MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI
A HISTORY OF
RELIGIOUS PROSCRIPTION, THE SEIZURE OF CHURCHES, AND
THE PERSECUTION OF MINISTERS OF THE GOS          PEL, LN THE STATE OF MISSOURI
DURING THE LATE CIVIL WAR
AND UNDER THE
"Test Oath" of the New Constitution.
BY
REV. W. M. LEFTWICH, D. D.
VOLTUME II.
"The Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Church."
SAINT LOUIS:
SOUTHWESTERN BOOK AND PUBLISHING COMPANY,
5io AND 512 WASHINGTON AVENUE.
PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR,
1870.
- - p -
I 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by
W. MA. LEFTWVICHI,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern
District of Missouri. 
DEDICATION.
TO THE
MARTYRS OF MISSOURI,
REVS. JAMES FEWEL-L, GREEN WOODS, NATHANIEL WOLLARD,
THOMAS GLANVILT-E, ISAAC FRAZEE, GEORGE L. SEXTON,
AUGUSTUS H. F. PAYNE, EDWIN ROBINSON, WVM.
POLK, JOHN L. WOOD, THOMAS JOHNSON,
SAM'L B. MICPHEETERS, GEO. P. KIN              NAIRD AND SAM'L S. HEADLEE:
TO THE MEMORY OF
These holy men
Wlho kept the faith, and bold in hour of need,
For Christ's dear honor thought it joy to bleed;
Who watched the garments of their second birth,
And kept them ever undefiled from earth,
Till up they went, their martyr crowns to wear,
And still to walk in virgin-raiment there: 
And to the principles of religious liberty for which the Christian
Ministers of Missouri have so long and so severely suffered, and
which they have so heroically and sublimely vindicated, this
work is affectionately and devoutly dedicated
BY THE AUTHOR.  
PREFACE.
No human work is perfect; no human judgment infallible. No collation of historical facts can be abstractly
accurate, for both their accuracy and value will be
measured from each man's point of observation, and
determined by each man's interest in the principles
involved and the lessons taught.
This work-now complete, but not perfect-is submitted to the ordeal of human criticism and consecrated to
the high and holy uses for which it was undertaken.
It will pass on, with the multitude of other historical
works, to fulfill its mission in the world, and be assigned
only the place among similar productions which its true
merit demands. When the great Athenian artist,
Zeuxis, was rallied by the young and dashing artists of
his day because he spent so much time onil his pictures,
he replied, "Why should I be sparing of time when I
paint for eternity?" It is a noble passion which looks
through the toils, privations and sufferings of the present to the veneration and homage of future ages. Genius paints for succeeding generations, and can only be
measured and appreciated by the lapse of centuries.
The mendicant wanderings of Hiomer, the coarse cloak
of Socrates, the exile of Phidias, the banishment of 
PREFACE.
Tully, the crazed brain of the unhappy Tasso, the street
songs of Luther, the poverty of MIilton, the play-house
ridicule of Shakspeare and the jail of Bunyan, all tell
the same story and teach the same lesson.   All are
artists painting for eternity; and the genius that lives
in the future generations of men will be studied and
estimated by the character of his pictures and the real
value of his works. This much is said of the works
of true genius.  But the work here and now committed
to the candid criticism of men is not the work of genius,
but of labor, and the author can not even claim that
he has been unsparing of time.
The production of such a work, in the absence of both
genius and experience, has required an amount of labor,
both physical and mental, that but few can appreciate,
and which it is to be hoped no other man will ever
have cause to superadd to so many other duties and
crowd into so short a space of time.
This whole work of two volumes has been written
and published in less than eleven months, in addition to
the unneglected duties of a heavy pastoral charge.
Toil, unremitting toil, upon which has fallen the grey
light of the early dawn and the unpoetic glare of the
midnight lamp, has produced the work; but no material fact, date or name has been omitted or sacrificed
by this haste, and for the truthfulness of the history
and the accuracy of the material facts no consideration
is demanded on this account.
For the favorable criticism of the press which the
first volume received, and for its highly complimentary
reception by the reading public, the author is profoundly
grateful. The notices of the press were more favorable
6 
PREFACE.
than he had any reason to expect; but, then, many
subjects possess an importance and a magnitude independent of those who handle them.  The fact that the
first edition was ordered before it was born from the
press, and that the publishers reached the last of the
second edition before they caught up with the orders,
was more than the most enthusiastic friends of the
work anticipated.  For this flattering reception the
author again takes pleasure in making grateful acknowledgment.
The personal abuse by the Northern Methodist press
of the author and his endorsers was expected, and
the anticipation foreshadowed in the preface.  Bat
Bishop MAarvin survives, Drs. M'Anally and Summiers
still flourish, and the author takes pleasure in acknowledging the valuable services thus rendered in the circulation of the work. If the tens of thousands of good,
honest, pious and devoted people who are in Church
fellowship with Northern Metho(lism in Atissouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and all
through the Northern and Eastern States, can be
induced to read this work, the author is willing to give
to their editors and correspondents a carte blatnche on
the whole vocabulary of abusive personal epithets and
a copyri,ght to their most skillful and classic use.  And,
furthermore, they shall have an unchallenged patent
right to all tl-he falsehoods which maliee And genius can
invent, and to all the ingenious uses to which they can
be put to raise personal issues and quarrelts, and thus
break the force of historical facts.  But they unrderstand
well enough that they can not escape the history they
have made, the verdict of a discriminating public now,
or the righteous condemnation of an unprejudiced pos terity.
The present volume is entirely firee from the questions
of controversy between the two MIethodist Churches,
which occupied so larg,e a part of Vol. I, and which
was necessary then and there in order to bring out the
true principles involved in the " Church Seizures," aid
the active part the church seizers took in the proscrip
7 
PREFACE.
tion and persecution of the ministers of the M. E.
Church, South. This volume only makes occasional
and incidental allusion to the facts without discussing
the issues at all.
But the great principles of religious liberty which
were assailed by the New Constitution of the State,
and the persecutions of ministers of the Gospel under
the application of its notorious " Test Oath," receives
the principal attention of this volume.
The history of the New Constitution, with a logical
and legal analysis of its provisions and its invasion of
the rights of conscience, together with its application
to ministers of the Gospel, as such, without political or
sectarian distinctions, have been prepared with great
care and no little labor. The distinctive principles of
religious liberty which inhere in the rights of conscience
in all matters of religious faith and worship are clearly
defined, so that the reader may be able to see how far
the rights of conscience were invaded by the Test Oath
of the New Constitution.
The narratives of the persecution, arrest, indictment,
trial, imprisonment, fine, etc., of each individual case
has been presented, of choice, as far as possible, in
the language of the writers.   And the classification
of such cases, if there is any classification at all, has
been made with a view to remove denominational distinctions, and present every minister of the Gospel, not
as he stood in the light of his Church, but in the light
of the New Constitution of the State.
The many instances of murder and martyrdom which
are given in this work shade with deeper colors this
whole history of Martyrdom in Missouri and furnish
the saddest evidence of the depravity and corruption
of our fallen humanity. As announced in the prospectus, this work deals only with ministers of the Gospel
who were strictly and properly non-combatants. Those
who committed themselves to the active issues of the
war are left with its history.
But the work is so appropriately and ably introduced
by another that it really needs no preface from the.
St. C,arles, Mo., April 30, 1870.
8
AUTI-IOR. 
INTRODUCTION.
BY
REV. JAS. H. BROOKES, D. D.
It was a crafty device suggested to a Northern writer
when he pronounced the first volume of "Martyrdom
in Missouri" a fiction.  There was no other way of
breaking the tremendous force of its facts.  Little
sagacity was required to see that if the testimony of
such a book were allowed to go forth unchallenged, the
eyes of multitudes would be opened to the enormities
that had been perpetrated in the name of patriotism
and of piety.
In 1865, at the close of the war, the General Assembly
of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of
America, convened for the sole purpose of transacting
business pertaining to the Kingdom of Jesus Christ,
gravely announced to the world that the rebellion had
been suppressed without "the national honor being
tarnished by deeds of outrage and cruelty." Those in
Missouri who had seen venerable men, bowed  and
trembling under the infirmities of eighty years, dragged
from their homes and incarcerated like common felons;
those who had watched half-starved prisoners eagerly 
INTIRODUCTION.
thrust their l'i-I1ds i,to barrels of offal that waited the
coming of the scave,ngers, and then gnaw the bones
they found like famished wolves; those who knew that
hundreds and thousands of our best citizens had been
arrested, assessed, kept in confinement for months, or
banished, without learning the nature of the offense
with which they were charged; those who looked on
with speechless sorrow while whole counties were literally depopulated by military order, and the fugitives
made their way across the prairies by the light of their
burning dwellings; those who witnessed the execution
of ten unoffending civilians for the supposed murder by
unknown hands of one man; those who read the sworn
testimony of a most respectable lady, declaring that she
was compelled to submit her person to the brutal lust
of a United States officer as the price demanded for the
life of her husband; those whose friends and pastors
had been hanged or shot down like dogs, without even
the semblance of a trial, were prepared to put a right
estimate upon the statement of the Presbyterian Assenibly, that the national honor was untarnished by
deeds of outrage and cruelty. There was no alternative
but to regard the authors and endorsers of this remarkable declaration with contempt for their blind credulity
or with loathing for their brazen hypocrisy.
Other ecclesiastical bodies repeated the falsehood
until they led the nation to believe that they and the
soldiers whom they cheered onward to their bloody
work constituted the sacramental host of the Lord, and
that all the atrocities of the war belonged to the uneducated and barbarous rebels.  The din they raised about
the sufferings to which captured Government troops
10 
INTRODUCTION.
were exposed in Libby Prison and Andersonville effectually prevented the voice of the conquered South from
being heard; and having a teeming press at their command, and the anti-slavery sympathies of Europe enlisted in favor of their cause, it was easy to make it
appear that they possessed all the morality and religion
and virtue.
In vain did Judge Ould, commissioner for the exchange of.prisoners on the Southern side, prove, by the
voluntary evidence of the commissioner on the Northern
side, that he had implored the Secretary of War at
Washington to consent to an exchange; and, having
failed in this, that he-had offered to pay three times the
price in gold for all provisions and medicines that should
be sent through the lines in charge of Federal surgeons
for the exclusive benefit of Federal prisoners. It did
not suit the purpose of the astute Secretary either to
exchange or relieve the sick and dying at Libby and
Andersonville when he found that the impoverished
South, whose seaports were rigorously blockaded, could
not assist them, but it admirably answered the end he.
had in view to consent at length to the exchange of
those who were most emaciated, and then to have the
photographs of their skeleton forms sent in the illus trated papers throughout the world.
So it has answered the end of those in power and
their ecclesiastical compatriots to keep their own mis conduct in the baek ground, while continuallyproclaim ing to their dupes the untamed ferocity of the rebels.
It is the old story of the thief crying "stop thief" with
all his might in order to divert attention from himself.
Of course, then, a book like " Martyrdom in Missouri"
would cause an unusual hubbub in the ranks (,f these
self-complacent Pharisees. It contains a record that
must force even their hardened cheeks to blush; amd
there was no way of arresting its dreaded influence ex
11 
INTRODUCTION.
cept by pronouncing it a fiction and by assailing its
author with coarse calumny. Would to God it could be
truthfully said that it is only a fiction, and that the pain ful narratives contained in its pages are but the product
of the writer's prolific imagination. But, alas! it is a
veritable history, as ten thousand sorrowing hearts can
testify, although it presents a most striking illustration
of the adage, "truth is stranger than fiction." Not only
has Dr. Leftwich exhibited patient care in thoroughly
sifting the evidence adduced to substantiate these annals
of "M artyrdom in Missouri," and not only has he taken
every precaution to guard against the admission of ex aggerated and frenzied recitals of wrongs endured dur ing the war, but he is ready for the most searching
examination of his statements before the civil tribunals.
It will not be deemed indelicate in this connection,
and in view of the unmanly efforts of sundry journals
in the North to rebut merely by personal flings and
innuendoes the overwhelming array of evidence found
in his work, to allude for a moment to the character and
standing of the author. He is as well and as favorably
known, perhaps, as any minister of the Gospel in the
State of Missouri. Both in his own denomination and
in sister Churches he is held in high esteem for his
devotion and zeal in the service of his Master.   Having
abandoned the profession of the law, in which he had
abundant promise of success and distinction, he was led
by the Holy Ghost to enterupon the arduous life of the
Miethodist Itinerancy, and it is enough to say that the
Lord has greatly owned his labors.
All attempts "to write him down" will exhibit in
clearer light his unsullied reputation as a sincere Christian, a faithful preacher of the Word, and a courteous
gentleman.   That  such  attempts  should  be made,
clearly exposes the desperate extremity to which his
book has driven those who can not impeach its solemn
testimony and dare not face its terrible record.
But it may be asked, why publish such a book years
after the war has closed? Is it designed to stir up the
angry feelings that were beginning to sleep under the
soothing influence of time? Is it intended to perpetuate
the bitter strife and transmit it as an accursed legacy to
12 
INTRODUCTION.
vex our children and our children's children? Is it
brought forward as fuel to rekindle the smouldering
fires of hate, or as a barrier to prevent the speedy restoration of harmony and fraternity in Church and State?
If such were its objects, good men everywhere should
turn with horror from the author and his work, but it
is not going too far to say that he would be among the
very last to aim at the accomplishment of ends so
unchristian and so undesirable. So far from wishing to
promote dissension, it is the longing of his heart to see
peace established, but established on the basis of righteousness, without which it can not long continue.
No  intelligent person can read the book without
being persuaded that its publication was imperatively
demanded. It was not a question of expediency, but
of necessity, that it should come to light, if the kindly
relations of the past among Christians and neighbors
are ever to exist again. The war had made an ugly
wound, which could not be healed by court plaster, but
required thorough probing before soundness and comfort were possible. Those who warmly espoused the
cause of the North denounced as "rebels" and "traitors" all who did not conform to a certain standard of
"loyalty" which it is safe to affirm is utterly unknown
to the Word of God and in the history of civilized nations. Those who, by birth, education and association,
were forced to obey the dictates of nature and of
nature's God so far as to be called "Southern sympapathizers" were proscribed, persecuted, imprisoned,
robbed of private property and of churches, and in
scores of instances put to death, even while conscientiously abstaining from every act that would militate
against the authority of the Government at Washington.
As men are constituted, apart from the transforming
power of divine grace, is it possible that outrages like
these can be forgiven and forgotten while the perpetrators of the wrongs exhibit no sign of penitence and
breathe no word of confession, but still carry themselves with an insolent and lordly mien, and still ring
changes on the threadbare epithets employed during
the war, and still too plainly show that if again backed
13 
INTRODUCTION.
by a military despotism they would continue to crush
and to kill? The magistrates of Philippi after being
startled by an earthquake were quite willing to get rid
of the Apostle in a quiet way, but he said, "They have
beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and
have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us
out privily? Nay, verily, but let them come themselves
and fetch us out."
Five years have passed away since those who displayed the character of the Philippian magistrates
toward their brethren had an opportunity of showing
at least a spirit of magnanimity, but since they continue, in the pride of power, to denounce as evil doers
the faithful martyrs for Jesus, it only remains to appeal
from their decision to posterity and to God. These
volumes constitute part of that appeal. Both parties to
the strife that still rends the bosom of the Church can
not be right, though both may be wrong; and if the
unity for which the Saviour so touchingly prayed is
ever realized, the ground of complaint which has
divided the household of faith must be made known and
removed. These volumes set forth a portion of that
ground, and the author, taking his stand upon it, sternly
addresses the professed Christians whom he has convicted of fearful crimes, in the language of Jehovah to
apostate Israel, " Wash ye, make you clean; put away
the evil of your doings from before mine eyes, cease to
do evil, learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the
oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow."
Materials for a third volume have already been gathered, and if an accurate record were preserved of all the
sufferings endured in Missouri by the children of God
at the hands of military and ecclesiastical persecutors,
it would require volume after volume. But it is to be
hoped that the two now published will enlist the hearty
co-operation of all true men throughout the country in
refuting the slanders that have been heaped upon the
dead and the living, whose cause they plead, and thus
obviate the necessity for a prolonged discussion of this
painful subject.
Another end, however, more important than peae,
which they will greatly assist in securing, is the elu
14 
INTRODUCTION.
cidation of the vexed questions concerning the relations
of the Church to the State. It is difficult to imagine a
more powerful argument than is found in these two
volumes against the interference on the part of the
former with the affairs of the latter. Because of this
interference we have the sorrowful history of "Martyrdom in Missouri."  Because of this interference we
have seen religious bodies bearing the same name, holding the same symbols of faith, and worshiping at the
same altar, torn asunder, never more perhaps to meet in
brotherly association.   Becau,e of this interference,
the tenderest ties of Christian  affection have been
broken for life, and a cruel alienation has separated
those who " took sweet counsel together, and walked
unto the house of God in company."',
The Lord gave His Church a golden opportunity at
the commencement of the war to exhibit the reality of
her unity and the strength of her love for all her members by binding them together in close and precious fellowship despite the bitter strife that was raging around
her, but she w-as wholly unequal to the occasion.
Throwing down the cross which she was commanded to
bear, and seizing the sword which she was forbidden to
use, she eagerly rushed into the conflict, and vied with
Jacobin politicians in the fierceness of her denunciations and in her thirst for blood. It came to be a common thing to look for the utterance of the most atrocious sentiments in the resolutions of ecclesiastical Conventions; and even after peace was declared scores of
these Conventions shamelessly demanded that the terms
granted to the Southern generals at the time of their
surrender should be disregarded, and that the leaders
of the "rebellion" should be put to death.
Christ has said, "love your enemies," "put up thy
sword into the sheath," "who made me a judge or a
divider over you," " my kingdom is not of this world;"
but, utterly unmindful of His word, the Church gained
a bad distinction in doing that which is most opposed
to His spirit and to the precepts of his Gospel. Surely,
if apostate Israel was cut off for iniquity, apostate
Christendom has reason to fear that she will be spewed
out of the mouth of her insulted Lord.
15
I 
INTRODUCTION.
The plea by which a justification is sought for the con stant intermeddling with the affairs of the Common wealth, which has stained the records of nearly all the
Protestant denominations of the country, is the shallow
device, that where questions have both a political and
moral aspect it is the prerogative of the Church to deal
with them in the latter character, and if this trenches
on political ground, it can not be avoided. How much
better, safer, wiser to say that the Church can speak
only where Christ has spoken, and can legislate only
where Christ has legislated.
The Saviour, for example, says, "Render unto Ces,tr
the things that are Csesar's," and the Spirit, by the
Apostle, says, " Let every soul be subject unto the higher
powers." It is, therefore, both the privilege and the
duty of the Church, through her councils and ministers,
to repeat and enforce these solemn injunctions, and to
affirm that rebellion against recognized or existing government is rebellion against God.
But where there are rival C-esars contending for the
throne of empire, or where, through some defect in the
fundamental law of the land, it is a disputed question
to what power the allegiance of the citizen is primarily
due, it obviously lies entirely beyond the province of
the Church to pronounce in favor of one Csesar rather
that the other, or to determine the meaning of civil Constitutions. She has no right to adjudge anything save
as she can solemnly declare, "Thus saith the Lord."
O! if she had governed her course simply by the word
of God during these years of strife; if she had remembered her high calling as the bride elect of "the Prince
of the Kings of the Earth;" if she had kept in mind that
her "citizenship is in Heaven;" if she had laid to heart
that no where in the New Testament is the love of country mentioned as a grace of the Spirit, or even commended to the notice of Christians; if she had kept
herself "unspotted from the world, looking for that
blessed hope, the glorious appearing of the Great God,
even our Saviour Jesus Christ," we would not now be
mourning over the ashes of her martyred children whom
she ruthlessly caused to pass through the fire to the dark
Moloch of patriotism.
16 
CO N T E N T S.
CHAPTER I.
RELIGIOUS QUESTIONS ONLY ARE VITAL.
Religious Libertyv-Church and State-The Relations of Church and
State Unsettled-The Relation of Human and Divine Governments
-Conflict Between Church and State-Perpetual Enmity —Religious
Questions in Social and Civil Revolutions-Judea and the Destruc tion of Jerusalem-The "Crusades "-Cross and Crescent-The
Holy Inquisition-French Revolution of 1798-Last Civil War in
England-American Revolution of'76-Crimean War-Louis Na poleon and Northern Italy-Vaudois Christians-Prusso-Austrian
War-Needle Gun vs. Concordat-John Huss and Jerome-Revo lution in Spain-Disestablishment of the Irish Church —Conscience
Demanding Liberty-The Late Civil War in our Country no Excep  tion-Political and Religious Aspects of the War —A Patent Moral
Panacea-Curious Questions of Casuistryv-Preaching and Prac tice....................................................................................25
CHAPTER II.
TEST OATHS-THEIR PHILOSOPHY AND HISTORY —TEST OATHS
IN MISSOURI.
Oaths, Judicial and Official-Why Resorted to in Civil and Judicial
Administration-Washington on the "Religious Sanctions" of the
Oath-Different Forms and Functions of Oaths in Different Coun tries-Defective in this Country-A Matter of Grave Public Con sideration-The History and Office of " Test Oaths" in Religious
Persecutions-No Invention of the Nineteenth Century-Not Pecu  liar to Missouri —Nebuchadnezzar's Decree and the "Three Children"
-Darius and Daniel-The Sanhedrim and Peter and John-Nero
A. D. 67-Domitian A. D. 81-Maximian and the "Theban Legion"
-The Waldenses-Albigenses-Bartholomew Massacre-Revoca tion of the Edict of Nantes-Holv Inquisition-Valleys of Pied mont-Vaudois Huguenots-The Principle in all Persecutions in
all Ages-Missouri Not Behintd-Different Oaths in Missouri  Their Civil, Legal and Moral Effect-Culminate in the New Con  stitution-Incidents-Profane Sacrilege...................................  41
2 
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III.
THE " ROSECRANZ OATH"-ST. CHARLES COLLEGE.
The Rosecranz Oath-Its Design-Ecclesiastical 3Bodies Put Under
Mlilitary Surveillance —The Power Behind the Throne-Session
of the St. Louis Conference, in St. Louis, March 23, 1864-Gen eral Roseeranz Undeceived -ll Missouri  Conference at Mexico Difficultv wvith the Provost-Marslil — Preachelrs "Sworn In" at
Troy and other Places- The  AIissoutri  Sy nod, October,  1864 Church Division on the Oath-  Religious Liberty Struck Down Rights of Property Transfetrred bv a Political " Test Oathl "-St.
CSharles Colle Ie-ts Histor,-Ciartered in 1837-Ei,dowed by
Collier and the  I. E. Chlich, S(outhl-Seied bh Arnold Krekel,
December. 1862-The Act of March  186, Requiriino the Cura tors to Take and File an Oath in Eight Days or Vacate- The
Act of December,  1863, Creatiiig   a New  Board -The  M. E.
Church pa?ti ceps crimitnis in tlhe Fraud- Suit Brotught in 1867
to Recover Possession of the Propeity —Able and Successfil
Ar ument of CAl. E. A. Lewis before the  Supreme  Court  Jud,gment of Ouster-Property, with all Fiduciary Trusts, Re  stored to its Rightful Owners, January 30, 1870.........................61
CHAPTER IV.
REV.  ROBT. P. FARRIS,  D. D., AND REV.  SAMUEL B.
MtIPHEETERS, D. D.
A Band of Quiet Remonstrants-Their Influence Upon  the Persecu tioni - The "Fellowship of Suffering" - Rev. Robt. P. Farrtis, D.
D., Denounced in a Public Speech -  Arrested and Sentenced to
Imprisonment During  the War, bv General  Merrill- Sent to
Gratiot Street Prison, St Louis - Then B1anislied to Cliicaoo - Ap plies to President Lincoln, aind by himi Released( Unco(nditi(.,nallv
-- Arrested Again at the Instigation of N,thl iniei Reid -- Discli,rged
bv the Assistant Provost-Maarshal- Indicted for  Preaching the
GCospel-Rev.  Samuel B. MIcPheeters, D. D.- Charact,.r  and
Spirit- Vindicates his Rights as a Pastor-  Orde red by General
Curtis into Exile, because " His Wife was a Rebel" - President
Lincoln Restores himi to his Rig!-ts and Privile(ges - His Conlnec  tion with Pine Street Church Dissolved  it thle Point of the Bay  o)net - He Appeals to the (general As. enmblv, btit the " liiiquitv"
is Sustairned- Pesident Lincolhi's L( tteri' lie Op)inions of the
Press-The Announcemileiit of lois Deitli, AIar(-i 9, l8.0 83
18 
CONTENTS.
CIIAPTER V
REV. DAVID R. MIANALLY, D.D.y AND  REV. P. M. PINCKARD.
Rev. Dr. II'Anally-His Character, Position and Influence in the
Chutrchl-His Course as a Pubhic Journalist -- Tle St. Louis
Christian Adoocate-"The Rleliable Paper "-Editor Arrested
and Tlhrown i1to Prison —Paper Suppressed-Dr. M'Anallv in
Prison —Malicious Persecution-Prison Cell ] 2xl2 feet, with
Ele ven Men ii It-Ch aracter of His Companions in Tribulation   How His Timte was Spent-Before a  Military Coimmission "   Released on Parole of Holnor-Again Arrested on Suuday, May
10 186., and Thrust into Gratiot Street Prison —Ordered to be
Banished South-Taken to the Boat then to the Provost-Mar   shbal s Office-Lonu  Interview  with Col. Dick-Severe Rleflec   tions-Order of Banishiment  Countermaiuded —Other Indigni   ties-R~v. P. M. P,.ckard-PtPublisher of the St. Louis Advo   cate and Book Ageut-Bold Scheme to Break Down the Book
Concerni —Detected and Defeated by the Ageutt-Tlie Joint Pub   lisliing Coimmittee Sell the Concern to the Agetit-IHe Met the
Liabilities and Saved the Property to thle Cliurch-"Honor to
Whoml Holor......................................... 105
CHAPTER VI.
A LIST OF MIARTYRS-REVS. JOIIN L. WOOD-GEO. L. SEX
TON AND EDWIN ROBINSON.
Rev. John L. W  od —A Local Preacher —( haracter Standing and Spirit
-Shot Dea,(l in the Street-His Only Offense tliit Hle was a MIin ister of the Gosp,l in the  I. E. ( hurch  Souttli-Pi'ticiilars-lRev.
A. E. Se-ars-Rev.  Caleb MA. C,lveir acd Rev. O. H11. Benrnett
Arrested —Rev. Jacob XWaltenbar'er Mo(bbed in 4tle Ptilpit and
Dragged fromi the ( hurch for Attempting( to Pieacli a Funeral Camp-Grolltid Btliriit-Rev. P(o. L. Sexton-.-A Gifted Young
Miiiister —" In Prisolis Of  — Wacvliid and Mtiirde(ied-Shocking
Details —Rev. Ed\ill  R,)(insoul-An Honored Minister of the M. E.
Church. S,,uth, his only Offet-nse-Shot D(ovwn T,ike a Do —A
Most Horrible Mulder-Details-A  Suffcring Fai uly-PReflec tions.................................................. 125
CIIAPTER VII.
ELDER AUGUSTUS H. F. PAYNE.
Elder Augq.st.s!T. f. Pey,e —Earlv Life in Kentiicy1 —Enters the
Ministry of tie Chris.ti,-i Chtir(hih-Spotless Cliiri,eter-Usefiul Min-J
istry-iMovcs to Missoutri, aud Lives in Clay and Culitton counities
19 
CONTENTS.
A Successful Evangelist-Principles-Love for the Union and the
Constitution-Nominated for the State Convention in 186'1 —LManner of Life During the War-Murdered near Plattsburg, Clinton
county, in 1863-Shocking Details-Affecting  Narrative by His
Daughter-Fruitless Efforts to Bring the Murderers to JusticeUnanswered Questions-Reflections....................................... 143
CHAPTER VIII.
REVS. TYSON DINES) WILLIAM POLK AND THOMAS JOHNSON.
Rev. Tyson Dines -Sketch by Dr. Farris-His Character-Arrested,
Imprisoncd, Exiled —Charged with "General Dislovaltv "-Rev.
WIVilliam Polk-A Baptist Minister-Shot Down in Coid Blood near
his House-Particulars —A Good Man Martyred —Rev.  Thomas
Johnson-A Representative Man-Character of the Pioneer Preach ers-His Life and Labors on the Frontier-Long Connection with
the Indian Missions —The Early Settlers-The Territory and State
of Kansas-Mr. Johnson in the Legislature, the Territorial Con. vention, and in the Congress of the IUnited States-As a Preacher
and Church Legislator —His Loyalty to the Government —Political
Sentiments —Murdered at Midnight, Jan. 1, 1865, in his own House
-The Assassins —The General Gloom —Reflections.................170
CHAPTER IX.
BY REV. J. H. BROOKES, D. D.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH-REV. DR. M'PHEETERS, REV. DR. ANDERSON
AND OTHER MINISTERS, AND RULING ELDER HARVEY T. M'CUNE.
Views of Primitive Christians Concerning War-Conduct of Modern
Christians-Boston Peace Society-The Ruling Elders of Park
Avenue Church-Rev. S. B. McPheeters, D. D.-Order for His
Banishment-Contempt for President Lincoln's Authority by His
Subordinates - Unrighteous Proceedings by a Minority of the
Presbytery of St. Louis-Action of the General Assembly-Rev.
J. P. Anderson, D. D., and others-Murder of Ruling Elder Har  vey T. McCune-The New Constitution.................................193
CHAPTER X.
THE NEW CONSTITUTION.
The State Convention of 1865-Members' Names, Age, Profession
and P. 0. Address-A Curious Stud —Emlancipation Ordinance
-A Civil Question, belonging to the State, with which Churches,
20 
CONTENTS.
as such,  have Nothing to Do-The  Unsecular,  Non-political
Churches of Missouri "Cast Down but not Destroved; Persecuted but not Forsaken"-Vindicated-Bill of Rights-Motive
Unveiled-Pious Fraud-Declaration  of Rights- Rights  and
Wrongs of Suffrage —The Notorious "Test Oath " —Section 3d of
Article II - Constitutional Penalties - Questions Easily Asked --
Vote in the Convention and in the State on the Adoption of the
New Constitution-Governor Fletcher's Proclamation............222
CHAPTER XI.
TIE NEW CONSTITUTION-HOW ADOPTED.
The Constitution Submitted to the Popular Vote-Strange Facts  The Constitution a Conspiracy-The Election a Farce-The Re turns Manipulated-Doubts, Fears, Anxiety, Excitement-Fruitless
Efforts made to see the Election Returns -Alleged Frauds-Omi nous Silence —Citizens of St. Louis vs. Secretary Rodman —The Vote
and the Voters of the State —Extracts from the Missour?i Republi can —Vho were Disfranchised, and Why-People not Responsible
for the Fraud-Who are Responsible-Protest and Complaint —Con spiracy and Reticence —Names live in Historv-The Real Authors
of "Martyrdom in Missouri."............................................... 240
CIIAPTER XII.
THE NEW CONSTITUTION VS. RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.
Supreme Authority in the State-Civil Law and Religious Libertv Religious Liberty Defined  and Analyzod —Ias  the State  the
Right to Interfere with Questions of Religious Faith and WVor ship-The Constitution of the United States-Laws of Congress
and Supreme Judicial Decisions on Religious Liberty-All Re ligious Liberty Inheres in the Riohts of Conscience-How far the
State Constitution Invades the Kingdom of Christ-A Logical
Analvsis of" the "Test Oath" in its Application to Ministers of
the Gospel, as such-It is both a Qualification and a Penalty As a Qualification it Assails the " Crown Rights of Jesus" and
Infringes the Rights of Conscience-As a Penalty it is an ex
post facto Law. and Assails the Constitution and Legal Guaran  tees of all Civil Liberty-A  Legal  Argument-Logical  Con  clusions............................................................................. 257
CIHAPTER XIII.
REV. J. II. BROOKES, D. D., ON THE NEW CONSTITUTION.
Policv of the Author-Full Bearinn  of the Subject-True Position of
Ministers-No Resistance to Civil Authoritv -No  " Treason"- -
Nature of a Christian Man's Oath-" Confession of Faith " —The
21 
CONTENTS.
Oath Anal zed —Self-Contradictorv and Abs,urd-An ex post facto
Law-In Coi,fiict with the Scriptutres find tlte Collstitution of the
Church —The Difference between the R-secranz  Oath and this
"3 est Oath " —The Persecuttions in Scotland under Chlrles II —
State rs. Church-Scenes of Martyrdom and Sayinrgs of MLartyrs —
Judicious aid Timiely Reflections......................................... 275
CHAPTER XIV.
M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH-PAI,MYRA MEETING IN 1865.
The M. E. Church, South. in Missouri, from 1863 to 1855-"Perse cuted, but not Forsaken; Cast Down, but not Destroved"-A
Gloomy Picture-Renit and Riven. Scarred arnd Scattered bv the
Blasts of WVar —Who are Responsible? — Our Friends. the Enemy"
-Church. South, pronounced "Dead," and Church. North, hold ing the Inquest and Administering on the Est:te-Northern Con ference ask Southern Methodists to come into the " Old Church" (?)
-"Adding Insult to Injury " —Ecclesiastical John Bnownism-The
Palmyra IMeeting-" The Heroic. Im-nmortal Twentv-one "-Novel
Procedure-Affectinar Narratives of Personal Ad(veniture and Expe rience- State of the Church-Important Church Paper-Profoi)und
Impression and General Effect —" Like Life from the Dead" —
Actors and Action............................................................. 303
CIIAPTER XV.
JURING AND NON-JURING MINISTERS-PUBLIC INTEREST.
Baptist Church-General Association of Missouri on the Oath-Pub  lic feeling throughout tho State-Hon. B Gratz Brow" and Rev.
Dr. Nelson on Religious Liberty-Who favored the Application of
the Oath to Miliisters —Hlrcld Questions to' Anlswer "-Viewed
from Abroad-The New York Obse,-ver on "RIhgiious Libertv in
America "-Our Own State-The Religious and Secular Press Hlow the Sulject was treated in diff,rent Cointies and Courts by
Jud(les. Jurors and Attorneys-TlThe Vindication of JuT ig Preach  ers Required —CuLrious  F,cts iand Incideiits-Dr.  MI,nally and
the Old Ladies of the "'H ome.......................................... 321
CHAPTER XVI.
FATHER CUMJMINGS, REVS JESSE FAUTBION, JOItN WINN, L. M.
MIAHANEY, J. C. WILLIAMIS AND OTHEItS.
The Celebrated Cummings Case —A Cathlol:c Priest, at Lonisina.
Mo., Indicted —A.rrested atnd put in Prison —Tried in ('irecuit Court
of Pike CounIty-Conivicted and Sentenced-Supreme Court of
22 
CONTENTS.
Missouri Confirms the Sentence —Sipreme  Court of the  ITnited
States Peverses the Decision, and Declares the'rest Oa,th Unconstitutional —Trhe Opinion of thle Court Aialvzed-Rev. Jesse Faubioc —His Stufteiings during the WXar-Indicted and Tried —-Rev.
John WVinn, R, v. L. IVI  Malaazey, Rev. J. C. Williams, Rev.  H.
M. LoJig —Rev. Wil/is E.  Dockery-Rev. W. M.  Nawland —-A
View of the Weeklyv History of Thing,s in the State, fromi the St
Louis Christian Advocate of Feb. 1,1866...............................341
CHlAPTER XVII.
THE BAPTIST CHURCH-REV. A. P. WILLIAMS, D. 1)D., REV.
JAMIES E. HUGHES AND REV. JOHN H. PRICE.
The Baptist Church-History —Division in 1845-Slavery Question —
The War-Division in this State-" Loval Convention" it Han nibal —tinsas (,itv ald Jeffeirson Cittv-Pev. A.  P.  Williams,
D. D.-' The Gre it Baptist Standard Bearer of Missouii " —Ex tracts from his Journal-Genleral Association Arrested-Dr. Wil liams Indictecl-Rev. James E. Hitghes-lHis Life Labors, Trials,
and Indictment-Transcript fromi Court Records-Rev John H.
Price —Charactei antd Labors-AIobbed at Third Foik Church De
Kalb county, while Preachinc —Two of thle Mob Killed —A Bloodv
Scene-Visited(l b  another Mob at -Midnight and Draogred from hllis
Bed and Hoi-e to the Biotsh, Stripped(l. Gag,gred  Beat with Pistols,
and Wihipped neali1  toDeath for Pr(eaching the Gospel without
Taking the Oathl................................................................361
CHAPTER XVIII.
REVS. W. A. TARWATER, S. W. BURGIN, GEO. W. ROBEY AND
MANY OTHERS.
Rev. IV. A. Tarwater-Arrested often and Bonded, bht none of these
Things Moved Him —Rev. S. W. Buqin "in Perils ()ft " —Rev. Geo.
I. Robey-Rev. Josiah MeCa,y —Rev. W. S. Woodard —A Sin(u  lar C]ae-A Conrt Adjourined )ecliuse Attornevs wo(-tld not Prep ire
Bills of Indictiment against 1[inisoters-Rev Jas. Ragaqn-Rev. John
A. Alauipowe —R v. J. S. F'asiei —Rev  J. B. Charistl; -Rev. A.
H. Dean-R,v. L. F.. A,plev — Elder iltm. C. Liion-Elder Ge.
P. lKinnairdi-Martvar( d-Rev. Al. L. Eals-[LIndlictmenit tgainst the
Author and mnanv Others....................................................386
23 
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIX.
REV. SAMUEL S. HEADLEE AND REV. ISAAC FRAZEE.
Rev. S. S. Headlee-The most Noted of all the Missouri Martyrs Biographical Sketch - Earlv Ministry - In Labors Abundant Headlee "as a Preacher " —'As a Man "-As a Presiding Elder The Circumstantial Details of His Murder - Deeply Affecting
Scenes during the Last Hours of the Dying Martyr-His Murderers
-Their Names and the Names of those who saw them Commit the
Deed-Responsible Certificates-Justice seeks its Vindication in
History when denied in Civil Tribunals-Rev. Isaac Frazee-Mur dered by Soldiers...............................................................423
24 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
CHAPTER I.
RELIGIOUS QUESTIONS ONLY ARE VITAL.
Religious Liberty-Church and State-The Relations of Church and
State Unsettled-The Relation of Human and Divine Govern   ments-Conflict Between Church and State-Perpetual Enmity   Religious Questions in Social and Civil Revolutions-Judea and
the Destruction of Jerusalem-The "Crusades "-Cross and Cres   cent-The Holy Inquisition -French Revolution of 1798 -Last
Civil War in England - American Revolution of'76 - Crimean
War-Louis Napoleon and Northern Italv-Vaudois Christians   Prusso-Austrian War-Needle Gun vs. Concordat-John Russ
and Jerome-Revolution in Spain-Disestablishment of the
Irish Church-Conscience Demanding Libertyv-The Late Civil
War in our Country no Exception -Political and Religious
Aspects of the War-A Patent Moral Panacea-Curious Ques   tions of Casuistry-Preaching and Practice.
Religious questions only are vital.  Religfous liberty
-the rights of conscience, the rights of individual faith
and worship, the integrity of the Church of Jesus
Christ as a "kingdom not of this world," the purity
of the Gospel, the divine authority of the ministry, and
the sovereign kingship of Christ as the rightful and
only Head of the Church, raise all the religious questions which so vitally concern man as a social and
moral being.   How far the State should touch and
regulate by legislation any of these matters of religious
.iberty is a question not so eastly determined. That 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
the State must provide laws for the citizen as a social
being, and adjust, by legislative enactments, his civil
relations and rights, will not be questioned. In doing
this the religious conscience must be touched to some
extent, and the questions of religious liberty must be
more or less affected; besides, the State government
must provide for and protect the religious privileges of
its citizens. Can this be so done that the rights of conscience, of fatith and of worship will not be abridged,
and, at the same time, all the personal and civil rights
of the citizen be respected? The wisest statesmen and
the purest Christians in the most enlightened countries have not been able to settle such questions, and
place the Church and the State in proper and peaceful relations to each other.  They are so distinct, and
yet so interdependent, that a thousand and one civil
statutes and ecclesiastical deliverances impinge upon
each other and interlock the respective functions of
the complex machinery.   Many  flippant talklers and
writers suppose and affirm that the relative position of
Church and State, with all the distinctive prerogatives
of each, have been settled long ago, and especially by
the model structure-of the United States Goverment.
This is not true, however. While in the fundamental
constitution and government of this country we have
the nearest approach to both civil and religious freedom, and consequently the true relations of Church
and State, yet there are too many conflicting and clashing interests, too much control of citizenship in the
interest of religion, too much religious proscription in
the interest of loyalty to the State, too many partisan
fanatics in the Church, and too many politico-religious
26 
MIARTYRDO0I IN MISSOURI.
fanatics in the country, and the agitation of ecclesiastico-political subjects is too constant, intense and general to allow the thoughtful and candid to believe that
the relative position of Church and State has been
properly and peacefully settled even in this country of
boasted fireedom and much vaunted civil and religious
liberty.
Preachers and politicians will prolong the agitation
just so long as the one can gain notoriety and the
other secure place and power.   Yet it is manifestly
unjust to lodge with such sinister motives the public
discussion of the gravest questions of the hour. Designing- mene will nevertheless take advantage of the
unsettled relations of Church and State, and the popular interest that can easily be manufactured out of their
ever clashing( claims, to agitate the public mind and
prolong strife for corrupt purposes.  It has ever been
the case, and will continue until "the kingdoms of this
world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his
Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever."
Hluman governments at best are only imperfect imi tations of the Divine government.  The most perfe(,ct
models of civil government are but huge and fattal ex periments upon the great problem of self-government,
and represent but the feeble staggerings of unaided
humanity toward government and God. There is no
perfect government without God, and no stable and
peaceful administration of human laws independent of
God. Civil governments will ever be subject to change
in their organic structure and in their fundamental
principles, even by violent revolutions, until their con  stitutions, legislation) adjudication and administration
27 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
shall be conformed to the divine model furnished in
the Holy Scriptures, which requires a proper recogni tion of the Supreme Being, the Divine Governor and
Ruler of the Universe, the authority of his laws, the
grace of his gospel, the universal claims of his king dom, and the regal and unchallenged sovereignty of his
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Then there will be no
conflict between Church and State. Christ will not be
tried and convicted before Pilate, and Paul will not
appeal unto Caesar, or be "left in chains" and "reserved unto the hearing of Augustus." Then ecclesiastical courts will not pronounce upon the respective
claims of political parties and party measures, nor will
high ec(clesiastical courtezans use the power of the
State, obtained by deception and fraud, to seize the
property and persecute the ministers of other churches
on account of constructive sectional sympathy, or have
incorporated into State constitutions the most proscriptive and intolerable fetters for the ministerial  conscience as a qualification or a penalty for the work of
the holy ministry, and authorize the proscription and
persecution of ministers of the gospel'even to prison
and to death in the interests of a fanatical and false
loyalty to the civil government.   The relations of
Church and State settled, indeed! The " blood of the
martyrs," even from that of "righteous Abel" down
through the long line of prophets, priests and kings, of
apostles, confessors and fathers, of reformers, defenders
and remonstrants, of Protestants and Non-Conformists,
and along down to our own times and history, with the
horrible chapter of blood and murder which the State
of iMissouri has given to the history of religious mar
28 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
tyrdom, all cry out in sacred, solemn protest against
the assumption that the work of solving and settling
all the questions of civil and religious liberty growing
out of the relations of Church and State has been
accomplished. No, no; the great issue which Christianity makes with the individual man reaches his social
and civil, as well as moral and spiritual, relations; and
wherever the distinctive authority of Christianity comes
in conflict with evil, whether in the consciences, the
lives or the laws of man, the issue is at once defined,
sharp, and without compromise. Though the Gospel is
"Peace on earth and g,od will toward men," yet its
Divine Author announced the fact that before peace
there must be war, and the sword must precede the
"good will toward men."   "Think not," said he,
"that I am come to send peace on earth.  I have come
not to send peace, but a sword."
It is a sad commentary upon our race, but we must
recognize the facts and accept the situation. Enmity
was put between the serpent and the woman, and between his seed and her seed. This enmity involves
perpetual strife and war between good and evil, which
extends through all the history of our race, and affects
all the interests of time and the awards of eternity.
"0, shame to men! devil with devil damned
Firm concord holds: men only disagree
Of creatures rational; though under hope
Of heavenly grace, and God proclaiming peace,
Yet live in hatred, enmity and strife
Among themselves, and levy cruel wars,
Wasting the earth each other to destroy;
As if (which might induce us to accord)
Man had not hellish foes enough beside,
That day and night for his destruction wait."
29
.1 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOUTRI.
Not until right and righteousness are established in
the earth will strife cease and men learn war no more.
A false truce, and a peace obtained under the plea of a
false charity, are alike inimical to the establishment of
Christ's kingdom in the earth. Hypocrisy is a convenient cloak for sin, and a maudlin charity is a popular
refuge for crime; but "God is not mocked," and his
"kingdom of righlteousness and peace and joy in the
Holy Ghost" can not be established amongst men
under the semblance of righteousness or on a base
counterfeit of the chief of its virtues.  "Then cometh
the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom
to God, even the Father; when hlie shall have put down
all rule and all authority and power. For he must
reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet."
Into every social, civil, political and moral revolution amongst men enter more or less largely the vital
issues which Christianity makes with man  as a sinner,
and the questions of civil and religious liberty as they
are represented in the conflictinr  claims and interests
of Church and State. Jienee it is again affirmed that
religious questions only are vital. Questions of religious faith, and conscience, and worship only have in
them the life or death of the individual, the life or
death of the State.  They only are vit(l.
Both the philosophy and the history of the most
noteworthy revolutions in civilized countries confirm
the position here taken. The rejection and crucifixion
of Jesus Christ by his own nation, and the subsequent
attempt of the apostles to establish in Judea a "kingdom not of this world," while Judea was a province of
the Roman Empire, involved the relations of Church
30 
MARTYRDOM   IN  IIISSOURI.
and State, brought the questions of conscience in conflict with the authority of Cesar, and provokled imperial Rome  to the destruction of Jerusalem  and the
Temple, the slaughter of more than a million of Jews,
and the dispersion of the divinely chosen and rejected
tribes of Israel into every land and country, where
they are still a "hissing and a })y-wNord."
AWhen, in the seventh century after Christ, the Saracens, under the Caliph Omar, invaded Palestine, captured Jerusalem and ruled the Iholy Land in the name
and by the authority of the great prophet, Mohammed,
at a cost of sixty millions of lives, the bare privilege of
makiing pious pilgrimages to the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre at Jerusalem was obtained for the Christians
with much difficulty, and then only through the friiendly
services of international diplomacy. This poor religious liberty was greatly restricted by ZMusselinan insolence and intolerance after a few centuries, and the
pious pilgrims had to submit to many indignities, often
being driven out, and many of them put to death. A
holy indignation was created throughout all Christian
countries.  Peter the Ilermnit, espousing the cause of
the proscribed and persecuted Christians, issued from
obscurity, and with his fiery eloquence roused up all
Europe, until the Christian nations poured forth army
after army to rescue the Holy Land from the hands of
the infidel Mlusselmren.  The Cross and Crescent joined
issue, and became the respective symbols of the oppos ing questions and forces. The eleventh, twelfth and
thirteenth centuries became distinguished for the blood iest wars known to history, called the " Holy Crusades,"
and costing the Christian nations alone over two mil
31 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
lions of lives, with untold treasure.   The  religious
questions almost absorbed the soeial, financial, commercial and national interests and resources of two
continents for more than three hundred years.
When Pope Innocent III established in all Papal
countries what is known as the "Holy Inquisition,"
for the examination and punishment of heretics, with
the notorious St. Dominic as the first Inquisitor-General, the institution entered at once into the most vital
political questions, involving Italy, Spain, France,
Portugal, Germany, and every other papal country,
more or less, in a religious internecine war, in which
the civil and the military authorities were but the
officers of the Church, to obey and execute her bloody
behests.  More than half a million of victims in Spain
alone were offered to the bloody Moloch of the "Holy
Office." How many thousands and millions went to
the rack and the stake in other papal countries eternity
alone will reveal.
The French Revolution of 1789 revealed a rare combination of moral forces and religious questions, in the
wide-spread corruptions of the clergy, the religious
intolerance and oppression of the people by the nobility,
at the instigation of the priests, and the many social
and civil fetters put upon the religious conscience in the
interest of loyalty. It was this, and not "Diderot's
Penses Philosophique," which bathed France in blood
and cost Louis XVI his head.
The last civil revolution in England was not produced
by the twenty-five per cent. tax upon ship money,  but
by the religious questions raised by Church and State
complications, which, strange enough, this tax was made
32 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
to represent. Charles I put Elliott, that bold champion
of religious liberty, in the dungeon, thus forfeiting his
pledges, disregarding the Petition of Rights, and trampling under foot the Grand  Remonstrance.   He proscribed and imprisoned the Puritans, and marched with
an armed force to Westminster to break up the House
of Commons and disperse the patriots of the Opposition. These things touched too deeply the religious
conscience of the masses to be submitted to tamely.
The popular indignation was aroused, the people
clamored for change; even Hampden, the great conservative leader, was powerless in the storm.  The
revolution came, and Charles I lost both his crown and
head.
It was not the three per cent. tax upon tea that
caused the American Revolution of'76. The great
Edmund Burke said in the British Parliament "that the
right to tax him for that amount implied the right to
make him a slave," and Haynes said "that the American
revolution was fought upon a principle involved in three
cents a pound upon tea." It is true that George III
took away the colonial charters, and repealed laws at
his pleasure, changed the forms of his administration,
and denied the colonies the right of representation,
while they were heavily taxed to support a civil oppression which they detested, and did many other things
which were proscriptive and tyrannical; but far back
of all these grievances lay the questions of religious
freedom, which forced the Puritans of England and the
Iluguenots of France to seek an asylum upon these
shores, and secure the blessings of religious liberty far
from the oppressor's power.   The right to worship
3
83 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
God according to the dictates of the conscience, without
molestation or restraint, was dearer to them than country, or home, or even life itself, and would be greatly
endangered, if not virtually surrendered, by admitting
the right of taxation without representation. Too long
had they enjoyed religious privileges under their charters to yield them up now to the tyranny from which
they had escaped. Religious liberty, demanded by the
rights of conscience in faith and worship, which human
authority has no right to abridg(re, was the soul and
center of all the rights and liberties for which "Washington fought and freemen died." Men may have
patriotism without Washington, and loyalty without
religion; but we can not have Christianity without
Christ, or true liberty without religion.
Statesmen and diplomats tell us that the "Crimean
war" was brought about by the attempt of Russia to
overthrow Turkey, and thus disturb that mythical thing
called the political balance of power in Europe. But
the truth of history will point us far back of, and
beneath this political surface, to a literal Church key as
the real casus belli.
The Greek Church possessed the key to the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. The Latin Church
wanted it. Each affirmed their right to it, and both
considered themselves persecuted and wronged. The
Greeks finally offered one to a side door. The Latins
demanded equal facilities to the main entrance.  They
wrangled over it until the authority of the governments which they respectively represented was evoked.
Statesmen and diplomatists entered the lists and tried
to settle the difficulty, but they only complicated the
34 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
question with national honor, and extended it to all the
vital functions of the State, until all Europe became
more or less involved.  England, France and Turkey,
with the promise of Austria, became confederate allies
against Russia in a war that cost more blood and treasure than it would require to put the Bible in the hands
of every human being on the globe. That church key
fitly represented the distinctive questions of religious
liberty, which the sword is sometimes commissioned to
unlock.
The war of 1859, in Northern Italy, unveiled the
existence of religious questions and moral combinations
more powerful than the political relations of the Scandinavian States. Louis Napoleon made that brilliant
campaign on the plains of Lombardy, not solely for the
purpose of affecting the political condition of the people
and States of Northern Italy, and to invest them with
popular suffrage and form them into an independent
confederation, with Victor Emanuel on the throne, but
to unfetter the conscience, guarantee, in a measure,
religious liberty, release the Vaudois Christians, whose
strange history had excited such profound interest for
centuries, open their evangelical mission, bring them
down from their impregnable Alpine homes, and give
to Italy, through them, a free Protestant Christianity.
As a mere political result, the war established a new
confederation, reduced the Pope's Italian provinces to
one-fourth their former dimensions, and his subjects
from two millions to half a million, and gave the last
stunning blow to his political power.
Louis Napoleon little thought that Providence had
used him to give the death-blow to the papal power,
35
I 
MIARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
wNhile his own bay-onets alone upheld it, and prepare the
way  for a purer evangelism to pervade the classic
peninsula, and redeem  all of papal Europe from the
relig,ious proscription and oppression of the "I-oly
Btother Chlurch."
The late Prusso-Austrian war revived the old Bohemiian Protestantism, aind girded it for the new opportunities created by the great changes in the Austrian
empiire.   The moral revolution in Austria is more
significant than any changes in the organic structure
of the empire, if indeed they can be separated. Tihe
celebrated Papal " Concordat" was abolished.  Count
Buest, a liberal Protestant, was made Prime 3linister,
and at once inaugurated a liberal policy. Civil marriage was established and  anti-Papal children  were
declared legitimate. Education was made more liberal
and relieved, to a great extent, of priestly control, and
the followers of the immortal Ituss and Jerome, those
brave old "Reformers before the IReformation" and
martyrs of the Council of Constance, are not only encouraged and revived, but there is yet hope for the
moral and political redemption of the Ynost oppressive,
proscriptive and cruel empire in all Europe. It may
turn out at last that the celebrated "needle gun" was
constructed and commissioned to destroy the Papal
Concordat, and re-inspire and re-kindle the spirit of
Huss and Jerome of Prague in the very heart of Europe
and in the middle of the nineteenth century.
The quiet revolution in Spain has turned at last upon
the great questions of religious liberty; and the discovery of the debris of the ancient martyrs in the heart
of 3iadrid, while excavating the streets, at the very
116
a 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
time when the Cortes was discussing the relations of
the Church to the State-whether all religion should
be free-awakened intense excitement throughout the
whole country, and precipitated the decision of the
Cortes in favor of religious freodom.
The disestabulishment of the Irish Church, and its
future relations to the government of England, has
created a deeper and more general interest throughout
the kingdom than all the complicated questions of inteirnal policy and foreign relations thathave demanded
the grave consideration of Parliament for many years.
It will not be denied that the relations of Church and
State evolved by that great issue assumed an alarming
character, and threatened the kingdom with a widespread and disastrous civil revolution.
The "Alabama Claims," and the revolutions in Spain
and Cuba, and all other questions of foreign diplomacy,
sunk into comparative insignificance in the presence of
the rights of conscience and the liberty of faith and
worship involved in the true relations of Church and
State.
These facts sufficiently demonstrate the position taken
without the recital of the particular persecutions of
Christians, such as the Waldenses, Albigenses, Iugrenots, St. Bartholomew Massacre, MIarion Martyrs, Nonconformists and Remonstrant Confessors, and many
others in which a direct issue was made with individuals
on account of their religious faith and worship.
It is clear that the true relations of Church and State
have not been settled so long as the rights of conscience
in matters of religious faith and worship form a feature
so prominent and play a part so conspicuous in all
37 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
civil revolutions, and even international wars amongst
civilized nations.  Indeed, it is difficult to escape the
conviction that the revolutions of civil governments,
whether effected by internecine or international wars,
are either the voice of the religious conscience clamoring for liberty and asserting its divinely endowed
rights, or the force of religious principles, which, passini, through a variety of stages, settle down finally at
the foundation of all social order and enlightened civil
governments, and become vital to all the social and
civil institutions of man.
The late civil war in this country is not an exception
to the general rule.   The events are too fresh and the
party passions have not sufficiently cooled to admit of
any philosophical analysis of the true questions which
led to the deplorable and bloody strife between the two
sections of our country. The future philosopher of
our country's history will discover and bring to light
moral combinations and religious questions which had
existed and acted upon the moral sentiment of the
country for more than a quarter of a century, and
which would have produced a revolution in some form
had there been no slavery question around which to
gather a false sentimentalism and with which to kindle
a frenzied fanaticism. Some other institution or some
other question of civil policy would have furnished the
occasion for an upheaval of the old order of things,
which the restless and reckless religious fanatics could
not much longer endure.
The breaking up of the Charleston Convention in
1860, and the exciting presidential campaign which followed, doubtless precipitated the issue. It was the first
38 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
time in the history of the country when straight-out
sectional candidates were before the people for the
Presidency, and when sectional issues were fairly and
squarely made. In the judgment of party leaders, the
election would decide questions that were vital and
involved the life of the nation, and nothing was left
undone that could arouse sectional prejudices, inflame
sectional passions and influence the result in the smallest degree; and firom one end of the country to the
other the highest state of political excitement prevailed, affecting every circle and class of the people,
and foreshadowing in alarming colors the coming strife
of arms. But mere political excitement, unmixed with
religious fianaticism and unsustained by what is called
the religious conscience, will pass away with the occasion which produced it. Hlowever high and heated
political feeling may run, and however fervid the party
passions may bound, a civil revolution will be impossible without the great moral questions which appeal
directly to the religious conscience and the authority
of the Word of God. Party leaders and party passions
would have been powerless to produce the late civil
war without the admixture of religious fanaticism and
the injection of religious questions. lence, the revolution in moral sentiment was first, was deeper, more
radical and general; and political party leaders are less
responsible than those who direct the moral forces, and
from  pulpit, platform and press give tone and temper
to the moral and religious sentiments that were so
liberally evoked in the prosecution of the war.  The
old standards of right and wrong, of truth and falsehood, were torn down, and these terms were made to
39 
MARTYRDOM  IN MISSOURI.
exchange places and express ideas to suit the latitude
and the purpose. The Decalogue was put into the
crucible of expediency and simmered down to a kind
of moral decoction, which was labeled "loyalty" and
distributed promiscuously for the healing of the nation.
It was possessed of marvelous properties as a moral
panacea, and could be accommodated to the wants of
every individual and be made to justify every moral
travestie. The precepts and principles of the Gospel
were given a modern, war interpretation by Beecher,
Phillips, Simpson and Ames, which toned down the
moral e.s)rit du corps of the army, and gave its generals,
colonels, captains, provost marshals and scouts a kind
of moral carte blanche upon the effects, personal and
real, of all combatants and non-combatants, including
old men, ministers, women and children, in the name
of the best government in the world. The moral history of the war itself would involve the shrewdest
casuist in the most intricate problems of moral philosophy to determine the relative guilt of Henry Ward
Beecher and General Grant, of Bishop Simpson and
Mr. Stanton, the "war minister," of Bishop Ames and
General Butler, of Bishop Clark and General Sherman,
and so on through the list.  And yet, after all, the
problem is simply one of preaching and practice.
40 
MIARTYRDOMI IN MISSOURI.
CIIAPTEPR II.
TEST OATIIS-THEIR PHILOSOPHY AND HIISTORY-TEST OATIIS
IN MISSOURI.
Oaths, Jndicial and Official —Vhv Resorted to in Civil and Jtdclicial
Adminiistration-Washingitoin on the "Religions Sanctions" of
the O.lthi-Different Forms and Functions of Oaths in Different
Coulntries-Delective in this Counntrv-A Matter of (Giave PuIl)lic
Consildeil,ttion —The History  anld Oiice of "Test Oaths " in Re   lig,ious Persecutions —No Inveiition of the Nineteenthl Centnrv   N ot Peculiar to Missori —Nebuchladn(ezzar's Deciee and the
"Three  Children"-Darius  aill Daniel-Tlhe Sainhedrimi   and
Peter and Johln —Nero A. D. 67-Domitian A.D.  81 —'Siaximiian
and the " Theban Le(ion "-The -\Vlldenses-Albi ensi es-1)ir   tholomeiv M,,secre —Revocation of the Edict of Nantis-s —Holy
Inqnisitionl-Valleys  of Piedmntoi nt-Vad( is  Hi(ugenIots —Tlie
Principle in all Pe rsectiions in all ANes —iissoni iNot 3ehilnd
-Different Oaths in Missoliri —Their (isivil, Legal and Moral
Efifect —Culninate in the New Constitiition —Iiieidents-Profane
Sacrilege.
"Test oaths" and "oaths of allegiance," so called,
figured so conspicuously in the late civil wai,, and subsequently in the persecutions of ministers of the gospel
in Iissouri-, that the history of those times would be
defective without sonime notice of their philosophy and
history.
An oath is a solemn affirmation or declaration, made
with an appeal to God for the truth of what is affirmeda solemn invocation of a superior Power who is believed
to be acquainted with all the secrets of the heart, with
the inward thoughts as well as the outward actions, to
witness the truth of what is affirmed, and to visit his
41 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
vengeance upon the person making the invocation if
the declaration is false, or the promise is not fulfilled.
It implies a belief in the existence, omniscience, omnipresence, purity and justice of God, and in the doctrine
of future rewards and punishments, according to his
revealed will, and is designed to bind the enlightened
conscience to the truth according to this faith. At least
such is its meaning among Christian people and those
who use the Holy Bible in its administration.
To swear falsely is called perjury; and this is considered the worst of crimes.
1"Wheii truth is violated under oath, the crime is
called perjury. The considerations that determine the
turpitude of the crime of perjury are the following:
(1) The very strolng and solemn obligations which are
violated by the perjured man exhibit, to some extent,
the fearfulness of his crime. These obligations to tell
the truth are voluntarily assumed when he takes the
oath.  (2) Periury is the grossest insult and the most
impious defiaiee that can possibly be offered to Almighty God. It is the worst form of blasphemy-the
more heinous as it-is attended with the greater solemnity; and it is the highest irreverence of which man can
be guilty. (3) Perjury is universally ranked among the
worst of crimes, and this universal voice is strong
proof of its turpitude.  It is a deliberate crime.  It is
also a most reckless crime. The dignity of human
nature, the nobleness of truth and the honor of God
are alike disregarded by him who dares to stain his soul
with the crime of perjury."*
*Rivers' Moral Philosophy.
42 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
Oaths are of two klinds-judicial and official; and for
all ordinary purposes of civil administration these are
sufficient. But for such extraordinary times as are here
to be considered, many oaths were required which were
neither judical nor official.
The judicial oath is required to secure the administration of justice according to law: as when a witness
in court swears that he will "tell the truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth. So help me God."
The official oath is the solemn affirmation of the man
that all the duties connected with his office shall be
performed faithfully and to the best of his ability.
