told the man who had lured him into the trap to get out, and then barricaded himself inside. After a long parlay Wright agreed to surrender his two pistols and come out if the Missourians would give him a fair trial for his alleged crimes; to which the men agreed. Once Wright came out, however, the Missourians took three votes on the question of hanging him immediately, but could not decide the issue. Wright was taken across the line to Nevada, Mo., and then later to Fremont, in Cedar Co. "Captain" James Montgomery was contacted and went to the site. Montgomery and his men held a parlay with the Missourians across the borderline. About a forth of the Missourians were in favor of letting Wright go." The newspaper reported on September 29, that Pickles had "escaped from the Missouri jail and returned to Kansas."
Both the Fort Scott Democrat and The Daily Times of Leavenworth reported in February 1860, on the lynching of a man named Guthrie. Guthrie was wanted for horse theft near Barnesville, and was strung up by a mob of forty men. The newspapers reported that "Before his execution he made a confession implicating Pickles, Pat Devlin, [the man who supposedly coined the phase jayhawking in Kansas. I will have more on Devlin at some point], Hugh Carlan and others. A letter was found in [his] possession from a school teacher near Osawatomie [it is possible that this individual is Quantrill], which shows the organization to be very extensive and well regulated."
Pickles was arrested by a United States Marshal in May 1860, and taken to a penitentiary on the east coast. By July 1861, however, "Quill," a reporter for The Kansas State Journal submitted the following report from Washington D.C.:
"In my rambles, yesterday, I met with Mr. Wright, or 'Pickles,' of Kansas fame, in full military costume. His term in the penitentiary here expired about a month ago, when he immediately joined...Col. Butterfield's - New York regiment now on duty in the city. He is anxious to be transferred to one of the Kansas regiments, but says he is unwilling to go with any party that will follow plundering on any pretense. He admits that he was led astray when in Kansas, and often committed theft, but thinks his last year's experience the most profitable of his life. He claims to be a better man now, and it is said that he has joined an orthodox church here, a few weeks before he left prison. He was formerly from Pennsylvania, where his family have ever borne a rank of more than ordinary respectability; and this last step will accord far more with his parental training than did his Kansas life..."
By 1862 Pickles had returned to Kansas. The Daily Times in Leavenworth reported in October 1863, that Pickles was fined twenty dollars by the Mayor's Court for "visiting [a] house of ill-fame." A will have the rest of Pickles' story in part II of this blog post.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
"Fields of Blood"
William L. Shea's long awaited new book Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign will be released in October. I highly recommend this book. (See link below).
"Shea offers a gripping narrative of the events surrounding Prairie Grove, Arkansas, one of the great unsung battles of the Civil War that effectively ended Confederate offensive operations west of the Mississippi River. Shea provides a colorful account of a grueling campaign that lasted five months and covered hundreds of miles of rugged Ozark terrain. In a fascinating analysis of the personal, geographical, and strategic elements that led to the fateful clash in northwest Arkansas, he describes a campaign notable for rapid marching, bold movements, hard fighting, and the most remarkable raid of the Civil War."
Fields' creativeasin="">Fields'>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0807833150?ie=UTF8&tag=jayandregleg-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0807833150" as2&camp=" creative=" UTF8&tag=" linkcode=">Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign (Civil War America)
Aunt Betsy's Improper House
I would be remiss in not mentioning a story from The Atchison Daily Globe, published in the late 1870s. According to the article, Marshall Cleveland's "supposed wife" or mistress was employed at Aunt Betsy's Improper House, which for many years was located in Northwest Atchison. The newspaper reported that Cleveland "had a mistress at 'Aunt Betsy's' improper house in Northwest Atchison, and spent his time there when not engaged in raids into Missouri. 'Aunt Betsy' Kingston died in Oklahoma City not long ago, after professing religion, and the local paper spoke quite touchingly of her many virtues." An 1880 United States Census listed Elizabeth Kingston's occupation as "keeping a boarding house." She was born in 1828, in South Carolina, and was married to the notorious John Kingston. The Census listed Dollie Williams, age 20, Hattie Arnold, age 22, Frankie Stevens, age 18, Belle Allen, age 19, Mary Stevens, age 21, Annie Thompson, age 18, Ellen Johnson, age 35, Cora Scott, age 23, Alice Hartiman, age 25, and May Parker, age 24, as boarders. The house was also known as "The Farm." A newspaper ad described "The Farm" as a house of 24 rooms with a summer house and stable. In the early 1860s Atchison was described as "a dirty hole" and a "hog pen." (see photograph).
Monday, August 24, 2009
The Cleveland-Tough Connection Part III
The evidence from Peck, Blue and Moore, suggest that William S. Tough was connected with Marshall Cleveland’s gang. What is undeniable however, is that about six weeks after Cleveland’s death, Tough was operating in the vicinity of Atchison, Kansas, and was recognized by the authorities as a jayhawker. The Atchison newspaper Freedom’s Champion, reported on June 28, 1862 that, “A notorious jayhawker by the name of Tufts was captured on Sunday last by a detachment of the Provost Guard after a chase of some sixteen miles. Captain Shaw is very energetic in pursuing jayhawkers.” The Daily Times in Leavenworth also reported that “Tufts the jayhawker…was arrested on Sunday in Atchison,” and “officers were sent down from St. Joseph to receive him from the custody of the Provost Marshal of the former place.” Captain Leander T. Shaw was the commander of Company D, Third Wisconsin Cavalry, and the acting Deputy Provost Marshal in Atchison. By late June 1862, Tough found himself locked in a jail cell in St. Joseph, Missouri. I will have much more about Tough in later blog posts.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Where Did the Red Leggings Come From?
William E. Connelley's interview with Mr. John P. Duke, April 13, 1903. I will have more to say about the validity of the report in a future blog post.
"Red Legs
How the[y] got the name of Red Legs - Statement of John P. Duke, Foremrly [sic] of Independence, Mo.
On April 13, 1903, John P. Duke came to my office in Kansas City, Mo. I was a special Examiner, and my office was in Room #215A, Custom House or Post Office Building.
John P. Duke was born in County Cavan, Ireland, June 24, 1824. He learned the trade of shoemaker in Ireland. He came to America in 1846. He landed in Philadelphia and remained there two years, working at his trade. Then he came to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he worked in the shop of J.H. Deiter or Deeter, from 1848 to 1854, doing what his craft denominate "journey work." In 1854 he came to Independence, Mo., where he set up a shop of his own, beginning in a small way. By the year 1860 he was doing a flourishing business and had some thirty men at work for him. He opened a shop in Kansas City, also and was doing a large business there. He made excellent shoes and boots. Of such splendid material and of such careful workmanship were his boots made that men engaged in the Santa Fe trade would wear nothing but the "Duke Boots" if they could be had. Duke's boots were famous all along the border for their lasting qualities. When the Civil War came on times became dull and uncertain, and he gave up the Kansas City shop. The Government made shoes for its soldiers in Eastern factories, and Duke had a large supply on hand which were of slow sale.
In 1861 he had on hand a large supply of leather and findings, including ten or twelve dozen colered [sic] bright red or scarlet to be used as topping for the tops of the legs of the high boots he made. This red topping was very popular in those days. My father was a shoemaker, and I learned the trade and worked at it in a desultory way for fifteen years. I made myself a pair of red-topped boots about 1869, and the pride that filled my breast when I first drew them on and sallied forth had never been equaled since that time.
