Community and Conflict » Jasper County Records Center

Jasper vs. Chenault

briang — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 22:34:58 +0000

Plagued by guerrilla warfare, Jasper County faced extreme hardships during the Civil War. Having a recorded population of 6,883 in 1860, the county population at the end of the War was said to have been less then one hundred. Carthage, the county seat, was depopulated and destroyed, as well as most of the other principle areas in the county. The county filed a $77,000 suit against John R. Chenault and his co-defendants for the destruction of the courthouse in Carthage, circuit court records, the Carthage jail, and the Seminary building. The damages in the lawsuit are equivalent to over a million dollars in today’s market.1

Only ten of the original 38 defendants were located and deposed within a year of the filing. Several of the defendants were local business owners, and nearly all had family history in Carthage and Jasper County. The lead defendant, John C. Chenault, was the son of John R. Chenault, a judge in Jasper County before the War. Judge Chenault was a “conditional Union man,” in that he opposed secession unless the North armed itself to keep the South from seceding.2

Though Jasper County claimed the court records and books were destroyed, they reemerged after the War. In the fall of 1861, Judge Chenault and Stanfield Ross, the Jasper County Clerk, conspired to move the records from Jasper County and transfer them to the Newton county jail in Neosho. A team of Union cavalrymen, lead by a former Jasper County Sheriff, learned of their fate and recaptured the records. The records were moved to Fort Scott, Kansas where they remained until after the War.3

Contributed by the Jasper County Records Center

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Measuringworth. http://www.measuringworth.com/calculators/uscompare/resultwithad.php, last visited 1 June 2009.
Marvin L VanGilder. Jasper County: The First Two Hundred Years. (Carthage: Marvin L. VanGilder and the Jasper County Commission, 1995), 68.
VanGilder, 81-82.

Lee P. Gray vs. John B. Dale – 1865

rachelr — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 16:05:33 +0000

Lee P. Gray, who was 23 years old in 1860, and lived with his father and four other siblings in Jasper County, Missouri. The Grays 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 Gray claimed that John Dale stole two of his horses, valued at $300, on December 14, 1861. Gray 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.

Contributed by the Jasper County Records Center

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Martha Clark vs. Wiley Webb, et al. – 1865

briang — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:03:03 +0000

On July 20, 1864, fifteen men without civil or military authority kidnapped Orange Clark at gunpoint. Clark surrendered to the men, and while their prisoner he was shot multiple times. Clark’s 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 claimed the same men murdered her husband, William Hood, on the same day.

John M. Richardson represented both Martha Clark and Martha Hood in their cases against 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. The language used in both cases is very similar, and both plaintiffs ask for the same amount in damages. Guerrilla warfare plagued Missouri for over a decade. Many civilians spent the postwar years in court, attempting to receive restitution for the atrocities committed against their families.

Contributed by the Jasper County Records Center

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Martha Hood vs. David Rusk, et al. – 1865

briang — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:03:06 +0000

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.

In conjunction with this suit are documents entitled Martha Hood vs. Wiley Web, et al. These court records include Wiley Webb’s statement and his denial of involvement with the charges.

Martha named 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 in the murder of her husband. Martha Clark claimed that these same men killed her husband, Orange Clark, on the same day.

John M. Richardson represented both Martha Clark and Martha Hood in their cases against the accused murders. The language used in both cases is very similar, and both plaintiffs ask for the same amount in damages. Guerrilla warfare plagued Missouri for over a decade. Many civilians spent the postwar years in court, attempting to receive restitution for the atrocities committed against their families.

Contributed by the Jasper County Records Center

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Thomas R. Livingston Collection

briang — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:15:43 +0000

Chapters

Introduction
Thomas R. Livingston

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.

Livingston’s notoriety made him a prime target for Union men. Several of the collections within Community & Conflict discuss Livingston and his men. Researchers are encouraged to search all of the collections for their connection to Livingston.

Contributed by the Jasper County Records Center

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William G. Bulgin vs. John F. Vestal et al – 1865.

rachelr — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:20:45 +0000

William G. Bulgin and his wife Elmina lived with her sister Mary and her husband David Holsman in Carthage, Missouri in 1860.1 Jasper County was a dangerous place to live during the War. Guerrilla warfare was rampant throughout the region, as Bushwhackers and Jayhawkers stole and burned property and livestock. William Bulgin claimed John F Vestal, John Shirley, and John L Fuller stole and destroyed his property several times during the war. He stated the men, “banded together with other persons for the purpose of over throwing the laws of the County & for the purpose of robbing peaceable citizens of their property.”2 Bulgin filed a lawsuit after the war suing the men for $415 in damages. He cited, two full suits of clothes, a silk dress and other clothing were stolen between the fall of 1861 and spring of 1862. The men came back in the fall of 1864 and burned his books, bed clothing, towels and other property.3

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.

Contributed by the Jasper County Records Center

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Malcolm G. McGregor, The Biographical Record of Jasper County, Missouri (Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1901), pg 64.
William Bulgin, Petition. 31 July 1865, William G. Bulgin vs. John F. Vestal et al. Box 47 File 13, Jasper County Records Center, Carthage, Missouri.
William Bulgin, Petition. 31 July 1865, William G. Bulgin vs. John F. Vestal et al. Box 47 File 13, Jasper County Records Center, Carthage, Missouri.