In a country and amongst a people where the administration of justice and the faithful discharge of all
official duties are sanctioned, if not secured, by a solemn
and reverent appeal to the retributions of eternity,
according to the principles of divine justice and the
revealed conditions of the gospel of Jesus Christ, there
must exist a strong, as well as an universal faith in the
fundamental doctrines of Christianity; and this faith
enters largely and profoundly into the elements of
national character. The recognition of Christianity in
the administration of every department of the govern ment, in the oath of office, and in the forms of judicial
procedure undeniably attest the value of Christianity,
not only to the public conscience, but to the safety and
security of all the blessings to be secured tQ the citizen
under a wise and humane government. Christianity is
not only a distinct element of national character, but a
distinct institution of the State; and, as such, it emi nently conserves the peace, the purity and the righteous-,
ness of the civil administration.
43 
ITMARTYRDOM  IN MISSOURI.
The judicial, the official, and all other religious oaths
required or resorted to in the administration of the
civil government, are made necessary by the humiliating fact that  ien? waell lie.  It is presumed, at least,
that they will lie, as they have been known to lie, when
their interest will be served or secured by falsehood.
But the State needs the truth; and "the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth," is necessary
to the administration of impartial justice to all its
citizens.   To secure this important result the State
appeals to the solemn sanctions of Christianity and to
the office of the enlightened christian conscience.  It is
assumed that the truth lies between every man's conscience and his God; and in order to bind his conscience
to the truth it is only necessary to require him, under
some official sanction, to make a solemn appeal to the
retributive justice and purity of the Judge of quick and
dead. IAo one will question the incalculable benefit
that has accrued to the highest interest of the State and
the citizens of the State from this appeal to the solemn
sanctions of Christianity, and no one will hesitate to
believe that it is liable to the grossest bbuse.
If the religious conscience is to be bound to the truth
by an appeal to the retributions of eternity, then when
a man solemnly invokes the Divine help and blessing
upon himn according to the truthfulness of his affirmation,
or the Divine wrath and vengeance if his affirmation be
false, it is considered the strongest presumptive evidence
of its truthfulness;> and yet the State has sought to
supplement the religious conscience by enactint, the
severest penalties for perjury.
From this view of the nature and philosophy of
44 
IMARTYRDO5I IN MISSOURI.
judicial, official, and all other oaths used in the admiinistrntion of lhuman governments, it is plain that a
solemin o)ath to bind the conscience to the truth should
never be treated with levity or irreverence, and should
never be resorted to except for the gravest purposes
and in the most solemn  manner.  Indeed, it may well
be considered whetler a proper respect and reverence
in the public mind for the Supreme Being have not been
greatly damage(l, if not destroyed, by the unnecessary
firequency, the prof.tie levity and positive blasphemy
attendiing the administration of oaths.  It may not be
out of place here also to submit for grave consideration
the thlought that possibly the religious.sanctions of the
oath may be wholly vitiated by the place, the time, the
occasion, the circumstances, the persons or the spirit,
wherle, when, for what, and by whom the oath is administered.  Certain it is that the righteous Pnler of the
Universe does not commit the administration of His
government, in its ultimate decisions, to the whims and
caprice of every petty official wvho may happen to have
a little brief human authority.  It is obvious to the
reflecting that during the late wvar the public-conscieince
vwas first outraged and then debauched by the constant
and irreverent appeals to the Almighty made by and
required of the most blasphemously wicked men, and
with the most profane levity, to enforce the ineasures
of petty tyraniny  and oppression, and to justify and
sanction the plunder, pillage, arson, rape, murder, and
all the other horrible and wanton crimes which have
forever disgraced the con-duct of barbarians and savages.  In this fact the countn- has suffered a grievous
wrong and an irreparable damnage.
45
I 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
The "Father of his Country" foresaw the danger
that would result from such a state of things and left
for our admonition the following wise counsel: "Let it
simply be asked, where is the security for property, for
reputation, for life itself, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of
investigation in courts of justice? And let us with
caution indulge the supposition that morality can be
maintained without religion. Reason and experience
both forbid us to expect that national morality can
prevail in exclusion of religious principle." It does
not require the wisdom of Washington to discover that
official and judicial corruption, as well as the loss of
private, social and public virtue, is, in a great measure,
the baneful result of the reckless and utter disregard
of the "religious sanctions" in the thousand and one
"test oaths" and "oaths of allegiance" administered
during tand since the late ware
The form of the oath is conventional and arbitrary.
Dr. Paley says: "The forms of oaths, likle other religious ceremonies, have in all ages been various, consisting, howxvever, for the most part, of some bodily action
and of a prescribed form of words."  Among the Jews
the person taking an oath would hold up his right
hand toward heaven, as the action or gesture suited to
an invocation. This form is still retained in this and
in several other countries where Christianity is recognized as a national institution. Among the Jews, also,
an oath of fidelity was taken by the servant putting his
hand under the thigh of his lord.  Among the Greeks
and Romans the form varied with the subject and occasion of the oath.  In private contracts, for instanee,the
46 
MARTYRDOMl IN MISSOURI.
parties took hold of each other's hands and swore to
the performance of the contract, or they touched the
altar of the god by whose divinity they swore. On
more solemn subjects they killed a beast and offered it
to the divinity to whom they appealed. In Christian
countries the forms vary. In no country, perhaps, in
the world is the form so badly contrived, to secure
either the object or the religious sanctions of the oath,
as in this country.   The juror or witness, with his
right hand raised, or placed upon the Bible-sometimes
one, sometimes the other-listens inattentively to the
magistrate or clerk as he mechanically repeats the
form of the oath. At the conclusion, the person swearing is not always required even to say, "So help me
God," but the officer repeats it for him, at the same
time holding the book indifferently to his lips for his
irreverent kiss. The oath could scarcely be administered in a manner more certainly to destroy its solemnity, sanctity and felt sense of religious obligation.
The frequency and levity of it has created a general
inadvertency to the sacred  obligations of an oath,
which, both in a religious and political poipt of view,
is much to be lamented.  It may well be a matter of
grave public consideration whether the policy and
forms of oaths in this country should not be revised,
and, if possible, restored to a place of high and solemn
authority in the civil administration.
The history of "test oaths," and the service they
have performed in religious proscription and persecution, is a very curious history. It is not an invention
of the nineteenth century, and peculiar to the religious
aspects of the war in ZIissouri.   To require men to
47 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
swear allegiance to some worldly prince or power, in
order to find a pretext for their persecution for right eousness' sake, is as old as persecution itself and as
arbitrary as human caprice.  The principle of the test
oath was in the decree of Nebhuchadnezzar, which re quired all his subjects, at the sound of certain instruments of music, to fall down and worship the golden
image which "he set up ill the plain of Dura, in the
province of Babylon." The case was differently put,
but the test was the same.  The king and his princes,
governors, captains, judges and counselors were not so
much concerned about the loyalty of the Jews as they
were to firame a pretext for the persecution and removal of certain good men who had been "set over the
affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Ieshlach
and Abedneg,o," by submitting a test of loyalty which
the religious conscience of these men would spurn, and
which they foreknew would furnish a pretext for their
destruction.  Neither the wrath of the king, the fury
of his counselors, nor the "furnace heated one seven
times more than it was wont to be heated," could move
these "three Hebrew children" fromttheir fidelity to
God in his supreme authority over their consciences.
In all other respects they acknowledged the rightful
authority of the king, and were more loyal than their
accusers; but when the king required them to do that
which God had forbidden, they refused, and God approved their course  by preserving  them  from  the
flames, so that the "fire had no power upon their
bodies, nor wvas an hair of their head singed, neither
were their coats chlang,ed, nor had the smell of fire
passed upon them."
48 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
The same principle is still differently put in the decree of King Darius, which prohibited the asking of
any petition of any god or man, save himself, for thirty
days, under penalty of being cast into the den of lions.
This decree, like the one of Nebuchadnezzar, made
that an offense which was not an offense before, and
thrust the test of loyalty to the king between the conscience and God in order to obtain an excuse for the
destruction of a heaven-favored man, against whom,
according to their own testimony, they "could find
none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful,
neither was there any error or fault found in him."
All the ingenuity of malice and the inventions of envy
could not frame an accusation against him.   "Then
said these men, we shall not find any occasion against
this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning
the law of his God." True, O king! and these cowardly counselors of Darius and craven conspirators
against Daniel faithfully type the instigators of religious persecution in all ages and countries. We can
find no fault in him concerning the king or the State.
tie is as loyal as the best of us, and has done,more for
the government than all of us put together. Hiis record
is true; and if we find anything against him at all, it
must be "concerning the law of his God."  We must
flatter and cajole the king so that he will not suspect
our real design, and get him to sign a decree so carefully worded that its nature and effect will not be detected; for while it really and legally makes that a
capital crime which was never before even a misdemeanor, it must be done in the ostensible interest of
loyalty and allegiance to the king.   They succeeded
49
4 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
admirably, as they thought, and "King Darius signed
the writing and the decree."  Now, then, we will see
what effect this decree will have upon him "concerning the law of his God."  Mark the result! "Now,
when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he
went into his house, and his windows being open in
his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his
knees three times a day and prayed, and gave thanks
before his God, as he did aforetime."
That was just what the conspirators wanted. The
test was sufficient. They now could accuse him boldly
before the king.  But the " king was sore displeased,"
not with Daniel, but "with himself, and set his heart
on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going
down of the sun to deliver him." But he was too late.
Their purpose was accomplished. The king was only
their go-between.   In vain he fasted the live-long
night, while "his sleep went from him."  Before they
could reach the den of lions with the faithful old
prophet, God had dispatched the angels to close the
months of the half famished beasts so that they could
not harm the Lord's anointed.
lHuman nature is the same, and the history of persecution can do but little more than repeat itself. The
Jewish Sanhedrim commanded Peter and John "not to
speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter
and John answered and said unto them, whether it be
right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more
than unto God, judge ye; for we can not but speak the
things which we havo seen and heard."  They were
again arraigned before the Sanhedrim, who said unto
them, "Did we not straightly command you that ye
50 
MARTYRDOMI IN MISSOURI.
should not teach in this name?"  But they answered,
"We ought to obey God rather than man." The test
was different, but the principle was the same.
The first persecution of Christians under Nero, A.
D. 67, was characterized by similar tests. This first
and most heartless persecutor of Christians is said to
have "refined upon cruelty and contrived all manner
of punishments for Christians that the most infernal
imagination could invent."  Paul, and Peter, and Erastus, and Aristarchus, and Trophimus, and Barsabas, and
Ananias, and each of the seventy, were among his
victims.
During the persecution under the Emperor Domitian,
A. D. 81, the veritable "test oath" was used with the
most shocking results. Says the historian: "Another
hardship was that, when any Christians were brought
before the magistrates, a test oath was proposed, when,
if they refused to take it, death was pronounced against
them; and if they confessed themselves Christians the
sentence was the same."
It is needless to follow the history of martyrdom in
its several succesive stages, under the system of civil
and political "testoaths;" yet one other instance which
occurred in the olden times is so appropriate that it
must not be omitted.
When Maximian was Emperor of Rome, A. D. 286,
a great rebellion broke out in Burgundy, and threatened
the revolt or secession of Gaul from the dominion of
the Roman empire. The Emperor ordered his army
into Gaul to put down the rebellion. There was a
legion of men 6,666 strong, called the "Theban ILegion,"
commanded by Alauritius, Candidus and Exuperius, all
51 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
Christians, who had been quartered in the East, but
now were ordered to join the grand army in Gaul.
They promptly obeyed orders, climbed the Alps, hung
for a time like a burnished cloud upon their peerless
bights, and descending into Gaul, joined the Emperor.
Before joining battle with the insurgents, Maximian
ordered a general sacrifice to the god of war, in which
the Theban Legion refused to participate, because it
was idolatry.  The Emperor then required his whole
army to take the oath of allegiance to him, and swear
at the same time to assist in the extirpation of Christianity from Gaul, upon the assumption that Christianity
was a conspicuous element in the rebellion, and that all
Christians were constructively disloyal.   This  noble
legion of Christian officers and men firmly refused to
take such an oath. This refusal so greatly enraged the
]Emperor that he ordered the legion to be decimated;
that is, every tenth man to be selected from the rest
and put to the sword. The legion was still inflexible,
and a second decimation was ordered, and every tenth
man surrendered his life for a principle. This second
severity made no more impression tlhan the first. The
survivors stood in solid column, nor yielded, nor wavered in fortitude or principle. By the advice of their
officers they drew up a loyal remonstrance to the Emperor, and every man's name went down on it, pledging
his loyalty to the King and fidelity to the Roman
ensign. This even did not soften the Emperor, but only
hardened his heart. He was so enraged at their perseverance and unanimity that he commanded a third,
and a fourth, and a fifth decimation, and thus the work
of "death, death, and death" went on until the last man
52 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
of that inflexible legion went down to rise no more,
except in the holy cause and the undying principle vindicated in their death, sanctified through their blood
and made immortal in their Christian courage and sublime heroism.  United in life, in death they were not
divided.  Transferred from the East across the Alps
into Gaul, and from Gaul across the "last river" into
the city of the New Jerusalem, that legion is still marching on.
Neither the persecution of Christians nor the "test
oaths" as convenient instruments of persecution remained with pagans, or departed from the world with
pagan countries.
The Waldenses in France furnish a history of persecution, under the application of inquisitorial tests,'authorized by Pope Innocent III, which has rarely been
surpassed for cruelty in any country or age. This persecutiou originated what is known in history as the
"i Holy Inquisition." Then followed the persecution of
the Albigenses, who lived in the romantic province of
Albi, France, from which they derived their name, and
who were condemned by the Lateran Council, by order
of Pope Alexander III.
Then follows the "Bartholomew Massacre," at Paris,
in 1572, which extended to Orleans, Meldith, Lyons,
Toulouse, Rouen, and many other places, until many
thousands of all ages went down in that sea of blood.
The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, under Louis
XIV, October 18, 1685, opened afresh the cruel persecutions and applied to the consciences of men the
severest tests. The firmness and moral heroism of the
Huguenots made the period sublime.   From equal
63 
MARTYRDOMl IN MISSOURI.
rights in every respect, civil and religious, with all
other subjects, secured by the good Henry the Great in
the famous Edict of Nantes, in 1598, which they had
enjoyed for nearly a whole century, the Protestants
found themselves suddenly deprived of all rights, civil
and religious, expelled from all offices, trades, privileges
and employments, and denied even the common charities and sympathies due to the sick and helpless, with
the king's dragoons quartered upon them in every
place; and all this, too, by the decree of a king who
was indebted to the arms of these very "heretics" for
his establishment on the thlirone.  They endured  all
things for conscience sake, and when they were called
up in every parish before the civil authorities and
required to take a solemn oath that they would renounce their heresy and henceforth be faithful Catholics, the brave old Huguenots firmly replied, "We are
ready to sacrifice our lives and estates to the king, but
our consciences being God's, we can not so dispose of
them."
The "Holy Inquisition" repeated the test oaths and
augmented the persecutions in every papal country, the
history of which forms the bloodiest record of the
"dark ages."
The valleys of Piedmont had sheltered a few Waldenses, and the eternal hights and fastnesses of the Alps
had housed and homed the Vaudois Christians, where
God preserved a few thousand who had not bowed the
knee to Baal nor the head to the guillotine.
They kept their faith pure, their consciences free,
and their hearts warm. They lived, and grew, and
multiplied exceedingly, and kept their altar fires ever
54 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
bright with holy sacrifice to God, until the jealousy of
their old enemies was aroused, and their old persecutors
hunted them out, and by every appliance of cruelty
and torture sought to induce them to take an oath solemnnly renouncing their faith and returning to the
Church of Rome.  The parliament of Turin sent d puties to the vsalleys of Piedmont, with formal prol)ositions to this effect, which had the approval of the Pope,
the King of France, and the Duke of Savoy, and, as a
consideration, pledged them their lives, their liberty,
their houses, possessions and lands, without further
molestation. To which the Waldenses made this noble
reply
"First, That no consideration whatever could make
them renounce their religion.
"Second, That they valued the approbation of the
King of kings, who reigns in heaven, more than any
temporal power; and,
"Third, That their souls were of more value than their
bodies."
The same facts substantially were developed in Italy,
Spain, Bohemnia, Germany, England, ScotlTnd, and in
the early history of America. In filet, every country
and age marked by religious persecutions presents in
some form, and as a conspicuous feature in the methods
of persecution, the system of religious or political test
oaths; and hence it is again affirmed that the "test
oaths," and " oaths of allegiance," so called, are notthe
invention of the nineteenth century, nor peculiar to the
State of 3[issouri, only in their application to ministers
of the gospel and others as a convenient pretext for
proscription and persecution for conscience sake.  Even
55 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
the authors of the New Constitution can not plume
themselves upon the originality of its "test oath," how ever much they may merit distinction in other respects.
Truth will not be sacrificed to the beauties of hyperbole, to affirm that the State of Alissouri, in both her
civil and military departments, was not a whit behind
her sister States in devising, concocting, inventing,
framing, prescribing, requiring, enforcing and filing
"test oaths," and "oaths of allegiance," so called, during and since the war. And in no State or country,
perhaps, have civil and military oaths been so often
changed, revised, altered, amended and reconstructed;
and this, too, by military commanders, State conventions, legislatures, civil courts, military courts-martial,
provost-marshals, post commanders, scout captains,
squad lieutenants, orderly sergeants, civil magistrates,
notaries public and common soldiers, almost at pleasure
and indiscriminately. Besides the "convention oath"
which every voter, officer, trustee, director, curator,
lawyer, minister, juror, witness, and all other citizens
who claimed the privileges of citizenship had to take,
we had the "Halleck oath," in "General Orders No.
29;" the oath prescribed by an Act of Congress, approved Augcust 6, 1861; the famous " Rosecranz oath,"
in "General Orders No. 61;" another State convention oath; and still another provided by an Act of the
General Assembly, approved March 23, 1863. And how
many more devised, prescribed and enforced by commanders of sub-military districts, petty provost-marshals, A. A. Generals, colonels of scouting regiments,
and petty subalterns in temporary authority, it would De
impossible to enumerate. Indeed, there were so many,
56 
MARTYRDIOM  IN MISSOURI.
and they were so different one from the other, and so
often reconstructed, that the best moral philosopher
could not analyze or classify them. Oaths prescribed
by Congress; oaths prescribed by State conventions
and by the State Legislature; oaths prescribed by the
military department commnanders; by district commanders; by post commanders; by the P. M. General; by
A. P. 3. Generals; by district and post provost-marshals; by scout and brigand commanders; and sometimes by common soldiers: and each varying in some
particulars from the others-no two alike-some general, and some particular in their application. Some
requiring a man to swear to one thing, and some to
another-and,  not unfrequently,  a different thing.
Some administered by one class of officers, and then
the same oath required by another class. Some written,
signed, duplicated and filed, and others oral and not
filed. Some in printed forms and given to the person
taking it to protect his life and property, and often to
be disregarded and trampled upon by the first squad of
soldiers that happened to see him and desire his
property.
In many instances the oath itself was not enough,
and the person taking it was required to enter into
heavy bonds, with good security, for the faithful performance of the conditions of the oath, and not infrequently give a deed of trust, or mortgage his property,
real and personal, to bind him to his oath. In hundreds and thousands of instances military officers
would declare the bond forfeited, without so much as
the semblance of a trial, and proceed, nolens volens, to
seize the property and administer on the estate. In
57 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
this way many a man found himself stripped of every
thing he possessed in a day, and his wife and children
beggared for life.
A refusal to "take the oath" was assumed to be
evidence of guilt of some kind, and no protestations of
innocence or qualms of conscience could shield the
victim. A provost guard, a filthy prison, upon the
roughest fare, for mnonths and years; the forfeiture of
all the rights of citizenship, expatriation, the confiscation of all property, real and personal-all, and much
more, could not atone for such an offense. Thousands
of good men, with many ministers of the gospel, went
to prison, or into exile, and many of them from prison
cells and prison hospitals to their graves, for 7no other
offense than that of refusing to take the oath.  Old
men, who were too infirm to bear arms, were arrested
by rough soldiers, torn from their homes and families,
and "thrust into the inner prison" with common felons, from which some of them were brought out only
to be buried, for no cause under heaven but refusing to
take an oath from some shoulder-strapped tyrant who
desired to vaunt his little brief authority and support
his vanity and loyalty by cold, savage inhumanity.
This oath business in Missouri made a remarkable
history, and was made the pretext for unnumbered and
nameless wrongs and outrages upon the non-combatant
population.   Bv it men were deprived of property,
liberty and life; directors of corporations controlling
millions of dollars, curators of colleges, trustees of literary institutions and churches, were divested of rights
and deprived of their trusts; and many  county  nd
municipal (ifficers, bloth ministerial and judicial, were
58 
MIARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
vacated by the oath; the rights of property were disturbed, legal guarantees disregarded, and real estate
held in trust for corporate, educational and benevolent
purposes passed from the hands of the lawful owners,
and was appropriated to the uses of others, who had
no more right to it than the South Sea Islanders.
Indeed, the test oaths of 3lissouri were made to
perform so many military, political, civil, judicial,
legal, personal and ecclesiastical feats that property
rights became confused, the three co-ordinate branches
of the State government interfused, the rights of
citizenship were all disturbed, the whole system
of civil jurisprudence was revolutionized, the public
conscience was debauched, and the solemn religious
sanctions of the oath wvere all destroyed.   3lade to
play such tricks, and capable of such marvelous freaks
in the hands of politico-religious necromancers, it is
not surprising that it was incorporated at last into the
fundamental law of the State in its extremest, boldest
and most reckless form. The whole system of "test
oaths" culminated in the New Constitution. Before
that instrument was adopted " test oaths " and "oaths
of allegiance," so-called, became so commnon, and men
had to take them so often, and for so many purposes,
that it was no uncommon thing for men, in half serious
jest, to close up the day by counting over carefully the
number of oaths talken to find out which was taken last.
"-Good morning, neighbor; your last oath?" was a
rather significant salutation, and by no means infrequent in some portions of the State.
Old man Ricketts, who kept a hotel in Fayette, Hioward county, was.frequently heard to say that whenever
59 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURLI.
he saw a blue coat with shoulder straps or yellow tape
on the arm coming, he began to hold up one hand and
remove his hat with the other, so that he would be
ready to "swear."
It is difficult to escape the conviction that the system
of test oaths, as practiced in Missouri, was a profane
sacrilege, for which eternity alone can reveal and
measure the awful responsibility.  "Wo unto the world
because of offenses. It must needs be that offenses
come, but wo unto that man  by whom the offense
cometh."
60 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
CHAPTER   III.
THE " ROSECRANZ OATH" —ST. CHARLES COLLEGE.
The Rosecranz Oath-Its Design-Ecclesiastical Bodies Put Under
Milit-arv Sutrveilllace-The Power Behind the Throne-Session
of the St. Lonis Conference. in St. Louis, March 23, 1864-Gen   eral Rosecranz U-iideceived-Missouri Conference at Mexico   Difficuiltyv withl the Provost-,Marshal-Preachers "Sworn In" at
Tr(oy and other Places-The Missouri Synod, October, 1864   Church Division on the Oath-Religious Libertv Strui(-k Down   Rights of Property Ti-,infe,red bv a Political "Test Oath "-St.
Charles Collece -Its History-Chartered in 1837-Eidowed by
Cillier and the I. E. Ghuich South-Seized by Arnold lKrekel,
December, 1862-The Act of March 1863. Requring the Cura   tors to Tale and File an Oath in Eight Days or Vacate -The
Act of December, 1863. Creating a New Board-The M. E.
Chtrch p articeps criminis in the Fraud —Suit Broughit in 1867
to Recover Possession of the Propeityv-Able and Successftil
Ar umnent of C(ol. E. A. Lewis before the Supreme  Court   Judgment of Ouster-Property, with all Fiduciary Trusts, Re   stored to its Rightful Owners, Janu,arv 30, 1870.
Perhaps the boldest and most direct effort to strike
down religious liberty and subordinate divine to human
authority by military power during the whole war was
what will ever be known in history as the "Rosecranz
Oath,"  in General Orders No.  61.   If General Rosccranz was responsible  for that Order, and had done
nothing else to render him  famous in the history of
those times, his name would not perish from the earth
as long as the history of religious proscription could
furnish lessons to the Church of Jesus Christ, vindicate
the rights of conscience in matters of fatith and worship,e
61
I 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
and give to pious execration the names of Montmorenci
and Rosecranz.
Facts, however, that were developed in the application of Order 61 relieve him, at least, of the responsibility of its instigation; while the Hiaaman who really
plotted and planned the daring treason against religious
freedom may not be so successfully discovered and
justly hanged as was his prototype.  The history of
religious proscription and intolerance will ever associate
the name of Rosecranz with that chapter of it made by
his famous Order; and posterity will ever hold the
man  responsible, while his cruel counselors will not
escape the righteous judgment of heaven:
A full history of the "Rosecranz oath," promised
elsewhere in this work, will appropriately follow the
chapter on oaths, and furnish a sad illustration of some
of the positions taken and conclusions drawn.
In the early spring of 1864 arrangements were made
to hold at an early day the sessions of the St. Louis and
lvissouri Conferences of the M. E. Church, South, the
.Iissouri Synod of the Presbyterian Church, and some
other ecclesiastical bodies.   The  Conf3rences above
named had not met.regularly- for several years, because
of the troubles in the State, and especially the deepseated and wide-spread prejunliees created by designing
men against Southern 3Iethliodist ministers and the
proscription and persecution they were called to suffer.
As  orderly and  quiet citizens, and as ministers and
messengers of peace, they, with  singular unanimity
and prudence, abstained from every thing that would
provoke the hostility of enemies or excite the fear of
friends. They did not assemble in Conferences, or even
62 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
in the inferior Church cotirts,but remained at home for
the most part, when permitted, and labored as occasion
served for the glory of God and the good of soulsmany of them had betaken themselves to agricultural
and other pursuits for support. The same is true, to
some extent, of other churches and ministers that were
in the same political condemnation.  But when the
theatre of war had been removed so far from the border,
and 3lissouri became more quiet, these ecclesiastical
bodies were convoked and were preparing to assemble
quietly and peaceably to attend to their legitimate church
business, when some Western Mfachiavelli, with diabolical intent and ingenuity, conspired against the peace
of Christian ministers and the religious liberties of the
citizens of the State. Such a conspiracy against the
rights of conscience did not originate with the military
authorities, as was subsequently revealed, but was a
part of the general scheme of proscription and persecution designed to rid the State of all ministers of the
Gospel who were not in sympathy with the politicoreligious fanaticism of the times. General Rosecranz
and his subordinates were used by these conspirators,
as President Lincoln, Mr. Stanton, and others high in
authority had been. Should the whole history of these
events ever be written, the unprejudiced judgment of
posterity will hold, not the throne, but the power behind
the throne, responsible for the depth and damage of the
wrongs thus inflicted upon the body of Christ. Reli gious liberty was struck down by one dash of the pen;
the rights of conscience outraged upon false pretenses,
as will hereafter appear.  The Master betrayed in the
63 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
house of his firiends, and the cowardly conspirators
sheltered behind shoulder straps.
The reader, however, can form his own judgment
after carefully perusing the following "Order" and
subsequent facts:
"Important ]lfilitary Order Concerning Churches.
" HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURIT
OFFIcE OF THE PROVOST-MARSHAL GEN'L,
ST. Louis, March 7, 1861.
"Special Orders No. 61.]
"7. While it is the determination of the General
commanding this Department that due protection shall
be given within its limits to all religious convocations
which may assemble to promote the cause of religion
and  morality,  whether  convening  as Conventions,
Synods, Mfinisteria, Assemblies, Conferences, Councils,
or under any other name or title, the interests of the
country at the present time require that no such assemblages of persons, whose proceedings would be disloyal,
and tend to foment discord and encourage rebellion,
should be permitted.  It is right and proper, therefore,
that all members of such assemblages should give satisfactory evidence to the public of their loyalty to the
Government of the United States, that their patriotism
may be known, and that they be distinguished from
those who seek its overthrow.
"8. It is, therefore, deemed expedient, and hereby
ordered, as a condition precedent to such privilege of
assemblage and protection, that each and every person
attending such Convention, Synod,:Ministerium, Assembly, Conference, Council, or by whatever name it
may be called, and participating in the proceedings
64 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
thereof, shall take and subscribe to an oath of allegiance, and file the same in the office of the Assistant
Provost-3Iarshal of the locality in which  the Assemblies are held.
"9. It is hereby made the duty of all such assemblages to ascertain, before proceeding to organize and
transact business, those who have taken, subscribed and
filed the required oath, and permit only such to participate in their proceedings; and in case any such assemblage shall neglect or refuse so to do, or shall knowingly permit any one who has failed to comply with
the requirements of this Order to participate in its proceedings, it will be deemed a military offense, for which
its members may be held amenable; and any Provost3Iarshal present shall immediately order the assemblage
to disperse, and prevent the continuance of its proceedings.
"10. The form of the oath of allegiance to be taken,
subscribed and fixed as aforesaid'shall be in these
words:
" OATH OF ALLEGIANCE.
"1,, of     County, State of, do hereby solemnly swear that I will bear true allegiance to the
United States, and support and sustain the Constitution
and laws thereof; that I will maintain the National
sovereignty paramount to that of all State, County or
Confederate powers; that I will discourage, discountenance and forever oppose secession, rebellion and the
disintegration of the Federal Union; that I disclaim
and denounce all faith and fellowship with the so-called
Confederate armies, and pledge my honor, my property      5
65 
MARTYRDOM  IN MISSOURI.
and my life to the sacred performance of this my  solemin oath of allegiance to the Goverment of the United
States of Amnerica.
"Subscribed and sworn to before me, this       day of
,1864, at
"Witness:, of
"11. District Provost-Marshals will give their immediate and special attention to the enforcement of
this Order in their respective districts, and enjoin upon
each Assistant Provost-MIarshal the duty of attending
all such assemblages which may be held in his locality,
advise those assembled of this Order, and enforce its
directions. And they will also report immediately to
these Headquarters  all cases of neglect or refusal,
giving a full description of the character of the assemblage, the names of those present, and an account of its
proceedings.
"By command of 3laj or General Rosecranz.
"J. P. SANDERSON,
"Provost-MAarshal General."
It will be seen that this order bears date of March 7,
1864.  The St. Louis Conference, M. E. Church, South,
had been called by Bishop Soule to assemble in St.
Louis, March 23, 1864, and the Missouri Conference at
Mlexico two weeks later.  The Missouri Synod of the O.
S. Presbyterian Church had been called to meet in St.
Louis, in October, 1864, and the State Baptist Association at Boonville, 1864, besides other religious bodies
to assemble the same year.
When the St. Louis Conference met in St. Louis,
MIarch 23d, the ministers held an  informal  consurita
66 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
tion upon the nature and bearing of the Rosecranz
Oath, and what course was proper to pursue under
the circumstances.  The result was) the designation of
a conmmittee, consisting of Rev. Dr. J. Boyle, Rev. F.
A. Savage and PRev., to wait on the General commanding, acquaint him with all the facts, and see
what could be done.  They appeared at the General's
headquarters without delay,  informed him that the
members of the Conference then assembled were all
citizens of the State of iissouri, and had been during
the war; that they were peaceable, law-abiding ministers of the gospel, and had met solely for ecclesiastical
purposes; that the majority of them had previously
taken the oath of allegiance to the government of the
United States and the State of Nlissouri, and that the
session of the Conference  was intended purely for
Church purposes. The General manifested considerable surprise, and informed them frankly that he had
been misinformed; that, according to his information,
an appointment had been made for a Conference ostensibly for ecclesiastical purposes, but really and truly
to aid the rebellion by bringing the rebel.leaders of
Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas and the States further
South, as far as they could be reached, together, and in
consultation with the leading rebels from all parts of
this State; that the object was to further the interests
of the rebellion, and should by all means be stopped.
General Rosecranz asked to see a copy of the order,
and even expressed his surprise at its nature and conditions, saying that he had informed the Provost-Marshal General of the nature of the convocation, according
to his impressions, and that great mischlief might be
67 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
done under cover of such assemblies, and instructed
him to issue an order that would forestall tihe danger.
Jie had not before read the order.   Ie told the committee that the case was greatly altered by their statement; and if the members of thie Conference were citizens of this State, and had previously taken the oath of
loyalty, nothing further should be required of them.
If the members of the Conference would unite in a certificate to that effect, and send the certificate to his
headquarters, they should be protected in their rights
and privileges, and not be molested under this Oath.
The mind of Gen.  Rosecranz was disabused of a
gross, malicious error; the enemies of the M. E. Church,
South, and of all religious liberty, were defeated; the
Conference convened, transacted its business; the
preachers received their appointments, and went to
their work rejoicing that they were counted worthy to
suffer for Christ, and knowing not what trials, proscriptions and persecutions of a fiercer character awaited
them in the ominous future.
The MIissouri Conference assembled, also, at the
appointed time and place, and had ta meet the same
difficulties. The Provost-Marshal at Mexico wanted
to set aside the action of General Rosecranz in
the case of the St. Louis Conference, and "swear in"
the Conference before he would permit them to organize. An appeal was again made to the Major-General
commanding the Department, and after a sharp word
to word conflict between the impertinent official at
Mexico and Rev. P. MI. Pinckard and others of the
Conference, who had applied to and were sustail)ed by
the General commanding, the Conference was permit
68 
MARTYRDOMI IN MISSOURI.
ted to assemble and transact its business under the surveillance and treacherous espionage of the low tools
of designing men.
In Troy, Lincoln county, and in many other places
of the State, local Provost-]larshals and other military
officers interrupted primary Church courts, and required
ministers of the Gospel and other Church officials to
take the Rosecranz oath before they could meet to
transact the simplest Church business, or disperse and
leave the Church to suffer damage.
In the Synod of the Presbyterian Church in St.
Louis, October, 1864, this unrighteous oath created
serious difficulty, and if it did not create, it at least
precipitated the division of that body and Chuich in
this State. The members of the Synod who were Radical in politics hastily swallowed the oath and then
leagued with the military authorities to oust from their
seats and eject from the body those who preferred
Christ as the Head of the Church to Cmsar or Rosecranz, and who would not transfer their allegiance to
the Lord Jesus Christ as the supreme authority over
the conscience to any temporal, worldly, huithaiin power.
The oath-bound iron-clad ministers and elders managed, with the help of shoulder-straps, to obtain possession of the books and records of the Syod and to
organize and transact the business in their own way.
The Rev. Drs. Brookes, Anderson, Farris, and many
other leading ministers of the State, with many of the
elders, arose and withdrew from the body, leaving a solemn protest against the unauthorized and high-handed
usurpation of ecclesiastical power by military authority
and th4 truckling submission to that usurpation by
69 
IMARTYRDOMZ IN MISSOURI.
the Radicals - a protest that has done as much service
in the cause of a pure, unsecular Christianity as it did
credit to their heads and hearts. They were sustained
by their Church in MIissouri, and by the enlighltened
public sentiment of the whole country, in this their solemii declaration and testimon.y.
These gentlemen were not even permitted to claim
their seats and exercise the rights under the ConstitutionI of the Church in the Presbytery of which they
\were members, and which was a constituent part of the
Synod.  It will be seen elsewhere that when  Rev.
Dr. Farris claimed his seat in the Synod, by virtue of
his membership in the Presbytery and the fundamental
law of the Church, in order to see whether the Radical
members of the Synod would obey the Constitution of
the Church or the order of a military dictator, they
set at naught the Church Constitution, put Rosecranz'
order above the authority of Christ, and had Dr. Farris
arirested in the house of God, by a deputy Provost-Marshlal kept there to "swear in " the ministers and
elders, and thus qualify them for the transaction of the
business of the Church of Jesus Christ.  Other ministers iln other places had to submit to the same, and
sometimes  greater humiliation for daring to "obey
God rather than man."
The Church in Missouri has not yet recovered from
the effect of this General Order No. 61, and will not for
ycars to come, if ever.
It was, indeed, a daring and a reckless strike at the
most sacred liberties of the people and the bloodbought privileges of religious institutions.  It was a
bold advance of the sword toward the soul and centre
10
i 
MARTYRDOMI IN MISSOURI.
of all civil and religious freedom, to pinion its life, and
wreck the whole frame-work of American constitutional
religious liberty.
It has bean affirmed, that by the operation of the
systiem of "test  oaths" in Missouri much  property
held in trust for corporate, educational and benevolent
purposes passed out of the hands of the legal owners
and fiduciary holders ~nd directors, and were appr-opriated and used by others who had no more legal rights
to the property than the South S,ea Islanders.
FIany of these pages could be filled with practical
illustrations and humiliating evidences of the fact.  But
the case now to be noticed must be sufficient.
St. Charles College.
In the year A. D  1835 MIrs. Catharine Collier and
her son, George Collier, founded St. Charles College;
the latter purcheasing the grounds  and erecting the
necessary buildings in the then village of St. Charles,
3Io., at a cost of ten thousand dollars, and the formner
setting apart five thousand dollaes for an endowment
fund.  Upon the completion of the buildings in 1836,
SIr. Collier secured the services of Rev. John JI. Fielding as President, with three assistant professors, and
put the Colleg(e in active opera'tion-for many years
paying the salary of the President out of his private
means.   The  College  was  afterward  incorporated(
under the style and title of "The Board of Curators of
St. Charles Collegre," by an Act of the General Assembly, approved, Feb. 3, 1837. To the Board of (Curators designated by  this act of incorporation Mir. Collier conveyed the property, by deed, in 1838.
71 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
The Miissouri Conference of the Methodist Church, in
844, loaned to St. Charles College, in aid of the endow mient, the " Superannuated Preachers' Fund," amounting
to seventeen hundred and eighty-five dollars and eighty six cents, and, at the instance of George Collier and other
friends of the College, began strong efforts to increase
the endowment fund to twenty thousand dollars.  The
loan by the Conference was afterward made a dona tion. In order to enlarge the facilities and usefulness
of the College, and interest the whole Church in the
State in the endowment and patronage of the College,
M~r. Collier; the founder, joined with others in asking
the General Assembly to so amend the original charter
as to make the concurrence of the Missouri Annual Conference, M[. E. Church, South, requisite in future to
fill vacancies in the Board of Curators: provided, the
Conferenc, \-ould offer such assurances for the maintenance and endowment of the College "as should be
satisfactory to the Board of Curators."  The  act so
amending the charter was approved Feb. 6, 1847, but was
not to take effect until the above assurance was given.
In 1850 the Board of Curators formally accepted the
act of 1847 as an amendment of the charter.  -iNr. Collier died in St. Louis, July, 1852, and by his last will
])rOvid,d1, tlat, whenever  the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South, should deposit with the County Court of
St. Charles county State bonds of a,my one of the States
that had never repudiated her public debt, nor failed to
pay promptly the lawful interest thereon when due, for
the use and benefit of St. Charles College, with semiannual interest coupons, t ) be applied to the current expenditures of the College, then his executors were
72 
MARTYRDOM) IN MISSOURI.
required to place in the same hands a deposit of similar
bonds to the same amount, and for the same uses and
purposes.
The aggregate of both deposits was to be twenty
thousand dollars, to remain a permanent endowment
fund for the College. These deposits had to be made
within ten years after the death of the testator. The
Church complied with the conditions to the satisfaction
of BIr. Collier's executors, and the twenty thousand dollars in I~issouri State bonds now stands incorporated
in the permanent endowment fund of the College. Besides this, upon the sinking of the five thousand dollars
bequeathed by MArs. Collier, and in order that her benevolent' purpose should not be defeated by the blunder,
3Mr. George Collier placed in the hands of IHon. Trusten Polk, of St. Louis, five thousand  dollars in  the
name of his mother, to be so invested that the interest
might be used for the benefit of the College, as the
other endowment fund, in perpetuity.  This makes
a permanent endowment of $25,000, with real estate
and fixtures worth not less than $15,000.
Under the organization thus effected, and with
resources thus secured, St. Charles College was kept in
active,  successful  and eminently  useful  operation
until the breaking out of the war and until the
summer of 1861.   The excitement produced by  the
war was so great that the few students that remaiined
at the College were so demoralized that it was deemed
advisable to suspend, for awhile at least, the College
exercises.  The building,s, furniture and fixtures were
placed, by the Board of Curators, in charge of Rev.
73 
MARTYRDO03 IN MISSOURI.
Tysoin Dines,  who  occupied  the  building with  his
fhmlyv.
In December, 1862, Col. Arnold Krekel, commanding  a regiment of State militia, raised in and about
St. Charles, and himself a Curator of the College, took
forcible possession of the building,  ejecting Mr. Dines'
flmfiily therefrom and converting it into a prison for the
incarceration of citizens under military arrest. From
that day it passed out of the possession of its chartered
Board of Curators and the Church which had contributed so largely to its endowment fund and its prosperity, and, with all of its properties and franchises,
was used by others until Jan. 30, 1870, when  it was
turned over to its lawful owners again, in accordance
with the decision of the Supreme Court of the State.
Mere military possession did not itself confer legal
title, and by an. act of the General Assembly, approved
M3arch 23, 1863, it was provided that all "PRailroad
directors and officers, bank directors and officers, all
officers of incorporated companies, or of any incorporated institution," who should fail to take and subscribe
a certain oath prescribed in the act," on or before the
first day of April, 1863, should vacate their office as
said directors or officers, and the vacancy should be
filled by appointment or election under existing laws."
Could there be any designs on the property and institutions of others in giving only eight days for "directors and officers" throughout the entire State to be informed of the passage of the act and comply with its
terms?  The directors and officers of many incorporated companies and institutions were ousted by the-ct
before they even knew of its existence; and corrupt
7 -lt 
M.IARTYRDOMI IN MISSOURI.
and designinig men had a good chance to make large
appropria,tions of the property and franchises of others,
vwhlether they used it or not.
Il December, 1863, Col. Krekel, with others who had
by this time become largely interested with him in perpetuating, under the semblance of law, the arbitrary
transfer of St. Charles College and its franchises, procured the passage of an Act by the General Assembly,
the material portion of which reads as follows
"An Act amendatory of an Act entitled'An Act to Incor  )orctte the Curators of St. Charles College,' approved
Febrwtary 3, 1867.
A'Wul:EA.ES, A large majority of the members of the
Board of Curators of St. Charles College have failed to
take and subscribe the oath required by an Act of the
General Assembly of the State of MIissouri, entitled
'An Act relative to railroad directors or other officers,
bank directors or other officers, and directors or other
officers or trustees of any incorporated company or
institution,' approved 3{arch 23, 1863; and
" WuEREAS, In consequence of the vacancies in said
Board of Curators, the number of qualified (urators has
been diminished, so that a quorum for the transaction
of business can not therefore be had; therefore
"Be it enacted, &c., That Henry A. Clover, Charles
D. Drake, Dr. -A. L. Linton, Dr. John Conzelman, of
St. Louis county; John Adams, Dr. George A. Buckler,
Peter Hiansam, W.  W. Edwards, Robert Bailey, Sen.,
Theodore Bruere, Nathaniel Reid, Hienry Borgman,
Benjamin Enmoons, Jr., of St. Charles county; Fredcrick AIuench, of Warren county; Walter Lovelace, Dr.
Wm.  B. Adams,  and James IH. Robinson, of pIont
75 
MARTYRDO.NM IN MISSOURI.
gomery county, together with Arnold Krekel, John
Orrick and Edward A. Lewis, qualified curators ofethe
old Board, be, and they are hereby, constituted and
appointed as the curators of St. Charles College, and, as
such curators, are hereby authorized and empowered to
perform all the duties and transact the business of said
incorporation authorized and required to be done by
the Act to which this is amendatory.
"SEc. 2. Section two of the Act to which this is
amendatory is hereby amended, so that hereafter five
of the members of the Board of Curators shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business."
At the May term, 1867, of the St. Charles Circuit
Court, an' information in the nature of aquowarranto'
wvas filed, on the relation of a number of members of
the old Board, with a view to ejecting the curators who
claim to be such under the Act of December 11, 1863.
This' information' sets out at length the several Acts
of the General Assembly under which both the parties
claim, respectively, with the other facts constituting the
legal history of the rights contended for. This method
reduced the defense to the necessity or a " demurrer,"
since every fact was already alleged which the defendants could prove in their own behalf: A demurrer
was accordingly filed by them, claiming that the facts
stated in the information, if true, did not, in law, authorize a recovery against them. Other and minor
grounds of demurrer were introduced, which sufficiently
appear in the argument for the relators. The demurrer
was sustained by the Circuit Court without argument.
The case was then taken to the District Court by writ
of error, where, after full arglument, the demurser was
76 
MARTYRDOMI IN MISSOURI.
again sustained, Hlon. G. Porter delivering an elaborate
written opinion affirming the right of the defendants to
hold their positions under the Act of Deceniber 11,
1'63.  The case was then taken to the Supreme Court
by the relators, where an able argument, by Edward A.
Lewis, Esq., in their behalf, was delivered at the March
term, 1868.
For tlhee material facts in the early history of the College the author acknowledges his indebtedness to Col.
Thlos. W. Cunningham, a substantial and long tried
friend of the College and an honored member of the old
Board of Curators; and for the history of the suit to
recover possession, to Col. E. A. ILewis, whose able
argument before the Supreme Court was published in
pamphlet form and scattered broadcast over the country. This argument, which is, perhaps, the master
piece of his distinguished learning and forensic ability,
would takle permanent form in these pages but for the
fact that it is too long for insertion entire, and too compact and solid to be divided without damage.
The whole country is indebted to him for this maserly defense of chartered rights and fiduciary franchises; and the Church is indebted to him not only for
the successful vindication of her rights, but for a valued
and distinguished friend in her greatest time of need.
After the College with all its funded interests had
passed into the possession of the new Board, and the
country was thought to be sufficiently settled to justify
the opening of the College, the new Board elected, and
the Missouri and Arkansas Conference, M. E. Church,
appointed Rev. T. A. Parker, President; and from that
time forth, if not before, the Northern Methodist
77 
I,MARTYRDOMI IN MISSOURI.
Church was a party to the fraudulent proceedings which
deprived the rightful owners of their property.
If the party receiving and appropriating stolen goods,
knowingly, is particeps criminis with the thief, the 3Iethodist Church, North, will not escape the public verdict,
since she received and adopted the College as her own,
and, ignoring the claims of all others, kept the College
under her fostering care until it suspended in 1868.
Rev. L. 3I. Vernon was also appointed by the same
Conference to fill a chair in the College, and afterward
became its President. In 1868, at the very time when
the other institutions of learning in the State were rejoicing in recovered and paying prosperity, St. Charles
College, in the hands of Rev. 3Ir. Vernon, suspended
for want of patronage.
Even  aft,er the decision of the Supreme  Court ill
favor of the old Board, the usurpers, under the control
of Nathaniel Reid, bogus Vice-President, were very
loth to turn over the property, and very ungracefully
accepted the situation.
The. decision of the Supreme Court is too long for
insertion here, and all the material points in that.decision wvill be sufficiently presented in the following synopsis, taken from the report in the ]}issouri Republican
the day after it was rendered:
"Supreme Court of MIissouri- Thle St. Charles College Case.
"The Court iendered a lengthy decision in this case,
which originated as follows:  The Circuit Attorney of
the Xineteenth Judicial Circuit filed in the St. Charles
Cireuit Court an information in the nature of a quo waTrranto on the relation of David W. Pittman, Andrew
Monroe, Trusten Polk, Asa X. Overall, Daniel A. Grif        o
78 
ilARTVRDO0I IN MISSOURI.
fith, Samuel Overal', Norman Lackland, Lloyd Dorsey,
W. D  Fielding, John A. Talley, J. S. M. Gray, T. W.
Cunningham, J. Campbell, R. B. Frayser, R. E. Bland,
D. lIeDonald, Jno. WV. Robinson, J. Atkinson, Joseph
Boyle, Enoch 3I. 3Iarvin, Ed. A. Lewis and David R.
3['Anally, against John  Adams, Geo..A. Bucknow,
Peter Hansen, Robert Bailey, Sen., Theodore Bruere,
XNathaniel Reid, Henry Borgman, Benjamin Emmons,
W. B. Adams, Jas. IH. Robinson, Henry A. Clover,
Chas. D. Drake, Dr. MI. L. Linton, Dr. Jno. Conzelman and Frederick  ~uench.
"~ It was charged that the defendants had usurped the
office of curators of St. Charles College, and that the
relators were enitled to the office. The College was
incorporated on the 8d of February, 1837, being founded
by George Collier. It was provided in the charter that
no instruction should be given in theology, and that no
regulations should be made rendering a place in its
classes offensive to reasonable, liberal-minded persons,
whatever might be their religious opinions. The charter was amended on the 6th of February, 1847, somewhat changing  the character of the institution by
placing it under ecclesiastical influences, by providing
that vacancies in the Board should be filled with the
concurrence of the Missouri Annual Conference of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
"The relators chlarged that the defendants usurped the
office on the 1st of January, 1864, under color of authority granted by the Act of the General Assembly,
approved December 11, 1863, amendatory of the Act of
incorporation of the College.  This amendment was
never accepted by the Board, and it was in conflict with
79 
I.MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURL
the original Act and the former amendment, and with
the Constitution of the United States.
"The preamble of this last Act set forth that a large
majority of the members of the Board of Curators of
the College had failed to take the oath required by the
Act of the General Assembly, approved March 23, 1863.
The curators were left without a quorum to transact
business, and other curators were appointed without the
consent of the Board.
"Judgment was given in favor of the defendants in
the Circuit Court, and it was confirmed in the District
Court.  The case was then taken to the Supreme Court.
The latter Court held  "1. That the Act of February 6, 1847 amending the
original Act of Febrtary 3, 1837, incorporating St.
Charles College, inasmuch as it materially changed the
work of choosing curators and in a manner to endanger
the principles of the foundation, was a violation of the
contract embraced in the charter, and could not be
validated by the subsequent consent of the curators.
"2. That although the Act of March 23, 1863, providing, for taking the management of corporations of a
public nature from the hands of those who, during the
pending war, were aiding the enemy, was a lawful exercise of legislative power for the public safety in time
of war, yet it furnished no warrant for the Act of December 1iL  of the same year, professedly founded
upon it.
"3. That the relators regularly holding their places
under claim of right could not be removed except by
judgm,nt at law, or by a proceeding of a judicial naLure
before the Board of Curators, according to the charter,
so 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
with notice and opportunity of defense; that the Act
of December 11, 1863, so far as it created vacancies, or
assumed and filled vacancies not lawfully created, was
an exercise of judicial power not belonging to the Legislature; that the vacancies could not be filled by that
body until they were created by a lawful removal of
relators, and that whatever, in our opinion, in a direct
proceeding against them the judgment might be, or
should be, we can not act upon that opinion until such
judgment is rendered.
"We, therefore, hold that the relators should be
restored to their places, to be held until resignation or
removal by some lawful proceeding, and that defendants, having been appointed to fill vacancies that do not
exist, are intruders, though without malice, and should
be ousted.
"The philosophy of this decision, in plain words, is
that individuals can not be divested of rights except by
judicial process, and that, as the functions of the Legislature are manifestly legislative, and not judicial, it
can not assume a person to be guilty of a crime and
inflict the disabilities which attach to it.  Thls is not a
new legal and constitutional truth. It is as old as the
best part of the English Constitution. In fact, it is an
unquestioned maxim of law. And yet it has been so
repeatedly and flagrantly violated during the past few
years by the dominant party in this State that its fearless revival in the present decision makes it appear
like a friend come to life whom we had mourned as lost
forever.   That the present Justices of our Supreme
Court are indebted for their positions to the party
6
81 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
which is the author of the violations that the Court is
now rebuking and correcting, adds not a little to our
respect for the independence with which they announce
their decisions, and the learning with which they support and elucidate them."
82 
MIARTYRDO.MI IN MISSOURI.
CHAPTER IV.
FARRIS,  D.  D.1 AND  REV.  SAMUEL  B.
M'PIHEETERS2 D. D.
A Band of Quiet Remonstrants-Their Influence Upon the Persecu   tion-The "Fellowship of Suffering "-Rev. Robt. P. Farris. D.
D., Denounced in a Public Speech-Arrested and Sentenced to
Imprisonment Dturing the War, by General  Merrill-Sent to
Gratiot Street Prison, St. Louis-Then Banished to Chicago-Ap   plies to President Lit coin, and by him Released Uncodclitionallv
-Arrested Again at the Instigation of Nathaniel Reid —Disch,,rged
by the Assistant Provost-M-arshal-Indicted for Preaching the
Gospel-Rev. Samuel B. McPheeters, D. D. - Character and
Spirit-Vindicates his Rights as a Pastor-Ordered bv General
Curtis into Exile, because "His Wife was a Rebel "-President
Lincoln Restores him to his Rights and Privileges-His Connec   tion with Pine Street Churchl Dissolved at the Point of the Bav   onet-He Appeals to the General Assembly. but the "Iniquity"
is Sustained-President Lincoln's Letter-The Opinions of the
Press —The Announcement of his Death, March 10, 18(i5.
The statement has frequently been made that ministers of the -I. E. Church, South, though the greater,
were not the only sufferers during the dark days of
persecution in 3Iissouri. Some of the best men and
brightest lights in the Presbyterian pulpit were the
victims of arbitrary power and military malice.
The Rev. Dr. AIcPheeters, of St. Louis, and the Rev.
Dr. Farris, of St. Charles, are conspicuous amongst the
living martyrs of that period of general persecution.
The Rev. Dr. S. J. P. Anderson, of St. ILouis, and the
Rev. Dr. Yantis, of Kansas City, did not by any means
escape. Others there were who were persecuted during
83
REV. ROBT. P. 
3IARTYRDO01 IN MISSOURI.
the war, but not so severely; and many of them bore a
conspicuous part in the great struggle between Church
and State under the "test oath" of the New Constitution after the war closed.
No ministers in the State were more fearless and outspoken in defense of the integrity of the Church of
Jesus Christ, the purity of the gospel ministry and the
rightful kingship of Christ as the unchallenged lead of
the Church than the non-juring ministers of the Presbyterian Church. The noble stand taken by the Rev.
Drs. Brookes, Anderson, McPheeters, Farris, Yantis and
others against the arbitrary usurpation of ecclesiastical
authority by military commanders and provost-marshals, and the sacrilegious intermeddling with the klingdom of Christ by State conventions and civil functionaries, inspired courage and confidence in the Church and
ministry throughout the State, and supplied very largely
the moral power that finally broklo the bands of proscription, paralyzed the arm of persecution, scattered the
forces of the enemy, and lodged in the public mind the
most complete vindication of the purity and integrity
of the Church of Jesus Christ.
The history of those perilous times would be incomplete without the honorable mention of their names and
services.
The "fellowship of suffering" in a common  cause
makes a common history and bequeathes to posterity a
common legacy in which all distinctions of sects and
parties are lost. The future Church can well afford to
lose sight of all sectarian distinctions in the men whose
unflinching integrity in the presence of the most ujieeling persecutors, and in the experience of the severest
84 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
persecutions, maintained and perpetuated the dearest
principles of religious liberty, the rights of conscience,'
the freedom of worship, the purity of the gospel, the
divine authority of the ministry and the rightful kingship of Jesus Christ in his Church.
REV. ROBERT P. FARRIS, D. D.
Among the most prominent victims of persecution
during the war was the Rev. R. P. Farris, D. D., for
many years a distinguished minister of the Presbyterian
Church (0. S.) in Missouri. iHe was extensively known
and revered by his Church in the State for his many
Christian virtues, his quiet, but earnest and orderly life,
his learning, energy and ability as a minister of the
gospel, and his ever augmenting usefulness as one of
the most diligent and successful Christian workers in
the State. It is no empty compliment to his talent and
worth, that from the many eminent men of his Church
he should be selected as the journalist of his denomination in the WVest. Hle has been for years, and is now, the
able editor of the Missouri Presbyterian.
WVhen the war broke out MIr. Farris was pastor of
the Presbyterian Church in St. Charles, Mo.  his position and influence in the community soon attracted the
notice of those in authority.  At first, designing men
sought to secure his influence, and, through him, the
influence of his Church, in favor of the ultra partisan
policy of the Administration, but he had been trained in
that school of theology which taught that Christ's
"kingdom was not of this world," and his amnbassadors
should "know nothing among men save Jesus Christ
and him crucified." And he could not prostitute his
85
I 
IMARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
place and his people to political purposes, whether
friendly or unfriendly to the party in power.
Baffled in their designs, and unwilling or unable to
appreciate the principles which actuated him in thus
refusing to become a party tool, these schemers determined to accomplish his removal, and thus make room
for a successor who might prove more pliant.  They
manufactured much cheap and cowardly abuse, which
was heaped upon him without stint.  They called him
"secesh,"  "rebel," "traitor," "disloyal,"  and many
simiilar epithets.  W.  W. Edwards,  Esq., the circuit
attorney, in a fourth of July oration, accused MIr. Farris of praying publicly in his Church "for Jeff. Davis
and the Southern Confederacy."  The Provost-Marshal
-Arnold Krekel, now U. S. District Judge —after the
above public accusation, ordered Mr. Farris to take an
oath of allegiance and give bond in the sum of two
thousand dollars. MAr. Farris paid no attention to the
order, as he believed that compliance with it would be
wrong, in as much as it would assume his guilt and
require him to prove his innocence. The oath of allegiance itself was not enough; but they required a large
money security; and this, too, from one who had never
been convicted of crime, and not even arrested and
arraigned for trial. No process of law had either issued
or been served upon him, although the courts were
open, and the course of justice, at the time, unobstructed.   In 1862 certain persons already alluded to,
dissatisfied because Col. Krekel would not obey their
beck and serve their purposes, managed, through Brig.
General Lewvis 3ierrill, then commanding the District,
to have Kirekel superseded by one Edward I-arding.
86 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
In September, Hlarding, enforced the order for the arrest
of Rev. Tyson Dines and Rev. R. P. Farris, whom
Krekel had allowed to remain unmolested. Dr. Farris
was arrested late in the day, as he was returning from
Presbytery; and after a brief interview with Harding,
the latter paroled him for the night, promising to have
present in the morning certain witnesses to substantiate
the charges against him. Morning came. Dr. Farris
and his witnesses appeared at the Provost-Marshal's
office, but not one of his "loyal" enemies, such as W.
W. Edwards, Nathaniel Reid, &c., was manly enough to
face their intended victim.  Merrill himself took the
chair and interrogated Dr. Farris about loyalty, law,
&c. Those who witnessed the interview were highly
edified, and declared that the prisoner taught Merrill
more than he ever before knew about the Constitution of his country.   No notice whatever was taken
of Dr. Farris' witnesses. Not a single question was
addressed to any of them. But Merrill, saying that Dr.
Farris had made out against himself a clear case of
"general disloyalty," sentenced him to be confined in a
military prison during the war.
It is better perhaps that the victim of such arbitrary
power should tell his own sufferings in his own way.
"The same evening, with Rev. Mr. Dines and others,
I was sent under guard to Gratiot Street prison, St.
Louis.   While I was in that place the number of prissoners was about 1000, nearly all of them non-combatants, civilians, caught up at their homes in every part
of the State, incarcerated for opinion's sake, and many
of them sent off to Alton military prison to make room
for others in Gratiot Street.
87 
MARTYRDOINI IN MISSOURI.
"When Merrill was remonstrated with for imprisoning and banishing men of the highest standing, and the
most prudent, quiet citizens, whose only crime was their
natural sympathy with their kindred and the people of
their native South-'Damn them,' said the great and
valiant General, whose bravery can not be proved by
Col. Glover, of Northeast Missouri, or by the soldiers
of his own command, known as'MIerrill's IJorse'' damn them, if I don't send them away, they will soon
drive us out.'
"During my sojourn in Gratiot Street most of my
fellowv-prisoners were huddled together like cattle, night
and day, in the building, for there was no yard in which
they could breathe fresh air and exercise themselves.
Clothing and food sent to them by friends outside were
oftentimes not delivered, but used by the officers and
soldiers in charge of the establishment. The food furnished to the prisoners was frequently bad in quality
and always small in quantity, so that I have often seen
half-famished men plunge their arms up to the elbow
into the barrels in which the slops from the'officers'
quarters' were thrown and take theneb the bones and
greedily devour the little shreds of meat adhering to
them.
"After six weeks' imprisonment  mry sentence was
commuted to banishment to any point north and east of
St. Louis, and I was released on parole, that I might
make my preparations to go into exile. Awaiting
3Merrill's permission to return to St. Charles, in order
to arrange for the comfort of my family during my
absence, I remained on parole in St. Louis during; a
period of six weeks. In the meantime, at the sugges
88 
MARTVRDOM  IN MISSOURI.
tion and with the volunteered co-operation of Rev. F.
N. Ewing, of Illinois, and Judge David Davis, of the
U. S. Supreme Court, I brought my case, with testimonials from'Union' men  as to my  character and
conduct to the attention of MIr. Lincoln. The speedy
result was the issue of a'IGeneral Order,' covering all
such cases, and Mir. Lincoln's assurance, in his own hand
writing, that 1 would be released under said order. I
presented that assurance to the Provost-Marshal General in St. Louis, and asked to be discharged from arrest. But the tremendous pigmy, Franklin A. Dick, who
was at that time Provost-Marshal, treated me, his old
acquaintance, with a great deal of indignity, and, after
much equivocation, ordered me to go into exile at Chicago.  Before going to Chicago I addressed a note to
Judge Davis, at Washington City, informing him of the
turn affairs had taken, and asking whether Mir. Lincoln
had any authority in Missouri. The Judge promptly
waited on the President, obtained a'special order' for
my unconditional release, and took pains to see that
order safely through the War Department to the Adjutant-General of the Army, from whom it mast come to
the military authorities in Missouri. It was not long
before'Little Dick' addressed an official and remarkably respectful note to me in Chicago,' informing moof
my unconditional release from all military custody and
restraint.' So, after four months' alsence, I returned
to my family and Church, with the Presidenlt's unqualified endorsement of my'loyalty' and of my course as
a minister of the gospel.
"But I was soon disturbed again.  One Nathaniel
Reid, a member of my Church, but so'loyal' that he
89 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
could not conscientiously attend on my ministry, and so
patriotic that, in manifestation of his joy over the fall
of Vicksburg, he indulgedin'lager' to such an inebria ting degree as to be entirely oblivious of how he got to
bed that night-this fellow Reid, ugly in body as in
soul, filled pages of foolscap with fearful charges
against me-such as counseling somebody to poison
Federal soldiers, threatening to blow up a gunboat, &c.,
and then forwarded this truthful, (?) Christian (?) document to that most urbane, (?) Christian (?) gentleman
(?) Secretary Stanton. He remitted it to the ProvostMJarshal General in St. ILouis, and this official ordered
my arrest; but, after a protracted interview with one of
the Assistant Provost-Marshals, I was discharged without oath, bond or parole, and with the assurance that
it was'a great outrage that I was ever molested.'
