Divided Loyalties / Divided Stories
In brief: The Chitwood family history from the Battle of King's Mountain to Camden County, Missouri, and their ties to Joseph McClurg. The Chitwood and Manes families at the outset of the Civil War. This section ends with the formation of the opposing forces of the Missouri State Guard and the Osage Regiment Home Guard as the Civil War begins.
Time period 1780 to 1861.
"Local neighborhoods were checkerboards of divided loyalties. Citizens lived an uneasy day-by-day existence, never being sure of their neighbors' intentions."(1) Like the families and communities of Missouri in the 1860's, this part of the tale is divided - the story of the Manes family in Pulaski County and the story of the Union forces of Camden County led by Colonel McClurg and the Chitwood brothers. The focus on the Chitwood brothers was guided by the writings of Samuel Jasper Manes who named "the Chitwood gang" or "Chitwood's Company G" as the group of men at Callaway Manes' murder.(2)
The Chitwood family traced their ancestry to the family of a Tory hung after the Battle of King's Mountain in 1780. "Captain James Chitwood was a Loyalist who was taken prisoner at the Battle of King's Mountain. The victorious patriots were itching for revenge, and decided to stop and hold what was termed a 'drum head trial' the first night the prisoners were being marched from the battle site. A score of local folks who had taken the loyalists side were convicted and sentenced to die. Nine were indeed hung, when high officers interrupted the proceedings and put a halt to the executions. His sons were arrested by patriot forces and given several choices - take their father's political side and face exile or take the Oath of Allegiance to the patriot cause and be on their way. They chose to take the Oath and left North Carolina for lands further west."(3)
Image is from a painting by F. C. Yohn
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AYohn_Battle_of_Kings_Mountain.jpg
Elizabeth Chitwood was born in St. Louis in 1802, a year before the Louisiana Purchase. There were less than five thousand white residents in the area, mostly along the Mississippi River. The population of St. Louis was 925. Elizabeth married her cousin, James Chitwood, in St. Louis in 1818. Their daughter Americus married Henry Laughlin about 1836 in the area that would become Camden County.
Several men from Camden County traveled to California during the Gold Rush, including Americus' brother Richard Chitwood and Joseph McClurg. Joseph McClurg, son of an Irish immigrant, came to Camden County from St. Louis as a partner with his brother-in-law John Jones and his wife's stepfather, William Murphy, in a mercantile near Linn Creek. The business transported merchandise to Linn Creek by water and then shipped it by wagon to southwestern Missouri, northern Arkansas and eastern Kansas, areas being settled at the time. As payment was usually in goods produced, the process of payment to the company involved the wagons and steamboats reversing their paths in order to bring the wares to the St. Louis market. J. W. McClurg and his company, for a succession of years, sold over half a million dollars' worth of goods annually."(4) By the 1860's McClurg had opened a mercantile branch in Lebanon.
Photo property of Ann Erdman
http://annerdman.blogspot.com/2012/10/my-ancestors-of-old-linn-creek.html
Several men from Camden County traveled to California during the Gold Rush, including Americus' brother Richard Chitwood and Joseph McClurg. Joseph McClurg, son of an Irish immigrant, came to Camden County from St. Louis as a partner with his brother-in-law John Jones and his wife's stepfather, William Murphy, in a mercantile near Linn Creek. The business transported merchandise to Linn Creek by water and then shipped it by wagon to southwestern Missouri, northern Arkansas and eastern Kansas, areas being settled at the time. As payment was usually in goods produced, the process of payment to the company involved the wagons and steamboats reversing their paths in order to bring the wares to the St. Louis market. J. W. McClurg and his company, for a succession of years, sold over half a million dollars' worth of goods annually."(4) By the 1860's McClurg had opened a mercantile branch in Lebanon.
