A History of the University of Missouri-- Part 2: The Fighting "Tigers" and Occupation

From Wikipedia.

The coming of the Civil War forced the university to close for much of 1862.  Residents of Columbia formed a Union "home guard" militia that was known as the "Fighting Tigers of Columbia."    They were given that name because of their readiness to fight for and protect the city and university.

In 1890, the universities newly formed football team took the name "Tigers" after the Civil War militia unit.

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From Archives of Univ. of Missouri  "The Military and Mizzou:  1861-1946."

The role of the University of Missouri-Columbia, in the military began during the Civil War in 1862.  Missouri was a border state so there were those in Columbia who favored the Confederacy, so the town fell under the watchful eye of the federal government.

On January 2, 1862, a group of Missouri volunteers known as Merrill's Horse" arrived in Columbia.  They pitched tents on campus and garrisoned  the school.  Academic Hall , the former administrative building  that burned down in 1892, was used to house soldiers.

These troops also interned Confederate prisoners  in the main library's third floor.

--Old Secesh

A History of the University of Missouri- Columbia-- Part 1: First Land-Grant University West of the Mississippi

From Wikipedia.

The University of Missouri- Columbia was established in 1839.  This later expanded to the statewide University of Missouri System which is why the name Columbia now accompanies it.

It was established in 1839 as part of the Geyer Act to establish a state land-grant university.  The school became the first land-grant university west of the Mississippi River.

The year of its founding, the citizens of Columbia pledged $117,921 in cash and land to beat out five other mid-Missouri counties for the location of the state university.  The land on which the college was constructed was just south of Columbia and owned by James S. Rollins, who became known as the "Father of the University."

It was the first university in Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase and was designed in part on Jefferson's plans for the University of Virginia.  Because of this, the original tombstone of Thomas Jefferson was given to MU in July 1883 by Jefferson's heirs.

As before mentioned, the first graduating class in 1843 consisted of just two men, both first cousins, Robert Levin Todd and Robert Barr Todd.  If the Todd name rings a bell, they were also first cousins of Mary Todd Lincoln.  Rober L. was the valedictorian and Robert T. was the salutatorian.

--Old Secesh

About the First Commencement at the University of Missouri in 1843 Had Just Two Graduates, Both Cousins of Mary Todd Lincoln

The first commencement ceremony for the University of Missouri at Columbia was held in November 1843, and had just two graduates.  It lasted for three hours.

The two graduates were both cousins and also cousins of Mary Todd Lincoln.

Their names were Robert B.Todd and Robert L. Todd.

Robert Barr Todd, as salutatorian spoke at the beginning and end of the ceremony.  He gave the salutatorian oration in Latin.  He closed the ceremony with the speech "Political Experience of the Past, Important to the American Citizen."

There were  nine other speakers.

Of interest, Thomas J. Hardin gave a Disputation;  "The Dissolution of the Union."

But, THREE HOURS!!!  Come On.  --Old Secesh

Not All of Mary Todd Lincoln's Relatives Were Confederate: Edward Lewis Baker

From Find-A-Grave.

EDWARD LEWIS BAKER

Born:  3 June 1829

Died:  8 July 1897 in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Buried:  Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois

Lawyer, journalist, diplomat.  Married Julia Edwards, daughter of Ninian Wirt Edwards and Elizabeth Porter Todd Edwards.  She was the sister of Mary Todd Lincoln.

Attended Harvard Law School and admitted to the bar in Springfield, Illinois.    Owner and editor of the Illinois State Journal and played an important role in his friend Abraham Lincoln's presidential campaign in 1860.

Married Julia Cook Edwards, niece of Mary Todd Lincoln.

He was appointed to US Consul in Buenos Aires, Argentina and began serving on March 17, 1874, and served there until he died in a train accident.

--Old Secesh

Not All of Mary Todd Lincoln's Relatives Were Confederate: Charles Edwards

From Find-A-Grave.

CHARLES EDWARDS

Nephew of Mary Todd Lincoln.

Born: 1846

Died:  23 September 1912

Buried:  Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois.

He was a student at Yale when the Civil War began and became an official with the commissary department  of the United States Army  a year after the war was declared.  Then, his headquarters was at Camp Douglas in Chicago.

He was the brother of Albert Stephenson Edwards from the last post.

--Old Secesh

Not All of Mary Todd Lincoln's Siblings Were Rebels: Nephew Albert Stevenson Edwards

I will get back to Mary Todd Lincoln's Confederate siblings later, but right now will write about some Unionists in her family.

One of them was the son of her sister Elizabeth Porter Todd Edwards, a nephew of Mary's.  He was Albert Stevenson Edwards.  Elizabeth was married to Ninian Wirt Edwards.