Early in the spring of 1861 Jennison came from Leavenworth to Independence, Mo., on what is believed to have been his first invasion of Missouri after the war commenced. He had with him about one hundred hopeful Jayhawkers who had been robbed by border ruffians for years and who now by the change in circumstances found the Government on their side as it had been on the side of the border ruffian up to that time. The Jayhawkers scented a season of glorious reprisal ahead of him, and to such a scientific efficacy did he reduce the border pillage that the work done by the original ruffian seemed coarse and clumsy by comparison. The most deplorable result of both the border ruffian and the Jayhawker was the suffering entailed upon the innocent and those who had no desire to engage in lawlessness in either Kansas or Missouri; they suffered more than did the guilty. In casting about the old town of Independence to see what could be found to suit the fancy of a somewhat fastidious citizen of Kansas who felt that he had been deeply wronged and was now in position to exact retribution Jennison fell upon the shop of Duke, and went in to see what novelties it might afford. The shop was on the south side of the Public Square. Next in command was "Jeff Davis," a peculiarly efficient robber, and at that time Jennison's "right-hand man." Jack Hays was also one of the number, and he was a robber of wonderful resource. "Jeff Davis" was in command of the active operations that day, and he entered Duke's shop in the shadow of his chief. The red sheep skins seemed to strike the plunderers with much favor, a circumstance that [may] be in some measure accounted for by the state of the roads, them [sic] chocked with tenacious mud. The red skins were at once appropriated and distributed to the Jayhawkers, as were also a number of fine calf skins. Each Kansan immediately cut the skin he received, with whatever skill he could command, into a pair of leggins. These he immediately tied on his legs with strips of calf skin cout with much dexterity from Mr. Duke's stock of the same which had been previously distributed. These operations were attended with great good humor and many a joke bandied by the Jayhawkers. If I could but write down the natural wit with which Mr. Duke told me this incident I could have hope for a reputation for humor. Mark Twain is the only man who could do Mr. Duke full justice. But at the time [of] this transaction Mr. Duke did not see all the humorous features of it, being prevented the full enjoyment of the scene by the consciousness that it was all at his expense.
The remainder of the spring the Jayhawkers were seen running over the country along the border with their legs snugly encased in red sheep skin leggins, and they came to be called, from that fact, the Kansas Red Legs.
Mr. Duke said that he became more and more acquainted with "Jeff Davis" as the war progressed, and that he made the bold Jayhawker a pair of fine [c]alf skin boots; and said Mr. Duke "he paid for them like a jintleman." He was not so fortunate with Jack Hays, who also ordered a pair of fine calf skin boots. He drew them on and stalked out saying that Missouri owed him much more than a pair of boots. Duke retorted that Ireland owed him nothing and that with the consent of the Kansan he would just change the account from Missouri to Ireland. "But," said Mr. Duke, "he could not appreciate the fine wit I wasted on him, so I lost the price of me foine pair of boots to the spalpeen, bad luck to him." Mr. Duke is now a resident of Kansas City, Mo., and lives with one of his daughters. He is an industrious man and a good citizen. He gave his photograph. [I have not been able to locate it] He is a jolly son of the Emerald Isle. William E. Connelley"
"Red Legs
How the[y] got the name of Red Legs - Statement of John P. Duke, Foremrly [sic] of Independence, Mo.
On April 13, 1903, John P. Duke came to my office in Kansas City, Mo. I was a special Examiner, and my office was in Room #215A, Custom House or Post Office Building.
John P. Duke was born in County Cavan, Ireland, June 24, 1824. He learned the trade of shoemaker in Ireland. He came to America in 1846. He landed in Philadelphia and remained there two years, working at his trade. Then he came to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he worked in the shop of J.H. Deiter or Deeter, from 1848 to 1854, doing what his craft denominate "journey work." In 1854 he came to Independence, Mo., where he set up a shop of his own, beginning in a small way. By the year 1860 he was doing a flourishing business and had some thirty men at work for him. He opened a shop in Kansas City, also and was doing a large business there. He made excellent shoes and boots. Of such splendid material and of such careful workmanship were his boots made that men engaged in the Santa Fe trade would wear nothing but the "Duke Boots" if they could be had. Duke's boots were famous all along the border for their lasting qualities. When the Civil War came on times became dull and uncertain, and he gave up the Kansas City shop. The Government made shoes for its soldiers in Eastern factories, and Duke had a large supply on hand which were of slow sale.
In 1861 he had on hand a large supply of leather and findings, including ten or twelve dozen colered [sic] bright red or scarlet to be used as topping for the tops of the legs of the high boots he made. This red topping was very popular in those days. My father was a shoemaker, and I learned the trade and worked at it in a desultory way for fifteen years. I made myself a pair of red-topped boots about 1869, and the pride that filled my breast when I first drew them on and sallied forth had never been equaled since that time.
Early in the spring of 1861 Jennison came from Leavenworth to Independence, Mo., on what is believed to have been his first invasion of Missouri after the war commenced. He had with him about one hundred hopeful Jayhawkers who had been robbed by border ruffians for years and who now by the change in circumstances found the Government on their side as it had been on the side of the border ruffian up to that time. The Jayhawkers scented a season of glorious reprisal ahead of him, and to such a scientific efficacy did he reduce the border pillage that the work done by the original ruffian seemed coarse and clumsy by comparison. The most deplorable result of both the border ruffian and the Jayhawker was the suffering entailed upon the innocent and those who had no desire to engage in lawlessness in either Kansas or Missouri; they suffered more than did the guilty. In casting about the old town of Independence to see what could be found to suit the fancy of a somewhat fastidious citizen of Kansas who felt that he had been deeply wronged and was now in position to exact retribution Jennison fell upon the shop of Duke, and went in to see what novelties it might afford. The shop was on the south side of the Public Square. Next in command was "Jeff Davis," a peculiarly efficient robber, and at that time Jennison's "right-hand man." Jack Hays was also one of the number, and he was a robber of wonderful resource. "Jeff Davis" was in command of the active operations that day, and he entered Duke's shop in the shadow of his chief. The red sheep skins seemed to strike the plunderers with much favor, a circumstance that [may] be in some measure accounted for by the state of the roads, them [sic] chocked with tenacious mud. The red skins were at once appropriated and distributed to the Jayhawkers, as were also a number of fine calf skins. Each Kansan immediately cut the skin he received, with whatever skill he could command, into a pair of leggins. These he immediately tied on his legs with strips of calf skin cout with much dexterity from Mr. Duke's stock of the same which had been previously distributed. These operations were attended with great good humor and many a joke bandied by the Jayhawkers. If I could but write down the natural wit with which Mr. Duke told me this incident I could have hope for a reputation for humor. Mark Twain is the only man who could do Mr. Duke full justice. But at the time [of] this transaction Mr. Duke did not see all the humorous features of it, being prevented the full enjoyment of the scene by the consciousness that it was all at his expense.
The remainder of the spring the Jayhawkers were seen running over the country along the border with their legs snugly encased in red sheep skin leggins, and they came to be called, from that fact, the Kansas Red Legs.
Mr. Duke said that he became more and more acquainted with "Jeff Davis" as the war progressed, and that he made the bold Jayhawker a pair of fine [c]alf skin boots; and said Mr. Duke "he paid for them like a jintleman." He was not so fortunate with Jack Hays, who also ordered a pair of fine calf skin boots. He drew them on and stalked out saying that Missouri owed him much more than a pair of boots. Duke retorted that Ireland owed him nothing and that with the consent of the Kansan he would just change the account from Missouri to Ireland. "But," said Mr. Duke, "he could not appreciate the fine wit I wasted on him, so I lost the price of me foine pair of boots to the spalpeen, bad luck to him." Mr. Duke is now a resident of Kansas City, Mo., and lives with one of his daughters. He is an industrious man and a good citizen. He gave his photograph. [I have not been able to locate it] He is a jolly son of the Emerald Isle. William E. Connelley"
Friday, August 21, 2009
Lyttleton Morgan Tough's Letter to Charles E. Murphy
William S. Tough's brother, Lyttleton Morgan Tough, (shown standing to the left of William),
was born February 4, 1846. In the spring of 1863, at the age of seventeen, he was hired as a special detective for the District of Kansas. In a letter from Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Moonlight, (Major General James G. Blunt's Chief of Staff), to Captain M.H. Insley, the Assistant Quarter Master at Fort Scott, Kansas, Moonlight wrote:
"Captain,
The General Commanding directs that you employ Littleton Tough as a Special Detective in this District at the rate of one hundred and twenty five dollars per month $125.00. Including all expenses to take effect April 1, 1863, at which time he commenced serving."
In the early 1900s, Lyttleton sent a letter to his friend, Charles E. Murphy, correcting errors in a book he had borrowed from Murphy. The book appears to have been William Lightfoot Visscher's A Thrilling and Truthful History of the Pony Express, published in 1908. Lyttleton's comments shine new light on William S. Tough's operations, the Baxter Springs Massacre and the famous Pony Express rider Johnny Fry. Although Lyttleton Tough's name appears on many list as a former Pony Express rider, this letter seems to suggest that he was never a part of this organization.
