COD: War, Bushwhackers and Disease

I haven't blogged along with Amy Crooks and the 52 Ancestor prompts very consistently this year. This week though, a prompt caught my attention and prompted me to write about my HORNER family. The prompt was cause of death.

For as long as I can remember I've always been intrigued by the Civil War. I think it may have stemmed from growing up in Prairie Grove where there was a Battlefield Park. My maternal grandfather worked there for 15 years and it was where I square danced every August from 1984-1988.

Researching genealogy, I have come across many ancestors who fought in the Civil War. There are many stories, but none have given me such strong sympathetic feelings of anger, sorrow and desperation as those stories coming from my Johnson County, AR, families.

My Johnson County lines easily cross and double back. It was a tight knit community where neighbors married  neighbors, siblings married siblings, and people remained for generations --communities were literally family! You really have to stay on your toes when entering names and families into your family tree or you'll have double entries.

Getting back to my prompt.

My 3rd great grandmother, Oma BOEN, was the daughter of James BOEN and Zilpha HORNER. In the cemetery book my grandmother loaned me this past summer is a little snippet about James Boen's death:

"James M. Boen was in the Confederate army and was killed. One story was that he was working in a field near Fallsville, Arkansas, and the bushwhackers came through. Supposedly, they beat him to death and Zilpha was said to have held his head in her lap as his brains oozed out into her lap."

This is just one horrific story to come from the BOEN/HORNER line. I do want to say though, that James M. Boen's military records state he died in a Hospital at Crystal Hill 12 Aug '62.

CSA Camp Crystal Hill was located on Crystal Hill, northwest of present-day Burns Park (near I-40 and I-430 interchange).

Zilpha's parents were Spencer HORNER and Permelia TURNER.
James's parents were William BOEN and Narissa FARMER

The TURNER and BOEN families had 3 siblings that married.

James BOEN and Zilpha HORNER
Mary Ann "Polly" BOEN and William Riley HORNER
Jesse BOEN and Mary Ann "Polly" HORNER

Two HORNER sisters also married the same man, a John BOWEN name later becomes BOWMAN. Oma HORNER married him first, after her death, her sister Kissiah married him.

Spencer and Permelia had the following children:

1. John Turner married Susanna BOEN (daughter of Lewis BOEN and Mary HODGE)
2. Zilpha married James M. BOEN 
3. William Riley married Mary Ann "Polly" BOEN
4. Elizabeth married Francis Marion Acord (his brother William is another ancestor of mine)
5. Oma married John BOWEN
6. Mary Ann "Polly" married Jesse BOEN
7. Andrew 
8. Pleasant
9. Kissiah married John BOWEN/BOWMAN and later a William H. BOEN
10. James married Lucy RAY
11. Sarah married George VAUGHT

John Turner survived the Civil War and became a well known doctor in Missouri. Zilpha's husband, as previously mentioned, did not. He died either from a beating, wounds from war or illness Aug 1862. William Riley died a horrific death at the hands of bushwhackers in Aug 1864, Elizabeth died from pneumonia in March of 1864 and her husband Francis a month later in April. Oma died from causes unknown sometime before 1873 when her sister Kissiah married her widow. Mary "Polly" died in 1868, her husband died in 62 just weeks after his brother James M. BOEN.

Andrew and Pleasant both died in the war in July and Aug of '64, respectively.

Below is a story I found on Ancestry. I'm not certain who the original author is as the website it was attributed to is no longer in operation:

