Col. Lewis Merrill-- Part 4: Racial Difficulties in South Carolina

The Situation in York County, South Carolina

Before Lewis Merrill arrived in South Carolina, in February 1871, local black preacher Elias Hill met with local Ku Klux Klan leaders to negotiate for the safety of Blacks in the community.  These negotiations were not successful, and around February 12,  eight black men were killed by around  500 to 700 Whites in black gowns and masks.  Nightly Klan raids took place for months after that.

An important black leader in York County at the time was a former Union soldier and local militia leader named James  Rainey, also known as Jim Williams.  At the time, black militias were known as Union Leagues.

On February 11, 1871, Jim Williams, along with June Moore (cousin of Elias Hill) and a group of Blacks met with a group of Whites led by J. Rufus Bratton at a crossroads near Clay Hill in an attempt to deescalate tensions.  Williams said  he would be willing to give up his weapons and other Union league members agreed to stop having nighttime meetings.

It didn't work.  The truce was broken the next day.

--Old Secesh

Col. Lewis Merrill-- Part 3: Battled Guerrillas and KKK

Col. Merrill later commanded  the District of St. Louis and then the Department of Northern Missouri.  In 1864, he was cavalry commander of the bureau at St. Louis and took part  in the engagements at Franklin, Missouri.

The next year he was sent against guerrillas in northern Georgia and Alabama.

On January 13, 1866, President Johnson nominated Merrill for appointment to the grade of brigadier general in the U.S. Volunteers to rank from March 13, 1865.  The U.S. Senate confirmed the promotion on March 12, 1866.

After various western assignments, he was appointed command of a military district in York County, South Carolina, with orders to break up the KKK.

--Old Secesh

Colonel Lewis Merrill-- Part 2: Boss of Merril's Horse, Aggressive Guerrilla Fighters

From Wikipedia.

I have written about this Union officer's role in the University of Missouri history.  here is some more information on him.

Lewis Merrill (1834-1896) was a career U.S. Army officer noted for his work in resisting the Ku Klux Klan in several Southern states.  During the Civil War he fought Southern guerrillas in Missouri.

Born in New Berlin, Pennsylvania, and went to college before graduating from West Point in 1855.  Served with the 1st Dragoons in Missouri, Kansas and was on the Utah Expedition.

In 1861, as a colonel and first cavalry officer on the staff of John C. Fremont, he organized the 2nd Missouri Volunteer Cavalry, usually referred to as Merrill's Horse.  They were mostly engaged in fighting guerrillas in central Missouri. and were well known for their strict military organization and aggressiveness carrying out their anti-guerrilla campaign.

--Old Secesh

Colonel Lewis Merrill-- Part 1: At the University of Missouri

From Univ. of Missouri ROTC Battalion History.

During the Civil War, in 1862, The 2nd Missouri Volunteer Cavalry, under Colonel Lewis Merrill garrisoned the school in January 1862.  They took residence on the first floor of Academic Hall.

In  August of that year, some 200 Confederate soldiers, members of the Missouri State Guard, stormed Columbia, Missouri (where the university is located), and were routed by Merrill's men.  The third floor of the Academic Hall was used to house the prisoners for a time.

During the occupancy, some Union soldiers found a box of unsigned degrees and game themselves their own commencement ceremony.

--Old Secesh

Jayhawks and Tigers, Oh My!! The Civil War Connection-- Part 2: Those Missouri Tigers

In the 1860s, Missouri, like Kansas, was a border state with divided loyalties.  It started the war as a slave state, but as the war ended, the Union cause had taken over.

Pro-Confederacy forces launched guerrilla-style fighting against Union forces and small towns formed "Home Guards"  to protect themselves from these incursions.Columbia's "Home Guard" named themselves the Tigers and when the football team formed in 1890, they adopted the Civil War defenders name.

Later in 1984, the University of Missouri cheerleaders held a contest to name their mascot, and the Missouri tiger was officially named "Truman" after the famous Missourian, President Harry S. Truman.

Howdy Truman.  --Old SeceshTiger

Jayhawks and Tigers, Oh My!!!-- Part 1: What's In An Athletic Name

From KCUT NPR  "Civil War origins of the Kansas Jayhawk and Missouri Tiger" by Lisa Rodriguez.

Since I have been writing about the University of Missouri a lot lately, and because the name Tigers which is used by their teams, also dates to the Civil War, I found this article to be of interest.

For more than 100 years, an athletic contest between the University of Missouri Tigers and the University of Kansas Jayhawks has been a bitter rivalry with bragging rights on the line.  Before Mizzou left the Big 12 Conference to join the Southeastern Conference the rivalry was even bigger.

But, this rivalry can be dated even back to the Civil War.

According to the University of Kansas, the state in the 1850s was a fierce battlefield between those who were "Free Staters and those who were pro-slavery.  At the time, people started referring to those across the region as jayhawkers, which was a combination of two bird names.  The blue jay is a noisy, quarrelsome bird and the sparrow hawk a stealthy hunter.

The nickname was meant as a warning:  "Don't mess with a Jayhawker!!"

The term originally was used to refer to both Free Staters and Pro-Slavers.  But eventually it came to be used for the Free Staters.  When the KU football team played their first game in 1890, it adopted the name.

The first illustration of the mythical Jayhawk  in 1912 wore shoes for kicking opponents.  These boots/shoes are made for walking.