"Statement of L.M. Tough Correcting Errors in the 'Poney Express.'"
"In reading your copy of the book entitled "Poney Express" I came across the name of Fry and that of Tough, and as I felt sure that it would interest you in having some mistakes corrected I marked them.
As far as my recollections go of these early times, it is in the main correct except in a few details to which I will call your attention. On page thirty-six he says that poor Jonnie Fry was killed on the Canadian river by Indian bushw[h]ackers. This is a mistake, as he was killed at Baxter Springs sixty five miles south of [Fort] Scott and about a half a mile north of the present town of Baxter Springs. The Government had erected a small log fort at this point as a relay station for the charge of horses by the Poney Express [Tough's express riders], and had garrisoned it for our protection.
Jonnie Fry came to Leavenworth just after the first and original Poney Express had been taken off. He and I ran together until he joined a party of quarter horse men and went riding for them. By the by he was the best quarter horse rider I ever saw. My brother, Captain W. Tough, at the time was chief of scouts and was compelled to make his headquarters at Scott and of course his boys and I went with him and I was placed on the route to carry the mail once a week between Fort Scott and Fort Gibson one hundred and sixty five miles south of Scott. Shortly after the route was opened they found it necessary to make deliveries twice a week. Brother found Jonnie Fry brought him to Scott and started him carrying the mail and riding in the opposite direction to me. You will note that writer says John Sinclair, and it should be Walt Sinclair. [John Sinclair, the brother of Walt Sinclair, had been killed on a scouting mission in Arkansas]. He states that Jonnie was killed by Indian bushwackers. I was in the country for a number of years and this was the first time I have ever heard of there being any Indian bushwhackers in that section. Jonnie was on his way north to Scott and had stopped as usual at Baxter Springs to change horses. Quantrell on his way south [after] the massacre in Lawrence overtook General Blunt on his way south with a small escort at Baxter Springs, massacred pretty nearly all of his command and then attacked the few troops stationed at the fort. Jonnie was outside the fort cleaning up preparatory to his trip north and was shot by some of Quantrell's men as he was climbing up the bank from the springs to get to the post. After killing him, they took all his cloths and arms, leaving nothing but underclothes on the body. On the following morning I made a box and buried him within fifteen yards of the big ditch in which we put all the other men who had been killed during the engagement. I was very fond of Jonnie Fry and have tried to find out where his home was, as I wanted to go and see his people. I can readily believe the writer's statement in regard to Jonnie's nerve for I have seen him in tight places and never saw him flinch. Having heard a great deal from him in regard to the Poney Express, I read this book with deep interest.
Truly your friend"
was born February 4, 1846. In the spring of 1863, at the age of seventeen, he was hired as a special detective for the District of Kansas. In a letter from Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Moonlight, (Major General James G. Blunt's Chief of Staff), to Captain M.H. Insley, the Assistant Quarter Master at Fort Scott, Kansas, Moonlight wrote:"Captain,
The General Commanding directs that you employ Littleton Tough as a Special Detective in this District at the rate of one hundred and twenty five dollars per month $125.00. Including all expenses to take effect April 1, 1863, at which time he commenced serving."
In the early 1900s, Lyttleton sent a letter to his friend, Charles E. Murphy, correcting errors in a book he had borrowed from Murphy. The book appears to have been William Lightfoot Visscher's A Thrilling and Truthful History of the Pony Express, published in 1908. Lyttleton's comments shine new light on William S. Tough's operations, the Baxter Springs Massacre and the famous Pony Express rider Johnny Fry. Although Lyttleton Tough's name appears on many list as a former Pony Express rider, this letter seems to suggest that he was never a part of this organization.
"Statement of L.M. Tough Correcting Errors in the 'Poney Express.'"
"In reading your copy of the book entitled "Poney Express" I came across the name of Fry and that of Tough, and as I felt sure that it would interest you in having some mistakes corrected I marked them.
As far as my recollections go of these early times, it is in the main correct except in a few details to which I will call your attention. On page thirty-six he says that poor Jonnie Fry was killed on the Canadian river by Indian bushw[h]ackers. This is a mistake, as he was killed at Baxter Springs sixty five miles south of [Fort] Scott and about a half a mile north of the present town of Baxter Springs. The Government had erected a small log fort at this point as a relay station for the charge of horses by the Poney Express [Tough's express riders], and had garrisoned it for our protection.
Jonnie Fry came to Leavenworth just after the first and original Poney Express had been taken off. He and I ran together until he joined a party of quarter horse men and went riding for them. By the by he was the best quarter horse rider I ever saw. My brother, Captain W. Tough, at the time was chief of scouts and was compelled to make his headquarters at Scott and of course his boys and I went with him and I was placed on the route to carry the mail once a week between Fort Scott and Fort Gibson one hundred and sixty five miles south of Scott. Shortly after the route was opened they found it necessary to make deliveries twice a week. Brother found Jonnie Fry brought him to Scott and started him carrying the mail and riding in the opposite direction to me. You will note that writer says John Sinclair, and it should be Walt Sinclair. [John Sinclair, the brother of Walt Sinclair, had been killed on a scouting mission in Arkansas]. He states that Jonnie was killed by Indian bushwackers. I was in the country for a number of years and this was the first time I have ever heard of there being any Indian bushwhackers in that section. Jonnie was on his way north to Scott and had stopped as usual at Baxter Springs to change horses. Quantrell on his way south [after] the massacre in Lawrence overtook General Blunt on his way south with a small escort at Baxter Springs, massacred pretty nearly all of his command and then attacked the few troops stationed at the fort. Jonnie was outside the fort cleaning up preparatory to his trip north and was shot by some of Quantrell's men as he was climbing up the bank from the springs to get to the post. After killing him, they took all his cloths and arms, leaving nothing but underclothes on the body. On the following morning I made a box and buried him within fifteen yards of the big ditch in which we put all the other men who had been killed during the engagement. I was very fond of Jonnie Fry and have tried to find out where his home was, as I wanted to go and see his people. I can readily believe the writer's statement in regard to Jonnie's nerve for I have seen him in tight places and never saw him flinch. Having heard a great deal from him in regard to the Poney Express, I read this book with deep interest.
Truly your friend"
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
"The Depredators:" The Cleveland-Tough Connection Part II
While the story told by Blue and Moore contains the usual jayhawker hyperbole, and while they are seriously confused about the dates of certain events, their account closely corresponds with the official report written by Captain Irving W. Fuller of the First Missouri Cavalry:"In pursuance of the above order I left Fort Leavenworth with my command at 2 o'clock p. m. of the 20th January, 1862, and proceeded to Atchison, where I arrived at 8 o'clock p. m. of the same day. I reported immediately upon my arrival to Mayor Fairchild (Special Orders, No. 58, revoking that part of Orders No. 57, not having reached me yet). Mayor Fairchild informed me that the citizens had driven the principal jayhawkers (depredators) out of town, but at the same time requested me to arrest certain parties who were suspected to be in league with these depredators and as having the keeping of stolen horses and cattle. In conformity with his request I arrested several of such persons as he pointed out to me and charged with the above crime, but who from want of evidence and with his concurrence were discharged. On the next morning, January 21, 1862, at 4 o'clock a. m., Lieutenant Sprague joined my command with 20 men and reported for duty. At 8 a.m. of the same day I sent out Lieutenant Sprague with 25 men in search of horse-thieves and depredators and stolen property, who succeeded in capturing 5 of the stolen horses and 2 jayhawkers, and re- turned at 2 p. m. of the same day. I then proceeded with the balance of my command to the farm of Sueter Dixon, a noted jayhawker, and took from his farm 20 horses and 2 shot-guns, the property of citizens of Kansas and Missouri, to whom I restored their property upon their bringing satisfactory proof of ownership. January 22, Mayor Fairchild delivered to me 8 horses taken from the jayhawkers by the Home Guards of Atchison previous to my arrival, which were all claimed by citizens of Kansas and delivered to them as above. January 23, made several scouts and searches in the neighborhood of town. I was informed by Messrs. Brown, Dunlap, and Sumers that several horses were brought to their farms by parties unknown for safe-keeping, but that they supposed them to be jayhawked horses, and would like to have an investigation of the matter. I proceeded to the farms of the above-named men, seized the horses, and brought them into town, when they were immediately claimed by their proper owners and delivered to them. January 24, I was notified by Mr. Irving, of Missouri, at 3 o'clock a.m., that 15 jayhawkers had robbed his farm in Missouri and taken therefrom 40 horses and mules and 6 negroes; that they dragged his family, among whom there are several females, out of bed, insulting them in the most revolting manner, robbed them of their jewelry, and finally left and proceeded in the direction of Elwood. I immediately concluded to go in search of this party, and Mr. Irving offering himself and a few neighbors as guides, I consented thereto, but dispatched him in advance. I overtook him at Geary City, where I found that his party had caught 2 and killed the captain (by name Chandler) of jayhawkers, and wounded another. The rest had escaped, 11 in number, and had gone in the direction of Elwood. I then told Mr. Irving that I thought best for him and his party to go home, as I had a force sufficient to answer all purposes. Accordingly Mr. Irving and his party went home. I took the 2 prisoners in my charge and gave chase to the remainder.
