Genealogy Family History Expo in KC July 29-30th

I've never been to one of these but they are held all over the country and I would love to attend.  See details at the link below.

http://www.familyhistoryexpos.com/viewevent.aspx?eid=35

Remember? I did say this blog was about genealogy, too! 

M. Jeff Thompson's letter to President Jefferson Davis volunteering his services

The following letter was sent to the President of the Confederate States by St. Joseph's former mayor, M. Jeff Thompson, to offer his services to the South. It pre-dates his discussion with the new St. Joseph postmaster (which I posted yesterday) by about three weeks and was sent immediately after the fall of Ft. Sumter.

Saint Joseph, Mo., April 15, 1861.

His Excellency Jefferson Davis,

President of the Confederate States, Montgomery, Ala.:

Sir: 

 

M. Jeff Thompson

Not knowing the name of your adjutant-general or any other proper person to make the inquiries of which I desire, I have taken the liberty of addressing you direct.

I am anxious to know whether the Confederate States desire volunteers from the border States, and if there is any regular arrangement for their reception, or whether it is necessary to have any authority from your Government before volunteers should be raised.

My object in asking is that, should Missouri refuse to join her Southern sisters, I desire and intend to move South, and I can, if acceptable, bring one, two, or three companies of as good and true men as the Southern sun ever shone on, if I can assure them that their officers will be confirmed and commissioned by your Government.

I would respectfully refer you to Hon. Luther Glen, commissioner from Georgia to Missouri, or Hon. _______ Russell, commissioner from Mississippi to Missouri, or his Excellency C. F. Jackson, Governor of Missouri.

Yours respectfully,
M. Jeff Thompson,
Colonel, Inspector Fourth Military District Missouri Militia

p. 684, Series I, Volume I, Official Records of the War of the Rebellion

St. Joseph MO postmaster reports on meeting Jeff Thompson in early days of the Civil War

Two weeks after Ft. Sumter fell, the newly appointed postmaster for St. Joseph, MO, chanced upon former St. Joseph mayor M. Jeff Thompson while traveling on the river. Mr. Thompson seems extraordinarily loose-lipped in this account, but here's the story of the meeting with its tales of Fort Leavenworth given over to Secessionists. It's taken from Series I, Volume I, p. 679, Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1880.

Washington, May 2, 1861.

Hon. Secretary of War:

                Sir: Mr. J. L. Bittinger, recently appointed postmaster at Saint Joseph, Mo. Arrived here yesterday, and gave me information in regard to secession movements in that State, which I take the liberty of conveying to you.

 

He states that while descending the Missouri River he met with a Mr. Jeff. Thompson (right), who informed him, not supposing that he was in favor of the Union, that Lieutenant Cooke, now at Fort Leavenworth, had told him (Thompson) confidentially that the dragoons stationed at that post had pledged themselves to co-operate with the secessionists in whatever schemes they might determine upon, and he remarked that he himself—their commander—intended to head them in the project. Lieutenant Cooke further observed that it was his determination, in case Missouri seceded, to do all he could to transfer the Government property in his charge to the State authorities, and in the event that Missouri did not secede, that he would resign his commission and offer his services to the South.

Mr Bittinger says that the disunionists in Saint Joseph are organized, have possessed themselves of Government arms, and are meditating the capture of Fort Leavenworth. There are now in Saint Joseph, he states, three hundred and seventy-four Union men, who form four companies, which will be placed at the disposal of the Federal administration. They have no arms, however, although they have applied for some—to Major Van Vliet, I believe; but they were refused on the ground that the persons applying had no order from the Secretary of War. The Union volunteers of Saint Joseph beg that you will give them such written authority as will enable them to procure the necessary arms and equipments without any further delay.

Having fulfilled what I deem my duty in imparting to you the above information, I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,

John R. Atkinson.

Frank James New Venture-from a newspaper clipping

Found in the same newspaper clipping as a family obituary dated 1894. The Smithville paper copied it from the Kansas City Star.

Childhood stories of Frank and Jesse James

I grew up hearing stories of Frank and Jesse James and how ancestors on both sides of my family had known him. I thought that highly unlikely, but as I grew older and asked more questions I found out it was mostly true.  Frank and Jesse had friends in Platte County who helped them when they could. When I asked an older resident why Frank and Jesse frequented this area he told me, “I don’t think they were hunting them too hard here.” 

Frank James New Venture

Kansas City Star.

St. Louis, Sept. 25.--At the door of the Standard theater last night taking tickets was Frank James, the once noted outlaw. He said:  "I have abandoned the race course forever. There is no money in it. It has ceased to be profitable. I have a son who is 17 years of age, and it is natural to suppose that if I had continued in the business he would have drifted into it also.  I do not say that the business is disgraceful; oh, no, not that, for I have met hundreds of gentlemen on the track. Some of my best friends are there. But of course, there are bad ones to be found on a race course, and somehow or other, you can't tell why exactly, but these are the kind a young man generally falls in with.  I have, therefore, forsaken a following that has afforded me much amusement and entertainment for his sake.  In the future I will be in the theatrical line--not on the stage, but in the business office, or at the door, or somewhere near about where the money is taken in.  I have commenced at the bottom round, and expect to work my way gradually up. There is money in the business when you work it right."

"So you will never go on the stage?"

"Never. I have no merit in that line and no sort of practice would make me an actor. I have had plenty of opportunities to go before the footlights.  Immediately after my acquittal and vindication I was offered $52,000 a year by a New York company, but declined it. In the future my home will be in St. Louis. I am tired of roaming around. I shall try to find my son a place in a commercial house and we will live together. To make a quiet, steady, sober man of him is now my highest ambition.”

Smithville Herald, pg. 1 

Herald Supplement
Sept. 28, 1894

Martha Jesse Fletcher obituary 1894

Taken from the Smithville Herald of Sept. 28, 1894

Obituary.

Died. At her home, in Smithville, on the evening of Saturday, Sept. 22nd, 1894, of hemorrhages resulting from typhoid-pneumonia.  Mrs. Martha, wife of G. W. Fletcher, Aged, 31 years.

"The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

It seems hard at times to become reconciled to the will of the Lord, and especially when one loses a good, kind, and estimable wife, or a loving mother, as in this case, where Mr. Fletcher has lost as kind and loving a wife as ever man espoused; a good mother, an esteemed neighbor, and one beloved by all who knew her.

She leaves a sorrowing husband, and five little children to mourn her departure from this life.

 

Sorrowing father, try and forget your grief in the performance of the double duty which now devolves on you--that of being both father and mother to your bereaved little ones, Do you miss her? How much more will your children miss the one who was accustomed to minister to their every pleasure and desire. Make their less as light as possible, and may the God of peace lighten you burdens, and smooth the pathway of life for the little ones.

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This scanned clipping from a northwest Missouri newspaper was among the papers of my grandmother.  I wanted to share it with family members interested in genealogy.