"In October, 1864, a bare quorum of the Synod of
M[issouri held the Annual 3Meeting in St. Louis. In
order to assemble and transact ecclesiastical business
they were obliged to comply with what is known as the
' Rosecranz' Church Order'-i. e., they had each to
subscribe an oath of loyalty to C.esar, and to require
such an oath of any member claiming his seat. Should
they allow a member to sit without ascertaining that
he had taken the oath, or without exacting it of him,
they should be dispersed by the military I claimed
my seat —refused to answer whether or not I had taken
the oath-claimed my seat by virtue of my membership
in the Presbytery of St. Louis, one of the constituent
parts of the Synod, and by virtue of the fundamental
law of the Church. I desired to see whether my brethren would obey the Church's law or the command of
90 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
a military man.  They set at nought the Constitution
of the Church, submitted to be governed by military order, and would not allow me to take my seat.
At the same time a Deputy Provost-Marshal, who was
present in the house of God to'swear in' the ministers
and elders, and thus qualify them for attending to religious business, and whose duty it was to see that the
military order was obeyed, arrested me and put me on
my parole'to appear when called for.'  Having never
been' called for,' I am still under arrest for presuming
to go to Synod without taking the'oath of 4oyalty.'
"Under the New Constitution of Missouri I was
indicted in the St. Charles Circuit Court for preaching
the gospel without taking the oath. The case was postponed until the succeeding term. When the day came
and the case was called, as I did not happen to be in the
Court Hiouse, the rascally Judge and Circuit Attorney
were about entering on the record that I had forfeited
my bail, as if I were afraid to stand trial.  But my
counsel reached the court room just in time to prevent
this cowardly trick.  Hie said that he appeared for me;
that I was within call, and was ready for tri,l.  Thereupon the officials continued the case until the next term,
and then dismissed it."
The following interesting item is taken from the
-3issouri Presbyterian, edited by Dr. Farris.  The not
too severe reflections which accompany the publication
of the "true bill" appear now eminently just, and will
not fail to point an important lesson.
" Interestinq Indictment.
"Our readers will, no doubt, be pleased to see; and
91
.1 
MARTYRDOMI IN  MIISSOURI.
preserve as a relic of the times, the following document,
of a duly certified copy of which we are the honored
recipient. It will be read with increased interest, by
reason of the fact that the extravagantly "novel Constitution" was defeated in St. Charles county by something like 600 votes. Infidel officials, however, by dint
of extraordinary diligence in behalf of "the peace and
dignity of the State," succeeded in conveniently collocating on the Grand (!)Jury a sufficient number of-selfsacrificing, incorruptible patriots to find a'true bill.'
Our town is full of grog-shops, which, in violation of
law, carry on their elevating and purifying business
every Sunday. But, by a mere inadvertence, the incorruptible patriots aforesaid overlooked these whiskey
dens:
"STATE OF MiISSOURI, 
Co. OF ST. CHARLEs. 
A-n the St. Charles Circuit Court.
NOVEMBER TERM, 1865.
"The Grand Jurors for the State of Missouri, empannelled, sworn and charged to inquire in and for the
body of the county of St. Charles, upon their oath present, that heretofore, to-wit: On the 12th day of November, A. D. 1865, at the county and State aforesaid, one
Robert P. Farris, being a minister of the Presbyterian
persuasion, sect and denomination, then and there did
unlawfully preach and act as a minister of the Presbyterian religious persuasion aforesaid, without having
first taken, subscribed and filed the oath of loyalty in
the clerk's office of the County Court of the county of
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
residence of him, the said Robert Farris, against the
peace and dignity of the State.
"Endorsed,
A True Bill:
B. F. MCKEE, Foreman."
The author and the reader are indebted to the pen of
Dr. Farris for the following sketch of the trials and
persecutions of that meek spirited, humble, talented
and distinguished Presbyterian divine, Rev. Dr. Sam'l.
]3. McPheeters, one of the earliest victims of party malice
and arbitrary power in the State. His case involved
the gravest principles of religious liberty, and occupied
aconspicuous place in both the religious and secular
journals at the time, claiming a large share of public
attention. For the notices from the public prints, as
well as many similar favors, the author takes great
pleasure in acknowledging his indebtedness to Mrs.
Col. D. Robert B3arclay, of St. Louis:
"REV. SAM'L. B. MCPHEETERS, D. D., PASTOR OF PINE
STREET CHURCH, ST. LOUIS. 
"No persecution was more atrocious than  that of
which this esteemed minister was the victim. A spiritual minded, devoted servant of Christ, beloved by
his own people, and held in high honor by all who
knew him as one who habitually walked with God, it
is safe to say that had any one been called on to designate which of the St. Louis pastors was least likely to
be maligned and molested, Dr. 3MePheeters would have
been declared most certainly exempt,, on account of his
piety, his faithfulness to the ilaster and his harmless
93 
IMARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
ness to man.  And surely no one would have dreamed
that the accuser and persecutor of such a man would be
a member, an Elder of his own Church.
"To show the spirit of the man: In 1860, going to
New Mexico to recruit his health, he accepted a chaplaincy in the U. S. Army, and was stationed at Fort
Union.
"While  there the civil war began.   There were
rumors of an intended attempt on the part of the Confederates to capture the fort. In view of such anticipated attack, Dr. McP., a southerner by birth and in
all his sympathies, declared,'Though the U. S. Government did not commission me to fight, but to preach
the gospel, yet should this fort be attacked I shall be
one of its defenders.'  And, with like high principles
of honor, he exerted a decisive influence on officers,
who, under the strong temptation of sectional sympathy, seemed to be wavering in fealty.
"As an additional evidence of what manner of man he
was, read the following extract from a pastoral letter
which he wrote from Fort Union, May 14, 1861,.when
he was wholly ignorant of the political views of the
people of his charge, and when it was doubtful on
which side Missouri would take her stand. Hle said  "'As from time to time intelligence has reached this
place from the States, my heart has been filled with
sadness and gloom beyond the power of words to express. For a time I did hope that a merciful and longsuffering God would, in his providence, interpose and
shield the country firom civil war and its necessary horrors; the latest news, however, leaves no doubt on ry
mind that the Divine arm is bare to smite our land with
94 
MAIRTYRD0OI IN MISSOURI.
his terrible but righteous judgments.   In these  circumstances I feel an irresistible inclination to address
you a pastoral letter upon some points which it seems
important to bring distinctly before your mind at such
a time as this.  Of the purely civil and political questions which now shake the country to its centre I do
not feel called upon, either as your pastor or as a minister of Christ, to speak. I am rejoiced that my duty
as well as my inclination leads me into a higher, purer,
and better sphere than this. No! dear brethren, I
wish to address you not as a friend or advocate of any
party or section, but as an ambassador of One whose
"Kingdom is not of this world."  So far from wishing
to swell with my voice the din of words uttered by
any section or party, I wish to say something about
your  duties to Christ  and Hiis kingdom —something
about the obligations and dangers which belong to you
as Christians living in the circumstances which surround you.'
"Not long after the date of this letter Dr. McPheeters
returned to his home and church in St. Louis. iHe
declared that when he reached the western'boundary
of this State, where he began to realize the passion and
excitement which seemed to agitate and control the
entire population, he was filled with amazement and sorrow, and his soul recoiled from nearly everything he saw
and heard. lie said, also, that, long before he got home,
he had formed a fixed resolution on two points, viz.:
(1) To do all the duties plainly enjoined upon him as a
citizen by the Word of God; and (2), both as a citizen
and as a minister to stand aloof, as far as possible, from
the whole civil contest.
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MARTYRDOM  IN  MISSOURI.
" He found his church at peace, and when he informed
his members what course he had resolved to pursue,
all, without exception, cordially approved it.
"In MIay, 1862, he was a member of the General Assembly which met in Columbus, O.  Dr. R. J. Breckinridge offered and carried a paper on the state of the
country. Dr. M'cPheeters was one of a small minority
who opposed said paper, simply on the ground that,
according to the Constitution of the Presbyterian
Church, the General Assembly  can not meddle with
what concerns the civil commonwealth. For his opposition to that paper the then Provost-Marshal of St.
Louis, one Bernard Farrar, who afterwards sunk still
lower as the commander of a brigade of blacks, threatened to arrest Dr. IAcP. as soon as he should return
home. The threat was not executed. But about that
time, and professedly to satisfy the military authorities
that their pastor was'loyal,'  a few members of the
Pine Street Church demanded for publication a statement from him, as their Pastor, of his views and personal position on the questions agitating and dividing
the country. He denied their right'to ask him, as
their Pastor, and he declined answering.
"This question of a Pastor's rights and duties, instead
of being brought before a Church court, as the Presbytery, was taken hold of by the military authorities,
who, unable or unwilling to appreciate the high and
vital principle in view of which Dr. McP. declined to
answer  political inquiries addressed to him as a minister of Jesus Christ, issued the following infamous
order: 
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
" OFFICE PROVOST-MARSHAL GEN'L. DEP'T. OF MISSOURI,}
ST. Louis, Mo., Dec. 10, 1862.
"I Special Order No. 152.]
"' WHEREAS, On account of unmistakable evidence of
sympathy with the rebellion on the part -of Rev. Sam'l.
B. McPheeters, Pastor of the Pine Street Church, certain
loyal members of his congregation, about six months
since, urged him to avow his sentiments openly, and to
take a stand in favor of the Government, which he
refused to do, and has also published and circulated two
letters within the last two weeks, in which he not only
refuses to declare whether he is in favor of the success
of the authorities of the nation in their efforts to put
down a cruel and desolating rebellion, and has failed
to remove a wide-spread and increasing impression that
he desires the success of the rebel cause; and, whereas,
the said McPheeters, acting with others of the same
denomination, has used all the influence of his ministerial character to prevent the body of the Church with
which he is connected from declaring or manifesting
its loyalty to the Government, and has refused to observe, in their obvious meaning and intent, the recommendations of the President of the United States to the
various churches, and has allowed the influence of his
wife, his brothers, and intimate associates to seduce
him from an open and manly support of the Government into active sympathy with the rebellion, whereby
the influence of his ministerial position has greatly
encouraged the enemies of the Government in their
wicked schemes for its overthrow, and is still exerting
an injurious influence, especially upon the youth and
other members of his congregation, leading them to
7
97, 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
believe that he sympathizes with the rebels and justifies their cause, and to adopt sentiments of hostility to
the Government,  and to become active rebels; and,
whereas, in all his course of unfriendliness to the Government, and sympathy with, and favor to, rebels, the
said McPheeters has been stimulated and encouraged,
if not led on, by his wife, who openly avows herself a
rebel; whereby the said McPheeters and his wife have
forfeited the right to the protection and favor of the
Government in their present position, and have become
promoters of rebellion and civil discord. Therefore
it is ordered that the said McPhecters and his wife
leave the State of Mlissouri, within ten days after the
service of this order, and that they take up their residence within the firee States, north of Indianapolis and
west of Pennsylvania, and remain there during the
war; and that said 3McPheeters cease from this date to
exercise the functions of his office within the State of
Mlissouri, and that he deliver to the Clerk of Pine
Street Church all books, records and papers belonging
to that Church.
"  It is further ordered that the church edifice, books
and papers, at the corner of Eleventh and Pine streets,
be placed under the control of three loyal members of
Pine Street Church, namely: George P. Strong, James
M1. Corbitt and John M. Ferguson, who shall see that
its pulpit be filled by a loyal minister of the Gospel,
who can invoke the blessing of the Head of the Church
upon the efforts of the Government to re-establish its
authority.
"' By command of Major General Curtis.
"'F. A. -DICK,
" Provost-Mlarshal General Dep't. of the Missouri.'
1 98 
MIARTYRDOM  IN MISSOURI.
"There had been no examination of Dr. 3lcPheeters,
and no trial.  The, reception of the order was the first
intimation he had h',at he was in the hands of the military.  Dr. MeP. carried the matter, in person, to President Lincoln, who sustained him in every one of his
positions, and immediately made out the following
order, which, having read it to Dr. MeP., he telegraphed to Gen. Curtis at St. Louis, commanding the
Department of Missouri:
' WASHINGTON, Dec. 27, 1862.
"' Special Order No. 152 is hereby suspended until
further orders.                      A. LINCOLN,
President of the United States.'
"But MNr. Franklin A. Dick, who was at that time
Provost-Mlarshal General, took it upon him to modify
M:r. Lincoln's order, and sent to Dr. McP. the following:
"'OFrICE OF THE PROV.-MIAR. GEN'L.,)
DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI.
ST. LoUIs, Dec. 28, 1862. )
"' Rev. S. B. McPheeters and Wife:
"  The order made against you on the 19th of December is modified until further orders, to this extent: that
you are not required to leave the State.
"'By order of MIAJ.-GEN'L. CURTIS.
"'F. A. Dick, Lieut. Col., Provost-Marshal General.'
"That is to say, while the President declined to' run
the churches' (as he expressed it on another occasion)
the military satraps in Missouri took it upon themselves to make his order mean that Dr. McPheeters
need not be banished, but that he should not preachhe should be virtually deposed from the Gospel min
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istry. Alas! the Pine Street Church continued under
the control, not of the Session, but of the military commission appointed in special Order -i52. The history
of those sad days would not be fully told, and a bad
man would be defrauded of his dues, were we to omit
saying that, though said order bears the signature of
poor little Dick, it was written by GEORGE P. STRONG,
(as he, S., confessed) an unprincipled lawyer, a professed Christian (so was Judas Iscariot) and a Ruling
Elder in the Pine Street Church   This man, (?) at one
time an enthusiastic friend of Dr. McPhecters, was the
prime mover in this outrage upon his pastor.
"After a year's suspension front the ministry, by the
wickedness of this man Strong, some of the leading
men of St. Louis, without Dr. McP's. knowledge, forwarded to Mr.  Lincoln a petition.  The AttorneyGeneral, Edward Bates, with the express permission
of the President, replied that Dr. MeP. should' quietly
resume the exercises of all the rights, duties and
functions of his office, as if no interruption had
occurred.'
"But the fellow Strong was not to bebaffled. Hie was
determined to drive Dr. MeP. from the Pine Street
Church. Hie pursued him unweariedly. lie brought
the ease into Presbytery, which was so controlled by
the military that most of the members could not conscientiously attend, because they would not stultify
themselves by subscribing to an oath of loyalty; and
two of the members, Rev. W. IH. Parks and Rev. A.
D. Madeira, were actually put in a military prison, to
prevent them from being present at a meeting of the
Presbytery at which Dr. MIeP's. case was to be issued.
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
These, and other brethren, being thus kept away, the
pastoral relation between Dr.  MeP. and  the  Pine
Street Church was dissolved'at the point of the
bayonet.' Sometime after, Rev. JAMES A. PAIGE, now
of Springfield, MIo., one of the' loyal' members, being
reproached for calling in the aidl of the military to consummate Strong's wickedness, replied, we had to do
that, for we felt we were weak.'
"Dr. McPheeters appealed to the General Assembly
from the decision of the Presbytery. The General Assembly sustained the iniquity of the Presbytery."
The following letter fiom President Lincoln, in connection with the above facts, will fully explain itself.
It was published in the M-issouri Republican of March
3, 1864:
" Mr.  Lincoln on' Ecclesiastical Rights.'
"The following letter from President Lincoln, upon a
subject now exciting much attention in that community,
was addressed to a leading citizen of St. Louis:
"EXECUTIVE MANSION, )
WASHINGTON, December 23; 1863.
"I have just looked over a petition signed by some
three dozen citizens of St. Louis, and their accompanying letters-one by yourself, one by a MIr. Nathan Ranney, and one by a 3Mr. John D. Coalter-the whole relating to the Rev. Dr. McPheeters.  The petition prays, in
the name of justice and mercy, that I will restore Dr.
3McPheeters to all his ecclesiastical rights.
"This gives no intimation as to what ecclesiastical
rights are withdrawn. Your letter states that ProvostM\arshial Dick, about a year ago, ordered the arrest of
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Dr. ZIcPheeters, pastor of the Pine Street Church, prohibited him  from officiating, and placed the management of the affairs of the church out of the control of
its chosen Trustees; and near the close you state that a
certain course'would insure his release.'  Mr. Ranney's letter says:' Dr. Sam'l. B. MIcPheeters is enjoying
all the rights of a civilian, but can not-preach the Gospel!' M1r. Coalter, in his letter, asks:'Is it not a
strange illustration of the condition of'things that the
question of who shall be allowed to preach in a church
in St. Louis shall be decided by the President of the
United States?'
"Now, all this sounds very strangely, and withal a
little as if you gentlemen making the application do
not understand the case alike, one affirming that the
Doctor is enjoying all the rights of a civilian, and another pointing out to me what will secure his release.
On the 2d of January last I wrote to General Curtis in
relation to SIr. Dick's order upon Dr. llcPheeters; and
as I suppose the Doctor is enjoying all the rights of a
civilian, I only quote that part of my letter which relates to the Church.  It is as follows:  But I must add
that the United States Government must not, as by this
order, undertake to run the churches.  When an individual, in a Church or out of it, becomes dangerous to
the public interest, he must be checked; but the
churches, as such, must take care of themselves.  It will
not do for the United States to appoint trustees, supervisors or other agents for the churches.'
"This letter going to Gcneral Curtis, then in command, I supposed, of course, it was obeyed, especially
as I heard no furtlher complaint from Dr. McP. or his
102 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
friends for nearly an entire year.  I have never interfered, nor thought of interfering, as to who shall or
shall not preach in any church; nor have I knowingly
or believingly tolerated any one else to interfere by
my authority. If any one is so interfering by color of
my authority, I would like to have it specifically made
known to me.
"If, after all, what is now sought is to have me-put
Doctor iAcP. back, over the heads of a majority of his
own congregation, that, too, will be declined.  I will
not have control of any church, on any side.
"Yours respectfully,                A. LINCOLN."
The impression which the persecution of ministers
of the gospel in Missouri made upon the people of other
parts of th:. country is very well expressed in the following extracts from the New York  Express and Journal of Commerce:
" The Banishment of the Rev. _JIcPheeters, of St. Louis, by
General Curtis.
"No comment is needed upon such a record as this.
The banishment of such a man is a dishonor to the Provost-AMarshlal and to the Government which he misrepresents.  If the Provost-Marshal acted upon the order
of General Curtis, the dishonor falls upon  him.  Mir.
Lincoln  and his  wife each  attend  a  Presbyterian
Church in \Washington, not unlike the one in St. ILouis,
and their pastor is just as amenable to arrest as this
minister in St. Louis, for there the Gospel, and not war
or politics, as we have been told, is preached.  Let Mr.
Lincoln, as President of the United States, think of
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such an outrage committed on the person of Rev. Dr.
Gurley, in Washington.
"What is here done is to declare that the Presbyte rian Church is amenable to military law; and the advo cating in its sessions of the doctrine that the Church
owes allegiance to God, and not to any earthly power,
is made the cause of military punishment! A clergyman,
in the solemnity of his Church, is threatened with military punishment if he dare uphold the doctrine that his
Church owes only the allegiance which Paul and John,
and the dead saints and martyrs of all countries and
ages, members of one and the same Church, owe.
"The New York Journal of Commerce, on this record,
well asks:
"' Is this America? Is this the nineteenth century?
Do men imagine that God is to be worshiped in compulsory forms in this country? If Mr. Lincoln approves
this act, he would do well at once to import a quantity
of Chinese praying machines, put his proclamation in
them, and set them at work with Provost-Marshals to
grind out prayers for the nation.'"
The foregoing history is tinged with sadness by the
following mournful announcement in the MIissouri Republican of March 11, 1870.
"-Death of a Well-Known Clergyman.
"The Rev. SAM'L 13. MCPHEETERS, D. D., died on
Wednesday, in Shelby county, Ky. This divine was
formerly pastor of the Pine Street Presbyterian church
of this city, and is well known in St. Louis, where he
had many friends and admirers. Hlis death will doubtless create a very general feeling of regret."
104 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
CHIIAPTER V.
REV. DAVID R. M'ANALLY, D.D., AND REV. P. M. PINCKARD.
Rev. Dr. M'Anally-His Character, Position and Influence in the
Church-His Course as a Pubiic Journalist —The  St. Louis
Christian Advocate-"The  Reliable Paper"-Editor Arrested
and Thrown into Prison —Paper Suppressed-Dr. M'Anallv in
Prison-Malicious Persecution-Prison Cell 12x12 feet, wvith
Eleven MIen in It-Chlaracter of His Companions in Tribulation   How His Ti-ie was Spent-Before a "Military C(onmissicn "   Released on Parole of Honor-Again Arrested on Sundayv, May
10, 1863. and Thrust into Gratiot Street Prison-Ordered to be
Banished South-Taken to the Boat, then to the Provost-Mar   shal's Office-Long Interview  with Col. Dick-Severe  Reflec   tions-Order of Banishment  Countermanded-Other  Indigni   ties-Rev. P. M. Ptnckeard-Publisher of the St. Louis Advo   cate and Book Agent —Bold Scheme to Break Down the Book
Concern —Detected and Defeated by the Agent-The Joint Pub   lishing Committee Sell the Concern to the Agent-He Met the
Liabilities and Saved the Property to the Church-" Honor to
Whom Honor."
REV. DAVID R. M'ANALLY, D. D.
The Rev. Dr. M'Anally has been long and favorably
known to the Church as an educator, a minister of the
Gospel, an editor and an author. ft is not too much to
say that his fine natural abilities have been developed
and matured by the most liberal culture and the most
diligent application. He is a ripe scholar, a profound
theologian, an able divine and a high-toned Christian
gentleman. The vigor of his mind is only equaled by
the force of his character. Hie has for years ranked
with the ablest men of the Church, and has few superiors
in any Church or country.
105
F
I 
MARTYRDOM IN M,SSOURI.
For more than a dozen years before the war he was
prominent before the country as the able editor of one
of the leading journals of the M. E. Church, Souththe St. Louis Christian Advocate-and attracted no little
attention as a representative man and an accredited
voice of the Church.
As a journalist, he was independent and outspoken.
Hle was free, frank and fearless in his editorial course,
and uttered his honest sentiments upon all questions of
public interest without fear or favor. Trained by the
old masters of moral philosophy, and under the old
regime of private and public virtue, he could not endure
the many newfangled notions of modern honesty and
integrity. He had no patience with the so-called advanced type of modern civilization upon which social
reformers and public teachers were seeking to build up
a new system of morals, in which right and wrong,
virtue and vice, truth and falsehood, could be disguised,
confounded, and made to exchange places to suit the
interest or inclination. He could not tamely witness
the martyrdom of the old principles of virtue, honesty
and integrity which obtained in the. old schools of
morality and theology without a solemn protest.
When the war came, and the foundations of public
and private virtue were being swept away, Dr. 31'Anally
lifted his voice and wielded his pen manfully and vigorously in defense of the "faith once delivered unto the
saints." A former chapter records his noble defense
of the truth and his bold and fearless exposure of falsehood and crime.  When the war waxed warm in the
West, and every press and party became belligerent
and bloodthirsty; when the paper that could not be
106 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
subsidized in the interest of private plunder and public
crime was summarily suppressed, the St. Louis Christian
Advocate maintained its independent course, reflecting
the lofty spirit of conscious integrity which distinguished
the editor throughout, and made him conspicuous in the
annals of those exciting times.  His unbending, unswerving integrity of character and fidelity to the truth
made him an enemy of all unrighteousness, and his
coltumns would no more herald to the world sham battles
and false victories in the interest of favorite Generals
than they would excuse crime or cloak the meannesses
of men.
He reported men, battles and things as they were, or
at least as he understood them to be from the lights
before him, and usually called things by their right
names.  W1ith him the guardians of public virtue must
themselves be virtuous, the defenders of truth must
themselves be truthful, the teachers of Christianity must
themselves be Christians, nor would he mistake an
interest in criminal statistics for philanthropy.
With such a character in such a position it is not
surprising that his paper was sought after and read by
many thousands of all parties, and recognized as "the
reliable paper." Nor is it to be wondered at that he
was the most conspicuous mark of political and ecclesiastical malig,nity then in the West.  For many months
his friends feared the suppres ion of his paper, and his
enemnies plotted his arrest and imprisonment.  When
one scheme after another had failed to compass  his
destruction, his enemies fintllvl, with a malignity  as
awkward as it was cowardly, accomplished his arrest
and imprisonlment and the suppression of his paper.
107
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
The reader will duly appreciate the fact that the
Doctor has, after much solicitation and with characteristic modesty, furnished the following plain, simple,
candid statement of his own persecutions and trials,
which will be read with the deepest interest by his
thousands of friends and admirers:
"On the 21st day of April, 1862, I was arrested by
order of the Provost-Marshal at St. Louis, and immediately imprisoned in what was then called Myrtle
Street Military Prison. The order for arrest and imprisonment was peremptory. No reasons were given,
none were asked, as arbitrary arrests were then matters of every day occurrence; and in most eases if
reasons were asked none were given.
"From the first hour of my imprisonment I calmly
but firmly determined that, with a perfect consciousness
of the purity of my motives and rectitude of my conduct, I had violated no law, either civil or military;
that in my heart, and in my conduct and conversation,
I had been true to the real interests of my country. I
would take no oath, give no bond, nor ask any favors,
either directly or indirectly.  Nor did'I do any of these
things from the first to the last. I never asked why I
had been arrested? what were the charges? what the
military intended to do, or what they wanted me to do?
I knew there were no grounds for any charge whatever,
that the whole procedure in regard to myself and others
was a low, cowardly effort to intimidate and humiliate
men who formed their own opinions, preserved their
own self-respect, and refused to be swayed to and fro
by the influence or mere dicta of blind passion4 so
that, without anything like stubbornness, and in the
108 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
entire absence, I trust, of all unchristian or ungentlemanly feeling, I res zlved to make no concessions, having
none to make; ask no favors, nor do anything else that
might be construed, either directly or indirectly, into
an acknowledgment on my part of the right of the
military to institute and carry out such proceedings.
"Besides, I was satisfied that it was not against me
personally so much as against me as the representative
of a Christian denomination-the 31. E. Church, Souththat this warfare was to be waged. 3]any of the ministers of the denomination had, even then, been driven
from their flocks and from the State; others had seen
the storm coming and had left, while many others, in
different parts of the State, had been put under-heavy
bonds by Provost-Marshals, and then, or soon after,
some six or eight had been shot down as if they had
been ferocious beasts. Some of those arrested liad been
told by military commanders that the fiact of their being
ministers of the M. E. Church, South, was "enough to
hang them;" and many of our members were put under
bonds or sent to prison for no other ostensible reason
than that they had subscribed for, paid for and read the
St. Louis Christian Advocate, an official organ of the M.
E. Church, South, then, and for more than ten years
previously, under my editorial management.  I was not
-a blatant Abolitionist, and had thrown some serious impediments in the way of ecclesiastical radicalism; hence
the determination to be rid both of the paper and its
editor.
"At various times during more than three months
previous to the arrest I had been warned of my dan ger, because of the religious rather than the political
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
opposition to me, and some of my friends advised me
to leave, which I could have done on any day previous
to the arrest.
"On Sunday, the 13th of April, there was a consultation among'the faithful' as to what course had best be
pursued in reference to the St. Louis Advocate and its
editor  At this consultation it was proposed  "First, To incite the soldiers and let them tear down
the building and demolish the office of publication.
But that proposition was rejected, because it was thought
the influence on the minds of the people of the State
would be bad. That it would be going farther than
would be safe to their own cause.
"Second, It was then proposed, and agreed to, that an
indictment for conspiracy- conspiring with others
against the Government of the United States-should
be drawn up for the action of the Grand Jury of the
U. S. District Court, which was to sit the next day;
and in the event of the jury failing to find a true bill,
why then I must be summarily and arbitrarily arrested
by the Provost-Marshal, sent to prison, and the paper
suppressed. Accordingly, next day, Atonday, the 14th,
the court met, and the Grand Jury was empanneled.
Soon after a bill was presented them.  Diligent inquiry
was made; witnesses were summoned and examined;
day after day the matter dragged on, until finally, on
Saturday, the 19th, the jury, having completed their
work, were discharged, and no presentment was made
against the Advocate or its editor.  Partisans as they
were, and corrupt as I know some of them to have
been, they would not say on their oaths that a truebill
for conspiracy could be found.   Ience, in accordance
110 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURtI.
with the programme previously prepared, on Monday
following, the paper was arbitrarily suppressed, and I
arrested and imprisoned by order of the Provost-Marshal, as already stated. The Marshal was one Capt.
Leighton, a man whose intellectual, social and moral
qualities, and whose early life and associations seem to
have eminently qualified him for the work he was called
on to perform.
"The keeper of the prison placed me in a room
twelve or fifteen feet square, with ten other persons,
all of whom were genteel, worthy men, and some of
them highly intellectual and clitivated. So far, therefore, as they were concerned my  situation was altogether agreeable and pleasant. They uniformly and
invariably treated me with respect and kindness, and
really seemed to vie with each other in manifestations
of kindly feeling.
"In the same prison, in different parts, there were
perhaps from a hundred to a hundred and fifty persons;
a few of whom had been regularly in the Confederate
service and captured; others had been in the Federal
service and were then in prison for crime; while the
great majority were citizens from the different parts of
the State, arrested on mere suspicion, and in some
cases had been imprisoned for weeks and months with
- only the scant clothingthey happened to have on when
arrested.  Some fifty or sixty such as these were in a
miserable condition.   But under the rags and dirt
that covered them there were some as noble hearts as
ever throbbed. These, too, after I had been but a few
days in prison, all treated me with respect and kindness; nor did any of the officers of the prison everuse
ill
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
to me a disrespectful or an unkind word. I endeavored
to deport myself in a dignified, respectful, gentlemanly
and Christian manner, and was every where met with
a corresponding course.
" It was my understanding at the time that the keeper
of the prison was allowed a per diem for feeding the
prisoners, but whether that were so or not he evidently
drew rations for all, but allowed some twelve or fifteen
to have their meals sent regularly from the Virginia
iHotel, and I verily believe the hotel keeper sent the
'best his house could afford.' My meals were sent
regularly three times each day by an estimable family
living close by.
"If any be curious to know how my time was occupied, they may learn from the following memoranda,
made at the time on some fly leaves of a Bible I used,
and which is now before me:
"'April 21st, 1862: Imprisoned at 7 o'clock, P. M.
"' 22d: Read from ninetieth Psalm to the close of
the Psalms.
"'23d: Read Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Songs of Solomon and Isaiah.
"'24th: Read Jeremiah and Ezekiel to chapter 20.
"'25th: Read balance of Ezekiel, the book of Daniel,
and wrote outlines of two sermons.
"' 26th: Read the twelve minor Prophets, and wrote
sketches of two sermons.
" 27th: Read the four Gospels.
"'28th: Read, Acts of Apostles, thirteen Epistles, and
wrote two sketches.
"  29th: Read from first of tIebrews to end of Rev
112 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.             113
elation, also the book of Genesis, and wrote two
sketches.
"'30th: Read Exodus, and wrote two sketches.
(Was sick.)
"'M ay 1st: Read Leviticus and Numbers, and wrote
two sketches.
"'2d: Read Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges and Ruth,
and wrote two sketches.
" 3d: Read first and second Samuel, and wrote one
sketch. (Was sick.)
"'4th: Read first and second Kings, and wrote three
sketches.
"'5th: Read first and second Chronicles, and wrote
two sketches.
"'6th: Read Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther and parts of
Job, and wrote two sketches.
"'7th: Read the rest of Job and the book of Psalms.
This put me a little more than once through the Bible
in sixteen days-and also wrote in all sketches of
twenty-four sermons. Two to-day.
"'8th: Read Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Songs of Solomon, and wrote part of a sermon in extenso.'
"'9th: Read Isaiah, and finished the sermon.
" 10th: Read Jeremiah, Lamentations and part of
Ezekiel, and wrote letters.
"'11th: Read the rest of Ezekiel, Daniel and the
twelve minor Prophets.
" 12th: Read M3atthew, Mark and Luke, and wrote
part of a sermon and some long letters.
"' 13th: Read John, Acts and Romans, and wrote six
or eight pages of a sermon in extenso.
" 14th: Read first and second Corinthians, Galatians,
8
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IMARTYRDOMI IN  MISSOUR..
Ephesians, Philippian%, Colossians, first and second
Thessalonians, first and second Timotlhyr, Titus and
Philemon, and wrote nine pages of sermon.
"'15th: Read from first of Hebrews to end of Revelation, and wrote eleven pages of sermon.
"''16th: Read book of Genesis, and wrote on second
sermon for the week.
"'17th: Read Exodus, Leviticus and part of Numbers, finished second sermon in extenso for the week
and wrote four long letters.
"'18Sth: Read remainder of Numbers, Deuteronomy,
Joshua, Ruth and Judges.
"'19th: Read first and second Samuel,  and wrote
three long letters.
"'20th: Read first and second Kings, and at two
o'clock the officer of the prison was directed to release
me on my verbal parole to report forthwith at the office
of the Provost-MAarshal, which I did, and was there informed that charges and specifications had been drawn
up, to which I would be required to answer before a
Military Commission on the 23d, and, on my verbal
parole, I was released until that time.
"'123d: Reported accordingly, when the parole was
extended to MIonday, the 26th.'
"On MIonday, the 26th of May, I appeared before
what was called'A Military Commission,' composed of
Colonel Merrill, Major Shaw and Captain Howard, the
latter of whom acted as Judge Advocate. These were
all of the volunteer service, and, except the Colonel,
were, perhaps, in the service more in name than in
reality. The charge I was required to answer to was
that of having violated'the articles of war'  by the
114 
MTARTYIDOMI IN  MISSOURT.
publication of sundry specified articles in the St. Louis
C/lristitn Advocate.  It was a little remarkable that a
number of the articles complained of had been copied
from the Foreign  Quarterlies, or from Blackwood's
Magazine, which publications had been freely circulated
in the city for from one to three weeks before I made
the extracts. I objected in form to being tried by that
tribunal, alleging that if I had committed an offense at
all, it was an offense against civil and not military law,
and claimed as a citizen and civilian to be tried by the
civil laws. I further objected on the grounds that
many, if not all, the articles complained of had been
published before the proclamation of martial law in St.
Louis, and as no war had been formally declared, I
could not, under the circumstances, be justly tried by
the articles of war.  Several other exceptions  were
regularly filed, but all were overruled, as, indeed, I supposed they would be, and only entered them to make a
fair and full record.
"The trial proceeded.   The Judge Advocate threw
on the table a number of copies of the St. Louis Christian Advocate, with certain articles therein marked, but
did not read them openly; and if either he or the other
members of' the Commission' ever read them, the fact
was and is unknown to me.  The fiscal agent of the
publishing house whence the Advocate was issued was
examined at great length and with great care, and to
all questions asked he gave distinct, prompt and truthful answers. This ended the first day's proceedings.
"On the second day a number of gentlemen were
introduced, some who were well known to be among
the most' loyal' of the' loyal,' and others who were
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
suspected of having'Southern sympathies,' when my
manner ot life, in public and private, my manner of
preaching, anld the character and tone of my public
prayers, were all diligently inquired into, but no one
was fo)und who, upon his oath, would say that he ever
saw or heard me do or say aught that was inconsistent
with the character of a peaceful, law-abiding citizen
,ld Christian minister.
"I continued to introduce witnesses on these points
until the Court expressed their entire satisfaction.
"It was then ordered that what defense I might
choose to make be prepared and presented to the Court
on the next day. Accordingly, at the opening of the
Court on the third day, I read a short paper setting
forth the grounds on which I thought I was entitled to
be released from the prosecution. This closed the trial.
I was then remanded to the care of the Provost-Marshal, who, upon my verbal pledge not to' give aid and
comfort to the enemies of the United States, nor to
le-tve the county of St. Louis, gnd to report myself at
that office whenever  required;' allowed me  to go.
This parole was kept hanging over me hntil the 19th
day of November, 1865, three years and six months
from the timne of the trial.  The decision of the Court
by which I was tried I have never had nor ever known to
this good hour!!   ever!!
"I kept the parole faithfully, because it was a parole
,of honor. To be sure, I suffered many inconveniences
and discomforts because of it, but still kept it,,and did
so uncomplainingly.
"On Sunday, the 10th day of May, 1863, while pre,
paring for the evening services for the Church, I was
116 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
again arrested, this time by order of Provost-Marshal
Dick. The arrest was made at my own house. After
gathering a bundle of clothes, and having prayers with
my motherless children, commending them to'Him
that judgeth righteously,' I accompanied the officer,
and was by him delivered to the keeper of'Gratiot
Street Military Prison.'  Here there were a great number of persons, many prisoners of war, and many citizens from different parts of the State, some of whom
had been long confined, and there were many others
residents in the city, who had a little while before been
brought in.
"On the next day, Monday, 11th, quite a number of
us were notified that we would be sent South beyond
the Federal lines, and would be started at 12 o'clock on
WVednesday, the 13th.   We  accordingly made what
preparation we could. I was informed that I would be
allowed to carry a limited amount of clothing and two
hundred dollars ($200) in money. The clothing I had.
The money I had not; had but a very few dollars in
the world, and was leaving my children not only motherless, but penniless and helpless. Some friends outside
the prison learned my condition, and the two hundred
dollars were quickly furnished. One-half the sum was
sent by a high-toned gentleman who was then serving
as a Colonel in the Federal service, a man whose every
sense of justice, honor and fairness was outraged by'
the proceedings against me. Had the sum been needed,
I believe two thousand, or ten thousand, dollars would
have been furnished me.
"On Wednesday, the 13th, those of us who had been
ordered into banishment were paraded and marched
117 
TMARTYRDOMI IN MISSOURI.
between two files of soldiers through some of the principal streets of the city to the steamer which was to
bear us South.  The whole number of persons on the
boat was, perhaps, one hundred or more, including men,
women and children.
"Just before the boat left the landing an order came
countermanding the order for my banishment, and directing that I should be sent to the office of the Provost3Iarshal. This was done, and the other prisoners were
sent South. At the 3iarshal's office I was directed to
report there in person at 1I o'clock the next day, and
in the meantime I might do anything not inconsistent
with the parole I had given more than a year before.
"At the appointed hour next day, I reported myself at
the office of the Provost-3Marshal, Colonel Dick iHe
expressed a desire for a long conversation, and commenced in a sort of apologetic way by stating how much
pleasure it gave him to rectify any mistake he might
make or undo any wrong he might happen to commit;
and as he had been led into a mistake in regard to my
arrest and order of banishment, he had much pleasure
in countermanding the order, etc., etc. The conversation was protracted and very plain. The Colonel was
reminded that the old ideas regarding civil rights, civil
law, personal liberty, etc., etc., were not entirely exploded, and that it might be well for persons temporarily
in power to remember that orders for the arrest,
imprisonment and banishment of persons, and the confiscation or destruction of property, ought to be based
on something else than mere suspicion or vague rumor.
Finally, the conversation was ended by the Colontel
suddenly remembering that he had some important
118 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
business just then, and requesting me to call the next
day, that the interview might be renewed. I did call
the next day, and the next, and next, and many succeeding days, but from the day of that interview to the
present never found the Colonel at leisure. Soon after
that he was relieved of his position and duties as ProvostMarshal, and not a great while afterward, no doubt for
good and sufficient reasons, he left the city and State.
"The Colonel gave no reasons for my arrest, nor was
he asked for any. Perhaps he was not aware that I
had learned his order for my arrest had been issued at
the instance of a couple of ignorant and bigoted old
women  connected with the' Loyal League,' and who
had been instigated by two men who, for private reasons)
desired I should be banished. These two men have
since developed the very unenviable character which
then I knew they possessed. And perhaps he was not
aware:
" 2. That I had learned his order countermanding the
order for banishment had been issued on the peremptory
command of the General (Curtis) then in command; or,
"3. That General Curtis had acted on the representation of at least two of his own Colonels, who had
assured him:  1. That the order was in itself wrong,
unjust, and an outrage; and 2. That to let it be carried
out would do great harm to the'Union cause.'  One
of them told the General that the very fact of my being
in the South, under the circumstances then existing,
would do as much harm to their cause' as could be done
by a thousand armed men,' and added:'I do not
know what he may do in the South, but I do know that
if he exert himself as I know him capable of doing
119 
,IMARTYRDOM  IN  MI[SSOURI.
you might as well send five thousand armed men to
help the rebels as to send him. However peaceably
disposed he mayv be now, we can not expect him to continue so if this outrage is carried out.'
"Perhaps the Colonel was not aware I had learned all
this, and much more; still he may have thought of it
when he asked me what I would do if sent South? and
in reply simply received,'You may rely upon it, sir, I
will eat no idle bread!'
"In all this I allude only to the arrests which were
followed by actual imprisonments, saying nothing of
an arrest made in September, 1861, made not on a
charge of any thing having been done, but on a suspicion that something might be done. I was quite ill at the
time, but taken in my office, carried before the ProvostMarshal, where, defenseless and surrounded by armed
men, I was coarsely harangued, villified, abused  and
lectured as to my editorial and ministerial duties, during a half hour or more, which was at length terminated
by my plainly informing the Provost-Marshal that, as
I was in their power, the military could do with me as
they chose; that they had the powerr and could suppress my paper when they chose, but until it was suppressed it should contain just what I mnight think
fit to put into it-neither more nor less. -
"That Provost-Marshal was one John McNeil, of
Palmyra-prisoner notoriety.
"Nor have I alluded to the fact that in July, 1861, a
mob of'Home Guards,' so-called, threatened to destroy my dwelling house and church because I had publicly baptized a child whose parents chose to name it
Harry Beauregard, which mob desisted from their pur
120 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
pose only a few short hours before that purpose was to
have been accomplished, and not then until after one
of the principal men had been told there were not less
than thirty or forty men who would, at the risk of
their lives, hold him personally responsible for all harm
that might befall me from the mob.
"Nor yet have I alluded to the fact that in July, 1861,
a company of armed men, forty-four in number, wearing
the uniform of United States soldiers, and acting professedly under orders from headquarters, surrounded
my house and ransacked it from cellar to garret.  What
they expected to find, or were looking for, I never
asked-I never knew. Nor to the ransacking of my
editorial office, the destruction of my private papers,
etc., which was done in April, 1862, when I was absent;
nor the almost numberless unlawful and unjust indignities, disabilities, &c., that were put upon me during the
three years and more that I was a prisoner.
"Nor yet have I alluded to the horrible outrages, cruelties and barbarities which I saw practiced on helpless
prisoners, and for no good reason whatever. All these
I pass by. If an account of them be given, let it be
given by others."
With the suppression of the St. Louis Christian Advocate the public is already well informed, but the attempt
to get possession of the Publishing House and Book
Depository belonging to the M. E. Church, South, in
St. Louis is not so generally known:
Certain parties in the interest of the M. E. Church,
North, managed to get hold of many of the heaviest
claims against the Concern with a view of forcing a
financial crisis and crash. They could invent no plea
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I 
IMARTYRDOnI IN M;SSOURI.
or pretext that would libel the property for confiscation, and they undertook to break down the Concern
by forcing collections.  This scheme  was discovered
and defeated by the timely sagacity of the Agent, Rev.
P. M. Pinckard.  lie called together the Joint Publishing Committee, presented the facts, and, after mature
deliberation, they proposed to sell the whole Concern
to the Agent, at an appraised value, if he would with
his own personal resources meet its liabilities and save
the property from the clutches of the enemy. A bonafide sale was made, and the purchaser subsequently
filed a written pledge to sell the property to the Church
again upon an equitable valuation, should the Conferences ever be able to purchase it. The property was
saved by the sacrifice of his wife's personal property
and the most skillful management.
It was an hour of the darkest and most dangerous
trial, and perhaps not another man in the Church had
the nerve to meet the responsibility and brave the
dang,er. The property was saved. The Concern was
run in the interest of the Southern Mlethodist Church,
and was ready, when the war closed, to re-publish the
Advocate, re-supply the Church in Missouri with books,
and enter with the Church upon the great contest for
religious liberty which has been so heroically vindicated by the non-juring ministry of the State.
The service thus rendered the Church by Mr. Pinckard, in her time of greatest need, will never be fully
appreciated until the power of a religious press shall be
measured upon the augmenting interests and vital
issues of the crowded future, when the MississipprValley and the great West shall throng with a population
122 
MIARTYRDOMN IN MISSOURI.
as dense as that of Europe; while the Church owes a
debt of gratitude equal to the sacrifice made, the trials
endured and the interests subserved.
True to his pledge, he preserved  the property,
declined often the most advantageous offers made for it
by private parties, lest it should be alienated from the
Church, and when the time came passed it into the
hands of the "Southwestern Book and Publishing
Comipany," authorized and org,anized by the St. Louis
and Mlissouri Annual Conferences, upon an appraised
vWaluation.
Thus every scheme plotted and planned to alienate
the property from the Church was defeated by the
business tact and unflinching integrity of Mr. Pinckard,
at a sacrifice, pecuniary and otherwise, of which few
have any knowledge.
It is, perhaps, proper to state that when Dr. 3M'Anally was arrested at the depot of the Iron Mountain
Railroad the officers came up immediately and took
foreible possession of the printing department of the
Concern and announced that they would hold the entire
establishment. The next morning an order was made
confiscating the whole property, but for some reasons
it was not promulgated.  3Mr. Pincka,rd, the Agent, saw
Col. Leighton, Provost-Marshal, and asserted his right
to the Job Office and Book Depository, affirming that
they did not belong to and were no part of the St.
Loutis CIhristian Advocate, and demanded that they be
given up to him.  After a very spirited interview, much
delay going back ad forth from the City Provost-Mlarshai's office to the headquarters of the General commanding department and the office of the Provost
123 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
Marshal General, and many sharp contests for rights,
the keys were finally given up to Mr. Pinckard, and he
permitted to run the establishment, specially the job
printing, with all the front doors closed, and then only
to finish the jobs on hand. iHe was distinctly prohibited from receiving any new business. When persons
came to purchase boo)ks they were required to bring a
special permit from the Provost-Marshal. Two pious
ladies from the First Church desired to purchase books
for the Sunday School, but they were required first to
go before the Provost-3Marshal, state their desires, and
possibly "swear," before they could get a permit to
supply the Sunday School children with good books.
Such petty tyranny and oppression characterize only
the cruelties of war and the corrupt hearts of mean
men.
124 
MARTYRIDOMN IN MISSOURI.
CHAPTER VI.
A LIST OF MARTYRS-REVS. JOHN L. WOOD-GEO. L. SEX
TON AND EDWIN ROBINSON.
Rev John L. TV, od —A Local Preacher —Character, Standling and Spirit
-Shot Dead in tie Street —His Only Offense that He wasis a,in ister of the Gospel in the M. E. (,;hurch, South-Ptarticulakrs-Rev.
A. E. Sears-Rev.  C~leb M. C,,lveaer an-d RPev. O. H.  Bernett
Arrested-Rev. Jacob Waltenbarger Mobbed in the Ptilpit and
Dragg(ed fromnt the Church for Attempting to Pieach a Fuiierial Cimp-Ground Burnt-Rev. Geo  L..'exton-A Gifted Y,oung
3Miitister- -In Prisons Oft,"-Wavlaid and Miudered-Shocking
Details-Rev. Edv,;n Rolinson-A'n Honored Minister of the M. E.
Church, South, his only Offense-Shot Dowvn  LTike a D)og —A
Most Horrible Murder-D)etails-A Suffering Family-Reflections.
REV. JOHN L. WOOD.
The traveling preachers of the M. E. Church, South,
were not the only victims of what seemed to be
a relentless persecution. That honorable and,useful
class of men known in Methodist parlance as "local
preachers" suffered severely in this latter day persecution.! Another victim of its extremest virulence
from the local ranks of the ministry must be added here
to the list of Missouri Martyrs.
The  Rev. John L. Wood  was born  in Bourbon
county, Kentucky, January 9, 1820, and with his father
emigrated to Missouri in 1830, and settled in Sullivan
county.  Here he grew to manhood, and became identified with all the civil and religious interests of the
125
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
State.  Hle professed religion and joined the Churchl in
the maturity of his manhood, and was licensed to preach
by the Quarterly Conference of the Miilan Circuit, Missouri Annual Conference, M. E. Church, South, in 1856.
From that time forth he was a consecrated instrument
of good and an ordained messenger of peace to his fellow-man, and stood high in the ranks of the local
ministry.
Jie lived a peaceable, law-abiding, inoffensive life,
and was highly esteemed by the community in which
he lived and the congregations to which he preached.
Few men more so.
At Unionville, the county seat of Putnam county,
3Io., March 21, 1864, he was cruelly and wantonly murdere(id-shot down like a dog in the streets-by a squad
of soldiers belonging to the 18th Reg. Mo. Vols., who
were at home on furlough.  HIe was a total stranger to
his murderers and they were total strangers to him.
Hie was pointed out to them as a Southerl Miethlodist
preacher by a citizen whose name, as  eported, was G.
W. Dickson.  Ile was shot in the back with'a revolver
while all unconscious of any murderous intent.  The
cowardly assassin did not so much as warn him of his
fate.  The ball passed through his body and lodged just
under the skin, and was extracted by Dr. Proctor, of
Unionville.  He lingered ill great pain about fifteen
hours and then expired while a prayer for his murderers still lingered upon his lips.  In humble imitation
of his }Taster he prayed, "Father, forgive them, they
know not what they do."
The following extract  from a letter written by one
who knew him well and loved him much will furflsh a
126 
MIARTYRDOMI IN MISSOURI.
just view of his character and spirit, and also disclose
the crime (?) for which he had to lay down his life,
a martyr for the Word of God and the testimony of
Jesus in'the 3I. E. Church, South:
"Br,). Wood was a good man-a man that I loved,
and that I loved to love. I-e had the confidence of all
before the war; but when the war came it was considered by some a great crime to be a Southern MIethodist, and a Southern Methodist preacher was thought by
a great many to be unfit to live and enjoy theblessings
of' the best govelrnment under the sun.' Bro. Wood's
only crime was that he was a Southern  Methodist
preacher. lie lived a good man and died a good man.
iHe died in imitation of his MAlaster, praying for his murderers.
"The man who shot him, and the rest of the mob
that abused him and threw brickbats at him, were all
strangeis to him. They certainly could not have murdere I him had they known him.  Who it was that
pointed him out to them I know not.  Somebody did it.
"After he died the same bloody hands put his body
in an old box that had been used as a watering trough
and buried him beside a bushwhacker who had been
killed there some titme before.  Ihis home was only
twenty miles distant, in Sullivan county, yet before his
wife could reach the spot he was buried. His remains
were disinterred, taken home and decently interred in
the family grave-yard, there to await the sound of the
archlangel's trump. Peace to his ashes.
" S. S. IHARDIN."
Another writer says:
"Mr. Wood was a quiet, orderly citizen, a thrifty
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
farmer and a pious minister, and was beloved an(l
respected by a large majority of his neighbors  alid
acquaintances. His offense was being a minister of
the IM. E. Church, South.                    * * * *"
No intimation is made  that Mr. Wood had been
guilty of any crime against the laws of God or man,
but, on the contrary, he is said to have been a "good
man," a "quiet, orderly citizen," and highly esteemed
bythe commnunity.  Surely this class of men had not
become so numerous that it was desirable to get rid of
them. The life of a good man is a standing rebuke to
all evil, a restraint upon wicked men, and a sublime
vindication of the distinctive virtues of Christianity.
To defeat the moral results of such a life is the work of
Antichrist, and to reverse the moral forces started and
sustained by holy men is the purpose of incarnate diabolism, to effect which the murder of good men is not
too much. To rid the world of the lives of holy men
neither pretexts nor instruments have been wanting.  Like Mr. Wood, many have gone down to the
grave for no other offense than that they were ministers of the M. E. Church, South.
REVS. A. E. SEARS, CALEB M. COLYEAR, O. H. BENNETT) AND
JACOB WALTENBARGER.
The following statements of the acts and doings of
the military authorities in and around Milan, Mo., is
condensed from a report furnished from a trustworthy
source. It is inserted because of the connection of several ministers of the Gospel with the acts of oppression
narrated.
"In October or November, 1861, Major Williams, of
128 
MARTYRDOM' IN MISSOURI.
the 18th Reg. Mo. Vols., came into Milan, Sullivan
county, Mo., with a portion of his command.   But as
they entered the town Rev. A. E. Sears, P. E. of
the M. E. Church, South, was mounting his horse to go
home. About one mile fiom town three soldiers
dashed up, arrested and detained him about an  hour,
and until he consented to take an unconstitutional oath,
prescribed by themselves, as a condition of release.
" In December, 1861, Major John McCullough, of the
23d Mo. Reg., U. S. Vols., with two companies of his
regiment, came into Milan, and remained a week foraging and subsisting on the citizens. Hie made a general
arrest of all the citizens suspected of disloyal sentiments, and required them to take the oath prescribed
by himself as a condition of release. Amongst the
number was Elder Caleb M. Colyear, a minister of the
regular Baptist Church, who was nearly fifty years old,
and whose only offense was that he had a son over
twenty-one years of age in the Missouri State Guard.
"Elder 0. H. Bennett, a minister of the Christian
Church, was also arrested, required to take the oath
and furnish a few iat hogs to feed his persecutors.
"In 1863, Rev. Jacob Waltenbarg,er, a local preacher
of the M. E. Churbch, South, had two appointments on
the same Sabbath to preach funeral sermons-one at
11 o'clock A. M., to preach the funeral of two children of a Federal soldier; the other at 4 P. M., to
preach the funeral of a Federal soldier. Soon after
opening( the services at 11 o'clock he was set upon by
a lawless mob, seized in the pulpit, dragged from the
house, and carried about three miles to the village of
Scottsville, there detained as a prisoner until after 4
9
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o'clock, and then released, with the injunction never
again to attempt to preach the funeral of a Federal soldier or any member of his family.
"This mob were members of a self-constituted company of so-called Union soldiers, but without authority
for their organization or acts, either State or national.
"These same men, during this same year, set fire to
and burnt a camp-ground and meeting house in Sullivan county, which belonged to the M. E. Church,
South."
REV. GEORGE L. SEXTON.
The persecutors of Christian ministers not only
sought to exterminate every old native Methodist
preacher of Missouri, but every young man of talent
and promise in the Church. Many of the most pious
and promising men of the Southern Methodist Church
were either run out of the State or murdered.
The subject of this sketch, Rev. George L. Sexton, was born in Missouri, July 10, 1839.  Matrried in
September, 1860. Commenced preaching in his seventeenth year, and from the first gave evidence of no ordinary talent. His preaching attracted the eyes and
inspired the hope of the Church to an extent not usual
in every "boy preacher."
Hle was physically small, but possessed of a nervous
temperament equal to the vigorous action of the largest
brain.  Energetic and rapid in all his movements, studious and practical in all his mental habits, accurate
and sharp in his perceptions, and with a ready, fluent
utterance and deep, earnest piety, he bid fair to make
a preacher equal to any work and acceptable to any
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
people. The pledges of extensive usefulness were only
equaled by the fields that were white unto the harvest
which in every direction invited his polished sickle.
bWhen the war broke out, Mr. Sexton was in charge
of the Memphis Circuit, Missouri Conference, 3. E.
Church, South. The fact that he was a Southern Methodist preacher was sufficient to secure the attention and
the threats of the super-loyalists of that portion of the
State.
Irresponsible parties annoyed him and threatened his
life until he thought it best to leave that part of the
country and seek safety elsewhere.
Hie went to Boone county, and for a time supplied
the Sturgeon Circuit. But here he was by no means
free from molestation. In fact, there was no part of
the State of Missouri where a Southern Methodist
preacher could feel safe during the whole war, unless it
was in St. Louis.
"In June, 1862, while on his way to Bishop's School
House to fill an appointment, he was arrested by a company of'Merrill's Horse,' as they were called, commanded by Capt. Stewart, taken to Columbia, and put
in prison. Every effort made by his father and others
to obtain his release was met by insult. Both Merrill
and his officers heaped upon Mr. Sexton every indignity that wicked men could invent. The fact that he
was a Southern Methodist preacher was enough in their
prejudice and malice to send him to Alton Military
prison for the war. After remaining in prison for some
time he, with others, made his escape and went South,
well knowing that he could not remain here in safety.
"While in the South, away from home, without ein
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ployment or means, he accepted a chaplaincy in the
army for a time.  This, however, he soon resigned, and
after an absenc(e of eighteen months started home to see
his wife and little ones.  But before reaching home he
was arrested and sent to Alton, Ill., where he remained
for several months in that loathsome pest house.
"( is health was very poor, and his physical constitution was fast giving way under the treatment at that
noted military prison. Friends interested themselves
in his behalf, and he was finally released and permitted
to reach his home. He remained at home with his
family several months, trying to' follow peace with all
men' and prosecute, in a quiet, humble way, his mission of mercy to dying men, avoiding every thing that
would seem officious or that would be offensive to the
most uncompromising,partisan; yet he met only insult, indignity and denunciation, accompanied by such
threats as to lead him to feel that his life was in imminent peril all the time.  Believing that he could not
remain at home or in M3lissouri in safety, he again
started South. His purpose was to gain a place of
personal safety, and not to take up. arms against the
government. The idea of fighting his fellow-men was
so repulsive to his feelings and views of the character
and work of a minister of the Gospel that he sought
only personal safety and religious liberty. While traveling with a friend, and near the Arkansas line, both
unarmed and unconscious of danger, they were discovered and shot down by a squad of Federal soldiers. His
friend was instantly killed, and Mr. Sexton was severely,
perhaps mortally, wounded.  The ball took effect in the
shoulder. The citizens removed him to a house near
132 
MIARTVRDOMI IN MISSOURI.
by and kind'y cared for him, dressing his wound and
ministering to his wants.  But another squad of Federal soldiers found him, ascertained that he was a
Southern Methodist preacher, and, though informed
that he could not possibly live, took him away, and
he was never heard of afterward.  Where they carried
him nobody knows. When, where and how he died,
and where he was buried-if at all-are known only to
the perpetrators of the horrible deed and to the All-seeing Eye. One comforting message comes to the sorrowing parents and grief-stricken widow, like'good news
firom a far country,' from the family to whose house he
was carried after he was shot. They say he conversed
freely while there, and frequently said that he was not
afraid to die-that all was well."
REV. EDWIN ROBINSON.
Of the early life of the Rev. Edwin Robinson little
has been learned. Hie was received on trial into the Missouri Annual Conference, M. E. Church, in 1837, with
Thomas D. Clanton, Daniel T. Sherman, F. W.,Mitchell and James G. F. Dunlany.  Mr. Robinson's first
appointment was junior preacher on the Greenville
Circuit, in the Boonville District, with Moses B. Evans
his senior, and Jesse Green, Presiding Elder.
He received regular appointments from the Conference every year, and filled them acceptably and usefully to the Church. In 1852 he was made Presiding
Elder of the Richmond District, and for several years
filled that high and responsible office to the satisfaction of the Church. lie was once honored with a seat
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in the General Conference, and was always held in high
esteem by the ministry and the Church.
Wise and prudent in counsel, and thoroughly Mlethodistic in all his feelings, sentiments and practice, he ever
conserved the best interests of the Church of his choice.
lie was never very brilliant in the pulpit, but sound,
practical, earnest and useful. So widely known, he is
now as widely lamented.
.When the war broke out he felt and saw the necessity of great caution and prudence in all his public
services and private ways. IHe refrained scrupulously
from canvassing the exciting events that were so rapidly transpiring. And his very humble, quiet, unobtrusive spirit and manner of life passed him through the
troubles of the war about as evenly and safely as any
other prominent Southern Methodist minister in the
State, out of St. Louis, up to the fatal hour of his cold,
cruel murder.
In the fall of 1864 Mr. Robinson was residing about
two miles south of Fayette, in Howard county, and
traveling the Fayette Circuit.
He had formerly lived in Chillicothe, and when the
troubles of that fall thickened and darkened around
him so alarmingly, he made up his mind to remove his
family either back to Chillicothe or into Grundy county,
where his wife had some relatives living.
For this purpose he determined to precede his family
and  provide  a home.   Before setting  out on  the
journey his wife prevailed on him, in view of the danger of traveling through the country, to go by way of
Renick and take the North Missouri R. R.  He rfterward, however, abandoned that route and set out in
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
company with a colored man who lived in Chillicothe
and had a wife at his house, and in whom he had the
most implicit confidence.  Instead of going through
Glasgow they took a nearer and safer route, through
Monticello and Old Chariton. When they reached the
latter place, only two miles distant from Glasgow, they
halted for a few moments in front of Moore's Hotel
talking with some gentlemen, when a squad of soldiers,
conmianded by Capt. Merrideth, rode rapidly up and
the following colloquy was had:
Captaini.-" Who and what are you?"
"My name  is Robinson  and  I am  a Methodist
preacher."
Captain.-" A Southern Methodist preacher?"
"Yes, sir."
"That, sir, is enough to damn you," said the valiant
captain, excitedly, and turning to his men said, "Blow
his damned brains out," which was instantly done.
These facts were reported by the negro, to which
some ladies, who at the time were looking out at the
window, make the following additions: They say that
after the above conversation, and before any order was
given to shoot, ]1r. Robinson and the negro were permitted to ride on. After they had gone about fifty
yards Capt. M{errideth called the negro back and asked
him what he knew about Robinson. He replied that he
knew nothing of Robinson's politics, but that he had a
very bad son who was a bushwhacker, upon which
Merrideth dashed up to Robinson and either shot him
himself or ordered his men to do it.  As to who did the
shooting the ladies are not fully agreed. Nor is it important. Captain Merrideth was in command, and the
1105
I 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
public verdict of the people, as well as the verdict of history, will hold him responsible.
He rode away from his victim after leaving an order
that his body should not be removed on pain of death.
For some reason the Captain did not take the dead
man's horse, and the noble animal stood in silence and
alone beside the body of his master whom he had so long
borne-now pulseless, lifeless.  Whether his person
was robbed, has not transpired.
The ladies, true to the instincts of a finer and purer
nature, and the warmer sympathies and loftier courage
of humanity, notwithstanding the general terror and
panic of the citizens, went out and pulled rails from
the fence and made a rude pen around the dead man to
prevent the hogs from profaning his body, and then
sent a message to Mrs. Thomson, of Glasgow, informing her of the facts. This good lady caused a twohorse wagon to be prepared, and with several other
"elect ladies," attended by two gentlemen, went out
the following morning, which was the Sabbath, and
brought his body into the city. His wife was summoned to look upon and follow to the'grave the mangled remains of her beloved companion. Such was the
reign of terror that the citizens of Glasgow were
afraid to receive the body of the departed minister of
God into their houses. His body was placed in the
Christian Church, and the next day, Monday, followed
to the town of Fayette by the disconsolate widow and
a few silent mourners and deposited in the cemetery.
His son was afterward killed some distance from Fayette, and by his widowed mother and little sister
brought in and interred beside the martyred father.
136 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
The picture of this horrible deed can not be finished
without a few facts connected with the subsequent history of the family.