From Find-A-Grave

Born:    15 December 1839  Springfield, Illinois

Died:   20 December 1915  Springfield, Illinois

Buried:   Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois

Died at the Lincoln Home.  Lived practically his whole life in Springfield except during the Civil War.

During the Civil War he was a member of the commissary department and stationed at Camp Douglas in Chicago and Cairo.

After the war he returned to Springfield where he worked as a bookkeeper.  He was deeply interested in his history and gathered many Lincoln relics and when he was appointed custodian of the Lincoln home, he took them to that place where he had been the last 19 years of his life.

--Old Secesh

Mary Todd Lincoln's "Divided Family"-- Part 3

These were half-siblings of Mary Todd Lincoln who were Confederate.

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MARTHA TODD WHITE

1833-1868

Accused of being a CSA spy and smuggler

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EMILIE TODD HELM

1836-1930

Married CSA General Benjamin Helm, KIA

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ALEXANDER HUMPHREYS TODD

1839-1864

Lieut. 1st Kentucky Cavalry, KIA

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ELODIE TODD DAWSON

1840-1877

Married Captain Nathaniel Dawson 4th Alabama CSA

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CATHERINE "KITTY" TODD

1841-1875

Married William Herr, 1st Kentucky Cavalry, CSA

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--Old Secesh

Mary Todd Lincoln's "Family Divided"-- Part 2

One whole  page of the article was devoted to Mary Todd Lincoln's "Confederate" siblings and there were eight of them who either served in Confederate armies, were married to ones serving in Confederate armies or were sympathetic to the Confederate side.

Pictures accompanied the names.

GEORGE ROGERS CLARK TODD

(1825-1902)

Confederate Army surgeon

Was a full brother to Mary

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MARGARET TODD KELLOGG

(1828-1904)

Married a southern sympathizer from Ohio

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SAMUEL TODD

(1830-1862)

Private 24th Louisiana  KIA

This one was most likely Samuel Briggs Todd, but also might have been Samuel Brown Todd.  I've seen conflicting accounts of who is who.  All say Brown or Briggs was half brother to Mary.

Killed at Battle of Shiloh.

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DAVID HUMPHREYS TODD

(1832-1871)  Lieutenant, 21st Louisiana Artillery

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--Old Secesh

Mary Todd Lincoln's "Family Divided"-- Part 1

From the February 2018 Civil War Times "I Do Not Think of Peace:  Elodie Todd loved a Confederate officer, Her half-sister married Abraham Lincoln" by Susannah J. Ural.

This is the article that got me doing the Mary Todd Lincoln Confederate connection.

""Families divided" can be an overused Civil War expression.  In the case of Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of President Abraham Lincoln, however, it is apt.

"Her father, Robert Smith Todd, had eight children by his second wife, Elizabeth Humphreys.  In addition to Elodie, all of Mary Todd's half siblings, and one full brother, George Rogers Clark Todd, expressed loyalty to the Confederacy  by service, marriage, or sympathy."

--Old Secesh

Samuel Briggs Todd of the Crescent Regiment-- Part 2

The two mainstays of Mouton's Brigade were the 18th and 24th (Crescent) Louisiana regiments.

These two regiments were brigaded together at Corinth during the Confederate buildup before the Battle of Shiloh.  They were a part of Col. Preston Pond's  Brigade and fought at the Battle of Shiloh together.

Following Shiloh, the two regiments took part in the Siege of Corinth and accompanied the army in its retreat to Tupelo.  From there, they eventually made it back to Louisiana

The 24th Louisiana disbanded at the conclusion of their 90 day enlistment in June.  It reorganized under Richard Taylor in southern Louisiana.

During this time, Alfred Mouton was recovering from a facial wound he received at the Battle of Shiloh.

--Old Secesh

Mary Todd Lincoln's Confederate Connection

From Girl Power!  Mary Todd Lincoln site.

Mary Lincoln's brother, George Rogers Clark Todd and her half-brothers Alexander Todd, David Todd and  and Samuel Todd all fought for the Confederacy.

Alexander Todd was killed at the Battle of Baton Rouge.  Samuel Briggs Todd was killed at the Battle of Shiloh.  David Todd was wounded at Vicksburg.

Her half-sister Emilie Helm's husband was a Confederate brigadier general and was killed at the Battle of Chickamauga.

The husbands of half-sisters Martha White and Elodie Dawson were ardent supporters of the Confederacy as were they.

--Old Secesh

Samuel Briggs Todd of the Crescent Regiment-- Part 1: A Confusing Regiment in Mouton's Brigade

From the National Park Service Battle Unit Details and Civil War Louisiana sites.