I followed them closely. When I came within 8 miles of Elwood I ascertained that the party I was in pursuit of had divided. Five had gone west of Elwood,in the direction of White Cloud, and 6 had gone to Elwood. Accordingly I divided my command. I sent Lieu- tenant Sprague in pursuit of the party of 5 en route to White Cloud, and proceeded myself in pursuit of the other party en route to Elwood, where I captured them. Two hours after Lieutenant Sprague joined me, having been successful in the capture of the party sent after, with all the stolen property in their possession 5 horses, saddles, bridles, & c. The party I captured had in their possession 12 horses, 3 mules, and 4 wagons, all these the property of Mr. Irving. These are the most material points of my proceedings. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, I. W. FULLER, Captain, First Missouri Cavalry."
I followed them closely. When I came within 8 miles of Elwood I ascertained that the party I was in pursuit of had divided. Five had gone west of Elwood,in the direction of White Cloud, and 6 had gone to Elwood. Accordingly I divided my command. I sent Lieu- tenant Sprague in pursuit of the party of 5 en route to White Cloud, and proceeded myself in pursuit of the other party en route to Elwood, where I captured them. Two hours after Lieutenant Sprague joined me, having been successful in the capture of the party sent after, with all the stolen property in their possession 5 horses, saddles, bridles, & c. The party I captured had in their possession 12 horses, 3 mules, and 4 wagons, all these the property of Mr. Irving. These are the most material points of my proceedings. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, I. W. FULLER, Captain, First Missouri Cavalry."
The Cleveland-Tough Connection
In a book published in 1893, titled, Scouts, Spies, and Heroes of the Great Civil War, the author, Captain Joseph Powers Hazelton, included a chapter called, “Moore and Blue the Kansas Scouts.” The account describes the activities of Frank M. Blue, formerly of Michigan, and Henry W. Moore, previously of Brooklyn, New York, and their involvement with Marshall Cleveland’s gang. Of particular relevance is their description of the shootout involving the Chandlers, which took place in January 1862, and Cleveland’s twin bank robberies in Kansas City, which occurred on November 16, 1861. Of specific interest is the name of one of the bank robbers, William Tuff of Baltimore. William Sloan Tough was from Baltimore, and during the course of the war most newspapers identified him as “Tuff,”or “Tuft” or some similar spelling. As an example, the reporter C.M. Chase wrote that “The name of Captain [a purely honorary title], Tuft – or according to his own spelling, ‘Tough’ – carries with it a degree of terror in Kansas of which people in peaceable society can have no conception.” As a standalone document, the story of Blue and Moore is rather insignificant. However, when combined with other primary sources, the chapter sheds extraordinary light on Cleveland and his men, as well as the activities of William S. Tough. In a previous blog post I quoted R.M. Peck, who claimed Cleveland’s gang fell apart after his death. Peck also claimed that one of Cleveland’s men went on to become United States Marshal. Interestingly, William S. Tough was a United States Marshal for the State of Kansas from 1873-1876. Below is an excerpt from the chapter on Moore and Blue:"With the prospect of active service, they could not stand idly by and see others engaged, and accordingly recruited ten men, with whom they joined Captain William Cleaveland's independent company for the defence of the Kansas border. Their first exploit was a dash into De Kalb, Missouri, where they captured twelve or fourteen prisoners and forty horses and mules. A large party, however, pursued them, overtook and captured them at Atkinson's ferry, carried them to St. Joseph, and lodged them in jail. The good people of St. Joseph were very anxious to have them tried and sent to the penitentiary at once ; but there was no court in session, and the only recourse was to lock them up in the jail, where they did not remain long. The guard was made drunk with drugged whiskey, the negro cook was bribed with a twenty dollar gold piece to steal the keys from the jailer, the door was unlocked at midnight, and the whole party walked out just ten days after they had been incarcerated. One John Seelover, a friend, had a skiff near at hand to cross them over the river and a conveyance on the other side to take them to Atchison the same night. The next night, nothing daunted by their recent jail experience, the same party crossed in a flat boat to Missouri, captured from the rebel farmers horses enough to mount themselves, and returned again, after giving the people thereabouts a good scare. The evening following, a negro came to their headquarters at Pardee, eight miles from Atchison, and saidthat his rebel master, John Wells by name, and living twelve miles south of St. Joseph, was to leave the next morning for Price's army with two wagon loads of goods and a coffin full of arms. The company started over immediately, the negro acting as guide. The rebel was found, and so were the goods, consisting of bacon, Hour, sugar, coffee, tobacco, whiskey, powder, and lead, but no arms. Demand was made for the latter, but the prisoner denied having any. A lariat was then thrown over his neck, and drawn tight for a few minutes, when he disclosed their place of concealment - a newly-made grave, with head and footboard - in which were found twenty stands of arms of all kinds, and a box of pistols, all of which were taken to Fort Leavenworth, and turned over to the United States Government. Many other expeditions were made, until Cleaveland and his band were known and feared all over that country. On one of these, it was ascertained that Major Hart, of Price's army, was at his home, fifteen miles from Weston, with ten men. The company immediately set forth to capture them, a woman - Mrs. Chandler -acting as guide. The Major, his men, and the stock on his farm were taken and carried to Geary City, Kansas, where the stock was just put away and twelve men left as a guard over the prisoners, when forty Mis- eourians rode up and demanded their surrender. Chandler, who stood in the porch, said they would never surrender - when he was shot dead, eleven bullets being found in his body. His wife and the remainder fired from the house, and picked them off so fast, that they were compelled to retire to Fort Leavenworth, eight miles distant, hence they brought up a company of thefirst Missouri Cavalry, under Captain Fuller, to their assistance, and finally succeeded in capturing the little garrison. They were taken to the fort, and, no one appearing against them, were speedily released by Major Prince, of the U. S. Regulars, commanding the post.
Not long after this, Moore, Blue, William Tuff, of Baltimore, and Cleaveland, dashed into Kansas City, and levied a contribution of some thirty-three hundred dollars in coin upon two secession bankers who had rebel flags flying at their windows. They were pursued, but made their escape, divided the money equally, and all four went to Chicago to spend it, which they did most liberally ; and in June, 1861, returned to Leavenworth."
