The Widow's Secret, Last Civil War Widow Dies in 2020-- Part 2: Helen Jackson

Helen Jackson was born on August 3, 1919, less than a year after the end of World War I and in the middle of another pandemic in the United States, the Spanish Flu.  So, she had the unenviable opportunity to live through two pandemics.

She grew up in the really small town of Niangua, Missouri,  (population 275), a railroad and farming town about 25 miles northeast of Springfield.  Hardworking and humble, she was the seventh of ten children.  In the late 1920s, Route 66, the legendary "Mother Road," pumped a little energy into the sleepy town of Niangua, known mainly for  its dairy and cattle farms.

In March, 1936, a tornado ravaged the area, killing four.  But the pace of life was typically slow in the blink-and-you'll-miss-it place.

Missouri's U.S. Senator Roy Blunt was born in Niangua.

--Old Secesh

15th Illinois Infantry Actions and Campaigns-- Part 1: Battle of Shiloh

In Missouri to Feb. 1, 1862
Oct-Nov. 1861, part of Fremont's advance toward Springfield, Mo.
Capture of Fort Donelson, Tn.,  Feb. 16, 1862

Battle of Shiloh, Tn.,  April 6-7, 1862
Siege of Corinth, Ms.,  April 29-May 30, 1862
Duty at Memphis to Sept. 6, 1862

Battle of Hatchie River  Oct. 5, 1862   Also known as Battle of Hatchie's Bridge or Metamora
Operations in Mississippi  Oct. 31 to Jan. 10, 1863
Duty at Memphis until May 1863

Siege of Vicksburg   May 22- July 4, 1863
Assault in Jackson, Ms. July 12, 1863
Duty Natchez, Ms. Aug. 15 to Nov. 10, 1863

--Old Secesh

Springfield, Missouri's Civil War Cannons-- Part 2

The whereabouts of the other cannons is unknown.

Civil War researcher Len Eagleburger, who wrote the article, tracked the serial numbers of the three-known cannons dubbed the "Sister Guns" and found that they were manufactured at a Confederate arsenal in Augusta, Georgia, in 1863, and sent that summer to forces in Tennessee. Quite likely, the guns were used at the Battles of Chattanooga, Chickamauga and Lookout Mountain.


SPRINGFIELD SCHOOLS WITH NAMES DEALING WITH THE WAR


WILSON'S CREEK-- 5-6th grade, named for the battlefield and the creek.

BOWERMAN ELEMENTARY-- Milton Bowerman moved to Springfield in 1868 and was a member of the school board. He was originally from Wisconsin and a 1st lieutenant. The school was constructed in 1906.

YORK ELEMENTARY-- William J. York (built 1916). Was in the Union's 1st Arkansas Cavalry, Co. H which saw a lot of action along the Old Wire Road from Springfield to Fort Smith, Arkansas.

PHELPS CENTER FOR GIFTED EDUCATION-- (built 1931) US Congressman who formed Phelps' Regiment which fought around Springfield and at Wilson's Creek.

HOLLAND ELEMENTARY-- Colley B. Holland was a Union officer who fought at the Battles of Pea Ridge in 1862 and Springfield in 1863.

TEFFT CENTER-- Dr. Johnathan Tefft was a Union Army surgeon who came down with typhoid fever and was dying when the Sisters of Mercy nursed him back to health. In 1891, he asked the Sisters to start a hospital which eventually became St. John's Hospital.

Not Finished Yet. --Old B-R'er

Springfield, Missouri's Civil War Cannons -- Part 1

From the April 23rd Springfield (Mo) News-Leader.

Drury University, in Springfield has two Civil War cannons called 12-pounders. They were captured during the war and stored at Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois.

By the end of the war, they were considered obsolete. Eight cannons were brought to Greene County in 1870 through the efforts of US Representative S,H. "Pony" Boyd.

The field pieces were to be placed in North Springfield at Franklin Square, at or near present-day Washington Park. It was envisioned that this square would be a memorial to Union General Nathaniel Lyon and the soldiers killed at the nearby Battle of Wilson's Creek.

Franklin Square never came to be built and the cannons were placed around the county: one at Walnut Grove, one at Ash Grove and the rest in Springfield. One is still at Walnut Grove High School, but no one knows what happened to the one at Ash Grove. Some believe that it might be one of the two at Drury University.

Most of the other cannons burst. Until the 1980s, it was the custom in Springfield to fire the cannons for the 4th of July. The three remaining cannons were all capturedor surrendered. The ones at Drury University are visible by car as you drive by.

More to Come. --Old B-Runner

Missouri's Important Role in the Civil War

The Nov. 5th Voice of the Day, evidently out of Springfield, Mo. (a great Route 66 town, by the way), discussed Missouri's role in the Civil War. It was titled "Missouri was significant state during the Civil War" by Len Eagleburger, author of "The Fighting 10th" about the 10th Missouri Cavalry, US.

I didn't know that Missouri had the 3rd most engagements during the war, floowing Virginia and Tennessee. The state also sent more men to war in proportion to its size than any other state, 199,111, and they served on both sides.

The sesquicentennial of the Civil War is coming up in 2011. That'd be 150 years. The Missouri legislature has passed a bill to help sponsors on the Civil War Discovery Trail to put up interpretive panels in key spots throughout the state in order to draw attention to state's heritage in the war.

Currently. there is also a bill in both Federal houses called the Sesquicentennial Act. This will provide much-needed funding on the national level.

There are several Civil War groups in Springfield as well.

The Civil War Round Table of the Ozarks (I used to belong to the Chicago CW Round Table)
James H. McBride Camp of Sons of Confederate Veterans(I belong to the Camp Douglas Camp SCV)
Phelps Camp Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War
Mary Phelps Daughters of Union Veterans (I hadn't heard of this group before)
Wilson Creek National Battlefield Association

I'm a bit surprised there is no Daughters of the Confederacy there.

The SCV Camp is raising money to dedicate a memorial to General James H. McBride in his Texas County home.

The Civil War Preservation Trust, a national organization that I also belong to, well, as soon as I get my dues in), is having a regional conference in Springfield in early 2008.

Glad to Hear the Cause Is Being Furthered in Springfield and Missouri. --B-Runner