The widow was left with two children-a daughter
thirteen and a son eleven years of age.  The crop produced on the little farm was ungarnered; ard such was
the panic produced in that country by the events of
that fall that the neighbors and citizens feared to do
anything for a family who had been visited by such
terrible vengeance. No man could be found who, for
love or money, would gather the crop or chop the fire
wood. The weather soon turned bitterly cold, and this
delicate woman, with her little daughter and son, had to
go into the field and gather the corn out of the snow,
and into the forest to fell the timber and chop the fire
wood for the winter, and thus unaided and unbefriended,
except by a few kind ladies, struggle through the rough
and inclement season.  By this exposure both mother
and daughter had their hands severely frozen, which
nearly disabled them.
3Irs. Robinson found in a private drawer, soon after
the death of her husband, about $70 in monrey, upon
which she relied to meet her increasing wants; and
fearing that her house would be robbed or burned, she
carried this money on her person until one day, while
recruiting the fire, it dropped into the devouring element and was destroyed. This added greatly to her
privation, as it was her last dollar, and constituted literally all her living, except two or three head of cattle,
which she sold, and with the proceeds was enabled to
reach her mother, in Grundy county, the following
spring.
137 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
The author of this cold-blooded murder lived through
the war, and when peace was restored he, like many
others who had made themselves famous in the crimes
of the war and written their names in the blood of
innocence, was thrown up very prominently before
the public as a great hero and rewarded for his
valor. Captain Merrideth has been honored by the
citizens of Mlarion county with the office of sheriff for
two successive terms.
The following paper filrnishes other details:
"In about two weeks from the time of the capture of
Glasgow, on the 15th day of October, 1864, by the
Confederate forces, under the command of General
John B. Clark, Jr., a detachment of Missouri militia,
commanded by Colonels Sheton and Kutzner, re-occupied Glasgow-not, however, until the last rebel soldier
had made good a retreat south of the Missouri river.
They came full of revenge, and burned dwellings and
murdered unarmed men indiscriminately. In Howard
and Chariton counties many were the men who felt the
force of their unlimited power and their leaden missiles.
The very best men were singled out and murdered in
cold blood-shot down like so many dogs. Among the
number were Jesse Hiaston, Dr. Brumele, Evan Price,
Abner Finnel, Jay MeAshan, Judge Flood, Mr. Reedman, Mr. Philpott, Arthur Brannan, and many others
met the same sad fate, with no warning.
"On the first Saturday of November, 1864, Captain
Merrideth and Lieutenant Hayward, of Hannibal, commanding a company of militia, left Glasgow about ten
or eleven o'clock on a burning and murdering expedition up the Charitoi bottom. John Moore's hotel in
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
Old Chariton and John D. Locke's dwelling were laid
in ashes by these fiends in human shape.
"Just while the fiery element was licking up the last
of John MIoore's hotel, unfortunately the Rev. Edwin
Robinson happened to come along on that fatal day.
Captain Merrideth accosted him to know who he was.
Robinson, who had on his person a safeguard from
Colonel Guitar, told Mlerrideth he was a Southern
Methodist preacher, on his way to Grundy county.
This was enough. Merrideth told him the word South
was enough to damn him, and deliberately took out his
revolver and fired four shots into his head and chestthree in the head and one in the chest-either of which
would have killed him. He was instantly killed. His
horse, saddle and saddlebags were taken to Glasgow,
but subsequently turned over to Mrs. Robinson. Captain Merridethl ordered the neighbors not to touch his
lifeless body, under penalty of losing their lives.
"Near sundown three kind ladies built a rude rail
pen around his lifeless form, to rest calmly and quietly
through that lonely night until the day dawn of the
Sabbath should usher in, his spirit having gone to God
who gave it. The news reached Glasgow during Saturday night that a man who was unknown had been killed.
"Early on Sunday morning Mrs. J. S. Thomson, in
company with Mt. and Mrs. A. W. Roper, Mr. and Miss
S. Walker, Dr. Walker and Major J. W.  Lewis, left
town in a two-horse wagon for the place. They silently
placed his remains in the wagon and soon returned to
Glasgow. No coffin could be procured, and they had
one made.  The fearful reign of terror was upon all.
The Union men advised those who were in sympathy
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MARTYRDOM. IN MISSOURI.
with the South not to take his remains to their dwellings, fearful that their homes would be burned.  These
menii refused to have his body in their own dwellings.
MIr. A. W. Roper finally tendered the use of the basement of the Christian Church, where his body could
remain until word could be sent to his wife, who was
still unadvised of his sad end.
"During that solemn Sabbath day several hundred of
the militia who occupied the town came to see the murdered man. Some turned away with sad faces, and one
in particular remarked,;He was a good man. I have
heard him preach a hundred times.' Some would say
to their comrades:' Come, let's go; it is nothing but
a dead rebel. I wish all were in the same fix.'
"During(r the day watch was kept up by a few noble
ladies. The men were actually afraid to even go to the
church.
"On 3~onday morning his poor distracted and heartbroken wife arrived, and such a scene I never wish to
witness again. She who but a day or two before had
bid  farewell  for the last time to her darling and
beloved husband, and saw his manly form depart,
never more to behold him again only in the cold
embrace of death. Well might she weep. The small
escort, consisting only of three helpless women, took
their departure in sad silence for the late home of the
lamented and departed Robinson. In deep grief and
anguish did Sister Robinson ride onI horseback thirteen
miles following the remains of one whom she so dearly
loved.
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
"There was no necessity for shooting Robinson. It
did not end the war a day sooner, but it seemed that
there was in this county a set of men who preferred
to fight unarmed men rather than go where danger
was thick. Such men are now being rewarded with
the most lucrative offices of our State.".
After reading such scenes the mind instinctively turns
to the following Apocalypse of the Martyrs:
"And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under
the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word
of God, and for the testimony which they held. And
they cried with a loud voice, saying, Hiow long, 0 Lord,
holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood
on them that dwell on the earth?"
While the Church to which Wood and Sexton and
Robinson belonged, in which they were faiithful and
useful ministers, and for which they "were sla(int for the
word of God, and for the testimony which they held,"
has been made to bleed at every pore and bow to the
pitiless storm that swept away so many of her defenses
and paled so many of her purest lights, she has not
sought revenge, nurtured wrath, nor given vent to a
bitter, spiteful spirit; but in her darkest days and amid
the hallowed scenes of her desolation, listening now to
the brother's blood that cries firom the ground, and now
to the wailings of her orphaned children over the graves
of her many martyrs, she waited patiently till her
change came. God has been her "refuge and strength,
and a very pre ent help in trouble."  While she cherishes with undying affection the names of her noble
martyrs, she is content to leave to the records of his- 
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
tory, the just judgment of posterity and the righteous
decisions of the last day, their vindication. With a
heart of pity, and the voice of prayer, and catching up
the oft repeated words that trembled last upon their
dying lips, "Father, forgive them," the Church can
afford to wait in faith and hope the future harvest that
begins already to grow luxuriant in the soil made rich
by the "blood of the martyrs."
142 
MARTYRDONI IN MISSOURI.
CIIAPTER VII.
ELDER AUGUSTUS H. F. PAYNE.
Elder Auqustus H. F. Pavne-Early Life in Kentucky —Enters the
Ministrv of the Christian Church-Spotless Character-Useful Min istry-Moves to MIissouri, and Lives in Clay and Clinton counties A Successful Evangelist-Principles-Love for tl)e Union and the
Constitution-Nonminated for the State Convention in 1861 —Man ner of Life During the War-Murdered near Plattsbhurg, Clinton
county, in 186)-Shocking Details-Affectingr  Narrative by His
Daughiter-Fruitless Efforts to Bring the Murderers to Justice Unanswered Questions-Reflections.
ELDER AUGUTJSTUS HI. F. PAYNE.
The records of martyrdom in modern times furnish
few names more prominent or precious than the one at
the head of this chapter.
Thousands of hearts in Missouri and Kentucky will
grow sad as they read the heartless cruelty which
placed that revered name on the "Roll of the Martyrs," and a large, intelligent body of Christians, with,
perhaps, thousands of converts whom he baptized, will
hasten with melancholy gratitude to do him honor and
embalm his name in the fondest memories of the heart.
The Christian Church, in which he was a useful minister and a distinguished light, has been called to share
deeply in the common sufferings of those times of religious persecution, and through the fellowship of suffering has become tenderly and honorably linked with
the Methodist, the Presbyterian, the Baptist, and all
143 
MARTYRDOMI IN MISSOURI.
other Churches in this State which have been called to
" contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints,"
and which have vindicated, in the persecutions, imprisonment and martyrdom of their ministry, the purity of
the gospel, the divine authority of the Church of Christ,
the rights of conscience, and the distinctive features of
religious liberty which were so ruthlessly and treacherously assailed in those dark and bloody days.
The following sketch of the life, labors, character and
murder of this popular and useful minister is fi-om the
gifted pen of one who knew him long and well, and
whose very name and distinguished ability would exalt
into merit and invest with commanding interest any
subject. The Church that furnished the distinguished
subject, as well as the author of this work, can not too
highly appreciate the fact that the biographer of Mr.
Payne was so eminently fitted for the task by position,
profession, talent and long association in the relations
of intimate friendship with the deceased and his family.
The sketch of his cruel and shocking murder, with
the circumstantial details written by his daughter, can
not fail to thrill the coldest heart and move to tears
the dryest eye. The details of the narrative seem
more like the vivid conceptions of a rich imagination
than reality, and the expressions are so natural, so
tender and touching, that the reader will be borne
along upon the tide of that daughter's grief in spite of
him, and can not repress the feelings of righteous indignation vwhich swell the heart as he reads of the heartless cruelty of the murderers.  But "truth is stranger
than fiction," and the sad realities of Martyr-domr in
Missouri surpass the finest efforts of genius in the
144 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
realms of romance. Would to God it were all fiction.
Then the history of the war in Missouri and the records
of crime in the nineteenth century would not be fouled
and blackened by the murder of men because they were
ministers of the Gospel.
"Augustus IH. F. Payne was born in Mason county,
Kentucky, on the 4th day of April, 1807. Hie was the
son of William Payne, who commanded a company of
Virginia Volunteers in the revolutionary army. After
the establishment of our National Independence, and
whilst Kentucky was almost an unbroken wilderness,
Captain Payne removed with his family there and settled in Lexington, which then only numbered a few
hundred inhabitants, who lived exclusively in log cabins. A few years later he settled in Bath county, but
remained there but a short time until he removed to
Mason county, where he permanently settled, and
where Augustus was born. For more than forty years,
and down to the time of his death, William Payne was
a distinguished Baptist preacher in Kentucky. He died
as he had lived-a Christian, and in the full confidence
of a blessed immortality.
"Augustus resided in his father's family until he was
married, in 1828, to Mary Morris, the daughter of Judge
James Morris, of Mason county, Kentucky. Shortly
after his marriage, in October of the same year, he became a member of the Baptist Church at Mayslick, having been previously immersed by Elder John Smith in
the Ohio river.
"During the great reformatory movements set on
foot and advocated with as much ability as success by
Barton W. Stone and others, in 1830, the subject of      10
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I4MARTYRDOMN IN MISSOURI.
this notice b]-oke off fiom the Baptist and became a
member of the Christian! Church. In 1834 he was
chosen to the work of the ministry and preached regularlv from that time in Mason and surrounding counties with great satisfaction to the churches and with
eminent success until, in 1836, he, with his little family,
left his native State and settled near Liberty, in Clay
county, Missouri. From the day he became a citizen
of Missouri up to the time of his death he was a prominent evangelist in the Church to which he belonged,
and did as much, if not more, than any other man in
the State toward the establishment of churches and
the evangelization of Northwest Missouri.  That he
received into the Church and baptized more persons
than any other preacher in Missouri between the years
1836 and 1863 is almost if not absolutely certain   Possessing as he did a fine understanding, the most consummate knowledge of the springs to human actionbeing an excellent speaker, and enjoying the advantages
of a pleasing, captivating address-and, above all, being
thoroughly devoted to the work, he possessed a power
and wielded an influence during the latter years of his
life that was almost irresistible amongst those with
whom he was associated. From 1836 until 1854 Mr.
Payne was a citizen of Clay county. In 1854 he settled near Plattsburg, in Clinton county, where  he resided continuously up to the time of his death, in 1863,
devoting his time almost exclusively to preaching the
gospel. Hiis labor was not confined entirely to the
Churches in Clinton, Clay and Platte counties, where
he preached regularly, but he traveled extensively in
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.MARTYRDOMN  IN MISSOURI.
north-west Missouri, and at the time of his death, and
for many  years preceding, was regarded as one of tl-he
most eloquent, successful and acceptable preachers
belonging to the Christian Church in the State.
"SIr. Payne being so widely known and possessing so
extensive an influence, was-in January, 1861, when
the act calling a Convention which was in fact to decide
whether Missouri should go North or South was passed
-frequently consulted by the people as to the proper
course to be pursued by them, and greater regard was
paid to what he said than almost any other man north
of the -Aissouri river.  That he at all times and under all
circumstances  advised strict obedience to the laws and
inculcated a reverence for the Constitution of his country second only to that due to the Bible all who knew
him, to whatever party they may belong, will testify.
Born in Ientuckyl3, having, always lived in a slave State,
and having been the owner of slaves all his life, it could
not be reasonably expected in 1861 to find him uniting
with those who believed that slavery' was the sum of
all human villainy,' and who were waging an unconstitutional warfare for its overthrow. At the samne time
it was just as little to be expected that he would advocate the dissolution of the Union, and the annihilation
of the Constitution which guaranteed the enjoyment of
every right and interest recognized  and established
thereby. Consistency, patriotism, common sense, Christianity, national pride, love of liberty, all elevated and
holy considerations, in his judgment, demanded that in
1861 he should, as he had always done, plant himself
firmly upon the Constitution of his country, and in
opposition to all men and all parties who were not
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
willing to live up to and support its provisions. These
resolves, these determinations, and the advocacy of
them, as will be seen in the sequel, cost him his lifedeprived a dependent wife and his children of their
stay, comfort and support, silenced forever the tongue
of a patriot, and stilled in death the eloquent pleadings
of one of the most gifted advocates of Christianity the
State could boast.
"The act calling a Convention was signed by the Governor on the 21st of January, 1861. On the 25th of the
same month a large and enthusiastic convention of
the people of Clinton county was held in Plattsburg,
in pursuance of widely published notices, for the purpose of nominating a candidate for the Convention.
This Convention embraced nearly every property
holder and leading man in the county. To Mr. Payne's
utter astonishment, and altogether without solicitation
on his part, it nominated him for a seat in the Convention from the tenth senatorial district, composed of
Clinton, Clay and Ray counties. Being in town and
informed of his nomination, he immediately repaired to
the court house in which the Convention was hold, fnd
after thanking the Convention for the honor conferred,
declined to accept the nomination.  His friends assembled around him, urged his compliance with their
wishes, and with an importunity that would submit to
no denial, eventually induced him to say that he would
make the race. In consenting to do so he used, in the
conclusion of his address, the following language:'So
long, fellow-citizens, as there remains a single hope of
perpetuating the Union and preserving the Constitution of our common country I will desert neither.'
148 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
The 4th resolution passed by the Convention that nom
inated Mr. Payne is as follows:'Resolved, That we
are still willing to adhere to the Constitution which
our fathers made, and under which our country has
grown so fiamous and powerful; but we want it as they
made it, unimpaired by violent hands. This we are
anxious to perpetuate and hand down to our posterity; but
a Union without equal rights we utterly detest and will
have none of it.'
"In an address, printed and sent to the voters of the
district in which he was a candidate, a few days after
his nomination, and which is now before me, he uses the
following language:'I, therefore, say, that I am
opposed to coercion, because it is nothing more nor less
than a declaration of war; and war once begun, I
should feel that all was lost. The best hopes of the
civilized world would be lost, and lost forever. I am
opposed to secession, because in recognizing the correctness of that principle, should division be forced
upon us, we could have no guarantee for the permanency of any other Confederacy that might be attempted.
I am opposed to submission, because that does not become
freemen. I am willing to accept some such basis as
the Crittenden Compromise,' &c., &c. The politicians
of the district combined, and Mr. Payne was defeated
for a seat in the Convention. Thereupon he immediately retired to his farm and sought for rest and happiness in the bosom of his family-abandoned politics
and all that had for the hour engaged his attention,
and with renewed zeal resumed the labors of the Christian minister.  Mr. Payne was never a politician, never
in his life alluded to politics in the pulpit, and, upon
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MARTYRDO0I IN MISSOURI.
principle, believed that all such allusions were improper,
and that politics and religion both suffered by being
mingled together.  3Ir. Payne continued upon his farm
with his family, except when he was away preaching,
taking no part in the civil war or the questions growing out of it (so far as is known) until in the wipter of
1862. To be sure, now and then certain persons whose
loyalty ill the beoginning was not free from suspicion,
but who had become intensely radical as the war progressed and the Union forces gradually took possession
of the country, were heard to make threats-throw out
dark hints respecting MIr Payne's bad example, and
the unwholesome influence he was exercising clandestinely in the social circle, as well as ill his capacity as
minister, but no demonstrations of a hostile character
were made toward him until the times and in the malnner stated in the following narrative, written by his
daughter
"' Lss Lucilla Payne's Account of the Arrest and Mlurder
of her Father, Augustus H. F. Payne.
"'In the winter of 1862, when Major-General HIalleck's order NXo. 29 appeared, my father became convinced he could niot stay at home without molestation;
consequently he went to St. Joseph to effect an
arrangement with the military autlhorities by which he
could remain at home in peace.  General Loan, who
was in command at St. Joseph, required him to file a
bond in the penalty of four thousand dollars, conditioned for his good behavior, &c., but through theinifluence of WV. P. Hiall, then Lieut. Governor of the State,
it was reduced to two thousand dollars. Hle at first,
by the terms of his bond, was confined to six counties,
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
but finding his sacred duties required a more extended
field, he applied for and obtained a pass from MIajor J.
~I. Bassett, Provost-Marshal, to go any where in the
Federal lines, and with this he went to and fro unquestioned.  During, the summer of 1863 a band of bushwhackers, under Hart, kept all north-west Missouri in a
state of fermentation. Whenever a Radical became
alarmed at their daring raids or wished to wreak his
personal malice upon an enemy and rid himself of a
dangerous rival, all he had to do was to go before some
petty officer, state his life or property was in danger,
and thereupon the enemy or rival was selected as a victim and murdered. My father was such a victim. A
league more dark and terrible than that of the Inquisition sped the bolts of death. Private soldiers were
used ais instruments in the hands of radical citizens, and
officers stealthily guided the fatal messeng,er of death
to their victim's heart. Jo. Hart, knowing by some
means that the militia of Clinton county were withdrawn to Clay county on a scout, took advantage of
their absence to make a raid on Plattsburg-robbed the
county treasury, a few individuals, and left at his
leisure, without hurting anybody except one citizen,
who was accidentally shot.  The greatest excitement
followed, and everybody expected the defenseless citizens would in some way be made to pay the penalty of
the neglig,ence of those in power.  My father was in
Buchanan county, holding a meeting, when the raid
occurred. A few days afterward my brother, then a
mere boy, was sent to Plattsburg on business. Whilst
there he was arrested and kept under guard all day,
accused of being with bushwhackers, which he stoutly
151 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
denied and defied them to the proof. Finding he would
not be frightened, he was released and sent home with
a verbal order from the Provost-Marshal for my father
to report to him the following Wednesday. The citi zens were ordered to meet and devise some means to
suppress bushwhackers.  Well knowing that they were
unarmed, and being violently opposed to bushwhacking,
my faither had no objection to expressing his true sentiments, especially if by so doing he could be instrumeiital in restoring quiet.  In connection with Judge
Birch  and other conservative men they passed and
signed a series of anti-bushwhacking resolutions. After
the meeting adjourned a squad of soldiers surrounded
my father and endeavored to force him into a drinking saloon to treat them. He firmly refused, but
finally, to escape their insults, went into a store and
bought them some tobacco.
"' A company of the Missouri 25th (Colonel Harding's
regiment), under Captain Coleman, was stationed in
Plattsburg about ten days afterward, and the great
excitement in consequence of the raid had in a great
measure subsided.  My father went in and out of town,
whenever business or inclination prompted, unmolested.
He received in the meantime a letter from Nashville,
stating that a dear niece had been sentenced to Alton
prison under the persecution of Gen. Rosecranz. He
determined to make an effort for her release. With
this view he went to St. Joseph to obtain the influence
of the resident authorities, and received from Gen. W.
P. Hall a letter of introduction to Maj.-Gen. Schofield,
then commanding the Department of the Missouri. He
also saw Col. Harding at St. Joseph for the purpose of
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MARTYRDO0I IN MISSOURI.
obtaining pay for six wagon loads of corn which had
been taken firom him and vouchers given for only fifty
bushels, at twenty cents per bushel, which account Col.
IItlrding, refused to have paid.
"'My father reached home o:, the morning of the 3d
of June. After finding the family well and spending
some time with us, he left the house without telling any
one where he was going. But as his usual custom was
to walk over the premises after being several days
absent, we supposed he was somewhere on the farm.
He had been gone but a short time when we saw a large
squad of soldiers advancing toward the house.   My
mother, without waiting to see what they wanted, sent
my little brother in quest of him to acquaint him with
the fact.  They halted at the fence, and a Lieutenant
with two men came to the house. I met them at the
hall door.  The Lieutenant asked if that was the )asdence of the Rev. Mlr. Payne. I replied that it was.
Hie then asked for him. I told him I did not know
where he was, and inquired what he wanted with him.
Hie refused to answer, but asked for my mother. When
mother came he made the same inquiries of her that he
had of me, but told her he had an order for her husband's arrest, and that he would search the house. She
told him he was welcome to search; that my father was
not in it; that had he known of their coming he would
not have left.  ie had done nothing to lead him to fear
them or any other soldiers; thlat he was well known to
the military authorities of the District, and had "protection papers" from Gen. Hiall and Major Bassett. Hie
replied that neither Hall nor Bassett were any authority
to him; that he belonged to the United States service and
153 
1IIARTYRDO0I IN  MISSOURI.
not to tile State militia.  I-e thenre ordered his men to
search the house, saying that if my father gave himself
up it would be well, and if not he would shoot him,
intimating that he was hiding from him. Before searching the house I asked him to let me see his orders. iHe
said he never showed them to ladies. I then asked by
whose orders he was acting.  He said, "Colonel iarding's."  "When did you receive the orders?"  "The
evening before."  I then told him I thought it exceedingly strange that Colonel IHarding did not detain my
father in St. Joseph the day before; that he had just
returned from there; had seen Colonel Harding, and
transacted business with him; that it would have been
more expeditious as well as more certain to have kept
him when he had him rather than take the trouble of
sending thlirty-five mniles for him. He grew very angry
and said it was none of my business to question him.
I replied I cla.imed to be a lady, and I hoped he would
treat me as one; that he had said he was here for the
purpose of arresting my father, and what concerned
him concerned me; that in questioning him I only
manifested a daughter's interest in a lather's welfare.
Hie seemed somewhat mollified, and apologized for the
roughness of his speech, saying, "Certainly, Miss Payne,
I accord you that privilege; but you must know that a
soldier has no discretion in such matters. Your father
is a perfect stranger to me; I would not know him if I
were to see him.  I know no cause for his arrest, but it
is my duty as a subaltern to obey the orders of my
superior officers."  I then asked if he would take my
father immediately to St. Joseph, as his orders emanated firom there.   He replied, "No, only to Platts
151 
MIARTYRDOM  IN MISSOURI.
buig  I shall there turn him over to Captain Colcman,
Nwhlo wvill send him to Colonel Harding."
"'3by sister accompanied the men through the house.
They- merely walked through the roomls, not making
any search, being convinceed he was not in it. The
meli scattered over the yard and garden, helping themselves to whatever  they pleased.   The  Lieutenant
seated himself in the hall and talkled in an insolent
tone  about "buslhwhackers."  Mly mother answered
that citizens were not responsible for bushwhaekers, as
they had been disarmed and were themselves defenseless; that those whlo had the arms oughlt to get them
out of the country; that her husband, being from home
the greater part of his time in the discharge of his
ministerial duties, knew very little about such matters,
probably less thani any other man in the community.
He ag,ain reiterated in the most positive manner that so
far as SIr. Payne was concerned he had no  charges
against him of any kind; he was obeying those higher
in authority than himself in seeking to arrest him.
"' ty father had dropped in at a nci,ghbor's house to
while away a social hour, and there my little brother
found him.  Conseious of his own integlity, he felt he
had no reason to shun any one, so iupon receiving the
infoirmation, he immediately returned home.  I met him
at the gate and told him what was on the tapis whilst
walking vwith him to the front door.  The Lieutenant
arose as my father approached and said he presumed
he addressed the Rev. MIr. Payne.  MIy father told
him he did.  lie then introduced himself as Lieutenant
3Morton, of the Alissouri 25th, and remarked,  "M1r.
Payne, it is my duty to arrest you." Mfy father said,
155
I 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
"Your orders, sir." He replied in a bluff tone,' I never
show them.  You mustprepare togo with me." While
my father was giving some orders about his horse I
learned from the Lieutenant that he was not going to
return to town immediately, but was goin)g on a bhtshwhacking scout as far as Smithville, a small village in
Clay county (which was at the time under the control
of a very lawless set of men), and would not return
till the following day.  MIy fears were aroused.   I
inquired if he intended to take my father with him.
He said he did.  I tried ineffectually to chagie his
purpose. lie said he had a good many arrests to make
-he would have plenty of company, and they would
all be sent to headquarters together.  The story was
not improbable in one sense, for often as maly as a
dozen citizens were arrested out of one neilghborhlood
in times of excitement, made to work on entrenchments,
carry water, cut wood, and perform other menial service; and the worst fears I had experienced had been
on this account.  But learning he would drag my father
over the country wherever whim or caprice might suggest, keep him over night without reporting him to
headquarters, and that, too, when the most positive
assurance had been given that he was acting under
orders emanating from thence, the most violent apprehensions were excited in my mind, and if I could at
that moment have concealed my father I would have
done so. I communicated the intelligence to him-saw
his suspicions were aroused, but that he did not wish to
betray any anxiety to the family.  He appealed t,) the
Lieutenant to know if such was the intention. Upos
being informed that it was, my father told him that he
156 
MAIARTYRDOMN  IN MISSOURI.
bad taken a long ri(le that morning, and felt physically
uneqtial to the ride; tlhat he would pledge his word and
honor as a gentleman to report immediately in Plattsbuig.  IIe said he could not think of such a thing,; that
lie would be answerable to his superiors were he to
allow it.  My fatther then proposed to detail a trusty
gulird.  This he also refused; said he had not a man to
spare.  The only alternative was to go with  him  as
quielly as possible.  His victim was in his clutchles, and
lie did not intend he should escape. One of the privates took my fiather's bridle, in the presence of this
officer, for which he substituted his broken one; after
which he was ordered to mount.  I looked in every
face as they passed me, hoping I might find one to whom
I could appeal to befriend my father in the hour of
need.  Not one redeeming countenance met my anxious gaze. My mother turned to me and said sadly,
"what a rough-looking set of men to have such a man
prisoner." Alas! my own ter rible forebodings re-echoed
the thoiight, but I said, "Mother, the Lord preserved
Daniel in the lion's den, and surely IIe will shield His
faithful servant from harm." 
"' Feeling the uselessness of attempting to follow him,
and fearing the worst, yet hoping the best, I went to
Plattsburg, next morning, accompanied only by my little
brother, to learn what disposition had been made of
him. On reaching town I found that Capt. Coleman,
instead of being at his post to receive his prisoners, had
gone with Lieut.-Colonel Porter, Thomas Viglini, the
Provost-Marbhal of the county, and others, to  St.
Joseph. The scout under Morton had not returned; 
and so secret had been the expedition that no one to
157 
MI,ARTYRDOM  IN.ITTSSOURL.
whom I applied could give an3l information, not having
even heard that my father stood in any danger of arrest.
Upon expressing my fears that personal violence would
be offered, my friends assured Imemy apprehensions
were groundless; that whilst the men might be capable
of any villainy, it would be too barefaced to attempt
such a thing with a man like my father. No officer
would have the hardihood to risk his reputation by
such an outrage; he was too well known; the authorities would be compelled to take action in the case.  I
was told it would be useless to apply to Major Green,
who was then in command of the militia, and whose
headquarters were at the court house, while the 25th
was camped at the fair grounds, and were not under his
control.
"' A prey to the most torturing doubts and maddening
suspicions, I was on my horse in the street when I discovered the scout coming in. I waited to see if my
father was with them; but oh! the unspeakable anguish
of that mnoment! Instead of seeing him I recognized
his horse and saddle, rode by a drunken soldier.  If
ever the human countenance expressed the fiendish
malignity of Satan, it was written in that man's face.
I tried to stop him to learn where the owner was.  He
loaded me with the vilest abuse; said he did not care a
d-n where he was! If I had seen my father murdered
before my very eyes I could not have felt more awfully
certain of his fate.  I believe I screamed.   Ir. James
Stonum ran to me and asked me what was the matter.
I told him as well as I could.  Ile said it looked bad,
but probably they had taken my fiather's horse and
given him a more indifferent one to ride; that part ef
I as 
MA.RT"'RDOM  IN MISSOURI.
the scout had gcrone to the fair grounds by another
street.  Perhaps I would find him there, and he kindly
offered to accompany me.  lie walked at my bridle
and questioned every soldier. All told different stories,
but two at last told me positively that they had come
by our house and "left the old man at home;" that
they had really nothing against him.  When asked how
the horse, then, came into their possession, I was satisfied when they told me that they were pressing horses
every day, and had brought it on to town.  3orton had
not returned, and I was about to turn back from my
fruitless errand, whena my friend said, "I do not wish
to needlessly alarm you, but I am far from being satisfied with these men's stories, and I advise you not to
return home without seeing Lieutenant Morton.  It is
possible your father may be with him." We started
back to town and met the Lieutenant; stopped him and
asked for my father.  He replied, "'Left him in the
brush."  I cried out, "Then you have murdered him!"
He dropped his head and never looked me in the face
ag,ain. Hie said if it was any satisfaction to me to
believe himn murdered, I  was welcome  to think so;
but he had made his escape from his sergeant and two
men near the railroad and was in the brush, where he
belonged; that he would sneak in that night! I replied
that if he knewv anything of my father, he would know
he never associated with men of doubtful character;
that such men as Hiall and Bassett, who lived in the
District, ought to know more of him than a stranger
like himself; that he had no reason to fear being
brought to trial, as he was well known to every leading
man in the District, and did not doubt he could clear
159 
MI ARTYRDOM. IN AMISSOURI.
himself of aniy charges that might be brought  iagainst
him.   ie said he knew he was well k-nown; that these
preachers had more influence than any other class of men,
and if they all had the benefit of a rope the country would
be better off. lie would deny that he had kill]ed him,
but I could see he wished me to believe he was dead;
and yet I begged of this heartless wretch-in a manner
I would have scorned to have begged for my own life
-to tell me where his body might be found.  My every
prayer was met by a cruel taunt and a brutal insult.
Being, convinced I could gain no concessions fi'om himnthat he only exulted in the torture he was inflicting-I
left him to seek assistance elsewhere.  I met with much
expressed symnpathy, but no real help - everybody  was
afraid! If he had been taken, who would be safe?
Crushed with despair, I turned my sorrowfill steps to
meet the waiting, anxious  hearts at home.   How  I
reached there God only knows!  The one mad conviction welled up from my agonized heart-I was the
messenger of woe to the loved ones!  The lightning
bolt that would pierce my darling mother's heart would
first fall from my lips! How could I-go, yet how could
I stay away!  When the l'orrible desolation of the
murderous assassin comes home to our own hlearts, who
can tell its bitterness save those who lac-e loved srnd
lost and stifTfied alike! We tried to rouse the neighbors
to look for him, but they were afraid to go that night
for fear of ceilg called bushwhackers.  IIow we lived
through its lo)ng, wretched watches is known only to
Him who  never slumbers  nor sleeps!  Two  young
ladies went to town next morning to obtain permission
to look for the body, fearing the consequences for their
160 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
friends were they to undertake the search without it.
A written permission was given by the Provost-Marshal
for the friends to look for Mfr. Payne, who was missing,
and reported to be murdered. Some neighbors had
collected in the meantime and found him about three
miles from home, shot twice through the heart, the
breast of his coat and hands being powder-burnt. He
had upon his person his "protection papers" and the
letter from Gen. Hall to Major-General Schofield. A
neighbor went for the coroner (Mr. O. P. Riley) to hold
an inquest  He applied to Major John Green to furnish
him an escort, who, instead of doing so, remarked if
he undertook it he thought it more than likely some
one would be employed to hold an inquest over him!
The Provost-llarshal said if he was a coroner he would
consider it more than his life was worth to risk it.
Whether MIr. Riley considered these speeches as threats
I can not say; but two things are certain-there was no
escort furnished, and he did not go.  He himself told
me he knew he could not obtain a jury who would dare
to render a verdict according to the facts.
" The miscreants who thus foully murdered a'good and
true man, in giving an account of the hellish deed, said
that they asked him if he did not want to pray, and
while en(gagred in prayer they took his life!  I have
often wondered that if, in humble imitation of his suffering Mfaster, his last prayer was not: "Father, forgive
them; they know not what they do."
"'Miriam watched with a sister's love over the frail ark
containing the infant Moses, whose destiny had been
placed at the mercy of the Nile to escape the sword of
the tyrant. " Rizpah, from the Rock Gibeah, guarded
11
161 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
with sleepless eyes her loved dead, slaughtered for the
sins of Saul, and suffered neither the birds of the air
nor the beasts of the field to prey upon them by night
or by day." But no such melancholy privilege was
ours. No eye of affection watched the death sleep of
our darling dead.  His body lay out on the common
more than twenty-four hours before we succeeded in
having him brought home. We were warned it would
not do to attempt a public burial-that the less the
demonstration the better. Although a Mason, no resolutions of respect were offered; a Christian and a
minister, yet we were denied the prayers of consolation
which he had so often offered for others! He was
buried as privately as possible in the yard at home!
Hle, too, "with dyed garments has trodden the wine
press alone." No loved one to wipe the death damps
from his noble brow-to fold the pulseless hands and
close the glazing eye. Nor have we a farewell word
or a wshispered blessing to soften the horrors of recollectionll!
""Tis the disposition of some to bow to the storm-'tis
mine to brave it.  I knew it would be useless to attempt
to have the murderers brought before a civil tribunal.
As the civil law was almost entirely powerless, and the
military in a great degree implicated in the "deep
damnation of his taking off," I still determined to do
all I could by seeking a military investigation. I
thought if they would take action in any case, they
would not let such an outrage go unrebuked and unpunished. The manner of his death would speak in
thunder tones to the authorities of the utter inability
to reach him in any other way than cold-blooded mur
162 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
der.  It could not even be said we have a law, and by
our law he must die.  With this view I wrote to lion.
Silas Woodson, of St. Joseph, giving all the facts I had
obtained in the case. lie promptly came to my aid by
placing my letter before General Hiall, who indorsed it,
and sent it to i~ajor-General Schofield, requesting him
to take the necessary steps to have the men brought to
justice. A preliminary examination was ordered to
take place before 3Major J. M. Bassett. I was summoned to attend. An inexperienced girl, I had never
been in a court room nor heard an oath administered
in my life. Solitary and alone I went, without counsel
and against the advice of friends, sustained by the one
mad hope of vindicating my father's memory by challenging those in power to justify the deed if they could.
Major Bassett expressed much sympathy for me, and
treated me very gentlemanly; summoned all the witnesses I wanted, and allowed me to select a lawyer
(Judge Tutt) and submit the testimony to him, and
pronounced with him the mass of testimony overwhelming, and said no military commission could fail
to act on it.  The evidence was expressed to Col. J. O.
Broadhead, Provost Marshal General of the State; was
duly received and receipted for.  Reeks lapsed into
months, and not hearing from the case I wrote to Col.
Broadhead to know if the trial, which had just closed
at St. Joseph, was a farce-the semblance of justice,
without its reality. In answer to which I received a
prompt reply, saying he felt a special interest in the
case, and would do all in his power for its prosecutionthat he had sent an order for the arrest of the men,
would have them brought to St. Louis for trial, and
163 
lMARTYRDOM  IN MISSOURI.
would send for me to attend. That was the last I heard
of it.  During the trial in St. Joseph, Major Bassett
stated there was little doubt that assurance had been
given by Colonel Harding that no investigation would
ever be allowed, and appealed to General Hall to corroborate the statement. Not replying, I glanced at his
face and read this determination: "I would see the
murderers punished, but don't expect any official assistance
from me to have it done."  I tried Major Bassett on this
point again when General Hall was not present. All
the expression I could get was if the case was presented
in the right shape to the Provost-Marshal of the State,
Harding would be compelled to surrender the men.
"'After the close of the war I wrote again to Colonel
Broadhead in reference to the affair.  After some delay
he replied-said he had the men arrested-that Colonel
Harding was much incensed because they were charged
in the warrant with murder. They wer-e brought to
St. Louis and turned over to an officer of his Department (he did not call his name) with instructions that
if the evidence was sufficient, to prefer charges before
a military commission.  The testimony was submitted,
and he decided there was no case, and the men were discharged. So much for justice from military despots in
Missouri!
" Whether these men were arrested or not I do not
know. One thing I do know, however, and that is, that
I was assured by the Provost-Marshal General  that
when they were arrested I should be notified of the
fact, and that an opportunity should be given me to
appear and produce the evidence of their guilt. This
promise was never redeemed, and if the guilty mur
164 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
derers were arrested, instead of being tried, they were
turned loose without the evidence being heard, with the
seal of approbation of their murderous deed placed
upon them by the highest military authority in the
Department of the Alissouri, and to the eternal disgrace
of all connected therewith.
"'The murderers are still at large. Whether justice
will ever be meted out to them depends upon the
developments of the veiled future. But this I know,
there is a Power, higher than the stars and deeper than
the grave, that still rules in the counsels of men, and
though they may escape human retribution they can
not escape the divine. Hiis blood, like the blood of the
righteous Abel, will cry aloud unto Ihim who hath said,
"Venrgeance is mine; I will repay."
"'I have already stated that when I resolved to
make an effort to induce the military authorities  to
investigate the circumstances attending the death of my
father, I addressed a letter to the Hon. Silas Woodson, who was then the Judge of the 12th Judicial Circuit, soliciting his aid and advice in regard to the
matter.  I take the liberty of transcribing that letter
herein, verbatim, although it was not written with the
expectation that it would ever be published. This letter will show the estimation in which my father was
held by the public, and the view that an impartial legal
mind took of the affair at the time
"ST. JOSEPH, June 24th, 1863.
"M'3iss 1~. Lucilla Payne: I was truly glad when I read
your letter of'the 19th inst., giving the horrid details of
the assasination and death of your highly respected and
deeply regretted father.  Rumor had  given several
165
w 
IMARTYRDOMI 1N MISSOURI.
variant and unsatisfactory accounts of the sad affair;
hence the great anxiety I felt, in common with  Mr.
Payne's numerous friends here, to know the facts as
they really transpired. I need not say that your letter
fully satisfied our wishes in regard to the matter.
"You have heard, I doubt not, before the present
tinme that the 25th Reg,. M. V. have been ordered to Vicksburg, and I suppose that they are now beyond the limits of the State. At all events they will be before a
communication could reach St. Louis from here.
"It has never been pretended here, as far as I have
heard, that an order was issued by Col. Hiarding or the
Provost-Marshal for the arrest of Mr. Payne.  IHad
such an order been issued I am sure that I should have
heard of it, as I have heard the matter freely spoken of
by both officers and soldiers in the military service. I
do not know to whom the records kept at Col. Hardin,'s headquarters were transferred when he left, but I
suppose that they were taken away by him, as he was
succeeded here by an officer in the militia, and not the
volunteer service. It matters not, however, whether
your father was arrested with or without an order for
the purpose so far as the investigation desired by you
is concerned. It is not the arrest of Mr. Payne, but his
murder, that concerns his friends particularly, and I am
sure that no officer in the army would more readily
excuse his death by foul means when properly arrested
and under the protection of the law than if he had
been arrested without authority. No one who recognizes the obligations of law will excuse either officers
or men in taking human life in the manner Mir. PSyne
was deprived of his. It was nothing more nor less than
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MARTYRDOM  IN MISSOURI.
a cold blooded, heartless murder, in violation of all
law, civil and military. The practical question, however, is, what can be done to punish the guilty perpetrators of the deed.? I regret to say, nothing at the
present time, in my judgment. Gen. Schofield, I think,
would have been disposed, had he been fully in possession of all the facts, to have had the matter fully investigated before Col. Harding's command left the State.
The command, though, is now beyond Gen. Schofield's
military district, and consequently he has no control
over it. The only hope is, that peace will once again
be the lot of our distracted country-that the civil law
will have its course, and all who have violated it
have the proper punishment meted out to them. Time
never operates as a bar to a prosecution for murder.
When one feels that a great wrong has been done, that
innocent blood calls aloud from the grave for the punishment of those who shed it, how hard it is to have to
acknowledge our impotence! How sad to feel that we
can do nothing! All I can say to you, and to all of the
dear ones allied to my departed friend, is, trust in that
God in whom he trusted, nothing doubting. -Trust that
justice will in the end be done, and that the memory
of your father will, at the proper time and in the proper
way, be fully vindicated. 3Most profoundly do I sympathize with you in your distress. Be consoled, however, with the thought that your father died regretted
by the good on earth who knew him, and that he has
gone to his reward in heaven.
"Truly your firiend,
" SILAS WOODSON."
"'My narrative is now closed.  Peace has come. But,
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
alas! justice has not been done to my father's memory,
nor have his guilty assassins suffered the penalty justly
due to their great crime. The new Constitution of
Missouri has changed that time-honored law alluded to
in Judge Woodson's letter, and under it every sort of
crime, even murder, if committed by a heartless villain
in Federal uniform, and whilst in the military service,
must for all time go unpunished. Since civilization
first dawned upon the earth no soldier has been punished by any government for any act committed in the
regular discharge of his military duties.  But 1 suppose
that the infamy was reserved for the author of our
present Constitution to absolve from punishment the
cold blooded murderer of a peaceable, unoffending
citizen.
"' M. LUCILLA PAYNE.'
" After reading the foregoing account of the dreadful
death of Mr. Payne, the question forces itself upon
the mind, why was he murdered? That he was a most
excellent citizen, an exemplary Christian, an honorable, brave, chivalrous gentleman, no one who knew
him will deny. That from the commencement of the
late civil war up to the time of his death he studiously
avoided all political strife, and did all in his power to
mitigate the horrors of the war, and to protect and defeud all within his reach from wrong, oppression and
injury, is proverbial throughout the countv in which
he lived and died.  These things all being so, strangers, and all unfamiliar with the horrid tragedies perpetrated in Missouri in 1862, 1863 and 1864, in the name
of liberty, would be at a loss how to answer the question we have raised. But do not many of us know
168 
MARTYRDOM  IN MISSOURI.
that the very traits of character attributed to Mr.
Payne were dangerous endowments at the time
alluded to?  Mr. Payne had published to the world, in
1861, that he was a constitutional union man! Who, in
1863, could utter a sentiment more obnoxious to those
in authority in Missouri? Mr. Payne's whole life had
shown in what utter detestation he held everything
that was mean, low and contemptible. Hie was day by
day preaching the doctrine of forbearance and charity.
By every means in his power he was inculcating the
great truths of the religion he professed. He taught
that it was wrong to steal, to rob, to murder. He had
no compromise to make with sin, oppression and
cruelty. The world may make the application of
what we have said.  That the time will come when Mr.
Payne's virtues will be appreciated, and when his memory will be most affectionately cherished, is just as certain as is the arrival of the day in our history as a
people when all bad men shall be consigned to that
odium in public estimation which their conduct merits.
When the good triumphs over the bad-when passion,
as a controlling element, gives place to reasdn-when
law and justice, and not brute force and party spirit,
govern in the States and the nation-then, and not till
then, will the name of Augustus Payne shine with that
lustre it so richly merits; and then, and not till then,
will the names of his murderers sink into fathomless
and deserved infamy."
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MARTYRDOMI IN MISSOURI.
CHAPTER VIII.
REVS. TYSON DINES, WILLIAM POLK AND THOMAS JOHNSON.
Rev. Tvson Dines-Sketch bv Dr. Ferri. —His Charlacter-Arrested,
Impriso,ed, Exi'ed-Charged with  "General  Dislovxtllv"-Rev.
IV,lt,am? Polk -A Baptist Mlinister-Shot Down in Cold Blood near
his House-Parti( lars-A  Good MAln  Mai'tyred-Rev. Thomas
Johnson-A Rep)resentattive Maii-C(,hitracter of the Pioneer Preich ers-His Life and Labors on the Fro(ntier-Lon,,, Cor,nection with
the Indian 1;issions-The Earlv Settlers-The Territory anid State
of Kansais-Mr. J)hnson in the Legislatire the Territoiil Con vention. and in the Congress of the United St,tes-As Xl Preachler
anld a ChurchlLe islator —HisLoNvaltv to the Goveriinient-Political
Sentiments-Murdered at Midni-ht, Jan. 1 1865, in his owni House
-The Assassins-The General Gloomi-Reflectionrs.
REV. TYSON DINES.
No minister of the Gospel in Missouri found protection
solely in his holy calling from the general persecution.
Goodness, meekness, faith, humility abd singleness of
heart and life to the glory of God and the salvation of
men, nor all the other high and holy virtues that distinguish the true minister of Christ, could furnish
indemnity against the political inquisition and loyal
espionage that crowded so many loathsome prisons with
the best and purest men of the country. Dungeon
doors opened fireely to receive men who were guilty of
no crime under heaven, and military bastiles were
crowded with non-combatant citizens, many of whom
were ministers of Christ-the anointed of Heaven.
170 
MIARTYRDOMI IN MISSOURI.
Few men in the State or out of it had kept so clean
a record, made so few enemies, maintained so pure a
character, and kept himself so scrupulously and successfully firom the excitiing partisan events and issues of the
war as the Rev. Tyson Dines. Ile har even abstained
wholly fiom reading the papers, lest he shoul(1 know,
and think, and then talk about the terrible events of the
hour; and that he could be guilty of perverting his
pulpit in any way to partisan purposes no one who
kneev him will believe for a moment; and the charge of
"general disloyalty" was too transparent to deceive
anybody.
The heartless cruelty to which Ir. Dines was subjected in his arrests, imprisonment and exile bear too
plainly the marks of the beast to be excluded from the
general catalo,guLe of names that were to feel the hand
of persecution and the consuming power that  was
"breathing out threatenings and slaughter against all
that were of this way."
It recalls the scenes of the dark agres to see ministers
of the gospel torn from  their families, thrust into
prison, doomed to torture, and sent into exile for many
long, weary months,  without  knowing  the  specific
charges preferred against them-without trial or conviction.
Mr. Dines was paroled to St. Louis county for nearly
ten months-separated fiom his family and flock only
by the Missouri river, and daily tortured by the sight
of his home without the privilege of an.hour's visit to
its loved ones, who in turn were tortured by the daily
sight of husband and father walking " the other shore"
alone and sad, as if that river were an impassable gulf.
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
Irs. Dines often, with provisions furnished by sympa thizing firiends, would take her woik and spend the
livelong day with her exiled husband in the firiendly
shade in sight of home, and try to cheer his patient,
lonely life. Unclean diabolism only could inflict such
arbitrary pains and penalties upon such a man.
The following account of his trials and persecutions
is from the friendly and fearless pen of Rev. Robert P.
Farris, D.D., editor of the Missouri Presbyterian:
"REV.  TYsON DINES.-When the war  began  this
esteemied brother was in charge of the Ml. E. Church,
South, in St. Charles. The writer of these lines, not
belonging to his denomination, knew him well and loved
him as a child-like Christian, a faithful preacher of the
Gospel for twenty-five years, a high-minded mall, a
most prudent pastor. Determined to know nothing but
Christ and IIim crucified, not only did hle keep political
and the exciting topics of the day out of his pulpit, but
also he sedulously kept aloof, as far as was at all possible, even from his own parishioners, so as to avoid
conversing about the war, and refrained absolutely from
perusing newspapers so that he might be igniorant of,
and uninfluenced by, and unable to talk of the current,
terrible events. Yet this man, because he pursued this
course, and would not prostitute his office and influence
to the schemes and passions of the hour, was accused,
in a public speech, July 4th, 1862, by Walter W. Edwards, then Pr )secuting Attorney, now Circuit Judge,
of praying in. his church publicly for'Jeff. Davis and
the success of the Southern Confederacy.' Of course
the design of this lying villification was to make M3r.
Dines obnoxious to the military authorities, and thus
172 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
to secure his removal and the closing of his church, or
its perversion to the purposes of the party in power.
"In September, 1862, Mr. Dines was arrested on the
charge of'general disloyalty.'  (Does anybody know
what that is?) Hle was arraigned before one Lewis
Merrill, Brigadier-General commanding the District-a
profligate and a poltroon. The following conversation
was held:
"lerrill. -' Mr. Dines, are you a minister?'
"Mr. -Dines. -' Yes, sir.'
" iMerrill.-' Of what denomination?'
" lIr. -Dines.-' Methodist Episcopal?'
"  1Ierrill.-' Methodist, South?'
"Dines.-' Yes, sir.'
"3Serrill.-' Well, sir, that of itself is enough to condemn you.'
"And duiring the interview the licentious coward presumned to say, in a rough, brutal manner, to the meek
and venerable servant of Jesus-' Mr. Dines, you have
read the Bible to little purpose; you are ignorant of
the Scriptures.'
"MIr. Dines was held to be guilty of'general disloyalty,' and Merrill sentenced him'to be confined during
the war,' and soon sent him under guard to Gratiot
Street Prison, St. Louis.
"Hlere a friend and fellow-prisoner, who was well
acquainted with Judgfe IHI. R. Gamble, then Governor of
the State, wrote to that functionary, detailing the facts
in Sir. Dines' case-his age, his devoted piety, his long
service as a minister, his feeble health, his dependent
family, his prudence, his quiet walk, his outrageous
treatment, &c., sugg,esting, that if the Government minust
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.1 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
have sacrifice and not mercy, the writer, who was young
and stout, asked no favors for himself, and was willing
to endure the imprisonment, but entreating the Judge
to interfere for 3Mr. Dines' release.
"Gov. Gamble heeded the request, and secured a
hearing for 31r. Dines before the Provost-Marshal, who
immediately released Mfr. Dines on parole.
"The evening of that same day found Mr. Dines at
his house in St. Charles, in the midst of as happy a
family as the sun ever shone upon. Praise and thanksgiving went up firom full, gratefill, glad hearts around
the family altar that night. But, alas! some son of Belial had informed, by telegraph, Gen. Merrill of 3ir.
Dines' return on parole, and  next morning, before
breakfast, a telegram came from Merrill ordering 3Mr.
Dines to'leave the diqtrict in twenty-four hours.'
"Mr. Dines was compelled to obey,  and for more
than eight months was kept an exile from his home and
flock."
It is impossible to form a proper conception of the
sufferings of a man of his temperament and spirit in
that loathsome prison and that cruel exile. Ites mental
anxiety on account of his family was partially relieved
by the kindness of the Church and community from
which he had been torn by arbitrary power and exiled
for no pretense of crime. His family were supported
by the people who were thus deprived of his ministry.
REV. WILLIAM POLK.
It is sad to record the wanton murder of so many
good and true ministers of the Gospel, so many who
had spent half a lifetime in their holy calling, and done
174 
AIARTYRDOMI IN MIISSOURI.
so much good in their day and generation. In what
rapid succession did they pass away by the hands of
violence du-ring those dark and bloody days! In no
part of the State were ministers exempt from persecution and suffering for righteousness sake.
The name of another good and useful minister of the
Gospel, and the manner of his cruel murder, must find
a place here and illustrate this sad history.
The Rev. William Polk was a minister of the United
Baptist Church, and resided eight miles east of Ironton,
in Madison county, Missouri.  He had been a minister
of the Gospel over thirty years, and much of that time
was a member of what is known as the Bethel Association. As a minister he had been the means in the hands
of God  of doing much good.  Hiis labors extended
through the counties of Iron, Madison, St. Francois and
Reynolds, in which he had been extensively useful and
wielded a very large influence for good. At one time
he published a religious newspaper at Ironton, Iron
county, which circulated principally in Southeast Missouri.
Mr. Polk was a peaceable, quiet, orderly, upright
man; intelligent and honored in all the relations of
life and loved and respected by all who knew him.
The following brief statement will bring sadness to
many fond hearts:
"On the 4th day of November,  1864, three men
belonging to the,Missouri State Militia, then stationed
at Ironton, went to the house of Rev. Mr. Polk and
arrested him in the presence of his family. They robbed him of his money, about forty dollars, and started
off with him, as they said, to Fredericktown. The
-i
175 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
conversation at the house, when he was arrested, and
many other intimations of their purpose, induced Mr.
Polk to anticipate their designs.  They started with
him toward Fredoricktown, and after going about one
hundred yards from the house they shot him three
times, killing him instantly. After seeing him fall and
expire they rode away, leaving his lifeless body in the
road as it fell. Before leaving the house Mr. Polk was
so certain that he anticipated their designs that he told
his wife and children that they would kill him. He
also told his captors, in the presence of his family, that
he was aware of their intention, that he was prepared
to die, had no fear of death, and that he forgave them,
and from the sincerity of his heart prayed to God to
forgive them.
"Rev. Win. Polk was a true man, a good neighbor,
a generous friend, a useful minister, Iiighly esteemed
by his Church, respected and beloved by all who knew
him, and his death, together with the manner of it, is
deeply regretted in all this section of the country.  He
was fifty-ei,ght years of age."
It is scarcely a matter of doubt in the minds of those
in the community where Mir. Polk was murdered as to
the author of the horrible crime. About a year after
the war closed the Grand Jury for Madison county
found a true bill of indictment against one David Manning for the murder of Mr. Pollk.  He was duly arrested
and by change of venue formally tried in the Circuit
Court for Iron county. The evidence against him was
very clear and positive, but the jury, for reasons best
known to themselves, declined to convict him. The
determination to acquit Manning was so apparent that
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MARTYRDOMI IN MISSOURI.
the attorneys for the prosecution absolutely abandoned
the case in disgust and contempt.
This Manning belonged to the command of a Major
ILeeper, stationed at Ironton at the time of the murder.
The responsibility of this foul murder reaches those
who were high in authority; and the names of other
well-known ministers had been put upon the "dead
list" at the same time.
The murderers went from the dead body of Mr. Polk
to the residence of Rev. Andrew Peace, of the Al. E.
Church, South, with murderous intent. Not finding
him at home they departed, but returned again in about
two weeks to find Mr. Peace absent again. They were
so enrag,ed that they shot and killed a young man on
the spot, and also shot down the stock belonging to the
man whom a kind Providence shielded from their bloody
purpose.
Should any be tempted to question the correctness
of these statements, he isrequested to call on the author.
Of what crime were these good men guilty?  When,
where, by whom were they tried, convicted and sentenced?  Who were their accusers, judge and jury?
All the efforts made to ascertain the crime for which
Mr. Polk was murdered, or the accusation against him,
have been fruitless. The only rational hypothesis seems
to be this, that the general spirit of persecution marked
Mr. Polk as its victim because he was a minister of
Christ, a good and useful man, and the cowardly instruments stood ready to execute the decree of this modern
Antichrist of which those in authority, with their aiders
and abetters, seem to have been possessed. The spirit
of an unclean devil entered into them, and God's ligh
12
177 
MPARTYRDOM  IN MISSOURI.
and holy ambassadors were the victims.  "Who  shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God
that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is
Christ that died; yea, rather that is risen again."
REV. THOMAS JOHNSON.
"Some there are
By their good deeds exalted, lofty minds,
Anrd medlitative authors of delight
And happiness, which to the End of Time
Will live, and spread, and flourish."
To understand any people, country, age, or church,
we must study their representative men.  Methodism,
more, perhaps, than any other form of religious
thought and life, expresses itself in biography. And
to understand and appreciate Methodism as it existed
in the West twenty or forty years ago we must study
its representative men. The statistics of the Church,
and the system of Conferences, districts, circuits, stations, missions and all other external machinery, will
give but a very impl)erfect idea of Methodism. Some
one said that "Plato is philosophy, and philosophy is
Plato;" and with still more of truth it may be said,
that Methodism is biography, and all pure, religious
biography is Methodism-that is, the Methodism of
Wesley, and Asbury, and Soule, and Pierce, and Johnson, does not exist in a highly toned ecclesiasticism, or
in the machinery of Church government and ministerial orders; nor yet in the formularies, ordinances
and modes of worship; neither in antiquated history,
imposing ceremonies, successions, ordinances, ritualism,
romanism, conferences, assemblies, presbyteries, sessions, vestries, surplices, mitres, hosts, Te D)eums, or
any other creature, but in the hearts and lives of fien.
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MIARTYRDOM  IN  MISSOURI.
31ethodism, as it existed in its older and better models, was not a theory, but a substance; not a system,
but a life; not a theology, not a pathology, not a law, a
ritual, a formula; nor yet a system of ethics, or school
of esthetics, as such, but a living princi.ple, a divine
power, a holy unction from above, a vital energy, a
life-a new life, a life of love, a life of faith, the life
and power of God in the soul, and the glory of God as
the object and end of life. "For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a newo creature." This is Iethlodism, this is
Christianity. And, as it existed in the olden times, it
distinctly set aside that which is external as incidental
and not essential, and insisted upon conviction for sin,
repentance, faith, justification, regeneration, sanctification and holiness of heart and life, "without which no
man shall see the Lord."
It is equally true that this form of Christianity impressed itself upon the world by organized methods,
and through the machinery of the Church carried on
its workiiing Evangelism, ever reproducing and repeating itself in the hearts and lives of men seekling and
saving that which was lost, and' spreading Scriptural
holiness over these lands." But to understand its spirit,
tone, temper, life and power, we must study its representative men.
Each system of thought and life graduates itself and
is scheduled in the men who profess it. The gradations
reach from the primary forms to the highest and most
perfect models, and each degree, from the lowest to the
hi,ghest, has its human type. To find its best representative men requires a simple mathematical caletfla
IT9 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
tion. Add uip the elements, fri-om the lowest to the highest, and then square the sum. Or apply to the system the plan of the old Greek Eclecti cs-compound the
elements and then label the product. It is safer, however, to analyze the elements, and classify them, and
then strike off a balance.  Various methods are employed to ascertain the best models and types of representative men-all, perhaps, unimportant in this connection. One fact will be generally accepted: that the
best representative men are those who combine in themselves the more distinctive and general characteristics
of the system or people they represent.   No  man  or
minister combined in himself, perhaps, more of the distinctive features, peculiar spirit and distinguishing characteristics of Western Miethodism than the Rev. Thomas
Johnson.
Nature is constantly throwing up great men, model
men, representative men, to receive and bear her purest
mould and reflect her divinest image. A truly great
man must have great affinities, great powers of assimnilation, and great force of character. Hie must control
the elements and forces about him, appropriate and fertilize the thoughts and opinions of others, create and
sustain the vital elements of a character that will
absorb his own times, broaden his sphere of activities,
brighten his horizon of observation, and move and
magnetize his contemporaries, so that men can not think
on certain levels except through him. When a man
reaches that point where he stands between truth and
every man's mind, and impresses his own image and
superscription upon the primary forms of thought, and
sometimes the very language of his times, he is a great
180 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
man, in the proper sense of the term, if not a representative man. Yet all great men are not representative
nmen.   And,  certainly, all distinguished  Methodist
preachers  are not representative  men.  Whitefield,
Sunimerfield, Bascom, Mlaffitt and Munsey are not representative men.  They are geniuses, and Methodism is
not a genius; they are prodigies, perhaps, and Methodism is not even a moral prodigy.  It is said that Helen of
Argos.was possessed of that universal beauty that made
everybody feel related to her. And the man who is
the best representative of Methodism must possess more
than others those distinctive characteristics of 3lethodism that will make every Methodist of his day and
times feel related to him.
It will not be considered an invidious distinction or
an exceptional partiality that assigns to the subject of
this sketch, Rev. Thomas Johnson, the hig,h position of
a representative man in Western Methodism. Few
men of his day and times combined more of the distinguishing features of his Church, and perhaps none in
the Western Conferences stood out more conspicuously
as a representative and type of that form of evangelism
that pioneered the western territory and laid the foundations of Methodism. He loved the frontier work and
spent more of his life upon the "borders of civilization," educating, civilizing and christianizing the red
man of the West and the early frontier settlers than any
other man in the Church, except, perhaps, John Harrell.
For many years the "Shawnee Manual Labor School,"
with the name of Thomas Johnson, stood as a lone beacon far out upon the unreclaimed and untamed wilds of
tile West, pointing the Star of Bethlehem with the
181
I 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
"Star of Empire" toward the settingsun; and as the
mighty tide of emigration swept on and peopled the
vast country to the west and south the "Manual Labor
School" became an important base of supplies and centre of evangelical operations for the early missionaries
of all the Churches; and Mr. Johnson's spirit infused
itself into all the Western missions, and his character
reproduced itself in all the phases and forms of evangelical life along the frontier.  Western Methodism is
at once his type and archetype, his image and his monumient. Her altars bear his monogram and her tcmrnple6s his epitaph. Hie breathes through her piety,' lives
in her history, and is crowned in her martyrdom. A
devoted and distinguished servant of a persecuted
Church, he "died at his post."  God buries his workmnen, but carries on the work.
31Mr. Johnson was never considered a brilliant preacher,
but a sound, clear, forcible and able expounder of the
Gospel. As a pioneer in the West and a legislator in
the highest ecclesiastical body of the Church, Mir. Johnson had few superiors, if any.  -iis judgment was
always calm, wise, broad and comprehensive, and to the
Indian, the emigrant, the frontier settler, the missionary, the legislator, the speculator, and all other classes
upon the borders of advancing civilization, he was a
wise counselor, a true friend, a good Samaritan; and
as such his name, with the many noble qualities of head
and heart for which he was justly distinguished, will
ever be fragrant in the hearts and homes of the early
settlers. He was a member of the first Territorial
Legislature of Kansas. Hie was also president of the
first constitutional convention to frame a constitution
182 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
for the Territory of Kansas, which convention held its
sessions at the Shlawnee Manual Labor School, of which
M1r. Johnson wNas superintendent.  When Kansas was
erected into a Territorial government he was, almost
without opposition, chosen to represent the Territory
as the first delegate in the Congress of the United
States. As a member of Congress he took rank at
once with the wisest and ablest men of that representative body.  He impressed the broad views and liberal
policy of a wise statesmanship upon the institutions of
his western constituency, and his name is forever
associated in honorable connection with the territorial
history of that interesting and important part of our
broad national domain. ie not only occupied a high
position in the civil and ecclesiastical councils of the
West; but few men stood higher or wielded more influence in the General Conference of his Church, to which
he was generally elected-rarely ever left out of that,
the only legislative body of the Church. Indeed, the
Chltirch could illy spare such a man fiom her legislative
councils duricng such exciting and perilous times as those
which marked( the division of the Church in 1844 and
its subsequent history.