Sunday, August 16, 2009
The Red Legs and the "Buckskin" or "Red Legged" Scouts Part II
For lengthy periods of time during the war, William Sloan Tough, a former Pony Express rider and wagon freighter, served as “Chief of Scouts” for the Union Army on the Border. He told a reporter in 1863, that during the early days of the war he “belonged to no military organization, but ran an independent concern,” and that the “plunder was divided among his men who would sell it and get pay for their service.” It was also recorded that Tough raised a force of seventy-five men at the beginning of the war and conducted raids into Missouri. His motive was allegedly revenge, for Missouri guerrillas had pilfered his wagons and twice attempted to kill him. I am highly skeptical of this later story and in an upcoming blog post will examine a possible Marshall Cleveland – Tough connection. Tough and his men were a completely separate and distinct organization from Hoyt’s crew and were commonly identified as the “buckskin scouts” and occasionally as “Red Legged” scouts. Tough and two of his men, John Harvey and Wallace or Walter “Walt” Sinclair, appear on Connelley’s list of Red Legs.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Shameless Plug
Kip Lindberg and I will be giving a talk on the Kansas Red Legs in October to The Civil War Round Table of the Ozarks. Please find below the link to the website:
http://history.missouristate.edu/wgpiston/TransMissConfhome.htm
http://history.missouristate.edu/wgpiston/TransMissConfhome.htm
The Red Legs and the "Buckskin" or "Red Legged" Scouts
There is one person on Connelley’s list of Kansas Red Legs that should not be there. Although he certainly knew many individuals associated with the Red Legs, James Butler Hickok, “Wild Bill,” was never a Red Leg. I will discuss this at length in a later blog and hopefully my friend Joe Rosa will provide his thoughts on the matter. As we shall see, however, there were many men who were left off of Connelley’s list.The individuals included in Connelley’s Kansas Red Leg list fall into two separate and distinct categories. One group of men, more or less, coalesced around “The Chief of the Red Legs,” George H. Hoyt. (Photo on left) Without doubt, Hoyt was instrumental in forming the original “unofficial” organization. From time to time, these men were employed in an official capacity as scouts, spies and detectives, sometimes under the direct leadership of Hoyt. As an example, Hoyt commanded the following group of men during the summer of 1863:
DETECTIVES, SCOUTS AND GUIDES EMPLOYED UNDER GEORGE H. HOYT FOR BRIG. GEN THOMAS EWING, JR., IN 1863:
[Names in bold denote individuals from Connelley’s list of Red Legs]
Albott, Edward, P., Guide & Scout, 5-28 Aug. 1863
Atchison, John, Detective, 6 July-29 Aug.
Bender, John C., Detective, 20 May-10 Aug.
Blachly, John W., Detective, 18 June-28 Aug.
Bliss, J.F., Detective, 20 July-19 Aug.
Bridges, John L., Detective, 18 June-17 Aug.
Carpenter, Samuel W., Detective, 8 July-31 Aug.
Hook, Dawson A., Detective, 16 June-31 Aug.
Hoyt, George H., Chief Detective, 16 June-31 Aug.
Johnson, David, Detective, 6 Aug [Johnson was killed on his first day of employment. I will have the complete story of Johnson’s termination later on in the blog]
Johnson, William Henry Harrison, Detective, 18 June-18 Aug.
Kelsey, Thomas C., Detective, 1 July-16 Aug.
Kingsley, Richard, Detective, 25 July-31 Aug.
Kinsley, George, Detective, 16 June-31 Aug.
Logan, William, Detective, 19 July-18 Aug.
Raynard, Asa, Detective, 26 June-31 Aug.
Shelton, John, Detective, 19 June-31 Aug.
Speer, John L., Detective, 19 July-15 Aug.
Spui, C., [full name missing from document] Scout, 8-29 Aug.
Suley, R., Detective, 14 July-5 Aug.
Tinter, John R., Detective, 12-31 Aug.
Wilson, David, Detective, 1 June-31 Aug.
In my next blog post I will discuss the second group of men to whom the term Red Leg was applied, William Sloan Tough and his "Buckskin" or "Red Legged" scouts.
Friday, August 14, 2009
William E. Connelley's Second Red Leg List
With the publication of William E. Connelley’s Quantrill and the Border Wars in 1910, his list of Kansas Red Legs greatly expanded. In the new list (Pages 412-417) he now incorporated the following individuals:
William Hickok (Wild Bill)
“Red” Clark
Jack Harvey
“Sore-eyed” Dan
James Flood
Jerry Malcom
Charles Blunt known as “One-eyed Blunt”
Jack Hays
Walt Sinclair
W. S. Tough [William Sloan Tough]
Gladhart
“Pony” Searl
John Salathiel
In upcoming blog posts I will examine if all of these individuals deserve to be on Connelley’s register of Kansas Red Legs and who is missing from his list.
William Hickok (Wild Bill)
“Red” Clark
Jack Harvey
“Sore-eyed” Dan
James Flood
Jerry Malcom
Charles Blunt known as “One-eyed Blunt”
Jack Hays
Walt Sinclair
W. S. Tough [William Sloan Tough]
Gladhart
“Pony” Searl
John Salathiel
In upcoming blog posts I will examine if all of these individuals deserve to be on Connelley’s register of Kansas Red Legs and who is missing from his list.
William E. Connelly’s List of the Original Thirteen Kansas Red Legs
In a letter dated April 19, 1903, William E. Connelley, who would go on to serve as the Secretary of the Kansas State Historical Society from 1914-1930, announced that he had secured the names of the original 13 Kansas Red Legs:
"For fifteen years I have been trying to learn the names of the thirteen original Kansas Red Legs. I secured the thirteenth name on Tuesday, April 7, 1903. I had heard all the names used in connection with the operations of the Red Legs from my first investigation of the notorious band. But the task of determining the original thirteen was a long one. I often gave up the investigation, believing it not possible to identify these men. However, I found myself questioning old soldiers and citizens whom I thought might know. The following list is the original roster beyond doubt:"
Charles R. Jennison
George H. Hoyt
Theodore Bartles
Joseph Guilliford
Al Saviors
John Blachley
Jack Bridges
Harry Lee
Alsup
Newton Morrison
"Jeff Davis" [Connelley did not know at the time that this was Joseph Bloomington Swain]
"Beauregard" [Connelley did not know at the time that this was in fact Jack Bridges]
"Pickles" [at the time Connelley did not know the real name of this individual. He would later conclude that it was Samuel Wright]
Since Connelley listed "Beauregard" twice, his list actually comprised the original 12 Kansas Red Legs. In the next posting I will compare Connelley's original list with the Kansas Red Legs listed in his book Quantrill and the Border Wars.
"For fifteen years I have been trying to learn the names of the thirteen original Kansas Red Legs. I secured the thirteenth name on Tuesday, April 7, 1903. I had heard all the names used in connection with the operations of the Red Legs from my first investigation of the notorious band. But the task of determining the original thirteen was a long one. I often gave up the investigation, believing it not possible to identify these men. However, I found myself questioning old soldiers and citizens whom I thought might know. The following list is the original roster beyond doubt:"
Charles R. Jennison
George H. Hoyt
Theodore Bartles
Joseph Guilliford
Al Saviors
John Blachley
Jack Bridges
Harry Lee
Alsup
Newton Morrison
"Jeff Davis" [Connelley did not know at the time that this was Joseph Bloomington Swain]
"Beauregard" [Connelley did not know at the time that this was in fact Jack Bridges]
"Pickles" [at the time Connelley did not know the real name of this individual. He would later conclude that it was Samuel Wright]
Since Connelley listed "Beauregard" twice, his list actually comprised the original 12 Kansas Red Legs. In the next posting I will compare Connelley's original list with the Kansas Red Legs listed in his book Quantrill and the Border Wars.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
"Hell is full of such angels!" Part III
When I first examined the gravesite in 2004, the Cleveland tombstone was still standing. It is now resting flat on top of a slab of concrete. Two major items are missing from the tombstone. There is no sign of the “sculptured two hands, each holding a pistol” mentioned in the Liberty Tribune. On this particular point, I believe the newspaper probably embellished the story. If the two hands holding pistols were part of the original tombstone R.M. Peck would certainly have mentioned it. The second missing piece is the famous epitaph. Days after first viewing the tombstone, I contacted Randy Thies at the Kansas State Historical Society. The following is his report:
Observations of Randy Thies, Cultural Resource Specialist and Archeologist with the Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka, Kansas.
December 2004.
"Well, here's my observations. I don't think anything got washed away,and I don't think the current gravestone is a new stone. This current gravemarker is the original stone, in my opinion. I make that judgement due to the style of the lettering and associated sculptural characteristics, the fact the gravestone is made of marble, and the fact that gravestone is quite thin and was probably quite tall, all of these being characteristics common to gravestones of that time period. The concrete, however, is obviously new, not something that would have been used back in 1862. The stone is set in the concrete to a depth that brings the concrete right up and even encroaching on the circular sculptural depression that contains Cleveland's name. This is not something that anyone would have done purposely, so it seems obvious that the gravemarker has been reset, probably after being broken off at ground level after being struck by something--maybe vandalism, getting hit by a mower, hit by a log in a flood, whatever. Structurally, because the gravestone is tall and thin, it would have been easily broken. I strongly suspect the "One here less..." epitaph was somewhere below the name but it is impossible to know just how far it was located below the circle. It seems obvious that the gravemarker was formerly quite tall, so it is not certain where the ground-level breaking point would have been. Most likely, the broken upper part of the stone was placed up against the remaining lower part of the stone,and the two pieces were then reset in concrete, a move that probably resulted in the epitaph being covered--and it will be covered forever,because it would be difficult if not impossible to remove the concrete in such a manner as to enable restoration of the stone, assuming the city would ever actually allow anyone to undertake such a project. I was able to get permission from the city clerk to dig soil out from in front of the stone to enable viewing of the hoped-for epitaph, but the city facilities manager was aghast that such permission had been granted tome. I doubt that they would permit any intrusive restoration efforts whatsoever."