The Civil War was devastating to the Horner family. Spencer Horner was very much opposed to secession which made him and his sons very unpopular with their neighbors. All of Spencer's sons except young James and possibly his eldest, John, served in the Union Army. Several sons-in-law served the Confederacy. Their losses during the war were not limited to the death of their daughter Elizabeth.  In 1862 son-in-law Jesse Boen, husband of Mary Ann Horner, died only four days after enlisting in the Confederate Army. On 31 July 1864 son Andrew Jackson Horner died of measles in camp at Lewisburg Ridge with the 2nd Arkansas Infantry. Before 1864 daughter Oma passed away.
In August 1864, Spencer's son William R. Horner, went AWOL from the Union 2nd Arkansas Infantry and returned home. He was at his father's house along with most of the Horner family, including Spencer's recently orphaned grandsons John Samuel Acord and Christopher Columbus Acord, on 2 August 1864. The family was enjoying a fried chicken dinner but were concerned about bushwhackers so they sent some of the children out to watch the road. Several men appeared coming off the mountain and the children ran into the house yelling "Here they come Grandpap!" William bolted out the back door hoping to cross the potato field and disappear into the woods. Spencer recognized the men as neighbors and went into the yard to talk to them as the family watched from the house. They were in no mood to talk, they shot and killed Spencer where he stood then chased down William. They caught him in the potato field, pistol whipped him and, according to Spencer's daughter Sarah, "crushed his privates," then left him for dead. The women were afraid that if they took him back to the house, the bushwhackers would come back to finish the job so they took him into the woods and hid him in a cave or overhang. Each day they would take him food and care for home as best they could. They were afraid that if the bushwhackers saw them going into the woods with supplies, that they would realize William was alive so they wrapped their supplies into bundles to resemble a baby. Unfortunately, William died eight days later on 10 August 1864. The epitaph on William's tombstone reads, "Wm. R. Homer Born Aug. 1, 1834 Killed Aug. 10, 1864 by parties known to his family." It is generally believed that one of the Stewarts from Yale participated in these killings, probably Henry Stewart who is buried in Yale Cemetery.
Just two days after this incident Spencer's son Pleasant Horner died in camp at Lewisburg Ridge with the 2nd Arkansas Infantry. Family lore states that after Spencer and William's death, all the buildings and fences were torn down and Permelia was unable to make repairs so she sold the property for a chunk of a mare and a old wagon. She loaded up the wagon and was seen leaving town, perhaps joining some of her family in Webster County, Missouri. Another account states that son John Turner Horner organized a wagon train of Union sympathizers and moved the remainder of the Horners to Webster County, Missouri. Permelia and some of the other Horners returned after the war. Spencer's estate was settled in 1865. 

Anther story found online:

A family history was told in 1942 by Professor John Turner Horner, to Eva Horner, his daughter, about Dr. John Turner Horner of Cassville, Missouri.
"His dad (Spencer Horner) was a slave owner, but he was a Union man. When war came up all his boys joined the Union Army except Dad (Dr. John Turner Horner). The Confederates conscripted him, so he was on one side, and his three brothers were on the other side. His (Dr. John Turner Horner) younger brother was Will. He (John Turner Horner) managed to get away, slipped out on them and joined the Union Army. His oldest boy, Louis, was 15; he was afraid Louis would be conscripted too, so he took Louis with him. He recruited one whole company in the federal army, Company K. Bill Mullen, Cassville, was one of the men he recruited. His son Louis got a pension. Now then the lines were drawn. Most of Arkansas was rebel. Dad (Dr. John Turner Horner) and his brother got a furlough to go home to visit their folks. He would dodge around through the mountains to go to the house at night, etc. Dad (Dr. John Turner Horner) said his horse needed shoeing and he had to go out on the mountain 5 miles to get it shod. He told his brother, Will, and his father Spencer Horner that whatever they did, never go to the house in the daytime. But the mother (Permelia Turner Horner) was killing a chicken so the father Spencer Horner and Will went to the house. Wasn't long till about 20 rebels came riding up. Grandfather (Spencer Horner) went out into the potato patch and said, 'I surrender!' and they shot him down. Will ran through the lot and up on the mountain side and was shot in the head. He lived several days in a cave.

Dad (Dr. John Turner Horner) had a squad of men, including Wash Middleton and Fate Arnold, desperate men, to go back into the hills and clean out that bunch. They killed 17 out of the 20 bushwhackers.

Dr. John Turner Horner knew that after he was conscripted and deserted the Rebel Army, if he ever became a prisoner, they'd shoot him. That's why he never got on the Union Army record. He was either afraid, or too careless to get an honorable discharge. Dad's (Dr. John Turner Horner) squad was equal in number to the other squads. One day they met in a corn field and each man picked out his man. Dad picked out the leader; couldn't shoot him, threw his pistol at him. They caught one man walking between his wife and his mother. Wash Middleton shot him down. One night they surrounded a house where the bushwhackers were having a dance. Wash Middleton took the man who killed grandfather (Spencer Horner) by the hair and dragged him out, 'Now you'll kill a helpless old man' and killed him. Fate Arnold didn't know what fear was. 'I (Prof. John Turner Horner) heard so much about him that I expected to see a wonderful man. When I got a certificate in Stone County, his son-in-law was a County School Commissioner, and I told him I wanted to see Fate Arnold.' He was a little wizened old man.

Father (Dr. John Turner Horner) helped to take a refugee train of Union people out of Clarksville, Arkansas, to Marshfield, Webster County, Missouri. That was where dad met mother (Mary Gillian Dunlap) and her two girls, in that refugee train. Fate Arnold would volunteer to go through 20 miles of Rebel lines to get ammunition, and he'd always come back. Once he jerked his horse's head up, and the horse got shot in the head. Arnold got wounded. He stayed with my father (Dr. John Turner Horner) in Marshfield, Missouri until he got well. Mother (Mary Gillian Dunlap) said there'd be a pool of blood under his chair. In Marshfield the folks were suspicious of the Union soldiers who came up from Arkansas. Fate Arnold and dad (Dr. John Turner Horner) passed a saloon one day and heard some man say, he didn't believe there ever was a Union soldier who came up from Arkansas. Fate Arnold says, 'Did you hear that?' 'Yes, but there's just two of us. We'd better let it pass.' 'No, I'll not.' They went back, ordered drinks, dared the man to repeat it, and they let it pass. Dad's name was always on the list of GAR at the Cassville Reunion.

