Subject: [Homestead] the Civil war and Slavery in Missouri.
Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:01:38 -0700
I grew up in north central Missouri... My ancestors
were victims of civil war atrocities... It may be a
little simplistic to say that the physical results of
the civil war were only in the south..
I grew up in North East Missouri, a bit west of Kahoka.
There were Civil War battles, many even had real gunfire. California was a
hot bed of successions and union feelings with several duels but no real
battles. In Missouri, there was a battle in Athens, just across the Des
Moines River in Clark County. It is now a state park.
There were many battles in Missouri. My Aunt was the live in curator at the
Anderson House in Lexington, Missouri. There was a major battle there,
known as the "Battle of the Hemp Bales."
As for slavery, Northern Missouri was not a good place for slave holders as
slaves could easily cross over into Iowa. I grew up on the Dagg farm in
Clark County. In the 1840s Dagg had slaves and they escaped to Iowa and a
Quaker community known as Salem. The slave chasers threatened to blow the
hoses down with a small cannon but the towns people resisted them. The case
went to court and the slaves were freed. Daggs moved further south to keep
his people in bondage.