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
"Hell is full of such angels!" Part II
When Marshall Cleveland was gunned down by soldiers from the 6th Kansas Cavalry on the morning of May 11, 1862 on the banks of the Marais des Cygnes River, in Osawatomie, Kansas, his “supposed wife” or mistress attracted little attention. While the official report of the killing failed to mention her, (her name still remains a mystery), she was in fact in the house surrounded by Union soldiers that morning. The Atchison Daily Globe would later report that “Cleveland’s mistress by-the-way was the cause of his death. When it became so bad that soldiers were sent in search of him, the women was watched and the outlaw located at Osawatomie when the women went to visit him and he was killed.” While she did not draw a lot of attention on the morning of May 11, Cleveland’s widow would, over the course of the summer, draw quite a bit of interest.
Only a day after Cleveland’s death his widow appeared in Lawrence, Kansas. The Lawrence Republican noting that Cleveland “was buried on Monday” and that his “supposed wife passed through this place on Tuesday swearing vengeance on all United States Volunteers.”Weeks later a Missouri newspaper, the Liberty Tribune, ran a story entitled “The Tomb of Cleveland.” The newspaper reported that “At the marble works of Mr. Bedwell, on the corner of Francis and Sixth Streets [St. Joseph, Missouri], may now be seen an extraordinary work of art. It is not so remarkable as a mere artistic work, as it is when taken in connection with the purpose for which it is designed. The work of which we speak is the tombstone of the late Marshal L. Cleveland, who was killed at Osawatomie, Kansas…by Federal soldiers who had arrested him for his innumerable and heavy crimes as a Jayhawker. The stone was ordered by his wife, and the design of it is entirely her own. It consists of a plain slab of white marble; at the top are sculptured two hands each holding a pistol. The inscription on the stone is as follows:
Marshal L. Cleveland,
Died May 12, 1862.
“Earth counts a mortal less, Heaven an angel more.”
As an aside, the newspaper quoted the St. Jo. Journal’s comments about the tombstone, noting that, “To use a new expression, comment is superfluous.”
The story of the tombstone appeared in numerous Kansas and Missouri newspapers leading many to speculate that since the tombstone was fashioned in St. Joseph, Cleveland was certainly buried there. As an example, United States Senator John James Ingalls wrote in an article published in 1902, that “His temporary widow took his sacred clay to St. Joseph, where its place of interment is marked by a marble headstone bearing the usual memoranda, and concluding with the following:
“One hero less on earth,
One angel more in heaven!”
Ingalls and others however, were mistaken. The authentic story of Cleveland’s interment and of his widow was written in 1904, by a former wagon master and occasional express rider named R.M. Peck. Kip Lindberg and I stumbled across his memoirs in 2004 while researching the Baxter Springs Massacre. Peck and his associate Dan Eckerberger stopped at a hotel in Osawatomie in August, 1862 to feed their mules and procure dinner. Ushered into the men’s parlor to await their meal, Peck eyed a freshly chiseled tombstone propped up in the corner of the room. Curious to determine the inscription carved into the slab, Peck walked over and read it to Eckerberger:
Sacred to the memory of
Captain Marshall L. Cleveland,
Who died May 11th, 1862
Aged__
“Earth counts one mortal less-
Heaven one angel more.”
“I write this from memory," recalled Peck, “and cannot recall the age given, but I think the name, date and quotation on the tombstone were just as I have given them. The absurdity of such a sentiment on the tomb of such a notorious criminal as Cleveland was known to have been, struck me so forcibly that without thinking where I was, or who might be in hearing, I blurted out impulsively: “Hell’s full of such angels.” I was sorry I had used such ungentlemanly language as soon as I uttered it, for as I glanced through an open door into what seemed to be the ladies parlor, which I had not before noticed, I saw a black-eyed women ‘looking daggers’ at me, and I feared I had hurt her feelings, whoever she was. The landlord hurriedly approaching, as if fearful of another such explosion from me requested: ‘Mister, please don’t use such language in the hearing of the lady in the next room. She’s Capt. Cleveland’s widow.’…The landlord informed me that ‘Mrs. Cleveland’ had recently brought the tombstone from Leavenworth to have it placed at the jay-hawker’s grave. If it still stands there bearing that ‘misfit’ epitaph, it has probably, ere now, provoked many similar rough expressions of opinion from those who knew his reputation in life. It is scarcely necessary to add that Cleveland’s gang of jay-hawkers fell to pieces after his death; but strange to say, some of his men afterwards became respectable citizens of Kansas, with two of whom I became personally acquainted. One was, some years ago, a Justice of the Peace in Leavenworth, and the other was United States Marshal of Kansas.” [I will have more on these gentlemen in a concluding blog]
Peck was able to learn afterwards “that the woman who had passed herself as ‘Capt. Cleveland’s widow’ was never his wife, but had formerly been employed in ‘Ben Wheeler’s Ten Cent Show’- a disreputable ‘varieties’ dive in Leavenworth – as a comedy actress and ‘beer slinger.’ She was there known as the wife of ‘Tommy’ Pell, the comedian, whom she deserted for the jay-hawker.” Peck’s story appears to be right on the mark. Tommy Pell did in fact work for the same minstrel troupe as Ben Wheeler and it is almost certain that Pell performed on Wheeler’s stage in Leavenworth.
After reading Peck’s account, I drove over to Osawatomie, and soon located Cleveland’s grave and tombstone in the Oakwood Cemetery. What I found can be seen in the photograph included with this blog post. In Part III of this story I will reveal what happened to the rest of the monument.
Only a day after Cleveland’s death his widow appeared in Lawrence, Kansas. The Lawrence Republican noting that Cleveland “was buried on Monday” and that his “supposed wife passed through this place on Tuesday swearing vengeance on all United States Volunteers.”Weeks later a Missouri newspaper, the Liberty Tribune, ran a story entitled “The Tomb of Cleveland.” The newspaper reported that “At the marble works of Mr. Bedwell, on the corner of Francis and Sixth Streets [St. Joseph, Missouri], may now be seen an extraordinary work of art. It is not so remarkable as a mere artistic work, as it is when taken in connection with the purpose for which it is designed. The work of which we speak is the tombstone of the late Marshal L. Cleveland, who was killed at Osawatomie, Kansas…by Federal soldiers who had arrested him for his innumerable and heavy crimes as a Jayhawker. The stone was ordered by his wife, and the design of it is entirely her own. It consists of a plain slab of white marble; at the top are sculptured two hands each holding a pistol. The inscription on the stone is as follows:
Marshal L. Cleveland,
Died May 12, 1862.
“Earth counts a mortal less, Heaven an angel more.”
As an aside, the newspaper quoted the St. Jo. Journal’s comments about the tombstone, noting that, “To use a new expression, comment is superfluous.”
The story of the tombstone appeared in numerous Kansas and Missouri newspapers leading many to speculate that since the tombstone was fashioned in St. Joseph, Cleveland was certainly buried there. As an example, United States Senator John James Ingalls wrote in an article published in 1902, that “His temporary widow took his sacred clay to St. Joseph, where its place of interment is marked by a marble headstone bearing the usual memoranda, and concluding with the following:
“One hero less on earth,
One angel more in heaven!”