Grandfather, Spencer Horner, had a pot of gold and silver and paper money, but they never did find it after he was killed. Louis had a dream about 'a black gum tree in the middle of a field - put my back to the tree, took ten steps toward the house, dug down, and found the pot of gold.' Dad's, (Dr. John Turner Horner) brothers and sisters were Will, and two who died in the Union Army, Sarah and Jim Vaught Eva Horner saw Sarah near Oark. Arkansas one time, Zilphie and Bob Mooney. Bob Mooney, after his wife died, went to live with one of his girls, and said she objected to his spitting in the fire. He say's 'I went and found me a woman and now I've got a place to spit.' Dad (Dr. John Turner Horner) said Jess Wilson was a brave man too. One time they left Jess Wilson to hold their horses when they went to fight. Jess was another little measley, looked like he wouldn't fight a chicken.

When The Way Is Hard

This week's blog post will need to be credited to Edith Boyer Suggs (1906-1992), my first cousin 5x removed. She complied a book in 1963, known as The House Of Boyer. It is probably one of the many reasons I fell in love with genealogy. It is the perfect mix of names, dates, (and the best part) stories about the lives of my ancestors and many of their descendants.

 

 

The theme for this week is 'There Is A Way' and I've decided to retell the sad story of my 5th great grandparents, William Henry Boyer and his wife Mary Cooper Boyer. The Civil War left people without many choices. And the choices they did make, were life altering, and weren't without consequences. They couldn't have been easy choices to make. The story of my ancestors isn't unique. Many of those living in Johnson County, Arkansas, during the Civil War had similar stories. There was extreme lawlessness at the hands of bushwhackers who took advantage of the unfortunate circumstances. Many of the men were off fighting the war, leaving older men, women and children to fend for themselves. Any kind of law enforcement were also busy fighting a war. There was no one to hold these renegades responsible for their crimes, and many brutal, and bloody crimes were committed.  I have several ancestors from this era and this area who met just as awful circumstances. Some didn't survive. But those tales will be told another day.
 

William Henry Boyer was the son of Henry and Mary (Gambell) Boyer. According to Civil War records, he was born in Humphreys County, Tennessee in the year 1818. *In one page of his records it lists his birthplace as Hampton Co, Tenn - which does not exist, and in The House of Boyer it lists his birth place as Hamilton Co * I am going to go with Humphreys Co.,  as I have found census records for a Henry Boyer with wife Mary and a few of their children in 1850 living in said county. I took the time to look at a formation map during the time of William's birth - the borders changed significantly between the years 1817-1819. And the population for the entire county for the year of 1820 was only 4,067.

 

The first proof of William H. Boyer's residence in the State of Arkansas, I have, comes from the affidavit of his wife Mary Cooper in her application for a widow's pension. She states her marriage date as 4 March 1841 in Spadra, Johnson County, AR. Mary's family moved to Johnson County, AR, from Rhea, Tennessee, sometime before 1836 where I find tax records in Johnson County for her father Kennedy Cooper. In 1830 Kennedy Cooper and family were found in Rhea, TN. so that narrows the date of their arrival to a window of 6 years.  In Edith's book, The House of Boyer, she states that there is a land grand for William H. Boyer in 1839, I have not found it. *Keep in mind that Mrs. Boyer-Sugg's did genealogy the old fashioned way. Traveling miles and researching records from court houses, libraries, and writing letters to any connection she may have found a long the way. I have the utmost respect for her and those like her.*
 

Mary Cooper was the daughter of Kennedy Cooper and Sussana Keesie/Kessie. She was born 6 January 1825 in Rhea, TN.
 

William Henry was a farmer by trade and the same year as the birth of his oldest child Mary Martha (who married William Wallace Swift), I find a land certificate registered in Fayetteville land office for 80 acres. His place of residence is listed as Pope County, which is directly to the East of Johnson County. In 1844, his daughter Parmelia (my ancestor), was born, then in 1846 his daughter Melinda was born. That same year, William Henry, enlisted into Company A, Gray's Battalion, Arkansas Volunteers, to fight in the Mexican American War. It's suspected that this was a way to improve his standing and gain more land. William Henry was one of about 380 men who were sent to Indian Territory to keep peace and allow U.S. forces there to enter the war under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William Gray. In Edith Boyer-Suggs book she mentions that William received an Honorable Discharge in 1847, at Fort Gibson, Cherokee Nation, and received 165 acres of Bounty Land, located in Horsehead Township, Johnson Co. I have not been able to locate this record but Fold3 has an unindexed record, warrant # 47-160-15474 assigned to William H. Boyer.
 