While Atr. Johnson may justly be regarded as one of
the finest representative men in the West, he possessed
in an eminent degree the elements of true greatness
founded in goodness and sanctified by divine grace to
the highest and holiest uses of the Christian ministry.
As a minister of the Gospel he was a true son of Wesley and an  alumnus of  Missouri.  iHe entered  the
ministry in Missouri at an early day and grew up with
the noble band of her pioneer men whose names are
183 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
written upon the foundations of Methodism- great
men, good men, heroic men, who adorned and illustrated the annals of the Church in her heroic days.
John Scripps, W. W. Redman, John Harris, Andrew
Monroe, Jesse Green, Jesse Hale, Urial Haw, John
Glanville, Joseph Edmonson, Edward T. Peery, Benj.
S. Ashby, Alex. McAlester, N. M. Talbott, J. C. Berryman, the brothers William, Ben. R. and Thos. Johnson,
and many others who pioneered the wilderness, pursued
the Western tide of emigration, laid the Bible hard by
the woodman's ax, proclaimed life and salvation in the
frontier cabin, erected the altar upon the " dirt floor"
of the rude hut, gathered around it the uncombed and
unschooled children of the hardy pioneer, and offered
from it the heart and voice of prayer and thanksgiving
to Israel's God; gathered the half nude and untamed
savages of the West under the firiendly shade of the
unfelled forest and around the wild "council fires" to
tell them of Jesus and the resurrection, and thus lay
broad and deep the foundations of the Church in
the great West.  A nobler, a better, a truer, a more
self-sacrificing, heroic, God-fearing and soul-l] oving band
of men never bore the cross, unfurled the Gospel banner, or endured hardness as good soldiers.
The State of Missouri has contributed many distinguished names to the Methodist Church  and many
conspicuous lights to the Methodist pulpit.  It is almost
as natural for Missouri to produce great preachers as it
was in the better days of the Republic for ~irginia to
produce great statesmen.  Not wonderful geniuses or
brilliant pulpit prodigies, but men, able in word and
doctrine, solidly, squarely and roundly great-equal to
184 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
any work and above none; thorough, reliable and
useful ministers of the New Testament; not meteors,
lighting up the heavens with transient beauty  and
brilliancy, but stars of the first magnitude, with a steady,
sustained libht streaming down from the high empyrean.
Not presumptuous egotists, surfeited with overmuch
learning and inflated with overmuch vanity, but humble,
unpretentious, self-denying, holy men of God, "mighty
in the Scriptures," and "esteeming themselves of no
reputation."  Such men are indigenous to Missouri,
and adorn the pulpits and grace the annals, not only of
the Alethodist, but also of all the other old established
Churches of the State. Such a man was the Rev. Thos.
Johnson.
These general reflections will be appreciated as a just
and highly deserved tribute to his position, character
and real worth, and a proper introduction to the following meagre biography, closing with the bloody sequel
and murderous tragedy of his death:
-Rev. Thomnas Johnson was born in Nelson county,Va.,
A. D. 1804. Of his parentage and early history but
little is known to the author, nor is much necessary to
the purpose of this narrative.
In the fall of 1825 he emigrated with his parents to
Missouri. In September, 1826, he was received on trial
in the Missouri Conference, during the session of the
Conference which was held at McKendree Chapel, Cape
Girardeau county, Mo., Bishop Roberts presiding and
.John Scripps acting as secretary.   The Conference,
which at that time embraced all of the States of MAis-.
souri and Arkansas, numbered just twenty traveling
185 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
preachers and three thousand three hundred and sixty four members, all told.
With MIr. Johnson there were also admitted on trial
into the Conference, this year, John Curitan, Parker
Snedecor, John Wood and John W. Yorke.
Mir. Johnson's first appointment was to Mount Prairie,
in the Arkansas District, with Jesse Hale as his Presiding Elder. The next year he was returned to Mount
Prairie, which was in those days considered quite a
compliment to a young preacher. At the Conference
of 1828, held at the old Fayette camp-ground, Bishop
Soule, President, and James Bankson, Secretary, Mr.
Johnson was admitted into full connection, with Parker
Snedecor, J. W. Yorke and A. Norfieet; ordained deacon and appointed to Fishing River, with Jesse Green,
Presiding Elder, and John Trotter, junior preacher.
The next year he was sent to Buffalo. At the Conference of 1830, in St. Louis, Bishop Roberts ordained him
Elder, and sent him to the "Shawnee Mission."  This
was his first appearance on the border and amongst the
people with whom so many years of his subsequent life
was spent. The next year he was appointed to what
was called the "Kansas Mission," with his brother,
William Johnson, junior preacher.
In 1832 the General Minutes contain the following:
"Indian Missionary District, Thonmas Johnson, Superintendent. Shawnee Mission and School, Thomans Johnson and Edward T. Peery."  In 1833 he was again
appointed to the Indian Mission District, and his
brother, TVillian, to the Shawnee Mission and School.
He was  continued as Superintendent of the Indian
Mission District and in connection with the Shawnee
186 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
Mission and School until 1841.  For several years after
this date he filled other important appointments, and
labored in other parts of the vast territory then occupied and cultivated by the Missouri Conference.
When, in 1847 or 1848, the U. S. Government erected
sonime of the Indian Missions into Manual Labor Schools,
for the education and civilization of the Indians, Mr.
Johnson became permanently identified with them, and
whether at the Fort Leavenworth or the Shawnee Manual Labor Schools and Christian Missions, receiving his
support froni the U. S. Government or the Missionary
Society of the Church, he labored faithfully, zealously,
wiselv and successfully in the great work to which lihe
was called, and for which he was so eminently qualified
by nature, culture and grace.
The part he took in the early formation of the Territonial and State Governments of Kansas, to which referonce has already been made, was not from any fondness
for political strife or desire for place and distinction in
the affairs of the Government, but because his wisdom,
his judgrment and his eminent statesmanship were required, solicited and demanded by the best interests of
that part of the country with which he had become fully
identified. He gained a national reputation, and retained his high place in the confidence of the people
unimpaired to the last, and his children after him have
the heritage of a name that will not soon pass from the
earth.
He was frequently and extensively spoken of in con nection with the highest office and honors in the gift
of the Church; and yet he was so quiet, so humble, so
approachable and so generous in his feelings for the
187 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
low, and the poor, and the suffering, that, withl his
benevolent countenance and his frank, open manners,
the savage Ii,dian was awed into reverence, the lonely
wayfarer felt drawn toward him, the poor, the Iickl, the
dyirng found in him a counselor, a friend, a brother, and
the dirtiest and lowest Indian child learned to rejoice
in his comling, and hail with many expressions of pleasure the notice of the "Big, Chief," a patronymic which
the tribes gave him wherever he was known.
He kept himself aloof, with great propriety and
prudence, from the Missouri-Kansas broils of 1856, and
when the civil war broke out, in 1861, he was found
loyally and positively on the side of the Union. lie
took no part in politics, and determined to keep out of
the war; but a man so well, so long and so extensively
known, living on the very borders of strife, and between the two opposing sections, as it were, could not
keep from the public, nor did he care to conceal his
sentiments on the great issues that were convulsing the
country from one end to the other. He opposed secession on the one hand and coercion on the other. Yet
he loved the Constitution and the Union of our fathers,
and rather than see the one destroyed and the other
dismenmbered he would favor a resort to arms. His
loyalty to the government was never called in questi6on,
nor was his love for and loyalty to the Church of his
choice-the M. E. Church, South-ever doubted.  He
was a living and a sublime refutation of the oft repeated
falsehood that Southern Methodism and secession were
one, and that a Southern M3ethodist preacher was, per
se, a rebel and a traitor.  31r. Johnson loved the Union
of these States, and was loyally and earnestly and
188 
MARTYRDOM  IN  MIISSOURI.
not riously in favor of its preservation; but he loved
his Church, her diseipline, her doctrines, her principles,
and was just as loyally, earnestly and notoriously in
favor of the preservation of her distinctive identity.
lie was equally opposed to secession in the South and
Abolition fianaticism in the North, and he believed that
they were alike dangerous to the peace and safety of
the countty-that the ultimate triumph of either would
break upl) the government bequeathed to us by the
patri()t fathers of'76 and'87.
With such sentiments it is not surprising that lie was
harassed, first by one party and then by the other,
during the early part of the war.  Hle was often required to provide for and feed soldiers, and his horses,
wagons, feed and provisions of every kind were priessed
into the service of the armnv.
At this time he was living on his own farm and in
his own elegant residence, two miles southwest of Westport, in Jackson county, Missouri, three miles from the
Kansas State line, and five miles firom the old Shawnee
3lission, which had ceased to be a manual labor school
for the Indians.   The whole property had been donated to Mr. Johnson by the Indians, and purchased by
him fiom the government, and was now occupied as a
residence by his eldest son.
After the first two years of the war Mr. John)son was
molested very little, and yet such was the reign of terror
along the border that he never felt entirely secure.  So
many good men had been murdered, and so much property had been destroyed, and panic and consternation
had been so often created during the war in that county,
and he had passed through it all so safely, compared
189
I 
MARTYRDO1M IN MISSOURI.
with thlousands of others, that by the close of 1864,
after Price's army had made the boldest and the last
raid into Missouri, and had passed away from the borders of Kansas, he began to feel pretty secure.
His suspicions of foul play had often been aroused,
but just as often allayed. During the Christmas holidays that closed up the year 1864 h. was again induced
to believe that he had enemies who might possibly be
plotting his destruction, but who they were, and  why
they wished to molest him, he had no means of knowing.
IJis suspicions again passed away, while he retained his
caution.
On the first day of January, 1865, and while the
younger members of the flmily were from home enjoying the festivities incident to the day, a squad of militia
rode up to the house, dismounted and walled in to
warmI, as they said, for the weather was bitterly cold.
It was nearly nilgt, and Mr. Johnson, his wife, one son
and two little girls composed the family circle for the
evening.  The soldiers were civil anid pleasant, and sat
around the fire until nearly eleven o'clock at night,
when they arose, bowed themselves out, mounted  and
rode away. MIr. Johnson felt relieved, had family worship, and all retired.  Just at midnight, and before 3lr.
Johnson had fallen asleep, he vwas aroused by tihe tramp
of horses, the clashing of sabl)ers and lhe voices of men
at the gate.  He arose and saw thronugh the window
thirty mounted men.   They first askled the way to
IKansas City, five miles distant.  They then asked if
they could come in and warim.  lIe told them that there
was no fire, and his family were all in bed.  They then
wanted water.  Ile told them where the cistern was.
190
I 
AIARTYRDOMI  IN  MISSOURI.
By this time a number of them had dismounted and
walked up to the porch, AIr. Johnson, the meanwhile,
remailing in the hall, with the door opened just enough
for him to put his head out and talk to them, en dishabille.
When he saw them approaching, after so many expressed
wants, he feared that they meant mischief, and he went
in and shut the door.  They then demanded admission,
and began to force the door in. They swore that if the
door was not opened they would break it down, and
just as 3ir. Johnson turned the key to lock the door
they fired, the balls passing through the door, and one
of them took effect in the region of the heart.  He
sank down speechless, and in a few minutes expired in
the arms of his grief-strieken wife. He never spoke
after the fatal shot. The fiendish murderers still demanded entrance. They were refused. They tried to
break down the door, fired several shots into the house,
and finally set the house on fire. The heroic woman
firmly maintained her rights, and protected the lifeless
body of her loved husband, as well as the sacred shrine
of her cherished home, from the sacrilege and profanation of a brutal soldiery.   She put the fire, out, and
maintained herself in her own home.
The soldiers, satisfied with their bloody work, or
defeated in their efforts to commit other outrages,
mounted and rode away, leaving to a darkened home
and a. broken-hearted widow the legacy of a martyred
minister of Jesus.
Who these murderers were, where firom, and why
they murdered this good and holy man, was not known
at the time, and has never, to this good day, been ascertained with any approximate certainty. They came at
191 
IMARTYRDOMI IN MISSOURI.
midnight, accomplished their bloody work, and departed,
none knowing whence, why, whither.  The next day
the sad intelligence spread far and wide, and the general
gloom and sorrow could scarcely have been equaled by
the loss of thousands of men in battle. It was a universal grief, caused by the fact that a good and great
man had fallen by the hands of midnight assassins.
No definite traces of the murderers were ever discovered, and conjectures have filled the minds of all as to
who they were and why they took his life.  Many
believed that it was because of his strong Union sentiments, and that "bushwhackers " were his murderers,
while just as many believe that it was because he was
a Southern AMethlodist preacher, and that "jayhawkers"
were his murderers. God only knows, and eternity
will certainly reveal both.  It is one of the great mysteries that we may know h'ereafter. But why were
Green Woods, Nathaniel Wollard, Thomas  Glanville,
George Sexton, Edwin Robinson, John IL. Wood, Augnstus Payne, Wm. Polk, S. S. Hleadlee, and many other
good and holy men of God, murdered-martyred? Aye,
why?
"Death loves a shinin  miark, a signal blow A  blow which, while it executes. alarms.
And startles thousands with a single fall."
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI
CHIIAPTER IX.
BY REV. J. H. BROOKES, D. D.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH —REV. DR. M'PIIEETERS, REV. DR. ANDERSON
AND OTHER MINISTERS, AND RULING ELDER IIARVEY T. M'CUNE.
Views of Primitive Christians concerning War-Conduct of Modern
Clhristians-Boston Peace Society-The  Ruling Elders of Park
Avenie Chtirch-Rev. S. B. AMcPheeters, D. D.-Order for His
Banishnihent- Contempt for President Lincoln's Authority by His
Suho(rdintes- Unrighiteous Proceedings by  a Minoritv of the
Presbytery of St. Louis-Action of the General Assembly-  S.
J. P. Aze(e, son, D. D., and others-Murder of Rluling Elder Har vey T. McCune-The New Constitution.
I have sought to forget the dark and dreadful years
of the civil war, when the ferocity of man's unrestrained passions was not more fully exhibited than
was the open apostasy of the Christian Church. I
seldom read a secular newspaper, and have dismissed
the affairs of the country entirely from my attention,
because the Lord has enabled me to recognize the solemn truth of His word that "our citizenship is in
heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the
Loird Jesus Christ."
But inasmuch as God has put it into your heart to
write the sad history of  "Martyrdom in Missouri," I
can not refuse compliance with your request to furnish
from my personal recollections a few incidents that may
illustrate the subject with which you are dealing.  I do
this not to arouse the revengeful feelings of the past,.
13
193 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
but to aid you in some feeble measure in putting our
brethren en their guard against the perils of the future.
That these perils await us or our children is obvious to
all who are not totally blind to the predictions of the
sacred Scriptures and to the ominous signs of the times.
The only thing under God that can avert, or rather
postpone, the evil day is a pure, unworldly Christianity,
and the late strife too conclusively proved that such
Christianity as this belonged to a former age.
For twvo hundred vears after the birth of the Savior,
if Tertullian and other early writers can be believed,
no Christians were to be found in the Roman legions,
and many of them cheerfully endured death rather than
violate the precepts of the Gospel, that not only forbid
war, but lay an arrest upon the dispositions out of which
war always springs.   In our day, however, we have
seen houses of worship dedicated to the service of the
Prince of Peace turned into recruiting offices,, and ministers of the blessed Jesus the foremost in hounding
on a brutal soldiery to deeds of violence and blood.
Christians by thousands, not unfrequently led by their
pastors, rushed into the army "to steal, and to kill, and to
destroy," utterly unmindful of their Lord's commands,
"thou shalt not kill; " "' resist not evil;' "whosoever
shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the
other  also;" "love your enemies; bless them  that
curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for
them which despitefully use you and persecute you."
Even a Peace Society long established in the city of
Boston seemed to forget in an instant the truths they
had labored to disseminate, and with ludicrou~ and
shameful inconsistency trampled their pretended prin
194 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
ciples under foot when their own countrymen provoked
them to anger and became the objects of their relentless
vengeance. If the public prints of that period did not
bear false witness, they made an exception by formal
resolution to all they had been publishing for many
years against war in favor of "crushing out the rebel lion," and were hurried by the force of popular fulry
from what was supposed to be their honest convictions,
as withered leaves are swept away by the blast of the
tempest. Ecclesiastical bodies, that possessed no authority and had no rightful existence save as gathered
together by the Hioly Ghost in the name of Christ, were
fierce and clamorous in their expressions of "loyalty,"
in denunciations of "traitors," in dictating the policy
to be pursued by Government, and in committing the
Churches they represented to the fell work of destroying the lives of those bound to them by the ties of a
common ancestry, a common history and a common
faith. One was reminded of the heathenish scene which
occurred in the theater of Ephesus, when "the assembly
was confused, and the more part knew not wherefore
they were come together," and-all with one voice cried
out, " Great is )Diana of the Ephesians."
As the Church of God, therefore, forgot her "heavenly" and "holy" calling and  became  an  earthly
political assembly, it is not surprising that in the conidition of society which was found in this State she soon
furnished materials for the history of "]\artyrdom in
Mlissouri."  Having committed spiritual whoredom, as
the word of the Lord so emphatically and significantly
terms her departure from Hiim and her alliance with
the world, she soon lost all shame, and did not hesitate
195 
MARTYRDOM1 IN MISSOURI.
to use military men for the accomplishment of her
unhallowed purposes, as well as to be used by them at
their pleasure for the execution of their plans.
A fact or two will confirm the truth of this assertion,
which it is so humiliating and painful to make.  Very
soon after martial law was established in St. Louis, in
the first year of the war, I learned that the three Ruling
Elders of the Park Avenue Presbyterian Church in this
city had been arrested and thrown into the " negro pen,"
as the prison in which they were confined was then
called.   Two  of them were among our best known
citizens, and were universally respected for their high
character as Christians and for their unquestioned
integrity in all the business and social walks of life.
The third was not so prominent, perhaps, in society,
but, so far as I know,was a man of unblemished reputationi and a faithful disciple of Jesus.
Hiaving obtained permission to visit them, I was
informed that they had been torn from their families
and their avocations and incarcerated in a filthy building, formerly occupied by slaves, on the charge that
they had voted to accept the resignation of their pastor
when offered at a meeting of the Church. The military
authorities had been led to believe that they would
have voted against accepting the resignation if the
preacher had not been "loyal," and as the Provost3Iarshal said to me, he was "determined to protect
Union men."
In the providence of God credible testimony was soon
obtained and laid before the officer proving that these
Elders and others in the Church had been dissatisfied
with their minister long before the war began, and were
196 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
only waiting a favorable opportunity to insist upon a
dissolution of the pastoral relation. It was further
shown fiom the records of the session that the paper
offering his resignation had been drawn up by himself,
and that not the slightest allusion was made in it to his
political sentiments as a reason why he asked to be
released from the care of the Church. Indeed, the
elders assured me that at the commencement of the
conflict he was so open in his expression of sympathy
with the South that they cautioned him to be more
discreet in giving utterance to his views, and urged him
to attend strictly to his sacred calling. When after waid asked by the Rev.  Dr.  3IcPheeters, who  fre quently mentioned the circumstance, whether he had
not caus ed thei     r arrest/he replied that he had not, for
they owed him money, and of course he would do noth ing to risk its payment.   l He proceeded, however, to
publish a communication in the daily papers, wshich his
former Elders pronounced scandalous an(ld untrue, but
they were forbidden by the Provost-3tarsliLll to reply
to it, and were thus compelled to suffer in silence under
unjust accusations.  Every one can see that the militairy
were instigated by some person  connected with the
Church meeting, who sought to inflict disgrt ce and pun ishment upon these faithful men of God for the exercise
of an undeniable right and the discharge of a solemnii
duty.
The name of the lamented, and I may well say tl-he
martyred, 3IcPheeters recalls to my mind the sore per secutions which he was forced to endure at the hands
of false brethren.  It is not owing to the grief I feel at
the loss of this dear saint, nor to my compliance with
197 
,MIARTYRDO0I IN MISSOURI.
: custom more honlored in the breach than the obscrval,e," of writing extravagant eulogies about the dead,
tlilt I speak of him here as one of the best and gentlest
oL' men.  Hie was so bright and genial, so affectionate
,,Id unselfish, so benevolent and pure, that the fiercest
, irits felt the spell of his moral  loveliness, and in
lmoody hours yearned for his presence as for sunshine
il a gloomy day.  It was impossible to come in contact
wcith his joyous nature without having the heart li,ghtcned of its burdens and the sky cleared of its clouds,
and it was impossible to reach the inner depths of his
)eing  without seeiing that the work of grace had been
tlorou,ghly wrought in his soul.  Now that hle is in his
grave the world seems vastly meaner and poorer than
it was before.
Of all the ministers in St. Louis he was the very last
,ipon whom  those who knew  him best expected the
storm to burst; and yet even he was not spared.  In
,lay, 1862, he was sent by his brethren to represent the
Iresbytery of which he was a member in the Generial
Assembly, and was constrained to vote against a bitter
and foolish paper on the state of the country adopted
by that body.  That this vote was not the expression
and evidence of his political sympathies and opinions
is certain; for inot only did he repeatedly declare that
he was not controlled by such considerations, but his
intimate friends knew that he looked upon the whole
,war with abhorrence, and that he conscientiously and
scrupulously abstained from taking the slightest part by
word or act in the unnecessary and cruel strife.  His
si,gle aim was to serve the Lord in the ministry of the
Gospel, and it was because of his jealous regard for the
1 C,14 8 
MARTVRDOM IN MISSOURI.
unsecular nature of his office, and for the purity of the
Church and for the honor of his Master, that his crush
ing troubles came upon him.
When he returned from the Assembly a few members
of his congregation, led on by a person whom I will not
permit myself to characterize as he deserves, insisted
that he should publicly announce his "loyalty." To
this demand he returned a reply which I would be glad
to publish in full, as it deserves a permanent place in
the history of the times.  There is space, however,
only for a few brief extracts, which will show what
little cause his persecutors had for their harsh proceed
ings against him:
" As to my position as a minister of the Gospel," he
writes, "those of you who have been longest connected
with my Church will bear me testimony that from the
time I came to this city, now more than eleven years
ago, to the present day, I have never on any  occasion or under any pretext introduced into the pulpit
any matter of a political kind-that I have uniformly
condemned the practice as contrary to the example of
the inspired Apostles-as evil in itself, evil to the Church
and evil to the State. I have over and often, and long
before our present troubles began, explained tQ you my
views of the relation of the Church atnd the State; that
both are ordained of God, but ordained for different
purposes; that they move in different (.rbits, have d(lifferent ends to accomplish, and that they are independent the one of the other. Upon all these subjects my
convictions, so far from being changed, are confirmed;
and whether you agree with me or not, I can and  o
appeal to every one of you, and to ill who know  me,
that my whole teaching and practice upon these subjects have been uniform  and consistent during the
entire time I have ministered to you; and I can only
say that miy conduct and views upon all these matters
being the result of religious convictions, that until these
convictions are changed there is nothing left for me
199 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
but steadfastly to continue, through good report and
through evil report, to do as I have done.
"It was during my absence in New Mexico that the
angry clouds which had long lowered above the political horizon burst upon the land in the fearful storm of
civil war.  With startling rapidity the country passed
firom argument to arms. All this I learned with feelings of unutterable sorrow, as from  time to time I
received intelligence firom the States. I saw then as
distinctly as I see now  that the country was to be
involved in a fierce, bloody and desolatting war.  Isolated as I then was, outside of the currents that were
moving the whole country, I considered carefully and
prayerfully what co,urse I would pursue upon my return.
I will not pretend that the conclusion I reached was
absolutely correct.  I will even admit that a constitutional abhorrence which I have to strife of every kind
may have unduly influenced my mind.  Be that as it
may, [ formed the deliberate purpose to have just as
little to do with the political troubles of the country as
I could-to exert mnyself' to the utmost to calm the passions and soothe the aspei ities of all parties, and, in mv
)ulpit, to hold up those great truths of the gospel
which, important at all times, are especially important
iii tires like this.  I believed then, and I believe now,
that in this wav I should render the best service it was
in my power to render either to the Church or to the
State.  The course thus marked out I can honestly say
I have endeavored to follow."
Again, in the same corresponidence with George P.
Strong  and others, he writes: "I distinctly told you
that I considered it as clearly a duty enjoined in the
Scriptures to p)ray for those in autihority, and as the
President of the United States undoubtedly had authority over us, that I did and would continue to pray for
him....   I am  not i(-noritnt of the faet that rumors
have  been  circulated, and printed too, chariging me,
directly or indirectly, witli disloyalty.  I know also that
it is a day of'ruimors and falsehood and detraction, and
the only notice I have felt called uponi to take of these
things has been to contradict them by the quiet td'nor
of my life.  I have thought, yea, and I still think, that
200 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
the rumors of disloyalty need not alarm one who, recognizint, civil government as' ordained of God,' has been
subject' unto it,' not only for wrath, but for conscience
sake;' whvo, in obedience to the divine command, has
' submitted himself to every ordinance of man for the
Lord's sake;' who has'rendered to all their dues
tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, and honor to whom honor,' and
who, in public trd priv-ate, has prayed for those who
are in authority.  All this I claim to have done habitually and as a part of my duty to God.  And, to bripg
this matter to anl issue, let me say there are civil, military and ecclesiastical courts, and that I do now challenge any and all men —all makers, and spreaders and
endorsers of these rumors, to prove before any one of
these tribunals an act that I have done or a word that
I have said thau a good citizen has not a perfect right
to do or say."
The last letter addressed to Stron,g is dated Nov. 3,
1862, and ca' ly in December following hie published "A
Card" in the city papers, in which he says'
"Some of the members of my Church claim that, in
virtue of the relation in which I stand to them as Pastor, they have a right to demand, and they have demanded, my written opinion and personal position upon
the civil and political questions which now agitatte the
nation.  This claim of right I deny, and have felt bound,
in duty and conscience, to resist. I did this d(leliberately, as a matter of principle.... Again, I resisted
because the teachings and practice of my whole miniisterial life solemnly pledged me to resist.  In all places
and at all times I have opposed, to the full extent of my
ability, the introduction of civil, secular and political
questions into the house of God.  As  a patstor, and
because  I was  a pastor, I  have stood  aloof  from
these things, even in my  private relatiol,s...
I have no  commission to  uphold  the State, much
less have  I any to seek  its overthrow.   For  nme
to use, in any way or to any degree, my sacred office,
or the influence which it gives me, to subvert. the 
State, to breed discontents in it, to hinder its legitimate
201 
IMARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
action, would, in my esteem, be sacrilege-a high and
heaven-dariing sin.  As a citizen, I hold it to be a most
important and indispensable part of my duty to God to
obey the latw, to submit to the authorities, to pray for
them, to relnd(ler them the honor due their several stations, and to promote  peace  and quietness.   These
thinA.s I solemnly declare I have  habitually aimed
to do."
After statements like these, made by one whose spotless reputation as a Christian and a man would forbid
the faintest suspicion of their sincemity, it might be
thoug(ht that his "loyalty " would pass unquestioned
before the severest military tribunal erected in those
disjointed times, even in MIissouri. But, alas! his merciless persecutors, composed of members of his own
Church, were not satisfied.  They knew that their pastor would do nothing contrary to these solemn declarations, publicly made.   They knew that he was as guileless and inoffensive as an infant.  They knew that he
loved them, that he had faithfully and sweetly proclaimed to them the glorious Gospel of the grace of
God, that he had wept with them in their afflictions,
that he was as an angel of the Lord to them along the
wearisome journey of life; but the most precious ties
were broken, the most tender associations were  disregarded, the most sacred obligations were despised, and
they determined to make him violate his conscience or
to make him the victim of their wrath.
Beaten in argument, they resorted, as cowards and
tyrants have always done, to force, and found a willing
instrument to strike down the meek and holy minister.
There was a man, a little man, a very little man, view
him as you might, who was at that time permitted, in
202 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
the mysterious providence of God, to be Provost-iIarshal.  His imailign.ity was ill inverse proportion to his
size, and those who used to look in astraight line about
two feet above his head when they met him on the
sidewalk may learn fiom this something of his spirit.
Even he ought to have been won by the transparent
simplicity and beauty of 3icPheeters' character.
"But mian, proud man,
Drest in a little brief authority,
*           * *         * *   *
Plavs such fiantastic tricks before high Heaven
As miakes the angels weep;"
And this little man, drest in a little brief authority,
must needs play his little tricks, and show that, unlike
his predecessors in office, there was no depth he was
unable to reach, no cruelty he was unwilling to inflict.
But, perhaps, I do him injustice, and if so I sincerely
regret it.  I only infer that my  estimate of him is not
too low, from the fact that George P. Strong, if I
remember correctly, stated that the insulting order for
the banishment of Dr. lMcPheeters and his wife, whichi
was issued from the Provost-MIarshal's office, Dec. 19,
1862, was originally much severer than it was When published. It would seem that the tender hearted Strong
induced the little man with shoulder straps to modify
the terms of the imperial edict, and yet, after a silly
preliminary statement, it deals with Dr. lMePheeters as
follows:
" Whereas, he has allowed the influence of his wife,
his brothers and intimate associates to seduce him from
an open and manly support of the Government into active sympathy with the rebellion, whereby the influence
of his ministerial position has greatly encouraged the
enemies of the Government in their wicked schemes for
203 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
its overthrow, and is still exerting an injurious influence, especially upon the youth and other members of
his congregation, leading them to believe that he sympa.
thizes wvithl the rebels and justifies their cause, and to
adopt sentimients of hostility to the Government and to
become active rebels; and whereas, in all his course of
unfriendliness to the Government and sympathy with
and fatvor to rebels the said McPh-eeters has been stimulated and encouraged, if not led on, by his wife, who
openly avows herself a rebel; whereby  the said MAcPheeters and his wife have forfeited the right to the
protection and favor of the Government in their present
position, and have become promoters of rebellion and
civil discord;
"Therefore, it is ordered that the said McPheeters
and his wife leave the State of Missouri within ten davts
after the service of this order, and that they take up
their residence within the free States, north of Indianapolis and west of Pennsylvania, and remain there
during the war; and that said McPheeters cease from
this date to exercise the functions of his offi(ce within
the State of Missouri, and that he deliver to the clerk
of Pine Street Church all books, records and papers
belonging to that church.
"It is further ordered that the church edifice, books
and papers at the corner of Eleventh and Pine streets
be placed under the control of three loyal members of
Pine Street Church, namely: George P. Strong, James
Al. Corbitt and John Al. Ferguson, who shall see that
its pulpit be filled by a loyal minister of the Gospel,
who can invoke the blessing of the IHead of the Church
upon the efforts of the Government to re-establish its
authority."
Such was the order after the affectionate Strong had
succeeded-he does not tell us that it was with tears
and eloquent appeals-in having it toned down to the
gentle spirit and graceful form in which it now appears.
One would like to see the document as it came fresh
from the glowing pen of the little man in a blue coat
204 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
with brass buttons. What it was at first no one can
imnagine; but surely the friends of Dr.  McPheeters
should feel under lasting obligations to his devoted
Ruling Elder in having it changed to its present shape.
It is true that the persecuted minister went to Washington City to lay his case before the President of the
United States, and that the loving Elder followed him,
as we were all informed, not to second his efforts, but
to defeat them if possible, although every one must see
that this was done out of regard for his pastor's feelings
and interests.
MIr. Lincoln promptly countermanded the outrageous
order, and there is positive evidence that he required
the entire proceedings in the case of Dr. McPheeters
to be set aside; but his Christian enemies.were not to
be balked even by the chief executive officer of the
Government, atid hence, on the 28th of December,
1862, the following was issued from the office of the
Provost-3Marshal:
"Rev. S. B. -IcPheeters and WTife:  The order made
against you on the 19th of December is modified until
further orders, to this extent: that you are n6t required
to leave the State.
"By order of Major-General Curtis:
"F. A. DICK, Lieut.-Colonel."
The President relieved him of all the disabilities
under which he had been placed, but the man in the
Provost-MIarshal's office, or the man who stood at his
back instigating him to commit the crime, assumed the
tremendous responsibility of forbidding him to preach
the Gospel which he had been commissioned by the
Head of the Church to proclaim, and which it was the
205
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
delight of his heart to makle lknowvn to his fellow men.
The object of this high-handed rebellion on the part
of subordinates against the authority of the commander
of the armies of the United States soon became apparent   If the man of God could not be banished from
his home, his voice at least could be silenced, and he
quickly passed from the military rack to be tortured by
eeciesiastical power. Indeed, the latter surpassed the
friner in the persistent purpose, vindictive disposition
and shameful disregard of law which characterized the
proceedings against him from first to last. The spirit
pervading these proceedings may be understood from
an incident that occurred at the opening of the Presbytery which met for the avowed purpose of tearing
him from his church, notwithstanding  the entreaties
and remonstrances of his afflicted people.
The minister who had charge of his case.-as he was
not allowed by the Provost-MIarshal to say one word in
his own defense-briefly reminded his brethren that
they had all formerly respected and loved Dir. 1\ePheeters, and begged them to cultivate that charity which
"suffereth long and is kind."  One of, the oldest ministers present instantly arose in great excitement and
shouted-or rather sung through his nose, as he seems
to be afflicted with the catarrh so common to New England-that when men spoke of charity at such times
he knew that they were traitors; that charity was not
the question, but loyalty, and for his part he had come
there determined to vote for the dissolution of the
pastoral relation.
Of course nothing could be done with a body that
heard with evident approval language like this, and the
206 
MARTYRDOM  IN MISSOURI.
few fiiends of truth and righteousness who assembled
with -them were compelled to look sadly on while one
of the purest of men was stricken to the earth. It
had becomne so common for the military to arrest and
imprison ministers just on the eve of a meeting of
Presbytery, or just at its close, that very few could be
induced to attend;  and it was  generally believed,
whether justly or unjustly, that ecclesiastics were "the
power behind the throne," demanding the incarceration
of their brethren who did not vote to please them.
Ihence, out of eight ministers who voted to dissolve thleo
pastoral relation between Dr. McPheeters and his
Church but two had a pastoral charge, and only eleve,,
ministers and ruling elders in all, out of about sixty that
would have been present in a full meeting of Presby.tery, drove him from his congregation and sundered
ties that had bound them together with peculiar affection
for nearly twelve years.
The followving extracts from a memorial sent to the
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, and
signed by a majority of the ministers and elders belonging to the Presbytery of St. Louis, will present a brief
but perfectly reliable history of the case:
Your attention, then, is called, in the first place, to
the proceedings of Presbytery, at a meeting held in St.
ILouis, on the 15th of Iay, 1863, for the purposes mcetioned in the following minute
"A  special meeting of the Presbytery of St. ILouis
"being called by the Moderator, on the request of
"James A. Paige, S. Pettigrew, J. J. Porter, (Minis"ters); Wyllis King, J. C. Havens, C. Sage, (Elders of
"the Union Church); and Geo. P. Strong, (Elder of
"Pine Street Church), to be held on the 15th of May,l,
"at 8 oclock, p. m., in the Union Church, St. Louis, Ito
20T 
IMARTYRDOM IN  MISSOURI.
"take measures to iemove the'rievances under which
"Pine Street Church has been laboring for some months
"past, and to dissolve the pastoral relation between
"that Church and Rev. Samuel B. McPheeters, D). D.,
"and, in general, to takle such action as the interests
"of that Church ma- seem to require; and in view of
"the renewed attempt to overthrow the Government in
"Ilissouri, to take such action as will warn and dis"suade the members of our various churches from
"engaging in and encodraging the sin of rebellion
"against the civil gove:nment of the State and nation.'
"Presbytery met accordingly," &c.
Your mnemorialists ask the Assembly to notice the
peculiar phraseology of the call upon which the Presbytery convened. It is not to dissolve the pastoral
relation between Dr. MePheeters and the Pine Street
Church-if the way be clear, or if the interests of the
Church demand the dissolution-but it is "to dissolve the
relation," thereby conclusively proving the fixed purpose and foregone conclusion of those who drew up the
call to do that thing in any event.   We also ask you to
notice that there is not one word on record to indicate
that even the minority in Pine Street Church, who
opposed Dr. MePheeters, either requested or desired the
Presbytery to convene for any such purpose.  Suddenly and unexpectedly, and but a few days after the
regular spring meeting of Presbytery, when, as the
records show, the affairs of Pine Street Church were
under consideration, the Moderator issues a call for a
pro-re-nata meeting, signed b-tliree ministers, two of
whom have no pastortal charge; by three ruling elders,
all belonging to one church; anid by one ruling elder of
Pine Street Church; and the object of that meeting, it
is plainly stated, is to dissolve the pastoral relation
between Dr. M ePheeters and his people.
Now, yo)urt memorlalists assert, without fear of contradiction, that no reasons existed for the dissolution of
the pastoral relation on the 15th of May which did not
exist at the time of the regular meeting of Piesbytery,
but a little while before. But if the General Assembly
will keepl) in mind that there was unusual excitement-in
the community (as, indeed, the call upon which the
208 
MAzRTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
Presbytery met intimates), and( that this excitement
naturally prevented a large attendance of the members,
the true cause of the hasty action of Presbytery will
possibly be disclosed. Dr. MlcPheeters was forbidden,
by military authority, to appear for his defense or for
one word of explanation; any expression of sympathy
with him, although based on purely ecclesiastical or
conscientious grounds, was regarded with suspicion and
attended by danger; and hence, asthe vote upon an
important resolution shows, but sixteen, out of nearly
sixty ministers and ruling elders, were present to do
what it was declared in the call they were determined
to do-to-wit: dissolve the pastoral relation.
For reasons which were stated to Presbytery at a
subsequent meeting, but which were refused a place
upon the records, Dr. iMcPheeters felt constrained to
put his resignation into the hands of Presbytery, and,
thereupon, it was
"Resolved, That Pine Street Church and congrega"tion be cited to appear, by their commissioners, before
"Presbytery, on Wednesday, the 3d of June,  at 8
"o'clocl<, 1)p. m., in the Pine Street Church, to respond
"to the resignation of their pastor, Rev. S. B. MePhee"ters, D. D.; and to this end they are hereby directed
"to meet on Wednesday evening the 27th inst., to take
" action in the premises."
In accordance with the foregoing order, a meeting of
Pilne stieet Church was held on Wednesday evening,
the 27th of M3ay, 1863, and was moderated by Rev.
James HI. Brookes. After considerable discussion upon
various motions, W. W. Greene, ruling elder in Pine
Street Church, offered the following resolution:
"Resolved, That this meeting do not agree to, and
"protest against, the dissolution of the existing relation
"with the Rev. Dr. Samuel B. MePheeters, as pastor of
"Pine Street Church, and that we request him to with"draw his resignation offered to St. Louis Presbytery."
The ayes and noes being called, the vote, as the
record shows, resulted as follows: Ninety-one (91)
were in favor of Mr. Greene's resolution; fifty-six (56)
were opposed.
At this juncture, as the records both of Presbytery
14
209
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
(see page 104) and of the Pine Street Church further
show, a majority having left the house near the hour
of midnight, and upon the introduction by Mr. George
P. Strong of matters wholly foreign to the expressed
object of the meeting, the minority thereupon proceeded to elect Mr. Strong as the commissioner to
represent the Church in Presbytery, and instructed him
to urge the dissolution of the pastoral relation, in the
very face of the resolution just adopted by an overwhelming majority.
The Presbytery met according to adjournment in Pine
Street Church, June 3, 1863, and George P. Strong was
recognized as the properly appointed Commissioner of
the Church. A question at once arose concerning the
meaning of the phrase, "at their next meeting" in
Chapter XVII, Form of Government, which says
"Presbytery shall cite the congregation to appear, by
"their Commissioners, at their next meeting, to show
"cause, if any they have, why the Presbytery should
"not accept the resignation." It was held by some
that an adjourned meeting is not "the next meeting"
in the sense of the Book; and hence, on the evening
of June 4th, 1863, the following paper, offered by Rev.
J. H. Brookes, was adopted:
"In view of the fact that considerable doubt exists
"concerning the constitutional right of Presbytery at
"its present session to issue the matters connected with
"Pine Street Church, Resolved, That, Presbytery, after
"approving their minutes, adjourn, in order that oppor"tunity may be afforded for regularly calling another
"pro-re-nata meeting of this body."
Presbytery accordingly adjourned, and a call was
immediately issued for a meeting to be held in the same
place June 23, 1863.
On the evening of June 22, 1863, a meeting of Pine
Street Church and congregation was held, called, not
by Presbytery, as the Book plainly enjoins upon them to
do, but by order of the Session of said Chur(.h, and
Moderated by Rev. James H. Brookes  At this meet
ing the following resolution, offered by Hon. W. T.
Wood, ruling elder in Pine Street Church, was adopted,
210 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
as the records show (see page 106), by a large majority
of the members of the Church:
"WIIEREAS, At a meeting on the 27th of May, 1863,
"at a late hour of the night, after a vote had been
"taken in full meeting of ninety-one (91) to fifty-six
"(56) against the resignation of Dr. S. B. McPheeters.
"pastor of the Church, and against the dissolution of
"the pastoral relation, and after a majority of the mem"bers had left and gone home, as it appears by the
"proceedings of the persons who remained, it was
"resolved that this meeting now appoint a Commis"sioner to represent this Church in Presbytery, and
"that he be instructed to urge Presbytery to accept
"Dr. McPheeters' resignation, and to dissolve the pas"toral relation between him and Pine Street Church;
"and whereas, the resolution was offered and passed,
"without even a motion to reconsider the vote that had
"been taken and entered on the subject, in violation of
"all rule and order, and against the known voice of
"the Church and congregation; therefore,
" Resolved, That said resolution does not express the
"voice and wishes of Pine Street Church and congrega"tion; and further, Resolved, That the true voice of the
"Church and congregation was expressed in the resolu"tion adopted at that meeting on motion of Captain
"Greene; and unless George P. Strong, as the Com"missioner firom this congregation, can, and will, in
"good faith, present and urge upon Presbytery the
" voice and wishes of the congregation, as expressed in
"the resolution adopted on the motion of Capt. Greene,
"on a fair vote of 91 to 56, he be requested to resign
"his trust as Commissioner."
Presbytery met on the next evening, (June 23); but
notwithstanding the earnest protest of this injured
Church, Mr. Georgre P. Strong was recognized as its
Commissioner, and was permitted, as the minutes show,
to make two speeches against his Pastor, who was not
permitted to appear in answer to his accuser.  Nay,
insult was added to injury, for we find in the records of
Presbytery the following minutes: "Mr. Strong having
"concluded, it was moved that the request of Pine Street
"Church be granted, and the pastoral relation dissolved."
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
Now, Presbytery well knew that Pine Street Church
had made no such request, unless indeed one Ruling
Elder out of seven that constituted the Session, and
fifty-six members out of one hundred and forty-seven,
who were present, by some curious mode of reckoning,
were regarded as the Clhureh. But the minute goes on
to say, " Pending this motion, Rev. J. H. Brookes
"asked leave to read a paper fiom Rev. Dr. McPhee"ters.  The leave was granted, and the paper was
"heard. Rev. Dr. McPheeters having asked leave to
"withdraw his resignation already put in the hands of
"Presbytery, and the whole paper be spread in the
"records, it was, on motion of Elder A. G. Edwards,
"Resolved, That Rev. Dr. McPheeters have leave to
"' withdraw his paper just presented. The motion to
"dissolve the pastoral relation recurring,
"G. P. Strong, Esq., Commissioner from Pine Street
"Church, took the floor and pressed the dissolution of
"the pastoral relation between that Church and Rev.
"Dr. McPheeters.  Mr. Strong having copencluded,...
"the previous question was now called for and carried.
"The main question, viz.: The dissolution of the Pas"toral relation, then being put, the ayes and noes were
"called for.  The vote resulted as follows: Ayes, Jos.
"F. Fenton, HI. Blackwell, J. J. Porter, S. K. Snead,
"Thomas Cole, Joseph Marr, S. Pettigrew, J. A. Paige,
"(Ministers); and Wyllys King, A. G. Edwards,
"Edward Ilsley, (Elders). Noes, J. N. Gilbraith, J.
"H. Brookes, W.H. Parks, A. D. Madeira, H. F. A1"bright, (Ministers); William Risley, W. W. Greene,
"Joseph Conway,and E. Jacard, (Elders.")
But little more remains to be written, and alas! this
little is in strict keeping with the harsh measures
adopted at the beginning by those who should have
been the first to protect the person and shield the repu-i
tation of this beloved man of God. After the eleven
out of sixty had voted to banish Dr. McPheeters from
his church, an appeal was taken to the Synod of Missouri, which, according to the Discipline of the Presby
212 
MARTYRDOM. IN MISSOURI.
terian Church, necessarily stayed the final effect of the
action of the Presbytery until the case could be heard
and issued before the higher court. Meanwhile President Lincoln, having learned that the Provost-Marshal
had disobeyed his order, again interposed to reinstate
the persecuted preacher in his ministerial office, and the
Pine Street Church received its pastor once more with
joy.  Even if the vote of the eleven had been entitled
under the circumstances to be considered as a decision
of the Presbytery, and even if the appeal to Synod
had not arrested the practical operation of that vote,
the Church undoubtedly had a right to call its own
minister, and six out of the seven Elders, together with
an overwhelming majority of the congregation, united
in asking Dr. 3lMcPheeters to preach to them.
Ite complied with their urgent request and resumed
his ministerial labors, with the brightest promise of
usefulness. "But," to quote again from the memorial
to the General Assembly, "this scene of tranquiliity and
of joy was destined to be of brief continuance. At the
regular spring meeting of Presbytery, April 6, 1864,
which was attended by only eighteen out of almost
sixty ministers and ruling elders, because of a military
order touching ecclesiastical assemblies, the following
extraordinary action was taken upon a memorial signed
by nine members of Pine Street Church, asking' that
such action may be taken in the premises as to compel
Dr. MePheeters to respect the decision of Presbytery
and retire from Pine Street Church, and that such other
relief may be afforded as to your body may seem meet
and proper.'
"Elder George P. Strong, of Pine Street Church,
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
being present in the house (but not as a member of
Presbytery), was invited to address Presbytery on the
subject."
The result was that pastor and people were again
directed to separate.  Hie, with other brethren, had
been exceedingly anxious to attend this meeting of
Presbytery, but an order from General Rosecranz, commanding the Department of the Mibsouri, which required
ministers of the Gospel to be sworn into their ecclesiastical bodies like civil officers, stood in his way. No
preacher who did not love Ctesar more than God, and
the star-spangled banner, as they called it, more than
the cross of Jesus Christ, could think of complying
with such an order, and Dr. McPheeters and those like
minded laid before Rosecranz the following communication:
"We, the undersigned, hereby certify that we have
each taken the oath of allegiance to the Provisional
Government of Missouri and to the Government of the
United States of America. We also solemnly affirm
that we will support the Constitution and laws thereof,
and that we will not give aid and comfort to the enemies
of either. We desire and propose to conduct ourselves
in all respects as good citizens, and to'be subject to
the powers that be,' in accordance with the teachings
of God's Word.
"As a matter of principle, however, and because we
re:ognize the Headship of Jesus Christ alone in His
Church, we can not allow any human authority to
determine the qualifications of members who compose
our ecclesiastical courts.   We, therefore, respectfully
request the Commanding General to allow us as loyal
214 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
citizens to assemble without let or hindrance, in order
to transact business connected only with the Redeemer's
Kingdom, and without requiring us to obey Order No.
61, that seems, at least, to interfere with the liberty und
purity of the Church."
To this communication no reply was returned, doubtless because it did not suit the purpose of the minority
of the Presbytery, who had the ear of the General, to
allow Dr. AIcPheeters and his friends to be present at
their meeting, and therefore they did with the meek
sufferer as they listed. It would seem that if they had
possessed a spark of magnanimity they would have
forborne to proceed against him under such circumstances. But however generous and manly their natural instincts might have been, they were now blinded
and crazed by fanaticism, and hence did not hesitate to
drive him a second time from his devoted Church,
eagerly taking advantage of the Rosecranz order to
carry their point, while no one who sympathized with
their victim could say a word in his behalf. It may
be, however, that instead of fanaticism it was patriotism that led them to pursue this dastardly course, and
if so, surely the less patriotism the better.
Finding that those who ought to have been his
brethren in the Presbytery were bent on his destruction, he determined to appeal for protection to the
General Assembly which convened it, Newark, New
Jersey, the following month.  He spoke as if confident
of obtaining justice at the bar of that venerable ecclesiastical court, for his case was perfectly plain, and the
merest tyro in the study of the government and discip line of the Presbyterian Church could see that all
215
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
ecclesiastical law had been trampled under foot by his
enemies in their haste to strike him down. HIe forgot
that this high judicatory, once so respected, had become
apostate, and that its members, in their eagerness to
proclaim their loyalty to Cmsar, had not been slow to
convict themselves of treason against Christ. Such a
body could not appreciate or even understand such a
man as Samuel B. McPheeters, but it could sit for hours
in loving admiration at the feet of George P. Strong.
The latter was courted and flattered; the former was
cast out as evil; and thus, in the language of Dr. Ilodge,
in the Princeton Review, of July, 1864, was consummated "an injustice which has few, if any, parallels in the
history of our Church."
This testimony, from the ablest living theolngian
belonging to the Presbyterian denomination, and a
man of undoubted "loyalty," is very remarkable. He
declares that the Assembly of Newark was guilty of
"an injustice which has few, if any, parallels in the
history of our Church;" and what I said of patriotism
I now say of the act of the Assembly: if this be Presbyterianism, the less we have of it the better.
The weary martyr, never robust, and worn out at
length with his protracted trials, returned home, and
with his wife and little children took a sorrowful
departure from his bereaved and disconsolate people.
The Savior,whom he had served so faithfully and fearlessly, sent him to Mulberry Church, in Kentucky, as
to a Zarephath, where the failing prophet was kindly
sheltered, and where he now sleeps in Jesus, waiting
the shout of his descending Lord, who will surely sAy
to him, touching all his course in the war, "Well done,
916 
MARTYRDO3  IN MISSOURI.
good and faithful servant." The only penalty I could
wish to inflict upon the ministers and elders who pursued himn unto death is that they might be compelled to
visit his grave and meditate by it for one hour. I think
each wo,ld cry out, like Cain,  "M y punishment  is
greater than I can bear," or, as it is rendered in the
margin of the Bible, "Mine iniquity is greater than that
it may be forgiven."
I had intended to mention the persecutions which
camne upon other ministers who did not preach and pray
according to a certain standard of loyalty, but the time
would fail me to tell of Anderson, and Farris, and
Parks, and  Madeira, and Morton, and  Smith,  and
Quarles, and Chaney, and Gray, and Hobson, and Symington, who were "in perils of robbers, and in perils
by their own countrymen, and in perils among  false
brethren."  Some of these were compelled to flee for
their lives; some were banished from their homes, and
nearly all were in prison for weeks or months. Indeed,
there wras scarcely a Presbyterian minister of the Gospel in Missouri who attended only to the work which
his MIaster had given him to do without being brought
by it into great and sore troubles. Those who used
their sacred office to further political schemes, and were
willing to barter the kingly crown of Jesus for the
smiles of human government, rode on the high places
of the earth; but those who determined to know nothing
but Christ and Him crucified were sure to be suspected
and persecuted. It is probable that all whose names I
have given were in sympathy with the people of the
South; but it is certain that some of them had no sympathy with the effort to divide the Union, and that they
217 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
openly preached and personally practiced the duty of
subjection to the powers that be, according to the plain
teachings of God's Word.  I do not believe that any
of them ever said a word or performed an act that was
inconsistent with their obligations to Government as
good citizens and sincere Christians; but because they
desired to stand aloof from the contest, and to discharge
the trust committed to them by the Head of the Church,
they were exposed to insult and violence every day for
five long and terrible years. The records of their sufferings would swell this chapter into a volume.
Let a single instance illustrate the danger to which
all were exposed.  Before the war there lived in L&wrence county, Southwest Missouri, a man who was wvell
known in all that region, and greatly respected for his
hospitality, his benevolence, and his high Christian
character.   His name  was HIarvey T. McCune, the
brother of John S. MIcCune, one of the most prominent
citizens of St. Louis. For thirty-five years he had been
a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and
for a considerable part of that time an active and useful
Ruling Elder. Hle had founded the first college established in that section of the State, built, almost unaided,
a Presbyterian church, and was noted for his charities.
Driven away from his home during the war, he did not
deem it prudent to return until December, 1867, nearly
two years after peace was supposed to be made.  Then
feeling that it was safe to venture back, and that it was
necessary to look after his neglected interests, he was
proceeding from Sedalia on horseback when he was
waylaid and deliberately murdered without the slightest
provocation by a wretch named MlcCanse. In the sum
218 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
mer of 1866 a lZr. Henshaw, with his family, passed
through AIt. Vernon, the county seat of lawrence, on
his way from Texas to Illinois, where he intended to
reside.  This same McCanse being in the village, saw a
fine horse owned by Alir. Hlenshaw, which he said he
was determined to have.  Accordingly, he followed the
stratnger, whom he had never seen before, a few miles
into the country, shot him down without mercy, mounted
the horse and rode away, leaving the heart-broken
widow and children weeping beside the dead body of
the husband and fhthier.  The ground upon which the
brutal murderer was acquitted at his mock trial, incredible as it may appear, was only this: that he had been a
Federal soldier, adIr. Hienshaw was from the South.
Truly, a man's life was cheaper then than a dog's.
laviri(ng thus been turned loose upon society, the
fellow seemed to think he had a license to commit crime
with impunity, and being in Sedalia the day Mr. AIcCune
left for his home, he hastened to a convenient spot,
fifteen miles from the city, and there slew this venerable Ruling Elder, who did not even know him, evidently
for the purpose of robbery. In this, however, he was
defeated, as Air. MIcCune succeeded in clinging to his
horse, though the life-blood was fast oozing from his
wounds, until he reached the shelter of a house, and
there calmly died.  Mlissouri was greatly afflicted at the
time with a so-called Governor named Fletcher, and in
the state of society that existed under the wretched
rule of this man it seemed impossible to bring the coldblooded murderer to justice.  But John S. MeCune,
hearing the voice of his brother's blood crying from
the ground, determined to see whether law could be
219
.1 
MARTYRDOM  IN MISSOURI.
enforced, and with characteristic energy followed the
criminal until he was arrested.  To accomplish this a
special favorite and friend of the Governor was employed, who received for his easy task about fourteen
hundred dollars.
Col. John F. Phillips, a Ruling Elder in the Church
at Sedalia, was employed to prosecute, and he himself
informed me that ruffians heavily armed collected in
the village where the trial was held, with threatening
demonstrations in favor of the prisoner. The result
was that the jury, intimidated, no doubt, brought in a
verdict that seemed to be a singular kind of compromise between guilty and not guilty, as it did not condemn him to suffer capital punishment, which was
clearly the only suitable penalty for the offense, but
sentenced him to ten years' confinement in the State
prison. Then the Governor stepped in with his pardoping power to turn this double-dyed assassin loose
again, while the gray-haired and martyred Elder lies in
his grave.
The history of the persecutions which our brethren
endured under the infamous new Constitution of Missouri must be left to other and abler pens, as I have
already exceeded all reasonable limits in the chapter
which I could not well make shorter.  It is enough to
say that not a single minister who preached faithfully,
the Gospel, and only the Gospel, during the war could
be induced to take the oath, while all, with a single
exception, who prostituted their calling at the bidding
of politicians, by preaching that which is not found in
the Bible, continued to wear the collar of their masters
and gloried in their shame. For months the voices of
220 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
many of our most earnest ministers were silent, and
those who dared tell a dying sinner the way of salvation were promptly indicted and threatened with a
long imprisonment. The Church in Missouri owes a
lasting debt of gratitude, under God, to the venerable
Dr. J. L. Yantis for the noble stand he took when the
attempt was made to force compliance with the requirements of the new Constitution upon our ministers.
Loyal to Coesar, he was still more loyal to Christ, and
leaving his home he went everywhere in the western
part of the State boldly preaching the Gospel, and
thereby lifting up the weak hands and strengthening
the feeble knees of his brethren.
221
I 
_ MARTYRDOM  IN  MISSOURI.
CHAPTER X.
THE NEW CONSTITUTION.
The State Convention of 1865-Members' Names, Age, Profession
and P.O. Address-A Curious Study-Eimancipation Ordinance
-A  Civil Question. belonging to the State, with which Churches,
as such, have Nothing to Do-The  Unisecular, Non-political
Churches of Missouri' Cast Down but not Destroyed; Perse   cutted but not Forsaken "-Vindicated-Bill of Rights-Motive
JUnveiled - Pious Fraud -Declaration of Rights- Rights  and
Wrongs of Suffrage-The Notorious'Test O-lth "-Section 3d
of Article II-Constitutional Penalties-Questions Easily Asked —
Vote in the Convention anid in the State on the Adoption of the
New Constitution —Governor Fletcher's Proclamation.
The General Assembly of the State of Missouri, by
an act approved February 13, 1864, called and provided
for a State Convention, "to take such action as the
interest and welfare of the State may require."
The rate of representation and thlo qualification of
members of this State Convention were fixed as follows:
"SEC. 2. Each State Senatorial District, as now constituted by law, shall be entitled to elect twice as many
delegates to said Convention as said District is now
entitled to members in the State Senate.
"SEC. 3. No person shall be a member of said Convention who shall not have attained to the age of
twenty-four years, who shall not be a fiee white male
citizen of the United States, who shall not have been a
citizen of this State two years, and of the District he
222 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
represents one year next before his election, and who
is not otherwise qualified in accordance with existing
laws and oi:dinances of the State, prescribing the necessary qualifications of members of the General Assembly."
The election provided for by this act was held November 8, 1864.   The Secretary of State, Mordecai
Oliver, reported  the abstract  of votes  "for"  and
"against" the Convention in the aggregate, as follows:
For the Convention, 56,418; against the Convention,
26,832. Hie declared the proposition for the Convention carried, and made proclamation convening the
Convention in St. Louis January 6, 1865.
According to this official proclamation, the members
elected to the Convention assembled in the small hall
of the Mercantile Library building, in the city of St.
Louis, on Friday, January 6, 1865, and effected an organization by the election of the following officers:
President, Arnold Krekel, of St. Charles; Vice-President, Charles D. Drake, of St. Louis; Secretary, Thos.
Proctor, of Macon; Doorkeeper, Henry J. Stierlin, of
St. Louis; Sergeant-at-Arms, John WV. Stephens, of
Phelps.
As the work of this Convention became so conspicuous and efficient in its positive opposition to religious
liberty and the persecution of ministers of the Gospel,
it may not be improper to place upon permanent record
and in historical association with the work of the Convention the full names of all the members, together
with their nativity, age, profession and postoffice ad
dress.
In making a new Constitution for the State of Mis
223 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
souri they were also "making history," and justice, as
well as "the truth of history," requires that every
man's name should be associated with the history he
has made.
The following list of members is taken from the journal as furnished by the Secretary, and published by
order of the Convention.
These names, with their association with the work
of the Convention, may furnish an instructive as well
as a curious historical study in the future of this State:
Names of the Delegates of the Missouri State Convention
of 1865, with the place of Nativity, Age, Profession and
Postoffice Address.
Names of 3fembers.  Nativity.    Age.   Profession.    Postoffice Add.
Arnold Krekel.....Prussia......50...50 Lawyer........ St. Charles.
Chas. D. Drake...Ohio........... 54....Lawyer............St Lollis.
Amos P. Foster.... N. Hampshire.. 32......Merchant......... Washington.
Thomas Proctor...Ihio...............49... Editor......... Mcon City.
H. J. Stierlin......Prussia.........43. lerk............... St. Louis.
J. W. Stephens... England........31....Lawyer........... Rolla.
Adams, Wm. B.. Missouri........46... Physician.........Danville.
Barr, Adam J.....Pennsylvania...36.... Physician.........Richmond.
Bedford, Alf. 1M.. Tennessee.....44... Lawyer........ Charle ton.
Bonham, David.. England......56... Farmer........... Empjire Prairie
Budd, Geo. K........ Pelnsylvania.63.................St Louis.
Butnce, Harvey....New York....4....................Boonville.
Bush, Isidor....... Austria......,43.... GIl. A't. I M.R.R.St. Louis.
Childress, R L.... Tennessee........ 56... Farmer............. Marshfield.
Cl,,ver, H. A......New York......41.... Lawyer............ t. Lollis.
Cowden, Rives C..Virginia........65.... Farmer............ Hal fwav.
Davis, John H...Ohio............48....Farmer............Hall's Ferry.
Da is, Samuel'I.. Kentucky....... 30 Lawyer.....      ew Madrid.
Dodsoin, Isham B..Kentucky.......47...],awyer........... Kirksville.
D'Oench,.m..... IPrussia........48... Merchant..........St. Louis.
Ellis, John H......Virginia........51....Physician.........Chillicothe.
Esther, John......Tennessee....38.... Farmer............Lebanon.
Evans, Ellis G.....Missouri........41... Mechanic..........uba.
Filley, C. I........New York....36.... Merchant.......... t. Louis.
Fletcher, J. W.... Missouri........46.... Farmer............DeSoto.
Folmsbee, W. II. Ohio............36....Physician.........Gallatin.
Foster, Emory S..Missouri........7.... Student at Law....Wairrensburg.
Fulkeison, F. M...Virginia........57... Farmer............Marshall.
Gaml)le, John W. Kentucky..... 50... Farmer........ Mexico.
Gillert, Ar(:h...... S. Carolina.....51.... Farmer............Mt. Vernon.
Gilbert, S. A.......Illinois......29....Law~ er........ Weston.
Gilstrap, A. L.....Indiana......51.... l,awyer........Macon City.
Grammer. J. -M.... Tennessee....40.... Merchant..........CassvUile.
Green, M. P.......Virginia.....47...47 Lawyer........IIannibal.
Harris, Thos B... Kentucky.........Farmner........Concord.
I-lenderson, D.....Virginia ~.......63.... Physician....... D nt C H
]Holcomb, E  A....Ohio.......... 34....1 awyer........ Kyterville.
Hloldswolth, J. H.. New York....57.... Farmer............Long Branch.
024 
MARTYRDOM.  IN  MISSOURI.
Names of 3renibers.  Nativity.    Age.    Profession.    Postoafice Add.
Holl:and, \V. S....Kenttckv.......40. Phvsician.........Calhoun.
-lugleo,,  B F....... i           iSSoUli........3.. Physician..........S,dalia.
Htime, Jos. F.......  Nlissotri........43. Physician.........California.