http://annerdman.blogspot.com/2012/10/my-ancestors-of-old-linn-creek.html
In 1860 brothers Richard, Joshua, and William Chitwood were living in Warren Township in south central Camden County. Their older sister Americus and her husband, Henry Laughlin, were living in Auglaize Township. Auglaize Township in southeast Camden County borders Liberty Township in southwest Pulaski County. Callaway and Seth Manes were living in Liberty Township near the Camden/Pulaski County line.(5)
Camden and Pulaski Counties with Townships
University of Missouri Library
http://digital.library.umsystem.edu/cgi/i/image/image-idx?page=index;c=platic
"Callaway and his brother Seth had plenty of good land, large herds of cattle, and were considered prosperous for that day. Callaway was a Baptist minister while Seth was a judge and held some political offices. Both men had large families and the children of both families were as brothers and sisters to each other."(2) In the election of 1860 Abraham Lincoln received only seven votes in Pulaski County.(6) When the election came to a vote on whether or not the state was to secede from the Union, Callaway voted to stay in the Union, yet his sympathies were with the South.(2) These sentiments were mirrored by the majority of citizens in Pulaski County. "Though their sympathies were with the South, they still felt that the Union should be preserved at any cost. They could not forget that their grandfathers had fought for the Stars and Stripes in the Revolution and therefore were opposed to secession."(7) "Callaway was outspoken in his opinions and was generally put down by the Union partisans as a 'rebel.'"(2)
Citizens of Missouri held a unique position during the Civil War. "Three weeks after Abraham Lincoln's inauguration, Missouri became the only state to hold a secession convention and then vote to remain in the Union. Still, the convention soundly rejected coercion along with secession. The delegates called for federal troops to be removed from southern forts, and they expressed support for slavery where it already existed. The convention made it clear Missouri would not accept harsh federal measures against any state. Thus, Missouri assumed the position of an armed neutral, committed to the Union, but ready to defend itself against federal abuses."(8)
On April 15, President Lincoln requested that Missouri supply just over 3,000 men. Missouri's Governor Jackson, famously replied, "Sir—Your requisition is illegal, unconstitutional and revolutionary; in its object inhuman & diabolical. Not one man will Missouri furnish to carry on any such unholy crusade against her Southern sisters.”(8)
On April 15, President Lincoln requested that Missouri supply just over 3,000 men. Missouri's Governor Jackson, famously replied, "Sir—Your requisition is illegal, unconstitutional and revolutionary; in its object inhuman & diabolical. Not one man will Missouri furnish to carry on any such unholy crusade against her Southern sisters.”(8)
Governor Claiborne Jackson
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Claiborne_fox_jackson.jpg
In St. Louis Captain Lyon of the U.S. Army took over the arsenal and captured the men at the Missouri militia training camp. As Lyon marched his prisoners away, a riot erupted during which Union soldiers fired upon civilians, killing more than two dozen of them, including women and children. Hundreds crowded the streets of Jefferson City to enlist and protest. The Missouri legislature granted Governor Jackson sweeping control over state funds and a newly reorganized militia, the Missouri State Guard.
On June 12, 1861, Governor Jackson issued a proclamation pleading for men to take up arms against the U.S. "Your first allegiance is due to your own State, and you are under no obligation whatever to obey the unconstitutional edicts of the military despotism which has introduced itself at Washington, nor submit to the infamous and degrading sway of its minions in this State. No brave hearted Missourian will obey the one and submit to the other. Rise, then, and drive out ignominiously the invaders who have dared to desecrate the soil which your labors have made fruitful and which is consecrated by your home."(9)
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_the_Missouri_State_Guard.svg
On June 12, 1861, Governor Jackson issued a proclamation pleading for men to take up arms against the U.S. "Your first allegiance is due to your own State, and you are under no obligation whatever to obey the unconstitutional edicts of the military despotism which has introduced itself at Washington, nor submit to the infamous and degrading sway of its minions in this State. No brave hearted Missourian will obey the one and submit to the other. Rise, then, and drive out ignominiously the invaders who have dared to desecrate the soil which your labors have made fruitful and which is consecrated by your home."(9)
Missouri settlers were accustomed to participating in local militias. After Missouri became a state in 1821 the Legislature enacted a law for organizing a militia. "All men over 18 and under 45 were enrolled as state soldiers to prepare for Indian wars or other emergencies. On the first Saturday of April each year, the citizens of each township came together to be organized into companies and drilled for soldiers. This was called Muster Day. Then in May the companies came together and were organized into battalions, drilled and paraded for several days. In October drills were had by regiments and brigades. Muster Day became when debts were paid, loans made, and trading done."(10)
