Jasper County filed suit in 1865 against John R. Chenault, and 37 others defendants for damages suffered in Carthage between July 1861 and October 1863. The County claimed the defendants burned and destroyed the circuit court records and books, the Courthouse, the Carthage jail, and the Seminary building, which was being used as a school.
Lee P. Grey, who was 23 years old in 1860, and lived with his father and four other siblings in Jasper County, Missouri. The Greys owned a small amount of land, which they farmed. Due to its proximity to the Kansas State line, Jasper County experienced a heavy amount of guerrilla warfare between 1854 and 1865. Most of the towns were destroyed at some point during that period that the county became vastly depopulated. Lee Grey claimed that John Dale stole two of his horses, valued at $300, on December 14, 1861. Grey filed his lawsuit against Dale in July 1865. The results of case are unknown, but case represents the wide ranging depredation taking place throughout the Ozarks. Once the war concluded, many civilians spent the post-war years in court filing claims of restitution.
On July 20, 1864, fifteen men without civil or military authority kidnapped Orange Clark at gunpoint. While their prisoner, Clark was executed. His wife, Martha, sued David Rusk, Monroe Scott, Hugh Challes, Thomas Halsell, Edward Halsell, Thomas Hockins, Hubbard Johnson, Daniel Johnson, John M Wilson, Wiley Webb, John Webb, James Tunnel, William A McRea, Isaac Scott and Richard Fisher for five thousand dollars in damages sustained from the murder of her husband, loss of quality of life and her ability to feed, cloth and educate her children.
Martha Hood married William B. Hood on July 30, 1854. The couple had five children and lived in Carthage, Missouri. On July 20, 1864, Martha claimed fifteen men unlawfully detained her husband at gunpoint. The men restrained William while Richard Fisher shot him at point blank range with his pistol. The bullet passed through the right side of William’s body, and the men left him for dead. He lingered in great misery and bodily pain for eight days until he died on July 28. Martha sued the fifteen men for five thousand dollars in damages to the quality of her life and her ability to raise, cloth, feed and educate her children.
The Thomas R. Livingston Collection consists of three civil law suits related to the estate of the notorious Confederate soldier. These suits include depositions from several of Livingston’s friends and family members. Livingston and his band of Confederates conducted raids throughout the Ozarks to contest the Union’s control of the region. Livingston was known for committing acts of arson, murder, robbery, and disrupting Union supply lines. His ruthless tactics outraged Union officials and civilians. Before the War, Livingston had been a successful and prominent business man. He owned a general store, hotel, saloon, real estate in three counties, and actively traded livestock. His assets were sought as restitution for his actions.
William G. Bulgin and his wife Elmina lived with her sister Mary and her husband David Holsman in Carthage, Missouri in 1860. On July 31, 1865, Bulgin filed suit against, John F Vestal, John Shirley, and John L Fuller for damaging and destroying his property during the war. Bulgin alleged that the men were a band of guerilla fighters, who supported the Confederacy. Due to the vicious nature and predominance of the guerrilla warfare in Missouri, many county court rooms were filled with civilian claims of restitution in the post-war years. The final verdict of Bulgin’s lawsuit is unknown, but the case represents types of depredation committed throughout the region and how civilians were left to recover their losses.