]qHusimltvn, Geo....Geimnv            Nrsmany....... Hermann.
Ki,i, Wx lly......Connecticut.....2.... Merchant..........St. Louis.
Leon trd, teeves....issouri........27. M ijor Mo. Vols... Fayette.
Linton, \. L......K ntucky.......57....Physician.........St. Louis.
3leKei-an, J. F..hio............. 4.... Merhant.......... Onage City.
h1cPherson, A. M..N. Csrolina.....63.... Surveyor..........Altenblrg.
Mlack, J,hin A..... Virginia............ Farmer............ pringfield.
Mlartin, A. H...... Vir,ginia........48. Clerk............ Troy.
Mleyer, Ferd.......Prussia.........38. Merchant..........St. Louis.
31itchell, J. P...... Pennsylvania......50. Fa mer............  Prinirose.
Morton, W. A.....Kentucky........53.... 3   Physician.........Liberty.
Newgent,'. G....I ndiana.........49   Merchant.......K... ansas City.
Nixlort, A. I....... russia.........33. Physician........ Pleasant Farm.
Owens, J. W...... Missouri........ 35. Lawyer............Washington.
Peck, Dor'stus....New York......62. Phvsician.........Ironton.
liankin, J. T..............rchat..........Greenfield.
Rohrer, P. J......... ea.......43 Teacher............ Lebanon
St. Gem, Gus......Missouri........40. Me chant..........Ste. Genevieve.
Snith, Eli.........Ohio............48. Farme............ mithton.
Smith, Knight G   Virginia........34.... lhysician....... Princeton.
Strong, Geo. Pt.. Ltwyer............St Louis.
Stto,,, Jas. T.....Tennessee......45.... Faimr..........Coldwater.
Swearinigen,  J. R.Kentucky.......... Clerk of Court.....Independence.
Switzler, W  F.....Kentucky......46... Editor............Columbia.
Thilenius, G     (ermy...........3. Merchant..........Cape Girardean
Weatheit 3,y  L. II...Nw York......6.. Lawyer........... Maytsvilie.
Williams, J....... Pensylvania...41....Physican........ Ki tgston.
Willhans, h.......Tennessee........ Merchant..........Meriphis.
With the political, military, civil and judicial ordinances of thle Convention, as such, this work is not particularly concerned, only as they reach and affect the
grave questions of religious freedom-the rights of conscience in matters of religious laith and worship.  But
to any one at all acquainted with State policy, and the
methods of reaching and regulating the municipal machinery of a civil commonwtalth, the work of this Convention furnishes a curious study in its admixture of
religious proscription and intolerance with the most
reckless outreachings of partisan fanaticism.
It is curious to note the prominence given to "test
oaths" and the service they are made to perform in the
protection of the partisan ballot and the proscription
of religious privileges, and this, too, in direct conflict
with the extended " Declaration of Rights" which forms, 
15
225 
MARTYRDOMI IN MISSOURI.
Art I. of the new Constitution. But this direct, face
to face antagonism.will receive due attention hereafter.
The first work of the Convention, of course, was to
pass "An ordinance abolishing slavery in Missouri,"
in accordance with the "Emancipation Proclamation"
of the President of the United States and the manifest
destiny of the civil war. With this the Church has no
quarrel, and had nothing whatever to do.  The question was purely a civil one, and the entire responsibility of the institution or abolition of slavery rested
with the State, and not with the Church.  This was, is,
and will forever be, the position of all the unsecular,
non-political Churches of this State and country; and
the constructive association of them with the institution of slavery was, is, and ever will be, as gratuitous,
malicious and false as the oft-repeated prophesy, that
with slavery they would go down and become extinct.
Slavery has been  abolished  and  the  rebellion  put
down, but the ecclesiastical bodies, which envy, hatred,
bigotry and loyalty constructively associated with them
for purposes of proscription and persecution, still survive, and from the very fires of persecution and the
blood of martyrdom they hlave come up purified and
refined, "as gold tried in the fire," and are now more
compact, aggressive, evangelical and powerful in spirituality, doctrine and resources than at any time before
or during the war.
The true Church of Jesus Christ as a "kingdom not
of this world" has existed with slavery and without, in
war and in peace, and has survived a thousand revolutions, and will endure forever, for it is written, "the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
226 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
Let the undeniable fact that these non-political, nonsecular Churches which have resisted the encroachments of the secular power, stoutly declined all wanton
harlotry with the political parties of the State, and
stood up bravely and boldly in defense of the purity of
the Gospel and the religious rights of conscience in the
midst of all manner of proscription and persecution,
still exist and flourish, silence the tongue of slander,
blight the lips of betrayal, palsy the hand of persecution, and vindicate the purest representative principles
and policy of the true kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ
now on earth.  Men will not risk everything and throw
themselves in the track of persecution, with their property, their liberty and their lives, for naught. No, no.
"All that a man hath will he give for his life," and if
his all is given with his life, it must be for a principle
and a cause dearer than life, and equal only to his
faith in God and his hopes of heaven. Posterity will
see in the proscription of the Churches of Missouri, and
in the Martyrdom of their ministers-instigated by political malice and religious envy, and authorized by the
fundamental law of the State, and often executed by
lawless mobs-the sublimest vindication of civil and
religious liberty furnished on the continent of America, and the purest type of moral heroism furnished by
the nineteenth century. Hiistory, and time, and truth
are one.
When the Emancipation Ordinance was disposed of
the Convention directed attention to trustees, curators, directors and other officers of schools, academies,
colleges and other institutions of learning, and
churches, charitable and benevolent institutions, and
227 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
ministers of the Gospel.  The following resolutions were
offered, read and referred to the Committee on Elective
Franchise, and the sentiments were incorporated into
the new Constitution in much stronger form than here
presented:
Mr. Martin offered the following resolutions:
Resolved. 1.  That all persons now holding, or who
may hereafter hold, any real or personal property in
trust for the uses and purposes of schools, academies,
colleges, or other institutions of learning, or for purposes of religious worship, or for charitable or benevolent objects; and all officers and teachers in any institution of learning, and all ministers, ordained or licensed
preachers of any religious denomination, shall, within
thirty days after the passage of this ordinance, and otherwise before entering on the duties of their several
stations, take and subscribe an oath that they have not
at any time taken up arms agait st the Government of
the United States or the State of Missouri, nor in any
manner given aid or comfort, by word, deed, writing or
otherwise, to the enemies of the United States or the
State of Missouri.
2. All persons now holding any of the positions
named in the foregoing article, who fail to take and
subscribe the oath therein set forth within thirty days
after the passage of this ordinance, or who may at any
time have enrolled themselves as disloyal, shall thereafter cease to hold or exercise any of the duties or
functions of these several stations, and the propercourts
may fill the vacancies that may be thus created in any
board of trustees.
3. Any person who may be convicted of taking the
said oath falsely shall be punished as for perjury, in
such manner as the Legislature may prescribe bv law.
On motion, the resolutions were read the second time
and ordered to be referred to the Committee on Elective Franchise.  The design of this movement was to
transparent to admit of deception. Many, very many,
228 
MARTYRDOM  IN MISSOURI.
boards of trustees, curators, directors and other officers
were in possession of incorporated institutions, churches,
and other real and personal property who would not,
or could not, take an arbitrary test oath, and their
offices of trust and profit would be so easily vacated by
this process, their personal and fiduciary rights would
be so easily destroyed, and moneyed corporations, institutions of learning and churches would be transferred
to loyal hands without the inconvenient and slow forms
of existing laws, which required quid pro quo with the
old process of bargain and sale, and would then be put
to loyal uses. Besides, ministers of the Gospel of a certain type would be put under disability, their pulpits
silenced, their calling and support denied them, and
they forced to leave the State or'betake themselves to
other employments.  Nor did the perpetrators of such
an outrage upon the rights of property, the fiduciary
trusts of education, benevolence and religion, and the
most sacred principles of civil and religious liberty,
care so much for the loyalty under the specious plea of
which their real designs were concealed as they did for
the property, the franchises and the positibn of their
betters.
It may be uncharitable thus to criticise the acts and
doings of public men, and especially to search into their
motives; but the records of history and the judgment of
posterity, however unsparing, can never equal the
wrongs inflicted by such "ordinances" upon a helpless
people, and the pious frauds practiced in the name of
loyalty, liberty and religion.
It is needless to analyze all the acts and doings of the 
Convention or to criticise all of its ordinances and
229
F 
iNMARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
outgivings.  To bring out fully the intolerant, proscriptive and anti-Christiain spirit and work of the Conven
tion, while at the same time a strenuous effort was
seeminigly made to preserve the old standards and
principles of religious liberty, it is only necessary to
study the proscriptive features of the new Constitution
in the light of the "Declaration of Rights" which comprises the first article of the same instrument. Upon
the general subject of religious liberty the Convention
incorporated into the "Declaration of Rights" as follows:
9. That all men have a natural and indefeasible
right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates
of their own consciences; that no person can, on account
of his religious opinions, be rendered ineligible to any
office of trust or profit under this State, nor be disqualified fiom testifying, or from serving as a juror; that
no human authority can control or interfere with the
rights of conscience; and that no person ought, by any
law, to be molested in his person or estate on account
of his religious persuasion or profession; but the liberty
of conscience hereby secured shall not be so construed
as to excuse acts of licentiousness, nor lo justify practices inconsistent with the good orders peace or safety
of the State or withl the rights of others.
10. That no person can be compelled to erect, support, or attend any place of worship, or to maintain
any minister of the Gospel or teacher of religion; but
whatever contracts any person may enter into for any
such object ought, in law, to be binding and capable of
enforcement, as other contracts.
11. That no preference can ever be given, by law,
to any church, sect, or mode of worship.
12. Tnhat no religious corporation can be established
in this State, except that, by a general law, uniform
throughout the State, any Church, or religious society,
or congregation, may become a body corporate, for ihe
sole purpose of acquiring, holding, using, and disposing
230 
MARTYRDOMI IN MISSOURI.
of so much land as may be required for a house of
public worship, a chapel, a parsonage, and a burial
ground, and managing the same, and contracting in
relation to such land, and the buildings thereon, through
a board of trustees, selected by themselves; but the
quantity of land to be held by any such body corporate
in connection with a house of worship or a parsonage
shall not exceed five acres in the country or one acre in
a town or city.
28. That no ex post facto law, or law impairing the
obligation of contracts, or retrospective in its operation,
can be passed.
After the principles thus incorporated into the "Dcclaration of Rights," we are not prepared for the wholesale and merciless slaughter of each and all of them in
the very next article in the Constitution, and under the
general head of the "Right of Suffrage."  The rights
and wrongs of suffrage, as declared in this article, are
so mixed and confused that all the courts in the State
having jurisdiction, together with the Supreme Court
of the United States, and much of the ablest legal talent
of the country, have been at work on it for nearly five
years, and now confess to a verdict of defeat.  It wouldbe presumption, in a work of this charactei, even to
attempt a presentation of the processes by which this
instrument proposes to reach the rights and wrongs of
suffrage in a manner intelligible to the ordinary reader.
A man who desired to exercise the right of suffrage in
this State, hold office, act as trustee, practice law, teach,
or preach the Gospel, or do any of the acts specified in
this instrument, which is the supreme authority in all
the privileges of citizenship, would reach his object
somewhat after the following manner: He must appear
in the presence of some civil officer, make known his
231 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
desires, and take, subscribe and file in some court of
record the following oath, flanked and girdled as it is
with such unheard-of pains and penalties, and plunging,
as it does, straight and deep into the motives, sympathies, desires and natural affections of the heart, and
touching so vitally the dearest rights of the enlightened
conscience:
Sec. 6. The oath to be taken as aforesaid shall be
known as the Oath of Loyalty, and shall be in the following terms:
I, A. B., do solemnly swear that I am well acquainted with the terms of the third section of the
second article of the Constitution of the State of Missouri, adopted in the year eighteen hundred and sixtyfive, and have carefully considered the same; that I
have never, directly or indirectly, done any of the acts
in said section specified; that I have always been truly
and loyally on the side of the Unitel States against all
enemies thereof; foreign and domestic; that I will bear
true faith and allegiance to the United States, and will
support the Constitution and laws thereof as the
supreme law of the land, any law or ordinance of any
State to the contrary notwithstanding; that I will, to
the best of my ability, protect and defend the Union
of the United States, and not allow thlie same to be
broken up and dissolved, or the Government thereof to
be destroyed or overthrown, under any circumstances,
if in my power to prevent it; that I will support the
Constitution of the State of Missouri; and that I make
this oath without any mental reservation or evasion,
and hold it to be binding on me.
Sec. 7. Within sixty days after this Constitution
takes effect every person in this State holding any office
of honor, trust or profit under the Constitution or laws
thereof, or under any municipal corporation, or any of
the other offices, positions or trusts mentioned in the
third section of this article, shall take and subscribe the
said oath. If any officer or person referred to in this
section shall fail to comply with the requirements
232 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
thereof, his office, position or trust shall, ipso facto,
become vacant, and the vacancy shall be filled according to the law governint, the case.
Sec. 9. No person shall assume the duties of any
State, county, city, town, or other office to which he
may  be appointed otherwise  than  by  a vote of the
people; nor shall any person, after the expiration of
sixty days after this Constitution takes effect, be permitted to p)racetice as an attorney or counselor at law;
nor, after that time, shall any person be competent as a
bishop, priest, deacon, minister, elder, or other clergyman of
any religious persuasion, sect or denomination, to teach, or
preach, or solemnize marriages, unless such person shall
have first taken, subscribed and filed said oath.
The third section, so often referred to in the foregoing
conditions of citizenship, is as follows:
SEC. 3. At any election held by the people under
this Constitution, or in pursuance of any law of this
State, or under any ordinance or by-law of any municipal corporation, no person shall be deemed a qualified
voter who has ever been in armed hostility to the United
States, or to the lawful authorities thereof, or to the
Government of this State; or has ever given aid, comfort, countenance or support to persons engaged in any
such hostility; or has ever, in any manner, adhered to
the enemies, foreign or domestic, of the United States,
either by contributiog to them, or by unlaw'fiflly sending within their lines money, goods, letters or information; or has ever disloyally held communication with
such enemies; or has ever advised or aided any person
to enter the service of such enemies; or has ever, by
act or word, manifested his adherence to the cause of
such enemies, or his desire for their triumph over the
arms of the United States, or his sympathy with those
engaged in exciting o, carrying oil rebellion against the
United States; or has ever, except under overpowering
compulsion, submitted to the authority or been in the
service of the so-called" Confederate State of America;"
or has left this State and gone within the lines of the
armies of the so-called "Confederate States of Amer
233 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
ica" with the purpose of adhering to said States or
armies; or has ever been a member of, or connected
with, any order, society or organization inimical to the
Government of the United States, or to the Government
of this State; or has ever been engaged in guerrilla
warfare against loyal inhabitants of the United States,
or in that description of marauding commonly known
as "bushwhacking;" or has ever knowingly and willingly harbored, aided or countenanced any person so
engaged; or has ever come into or left this State for
the purpose of avoiding enrollment for or draft into the
military service of the United States; or has ever, with
a view to avoid enrollment in the militia of this State,
or to escape the performance of duty therein, or for
any other purpose, enrolled himself, or authorized himself to be enrolled, by or before any officer, as disloyal,
or as a Southernl sympathizer, or in any other terms
indicating his disaffection to the Government of the
United States in its contest with rebellion, or his sympathy with those engaged in such rebellion; or, having
ever voted at any election by the people in this State,
or in any other of the United States, or in any of their
Territories, or held office in this State, or in any other
of the United States, or in any of their TerritQries, or
under the United States, shall thereafter have sought or
received, under claim of alienage, the protection of any
foreign government, through any consul or other officer
thereof, in order to secure exemption fri)m military duty
in the militia of this State, or in the army of the United
States; nor shall any such person be capable of holding,
in this State, any office of honor, trust or profit, under
its authority; or of being an officer, councilman, director, trustee or other manager of any corporation, public
or private, now existing or hereafter established by its
authority; or of acting as a professor or teacher in any
educational institution, or in any common or other
school; or oft' holding any real estate or othlerproperty
in trust for the use of aiy church, religious society or
congregation.  But the foregoing provisions in relation
to acts done against the United States shall not apply
to any person not a citizen thereof, who shall h'ive
committed such acts while in the service of some foreign
234 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
country at war with the United States, and who has,
since, such acts, been naturalized, or may hereafter be
naturalized, under the laws of the United States; and
the oath of loyalty hereinafter prescribed, when taken
by such person, shall be considered as taken in such
sense.
Law has no executive force without a penalty, and
the rights and wrongs of suffrage and citizenship must
receive the sanctions of pains and penalties. They are
not absent from such a document as this, however much
w-e have been educated and inclined to look to the Legislature for laws defining  crimes, and to the judicial
tribunals for the conviction of crimes and the assessmnent of the requisite punishment.
In these dtays of progress, however, State Conventions
can do all the work of Legislatures and civil courts.
The following section sufficiently defines and affixes
the constitutional penalty for the crime of refusing to
swear according to the provisions of the new Consti
tution:
See. 14. WYho-oever shall, after the times limited
in the seventh and ninth sections of this article, hold
or exercise any of the offices, positions, trusts, professions or functions therein specified, without having
taken, subscribed and filed said oath of loyalty, shall,
on conviction thereof, be punished by fine not less than
five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county
jail not less than six months, or by both such fine and
imprisonment; and whoever shall take said oath falsely
by  swearing or by affirmation, shall, on conviction
thereof, be adjudged guilty of perjury, and be punished
by imprisonment in the penitentiary not less than two
ye  ars.
The bearing of these extraordinary provisions of the 
new Constitution upon the great questions of civil and
235 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
religious liberty must be reserved for discussion in
subsequent chapters.
Is the reader disposed to raise the inquiry, why leave
untouched by disability the pursuit of the fairmer, the
mechanic, the merchant, the manufacturer, the trader,
the editor, the peddler, the undertaker, the saloon
keeper, the beer vender, the distiller, and so many
other trades, professions, employments and pursuits?
Are they all loyal?-always  oyal?  Many questions
are more easily asked than answered.
It is very difficult to arrive at the exact vote in the
Convention on each separate clause of this article on
the right of suffrage, and yet it is not just and right to
hold every individual member responsible for the
wrongs and outrages upon citizenship and religious liberty inflicted by that article. The nearest to a direct
vote on the clause affecting the rights of ministers of
the Gospel which the journal furnishes is as follows:
The article on the Right of Suffrage was taken up;
and the question being on the adoption of Mr. Folmsbee's amendment to section nine, by inserting in the
fifth line, after the word "to," the words " teach or
preach, or," Mr. Holcomb demanded the ayTes and noes
thereon; and the vote being taken, stood as followvs:
AYES- Messrs. Adams, Bonham,  Bunce, Childress,
Davis  of Nodaway,  Dodson,  Ellis, Esther,  Evans,
Folmsbee, Gilbert of Lawrence, Holcomb, Holdsworth,
Holland, Hume, Leonard, Rankin, Rohrer, Smith ot
Mercer, Smith of Worth, Strong, Sutton, Weatherby,
Williams of Caldwell, and Williams of Scotland-25.
NOES -I Messrs. Barr, Drake, Fulkerson, Gamble,
Henderson, King, Linton McPherson,  Swearingen, and
Switzler-10.
ABSENT WITH LEAVE-Messrs. Bush, Fletcher, Foster,
Gilbert of Platte, Hughes, Husman, Morton, Newgent,
St. Gem, and Thilenius-10.
236 
NIMARTYRDOM  IN  M0ISSOURI.
ABSENT WITItOUT LEAVE -Messrs. Bedford, Budd,
C1lover, Davis of New AI.d(1rid, D'Oench, Filley, Gilstrap, Grammer, Green, A cKernan,  Mack, Martin,
M3eyer, iixdorf, Oweis, and MAr. President-16.
SICK —Messrs. Cowden, Mitchell, and Peck-3.
So the amendment was adopted.
This amendment did not very materially affect the
disabilities imposed by the original draft, and when, on
motion of Mr. Diake, the whole article on the "Rig,ht
of Suffrage" was read a third time and put upon its
final passage, it was adopted by the following vote:
AYEs -Messrs. Bari, Bonham,  Bunce, Clildress,
Clover, Davis of Nodaway, Dodson,  Drakle, Esther,
Folmsbee, Fulkerson, Gamble, Gilbert of Lawrence,
Hienderson, IIoldswvorth, Holland, HIlume, King, Leonard, McIKernan, McPherson, Mack, Smith of Aercer,
Smith of Worth, Stronr, Sutton, Swearingen, Weatheriby, Williams of Caldwell, and Williams  of Scotland -30.
NOES -Messrs. Bedford, Bush, Holcomb,  Linton,
Meyer, Rohrer, and Switzler-7.
ABSENT WITi LEAVE- -Messrs. Evans, Fletcher, Foster, Gilbert of Platte, Hughes, Ilusman, Morton, Newgent, St. Gem and Thilenius-10.
ABSENT  WITHOUT  LEAVE-Messrs.  Adams,  Budd,
Davis of New Madrid, D)'Oench, Ellis, Filley, Gilstrap,
Grammer, Green, Martin, Nixdorf, Owens, RIankin, and
3Mr  President-14.
SICK —Messrs. Cowden, Mitchell, and Peck-3.
So the article was adopted and referred to the Revising Committee.
The work of the Convention practically closed with
the following action:
The question then being on the final adoption of the
Constitution, Mr. Drake demanded the ayes and noes
thereon; and the vote being, taken, stood as follows:
AYEs-1Messrs  Adams, Barr, Bonham, Budd, Bunce,
237
I 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
Childress, Davis of Nodaway, Dodson, Drake, Ellis,
Esther, Evans, Filley, Folmsbee, Fulkerson, Gamble,
Gilbert of Lawrence, Henderson,  Holcomb, Holdsworth, Holland, Hiume, King,  Leonard,  MeKernan,
McPherson, Mack, Martin, Peck, Rankin, Smith of
Mercer, Strong, Sutton, Swearingen, Weatherby, Williams, of Caldwell, Williams of Scotland, and MAir. President-38.
NoEs —Messrs. Bedford, Bush, D'Oench, Fletcher,
Foster, Gilstrap, Green, Hiusmnann, Linton, Meyer,
Rohrer, Smith of Worth, and Switzler-13.
ABSENT WITH  LEAVE - Messrs.  Gilbert of Platte,
Hughes, Morton, Newgent, Nixdorf and St. Gem-6.
ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE —Messrs. Clover, Davis of
New M-adrid, Grammer, Owens and Thilenius-5.
SICK-Messr,. Cowden and Mitchell-2.
So the Constitution was.finally adopted.
By the second section of the thirteenth article of the
New Constitution it was provided that a general election be held, June 6, 1865, by the qualified voters of
the State for the purpose of ascertaining the sense of
the people in regard to the adoption or rejection of this
Revised and Amended Constitution, as it was called. It
was, also, provided that a voter to be qualified must
take, subscribe and file the oath prescribed by the very
instrument upon the adoption or rejection of which he
was to vote.   By this unheard of requirement the
wrongs of the "right of suffrage" amounted to the
tremendous fraud of disfranehisinlg over two-thirds of
the tax-paying citizens of the State by the provisions
of the Constitution before it was adopted as the Constitution of the State. Notwithstanding this heavy disfranchisement it was not believed by any outside of the
party in power that the New Constitution then received
a majority of the votes polled. The proclamation of
238 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
Governor Fletcher, issued July 1, 1865, announcing the
adoption of the Constitution, contained the following
statement of the result of the election:
And, whereas, on the first day of July the said Secretary of State did, in the presence of the Governor
and the State Auditor, proceed to examine and cast up
the returns of the votes taken at said election, and certified to him, including those of persons in the military
service; when it appeared, upon an accurate casting up
of said returns, that there were forty-three thousand
six hundred and seventy (43,670) votes in favor of said
Constitution, and forty-one thousand eight hundred and
eight (41,808) votes against said Constitution; and there
being, therefore, a majority of all the votes cast at said
election in favor of said Constitution
Now, therefore, I, Thomas C. Fletcher, Governor of
the State of' Missouri, in pursuance of the authority
vested in me, as aforesaid, do, by this my proclamation,
declare and make known that the said revised and
amended Constitution was, at said election, adopted by
a majority of the votes cast at said election, and that,
in pursuance of the provisions therein contained, it will
take effect as the Constitution of the State of Missouri,
on the fourth day of the present month of July.
Given under my hand and the great seal of the
State of Missouri, at the City of Jefferson, on the first
day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-five.
TIIOMAS C. FLETCHER.
By the Governor.
FRANCIS RODMAN, Secretary of State.
239
I 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
CHAPTER XI.
THE NEW CONSTITUTION-HlOW ADOPTED.
The Constitution Submitted to the Popular Vote-Strange Facts —
The C,)Istitutition a Conispiracv-The Election a Farce-TlIe Re turn S Mntipulated -Doubts, Fears. Anxiety, Excitemenrt-Fruitless
Efforts made to see the Election Returns- Alleged Frniuds —Oni nous Silence —Citizens of St. Louis vs. Secretarv Rodmiiin —T'e Vote
and the Voters of the State —Extracts from the Missouri Republi can-AVho were Disfranchi.ed, and Why —People not Responsible
for the Fr,tud — Who are Responsible-Protest anid Compltinit —Con spirvcy a!Id Reticence —Names live in Historv —The lReaIl Authors
of'Martyrdomn in Missouri."
THE NEW CONSTITUTION.
As a matter of fact, and, therefore, a matter of history,
this new Constitution, or, as it is officially called, "PRevised and Amended Constitution," was not ratified and
accepted by the majority of the people of Mlissouri; not
even by one-fourth of the tax paying citizens and legal
voters of the State.
It was not only a matter of grave and general doubt
that the new Constitution received even a majority of
the votes polled at the election on the 6th of June, but
the  developments  about  the time  the votes  were
counted  by the Secretary of State went  very  far
toward confirming the doubt in the public mind.
Strange to say, the Convention which framed the
Constitution and submitted it to the vote of the people
made no provision whatever for placing the instrnuiment
240 
MARTYRDOM  IN MISSOURI.
itself before the people  in any pointed form.   The
voters ha(l to rely upon the disconnected fragments
published from time to time in the newspapers for their
information of what the Constitution contained. Of
course, the most obnoxious features were always under
discussion, and in this way only the people were
informed of the contents of the instrument upon which
they were to vote. This strange omission could scarcely
have occurred without design.
Another strange fact was, that the Constitution itself
provided and prescribed the qualification of voters.
Notwithstanding this fact, in several places the judges
of election admitted the votes of citizens who were
qualified under existing laws, which were afterward
thrown out.
This requirement of the new Constitution, put in
force before it was a Constitution, and in order to make
it a Constitution, was well calculated to awaken the
liveliest suspicions of the people that the framers of the
instrument, and the party which they served, intended
to foist it upon the people as the Constitution of the
State by corruption and fraud. No one at all acquainted
with the science of civil government in which all power
is derived from the people according to their popular
will as expressed at the ballot box, can now be found
to frame a vindication of the authors from the general
charge of political fraud in thus putting the Constitution through the farce of a popular election. And the
political fraud of which they-were guilty was not without malice. It possesses the elements, the essence and
the premeditated design of a far-reaching and successful
16
241
I,P
.1 
IMARTYRDOM  IN  MISSOURT.
conspiracy against the civil and religious liberties of a
loyal people in the name of loyalty and religion.
'If the peipetrators of such a political monstrosity
could not prevent its own rejection by the people, by
prescribing the qualification of voters, they could so
manipulate the election returns as to adopt it at Jefferson City in case it should be rejected at the ballot box,
and there wvere thousands of people in the State who
were uncharitable enough to believe that the State officers at the Capital, and the party in power, were not
too pure to do such a thing. For these and like reasons the gravest fears were felt and expressed that the
Constitution would be forced upon the people, whether
they desired it or not.
The period between the election, June 6th, and the
count by the Secretary of State, July lst, 1865, was one
of great uncertainty, much speculation, and no little
alarm concerning the result. The returns reported in
the newspapers evidently defeated the Constitution by
a small majority, or led the masses to believe that it
had been rejected by the people. At the same time a
profound silence reigned at the Capital concerning the
returns, and the reticence maintained( by State officials led many of the leading citizens of the State to
fear some kind of official corruption.
A leading citizen of St. Louis, Mr. Alexander, applied
to Mlr. Rodman, Secretary of State, for permission to
examine the returns; this was distinctly and peremptorily refused.  For this refusal Mr. Secretary Rodman was severely characterized by the leading political
journals of the State. After the Secretary had snubbed
Mr. Alexander the citizens of St. Louis informally
242 
MAARTYRDOM  IN MISSOUTRI.
appointed two gentlemen, who were personal friends of
Secretary Rodman and members of the same political
party, to visit Jefferson City and in the name of the
people of the State ask the privilege of inspecting the
election returns.
3Mr. R. E. Rombaner and MIr. Geo. B. Kellogg were
appointed to discharge this duty, and for that purpose
they waited on the Secretary of State at Jefferson City,
June 26, 1865.  They fared no better.  Indeed, Mlr.
Secretary Rodman manifested no disposition to open
his office to firiendly inspection nor to be interviewed
himself upon the election returns. These gentlemen
returned as they went, and, like all others, had to await
the official revelation.   They, however, addressed a
note to MIr. Secretary Rodman, "on behalf of a great
majority of our fellow-citizens of the county of St.
Louis," in which they set forth at some length their
rights as citizens and their claims to the privilege of
inspecting the election returns.  Whether their deep
and abiding interest in the welfare of the State and in
the endatngered civil and religious liberties of the people or the heated partisan passions of the hour led
them to magnify their rights and privileges as private
citizens in the presence of official safeguards, of one
thing they were convinced, that Mr. Secretary Rodman
admitted not even "friends sent by friends" within the
sanctunm of his official prerogatives when his official seal
was about to be affixed to the political bantling of the
party of which he was the premier.
The correspondence between this committee and the
Secretary was the cause of a lively discussion in  the
public prints.  Conjectures, criticisms, criminations and
243 
AI ARTYRDnOM IN MISSOURI.
abuse were freely indulged.   Messrs. Rombauer and
Kellogg were called a "smelling committee,' and their
mission to Jefferson City severely censured by one
party and vindicated by the other.  Never before had
the interest of the people in any public measure assumed
such peculiar forms and phases.   The war had just
closed, peace was declared, the sword sheathed, the civil
law was again supreme in the State, and yet the people
saw in this "Revised and Amended Constitution" the
chains and fetters and dungeons of a party tyranny
that was more  oppressive, proscriptive and despotic
than the sword had been. That instrument, and the
measures adopted to make it the Constitution of the
State, against the known will of three-fourths of the
people, indicated too plainly the animnus of the party to
be misunderstood. It was a daring conspiracy, for
which posterity will hold Mr. Charles D. Drake, 3Mr.
Arnold Krekel, Mr. Strong of St. Louis, Mr. Secretary
Rodman, and all other leading spirits in the movement,
to a righteous accountability. The eventful history of
France presents scarcely a parallel to this bold attempt
to strike down the civil and religious liberty of a free
people. There was "death in the pot," and the best
men of the State foresaw the danger and trembled for
the result.  Let the following extract from the.lissouri
Republican, of July 2, 1865, index the public sentiment
at the time, and sample the spirit of -he press on the
subject. It was a double-leaded leader in the leading
journal of the State:
THE INFAMY CONSUMMATED.
We have reliable information from Jefferson Cite
that in the casting up of the vote for and against the
244 
MART'-RDO0I  IN  MISSOURT.
new Constitution a majoritv of 1,862 votes  has been
found in favor of its adoption.  This on an anggregate
vote of 85,478.  In Nov-ember last the total vote of the
State was 104,017; in 1860 it was 160,518.  Conceding,
for the sake of the argument, that the return of the
election held on the 6th'ult. is fair, it will be readily
seen that the Constitution is carried by a vote considerably less than half the number of voting citizens in the
State.  The fact is that that instrument is repugnant to
a large majority of ourpeople.  In our own city alone
there were enough legal voters who did not go to the
polls to have beaten the Constitution had they voted.
l/ad all voted who were opposed to the Constitution,
and who were entitled to cast their ballots, it would
have been defeated by many thousands, in spite of any
miiiltlipulatiol of the returns at Jefferson City.  At any
tiiiie it vould have been unfortunate to make radical
chagres in the fundamental law of the State by so small
-t p)oular maijority as that which has been declared in
itv-or of the new Constitution, but at such a period as
the present a result like that we have mentioned can not
but show a wide-spread discontent.
It is no time now to review the manitold mischiefs,
wrongs and injuries that make up the new Constitutioni.  That instrument is not satisfactory to any large
class of our citizens.  Even its most ardent friends have
conceded it to contain provisions antagonistic to the
seutiiients and interests of a great State, and it would
have been well if the opposition to the instrument
which prevailed so extensively had been, as it mi(ht
and ought to have been, manifested in a way to have
buried( the thing far beyond the power of any set of
relckless and corrupt officials to have given it the slightest sembllance of legality.
Governor Fletcher will, o)n Tuesday next, proclaim
the adoption of the Constitution.  Whether there may
be any aecLIOII goilng behind that, and looking into the
numberless shameful frauds and outrages perpetrated
to accomplish this end, otheis must decide; but at all
events the fact stands out that, from the morning of the
election until now, there has been a system of the most,
daamnable villainies concocted and carried out to produce
245 
IMARTYRDOMI IN MISSOURI.
the result. When we shall have received an abstract
of the vote as certified to the Governor, we shall recur
to the subject and prove that the Constitution, if we can
call it a Constitution at all, in no sense represents the
people, but that, on the other hand, the people have
condemned and repudiated it.
That the people of the State of Missouri are not responisible for this new Constitution and its mischief is
plain from the following figures: The vote for its adoption was said to be 43,670; the vote against its adoption
was said to be 41,808; making a majority of 1,862.
The whole vote of the State polled was 85,478. At
the election in November, 1864, the State voted 104,017. In 1860 the State polled 160,518 votes. Now, if
the qualified voters in June, 1865, numbered even as
many as they did the November before, the vote against
the Constitution would have been 60,347, and the majority against it would have been 16,677, and this,
too, with as many so-called rebels disfranchised as the
most loyal conscience and the strictest laws could
deprive of the right of suffrage.  But the disfranchised
were tax  paying citizens, and  vitally interested in
every public measure, and especially in the fundamental law of the State. They were opposed to the
adoption of such an instrumnent, and if permitted would
have polled over 100,000 votes against it; for the real
voting population of the State was not less in 1865 than
it it was in 1860, when the State voted 160,518. It
is a notorious fact that very few who were not of, or
acting with the party in power were registered as voters. The sole object of registration laws was to disfranchise the disloyal, and no man was adjudged loyaj
to the government who would vote against the Radical
246 
MARTYRDOMN IN MISSOURI.
party.   Democrats,  Copperlheads, Secessionists  and
traitors were all one before the registrars. In the judgment of the party in power, a difference on any matters
of public policy, so as to indicate an opposition to party
measures and men, was prinma facie evidence of disloyalty and treason; and the man who would dare such a
thing, no matter how much he had done to save the
Union, was ruled out of the party and at once disfranchised.
In evidence of this position it is only necessary to
mention the name of \Iaj.-Gen. Francis P. Blair, jr.,
who fought the war through gallantly from beginning
to end, and came out covered with the laurels of vietory; yet this distinguished citizen and soldier was
ruled out of the party be had madeand put into power
in this State, and disfranchised, because he dared to
oppose the adoption of this new Constitution   While,
on the other hand, no matter how much men had done
to aid the rebellion and dismember the Union, if they
would only vote and act with the party they were taken
in and gladly enfranchised. Such were some of the
measures resorted to by those in power to keep themselves in power, even at the cost of every dearly
boug'ht principle and guarantee of civil and religious
liberty, to say nothing of threats, intimidations, thumb
screws, inquisition, blackmail and espionage, with every
species of fraud and corruption known to unscrupulous,
ulnprincipled men.
This new Constitution was the conception of a corrupt
faction of reckless politicians, who were brought to the
surface by the war, accidentally put into power which
they were too knavish to use for the public good, and
247 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
too feeble to retain without a resort to a system of
treachery and corruption which all honorable men
would scorn.  Even after the instrument was brought
forth, bearing the very image and superscription of the
chairman of the committee on "Legislative Depart meint" and submitted to the popular vote of the people,
iL was distinctly rejected by nearly one-half the Radi cal party. Very few except members of the party
were enrolled or permitted to go to the polls, and still
there were 41,808 votes against it.  Instead of the new
Constitution being accepted and ratified by the people
of the State, it only received the endorsement of a reck less faction of the party in power, which party itself in
all its strength at any fair election would rot, at any
time, poll within 40,000 of half the votes of the State.
From- these facts, which are too recent and notorious
to be denied, it is plain that the future historian and
the decisions of posterity can not hold the people of
Missouri responsible for the political fraud called the
new Constitution, or the great damage to both civil and
religious liberty which it has authorized and inflicted.
Only a small political faction in the State, led by such
men as Charles D. Drake, George P. Strong, Arnold
Kreklcel, Francis Rodman, and their aiders and abettors, will be held accountable for the arrest, indictment, imprisonment, trial, persecution and murder of
ministers of the Gospel, and the more than murderous attempt to strike down every guarantee of religious
liberty, stab the religious conscience, "crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open
shame," and exterminate the true kingdom of Christ,
by dethroning the king and royal head, and forcing his
248 
IMARTYRDOM  IN  MISSOURI.
pure bride into the abomination of a political harlotry with the State.   They are responsible for every
outrace committed, whether according to law or against
law, upon God's chosen ministers and pure kingdom,
from the dungeon of AIr. Cummings of Louisiana to the
blood of the martyred Headlee that cries to heaven from
the consecrated soil of Butler county.
If this new Constitution was thus forced upon the
people without their consent by a small party faction,
it was not without earnest protest and bitter complaint.
Never before in the history of the State had there been
such furious storms raised by the popular voice against
any public measure. The public complaint and protest
was wide-spread and general. But few of the papers
or leading men of the State dared to defend or justify
the fraud.  Those who tried to justify the act at all
made haste to promise the public that the most obnoxious features of the instrument should be removed or
amended as soon as possible. It was notorious that
THE most distasteful and objectionable feature of the
new Constitution was its proscription of ministers of the
Gospel. Against no provision of that instrumbnt did
the public mind so positively revolt and the public
conscience so earnestly protest. And it was with the
hope and belief that the people had distinctly rejected
the whole instrument at the ballot-box, notwithstanding
the official announcement, that there was such an impatient outcry against the secrecy of the officials at Jefferson City. It was believed by many that thousands
of votes were thrown out after they reached the office
of the Secretary of State, and that many hundreds, and
perhaps thousands, from the army in the field were
249 
MA'RTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
admitted and counted who wele not at the time, and
never had been, citizens of the State. Of one fact there
is scarcely a doubt, that whole regiments were voted
as Missouri regiments that had been filled up by companies transferred from the regimnents of other States,
until the number transferred exceeded by hundreds the
Missouri tioops in the regiment.  It was believed at
the time, and is still believed, that the election returns
were in this way so manipulated that the new Constitution, though rejected at the ballot-box, even by the
few who voted, was adopted in Secretary Rodman's
office.
To show what the public thought and felt at the time,
and how hard it was to submit to the fraud, which was
so generally pronounced an " infamous fraud," take
another leader from the Missouri Republican, of July
3, 1865:
WHIY THIS SECRECY?
If the Scriptural saying be true, that." men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil,"
the strange secrecy of our state officials  at Jefferson
City respecting the vote on the NeW Constitution may
be understood   From the day the election returns began to arrive those gentlemen have practiced, and still
practice, a concealment entirely without precedent in
the history of Missouri, and totally repugnant to the
genius of our government  and the character of our
people. With the exception of dispatches of election
returns to the Missouri Democrat from Jefferson City,
and published as such in the columns of that journal,
all information, so far as we know, concerning the election returns has been constantly denied.   Gentlemen
of well known character have personally applied to Secretary Rodman for leave to inspect the returns, basing
their application on the ground of right and also of
250 
MIARTYRDO.I IN MISSOURI.
personal favor.  They have been uniformly refused.
WVhy this secrecy?
A few days after the election the D)emocrat stated,
not by hints, but in plain words, that however ma-ch
" Copperhead" voting there might have been, Mr. Rodman was a good Radical and had it in his power to sift
the matter. All will allow that this open threat of
manipulation was enough to justify apprehension on
the part of the opponents of the Constitution.  Indeed,
after such a statement by the party organ, common
delicacy should have prompted Mr. Rodman to positively
invite inspection, and so prove the suspicion groundless.
Ihis persistent refusal justifies the suspicion.
Again, it is confidently stated that many of the returns, both from counties and from soldiers, were defective and illegal; that, for instance, fraudulent returns
were made by Radical judges to which they dared not
affix the legal solemnities, and that regiments of soldiers voted, large numbers of soldiers, who, as the rolls
in the Adjutant-General's office will show, were not
Missouri troops.  In such cases it is clear that the vote
oulght not to be received. The people wanted and had
a right to know the truth, but, in the jubilant language
of the Demnocrat, they were "disastrously repulsed."
Why this secrecy?
A  number of gentlemen  of this city, at different
times, in the name of twelve thlousand voters, went to
Jefferson City, as freemen, to ask of our public servants the right, or as suppliants, to beg of odr royal
masters the favor, of ascertaining whether or not the
people were to be made the victims of fraud. A more
legitimate errand in a free country can not be imagined.
Yet these agents of the people, sent simnly to protect the
people's right against fraud, were sneered at as "smelling
committees," and were defiantly refused.  Our lordly
officials pompously asserted that they were able to
count the votes, as if their ability was the question at
issue. They still withheld the returns firom inspection.
When Mr. Alexander first applied to Mr. Rodman to
see the returns, the latter was understood to refuse permission then or afterward. Mir. A. so telegraphed to
3Ir. Able, of this city, and the telegram was published.
251
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MARTYRDOMN IN MISSOURI.
Afterward Ar. todman stated that his denial was not
intended to apply to the future, and Mr. A. promptly
made the correctionl by a card in this journal. But
since tlhen we are informed SIr. Rodman  has persisted
nr reftisinig an inspection of the returns (unless certain
partioilar returns) at any timne hereafter.  Again we ask,
and the people ask, why this'secrecy?
Oii the first instant, when  the returns were to be
counted, we are informed that all persons except the
officials wtere excluded fiom the Secietary's office. What
honest reason there can be for public officers doing in
a public office a public official act which concerns the
whole peo(-l)le with the secrecy of felons we are not informed.   Will our royal masters explain?  If there is
nothiiug unfair, what.reason can there be for secrecy?
It will not answer, ais Governor Fletcher and  Mr.
Rodman vaiinly suppose, to plant themselves on their
official di(gnity and assert their own infallibility.  The
people have already had enough and more than enough,
of officlal pretension and official arbitrariness, and are
sick of it.  They want the facts.  They want light  They
want the veil of secrecy torn off so that they may see,
as they have a right to see, their own affairs. No reason, eompatitble with honesty, can exist for a refusal.
Thle peop)le demiand this of their servants.
The spirit of the controversy at the time can not be
reached and measured now, and one other extract from
the same paper must suffice to index the public interest
and excitement over the proclamation which foisted the
new Constitution upon the people of the State against
their will. It is, like the others, a double-leaded leader,
and appeared in the Missouri Republican of July 7th,
1865:
THE SECRECY QUESTION.
Our Fourth street contemporary of yesterday morning 
attempts to justify the secrecy of: Secretary Rodman
and Gov. Fletcher in respect to the election returns.
The points it mnakes are characteristic. It intimates
252 
AIARTYRDO-I IN MISSOURI.
that the "smelling committees," as it politely calls those
gentlemen who wvent to Jefferson City to try to protect
the people against fiaud, might have "manipulated the
retlurns," and this notwithstanding the filct that no
inspection was asked for except in presence of Air. Rodman himself.  The Democrat miscalculates the gullibility
of the people; it must try again.
But how does this reason justify Mi. Rodman  and
Gov. Fletcher in refusing the request of thle " smelling
committee" to be present on the 1st inst. while the
votes were counted?  D)id Mir. Rodman and  Goveriuor
Fletcher apprehend danger of manipulation then? Why
was it that AMr. Rodman, whien about to proceed to count
the votes, actually ordered persons to leave the office?
Will the Democrat give us a reason for this secrecy?
Will Secretary Rodman or Governor Fletcher give us a
reason?
But will these touchy gentlemen who workl in darkness bear with our impertinence in asking another
question?  What was the reason for Mir. Rodman and
Gov. Fletcher refusing to allow the "smelling committee" to inspect the returns after the vote was counted?
What harm could be done then?  Pardon us, gentlemen,
if our questions are impolite. We should be sorry to
offend you, for you "are all, all, honorable men."  But
your party organ has assumed to give reasons for your
secrecy, and we are only asking for reasons.
The Democrat is welcome to whatever advantage it
may gain from the schoolboy manners of calling naines.
But we will'venture to suggest that those gentlemen
whom it styles the "smelling committee" represented
in that matter twelve thousand voters of St. Louis
county, and it may be a little unwise to answer twelve
thousand voters with a sneer.
We again call on ir. Rodman and Gov. Fletcher and
the Democrat for reasons to justify their secrecy.  Were
some of the returns nriot in proper shape to be crossexamined?  Why the secrecy?
We wvill make a friendly suggestion that will help
them entirely out of the difficulty. Now that the contest is decided, let these returns be properly amended,
and then boldly challenge inspection.
253
.1 
MIARTYRDOMI  IN  MISSOURI.
In a republican form of government the will of the
majority, as expressed at the ballot-box, is the supreme
law, but in the adoption of the new Constitution the
voice of the majority could not be heard through the
ballot-box. Miinorities in power are always oppressive
and proscriptive; and when the factious minority is
raised to places of power by the throes of civil war, the
republican features of the Government are destroyed,
and the rulers become tyrants without the investiture
of royalty.  The servants of the people assume the
authority and exercise the lordship of masters.  The
leaders of ruling minorities are not often statesmen in
any true sense of the term, but narrow-minded, selfish,
fanatical bigots, who never see beyond the party lines,
and judge of every measure by its effect upon the party
interests.  They would sacrifice the general good of the
country for the general good of the party, and strike
down the liberties of the people for the success of the
party.  Every man and every institution and every
principle of freedom in the country that stands in the
way of the party must be sacrificed.  The power of the
party must be perpetuated, evei-i shouild it cost the people their liberties.  With this view and for this end
the new Constitution was fran(,,d; and with this view
and for this end it was put thiro,g-h the fitrce of a popular election, while the majority of the people to be
governed by it were disfranchised by the provisions of
the very instrument thus submitted to the popular
choice.
Upon this subject the lon. Charles Gibson, Assistant Attorney-General of the United States under Aittorney-General Bates, uttered the following language in
254 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
an able review of the provisions of the new Constitution, dated July 4, 1865:
"As to the Election.
"The late Convention was elected by a popular suffirage, embracing all those who were willing to take the
oath prescribed by the old Convention. It, however,
has attempted, by an ordinance not submitted to the
people, to restrict this suffrage in the recent election,
and  it is by this means that the new Constitution is
claimed to have been ratified by the people. As a matter of fact it will be admitted that but a little over
one-fourth of the xvwlite adult males of the State have
voted for it."
Mr. Gibson might have added just as truthfully that
not one half of the white adult males of the State voted
on the question at all.
From the foregoing, facts it can not be claimed by
any fair inferences that the new Constitution was either
authorized or ratified by the people of the State; and
the truth of history can never obtain firom the righteous
judgment of posterity the verdict of guilty against the
people of the State of Missouri for the great political,
civil and religious crimes perpetrated by that so-called
new Constitution.  A party faiction, with a few corrupt
leaders, are sole heirs to all the credit and the infamy,
and their names will go down to posterity in historic
association with the history they have made.   It is due
to the enlightened, liberal, Christian people of Missouri
that they should be vindicated from all responsibility
in this the most oppressive, proscriptive and dastardly
outrage upon the civil and religious liberties of the people ever perpetrated in this firee country.
255 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
Indeed, the same party tyrants, their instigators and
tools, are responsible for all the proscription, persecution, imprisonment and murder of ministers of the Gospel during the war and under the "test oath" of the
new Constitution.
Posterity will be deprived of the full history of these
strange times, and the lessons to be learned from the
history, if the names of the Radical party and the file
leaders thereof are not placed in responsible association
with the records of Martyrdom in Missouri.
256 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
CHIIAPTER XII.
THE NEW CONSTITUTION VS. RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.
Supreme Authority in the State-Civil Law and Religious Liberty   Religious Libe,rty Defined and Analyzed-Has  the State the
Right to Interfere with Questions of Religious Faith and Wor   ship-The Constitution of the United States-Laws of Congress
and Supreme Judicial Decisions on Religious Liberty-All Re   ligious Liberty Inheres in the Rights of Conscience-How far the
State Constitution Invades the Kingdom of Christ-A Logical
Analysis of the  -Test Oath" in its Application to Ministers of
the Gospel, as suzch-It is both a Qualification and a Penalty   As a Qualification it Assails the   Crown Rights of Jesus" and
Infringes the Rights of Conscience-As a Penalty it is an ex
,ost facto Law, and Assails the Constitution and Legal Guaran   tees of all Civil Liberty-A  Legal Argument-Logical  Con   clusions.
THE NEW CONSTITUTION.
While it is logically and historically true that the
new Constitution was not accepted and ratified by a
majority of the people who were to be governed by it,
and they are, therefore, not to be held morally or historically responsible for the great wrongs and crimes
committed by it, yet it is equally true that by official
decision and proclamation it became'the supreme law
of the State. Whether the people willed it or not it
was made, de facto and de jure, the Constitution of the
State of Missouri.   The Constitution is the supreme
law of the State, subject only to the supremacy of the
Constitution of the United States, and, as such, every
civil officer in the State is sworn to protect, uphold and
17
257 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
defend it. The Constitution is supposed to define the
rights, duties, privileges and franchises of each and
every citizen of the State, and to contain a system of
fundamental laws for the government of the people.
The several departments of the government, with all
the powers and functions of each, are derived from the
Constitution; and in every proper sense the Constitution is the supreme court of decision and final settlement for all questions of citizenship in law or equity.
To its supreme authority the Governor, the Supreme
Court, the General Assembly, the inferior courts, the
municipal councils, corporations and associations, together with each and every citizen of the Slate, owes
supreme allegiance and fidelity.
When this new Constitution became the fundamental
law of the State, whether fairly or unfairly, every citizen of the State was bound by its provisions, and owed
his first and highest fealty to its authority. When this
instrument, however unjust its requirements and oppressive its conditions, was officially sanctioned and
recognized as the fundamental law of the State, it defined the duties, rights and privileges of each citizen of
the State, defined his relations and exacted his allegiance with as much authority as if it had been ratified
by the unanimous voice of all the people of the State at
the ballot box. So Christian man thought of placing
himself in direct hostility to the Constitution, or rebelling against its authority, because it was not accepted
by the majority of the people; but every good citizen
was legally and morally bound to render true and faithful allegiance to it so long as it was the supreme liaw
258 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
of the State. Upon this subject neither the Church nor
the ministry made issue with the new Constitution.
Whatever may be said of the several restrictions put
upon the rights of suffrage or other civil franchises by
the new Constitution, and however oppressive and
tyrannical its provisions may be upon the citizen, with
these things this work has properly nothing to do,
unless the same provisions reach and affect the distinctive and divine prerogatives of the Church of Jesus
Christ, and the questions of religious liberty which
inhere in the Church as a "kingdom not of this world."
This, then, prepares the way for the better understanding of the provisions and requirements of the new
Constitution, as they are related to, reach and affect
the principles of religious liberty involved in the sacred
rights of conscience in matters of religious faith and
worship.
It would, perhaps, be well if, from this point, the
historian could be absorbed in the philosopher, and the
events yet to be recorded could be used only as they
are related to and bear upon the vital principles of
religious liberty, which the supreme law o'f the State
raised with the ministry and Church of Jesus Christ.
For two hundred years the relations of Church and
State had not been precipitated into direct conflict upon
the question of supreme authority over the consciences
of men, and the principles of difference had been so
well settled in the public mind, at least in this country
and in Great Britain, that the sharp lines of distinction
were measurably obliterated, and each individual Christian citizen was supposed to be his own master and
judge in all matters of faith and worship.  The ques
259 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
tions which defined the rights of conscience, and the
supreme authority of Christ as the only rightful and
royal head of the Church, for which the Waldenses,
Albigenses, Huguenots, Reformers, Remonstrants, Non Conformists, Anabaptists, Confessors, Scotch Presbyte rians, Wesleyan Methodists, and all other Martyrs for
the Word of God and the testimony which they held,
had been proscribed and persecuted, even to prison and
to death, had almost passed from the minds of men and
been left to the history of the wonderful and heroic long
ago. But the scenes of the war, and the proscriptive
uses made of test oaths, revived the history of martyrdom, reanimated the spirit of the martyrs and reinvested
with new life the principles of religious liberty, just as
the history of persecution began to repeat itself; so
that by the time the new Constitution invested the
State with supreme authority in the Church, and made
that political Antichrist strike down all the religious
liberties of the people, and, passing by the civil relations and duties of man as a citizen, lay profane hands
upon the very Ark of God, the distinctions between
Church and State were all reset in the public mind, the
rights of conscience defined, the divine authority of the
Church and ministry re-examined, and the religious conscience was, to some extent, prepared to resist the dangerous encroachments of the secular power and defend
the sacred principles which were so boldly assailed.
It is true that many ministers of the Gospel, for fear
of being accused of complicity with the rebellion, or for
fear of losing caste and favor with men, and possibly
for other sinister reasons, sacrificed every distinctive
feature of religious liberty involved, by taking the oath
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MARTYRDOMN IN MISSOURI.
at once, and, with indecent haste, transferred the
"crown rights of Jesus" to this political Cesar which
had been enthroned in 3Missouri. Some for one reason
and some for another bowed the knee to Baal, and,
without waiting for the sound of all kinds of musical
instruments, hastened to bow to the image which the
5Iissouri Nebuchadnezzer had set up. But the ministers of the State in most of the Churches declined to
take the oath and prepared for the storm of persecution
which was soon to burstupon them.
The affirmation has frequently been made that the
requirements of this new Constitution infringed the
rights of conscience, restricted the privileges of worship,
assaulted the whole framework of civil and religious
liberty constructed by our fathers, and impinged upon
the exclusive territory and the divinely appointed prerogatives of the visible kingdom of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
To confirm this position two inquiries are necessary
to be made: First, What is religious liberty? and,
second, in what respects and how far the new Constitution is in conflict with the principles and the exercise of
religious liberty.
1. Religious liberty is defined by ]1r. Webster to be
"the free right of adopting and enjoying opinions on
religious subjects, and of worshiping the Supreme
Being according to the dictates of conscience, without
external control."  Every man has the right to embrace
and hold to such articles of religious faith as he may
believe the Hioly Scriptures to teach, and to have the
free enjoyment of them in any way that does not dis
261 
IMARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
turb the rights of others, without external restraint or
control.
The State has no authority to prescribe articles of
religious faith, to define dogmas and creeds, to require
ordinances and forms of worship, to regulate and define
works of righteousness, to appoint officers in the
Church, devise ways and means for the spread of the
Gospel and the enlightenment and salvation of men
through the instrumentality of the Church. It is obvious that all such matters belong exclusively to the
Church, as such, and must be referred to "every man's
conscience in the sight of God." The right of private
interpretation and jutdgment upon all matters of divine
revelation, whether of faith or duty, can not be infringed
without a destruction of man's individual accountability
to God. It is a matter of universal belief that the
Church is the visible kingdom of Christ on earth, and
that Hiis "kingdom is not of this world "-that is, it
does not derive its authority, its laws, ils functions, or
its prerogatives from worldly potentates or powers,
from State conventions, Legisl.tures or courts, from
constitutions, statutes or civil magistrates. The Church
has the right to determine its own articles of faith,
forms of worship and modes of ordinances; to select
its own officers, determine their qualifications and
duties, regulate its own affairs in its own way, and
devise its own methods of propagating the Gospel and
"spreading Scriptural holiness over the land." Every
man has the right to worship God according to the
dictates of his own conscience, and in connection with
such ecclesiastical organization as may be in accordance
262 
MARTYRDOM  IN MISSOURI.
with his faith, his tastes and his will, without compulsion or "external control."
Both the national and the State Constitutions recognize these inalienable religious rights, and protect every
citizen in their free exercise. The Constitution of the
United States declares that "Congress shall make no
law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."  The "Bill of Rights"
in this new Constitution of Missouri declares "that all
men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship
Almighty God according to the dictates of their own
consciences, and that no human authority can control or
interfere with the rights of conscience."  Note this
language. The rights of conscience in matters of faith
and worship are "natural and indefeasible;" that is,
they are derived from our natural condition and relations to Almighty God, and are "indefeasible "-can
not be made void. These natural and indefeasible rights
"no human authority can control," and with their "free
exercise" no human authority "can interfere."
In accordance with this definition, these principles
and these constitutional guarantees of religious liberty
which underlie the whole structure of the Government,
and are uniform in all the States and Territories of the
National Union, Congress and State Legislatures have
enacted necessary laws, and the civil courts, when
necessary, have rendered judicial decisions. All the
religious liberties of man as a religious being, "pos sessed of a Godward consciousness," over which so
much blood has been shed, and in the defense of which
we have the whole history of martyrdom, inhere in,
263 
MARTYRDOM. IN MISSOURI.
and are derived from, the rights of conscience in reli gious faith and worship. This, then, is religious liberty.
2. In what respects, and how far, does the new Constitution interfere with and undertake to control the
free exercise of religious liberty?   What vital issue
between the Church and the State does the requirements of this instrument raise? What is the real issue?
Religious questions only are vital, and the real questions forced upon the religious conscience by the authors
of the new Constitution were fraught with the life or
death of all religious liberty in this country.
The rights of conscience in matters of religious faith
and worship were reached and affected by the following
provisions of the new Constitution:
Sec. 9. No person shall assume the duties of any
State, county, city, town or other office," etc., etc., "nor
shall any person, after the expiration of sixty days
after this Constitution takes effect, be permitted to
practice as an attorney or counselor at law; nor, after
that time, shall any person be competent as a bishop, priest,
deacon, minister, or other clergyman of any religious persuasion, sect or denomination, to teach, or preach, or solemnize marriages, unless such person shall have first taken,
subscribed and filed said oath.
Sec. 10. Whoever shall, after the times limited in the
seventh and ninth sections of this article, hold or exercise any of the offices, positions, trusts, professions or
functions therein specified, without having taken, subscribed and filed said oath of loyalty, shall, on conviction thereof, be punished by fine, not less than five
hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jal
not less than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment; and whoever shall take said oath falsely,
by swearing or by affirmation, shall, on conviction
thereof, be adjudged guilty of perjury, and be punished
by imprisonment in the penitentiary not less than two
years.
264 
MARTYRDOll IN MIISSOURI.
It is this provision of the Constitution that assailed
the rights of conscience and assumed supreme authority
in the Church of God. The minister of the Gospel is
an officer of the Church, and not an officer of the State.
The ministry is an institution of religion, and not of
civil government. The authority to preach the Gospel
is a divine and not a human authority, and the qualifications for the office and work of the ministry are to be
determined by the Church and not the State.   The
Church of Christ only has the right to say who shall
"be competent as a bishop, priest, deacon, minister, or
other clergymen of any religious persuasion, sect or
denomination, to teach or preach," and to prescribe the
qualifications of such "bishop, priest, deacon, minister
or other clergyman;" and with this right neither the
Congress of the United States nor the Conventions or
Legislatures of any one of the United States ever
sought to interfere until the Constitutional Convention
of Missouri, in the year of grace one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-five, in St. Louis, enacted and ordained the new and revised Constitution for the government of the people of Missouri.
It is an article of faith in the Church that men are
divinely called to the office and work of the ministry;
and with those who do not believe in the "divine call,"
the office and functions of the ministry are divinely
authorized and sanctioned. It is a high and holy calling, not derived from the State, and not to be proscribed or infringed by the authority of the State.
The following logical deductions are undeniable:
1. This requirement of the Constitution is not conditioned upon loyalty or disloyalty, otherwise a discrim
265 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
ination would have been made in favor of loyal ministers. But there is no such discrimination.
2. This requirement of the Constitution in its application to ministers, as such, is not designed and intended as a qualification for the exercise of the elective
franchise.  It was not in the minds of its framers at the
time merely to qualify bishops, priests, deacons, ministers, or other clergymen" to vote, or to perform any
other duty as citizens of the State. But it was the
design and the intention of the Convention to impose
this restriction, qualification or penalty upon ministers
as a pre-requisite to the exercise of their functions as
ministers of the Gospel "to teach and preach" in the
name of Jesus.
Had it been designed to qualify them for the exercise
of any of the franchises of citizenship, they would not
have been so specifically designated as ministers and by
the names which describe their several offices and functions according to ecclesiastical terminology.   But all
doubt is removed by the express language of the instrument itself.  They shall not be competent "to teach or
preach," etc.
As a historical fact, in the construction      of th e law, a
minister who had taken the oath as a citizen to qualify
him to vote, hold office, act as director, trustee, curator or officer of any corporation or institution, was
afterward considered "competent  as a bishop, priest,
&c., to teach and preach " without taking the same oath
a second time.
3. This provision of the Constitution was intended
either as a qualification for the office and work of
the ministry, or a punishment for the exercise of the
266 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
office and functions of the ministry-a qualification or
penalty.
1. If it was intended as a necessary qualification for
the ministry, without which no person, whether loyal
or disloyal, union or disunion, republican or democrat,
"shall be competent as a bishop, priest, deacon, minister," &c., "to teach or preach," then the State assumed
the right to determine, prescribe and confer the necessary qualifications for the office and functions of the ministry. No matter what be the faith of the Church on
the divine call to, and the divine authority for, the ministry, the State assumed the right to say what was
necessary to qualify and authorize a man to enter into
and perform the functions of the holy calling.
This assumption of authority by the State was
unknown to the history and genius of our government,
and was in conflict with the universal belief of the people-a belief founded in the express teachings of revelation, and fostered by the spirit, the experience and the
history of our free institutions.