Ingalls and others however, were mistaken. The authentic story of Cleveland’s interment and of his widow was written in 1904, by a former wagon master and occasional express rider named R.M. Peck. Kip Lindberg and I stumbled across his memoirs in 2004 while researching the Baxter Springs Massacre. Peck and his associate Dan Eckerberger stopped at a hotel in Osawatomie in August, 1862 to feed their mules and procure dinner. Ushered into the men’s parlor to await their meal, Peck eyed a freshly chiseled tombstone propped up in the corner of the room. Curious to determine the inscription carved into the slab, Peck walked over and read it to Eckerberger:
Sacred to the memory of
Captain Marshall L. Cleveland,
Who died May 11th, 1862
Aged__
“Earth counts one mortal less-
Heaven one angel more.”
“I write this from memory," recalled Peck, “and cannot recall the age given, but I think the name, date and quotation on the tombstone were just as I have given them. The absurdity of such a sentiment on the tomb of such a notorious criminal as Cleveland was known to have been, struck me so forcibly that without thinking where I was, or who might be in hearing, I blurted out impulsively: “Hell’s full of such angels.” I was sorry I had used such ungentlemanly language as soon as I uttered it, for as I glanced through an open door into what seemed to be the ladies parlor, which I had not before noticed, I saw a black-eyed women ‘looking daggers’ at me, and I feared I had hurt her feelings, whoever she was. The landlord hurriedly approaching, as if fearful of another such explosion from me requested: ‘Mister, please don’t use such language in the hearing of the lady in the next room. She’s Capt. Cleveland’s widow.’…The landlord informed me that ‘Mrs. Cleveland’ had recently brought the tombstone from Leavenworth to have it placed at the jay-hawker’s grave. If it still stands there bearing that ‘misfit’ epitaph, it has probably, ere now, provoked many similar rough expressions of opinion from those who knew his reputation in life. It is scarcely necessary to add that Cleveland’s gang of jay-hawkers fell to pieces after his death; but strange to say, some of his men afterwards became respectable citizens of Kansas, with two of whom I became personally acquainted. One was, some years ago, a Justice of the Peace in Leavenworth, and the other was United States Marshal of Kansas.” [I will have more on these gentlemen in a concluding blog]
Peck was able to learn afterwards “that the woman who had passed herself as ‘Capt. Cleveland’s widow’ was never his wife, but had formerly been employed in ‘Ben Wheeler’s Ten Cent Show’- a disreputable ‘varieties’ dive in Leavenworth – as a comedy actress and ‘beer slinger.’ She was there known as the wife of ‘Tommy’ Pell, the comedian, whom she deserted for the jay-hawker.” Peck’s story appears to be right on the mark. Tommy Pell did in fact work for the same minstrel troupe as Ben Wheeler and it is almost certain that Pell performed on Wheeler’s stage in Leavenworth.
After reading Peck’s account, I drove over to Osawatomie, and soon located Cleveland’s grave and tombstone in the Oakwood Cemetery. What I found can be seen in the photograph included with this blog post. In Part III of this story I will reveal what happened to the rest of the monument.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
"He Was Perfectly Without Soul:"Jennison's Lecture Tour and the True Story of the Famous Photograph
In a statement to Kansas historian William E. Connelley, Eugene F. Ware left a priceless description of Charles Jennison's grand lecture tour and the true origins of the famous photograph. The statement was probably written in the early 1900s.
"In reply to your request that I furnish you [a] statement concerning Jennison's lecture tour [I] will say: I knew Jennison in the army. He was not a large man but very compactly built and quicker than a cat. His fighting power in hand to hand matters was astonishing because he was so immensely quick as well as strong. He was quick at everything both mental and physical. He liked quick things. He played cards fast and furiously. He was at every horse race that you could hear of. He liked speed of all kinds. He was perfectly without soul [and] had no moral ballast that I ever heard of or ever observed. Brave enough, but somehow or other he never got into danger. That is, he was not a fighter of battles. He was a scouter, going quick, robbing somebody and getting away. If he ever was in a battle or fought one I never heard of it. He was a most inveterate gambler in everything. Always wanted to bet on something. In matters of that kind he had unusually good judgment. He made betting a science and always had plenty of money. Somehow he managed to get it. He was notorious but was not the idol of anybody. His soldiers never idolized him and his superiors never cared anything for him and never gave him any chance. In fact[,] he was wanting always to be on the go, was as a military man erratic, irrational, insubordinate, always doing something he ought not to do and as a military man was of no account on earth. That was the judgement of his superior officers. I had excellent chance to know that for I was an aide de camp with several different generals all of whom well knew Jennison and they used to constantly bemoan the fact that Jennison dishonored his uniform by his senseless, irrational gambling and other propensities. And they were all glad to get him out of the service. He had no following of any kind except of the very lowest. When he got out of the service he ran a large gambling outfit in Leavenworth. It was a very extensive concern. I have heard different theories about it; some say that he had it going while he was an officer of the army but did not connect his name with it for fear of court martial. Others say that he organized it the moment he came out. At any rate, he was scarcely out of the army before he was giving a series of general invitations to army officers to visit what he called his "gambling ranch." I went up there once with a bevy of officers to see what sort of a place it was and he seemed to have pretty nearly all of the upper story of a block in Leavenworth. We were there but a few minutes but long enough to see a great amount of mirrors and cut glass and plate glass and darkies in flunkey costume, and a free lunch, a free bar, liquors and champagne galore, and all kinds of gambling devices apparently in running order with a swarm of tough looking western frontiersmen all spending their money lavishly for at that time there were no railroads west of the Missouri River and the river was the camping ground of vast trains coming and going from New Mexico, Denver and Salt Lake and the great west. It was some time during cold weather in 1866 - if I had to guess it would be somewhere in January or February, that I met Jennison at the corner of the Planters House carrying a large picture in a frame. The picture frame was about three feet high and two feet wide. It was a beautiful bright sunny winter day. He stopped me to show me the picture. It was labeled "Jennison the Great Kansas Jayhawker." It represented Jennison in a fringed buckskin hunters costume with a Sharps rifle, standing at the order arms with a big dog curled up on the ground in front of him. It was a very artistic photographic job of work touched up with color and Jennison asked me what I thought about it and I told him that I thought it was not the thing that ought to be got up. That his make up ought to be of a military cast and then he told me that that would not do because he had a special reason for getting this up. He said that his name had become synonymous with slavery and anti-slavery fights in Kansas and his notoriety was so great that many people wanted to see him and that it had been suggested to him that he should take the lecture platform and he concluded to go onto the platform and satisfy the great popular demand by giving some lectures about slavery and anti-slavery. He said that he did not propose to have these bureau people running him around wherever they wanted to; he was only going to go where he pleased and that he was going to organize his own literary bureau and arrange his own lecture course so that he could go flying and make a lecture every night in the week until he got through, and he said that there was a mint of money in it and that he had a whole lot of these pictures struck off and had started out his advance agent. He told me what the man's name was and that before he went east (because he thought New England would be a great sphere of work) he was going to work off his lecture and try it on the western people until he got it in good shape and then go down and give it to the people of New England. He said that he was having a whole lot of advertising done in the east in regard to his lecture project and that he already had his man out and that he was first going to Quincy, that would be his first date. Then he would be able to give the two next lectures in Chicago and then one in St. Louis to see how it took, and that he had had a large number of these pictures of Jennison the Kansas jayhawker struck off for advertising purposes, a great quantity of them and the man had gone on, and he Jennison, was about ready to go and meet his dates. He said he made his pictures to correspond with his lecture course and hence he wanted the picture to show him in frontier costume although he did not know that he had ever worn such a costume but it was the regular traditional pioneer costume and kind of a one that the people would expect from a Kansas man. I was shortly afterwards sent off on some military orders and it must have been about two months later that I got into Leavenworth by steamboat from Omaha about two or three o'clock in the morning. And I went to a hotel called the Brevoort so as to see Gen. Mitchell in the morning who was stopping there with his family. I was quite chilled and drew up before the fire and a man came in about that time and began taking with the night clerk some funny story about Jennison and I asked this man what his business was and he said that he dealt faro for Jennison down at the ranch and I asked him if Jennison had got back yet from his lecture tour and what success he had and then the man broke out into an immoderate fit of laughter and asked me if I had not heard about Jennison's lecture trip, and I told him no. He then proceeded to tell the story which was in this wise: He said that Jennison started out and first went to Quincy, that he took along about $5,000 in cash with him to pay the expenses of his trip, that when he got to Quincy he found things out of gear and at the lecture room only about half a dozen persons present. He said that it was explained to him that matters had not been well advertised. He then told the audience that it was to small for him to deliver a lecture to and that they could have their money back and as much more for having done him the courtesy to be present, and that he immediately struck out and hunted up a faro bank and won a lot of money before morning and started for Chicago. When he got to Chicago he found that his lecture had been poorly advertised and he had no audience but as he had been billed for two nights he thought he would wait over so he started in with a Chicago faro bank and lost all but $1600 that he had. That he concluded to rest up and skip his second appointment and go to St. Louis. He got down to St. Louis and ran across a friend of his by the name of McClintock who was running a faro bank in St. Louis. He went up with McClintock just to look at his outfit and concluded that he would try a bet or two. The result was that he did not go near the lecture room, lost every dollar he had, got fearfully drunk and McClintock gave him money enough to get home on and put him on board of the train which at that time ran as far as Kansas City from St. Louis and Jennison came home, gave up his lecture tour and wired his traveling manager to get home. Jennison never took the lecture field again."