The Crescent Regiment was organized by men from New Orleans and entered Confederate service in May 1861.

The unit fought at the Battle of Shiloh and reported 23 killed, 84 wounded and 20 missing.

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The Crescent regiment was also the 24th Louisiana Infantry Regiment.

They were part of the Alfred Mouton Brigade, later the Mouton-Gray Brigade.  Mouton's Brigade consisted of, off and on,  the 18th Louisiana, 24th Louisiana and the 28th Louisiana.  It gets somewhat confusing with units in the brigade also called  10th Louisiana Battalion (Yellow Jacket Battalion),  11th Louisiana Battalion, 12th Louisiana Battalion ( Confederate Guards Response Battalion) and 33rd Louisiana  Regiment.

Also you might come across the Consolidated 18th Louisiana Regiment and Yellow Jacket Battalion and the Consolidated Crescent Regiment.

Like the man said, very confusing.

--Old Secesh

(Probably) Not Samuel Brown Todd

Geni.com has him incorrectly listed under the name Samuel Brown Todd.  It should be Samuel Briggs Todd.

Samuel Briggs Todd's grandmother's name was Jane Briggs Todd.  So Briggs is a family name.

Also, the site The Confederate Half Brothers and Brothers-In-Law, of Mary Todd Lincoln has him listed as Samuel Brown Todd.

--Old Secesh

Samuel B. Todd Killed at Shiloh While in the Confederate Army. Half Brother of Mary Todd Lincoln

From the Find-A-Grave site from an obituary at the time of his death.

SAMUEL BRIGGS TODD

Birth:  20 March 30 1830   Lexington, Ky.

Death:  5 April 1862  aged 32 at the Battle of Shiloh, Hardin County, Tn.

Buried:  Lexington Cemetery, Lexington, Ky.

Company F, Crescent Regt. CSA.

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OBITUARY

"MRS. LINCOLN'S BROTHER KILLED

"Mr. Samuel B. Todd, brother of Mrs. Lincoln,  died on the battle-field of Shiloh, of wounds received in the action of the 7th of  April.

"The New Orleans Delta says he was a gallant private in the Crescent regiment, and died in defense  of his country against  the hireling  invaders  whom the husband of his sister, Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, sent to desolate  our country and dishonor our people.

"It must be a pleasant reflection to Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, amid her vulgar attempts to ape royal  fashions, with her  balls and soirees at the federal capital, that a gallant brother should have thus fallen  by the hands of her husband's mercenaries."

Evidently, the Newspaper Was Not Too Impressed With Mary Todd Lincoln.  --Old Secesh

The Tale of a Divided Kentucky Family Named Todd-- Part 2

Children from Robert Smith Todd's second marriage.  He was the father of Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln.  These would be her half-siblings.

ROBERT HUMPHREYS TODD  (1827-1827)  Infant son.  Buried Lexington Cemetery, Lexington, Ky.

MARGARET TODD KELLOGG  (1828-1908) Buried at Lexington Cemetery.    Married Charles Henry Kellogg   Buried Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati   Would spend months as visitor with sister in the White House.  **

SAMUEL BRIGGS TODD  (1830-1862)  Killed April 5, 1862 at Battle of Shiloh.  Member of Co. F. Crescent Regt. CSA.  Buried Lexington Cemetery.  **More on him in an upcoming entry.

DAVID HUMPHREYS TODD  (1832-1871)   Captain Co. A, 21st Louisiana Infantry, CSA.  Buried Maple Hill Cemetery, Huntsville, Alabama.

MARTHA TODD WHITE  (1833-1868)   Buried Lexington Cemetery

EMILIE PARIET TODD HELM  (1836-1930)  Buried Lexington Cemetery.  Married  Benjamin Hardin Helm, West Point graduate and brigadier general in Confederate Army.  Killed at Battle of Chickamauga on 20 September 1863.  Buried at Helm Cemetery, Elizabethtown, Ky.

ALEXANDER HUMPHREYS TODD   (1839-1862)   Served 1st Kentucky Cavalry as captain.  Killed in action at the Battle of Baton Rouge.  Buried Lexington Cemetery.

ELODIE BRECK TODD DAWSON  (1840-1877)  She was the third wife of Nathaniel Dawson who served in a Confederate regiment from Alabama.  Both buried at Live Oak Cemetery, Selma, Alabama.  She was the one I was writing about last month from her letters with fiancee Nathaniel Dawson.

CATHERINE BODLEY TODD HERR   (1841-1875)  Married William Wallace Herr, 1st Kentucky Cavalry, CSA.    Buried Lexington Cemetery.  He is buried at Hite Cemetery, Louisville, Ky.

--Old Secesh