If the State is the head of the Church, then the
State may call and qualify men for the ministry; and if
the Constitution of the State is, also, the supreme law
of the Church, then the Constitution may determine and
prescribe qualifications for the ministry. But if the
Lord Jesus Christ be the rightful and royal head of the
Church, and his Gospel be the supreme law of the
Church, then iHe alone has the divine right to call and
set apart men to the office and work of the ministry, and
the Gospel alone can prescribe the requisite qualifications for the ministry.  Who will deny that Christ is
the head of the Church? And what human power has
267 
MARTYRDOM  IN MISSOURI.
the impious presumption to invade His kingdom,
usurp His authority, lay sacrilegious hands upon His
crown rights, and, with a State Constitution flaunted in
his face, proclaim the right of the State to challenge
his ambassadors and put them under civil disability;
nay, more, to assert the right to say to his messengers
of life and salvation, "you are commissioned by your
Head and Lord to' Go, preach the Gospel to every
creature,' but vou must first come and comply with the
conditions prescribed by the State and obtain from
some blasphemous, drunken, Christ-despising, heavendefying civil magistrate the authority to'teach and
preach' in the name of Jesus."
To the superficial thinker this may seem to be putting the case too strongly, but it is only the inevitable
logic of facts.
The State can not confer the right to preach the Gospel; therefore it can not take it away. Christ is the
Head of the Church-" God over all, and blessed for
evermore." All power is given unto Him in heaven
and in earth.  "He must reign till He hath put all
enemies under His feet." He called and commissioned
"the twelve," and when about to leave the world and
ascend to His Father and our Father, to His God and
our God, at that last thrilling interview with his disciples, it is recorded: "And Jesus came and spake unto
them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven
and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son,  and  of the  Holy  Ghost;  teaching them  to
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded, and
lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the
268 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
world. Amen." That Christ is the Head-of the Church,
from whom the whole body derives its life and authority, is so universally accepted that an argument to
support a belief so generally received would be superfluous. But that every man may be furnished with the
scriptural foundation for his faith, especially the article
of faith that has been so boldly assailed, the reader is
referred for further proof and for apostolic authority
to Eph. iv. 5-16; II Cor. iii. 6; II. Cor. v. 20; Acts xx.
24; Colossians iv. 17; I. Tim. i. 12, and many otherparallel passages.
It is not surprising that the Christian ministry in
3Iissouri should resist with firmness, decision and humble courage such dangerous encroachments of the
secular power upon the highest and holiest prerogatives
of Christ. It would have been not only surprising, but
humiliating had they not been found "resisting even
unto blood, striving against sin," and especially so great
a sin as that.
This, of itself, would be sufficient reason for declining
to "take, subscribe and file the said oath."
2. If this provision of the Constitution is in the
nature of a penalty, then the State assumes the right to
punish a man for preaching the Gospel of Christ. It
will scarcely be claimed that it is a penalty for disloyalty, treason or rebellion, for there is no discrimination
made between the loyal and the disloyal. Nor is it a
penalty for any other crime, for no offense is specified.
It is a positive inhibition, conditioned upon the refusal
of the clergyman to do a certain thing, and that certain
thing is not in itself, and can not be of itself, a judicial
evidence of innocence or of guilt.
269
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MARTYRDOM  IN MISSOURI.
It is claimed that the refusal of the minister to take
the oath is prima facie evidence of disloyalty, and the
forfeiture of his ministerial functions is conditioned
upon his disloyalty. This is a new thing under the sun
-that a civil tribunal is established in every man's
conscience, and that a man must be his own judge,jury,
counsel and witness, and his own  decision, without
inquiring into the grounds for it, must have, in the eyes
of the fundamental law of the State, all the effect of a
judicial verdict. But if he declines to take the oath,
and yet continues "to teach and preach," he is indicted,
tried, convicted and punished, not for disloyalty or
treason, but "for preaching the Gospel without having
first taken, subscribed and filed the said oath."  This
will be seen to be the very language of, the indictments.
Nor can it be claimed that preaching the Gospel is a
civil right, to be conferred or inhibited by the State, in
the same sense that voting is a civil right. In Blair vs.
Ridgely, the Supreme Court of Missouri held that the
right to vote is not an inherent right; and a law which
interposes an obstacle to the exercise of the elective
franchise deprives the citizen of nothing which he held
before, and is, consequently, not a punishment. To say
nothing of the palpable fallacy even of this position,
the same thing can not be affirmed of the minister.
Whether the right to preach the Gospel be an inherent
one or not, one thing is clear: the right never did inhere
in the State, and its inhibition by the State is a bold
assumption. According to the decision of the Supreme
Court of the United States in the Cummings and Garland cases, the same legal provisions, restrictions and
conditions can not apply to the voter and the preacher.
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Again, the argument that the suspension of ministerial
functions results from the minister's failure to perform
the innocent condition required by the new Constitution, and is, therefore, not a punishment for any offense,
will convince the judgment of no one, and is unworthy
of notice except as an exhibition of hard-pressed ingenuity in the hunt after excuses for a logical contradiction
and a legal absurdity.   Had the  Constitution  not
required the oath of ministers to qualify them "to teach
or preach," would the right to preach have been forfeited by the refusal to take the oath for any other
purpose? Assuredly not.  Then the "test oath" which
the Constitution requires of ministers is designed to
reach and affect the right, not to vote nor hold office,
nor even to sit in Church courts, but to teach and preach
the Gospel; and the refusal to take, subscribe and file
said oath is adjudged to be an offense against the
supreme law of the State, punishable by fine and imprisonment, the same as a common felony.
But if this requirement of the Constitution is in the
nature of a penalty, then it is an ex post facto law, and
is, therefore, in conflict with the Constitution of the
United States, the decisions of the United States Supreme Court, the "Bill of Rights" in this same Constitution of Missouri, the genius of wise legislation, and
is subversive of the whole system of equity jurisprudence. Nothing has been more sacredly and positively
inhibited than the enactment of ex post facto laws.
The Constitution of the United States (Art. I, sec. 10)
declares that "no State shall pass any bill of attainder,
ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of
contracts."
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As before seen, the Convention of 1787 incorporated
into the Federal Constitution the very same prohibition. In Ogden vs. Saunders, 12 Wheaton, U.S. S. C.
Reports, D. 266, Judge Washington, delivering the
opinion  of the Supreme Court, says:  "The States
are forbidden to pass any bill of attainder, or ex post
facto law, by which a man shall be punished, criminally or penally, by loss of life, liberty, property
or reputation, for an act which, at the time of its commission, violated no existing law of the land. Why did
the authors of the Constitution turn their attention to
this subject, which at the first flush would appear to be
peculiarly fit to be left to the discretion of those who
have the police and good government of the State under
their management and control? The only answer to
be given is, because laws of this character are oppressive, unjust and tyrannical, and, as such, are condemned
by the universal sentence of civilized men."
But what is an ex post facto law?  It is a law which
makes that a punishable offense which was not such
before the law was enacted, or which changes the character of the penalty for an offense after it is committed.
"An ex post facto law is a law which makes an act
punishable as a crime or offense which was not so when
eommitted, or which enhances the punishment or penalty of an offense after it has been committed.-(10
Baeon's Abridgment, 229.) For instance, prior to the
Convention of 1865, "to teach and preach" in the State
of MIissoutri was not a felony punishable by fine and
imprisonment.  It was not even an indictable offense,
and grand juries were never instructed by civil eotrts
to inquire whether ministers of the Gospel were teach
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ing or preaching in the name of Christ without having
first taken the "test oath," and, if such was the case, to
deal with them according to law-that is, find and present a "true bill of indictment" against them, just as
they would against horse thieves, burglars and all
other felons. But after the expiration of thirty days
from the day the new Constitution took effect such was
the case-grand juries were so instructed; and ministers
who had been preaching for twenty, thirty, forty, and
even fifty years without molestation, were dragged before the civil courts, thrust into prison or required to
give bond to keep out of jail (for fortunately it was a
bailable offense), tried, convicted, punished, and some
of them murdered, for that which was not an offense before.
The logical conclusions drawn from this argument
are, that the application of the provisions of the new
Constitution to ministers of the Gospel, as such, was
both in the nature of a qualification and a penalty.
I. As a qualification.
1. It was in the nature of a qualification not to vote
or to perform any other mere civil function, but to
preach the Gospel-"to teach and preach."
2. It made the State the head of the Church, and the
Constitution of the State the supreme law of the Church.
3. It infringed the rights of conscience in all matters
of religious faith and worship, and vested in the State
the supreme control of the conscience and the supreme
authority in the Church of Jesus Christ.
II. As a penalty.
1. It was in the nature of a penalty for preaching
18
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the Gospel, and not for treason, rebellion or any other
civil offense.
2. It was an ex post facto law, and a bill of pains and
penalties, and was, therefore, against the Constitution
of the United States, the decisions of the Supreme
Court of the United States, the Constitution of this
State, and the genius of American laws, and, therefore,
subversive of the very foundation of the established
system of equity jurisprudence.
For these reasons, amongst others, the ministers of
the Gospel refused to take the oath prescribed by this
new Constitution, and determined quietly, but firmly,
to suffer the pains and penalties of such refusal rather
than to be found subordinating the divine rights of the
Church to arbitrary human authority, and thus stultifying the religious conscience, surrendering all the distinctive principles of religious liberty, falsifying the history
of the martyrs, disowning the true and rightful Head
of the Church, and permitting the kingdom of Christ to
be debauched by the corruptions of men.
Had the Constitution touched ministers of the Gospel
only as citizens, and prescribed any reasonable qualifications for the discharge of civil dutics, a cheerful and
ready obedience would have been rendered, and the
State and country would have been spared the history
of Martyrdom in Missouri.
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CHAPTER XIII
REV. J. H. BROOKES, D. D.) ON THE NEW CONSTITUTION.
Policy of the Author-Full Bearing of the Subject-True Position of
MIinisters —No Resistance to Civil Authoritv -No "Treason" Nature of a Christian Man's Oath-" Confession of Faith " —The
Oath Analyzed-Self-Contradictory and Absurd-An ex post facto
Law-In Confiict with the Scriptures and the Constitution of the
Church -The Difference between the Rosecranz Oath and this
"lest Oath"-The Persecutions in Scotland under Charles II —
State vs. Church-Scenes of Martvrdom and Sayings of Martyrs Judicious and Timely Reflections.'
REV. DR. BROOKES, OF ST. LOUIS, ON THE NEW CONSTITUTION.
The history of the new Constitution thus far given,
with the analysis of the "test oath," and its bearings
upon the great questions of religious liberty, as presented in the foregoing chapters, differs designedly from
the line of argumentation usually given in the public
prints and made in the civil courts, that the public may
the better appreciate the full measure of religious rights
assailed and wrongs perpetrated in the name of liberty,
and that the responsible authors may be identified in
the public mind with the history they have made.
Another design will be duly appreciated-that of leaving, for the most part, the practical bearings of the
"test oath" upon ministers of the Gospel to a more
gifted pen. In doing this, the reader is furnished with
a critical analysis of the test oath, and many cogent reasons why ministers could not take it, together with an
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interesting view of the persecutions of the Scotch Presbyterians for like causes under Charles II, by one of
the most distinguished ministers of the State.
The following address to the ministers and members
of the Presbyterian Church in the State of Missouri
was written and published in pamphlet form by the
Rev. Dr. Brookes, of St. Louis, in 1865, and scattered all
through the State. It possesses the peculiar merit of
being written at the time the Constitution was adopted,
and prior to the expiration of the "sixty days" allotted
to ministers and others to "take the said oath," and its
effect upon the Missouri ministry at the time can not be
over-estimated.
After reciting sections 3, 6, 9 and 14 of the second
Article of the Constitution, and submitting a few appropriate introductory reflections, the author says:
"If, therefore, it can be shown that we can not take
this oath without disobedience to God, and without disowning His supreme authority, let it not be said that
we have set an example of lawlesness and of rebellion
against the constituted authorities of the State. We
do not propose to resist this ordinance by violence, but
either to retire quietly from our several fields of pastoral labor or to endure meekly the threatened penalty.
In the language of Dr. Chalmers:
"'There are materials here, too, for upholding the
contest between principle and power; and enough of
the blood and spirit of the olden time for sustaining
that holy warfare, where, as in former days, the inflictions of the one party were met with a patience and
determination invincible in the sufferings of the other.'
a.."No. resistance under the persecution about to burst
*.   I   e..
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upon our heads will be made by us; and no resistance
will be made by our friends if they at all heed our earnest beseechings, save to bear with humble submission
to the righteous will of God the sufferings to which we
will be exposed for maintaining a high and sacred principle. Hence, any charge of' disloyalty' and of' treason' brought against us by wicked men is proved
beforehand to be without a shadow of foundation, and,
if alleged, it will spring from personal animosity or
from partisan purposes.
"Had the Convention that framed the new Constitution touched us only as citizens, or prescribed any reasonable oath to qualify us for the discharge of our civil
duties, you  would not now be troubled with this
address. As citizens we have already taken the oath
of allegiance-some of us have taken it again and again
-and, consequently, so far as allegiance to Government
can ever be attested by oath, it has been exhibited long
previous to the assembling of the Convention.
"There are two ways in which the oath now under
consideration must be viewed by conscientious and
Christian men. The first is, its phraseology, to which
we are required to swear an intelligent, cordial and unreserved assent; and the second is, the principle contained in it, which we are required to recognize and
indorse.
"1. Before examining, then, the phraseology of the
oath required of ministers by the framers of the new
Constitution, we ask you to reflect a moment upon the
solemn position which those are called to assume who
appeal to Almighty God, the searcher of all hearts, to
witness the truth of their solemn declarations. Oaths
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are administered so loosely and so frequently in these
days that the moral sense of the community seems
blunted as to the sacred obligations which they impose,
and multitudes regard them as meaningless forms, to be
respected in public and to be laughed at in private.
Says Hetherington, the great historian of the Church
of Scotland:
"'It has always been observed that where these solemni bonds have been made so common they cease to
bind; they are iron fetters to the good, but threads of
gossamer to the bad. A Government which multiplies
oaths of office proves itself to have little consciousness
of their awful sanction, manifests distrust of its subjects, and holds forth a snare to tempt ambitious and
self-interested men to the commission of perjury. So
was it with the Scottish Parliament. The numerous
oaths which they imposed shut out from places of public trust nearly all men of the highest worth, opposed
no obstacle to the admission of the wicked, and became
directly instrumental in the infliction of the most extensive and relentless persecution.'
"' If such are the results, as all will readily admit, of a
careless and constant enforcement of oaths, it is evident
that no Christian, and particularly no Christian minis
ter, is justified in binding his conscience in the sight of
God without the most thoughtful consideration of the
language which he is required to adopt as an honest
expression of his views, feelings or purposes concerning the m-atter before him.
"In our Confession of Faith (chapter XXII) we find
the following directions, which we believe to be in
accordance with the will and Word of God:
"'Whosoever taketh an oath ought duly to consider
the weightiness of so solemn all act, and therein to
avouch nothing but what he is fully persuaded is the
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truth. Neither may any man bind himself by an oath
to any thing but what is good and just, and what he
believeth so to be, and what he is able and resolved to
perform.... An oath is to be taken in the plain
and common sense of the words, without equivocation or
mental reservation.  It can not oblige us to sin; but in
any thing not sinful, being taken, it binds to performance, although to a man's own hurt; nor is it to be
violated, although made to heretics or infidels.'
"Ini the light of these sound and Scriptural rules, we
must decline to take the oath required by the late Convention:
"1. Because of its ambiguity. For example: Accordinrg to a distinguished jurist of St. Louis, there are
set forth in the third section,above quoted,eighty seven
grounds of disfranchisement, including thoughts, emotions, sympathies and words, as well as deeds. But in
the oath itself we are commanded to swear that we
' have never, directly or indirectly, done any of the acts
in said section specified.' Now, what is the plain Christian to do wheni called upon to take this oath? Is he to
content himself with swearing that he has never,
directly or indirectly, done any of the acts, or is he
bound  to include  all things thought  and' felt  and
spoken in said section specified? If in his perplexity
he goes to legal gentlemen, as some of us have gone,
he will find no relief.  After consulting with lawyers
eminently  qualified to give a trustworthy Opinion,
we have come to the conclusion that it is impossible
to determine whether the firamers of the Constitution
really meant mere'acts,' that is, something done the expression of thoughts, desires and purposes in
deeds, or whether they meant to embrace all the
provisions of the third section touching sympathies
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
and words. Whatever may be the ruling of civil
courts, we believe the High Court of Heaven requires
Christians to take an oath in the manifest intent of its
framers; and while we presume that the word' acts' in
the oath under consideration was intended by its authors
to sweep over the entire third section in all its amazing
length, we have no means of knowing precisely what
we are ordered to swear without inquiring of every
member of the Convention who voted for the ordinance.
"Again, it is provided that no person shall be deemed
a qualified voter'who has ever given aid, comfort,
countenance or support to persons engaged in any such
hostility; or has ever, in any manner, adhered to the
enemies, foreign or domestic, of the United States,
either by contributing to them, or by unlawfully send ing within their lines money, goods, letters or information.' If, according to the directions of our Confession,
'an oath is to be taken in the plain and common sense
of the words,' then it seems to us that the language just
quoted refers to those who, without any purpose or
desire to aid the rebellion, have furnished personal relief
to friends taking part in the rebellion, and suffering in
consequence of it. The provision does not disfranchise
only those who have given'aid, comfort, countenance
or support' to persons because they were engaged in any
such hostility, but those who have given comfort on any
ground, as we understand it, to any person so engaged.
It does not merely disfranchise those who have adhered
to the cause of the enemies, but who have'ever, in any
manner, adhered to the enemies' themselves. Now,
some of us have had fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters,
and very dear kindred, who lived in the seceded or
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
rebellious States; and while we fully and freely recognized our religious obligation to'be subject, not only
for wrath, but for conscience sake,' to the Government
of the United States and of the State of Missouri under
which we lived, we also felt a religious obligation pressing upon us with tremendous force to adhere to those
beloved ones, and to relieve their necessities as far as
possible; not because they were rebels, but because they
were suffering, and because they were very near our
hearts, and because God Almighty hath said,'if any
provide not for his own, and especially for those of his
own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than
an infidel.' We can not toiell what the framers of the
Constitution meant by these clauses, and, therefore, can
not intelligently take the oath until authoritatively
informed whether the construction we have put upon
their language is correct or not.
"Again, every person is disfranchised who'has ever,
by act or word, manifested his adherence to the cause
of such enemies, or his desire for their triumph over
the arms of the United States, or his sympathy with
those engaged in exciting or carrying on rebellion
against the United States.' By this last clause we are
forced to conclude that the framers of the Constitution
did not mean sympathy with the cause of those engaged
in exciting or carrying on rebellion against the United
States, for this idea is already embodied in the preceding language, which speaks of adherence to the cause
of such enemies and desire for their triumph, and they
certainly did not intend to express precisely the same
thought over and over without making the least progress.   Taking it for granted, then, that they under
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stood the meaning of the words which they employed
in a paper so important, and fraught, as they will discover, with the gravest consequences, we must presume
that they used the term "sympathy" only in its personal bearings and results. And if this conclusion-is
correct, as we certainly believe it to be, we decline to
take the prescribed oath:
"2. Because it requires us to swear that we have not
had these very feelings which the Lord Jesus Christ directly commands us to cherish.  Worcester gives as the
proper definition of the word sympathy,'fellow-feeling, mutual sensibility; the quality of being affected by
another's affection, compassion, commisseration, condolence, pity, tenderness.' If such is the sense in
which the Convention used the term, then we are free
to say that no Christian can, and no Christian will, take
such an oath; and if such is not the sense, then we are
thrown back into doubt and uncertainty, and must decline to take it because of its ambiguity. They either
intended to punish all'compassion, commisseration,
condolence, pity, tenderness,' for any person engaged
in the rebellion, or they did not so intend. If such
was their purpose, the direction of our confession, which
says,'Neither may any man bind himself by oath to
anything but what is good and just,' stands in the way
of our compliance with their requirement. If such was
not their purpose, then the direction of our confession,
which says'an oath is to be taken in the plain and
common sense of the words,' stands equally in the way,
for we confess we do not see how, in this connection,
we can put any other meaning upon the words, or how,
on the supposition that we are mistaken, we will be
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
able to divine their meaning.  On the one hand, no
Christian is justified in withholding his compassion and
pity even from a rebel; and on the other hand, no
Christian is justified in taking an oath whose intent he
can not understand.
"Again, there is a clause in the third section which
disfranchises every person who'has ever, except by
overpowering compulsion, submitted to the authority of
the so-called Confederate States of America.' While
it is probable that few, if any, of us in Missouri will be
personally affected by this clause, let us take heed lest,
by our oath, we indorse the view of Christian duty
which it maintains, and which we believe to be directly
contrary to the teachings of God's Word upon this subject. In a recent article, Rev. Dr. Hodge, who will be
regarded as high authority by the Presbyterian portion
of our persecutors, writes as follows.
"'We are bound to obey a de facto Government, although it be that of a usurper. The apostle, in enjoining submission to the powers that be, meant those in
actual possession of the authority of the State, whether
a Nero or arny one else. This obligation is, of course,
limited by the higher obligation to obey God rather
than man.  But it is not necessary that every man
should investigate the title of a ruler's authority before
believing in its validity. The present inhabitants of
France are bound to recognize Louis Napoleon as Emperor, whatever they may think of the revolution that
placed him  in power.  The fact,  therefore, that  a
man or minister supported this late wicked rebellion is
not to be assumed as a proof that he is unworthy of
Christian fellowship, even if that support was volun untary on his part.'
"3. We object to the prescribed oath, although this
is not an insurmountable difficulty in our way, because
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it makes cruel and invidious distinction between min iste-s.of the Gospel and nearly all other classes of
citizens.  -ien may devote themselves to the medical
profession, or to any mercantile pursuit, or to any of
the mechanical arts, without let or hindrance; but that
peculiar calling which belongs to a kingdom not of this
world is the very vocation which the framers of the
Constitution have stigmatized and held up to public
suspicion. Such an act is neither just nor generous, and
if it was the object of the Convention to drive away
certain ministers who, for any reason, were odious to
them, it would have been far better, and the world will
say it would have been far more manly, had they
invented some fairer mode of accomplishing'their end.
When the frenzy of the hour shall have subsided we
venture to predict that the voice of a stern and indignant rebuke will be lifted against those who, in their
eagerness to strike down  a body  of men rendered
defenseless by the very nature of their holy calling,
dared, with unhallowed hand, to touch the ark of God,
and with impious hand to seize the crown of Jesus
Christ.
"4. We object to the oath, although neither is this an
insuperable obstacle in our way, because it makes that
.criminal which has never before been pronounced
criminal by any competent authority. It is based on
the assumption that ministers of the Gospel may have
had certain sympathies and uttered certain words
during the continuance of the rebellion. But suppose
this is true. We utterly deny that these sympathies and
words constitute treason or a punishable offense aecofding to the ruling of any court in the land, and we
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utterly deny, according to the ruling of any court in
the land, that the Convention had a right to take knowledge of the sympathies of the heart. Such attempt on
their part partakes largely of the nature of blasphemy,
for it undertakes to wield a divine prerogative, and to
pronounce a severe judgment upon an assumed state of
the feelings. If these feelings, especially as expressed
in words, were not like the feelings of the gentlemen
who composed the Convention, then the precious ties
that bind together a pastor and his people are to be
sundered, or the cell of a county jail is to receive the
man of God, who is not conscious that he has violated
any law, human or divine.
"5. We decline to take the prescribed oath, because
it is self-contradictory and absurd.  For example, in section 9 it is provided that no person shall'be competent
as a bishop, priest, deacon, minister, elder, or other
clergyman of any religious persuasion, sect or denomination, to teach, or preach, or solemnize marriages,
unless such person shall have first taken, subscribed
and filed said oath.'
"Not one word is here said about burying the dead,
administering the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's
Supper, conversing with awakened sinners, and other
duties properly belonging to a ministerial vocation,
unless they are all included under the term'teach;'
and if they are so included the Convention ought to
have forbidden our speaking even in private or to our
own children. It looks as if this curious oath had been
framed with special reference to the convenience of
those churches whose principal religious services do not
consist in teaching or preaching. Such churches will
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continue to assemble for mutual comfort and encouragement and rapid growth from the ranks of those who
will be compelled to meet with them for want of any
other place to worship God; while other denominations,
so organized that they can not conduct their devotions
without teaching or preaching, will be scattered abroad
under the cruel persecution, and leave their houses of
worship deserted.  Such, in the nature of the case,
must be the working of the extraordinary scheme put
on foot by the late Convention to control the things of
God. The clergy of that Church which has already
gained the ascendancy in this country, owing to the
humiliating dissensions, political preaching and bloodthirsty harangues of the great body of the Protestant
ministry, will not, as we are glad to learn from high
authority, pay the slightest attention to the unrighteous
oath; and, mark our prediction! not one of them will
meet with the least interference in the discharge of his
religious duties.
"But, again, in the oath prescribed we are called
upon to swear that we'will bear true faith and allegiance to the United States, and will support the Constitution and laws thereof as the supreme law of the land,
any law or ordinance of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.'
"But when we turn to the Constitution of the United
States, to which we owe primary allegiance by the very
terias of the oath, we find it written,'No ex post facto
law shall be passed.' Not only so, but we find precisely the same statement in the Declaration of Rights
drawn up by the last Convention.  Now, Judge Story,
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in his Commentaries on the Constitution of the United
States, says:
"' The terms ex post facto laws, in a comprehensive
sense, embrace all retrospective laws, or laws governing or controlling past transactions, whether they are
of a civil or criminal nature... The general interpretation has kIeen, and is, that the phrase applies to acts of
a criminal nature only, and that the prohibition reaches
every law, whereby an act is declared a crime and made
punishable as such, when it was not a crime when done;
or whereby different or less evidence is required to convict an offender than was required when the act was
committed.'
"The Supremne Court have given the following defin
ition:
"' An ex post facto law is one which renders an act
punishable in a mnianner in which it was not punishable when it was committed.'
"Now, whether the new Constitution of Missouri does
or does not contravene the letter of the Constitution of
the United States, and its own letter, we are not learned
enough in law to pretend to say.  But that it does contravene the spirit of both these instruments is plain to
any man of common sense, and it is with the spirit, the
intent, the aim of the Constitution, as well as its letter,
that we as Christian ministers have to do. An oath is
required of us as ministers, and as a qualification to
preach the Gospel-a thing unheard of before in the history of our Government. This oath is based on the
supposition that we had certain sympathies and uttered
certain words during the progress of the late civil strife,
which sympathies and words were never until now
declared criminal and punishable. A refusal to take the
oath because we can not acknowledge such sympathies
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
and words to be criminal; or, in case we had no such
sympathies and uttered no such words, a refusal to take
the oath because we can not acknowledge the authority
of the Convention to confer the office and rights of the
ministry, is followed by the severest punishment, even
the cessation of our ministerial calling, with the conse
quent trials and suffering that are sure to follow, or a
heavy fine and incarceration like elons in a common
jail. If this is not a retrospective law, governing past
transactions, and, in point of fact, punishing for past
offenses, which were not offenses previous to the meeting of the Convention, then we confess it is difficult to
conceive of an ex postfacto law.
"Again, while the Constitution of the United States
only declares that'Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof,' the Constitution of the State
of Alissouri expressly declares in the Bill of Rights,
' that all men have a natural and indefeasible right to
worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their
own consciences, and that no human authority can control or interfere with the rights of conscience.'  But
when we solemnly affirm, as we do before God, that we
are bound by our ordination vows and by our sense of
duty to the great iHead of the Church not to allow any
civil power to administer to us an oath as a qualification
to preach the Gospel, and not to allow any civil power
to exercise authority over the'office,'  profession,' and
' functions' of the ministry, then it is manifest that the
determination to punish us for declining to take such an
oath, or to drive us from the State, is a direct and grass
attempt on the part of human authority to control and
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
interfere with the rights of conscience. It is impossible,
therefore, to obey the order of the Convention without
swearing in the very teeth of their own declarations
and across the face of our own solemn affirmations.
No Presbyterian minister can take this oath without
directly contradicting himself before he gets through.
"6. We decline to take the prescribed oath, because a
compliance with the requirement would virtually set
aside the vow which is already upon us to maintain the
Constitution of our Church. In that Constitution we find
it written:
"' There is no other head of the Church but the Lord
Jesus Christ'-(Chap. XXV. Sec. 6);'the Lord Jesus,
as King and Head of his Church, has therein appointed
a government in the hands of Church officers, distinct
from the civil magistrate'-(Chap. XXX. Sec. 1).' Civil
magistrates may not assume to themselves the administration of the Word and Sacraments, or the power of
the keys of the kingdom of Heaven; or in the least
interfere in matters of faith...               And
as Jesus Christ hath appointed a regular government
and discipline in His Church, no law of any commonwealth should interfere with, let or hinder the due exercise thereof among the voluntary members of any
denomination of Christians, according to their own profession and belief.'-(Chap. XXIII. Sec 3).
"Such are the statements which, as ministers, we
have already declared to be in accordance with the
Word of God, and which we have publicly and solemnly
promised to uphold and defend. It is evident, therefore, that every preacher of the Gospel belonging to
our denomination who takes the Convention oath will
forswear himself. If any intend to take it, they are
bound, for consisteney and for conscience sake, to secure
first of all certain amendments to the Constitution of
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
their Church, so as to recognize not only the Lord Jesus
Christ, but the Convention of representatives of the
people of the State of Missouri, assembled in St. Louis,
on the sixth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, as the lawful head of the Church.
The Church Constitution says the Lord Jesus hath
appointed a government for His people in the hands of
Church officers, distinct from the civil magistrate; the
State Convention says this Government and these officers shall not be distinct from the civil magistrate, but
shall derive their authority from him; inasmuch as the
Government can not be exercised, and the officers can
not exercise the functions of their office, without the
permission of the civil authorities, and without possessing qualifications which these authorities impose. The
Church Constitution says, civil magistrates may not
assume to themselves the administration of the Word,
or the power, or the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven;
but the State Constitution says, civil magistrates may
assume the administration of the Word, for no man is
permitted'to teach or preach' without a license from
them, and if any minister (mark it!) hdld or exercise his
oqlce,profession or functions without such license, he is
to receive a cruel punishment. If this is not claiming
the power of the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, then
it has never been claimed and never exercised in the
darkest ages of the world's history. This is the claim
which the Convention even pretentiously sets forth; for
if we decline to take their oath, we are not forbidden to
remain in the State, or to engage in any of a dozen pursuitq and callings; we are only forbidden to teach or
preach in this name, and prevented from holding or
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
exercising our ministerial office, profession and functions. It is simply impossible for any Presbyterian
minister who has the least respect for his ordination
vows, or for the independence of his Church, or for the
honor of his Master, to take the Convention oath.
"II.  Having thus fairly examined the phraseology
of the Constitution as it affects ministers of the Gospel, we come now to consider briefly the principle
involved in it. This principle, as we have abundantly
shown, is nothing more or nothing else than the assumption of right on the part of the Convention to determine the
proper qualifications of those who are called of God to
preach the Gospel. Had they dealt with us only as citizens, no word of complaint would have been uttered.
We cheerfully recognize our obligation as citizens to
obey law, to be subject to' the powers that be,' and to
submit to' every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake,'
except when it comes in conflict with the higher ordinance of God. This we claim to have done habitually
and as a duty, testifying by oath our allegiance to the
Government under which we lived. This we still desire
to do, and most gladly will we exert our influence in
the future, as we have exerted it in the past, to secure
heartfelt obedience to the authorities of the land.
"But every one must see that the new Constitution
does not touch us at all in our civil duties and privileges. We can refuse to take the prescribed oath, and
yet remain in the State, to buy, to sell, to edit newspapers, to devote ourselves to agriculture, or to the hliealing art, and indeed to do nearly anything else except to
practice law or to teach school. It follows, then, that it
is directly and distinctly in our calling as ministers that
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the Convention assert their authority over us. Not
only so, but in the fourteenth section of the second article they provide that we shall not even hold or exercise the office, profession or functions of our ministry
unless we comply with their demand.
"Now, if they have a right to confer or withhold the
office of the ministry, it follows, logically, necessarily,
and historically, that they have a right to dictate what
we shall preach in the exercise of an office derived from
their authority. It is just at this point, therefore, we
take issue with the Convention. We claim that we
derive the office of the ministry from a Higher Authority,
and that, in the provisions of the new Constitution, the
sovereign rights of Jesus Christ as King and Head of
his Church are boldly assailed.
"We are willing, then, to let all that has been said against
the phraseology of that singqular document go for nothing,
and still we hold that if the oath were in itself considered
entirely unobjectionable, we could not take it. Nay, had
the Convention required us to swear, as a qualification
for preaching the Gospel, that we believe Jesus Christ
to be the Saviour of men, or the Bible to be the Word
of God, we would have felt compelled to refuse a compliance with their requirement, simply because we can
not recognize their right to impose any qualifications
whatever for the preaching of the Gospel. Let them
treat us as they please in the relations we sustain to
them as citizens, and we shall not murmur; but let
them at the same time keep their hands away from the
Crown of the Lord Jesus.
"W hen General Rosecranz issued his famour Order,
No. 62, requiring an oath of ministers as a condition
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precedent to the privilege of assembling in Ecclesiastical
Conventions, many of us absented ourselves from all
such meetings rather than sanction the principle embodied in the oath. But that order, onerous as we
deemed it, was far less exceptionable than the order of
the Convention. The former was issued under martial
law-at a time of excitement and of danger to the
commonwealth, as a military necessity-for a temporary
purpose, and it did not infringe in the least upon the
functions of the ministry so far as preaching was concerned; but the latter is issued in a time of peace,
when not an armed rebel can be found in Missouri, or
anywhere else in the restored Union; it is inserted
among the fundamental laws of the State for the
oppression of ministers who are to succeed us; and, not
content with forbidding assemblages, it lays its interdict
upon the humble ambassador of the Cross as he attempts
to hold forth the invitations of the Gospel to dying
sinners. The principle, therefore, asserted by the Convention is monstrous, and nothing approaching it in
gigantic wrong has been witnessed since the days of
Charles II-certainly nothing like it has been in the
Constitution of any State since the organization of our
free Government.
"In the days of the monarch just mentioned, when,
as Hetherington says,' a strange frenzy of extravagant
loyalty seized upon the whole kingdom like some uncontrollable epidemic,' an oath was proposed, termed in
its title'an oath of Parliament,' and in the body of the
act' an oath of allegiance.' In it there occur the following expressions:'I acknowledge my said sovereign
only supreme governor of this kingdom over all per
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
sons and in all causes, and shall at my utmost power
defend, assist and maintain his majesty's jurisdiction
aforesaid against all deadly enemies. and never decline
his majesty's power and jurisdiction.''There can be
no doubt,' the historian goes on to say,'that these
clauses admitted of a double interpretation. So far as
their meaning applied to civil matters alone they would
not have been opposed by any of the Covenanters, but
there was no such limitation specified, and, therefore, it
was evident that the first might be construed to admit
his majesty's supremacy in ecclesiastical causes as well
as in civil matters; and that the second were intended
to prevent the declining of the king's jurisdiction in
religious affairs, as the Church of Scotland always has
done.' Upon the assertion of this principle, not so
boldly and openly presented as in the Constitution of
Missouri, the struggle between the Scotch Church and
the king's advisers began, but did not end for twentyeight years, nor until' about eighteen thousand had
suffered by death, slavery, exile or imprisonment' for
maintaining the'great principle' as abstractly stated
and most tenaciously held by the Church of Scotland,
'that the Lord Jesus Christ is the sole Head and King
of the Church, and hath therein appointed a government distinct fiom that of the civil magistrate.''In
the form in which it practically appears this great
principle realizes such a disjunction of the civil and
ecclesiastical powers from each other as to assign and
secure to each a separate, co-ordinate and independent
Supreme Court for the exercise of their respective
functions.  The direct consequence of this great an[
sacred principle, thus realized, is that it preserves the
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
whole region of the conscience entirely free from the
control of external power; and where the conscience is
free men can not be enslaved. The attempt to establish
an absolute despotism involved of necessity the destruction of this principle, and the oath of supremacy was
the weapon by  which it was directly and  fiercely
assailed. The cruel policy of the assailants needs but
little explanation. It was an easy matter to enact an
unjust and irreligious law, such as that which virtually
declared that the sovereignty of the Church should be
taken from Christ and given to the king, and then to
shout,' Obey the law, obey the law!' proclaiming men
'rebels' and'traitors,' and persecuting them to the
death, because they could not yield obedience to the
law which required the violation of their allegiance to
the divine Redeemer, but chose to obey God rather than
man in matters of religion. It requires but little Christian principle, metaphysical acumen, or knowledge of
the general principles of jurisprudence to perceive that
no law can possibly be binding upon man which is
manifestly contrary to the laws of God. So reasoned
and so felt our covenanted fathers; and in defense of
that sacred and eternal principle they' endured a great
fight of affliction,' through which they were triumphantly borne by the mighty power of God, unfolding
and realizing, in the fearful struggle, what, though of
subordinate importance, was still of inestimable value,
that noblest charter of civil liberty which man has ever
framed, the British Constitution.'
"It may be a source of comfort and encouragement
to some of our persecuted brethren in Missouri to learn
how richly the grace of God was manifested in sustain
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ing this' noble army of martyrs,' who were called to
uphold the true principle that'there is no other head
of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ,' in opposition
to the false principle that the State has a right to require
an oath of allegiance from ministers, as such, and to
determine their qualifications for teaching or preaching
the Gospel. History, then, abundantly testifies that
those who were called to die for the truth were not
only enabled to bear their sufferings with heroic endurance, but exhibited amazing peace and even triumph in
the hour of dissolution."
In support of these forcibly put principles the Doctor
presented an array of testimony from the history of
the Scotch Presbyterians that disclosed the same issues
made two hundred years ago that the Missouri ministry
were called to meet in the year of grace 1865, and
then continues:
"Such was the testimony and such were the sufferings of those heroic witnesses for the truth, from the
days of John Knox down to our own generation, when
the clarion voice of Dr. Chalmers was heard ringing
through his native land, and declaring that'if, over
and above our services in things spiritual, the State
must also have our subm)ission in things spiritual, in
these we have another Master, to whom, and to whom
alone, we are responsible; and we utterly repudiate, as
we should an accursed thing, the sacrilegious bribe that
would tempt us fi'om an allegiance to Him; for that in
these things he hath the sole and undivided mastery, is
a principle which lies at the very foundation of the
Church of Scotland; and on her giving up this, as by
the loosening of a corner or a key-stone, the whole
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fabric will tumble into ruins. The establishment of
this as the principle of our Church is the peculiar glory
of Scotland, the fruit of hard-won victory after the
struggles and persecutions of more than a hundred
years. A principle which has cost us so much we are
not now willing to let go; and if the State will insist
on our surrender of it, we are willing to try the experiment, and to brave the same cost over again.'
"When we remember that the principle expressed in
the foregoing declarations was handed down as a precious legacy from generation to generation in the Scotch
Church, we are not surprised to learn that'the first
struggle in the Westminster Assembly of Divines was
with the Erastians, and took place at the very commencement of their labors.' In preparing for their
great task they had stated that,'in'inquiring after the
officers belonging to the New Testament, we find that
Christ, who is Priest, Prophet, King and Head of the
Church, hath fulness of power, and containeth all other
offices by way of eminency in Himself.   He  being
ascended far above all heavens, and filling all things,
hath given all officers necessary for the edification of
His Church.'From this preface necessarily followed
the proposition that the government of the Church was
distinct from that of the civil magistrate- neither
derived from it nor subordinate to it.' And from this
proposition again necessarily flowed the great fundamental principle announced in the 30th chapter of their
Confession,'That the Lord Jesus, as King and Head of
HIis Church, has therein appointed a Government in the
hands of Church  Officers distinct from the civil magistrate.'
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
"And now, brethren of the ministry, in view of all
these statements and testimonies, what is your duty in
the premises? Can you, in good conscience, take the
oath prescribed in the new Constitution? Can you take
it without disloyalty to your Divine Lord, without dishonor to your Church, without recreancy to your duty?
Remember that you are required to give your sanction
and support to a principle which virtually denies and
destroys the crown-rights of Jesus Christ in His Kingdom; and will you willingly put your hand to an instrument that would extort from you the shameless
confession of apostate Israel in the days of the Saviour,
'we have no king but Ccesar?' Will you suffer the
idle epithets'rebel' and'traitor,' or the threats of a
wicked persecution, to make you forgetful of your solemn ordination vows, and of the glorious record of your
fathers, and of the purity of the Church; and thus be
driven to the commission of an act which will be a foul
stain upon your character forever? We  can not and
will not believe it until the painful evidence is forced
upon us that we are mistaken. Our only fear is, that a
few of our ministers, anxious to prove  themselves
guiltless of all complicity with the late rebellion, or to
retain their places, may be induced to take the oath as
trustees of institutions of learning, or to qualify them
to perform the marriage ceremony. If any such there
be, let them know assuredly that if they take the oath
with either of these objects in view, and so state on the
oath itself, or in public, and then continue to preach, it
will be justly regarded by every honorable person as a
shallow artifice and an unmanly dodge. It is better to
take the oath outright and be done with it than to
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play the sneak for the sake of holding on to place and
property, or for the sake of escaping trouble. If there
be such a one whom this address will'meet, though we
can not be persuaded that there is even one in the State,
we commend to him the prophetic words of the Marquis of Argyle on the eve of his execution:' Mind that
I tell you; my skill fails me if you who are ministers
will not either suffer much or sin much; for though you
go along with these men in part, if you do not do it in
all things, you are but where you were, and must
suffer; and if you go not at all with them, you shall
but suffer.'
"Ruling Elders and members of the Presbyterian
Church in Missouri, you, too, have principles to maintain and duties to perform in this eventful crisis. The
Constitution is a bold and direct infringement upon
your religious privileges, and a direct interference with
the rights of your conscience, contrary to its own provisions, for it drives from you the pastors of your
choice, and forces you, if you attend Church at all, to
listen to preachers who you believe have denied the
Lord who bought them.   Meet the issue, then, like
Christian men. Abstain from all violence and abusive
language, but let your purpose be firm and unshaken.
"It may be that the Church has become so frightfully corrupt, God sees the need of letting loose a storm
of persecution to blow away and scatter the chaff. So
be it. The Judge of the whole earth ever doeth right.
It may be that henceforth they who would strive for
the crown must really bear the cross. So be it. He
that sends the cross and will bestow the crown has
promised that His grace shall be sufficient  for you.
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.MIARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
'There hath no temptation taken you but suc(h as is
common to man; but God is faithful, who will not
suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but
will with the temptation also make a way to escape,
that ye may be able to bear it.'
"Let the sessions of our various Churches, and let all
the members of every age who still recognize their
obligation to obey God rather than man, enter into a
solemn league and covenant, that if their pastors are
driven away, because of their refusal to take the oath,
they will not, during the period of their absence, consent that any man who has taken the oath shall occupy
the vacant pulpit, and that they will not hear any such
man preach, and if he should be thrust upon them by
violence, that they will not attend their usual places
of worship. Imitate the example of your Scotch ancestors in 1662, who rallied with one accord to the support
of their pastors, when, under'The Act of Glasgow,'
ministers of the Gospel were compelled to cease from
preaching, or to sanction the very principle against
which we are contending.'The Presbyterian ministers obeyed the law.  They  submitted to the very
letter of its penalty. On the last Sabbath of October
they preached and bid farewell to their deeply-attached
congregations; and on that day, as Burnet states, above
two hundred churches were at once shut up and abandoned equally by pastor and people.'' I believe,' says
Kirkton,'there never was such a sad Sabbath in Scotland as when the poor, persecuted ministers took leave
of their people.' In many instances the congregation
could not repress their feelings, but wept aloud, till
their lamentations resembled the wild wailings of a
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city taken by storm.  This desolating blast fell first on
the western counties, but it soon extended over the
southern and midland parts of the kiing,dom, till it
caused the ejection of nearly foulr hundred ministers in
the course of a few months, involving a large portion
of Scotland in sudden spiritual destitution.' Unprincipled and godless ministers who conformed to'the Act'
attempted to occupy the abandoned pulpits, but they
were left to preach to empty pews. And so it will be
in Missouri, unless the fervent piety and unflinching.
determination of two hundred years ago have wholly
died out in our State.
"We do not hesitate to say to you, it would be far
better to meet for prayer in your own houses, or in the
fields, or in the caves of the earth, than to sit under the
ministry of a man who has qualified himself'to teach
or preach' by taking the Constitution oath.
"Brethren, much as we desire it, we can not avoid
this contest.  It is forced upon us, and he that is not
with Christ is against Him. The question is narrowed
down to this-shall we acknowledge that Jesus Christ
alone is King and Head of His Church, or Shall we
confess that we derive our ministerial office and our
right to preach from human authority?  Upon  this
question every Christian man, woman and child in
Missouri will be compelled to take sides. May God
defend the right.'Fear not them which kill the body,
but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him
which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.'
'Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial
which is to try you, as though some strange thing hap pened unto you; but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are par
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
takers of Chrlist's sufferings; that when His glory shall
be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.'
And'now, unto Him that is able to keep you from
falling, and to present you faultless before the presence
of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God
our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power,
both now and forever.  Amen."'
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
CHAPTER XIV.
M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH-PALMYRA MEETING IN 1865.
The M. E. Church,. South, in Missouri, from 1863 to 1865-"Perse cuted, but not For.saken; Cast Down, but not Destroved"-A
Gloomy Picture-Rent and Riven. Scarred and Scattered by the
Blasts of War-Who are Responsible?-" Our Friends. the Enemy"
-Church. South, pronounced "Dead," and Church, North, hold ing the Inquest and Administering on the Estate-Northern Con ference ask Southern Methodists to come into the " Old Church" (?)
-"Adding Insult to Injury " —Ecclesiastical John Brownism-The
Palmyra Meeting-," The Heroic, Immortal Twenty-one "-Novel
Procedure-Affecting Narratives of Personal Adventure and Expe rience- State of the Church-Important Church Paper-Profound
Impression and General Effect-'" Like Life from the Dead" Actors and Action.
M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH.
During the latter part of 1863, and from that time
until the war closed, in the spring of 1865, it was predicted by enemies and believed by many friends that
the MI. E. Church, South, as an ecclesiastical body,
would not survive the shock of war. "Our friends, the
enemy," as the M. E. Church, North, has been facetiously styled, had taken pains to publish from pulpit
and press all over the State that the Church, South, was
dead and buried, and beyond the hope of resurrection.
They, at least, acted on the belief that the Church was
dead, and that they were authorized to administer on
the estate.  They not only seized the churches, colleges
and seminaries. of the l1. E. Church, South, but mal
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
treated, mobbed and caused to be murdered many of
her ministers, as though they intended to make their
preaching true, if it was not before.  In many parts of
the State, as heretofore stated, the services of the Southern Church were interdicted, her ministers driven out,
and her membership entirely broken up and scattered,
some taking refuge in the North Methodist Church for
safety some leaving the Church altogether, while many
preferred to break up, sell out and move away, at the
sacrifice of nearly everything, rather than give up the
Church of their choice. it was a sad day for the
Church, and the gloomiest fears took possession of the
stoutest hearts.  The secular press and the military
authorities supported the general impression, and took
pleasure in enhancing the general gloom. Prominent
ministers and members of the M. E. Church, South, in
M{issouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Atlantic and
Gulf States, as far as heard from, shared more or less
in the general feeling of insecurity and fear of ecclesiastical extinction. The usual channels of intercommunication had long been suspended, and the Church
had no organ-not a Southern Methodist paper in all
her borders. The missions, circuits, stations, districts
and conferences had, for the most part, suspended their
ecclesiastical functions, and preachers were doing the
best they could-preaching regularly where they could
do so unmolested, and occasionally, as they could find
opportunity.   The most of them had turned their
attention to some kind of secular caliling to make a
support. In very few places could the Church furnish
a support to regular pastors.  Church registe rs, conference journals, class books and all other official records
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
had been destroyed in many places, or concealed from
the covetous clutches of the self-constituted administrators of the estate. In many parts of the State it was
perilous for a man to avow himself a Southern Methodist, and in no part of the State-unless it was St.
Louis-could such an avowal be made without subjecting the person making it to suspicions of disloyalty and
some kind of civil disability.  To add to this general
fear, many of the Churches were in the hands of the
enemy, under the protection of military authority, and
the Rev. Bishop Ames was in the South, with letters of
authority from the chief priests of war, seizing and
possessing himself of every church within his reach;
and his agents were in Tennessee, Virginia, North and
South Carolina, Georgia and Mississippi, and wherever
the Federal army occupied the conquered South, hunting up and seizing abandoned churches, and many that
were not abandoned, and in many places ejecting their
owners and occupants at the point of the bayonet.  A
goodly number of the leading ministers had left the
State, and many others had practically abandoned their
holy calling and were struggling with the absolute
poverty to which they were reduced by being frequently
robbed. One of the Annual Conferences had not met
for three and the other for two years, and the whole
Church in the State of Missouri, outside of a few prominent and safe points, was disorganized-in many places
entirely destroyed. When the Conferences convened
in 1864, as heretofore noticed, the attendance was so
meagre and the disabilities and discouragements so
great that but little hope was inspired, and no real
confidence was given. Peeled, and torn, and riven, and
20
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
scattered by the relentless blasts of war; desolated by
fire and sword, and outraged by pillage, theft and fraud,
the fragments of Southern Methodism in Missouri
appeared much like the bones in Ezekiel's vision, with
the prophet's faith left out. Old men wept when they
thought of the desolation of their beloved Zion, and
believed that their gray hairs would go down in sorrow
to the grave. Many had entered the communion of
other Churches, and many abandoned their religious
obligations altogether, and gave up their hopes of
heaven. It was a dark period and a severe test of faith.
The Northern Methodist Church was responsible for
the general desolation of the strongest, the most powerful and popular Protestant Church in Missouri. And
then, to add insult to injury, when the Missouri and Arkansas Conference of the M. E. Church met in St. Joseph,
in the spring of 1865, a committee was appointed to
draw up and issue an address "to the ministers and
members of the M. E. Church, South," proposing to
take them into the "Old Church."  This address was
issued upon the assumption that the Church, South,
was dead, and with the most affected condescension
and the most patronizing airs, proposed to receive into
its gracious fold all who did truly and earnestly repent
of their sins, and were in love and fellowship with the
loyal religion and religious loyalty of the Mother
Church.  "Only this, and nothing more."
The ministers and members of the M. E. Church,
South, had borne patiently the spoiling of their goods,
the seizure of their churches, the arrest, imprisonment
and exile of many of their best preachers, and the smobbing and murder of many others. They had contem
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
plated with some degree of resignation the general
wreck and ruin of their Zion, once so fair and beautiful
for situation, the joy of the whole land; but to receive
such formal proposals from the authors of the ruin,
and that, too, requiring conditions that would falsify
every principle, abandon every position, and forswear
every truth of history for which the Church had contended earnestly and suffered sorely, was, indeed, adding insult to injury. It was more than could be borne
without provoking a degree of righteous indignation
and religious contempt too general to be concealed
and too deep to be soon forgotten. If the said address
influenced a Southern Methodist in the State to avail
himself of its disingenuous clemency, the fact has never
transpired.  "If any, speak, for him have I offended."
The Conference which authorized and issued this
address authorized at the same time the seizure of
churches and other property belonging to the M. E.
Church, South, as heretofore noticed, thus giving its
official sanction to the whole business of Church seizing, or stealing, in the State; and in so doing the truth
of history and the verdict of posterity will be forced to
hold that Church, and not local boards of trustees and
local Church societies and communities, responsible for
the monstrous outrage.
The good citizens of St. Joseph have learned that
those political preachers did other things besides sing
"John  Brown's soul is marching on," and applauding and huzzaing until the people in the whole neighborhood of their sittings were disturbed and annoyed
out of measure; and yet those "other things" were
not out of keeping with the John Brown principles
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which they sought to immortalize in song. The perpetrators of this ecclesiastical John Brownism will outlive their notorious prototype in the history they have
made.
THE PALMYRA MEETING.
When the wair closed and peace was restored a few
of the Methodist veterans and leaders began a careful
survey of the field. God had marvelously preserved
a remnant of the Church, and the few things that
remained intact amid the general disorganization and
desolation were not sufficient to encourage much confidence in the resuscitation and reorganization of Southern Methodism, either' in this State or in the Southern
States.
Mails were irregular and uncertain, and it was with
difficulty that ministers could communicate with each
other at all. In some portions of the State the lines
of travel were still interrupted, and but few channels of
communication were reliable. What to do under the
circumstances was a grave question, the consideration
of which, doubtless, occupied the minds of all. Letters
were exchanged, as far as practicable, between leading
men, and a few timid suggestions were made from time
to time by the correspondents of a small paper published in St. Louis by Rev. P. M. Pinekard, called the
Sentinel. There was no Bishop in the State, and no
one was found willing to lead off in any line of policy,
until that sterling old pioneer and patriarch of Missouri
Methodism, Rev. Andrew Monroe, assumed the responsibility of calling a meeting of the ministers and members
of the Church at Palmyra, Marion county, for general
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consultation. The call was made, by private correspondence, as extensively as possible, and the members of
the Missouri Annual Conference, with all the local
preachers and official members of the Church in the
bounds of the Conference, were invited to attend.
The meeting was called for June 22, 1865, and the
eyes of the whole Church were turned at once to that
point.  Many were too poor and some were too timid to
attend and take part in the deliberations. Twenty-two
traveling and two local preachers, with about half that
number of laymen, assembled at the appointed time and
place, and elected the author of the call, Rev. A. Monroe, Chairman, and Rev. John D. Vincil, of Hannibal,
Secretary. The plan of procedure was novel and the
deliberations somewhat awkward.  Not a man of them
had ever been in just such a meeting for just such a
purpose; and to deliberate upon some of the most delicate and dangerous subjects raised by the war, and that,
too, in the presence of detectives and armed enemies,
was no easy task, and required no little moral courage.
About noon of the second day Bishop Kavanaugh, of
Kentucky, arrived, and his presence gave encouragement and importance to the occasion. Each man
seemed conscious of the fact that the life of the Church
would be decreed or its epitaph written by that meetit,g; and its deliberations, from that cause, would
assume an historical value that would take rank with
the most important events of the Church in the West.
Indeed, the future historian will be compelled to give
to this Palmyra meeting a connectional importance
that will be inferior to no event in the history of the
Church. A few brave men and courageous heroes
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
stood in the presence of events, and were called, in the
providence of God, to pronounce words that can only
be fully appreciated by future generations.
To arrive at the state of the Church, each preacher,
as his name was called, stood up in his place and calmly,
deliberately, and often with tears, gave an account of
the condition of the Church in the bounds of his work
and within the range of his knowledge. Could the
history of suffering, privation and persecution as then
and there narrated by these men of God be written, in
connection with the wide-spread desolation of the
Church, it would make the most affecting and thrilling
chapter in the history of these strange times. The
writer will never forget the scene or the emotions
awakened by it.
A committee on the "State of the Church" was commissioned to take under consideration the statements
made by these honest men, deliberate upon them, and
submit for the action of the meeting their godly judgment.  It was a delicate task-a critical moment.  For
the time being the fate of Southern Methodism was
lodged in the hands of that committee, ho far as could
then be seen, and subsequent disclosures but confirmed
the fact. When the committee met to deliberate in an
upper room at the residence of Thomas E. Thompson
the out-look from that point upon the prospects of
Southern Methodism, West and South, was every thing
but encouraging. Not a word had come from the
Southern States and the former centers of Church
influence and power. No key-note had been struck in
any quarter, and the leading men of the Church seemed
slow to speak. Were they looking, all looking, to
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
Missouri to lead off?  In Missouri the Church had suffered more than in any other State; and it may be that
in the providence of God it was designed for the Church
in this State, speaking from her desolation, to strike
the key-note that should vibrate through all her connectional territory, and tone as well as direct the policy
of the whole Church. The chairman of the committee,
at their first interview, so felt and so expressed himself
to his brethren. Only those who were present at the
time could measure the responsibilities of the hour.
For every exigency of His cause God supplies the men
and endows them with the requisite qualities.
The attitude of the Northern Methodists in this
State, backed by the military authorities and the party
in power; the fear and trembling of many true friends
of the M. E. Church, South; the new Constitution,
upon which the people had so recently voted, and which
we knew would be forced upon the people of the State
with its proscription and persecution of ministers of
the Gospel, and the general feeling of insecurity and
uneasiness from which the people had not recovered,
all invested the occasion, the work and the results of
this informal meeting with the gravest responsibilities.
It was deemed best to take no formal action on the
test oath of the new Coristitution lest further hostility
to the Church should be provoked, but for the preach ers present to interchange views, and each act according
to his own conscientious convictions when the trial
came. It was also thought best not to make any formal
reply to the address of the St. Joseph Conference of
the Northern Church upon the subject of absorption,
but in a general way to set forth the true position of 
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
the Church, resolve to maintain the separate and dis tinret identity of the M. E. Church, South, at all haz ards, give the leading reasons for it, and then adopt
such measures as would inspire confidence, revive our
cherished forms, reconstruct our organization, infuse
every where a resuscitated organic life, recover the
waste and desolated places, and rehabilitate our peculiar
institutions and organs.
In drafting the report of the committee the chairman
had the benefit of Bishop Kavanaugh's wise counsel at least so far as to submit first to his judgment the
rough draft, and afterward its phraseology, and was
thus able to go into the meeting with the moral force
of che Bishop's endorsement.  The paper was looked
forward to with great interest by both the meeting and
the community, for by this time both the friends and
enemies of the Church were fully aroused to the importance of the deliberations, and by the time the
committee were ready to make their report the spacious
church was crowded with deeply interested people.
The very first reading of the paper produced a profound
impression, touched the deepest fountains of the heart,
and moved the strongest emotions.  lMany were filled
with joy, while others "turned and went away in a
rage." The report of the committee did not pass the
meeting without the gravest deliberation, and even the
severest criticism.  Its general bearing upon all the
great questions involved, its particular application to
definite issues, its tone and temper, spirit and language,
were all subjects of discriminating criticism and wise
discussion for nearly a whole day. But it finally passed,
with but few dissenting voices, just as it came from the
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MARTYRDOMI IN MISSOURI.
committee, without the change of a single word. There
was no division of opinion upon the object proposed,
and only two or three dissented from the manner of
reaching the object and the verbiage of the report.
The community at once asked the privilege of raising
money enough to have the action of the meeting published in pamphlet form and sent every where in the
bounds of Southern Methodism. This was done cheerfully and promptly, and it went like the voice of a
resurrection life through all the Southern and Western
States. In this State it produced a profound sensation
and the happiest effect. Old men who had given up all
as lost read it and lifted up their voices and wept for
joy. They read it again and then started for their
neighbors, and over it they had mutual congratulations
and rejoicings.
Not a few affecting scenes occurred in those parts of
the State where Southern Methodists had long been
afraid to hold up their heads.
In the St. Louis Christian Advocate, of December 7,
1865, a correspondent writes as follows of that part of
the State lying north of the Hannibal and St. Joseph
railroad:
" A trip of four or five days through a portion of the
country above indicated revealed the following fiacts:
1. Since the meeting of the preachers in Palmyra last
June assured the faithful few of our Church that we
intended to maintain our organization intact, they have,
from the depths of their pious hearts,'rejoiced with
trembling,' and,' thanking God, have taken courage.'
"That meeting was an event of incalculable importance to the Church all over the State, because it
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reassured our people that their chosen ministers would
not betray the trusts committed to them nor forsake
them in the dark hour of trial. Old men, who had
clung to the Church through all the storm, lifted up
their voices and wept for joy when they read the
reports of the Palmyra meeting, and rode over their
neighborhoods to scatter the glad tidings that the ship
would not be given up. I saw one old man, now over
sixty, who walked three miles to obtain a copy of the
proceedings, and then wore it out reading it to his
neighbors."
Bishop Kavanaugh reported that the people through
the whole South felt and acknowledged the power of the
Palmyra meeting upon the tone and spirit of the
Church, and that it did much to shape the policy of the
Bishops and leading men of the Church. The thought
was general, if these Missouri preachers, who have suffered so much and who stand in the presence of the
most proscriptive and oppressive iniquity of the age,
the New Constitution ot their State, determine that the
Church shall not go down, then it shall be maintained,
and, with God's help, we will rally to the old standard,
reset the old landmarks, and "pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor," with our purest devotion,
to maintain our ecclesiastical organization at all hazards and to the last extremity.
Bishop Marvin said that the report of this Palmyra
meeting was to Southern Methodism in Texas like the
clarion notes of a mighty chieftain calling the scattered
knights to duty and to danger, and inspiring the courage
and confidence of the Church throughout the whole
South. In Virginia and the Carolinas, according to the
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MART VRDOM IN MISSOURI.
Episcopal MIethodist, of Richmond, Va., it was like "life
fiom the dead." From that day forth the fortunes of
the Church began to revive, preachers went forth with
the message of life and salvation with more confidence,
and the scattered people began to gather around her
desolated altars and lift the voice of praise in her long
silent temples. In every part of the State the ministers of the M. E. Church, South, were hailed with joy
and heard with profound reverence and respect.  Trustees of stolen churches began to assert their rights and
institute suits in the civil courts to recover their property. Public prejudices were slow to yield and the
public mind was sluggish to move, but the quiet, orderly,
humble course p, rsued by the preachers, who "determinied to know nothing among men save Jesus Christ
and Him  crucified," won the hearts, inspired the confidence and( commanded the respect of all right-thinking
men. Thus they waited and labored, prayerfully and
patiently, until the public mind was reached; old and
deep-seated prejudices began to give way, a healthy
and powerful reaction set in, and it was not many
years until the stolen churches were restored- to their
rightful owners, the lost ground recovered, the waste
places reclaimed, the "burnt districts" rebuilt, the
wasted membership replenished by the most gracious
revivals, and the Church more firmly and deeply estab lished in the affections and confidence of the people
than at any former period. As this Palmyra meeting
will assume a high historical value in the future Church,
it will be appropriate to close this chapter with both
the names of the actors and their action.
The meeting assembled in the 3lethodist Church,
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in Palmyra, Mo., June 22, 1865, upon the call of Rev.
Andrew Monroe, and at 3 o'clock p. m. was organized
by the election of Rev. A. Monroe, Chairman, and Rev.
John D. Vincil, Secretary.
The following members of the Missouri Conference
were present and enrolled as members of the meeting,
viz.: Revs. A. Monroe, C. f. Vandeventer, F. A. Savage,
B. H. Spencer, W. M. Rush, R. G. Loving, James Penn,
H. IHI. Iedgepeth, W. M3. Newland, W. W. McMurny,
J. D. Vineil, R. P. Holt, A. P. Linn, Lollis Downiing,
IH. A. Bourland, E. H. Hudson, Jacob McFcEwell, L. Rush,
W. Warren, P. 31:. Pinckard, S. IH. IIufftlke, and W.
M. Leftwich; also, Rev. Wm. D. Cox and Wm. O. Cross,
local preachers, and a goodly number of laymen. About
noon of the second day Bishop Kavanaugh, of Kentucky, arrived, imparting courage and inspiring hope in
the heroic little band.