"In reply to your request that I furnish you [a] statement concerning Jennison's lecture tour [I] will say: I knew Jennison in the army. He was not a large man but very compactly built and quicker than a cat. His fighting power in hand to hand matters was astonishing because he was so immensely quick as well as strong. He was quick at everything both mental and physical. He liked quick things. He played cards fast and furiously. He was at every horse race that you could hear of. He liked speed of all kinds. He was perfectly without soul [and] had no moral ballast that I ever heard of or ever observed. Brave enough, but somehow or other he never got into danger. That is, he was not a fighter of battles. He was a scouter, going quick, robbing somebody and getting away. If he ever was in a battle or fought one I never heard of it. He was a most inveterate gambler in everything. Always wanted to bet on something. In matters of that kind he had unusually good judgment. He made betting a science and always had plenty of money. Somehow he managed to get it. He was notorious but was not the idol of anybody. His soldiers never idolized him and his superiors never cared anything for him and never gave him any chance. In fact[,] he was wanting always to be on the go, was as a military man erratic, irrational, insubordinate, always doing something he ought not to do and as a military man was of no account on earth. That was the judgement of his superior officers. I had excellent chance to know that for I was an aide de camp with several different generals all of whom well knew Jennison and they used to constantly bemoan the fact that Jennison dishonored his uniform by his senseless, irrational gambling and other propensities. And they were all glad to get him out of the service. He had no following of any kind except of the very lowest. When he got out of the service he ran a large gambling outfit in Leavenworth. It was a very extensive concern. I have heard different theories about it; some say that he had it going while he was an officer of the army but did not connect his name with it for fear of court martial. Others say that he organized it the moment he came out. At any rate, he was scarcely out of the army before he was giving a series of general invitations to army officers to visit what he called his "gambling ranch." I went up there once with a bevy of officers to see what sort of a place it was and he seemed to have pretty nearly all of the upper story of a block in Leavenworth. We were there but a few minutes but long enough to see a great amount of mirrors and cut glass and plate glass and darkies in flunkey costume, and a free lunch, a free bar, liquors and champagne galore, and all kinds of gambling devices apparently in running order with a swarm of tough looking western frontiersmen all spending their money lavishly for at that time there were no railroads west of the Missouri River and the river was the camping ground of vast trains coming and going from New Mexico, Denver and Salt Lake and the great west. It was some time during cold weather in 1866 - if I had to guess it would be somewhere in January or February, that I met Jennison at the corner of the Planters House carrying a large picture in a frame. The picture frame was about three feet high and two feet wide. It was a beautiful bright sunny winter day. He stopped me to show me the picture. It was labeled "Jennison the Great Kansas Jayhawker." It represented Jennison in a fringed buckskin hunters costume with a Sharps rifle, standing at the order arms with a big dog curled up on the ground in front of him. It was a very artistic photographic job of work touched up with color and Jennison asked me what I thought about it and I told him that I thought it was not the thing that ought to be got up. That his make up ought to be of a military cast and then he told me that that would not do because he had a special reason for getting this up. He said that his name had become synonymous with slavery and anti-slavery fights in Kansas and his notoriety was so great that many people wanted to see him and that it had been suggested to him that he should take the lecture platform and he concluded to go onto the platform and satisfy the great popular demand by giving some lectures about slavery and anti-slavery. He said that he did not propose to have these bureau people running him around wherever they wanted to; he was only going to go where he pleased and that he was going to organize his own literary bureau and arrange his own lecture course so that he could go flying and make a lecture every night in the week until he got through, and he said that there was a mint of money in it and that he had a whole lot of these pictures struck off and had started out his advance agent. He told me what the man's name was and that before he went east (because he thought New England would be a great sphere of work) he was going to work off his lecture and try it on the western people until he got it in good shape and then go down and give it to the people of New England. He said that he was having a whole lot of advertising done in the east in regard to his lecture project and that he already had his man out and that he was first going to Quincy, that would be his first date. Then he would be able to give the two next lectures in Chicago and then one in St. Louis to see how it took, and that he had had a large number of these pictures of Jennison the Kansas jayhawker struck off for advertising purposes, a great quantity of them and the man had gone on, and he Jennison, was about ready to go and meet his dates. He said he made his pictures to correspond with his lecture course and hence he wanted the picture to show him in frontier costume although he did not know that he had ever worn such a costume but it was the regular traditional pioneer costume and kind of a one that the people would expect from a Kansas man. I was shortly afterwards sent off on some military orders and it must have been about two months later that I got into Leavenworth by steamboat from Omaha about two or three o'clock in the morning. And I went to a hotel called the Brevoort so as to see Gen. Mitchell in the morning who was stopping there with his family. I was quite chilled and drew up before the fire and a man came in about that time and began taking with the night clerk some funny story about Jennison and I asked this man what his business was and he said that he dealt faro for Jennison down at the ranch and I asked him if Jennison had got back yet from his lecture tour and what success he had and then the man broke out into an immoderate fit of laughter and asked me if I had not heard about Jennison's lecture trip, and I told him no. He then proceeded to tell the story which was in this wise: He said that Jennison started out and first went to Quincy, that he took along about $5,000 in cash with him to pay the expenses of his trip, that when he got to Quincy he found things out of gear and at the lecture room only about half a dozen persons present. He said that it was explained to him that matters had not been well advertised. He then told the audience that it was to small for him to deliver a lecture to and that they could have their money back and as much more for having done him the courtesy to be present, and that he immediately struck out and hunted up a faro bank and won a lot of money before morning and started for Chicago. When he got to Chicago he found that his lecture had been poorly advertised and he had no audience but as he had been billed for two nights he thought he would wait over so he started in with a Chicago faro bank and lost all but $1600 that he had. That he concluded to rest up and skip his second appointment and go to St. Louis. He got down to St. Louis and ran across a friend of his by the name of McClintock who was running a faro bank in St. Louis. He went up with McClintock just to look at his outfit and concluded that he would try a bet or two. The result was that he did not go near the lecture room, lost every dollar he had, got fearfully drunk and McClintock gave him money enough to get home on and put him on board of the train which at that time ran as far as Kansas City from St. Louis and Jennison came home, gave up his lecture tour and wired his traveling manager to get home. Jennison never took the lecture field again."
Monday, August 10, 2009
“Hell is full of such angels!”
I could think of no better place to start this blog than with a short piece on the notorious Kansas Jayhawker Marshall Cleveland. While many of his more iniquitous exploits have been recounted many times, there remain three principal ambiguities concerning the “Phantom Horseman of the Prairie.” The first mystery concerns his name. While some have claimed it was in fact Charles Metz, no conclusive evidence exists to support this. Thus far, no one has been able to provide reliable evidence as to Cleveland’s actual name. The second puzzlement surrounding Cleveland involves his female companion, a woman described by one newspaper as “the most daring” of his gang. The newspaper portrayed her as “a small delicate woman, who left Leavenworth in company with Cleveland. She rides with them, heavily armed, and is always first in every enterprise, whether for plunder or fighting.” In my next post I will shed some light on the woman, Cleveland’s “supposed wife” who after his death swore revenge on the Union soldiers who killed him. The third mystery surrounding Cleveland involves his tombstone and the location of his interment. It’s a remarkable story and I will cover it in detail soon on this blog.
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