In 1849, William Henry and Mary had another daughter Sarah Ann and in 1851 Mary finally gave birth to a son, James W. Next came Elizabeth in 1854 and Susan in 1857 then Mary Emeline in 1861
 

In February 1862 William Henry once again enlisted in the military on the side of the Confederacy. This time to fight in Company 'F' 10th Regiment Arkansas Militia for a period of only 3 months. Then in October 1863 he enlisted in Company 'L' Hill's 7th Regiment, Arkansas Cavalry, this is the same month and year that his youngest child, the father of Edith Boyer-Suggs, was born, William Smith Boyer.

 

 

By this time the Civil War was well under way. William and Mary's two oldest daughters were already married. Mary Martha to a Yankee and my ancestor, Parmelia, to a Rebel. Sometime in the early part of August 1864, William was warned by neighbors that he would be one of three men who were to be attacked by the outlaws that pillaged Johnson Co.  William and the other two men on the list, were thought to have money. The other men were caught and tortured and their feet badly burned. But as soon as William had received warning he and Mary and their children quickly loaded their wagon with as many necessities and provisions as they could and left the Boyer Homestead. They barely made it. Just as their place was nearly out of sight they could see smoke rising into the sky, telling them that their home and all the belongings they had to leave behind were being burned.

This next part I will quote directly from Mrs. Boyer-Sugg's book:

With very little food and bedding, the farm wagon was still overloaded with 6 children of theirs and a niece (4 year old Jennie Ogilvie, daughter of Lavinia Boyer and Wm. Smith Ogilvie, a Confederate Soldier) and possibly some of Henry's married daughters. They started to Little Rock, AR, 112 miles away. Wm. Henry and Mary are said to have walked most of the way, with very little food. It was at Little Rock, on Aug 20, 1864, that Wm. Henry joined the Union or Federal Army. (Note: he changed sides.) He was in Company 'I' 2nd Arkansas Infantry. In return, the U.S. Government sent Mary Boyer and her children (my father, Wm. Smith Boyer, was only 10 months old) to Winona Co., Minn. for the duration of the war by the way of the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers.

Wm. Henry Boyer was transferred back to Clarksville, AR, to serve in the Medical Corps., having been assigned to the Post Isolation (Smallpox) Hospital. The building being used for the hospital was an old log residence that stood on the east side of what is now College Avenue, some 500 feet south of the railroad tracks. It was while nursing the Federal Soldiers there that he contracted Smallpox and died Feb. 16, 1865, at the age of 47, only a few months before the close of that terrible war. He was buried in the northern part of what is now Oakland Cemetery, at Clarksville. Then in 1867 the U.S. Government exhumed the remains and buried him in the National Cemetery at Ft. Smith, Ark. No one can say, as no one will ever really know, if this brave and courageous man, Wm. Henry Boyer, was a strong, opinionated man and was always willing to fight for his convictions, or if he was a husband and father who thought of the betterment and safety of the ones he loved. Whichever it be, the decision must not have been an easy one, as he had family and friends on both sides of that terrible conflict.

 Mrs. Boyer-Sugg's father was too young to remember the sad day his family said good-bye to his father, but her Aunt "Liz" (Elizabeth Boyer - Bramlett) was not. She was the one who shared this sad story and conveyed the fears of the dangerous journey from Arkansas to Minnesota.  She vividly remembered the tearful parting of her father and mother on the boat dock at Little Rock (they never saw each other again) and the long journey up the Mississippi River.

Mary Cooper and her children to didn't return to Johnson County, AR, until 1868, as there was strong resentment against them and other similar families who were northern sympathizers. Several Johnson County residents had fled the area and moved north during the war. I have other ancestors that went to stay with family further north into MO.

Mary's pension papers were originally filed in Winona Co., Minn. and had to be transferred back to Johnson Co. She was awarded $8/month as well as $2/month for every child under the age of 16. At the time of her application those children were James W., Elizabeth, Susan, Mary Emeline, and Wm. Smith.

Mary must have been a strong woman (as I'm sure many were during that time period). When she and  her children returned, she rebuilt her home at the same location of the one that had been burned. She raised her young children alone and never married again. She died at the home of her oldest daughter, Mary Martha Swift, in Franklin County, AR, on November 7, 1907 at the age of 76. She is buried in the Arnold Cemetery, one mile south and west of the Boyer Homestead.


If you are reading this and would like copies of the records I have collected, just ask, and I will be happy to share any information I have.

Until next week,
Becky