Sketch of Muster Day in Miller County, Missouri
Judge Jenkins' History of Miller County, Missouri. by Clyde Lee Jenkins. Tuscumbia, MO, 1971
Judge Jenkins' History of Miller County, Missouri. by Clyde Lee Jenkins. Tuscumbia, MO, 1971
The Missouri State Guard formed in response to Governor Jackson's plea in June 1861. These young men had lived in relatively isolated settings. When they gathered in camps with hundreds of other men, they were exposed to many diseases. Less than a month after joining up, Seth and Becky's oldest son, Thomas Callaway Manes, contracted measles, died, and was buried in an unrecorded grave near Joplin, Missouri. His widow, Nancy York Manes, and her two young daughters came to live with Seth and Becky.(2)
Few records remain from the early days of the Missouri State Guard. It was "a delightfully informal army, which rarely bothered with paperwork. Even when it did, because of its limited resources and habit of being self-sufficient, the morning muster-rolls were likely to be used in the evening as cartridge paper."(11) Although the men were enlisted only in the service of their state, some displayed Confederate banners. This was forbidden under Price's standing orders. "These people, were not all rebels nor disunionists, but believed that they were serving the lawfully constituted authorities of the State, in repelling invasion and in protecting their homes."(12)
Governor Jackson was driven from the capital city as Federal forces set up a provisional state government under Governor Gamble. Missouri citizens who supported the federal authority formed six-month Home Guard units. The men were mounted and armed at their own expense. They were never mustered into the U.S. Army, but were paid by the U.S. government. The Osage Regiment of Home Guards organized companies of local men at Linn Creek in Camden County and at Camp Union in Miller County, led by Colonel Joseph McClurg, the mercantile owner.(12) Organized in Camden County, Captain Richard Chitwood's Company C included 93 men with his younger brother, William T. Chitwood, serving as Second Lieutenant. Privates in Company C included their brother Joshua Chitwood, and the sons of Callaway's best friend, Harrison Elliott.(13)
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Sources:
(1) "The Arnhold Family" by Neta Pope. Camden County Historian 1992. Published by the Camden County Historical Society. Past volumes can be purchased by mail from the Camden County Historical Society.
(2) Manuscript of family history and letters written by Samuel Jasper Manes and Jesse Gustin. These pages are contained in the collection edited by E.V. Brezeale. The collection is available on microfilm at the Springfield, Missouri Public Library or the microfilm may be requested at any LDS Family History Center.
(3) King's Mountain and Its Heroes: History of the Battle of King's Mountain, October 7th, 1780, and the Events which Led to it By Lyman Copeland Draper, Anthony Allaire, Isaac Shelby. Published by P. G. Thomson, 1881. This book is available online at google ebooks.
(4) History of Laclede, Camden, Dallas, Webster, Wright, Texas, Pulaski, Phelps and Dent Counties, Missouri. Southern Historical Press, 1889. This book is available free online at google ebooks.
(5) 1860 Census of Camden and Pulaski Counties
(7) A History of Pulaski County, Missouri. Pulaski County Historical Society. 1982. This book is available at several libraries, or can be purchased from the Pulaski County Historical Society. I reviewed it at the Midwest Genealogy Center in Independence, Missouri - a great place to do historical research.
(8) Missouri's Confederate: Claiborne Fox Jackson and the Creation of Southern Identity in the Border West by Christopher Phillips. University of Missouri 2000. This book is available at several libraries, or can be purchased online as an ebook.
(9) This proclamation can be viewed in its entirety at the Missouri History Museum website. http://collections.mohistory.org/resourceMgr/172680.html
(10) Civil Government and History of Missouri by Perry Scott Rader. Published by Hugh Stephens Printing. 1922. (Several earlier publications are also available.) This book is available free online at google ebooks.
(11) Wilson's Creek: The Second Battle of the Civil War and the Men Who Fought It by William Garrett Piston an Richard w. Hatcher, III. Univ. of North Carolina Press, Aug 1, 2004. This book is widely available at libraries or may be purchased online.
(12) Wilson's Creek: The Second Battle of the Civil War and the Men Who Fought It by William Garrett Piston an Richard w. Hatcher, III. Univ. of North Carolina Press, Aug 1, 2004. This book is widely available at libraries or may be purchased online.
(13) "Miller County in the Civil War" by Peggy Smith Hake. The article is available online at http://www.millercountymuseum.org/civilwar/cw_04.html.
(13) Missouri State Archives online soldiers' database at http://s1.sos.mo.gov/records/archives/archivesdb/soldiers/
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