So That's Why the Jayhawk Wears Shoes.  I Was Always Wondering.  --Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group Meeting Today on Johnson Impeachment

The McHenry County Civil War Round Table will meet today at Panera Bread at 6000 Northwest Highway in Crystal Lake, Illinois, from 10 am to noon.  Today's discussion topic will be the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson, kind if appropriate with the recent impeachment of someone else.

It is open to anyone, not just members, so drop on by and sit a spell, talk awhile.

--Old Secesh

Robert Barr Todd

From Find A Grave.

Born: 17 January 1826 in Lexington, Ky.

Died:  6 February 1901 in New York City

Buried:  Green-Wood Cemetery,  Brooklyn, NY.

Find a grave has him listed as a Confederate general but I am unable to find anything about that.

He moved to Missouri with his father David Todd, brother of Mary Todd Lincoln''s father, Robert Todd Smith.  Graduated in the first class at the University of Missouri  in 1843 and eventually ended up in Louisiana where he was  a member of both Louisiana houses as well as a Louisiana Supreme Court justice.

According to the Green-Wood Cemetery Civil War biographies, he also was a delegate to the Louisiana Secession  Convention and voted in favor of it.  (So, he was definitely a Confederate.)

Served as a justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court from 1880 to 1888.

He last resided with his daughter  at 347 Greene Avenue, Brooklyn, New York.  This is why he was buried in New York.

--Old Secesh

Confederate Cousins of Mary Todd Lincoln, Robert Barr Todd and Robert Levi Todd

From Spirits  of Mizzou  Robert L. Todd and Robert Barr Todd

Both men were first cousins of Mary Todd Lincoln.

These two men constituted the whole first graduating class of what today is known as the University of Missouri.  "Little Bob Todd" as Robert Levi Todd was known, was class valedictorian; Robert B. Todd ("Big Bob Todd") was salutatorian.

Robert B. Todd moved to Louisiana  and eventually became a justice on the state supreme court

Robert L. remained in Boone County, (where the university is located) becoming the university's first Tutor,  and serving fifteen years as Curator and 25 years as Secretary of the Board of Curators (they are the ones who run the university).

An often-repeated story claims that Robert Levi Todd saved the university from burning during the Civil War, using his connections with President Lincoln to prevent Union Colonel Lewis Merrill from putting the whole town of Columbia to flames.

An early voice for the university's alumni, Todd was instrumental in creating the Alumni Association and served as its first president in 1885-1886.

Robert L. Todd continued to be one of the University of Missouri's strongest supporters until he died in Columbia in 1898.

Actually, it is possible that Robert Levi Todd wasn't a Confederate.

--Old Secesh

Robert Barr Todd and Robert Levi Todd

Robert Barr Todd was the son of David Todd, Mary Todd Lincoln's uncle and brother of her father Robert Smith Todd.  After graduating from the University of Missouri, he eventually got to Louisiana

Robert Levi Todd was the son of Roger North Todd, another brother of Robert Smith Todd. He remained in Columbia for his whole life.

Robert Barr Todd's mother, Elizabeth "Eliza" Barr Todd, married David Todd.  One of his sisters, Rebekah Todd Samuel,  married George Warren Samuel.

--Old Secesh

History of the University of Missouri-Columbia in the Civil War-- Part 4: Claims Fall Flat and the Morrill Act

The university's claims for damage against the federal government were not settled until 1915.  The university received $7450 for damage claims and over half of that went toward litigation fees. So Missouri actually received $3,383.33.

The award money was used to build the north gateway of Francis Quadrangle, located at 8th and Elm.

The Morrill Act of 1862 gave the University of Missouri a more active  and important role in military affairs after 1870.   The original Morrill Act created land-grant universities for the teaching of Agricultural and Mechanical Sciences, but it also required these colleges to participate in national defense by requiring all male students to take a basic course in military tactics.

--Old Secesh

History of the University of Missouri-Columbia-- Part 3: The Civil War

The Civil War also had other detrimental effects on the university as well.  Classes were suspended for ten months, partly because  of the troop occupation, and also because the university was short on staff. 

Only one staff member, chairman of the math department, Edward T. Fristoe, joined the Confederacy.  Students joining one side or the other cut the enrollment from 112 in 1860 to just 40 during the war.

After the Union troops left in 1865, the curators filed a claim against the federal government for damages incurred while the soldiers were there.  Horses and wagons ruined the grounds, holes were cut into walls and floors by prisoners trying to escape, books from the library were used for fires, and over 100,000 specimens in mineral and fossil cabinets were reportedly damaged.

It was also reported that Union soldiers found a box of blank diplomas and held their own commencement, awarding themselves university degrees.

And Gee Whiz, I Never Even Went To School.  --Old Secesh

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.

******************************************

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.

**********************

MARTHA TODD WHITE

1833-1868

Accused of being a CSA spy and smuggler

***********************

EMILIE TODD HELM

1836-1930

Married CSA General Benjamin Helm, KIA

***********************

ALEXANDER HUMPHREYS TODD

1839-1864

Lieut. 1st Kentucky Cavalry, KIA

************************

ELODIE TODD DAWSON

1840-1877

Married Captain Nathaniel Dawson 4th Alabama CSA

***********************

CATHERINE "KITTY" TODD

1841-1875

Married William Herr, 1st Kentucky Cavalry, CSA

***********************

--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

****************************
MARGARET TODD KELLOGG

(1828-1904)

Married a southern sympathizer from Ohio

****************************
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.

*****************************

DAVID HUMPHREYS TODD

(1832-1871)  Lieutenant, 21st Louisiana Artillery

*****************************

--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.

************************************

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.

**********************

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