The' Committee on the State of the Church," to consider the condition of the Church in Missouri, and
determine whether it was expedient and practicable to
preserve and perpetuate our separate ecclesiastical
organization, submitted, through its dhairman, and the
meeting passed, as heretofore stated, the following
paper.
"Your committee, in considering'the importance
of maintaining our separate and distinct ecclesiastical
organization,' beg leave to present the following resolution and accompanying paper:
"-Resolved, That we consider the maintenance of our
separate and distinct ecclesiastical organization as of
paramount importance and our imperative duty.
" The reasons are many  and obvious.  While we
316 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
have maintained a separate and distinct ecclesiastical
organization for twenty years, yet we claim original
paternity and co-existence as a Methodist Church with
the other branches of the great Methodist family in the
country. Facts will not permit us to yield to any
other Church of that name priority of age; nor in any
other light than as an attempt to deceive the unsuspecting among our people can  we regard the specious
claims urged to the confidence and patronage of the
Methodist public under the name of' Old Church.'
"In contravention of the Plan of Separation agreed
upon by the General Conference of 1844-the legitimacy and binding force of which were recognized by
the Supreme Court of the United States-the Northern
wing of the Church has acted in bad faith toward us in
many ways.
"And since that Church was forced, by law, to give
to our Church her pro rata division of property-which
she was too mercenary to do without an appeal to the
highest judiciary of the country-she has persisted in
an unprovoked and undesired war upon us-a war
which has aggravated the questions of difference, widened the breach, and produced an estrangement of
feeling and a destruction of fellowship for which she
alone is responsible, and which we can not even seek to
remedy without compromising principle and yielding
all self-respect.
"Those who publish to the world that all differences
between us are swept away with the institution of
slavery are either ignorant of the facts or are trying
to mislead the public. The question upon which the
Church divided was not whether the institution of
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slavery was right or wrong per se, but whether it was
a legitimate subject for ecclesiastical legislation. The
right or wrong of the institution, its existence or noln existence, could not affect this vital question. It is
now abolished by Federal and State legislation, which
event we accept as a political measure with which we
have nothing to do as a Church. And it remains for
us to demonstrate our ability to exist without the institution of slavery, as we have existed with it, which we
have already done in California and other places.
" Nowx, if we go into the Methodist Episcopal Church,
we will, by that act, yield the position we have so
often  taken,  admit  the charges we  have so often
refuted, and, by accepting political tests of Church fellowship, stultify ourselves and compromise the essential
principles of the Gospel.  If we seek an alliance with,
or permit our Church to be swallowed up by any other
ecclesiastical body, so as to destroy our separate existence as a distinct organization, we admit the charge,
that with the institution of slavery we stand or fall.
"The subject of Church reconstruction or consolidation has been widely discussed by the press and ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, North, and
reasons, both political and ecclesiastical, are urged, with
an ill disguised pertinacity, why we should consent to
an absorption of our entire ecclesiastical body by that
Church.
"It can not be disguised that what they failed to
accomplish during the war by military order and
authority they now seek to effect by  ecclesiastical
strategy and diplomacy-i. e., to get possession of-our
Church property; and rather than recognize us now as
318 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
a Christian Church, entitled to their ecclesiastical fellowship and Christian fraternity (which they, by formal
vote of their General Conference, refused to do in
1848), and in that way, and with a Christian spirit,
seek to offer negotiations upon the subject, they prefer
to ignore our existence, or, which would suit their purpose better, pronounce us disloyal to the Government,
and, per consequence, not entitled to an existence at
all; then invade us, and, by misrepresentations, seek to
disaffect our people, disintegrate our Church, and inaugurate an ecclesiastical strife that will involve the third
and fourth generations.
"The  only  consolidation  or  reconstruction  they
would accept wouldl be, that we turn over to them our
Church property, and interests, and influence; yield
the whole field; confess that we have been in the
wrong; indorse the politics of their Church as a condition of membership; and become political hucksters
instead of Gospel ministers: then, even, our motives
would be suspected, and we looked upon with contempt
for our cowardly truclling to party and power.
"Again: we affirm that our itinerant system has
become a great moral agency in elevating the masses
of the people, preaching the Gospel to the poor, and
'spreading scriptural holiness over these lands.'  Under its wide-spread operations we have gathered the
people together, planted churches, organized Sabbathschools, acquired Church property, built up  and endowed institutions of learning, and become a moral and
religious element of the country, at least equal to any
other Protestant Church.
"The people have learned to look to our ministry
319 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
for the Gospel, to our churches and Sabbath-schools for
religious instruction, and to our influence in restraining
vice, encouraging virtue, maintaining law and order,
and promoting the well-being of society.  We can not,
therefore, abandon our Church and people, or betray
the interests and trusts committed to us as a Church,
without a plain and culpable disregard of duty that
would subject us to the contempt and derision of the
Christian public. We are not at liberty to dissolve our
ecclesiastical organization or permit our Church to be
absorbed by any other, even should we desire so to do;
for our people have been consulted, as far as practicable,
and they are unwilling to seek any other Church connection, but, with great unanimity, demand at our hands
the maintenance of our Church organization intact.
"It is, therefore, due the great mass of the people
who oppose the prostitution of the pulpit to political
purposes-it is due to our large membership, who have
been converted and gathered into the fold of Christ
under our ministry, and who love our Church doctrines
and discipline too fondly to seek any other fold now-it
is due every principle of self-respect and ecclesiastical
propriety thatwe maintain, wilh firm reliance upon the
help of the Great Htead of the Church, our organization
without embarrassment or compromise.
"While these are some of the many reasons why we
should adopt the above resolution, we desire most
ardently to cultivate fraternal relations with all the
Evangelical Churches, and'as much as in us lies, live
peaceably with all men.'
"WM. M. LEFTWICHi, Chairman.
"JOHN. D. VINCIL,
"t WM. M. NEWLAND."
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CHAPTER XV.
JURING AND NON-JURING MINISTERS —PUBLIC INTEREST.
Baptist Church-General Association of Missouri on the Oath-Pub hIc feeling throughout the State-Hon. B. Gratz Brown and Rev.
Dr. Nelson on Religious Libertv-Who favored the Application of
the Oath to Ministers-" Hara Questions to Answer'-Viewed
from Abroad-The New York Observer on " Religious Liberty in
America "-Our Own State-The Religious and Secular Press How the Subject was treated in different Counties and Courts by
Judges, Jurors and Attorneys-The Vindication of Juring Preach ers Required-Curious Facts and Incidents-Dr. M'Anally and
the Old Ladies of the "'Home."
BAPTIST CHURCH.
After the new Constitution was, by executive pro.
clamation, declared to be the supreme law of the State,
and before the expiration of the sixty days allowed to
ministers to take the oath, the General Association of
the Baptist Church of Missouri held its annual session
at Boonville, Mo.
This was the first ecclesiastical body in the State to
take formal action on the great questions raised by the
Test Oath of the new Constitution. This Association
accepted and met the grave issue in a manly, Christian
spirit, and disposed of it in an able paper, which clearly
indicated that ministers of the Gospel had at last found
themselves assailed by persecutions and surrounded by
difficulties of which they had often read in the history
21
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
of olden times, but which they never expected would
become a part of their own history.
This Association closed its deliberations August 21,
1865, and amongst other important matters, and after
mature deliberation, adopted a lengthy paper, setting
forth the following reasons for declining to take the
oath prescribed by the new Constitution:
"1. The oath is in conflict with the Constitution of
the United States.
"2. It is unjust in its operations —punishing ministers for that which is no crime while other classes are
not equally punished."
"3. It proposes to punish ministers for that which is
not, properly speaking, a crime at alli
"4. By taking this oath we would acknowledge an
authority in the State which does not belong to it.
"5. In so doing we would place human authority
above Divine, and thus condemn the examples given in
the Scriptures and the great principles for which Baptists have contended and suffered in all governments
wherever they have lived, from  th6 Christian  era
down to the time of the American Revolution."
Each of the above reasons werot supported-by a critical analysis of the Test Oath, aid a logical argument
based upon the highest authorities.   The paper is
lengthy and ably written, and was issued in the form
of an Address to the Baptist Churches of the State.
The fifth reason is supported by a number of historical
instances  illustrative of the persecutions of Baptist
ministers in other days and countries.
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
GENERAL INTEREST-PUBLIG FEELING.
The action of the Baptist Association of Missouri,
the "Address to the Ministers and Members of the
Presbyterian Ghurch in the State of Missouri," heretofore noticed, the action of the "Palmyra Meeting," and
the tone of the leading journals of the State, such as
the Missouri Republican and the St. Louis Christian Advocate, created quite a general interest throughout the
State on the bearing of the new Constitution upon the
distinctive questions of religious liberty assailed and
the course that ministers of the Gospel would pursue.
The  party which concocted, framed  and supported
the new Constitution began to feel the force of public
sentiment on the subject, and many  of their leading
men and journals were not slow to explain, mollify,
apologize for, and promise to amend the odious and
proscriptive features of that instrument.  The tHon. B.
Gratz Brown and the Rev. H,enry A. Nelson, both
radically loyal, addressed letters "to His-Excellency,
Thos. C. Fletcher, Governor," in which they took high
ground on the great principles of-civil and religious
liberty.  Mr. Brown said, "I am  devoted to civil and
religious liberty on principle, and can not consent to
violations of either, no matter how dear they may be -to
the ruling prejudices of- the times; and it is the initial
of such infractions that should-  be opposed, for when
once hedged about by other interests, and connected
even in the imagination with the retention of politi
cal power, they become  difficult to uproot. What is
required by the State  to-day: as a qualification for
preaching may to-morrow  be further extended as a
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
qualification for worship; and the State undertaking to
say who may worship publicly and who may not,
might go a step further, requiring all to worship, and
prescribing the mode of that worship." After reasoning in this strain at some length, he closes up with the
following language:
"But my intention was not to make an argument,
nor to raise obstacles to the putting in force the Constitution, but to submit some considerations as to its
defective character, the necessity for its amendment,
and the disposition that should animate all who are
more solicitous of having an organic law for our State
reflective of perfect liberty in all its parts than of
making it a vehicle to consolidate prejudices against
color, animosities of race, or infractions of civil and
religious liberty."
The Rev. Dr. Nelson, in his letter to Gov. Fletcher,
begins by saying: "I have this day mailed to the Secretary of State my oath of loyalty as a curator of the
State University, to be placed on file, as required by
the new Constitution." He then raises a practical
question, whether the Governor "was tinder obligation
immediately and sternly to put in force certain provisions which were inserted by the Convention while the
rebellion was still rampant, which the collapse of the
rebellion had rendered-unnecessary, and which it is
probable that a majority of the people at the time of
their voting on the Constitution would have rejected if
they had had opportunity to vote upon them as separate propositions.  "I refer," says he, "particularly to
the provision requiring ministers of the Gospel, as such,
to take and file the' oath of loyalty.' The opinion that
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this is an unwarrantable encroachment of the civil
Church-a real infringement of reliby no means confined to those who
disloyalty.  It is decidedly my own
i no exemption from responsibility to
transactions on account of my minis But I do not admit the right of the
upon me any oath or anything else
qualification for an office which the
State does not confer and has no right to control." Dr.
Nelson closes his letter with the following language:
"I am very confident that an amendment striking out
this provision, if now submitted to the people, would
be adopted by a large majority. I earnestly hope that
your Excellency will be convinced that the real will
of the people is that you should exercise clemency in
exempting from the penalties of this Constitutional
requirement all men whose behavior since the suppression of the rebellion is unexceptionable, or at least in
staying the execution of such penalties until the will
of the people can be ascertained by the submission to
their votes of an amendment to the Constitution by the
Legislature."
It would be difficult to characterize the miserable
logic of this document, while it exhibits the terrible
straits to which the party leaders were driven by the
enlightened public sentiment of the people, and the
lame defense of such reckless party measures which
they were able to make.
This is but a sample of the many intimations and
pledges made by the party that this iniquitous provision
of the Constitution should be removed by a speedy
325
power upon the
gious liberty, is
sympathize with
opinion. I clai
the State for all
terial character.
State to impose
whatsoever as a
L 
MARTYRDOM -IN -MISSOURI.
amendment.  The design was, doubtless, to allay tlhe
popular feeling, appease the rising indignation, and still
assure the party power, if need be, at the cost of all
civil and religious liberty. No amendments of the kind
were everproposed by the Legislature or submitted to
a vote of the people; and when ministers were indicted
in the civil courts for preaching the Gospel without
taking the "said oath" they were convicted and sentenced, and the Supreme Court of the State sustained
the courts below, and thus gave the whole weight of
the judicial department of the State government to the
legal sanctions of the "test oath" and its application
to ministers, as such.  Very few men in the State had
the hardihood-to endorse fully and-defend publicly this
provision of the new Constitution.  Among that few,
however, all the Northern Methodist preachers were
found, and a few-extreme and reckless Radicals of the
Unitarian and  Congregational Churches, with a small
faction of Presbyterians and Baptists.  Mr. George P.
Strong and Mr. Charles D. Drake, both leading laymen
in the Presbyterian Churech and active members of the
Constitutional Convention, were active and bold defenders of their own work.  In reference to the vindication of the Constitution by Mr. Strong, the Missouri
-Republican, of Sept. 23, 18G5, has the following article:
. HlARD QUESTIO.NS -TO ANSWER.
"The anti-Christia.n law enacted by the late Convention in this State, which prohibits the free preaching of
the Gospel in Missouri, has at last found an apologist.
We imagine that its defense is a hopeless undertaking;
but Mr. George P. Strong does not agree with us in
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this opinion.  We  have the satisfaction of knowing,
however, that Mr. Charles D. Drake does. A determined attempt -has-been made to represent the question
of the legality of this prohibition as a party question.
But it is not a party question.   It is a question of
religious freedom; and Christian men in the Radical
party itself regard it as such.  Is Mr. Drake disloyal
because he disapproves the interference of the State
in ecclesiastical affairs?  Is Dr. Nelson disloyal or Rev.
Mr. McCook?
"To enable Mr. Strong better to understand the precise point of the objections urged against this clause in
the new Constitution (and we take it for granted that
his design is to meet these Qbjections not to evade them,)
we append certain questions, to which we hope that he
will be fearless enough to give a candid answer.  He
has undertaken to establish two propositions- first, that
the Convention had a right to require of every citizen
a sworn declaration of loyalty, not only for the future,
but in the past; and, second, that the State may lawfully
forbid clergymen to preach the Gospel if they will not
take the oath prescribed.
"As to the first of these points we venture to ask
Mr. Strong-1. Is the Convention'oath of loyalty' an
oath of allegiance or an oath of purgation? 2. If it is
not an oath of purgation, what does it require to constitute such-anoath?  3. Are oaths of purgation characteristic of -free or  of despotic governments?   4.
What argument can be adduced to justify the prescrip tion of an oath of purgation now, and in-Missouri, which
has not already been worn threadbare in the defense 
of tyranny throughout all ages? The plea invariably
327 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
offered, as every student of history knows, in extenuation of every usurpation of authority and every
encroachment upon the liberties of the people, is the
'safety of the State.' Has Mr. Strong any new argument to offer?
"As to the second point, we would be glad to know
-1. What is the crime for which clergymen, under this
law, will be punished? Will they be punished for
preaching the Gospel?  2. If not, what will they be punished for? 3. Has the State a right to punish the
preaching of the Gospel?
"No argument in defense of the new Constitution
which does not meet these points of objection is valid.
Come, Mr. Strong, what have you to say? The people
of Missouri wait for your reply."
It is well to note from time to time not only the
character of the history we are making, but its impression abroad-what others think of us, our sayings and
doings. Not infrequently do we obtain the only correct view of the nature and bearing of our acts and
doings from abroad and from a stand-point outside of
and independent of ourselves.
The new Constitution of Missouri, with its unrighteous oath of loyalty required of ministers of the Gospel, was too bold and barefaced an assault upon civil
and religious liberty to escape the notice, the criticism
and the earnest protest of the public press throughout
the whole country. As a sample of the opinions and
spirit of the press at the time, the following editorial is
taken from the New York Observer, of Sept. 28, 1866.
It is headed
328 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
"RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN AMERICA.
"We are indebted to several friends and correspondents in Missouri for a large quantity of documents,
manuscript and printed, relating to the oath of loyalty
required in that State. The subject is assuming fearful
proportions, and comes home to the heart of every
Christian and every firiend of religious liberty in the
United States of America. The enactment of this provision in the Constitution of Missouri is the first step
in this country toward the assertion of the right of the
State to regulate the Church, and it is to be resisted on
the threshold with all the force of argument and appeal.
"A copy of the oath is before us. It would fill a
column such as this. It requires a man to swear that
he has never, directly or indirectly, aided the late
rebellion, but has'always been truly and loyally on
the side of the United States against all enemies thereof,
foreign and domestic.' It does not merely require
present loyalty. It is an oath of purgation. No room
for repentance is left. If a man has written, letters to
his Southern friends unlawfully, he can never preach
the Gospel again in Missouri.  The oath is purely retrospective. It is clearly an ex post facto law, such as is
forbidden by the Constitution itself. It imposes a new
penalty for an offense committed before the law was
framed. We believe that any court, outside of the
public sentiment which compelled the adoption of the
law, would pronounce the oath unconstitutional.
"Our advices from Missouri are contradictory as to
the course pursued by the ministers of the State, but
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v -4117 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
we believe there are three classes whose line of action
is distinctly determined.
"1. Those who have been disloyal in thought, word
or deed can not take the oath, however sincerely they
may now repent of their past course.  All such men
must leave the State or renounce the ministry and
abstain from teaching in any college, common or Sunday-school, under penalty of five hundred dollars fine or
imprisonment in jail.!
"2. Loyal ministers who hold to the supremacy of
Christ in the Church, and deny the Jright of civil government to impose any restriction upon the spiritual
rights and privileges of the people, can not  take the
oath with a good conscience if they regard this oath as
an infringement of their liberties.
"3. Loyal  ministers who  have  no conscientious
scruples on this point have taken the oath without
hesitation, and we suppose that they constitute a larg3
majority of the clergy of the State.  Those who refuse
are already in danger of judgment.  The papers say:
"'Father Cummings, a Catholic priest, residing in
Louisiana, Missouri, was arrested a few days since,
taken before Judge Fagg, of the Pike Circuit Court,
and sentenced to pay a fine of five hundred dol'ars for
persisting in preaching without takingthe constitutional
oath.  Having refused to pay the fine, and declining
to permit his friends to pay it for him, the reverend
Father is confined in the county jail.  His case will
probably be brought before the Supreme Court for a
final decision.'
"In our remarks on this subject a few weeks ago we
said that we had not then seen the oath.  We supposed
33O 
MARTYRDOM IN -MISSOURI.
it to be simply an oath of loyalty or allegiance, such as
the Government may lawfully ask of every citizen.
But having fnow read it, we are constrained to regard it
as one of the most tyrannical acts of oppression of
which we have any knowledge in the history of free
governments. It requires nothing, however, that we,
if we were there, could not subscribe to with a good
conscience.  Were we a pastor in Missouri to-day we
would take the oath rather than be compelled to abandon the pulpit.  But the measure is to be condemned:
"1. Because it is utterly hostile to-the spirit of conciliation on which we have now entered, to restore
union  and harmony between those -who -have lately
been at war.
"-2. It dooms to exile or silence all those ministers
who have been at any time in sympathy with the rebellion, however sincere their repentance or faithful their
devotion now. Thus the strange spectacle is presented
of a civil government extending pardon to rebels, giving them property, office and power, but driving from
their churches and people all 1 ministers of  Christ's Gospel who have been led by false views of duty for a
moment to sympathize with -wrong.  No  sane, good
man, we are sure, can deliberately approve such a horrible measure.  The Revocation of the Ediet of Nantes
delivered up the Protestants to the -fury of-a bloody
persecution.   This law delivers up the miniisters of
Missouri who can not take-the oath to a persecution less
bloody but not-less cruel.
"3. It requires a certain class of men to submit to a
qualification from which others are exempt. Thus, a
man may practice medicine without taking the oath,
331 
MNIARTYRDO0I IN MISSOURT.
but he may not preach the Gospel. The State assumes
to depose men from the ministry by introducing a test
not applied to physicians, merchants, bankers, tradesmen, manufacturers and others.  A provision so unequal is unworthy of enlightened legislation.
"The law expressly forbids a man to'hold' or
exercise the office of the ministry or any of its functions unless he has taken the oath. He must cease to
be a minister or be liable to go to jail, as some have
already suffered."
By way of indexing the public feeling in this State
at the time and for a few months after the new Constitution went into effect, take the following sample
from the St. Louis Christian Advocate, of October 19,
1865, under the general head of "Current Events:"
"OUR OWN STATE.
"Affairs in our State, at present, are somewhat like
lady Macbeth's feast-' in admired confusion' or'disorder'-really forgot which it was, but either will
do.  The great absorbing question,'the test oath,'
which the new Constitution imposes on lawyers,
preachers, teachers, &c., is still before the public,
and, from all the Advocate can hear, a more general condemnation was rarely, or never, given any
subject by the mass of the people than is given to this.
Every where the voice of condemnation is loud and bitter. Of the nineteen Judicial Circuits in the State, the
Judges on eight of them have either decided against the
constitutionality of the test oath in regard to lawyers,
or ignored the subject entirely, and proceeded with their
courts just as though no such oath had ever been thought
332 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
of; while of the others, eleven in number, a few
have required the oath to be taken by lawyers as a condition precedent to their continuing to practice, and
from the rest nothing definite has been heard. Noticing
this state of things, the Missouri?epublican, in a late
issue, closed a somewhat lengthy article on the subject,
as follows:
"' The poor, miserable, despicable new Constitution
is an abortion-" a mere shotten herring." Poor tyrants!
poor plotters! When your Constitution was opened and
read the people stood aghast. The first Grand Jury of
St. Louis county stood up in open Court and told the
Judge to his face they would not execute its tyrannical
behests! Their consciences would not allow them to do it!
Of corporators, preachers, lawyers, ministers, deacons,
elders, bishops, priests, &c., there have been, perhaps,
ten thousand violations of this Constitution in St. Louis
county, and only one indictment!
"' That indictment was against Mr. Glover, and preferred on his own request, in order to an adjudication of
the question. That indictment has been tried, and in
reply to the reading of the law and the many palpable
objections to the validity of the indictment not one word
is said by the prosecutor! Not one word can be said!
"'We concede that in other portions of the State a few
vindictive and violent partisans have stirred up two or
three prosecutions and are harassing innocent people.
But these fanatics are to be more pitied than censured,
as other persons are the real criminals in the case.  But
these disturbers of the peace of their neighborhoods
will directly cease from troubling, since it is now manifest that what was intended for a tragedy has turned
333 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
out to be a farce. Those who intended to distinguish
themselves as tyrants have only made themselves notorious as fools.  The plotters and makers, aiders, abettors,
contrivers and supporters of the new Constitution of
1fissouri are destined ere long to be the most odious
people who have been known anywhere.'
"The question of the constitutionality of the oath in
regard to preachers will be before the Supreme Court
of the State this week, in the case of Rev. Mr. Cummings, who was indicted in Pike county.  What the decision of that Court may be remains to be seen.  If the
oath be declared constitutional, and an attempt made to
enforce it generally, we may- look for trouble throughout the State.  But' we shall see what we shall see.'"
By this time the public mind was filled with the
deepest interest for ministers of the Gospel, and every
newspaper in the State had taken up, in some form,
the absorbing question.  Some  ministers-were taking
the oath and some were being indicted for not taking it.
In some counties Grand Juries refused to find a true
bill of indictment against ministers, and at every county
seat in the State there were lawyers who offered their
services without fee to the non-juring ministers.- Some
Judges declined altogether to charge Grand Juries to
take cognizance of non-juring ministers; while others,
like-Judge W. P. Harrison, of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit, charged Grand JTuries " to treat th3 preachers who
were preaching the gospel without- having first taken,
subscribed and filed the said oath just as they would
horse-thieves and otherfelons."
Ministers who took the- oath felt constrained by the
public excitement to give, in some shape, the reasons
334 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
which influenced them; while those who refused: to
swear rested their vindication in the public sentiment
and the well aroused religious conscience.
Political partisans who refused to see any thing else
in it but party questions, excited the people to such an
extent that many persons refused to hear a man preach
who had not taken the oath, and many more refused to
hear those who had.  Some  churches called their pastors to an account for their course, and some went so
far as to make the "test oath" a " test" of support.  It
is next to impossible to measure, at this distance, the
depth and the extent of public feeling on the subject.
Another extract from the St. Louis Christian Advocate
will still further aid the just appreciation of the public
interest at the time. It is from the issue of November
16, 1865, and is as follows:
THE PREACHERS' OATH,
"Or, more correctly,' the oath for preachers,' still
claims a large share of public attention. And no won'
der.  It is one of the most important questions ever presented to the consideration of the people of this Stateone that inv)lves their- highest and dearest interests
both for this world and the next.  It is well that alarge
share of public attention is given to it.  A few preachers have subscribed to that oath-only a few, however,
proportioned to the whole number.  Of course those
who have taken it justify themselves; and would have
others do likewise.  Of this number is the Rev,. Dr.
Post, of this city, to whom the  DailyPress, a spirited
morning paper of this city, pays its-respects asfollows.,
Read attentively and ponder well what is said.  Many
3.35 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
will be curious to learn what reply the Reverend Doctor
will make to these questions. Very likely, however,
he will pass them in silence:
"'Dr. Post, of this city, has taken pains to publish
his views in favor of requiring an oath from the clergy.
We have no time to waste in reviewing an argument,
even by so learned and good a man, on that question.
We will merely put to the learned Doctor a few ques
tions.
"'Does not the right in the State to impose one
condition involve the right to impose any other condition? Does not the right to impose any condition
involve the right to impose a condition that can not be
complied with —namely, a condition amounting to prohibition?
"'Does the State, then, possess the power to prohibit
one man from preaching the Gospel?
"'If it has the power to prohibit one man, has it not
the power to prohibit all men from preaching the Gospel?
"'Is, then, the command of the State superior to the
command of God in religious things?'
"'If M3issouri may rightfully do this, may not all
other States and all Governments do it?
"'Do you, then, acknowledge the right of civil government to banish the preached Gospel from the world?
"'Do you acknowledge the right of a Missouri Convention, ten years hence or ten years ago, to forbid you
to preach, except on your declaration, under oath, that
you never did nor never will maintain the divinity of
Jesus Christ or the inspiration of the sacred Scriptures?
Is a government worth preserving whose safety de
336 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
mands assent to the foregoing doctrines?  Is not "the
right to communicate one's thoughts freely" (that is, the
right to preach), as declared in the new Constitution,
an essential element of liberty; and, if so, what is government for unless to preserve liberty?
"'Is a government worth preserving when its preservation involves the destruction of liberty?
"' Is the destruction of liberty in this State necessary
to the preservation of our State government?
"'Will the partisans of our present State administration say that it is?'
In the application of the "test oath" to ministers
in their various fields of labor, and the "stand taken"
by many super-loyalists, who happened to have control
of churches and other institutions where the services
of ministers of the Gospel were performed, many curious and even amusing facts were brought to light.
The following extract from the St. Louis Christian
Advocate, of May 31, 1866, will illustrate the point,
explain itself and close this chapter:
"While on the subject of'the oath,' it may  not be
amiss to republish the following item which appeared
in one of our city dailies last week:
"'Our County Court yesterday gave a new illustration of the preacher's oath of the new Constitution.
One of the Judges, Mr. Dailey, offered a resolution
instructing the Superintendent of the County Farm to
permit ministers of the Gospel to preach to the inmates
of that institution without taking the oath required by
the Constitution. Also. an order admitting priests and
ministers to enter the institution at any time for the
purpose of administering religious consolation, etc., to
22
337
I 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
the inmates when sick or dying. The resolution and
the order were both rejected by a vote of four to two.'
"While on the subject it may not be improper to
add still further that there are several scraps of unpublished history connected with this matter, of which the
public may learn something in due time. But, lest the
aforesaid public become too impatient or despairing,
here follows one' scrap' by which they may be entertaimed as by way of preface to what may come hereafter:
"' 230    -STREET, 
"'ST. Louis, January 5, 1866. 
"'Rev. Dr. M'Anally    "' DEAR SIR: The Board of Trustees of the " Home
of the Friendless" have directed me to express to you
their sincere thanks for the kind interest you have
manifested in the "Home," and the faithful manner with
which you have always discharged the duties of your
office.
"'It is with great regret, in consideration of the
stand you have taken, politically, that they, as a loyal
Board, must decline your services in future.
"' Respectfully yours,
, Secretary.'
"The letter is genuine, but as'the Board' is composed of ladies, the name of the writer is omitted. To
this letter the following answer was returned:
"C' Mrs., ATo. 230.  st.
"' MADAM: Your note of the 5th instant reached me
through the postoffice to-day. From it I learn that
"the Board of Trustees of the Home of the Friendless,"
offer "sincere thanks" for the interest I have taken in
338 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
that institution; also for the "faithful manner in which
I have always discharged the duties of my office." But,
"in consideration of the stand I have taken, politically,
they decline my services in the future."
"'In replying, allow me to say:
" First, That I had not supposed that the Home of
the Friendless was a political institution, or that any
political "stand" was required as a condition precedent
to the preaching of the Gospel to its inmates.
"  Secondly, I have taken no "stand," "politically"
or otherwise, which I did not occupy when performing
the services for which the Board offer "sincere thanks;"
and if I were competent to render "faithful services"
then, I am equally competent to do so now.
"'During several years last past I preached occasionally at the " Home," but always at the solicitation
of the Board of Managers; and two or three years ago,
at the urgent request of a committee of this same
Board, I agreed to preach there on the afternoon of the
second Sabbath of each month. This I have promptly
and, I trust, faithfully done; and done, not because I
had no opening, no congregation, no invitation, elsewhere, but because I regarded it both a duty and a privilege to preach the Gospel to the poor.  Henee  I
denied others, and often large assemblies, that I might
serve the inmates of the "H ome." In no instance whatever did my services cost the Board of Trustees, or
any part thereof, either money or trouble. I furnished
my own means of conveyance, administered to my own
wants, and neither asked, expected, nor desired any
worldly compensation.
"' Few and far between as my visits were, I think
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I 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
an examination of your register at the " Home" will
reveal the fact that these services constituted a large
proportion of all that were performed during the same
period by any regular minister of the Gospel.
"'Permit me to express to you, and through you to
the Board of Trustees, my sincere desire for the continued prosperity of the Institution of which they have
charge, and my earnest hope that the inmates may be
regularly supplied with the ministration of the Gospel.
"'Respectfully,         D. R. MI'ANALLY.
"'No. 80 Pine Street, St. Louis, Jan. 18, 1866.'"
"Not far from the time when this correspondence
was held, a member of the same Church, and one who
occupied precisely the same'stand politically' with the
above named ejected preacher, died and left by will
five thousand dollars for the benefit of the'flome'  Was
that bequest declined because of the stand the testator
had taken politically? Do not know, but think it was
not. But enough for the present."
340 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
CIAPTER XVI.
FATHER CUMMINGS, REVS. JESSE FAUBION, JOHN WINN, L. M.
MAHANEY, J. C. WILLIAMS AND OTHERS.
the Celebrated Cummings Case-A Catholic Priest, at Louisiana,
Mio., Indicted-Arrested and put in Prison-Tried in Circuit Court
of Pike Countv-Convicted and Sentenced-Supreme Court of
Missouri Confirms the Sentence-Supreme Court of the United
States Reverses the Decision, and Declares the Test Oath Uncon stitutional-The Opinion of the Court Analvzed-Rev. Jesse Fau bion-His Sufferings during the War-Indicted and Tried-Rev.
Johtn Winn, Rev. L. M. Mahaney, Rev. J. C. Williams, Rev. H.
M. Long-Rev. Willis E. Dockery-Rev. W. M. Newland-A
View of the Weekly History of Things in the State, from the St.
Louis Christian Advocate of Feb. 1,1866.
REV. J. A. CUMIMINGS.
One of the first and most noted cases of indictment,
arrest, imprisonment and trial for preaching the Gospel
in this State without having first taken, subscribed and
filed the oath prescribed by the new Constitution was
that of Rev. J. A. Cummings, a Catholic priest, of Louisiana, Pike county, Mo., who was indicted, convicted,
fined $500 and sent to jail.
This case derives its importance, as it gained its
notoriety, from precedence. Hiundreds of priests and
preachers were indicted, arrested and tried in the civil
courts for preaching the Gospel, but this case was the
first one to test the application of the law in the lower
courts and then to be taken by appeal to the Supreme
Court of the United States.
The particulars of the "Cummings Case" have been
341
I 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
so often paraded before the public that a detailed statement of the facts and incidents here is unnecessary.
For the legal history and decision of the case in the
Supreme Court of this State the reader is referred to
"Alissouri Reports," vol. 36, p. 263; and for the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, the
reader is referred to Wallace's Reports, vol. 4, p. 277,
1867.
In this, as in many other cases, the circumstantial
details are required to bring out the full history, touch
the public conscience and point the lessons.
The following account of the case, with a glimpse of
the character of the more prominent actors, is furnished
by a legal gentleman, who was in Louisiana at the time
of the arrest and trial, and personally acquainted with
all the parties. Hie obtained the facts from the Court
records and his own observation, and holds himself
responsible for all his statements:
"STATE OF MISSOURI )
vs.
J. A. CUMMINGS.       "In Septemb'er, 1865, a Radical
Grand Jury in Pike county, Missouri, under a charge of
Judge Thomas J. C. Fagg, an apostate Virginian, acting as Circuit Judge, indicted the Rev. Father J. A.
Cummings, of the Catholic Church, for preaching the
Gospel without taking the oath. Some time in that
month a Radical Sheriff, one Wm. Pennix (give all
their names to infamy), once a strong pro-slavery man,
arrested Father Cummings and lodged him in jail, consigning him to the'felon's cell' and the association
of thieves. Said one of the felons to the priest as he
entered the cell,' What are you put in here for?'' For
842 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
preaching the Gospel,' replied the priest.' Good,' said
the man,'I am in here for stealing horses.'
"The  arrest and imprisonment of Mr. Cummings
produced vast excitement. Alen and women crowded
around the jail, and the commotion was so great that
the Judge and his men were anxious to bail him out,
but he would not be bailed out. Then they were anxious that he should run off, and gave him a chance to do
so, but even this poor boon he declined, preferring to
remain in jail. In a few days Archbishop Kenrick,
of St. Louis, sent up and had him bailed. The case
was carried to the Supreme Court of the State, and the
judgment of the Circuit Court of Pike county was confirmed. It then went up, by appeal, to the Supreme
Court of the United States, where the decision was
reversed and an eternal quietus put upon the Drake
Constitution, so far as the same applied to ministers of
the Gospel.
"This, I believe, was the first case in the State in
which Radicalism dared to trust itself without the
bayonet in a civil court of justice.
"Judge Fagg is a native of Virginia, Albermarle
county, and inherited some negro property from his
father's estate. He had so far trafficked in human
flesh and blood as to sell off all his slaves except one
very valuable negro man, named Richmond. This
same Richmond got tired of his slavery, and ran off to
Wisconsin, whither his master, this God fearing, pure
and undefiled Radical, pursued him. The slave eluded
him; he had no more flesh and blood to traffic in, and
he became the best and purest abolition Radical Union
man imaginable. It is needless to add that this saint (?)
343
IV 
IMARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
is in full fellowship with the North Methodist Church."
This statement reveals but too truly the character of
the men who endorsed the new Constitution and rejoiced in the opportunity it afforded for the proscription
and persecution of all who were not of their politicoreligious faith and order.
When this case was before the Supreme Court of the
United States it engaged the attention of the ablest
lawyers and jurists of the country. Amongst them it
may not be improper to mention Messrs. David Dudley
Field, Montgomery Blair and Reverdy Johnson. The
case was argued in March, 1866, and submitted to the
Court; and, although a hundred or more indictments
against preachers were pending in the Courts of Missouri, and the deepest interest was felt throughout the
whole country in the result, the Court reserved its decision until the following December. Thousands of
people were uncharitable enough to believe that political partisans influenced the Court to withhold its decision for political reasons until after the fall elections.
This whole instrument, called the new Constitution
of Missouri, was a party measure, and upon it the party
had staked its fortunes.
This case was prosecuted in the Circuit Court of Pike
county and the Supreme Court of Missouri by exUnited States Senator J. B. Henderson, and the same
gentleman, assisted by George P. Strong, of St. Louis,
argued the case on behalf of Missouri in the Supreme
Court of the United States.
The opinion of the United States Supreme Court was
delivered by Mr. Justice Field and covers about the following, points: A history of the case; an analysis of
344 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
the test oath and its bearings; how far it was intended
to affect the rights of the citizen; the theory of liberty;
the severity of the oath. "The oath thus required is,
for its severity, without any precedent that we can discover."  It is retrospective, and is, in that feature,
peculiar to this country. It is intended not merely
to reach overt acts, but words, desires and sympathies.
Under the form of creating a qualification or attaching
a condition, it inflicts a punishment for a past act which
was not punishable at the time it was committed, and
for which there could be no trial and conviction. It is
in the nature of a disqualification for any office, trust or
function designated; as a punishment without due process of law and against the theory of our institutions
and laws. It is in conflict with the Constitution of the
United States; first, because it is a bill of attainder;
second, because it is a bill of pains and penalties, inflicted
upon the assumption of guilt, and for acts which were
not offenses before the law was made; and, third, because it is in every legal sense an ex-post facto law.
Without defining any crimes, inflicting any punish.
ment or directing any judicial proceedings against
individuals, the new Constitution sought to reach certain classes and inflict disability which could not be
reached by direct legislation. Upon this point the
Court held as follows: "The clauses in the Missouri
Constitution, which are the subjects of consideration,
do not, in terms, define any crimes or declare that any
punishment shall be inflicted, but they produce the same
result upon the parties against whom they are directed
as though the crimes were defined and the punishment
was declared. They assume that there are persons in
345
I 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
Missouri who are guilty of some of the acts designated.
They would have no meaning in the Constitution were
not such the fact. They are aimed at past acts and not
future acts. They were intended especially to operate
upon parties who, in some form or manner, by actions
or words, directly or indirectly, had aided or countenanced the rebellion or sympathized with parties engaged in the rebellion, or had endeavored to escape the
proper responsibilities and duties of a citizen in time of
war, and they were intended to operate by depriving
such persons of the right to hold certain offices and
trusts, and pursue their ordinary and regular avocations.
This deprivation is punishment; nor is it any less so
because a way is opened for escape from it by the expurgatory oath. The framers of the Constitution of
Missouri knew at the time that whole classes of individuals would be unable to take the oath prescribed.
To them there is no escape provided; to them the deprivation was intended to be, and is, absolute and perpetual. To make the enjoyment of a right dependent
upon an impossible condition is equivalent to an absolute denial of the right under any condition, and such
denial, enforced for a past act, is nothing less than punishment imposed for that act. It is a misapplication of
terms to call it anything else."
The learned Court then proceeds, upon another vital
point, to say:
"And this is not all. The clauses in question subvert
the presumptions of innocence and alter the rules of
evidence, which heretofore, under the universally recognized principles of the common law, have been suppostd
to be fundamental and unchangeable. They assume
346 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
that the parties are guilty; then they call upon the
parties to establish their innocence, and they declare
that such innocence can be shown only in one way-by
an inquisition, in the form of an expurgatory oath,
into the conscience of the parties."
Upon this subject the court cites the case of a somewhat similar test oath which was required of certain
parties by a statute of the State of New York in 1783,
and which was intended to reach the same result. It
was then deemed a gross violation of the fundamental
principles of civil liberty by the ablest jurists and
statesmen of the times. The quotation from a paper
upon the subject by that great statesman and lawyer,
Alexander Hamilton, bears directly and forcibly upon
the questions involved in this Missouri test oath. It is
obvious that the Honorable Supreme Court of the
United States regarded the New York test oath of 1783
a much milder form of inquisition, by an expurgatory
oath, than the test oath of the Missouri Constitution of
1865. After a rather lengthy quotation from Mr. Ham ilton on the distinctive rights assailed, the Court con cludes:
"Similar views have frequently been expressed by
the judiciary in cases involving analogous questions,
but we do not deem it necessary to pursue the subject
further.  The judgment of the Supreme Court of Mis
souri must be reversed, and the case remanded, with
directions to enter a judgment reversing the judgmenl
of the Circuit Court, and directing that Court to dis
charge the defendant from imprisonment and suffer him
to depart without delay.
"And it is so ordered."
347
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
For the able argument of counsel, as well as the full
opinion of the Court, the reader is referred to Wallace's
Reports, 1867, vol. iv, p. 277.
REV. JESSE FAUBION.
This highly esteemed minister of the Gospel and
member of the Missouri  Conference, M. E. Church,
South, was subjected to sore trials and persecutions
during the war and under the test oath of the new
Constitution, an account of which, in brief; as furnished
by himself, will be read with deep interest. The reader
will not fail to note the cause of his persecutions. But
he will tell of his own sufferings:
"'In the year 1860 I was appointed to the Princeton
Mission, Missouri Conference, and settled my family at
Lineville, where I remained till the 2d of July, 1861.
From the very first outbreak of the war persecution
commenced against the M3. E. Church, South, in that
region, and increased in violence, until by the first
of June of that year it was scarcely possible to hold a
meeting without disturbance. These disturbances became so common and the spirit of lawlessness so fierce
against the M. E. Church, South, and especially against
me as a minister of that denomination, that, for purposes of safety, my brethren advised and urged me to
abandon that field of labor and seek a home elsewhere,
which I did on the 2d of July, 1861. The pretext for
all this persecution was the allegation that the M. E.
Church, South,'was the cause of the war;' in connection
with which the asseveration was often and bitterly
made, accompanied with horrid oaths, that as a Church
and as ministers of that Church we should not be
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
allowed to remain in this country; that they intended to
'wipe us out,' etc.
"From Lineville I went to Callaway county, Mo., and
by the advice of the Presiding Elder of that district I
took a supernumerary relation to the Conference, rented
a farm and commenced trying to make a living for my
family. In September, 1862, about forty armed men,
under the command of Colonel Brunce, stationed at
Jefferson City, came to my house, in my absence, and
robbed us of our blankets and all of my wearing clothes
except what I had on, and took also my saddle-bags,
pocket-knife, and even my spectacles. They also took
my horse, and when my wife was pleading for him, one
of the company told her she only wanted him for her
husband to ride {in order to preach d-n lies;' but they
afterward left my horse at the house of a neighbor,
where I subsequently got him. After this, in the year
1864, a band of men came under cover of night and
took the only horse I had, which I was never able to
recover.  In 1865 I moved to Shelby county, Mo., and
settled at Shelbyville. On my arrival I found that
there had been no preaching there since the inauguration of the test oath, and it was not considered safe for
any man to preach in that community without taking
it. The members of the Church were being scattered,
and the young members were being led off to dancing
parties and other bad places. After surveying the
ground I thought that I might as well be sacrificed as
anybody else; and in order to get the people out I made
an appointment to lecture, which I did two or three
times before the people came out in sufficient numbers
to encourage me to make an appointment for preaching.
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
I then preached for several days during Christmas week,
when the people came out in such great numbers that
the friends of the new law for compelling a minister to
swear fealty to human government before he could be
allowed to obey his Divine Master were greatly exasperated, and on the 6th day of February, 1866, I was
arrested upon a charge of preaching without takilg the
oath of loyalty. The County Court being in session, I
was brought for trial before one of that body, viz.: Mr.
Robert Lair. The arrest was made by the deputy
sheriff, Mr. Jas. Collier, and the prosecution conducted
by Attorney M. J. Mlanville, who insisted that it was
an aggravated case-said that prisoner had not only
preached, but had also lectured-the word lecture being
used to cover up the infamy of the crime-and said that
the bond should be made strong, to prevent the prisoner
from making his escape.
"The trial being ended, if that may be called a trial
where both the spirit and the letter of the law are disregarded, for this County Justice had no jurisdiction of
the case, I was compelled to give bond in the sum of
one thousand dollars for my appearance at the next
term of the Circuit Court or go to prison. From the
best testimony I can get, Lieutenant William Holliday,
county clerk, and a member of the M. E. Church, was
the main mover in that act of persecution, for he was
both plaintiff and witness in the case. The fourteenth
and fifteenth of February, 1866, was the time appointed
for holding the quarterly meeting for Shelbyville circuit. Between the time of my arrest and the time for
holding the meeting, a man, who is now a prominent
member of the M. E. Church, told our members that
350 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
they had better use their influence to prevent us from
holding that meeting, for if we did not cease preaching
without taking the oath blood would be shed. But,
notwithstanding the threats of mob violence and the
prevailing excitement in the community, Bro. Newland, Presiding Elder of the district, came and held the
meeting without any material disturbance, which closed
on Sunday night.
"On Saturday night of this meeting, and on Monday
morning and night after it closed, circumstances took
place which are very significant, and I merely mention
them and leave them to speak for themselves. I was
living in a house which had four distinct tenements,
divided by partitions, all of which were occupied at the
time. On Saturday night, after we were gone to bed,
one of these families moved out. On Monday morning
another moved out, and on that night, sometime before
day, this building, with all its tenements, was consumed
by fire-the fire originating in a part of the building
where there had been no fire during the winter. In
this fire we lost nearly everything except life, and we
very narrowly escaped with that. 
" At the sitting of the May term of the Circuit Court,
in 1866, I appeared and answered to my name when
called, in connection with the names of other alleged
criminals, when my securities were released, and my
ease was referred to the Grand Jury in and for Shelby
county, Mo., who being strictly charged by his honor,
Judge Harrison, in regard to ministers of the Gospel
guilty of the crime of preaching without taking the
oath, found me guilty in three separate cases, to answer
to which I was held to bail in the sum of three thousand
351 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
dollars. The following are the names of the Grand
Jurors, viz.: E. L. Holliday, James Cherry, Oliver
Whitney, Leonard Dobbins (all Northern Methodists),
Charles Hight, Hawkins Smith, James Jameson, James
Hopper, Lemuel Greenfield, Adrian Robins, George
Baaker (Congregationalists), Stafford Graham, B. F.
Jones, James Ewing (Episcopalians), and Benjamin F.
Foreman  (Baptist).   Messrs C. K. Cotton, J. R. Taylor, William Cotton, H. Montgomery, Isaac Muldrow,
William Gouch, Thomas Swearingen, Mr. Vaughn and
J. 3M. Ennis, were the noble men who went on my
bond. On account of doing me this act of kindness I
am sorry that Mr. Gouch was disfranchised. I wish to
mention in this connection that Hon. Mr. Hawkins, of
Canton, Mo., and Col. H. S. Lipscomb, of Palmyra,
volunteered their professional services, and saw me
through this persecution in the courts till my case was
dismissed.  But, notwithstanding threats of violence,
such as shedding of blood, riding on a rail, &c., I continued to preach till the November term of the Court,
when my case was continued, I being required to give
bond with new securities for my appearance at the
next term of the Court, when it was finally dismissed,
the law being declared null and void by the Supreme
Court of the United States.
"I am, fraternally,
"JESSE FAUBION."
i" CASE OF REV. JOHN WINN, OF THE CUMBERLAND PRESBY                  TERIAN CHURCH.
"In the latter part of June, 1866, at one of his regular places of preaching, near Hagar's Grove, in the
352 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
western part of Shelby county, Missouri, the above
named minister was arrested by the constable and taken
before the justice of the peace in and for that township,
and was tried and found guilty of preaching without
having taken the oath of loyalty, and put in custody of
the constable to be delivered to the sheriff of the county,
Mr. Joseph Forman. Before starting the constable
said to the prisoner,' I suppose you know the law makes
it my duty to search you for money and arms?''No,'
said the prisoner,' I do not; but if you think so, you can
proceed. But as for arms, I never carry any; and as
for money, I don't think it safe to carry much these times.'
After careful examination, without finding any money
or arms, he was placed upon a horse, and, under guard
of twelve armed men, was taken most of the way
through woods and by-ways to Shelbyville, where he
was kept under guard from Saturday night till the ensuing Monday morning, during which time he was strongly
solicited to give bond and return home. But he declined, saying,' If he went home he would go to preaching again, and would ultimately be sent to jail, and had
better go now while on the way.' Hie was then sent,
in the keeping of this same constable, to Palmyra,
Marion county, Missouri, and delivered into the hands
of the sheriff of Marion county, who urged the prisoner
to give bond, as'he had no place for him in the prison
except with horse thieves and desperadoes, with whom
he did not want to put him.' He declined, and was
thrust into prison, where he remained all night without
bed or blanket. Next morning, through the kind professional services of Colonel Lipscomb, attorney at law,
23
353
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
the papers in the prisoner's case being found illegal,
he was discharged and permitted to return home.
"I communicate these facts as I received them from
the prisoner himself, about one month after his release,
at a meeting which we held together at the place of his
arrest. I do this because I fear he may not have seen
your call and because these items of history are too
important to be overlooked. Brother Winn is a man
who stands high in the esteem of that community and
in the affections of his brethren. If he should report
his own case, you will, of course, take his and suppress
mine.
"I am, fraternally,
"JESSE FAUBION.
"MIONROE CITY, Mo., March 16, 1869."
In this case of Mr. Winn another instance of the relentless spirit of those who were zealous in the execu.
tion of this new law is furnished, and we can not escape
the conviction that some men seized the opportunities
furnished by the new Constitution to gratify personal
malice and obtain a mean revenge.
ELDER L. M. MAHANEY.
"Trials of Elder. 21M. Mahaney for preaching the Gospel
without takinq the Iron Clad Oath.
"The first bill of indictment was found at the spring
term of the Franklin county Circuit Court, 1866. Col.
David Murphy was State's Attorney, who refused to
prosecute the case.  Judge Owens appointed Mr. Pugh
in his stead, who prepared the bill of indictment and
prosecuted the same.  The sheriff of said county,,ilhelm, refused to serve the writ, but procured the ser
854
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
vices of Wm. Kelso, who attended a protracted meeting,
conducted by myself, embracing the fourth Sabbath of
August, 1866. The said Wm. Kelso was in attendance
for three days, after which he asked me to take a walk
with him. After some conversation upon the interest of
the meeting, he remarked that he had a writ against me
for preaching without taking the oath. I remarked
that I would be compelled to close the meeting.  He
said, no; he had a bond of $500 ready for me to sign.
W. E. Williams and J. Greenstead insisted on my
giving bond, they going my security, to appear at the
fall term of said Court. When the case came up J.
Edward Belch voluntarily defended me, taking a change
of venue to Jefferson county, the case coming up at the
May term, 1867.
"The decision of the Supreme Court in the Cummings' case having become public before that time, I
failed to attend. The Judge, at said term, ordered a
citation for my securities.  I attended at the October
term, and J. L. Thomas defended me, free of charge.
It only cost me four dollars, besides expenses.
SECOND CASE.
"A. P. Cowan, Justice of the Peace for the county
of Gasconade, State of Missouri, issued a warrant against
me on the 10th of May, 1866, which was served by W.
C. Morgan on said day at my residence, and ordered
me to appear before the Justice immediately. My promise only was given, and I did appear the next day. I
called for the papers in the case; said Justice informed
me there were no papers with him except the writ. I
asked if there was not an affidavit filed upon which the
warrant was issued.  He answered there was not.  I
355
P"
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
asked if he was personally knowing to my having violated the laws of Missouri. He said not. I then asked for
a non-suit. Jonathan Rook was appointed State's Attorney, who stated that preaching the Gospel without
taking the oath was as much a violation of law as horse
stealing, and the violator should be punished as severely
as a thief. My answer was, that I expected nothing
better from a man who was once a pretended preacher,
afterward a grocery keeper, and recently a pettifogger
and an infidel. I again asked for a non-suit. After some
debate, A. P. Cowan, J. P., informed me that I would
have to give bond in the sum of one thousand dollars,
which I gave, for my il)pearance at the Circuit Court
of Gasconade county. In October, 1866, I attended
court. I gave myself up) to the sheriff, Wm. Berger, who
informed me he had nothing against me; I might go
home. My case was then stated, by attorney, to Judge
Owens, who told me to go home and stay till they sent
for me. In February or March, 1867, the sheriff, Wm.
Berger, called on me for a bond which I did not give.
He called on me the second time; I still refused.  He
stated he would not take me, but requested me to ask
D. Q. Gale, the State's Attorney, what he should do in
the premises.   The Circuit or State's Attorney wrote
to him not to arrest any ministers or lawyers.
"L. 3M. MAHANEY."
REV. J. C. WILLIAMS.
This good and useful minister and member of the
St. Louis Conference, M. E. Church, South, was arrested
by ruffians, with pistols in their hands, in the midst
of his duties as a teacher, dragged from the school
356 
MARTVRDOM IN MISSOURI.
house and taken to Potosi, Jefferson county, under an
indictment for preaching. After giving bond for his
appearance at court he went on preaching the Gospel
of the grace of God to dying men, and was again indicted, arrested and put under bonds.
REV. H. M. LONG.
This good man and faithful minister, also of the M.
E. Church, South, was indicted, arrested and put under
bonds for the same offense against the peace and dignity
of the State. lie was often in imminent danger of mob
violence at the hands of those whom he calls "Loyal
Leaguers," who made two descents upon the village in
which he lived, well armed and with hostile intent.
"But soon," says he, "and before our trials came off,
the decision of the Court was had, which released us
from fine and imprisonment. For this we felt very
grateful to the Supreme Court of the United States, but
more especially to our Heavenly Father."
REV. WILLIS E. DOCKERY.
This faithful servant of God and prominent member
of the Missouri Conference, M. E. Church, South, did
not escape the hand of the persecutors. He was traveling the Chillicothe District, and was at various places
in his district threatened with mob violence by the
self-constituted executors of the law. But he faltered
not nor hesitated in the presence of duty or danger. In
the fall of 1866 he was indicted by the grand jury for
Lewis county, and arrested by James A. Neal, sheriff
of the county, and required to give bond in the sum of
$1,000 for his appearance at Court. At the following
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spring term of the same Court he was again indicted.
Judge R. E. Debolt presided in the Court, and continued
the cases from time to time until the decision of the U.
S. Supreme Court, when they were dismissed.
REV. W. M. NEWLAND.
The Canton (Mo.) Press, of Oct. 7, 1865, contained
the following:
"ARRESTED. -We learn from a communication in the
Palmyra Spectator that Rev. Mr. Newland, Presiding
Elder of the District, was arrested at Newark on Sunday, the 2d instant, at the close of sacramental service,
and held to answer at the ensuing term of the Circuit
Court in Knox county for exercising the functions of
his sacred office without having first taken and filed the
oath of loyalty. The arrest appears to have been made
at the instigation of a son of a Presbyterian Elder at
that place, whose name is not given in the communication referred to."
The following article, taken from the St. Louis Christiant Advocate, of Feb. 1, 1866, will furnish an index to
the true state of things in Missouri at the time; and
this is only a fair sample of what occurred, and then
appeared, each week:
( FROM MISSOURI.
"Persecutions still rage against our preachers in parts
of this State, and it is hoped and believed that they
may justly claim the promise,'Blessed are they which
are persecuted for righteousness sake!'  A Sabbath or
two ago one of our most faithful and exemplary men
was arrested while in th pulpit; the solemn services
* 358 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
of the holy day in the house of God were abruptly
broken up; the preacher hastened off to trial, and there
required to give bond, with security, in the sum of
fifteen hundred dollars for his appearance at Conrt.
"This thing of serving civil processes on the Sabbath
is rather new; but nothing of that kind should be
thought strange in this country at the present. When
hearing of such things how forcibly comes to the mind
the words of the Eoly Psalmist,' Why do the heathen
rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?  The kings
of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel
together against the Lord and against his anointed,
saying, let us break their bands asunder, and cast
away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shi all have them in derision.'
"There, brethren, all of you, read that; ponder it
well, and then, uncomplainingly, unmurmuringly, patiently and joyfully trust ill God. If God will that any
or all of us should go to prison or to death, it will be
best for us, and in our hearts, as well as with our lips,
we should say:' Thy will be done.' Let' the fearful and
the unbelieving,' the time-serving and the truckling, do
as they may, be sure ye give not to another the honor
that belongs to God alone.
"Perhaps there be those in other States who wonder
why the preachers of the M. E. Church, South, and the
Catholics are so violently persecuted in this State, and
ask, what have they done? Well, for the information
of such, be it known: these men are not thieves, to
steal church property or any other property; they are
not robbers; they are not seditious persons; they are not
stirrers up of strife; they are not even'busy-bodies in
359 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
other men's matters;' but they are quiet, orderly, inoffensive men, whose only crime (?) is that they will
persist in preaching the Gospel and exercising the regular functions of their ministry without first subscribing
to and filing an oath which transfers to Cesar the things
which belong to God; or, in other words, an oath which
transfers the supreme authority and headship of the
Church from Christ, the ever-blessed Savior, to the
State of Missouri, or rather to a faction in the State of
Missouri. That is all; and the ministers can well afford
to suffer in such a cause."
360 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE BAPTIST CHURCH-REV. A. P. WILLIAMS, D. D., REV.
JAMES E. HUGHES AND REV. JOHN H. PRICE.
The Baptist Church-History-Division in 1845-Slavery Question The War-Division in this State-" Loyal Convention" at Han nibal-Kansas City and Jefferson Cityv-Rev. A. P. Williams,
D. D.-" The Great Baptist Standard Bearer of Missouri"-Ex tracts from his Journal-General Association Arrested-Dr. Wil liams Indicted-Rev. James E. Hughes-His Life, Labors, Trials,
and Indictment-Transcript from Court Records-Rev John H.
Price-Character and Labors-Mobbed at Third Fork Church, De
Kalb county. while Preaching-Two of the Mob Killed-A Bloody
Scene-Visited bv another Mob at Midnight and Dragged from his
Bed and Home to the Brush. Stripped, Gagged. Beat with Pistols,
and Whipped nearly to Death for Preaching the Gospel without
Taking the Oath.
THE BAPTIST CHURCH.
The Baptist Church claims a venerable history;
and, indeed, some Churches in America hold the doctrine of Apostolic succession.
They do not date their origin in this country with
Roger Williams, of Rhode Island, who was an irregular
Baptist, but with Obadiah Holmes, of New Hampshire,
who was whipped at the cart-tail through the streets of
Boston for preaching the liberty of conscience, or "soul
liberty," to the bigoted Puritans.
They claim a common history with the Huguenots,
who settled in Virginia and South Carolina, and a preeminence in the vindication of religious liberty, both in
361 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
this country and in Europe.  Their history is written
in the bloody records of Martyrdom, and may be read
in the sufferings of the Pueri, the Savoy, the Waldenses, the Albigenses, the Vaudois and the Huguenots.
True Baptists have always opposed the union of Church
and State, and believed that such union invariably produced both civil and ecclesiastical corruption. They
have maintained, under great sufferings, the purity of
the Church and her divine authority against all the
encroachments of the secular power, under whatever
disguise, and it is a favorite dogma that the spirit of
persecution is an evidence of a corrupt and a spurious
Church.
The history of the Baptist Church in the United
Stateswas marked by a complete division and separation in 1845. The old controversy over the institution of slavery was the occasion of the division, and the
exciting history of the Methodist Episcopal Church of
the United States upon this subject was repeated as
far as it could be done without the compact and
dependent connectional system of the Methodists.
After this separation each section organized separate
and distinct boards, societies and other connectional
agencies to carry forward the missionary work of the
Church.
Unlike the Methodists, the two Baptist organizations
have each recognized the validity of the plan and conditions of the separation, and have treated each other
as two distinct and different sorts of people, ecclesiastically. The principles upon which they separated they
considered vital and permanent, and in all aubsequent
controversies these principles have been used as moral
362 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
and ecclesiastical pivots upon which all questions have
turned. The great debate between Dr. Francis Wayland, President of Brown University, Rhode Island,
and Dr. Richard Fuller, of Beaufort, South Carolina,
on the "sinfulness of slavery per se," settled nothing,
but only confirmed both sections and precipitated the
division of 1845.
The Northern Baptists, controlled by their leading
ministers and scholars, began a system of persecution
and intolerance toward their Southern brethren, in
which they became as fanatical and unscrupulous as the
Northern Methodists, if they did not coalesce and confederate with them in their unrighteous crusade upon
the South.
"They joined hands in full fellowship with the Northern Methodist Church, and made common cause with
them against the people and institutions of the South."
They soon corrupted the masses of the Northern Baptists, and succeeded in thoroughly indoctrinating the
Church in abolition fanaticism.   The only Northern
Baptists not thoroughly abolitionized into corrupt political partisans, were a few Churches in Ohio, Indiana,
and Southern Illinois. They stoutly resisted the political encroachments and corrupting influences of the
Northern fanatics, and still do so up to this good day.
To secularize the Church, abolitionize society, and
commit the Church to the most reckless crusade upon
the people and institutions of the South was the pur pose of the abolition fanatics; and the extinction of all
spiritual life and the martyrdom of every revealed
principle of the' true kingdom of Christ was not too 
dear a price to pay.
363 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
The true Baptists in Missouri and in the South
resisted their purpose and suffered for their temerity,
like the Southern Methodists suffered; but it is a glorious record of suffering and an imperishable heritage of
blood.
The civil war came, and the history is told. Northern Baptists, like Northern Methodists, seemed to glory
in the occasion it furnished to oppress and persecute
their Southern brethren. They sang, and prayed, and
preached, and wrote, and from pulpit, platform and
press, hounded  on  the  "dogs of war,"  and  then
demanded as a consideration a division of the spoils.
The celebrated "Stanton-Ames Order" from the War
Department was duplicated for the Baptists, and Mr.
Stanton, whom the Northern Methodist papers invidiously distinguish as the great "war minister," issued
an order from the War Department, bearing date of
Jan. 14, 1864, to the "American Baptist Home Mission
Society of New York," authorizing them to seize and
possess themselves of all Baptist Churches in the South
that were not served by loyal ministers. This order,
and those who used it, stand in the same category of
crime as the criminals of the "Stanton-Ames Order"
noticed in Chapter 14, Vol. I. The degrees in crime
may be graded by criminal law, but moral law knows
no abstract distinctions.
The persecutions of Baptist ministers in Missouri
during the late war and under the test oath of the new
Constitution was only less than that of the Southern
Methodists. In the Baptist pulpit of this State were
some of the brightest lights of the Church, conspicuous
amongst whom was the Rev. A. P. Williams, D.D., now
364 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
of precious memory. This distinguished divine was
born and raised in Missouri. Hiere he studied and
toiled and suffered in his Master's vineyard, planting
churches, baptizing converts and preaching the Gospel
to the poor. A Southern man in his sympathies, true
to the Baptist standards, and of uncompromising integrity, he was the recognized champion of the Baptists
of Missouri. Hie was, indeed, a Prince in Israel; and
though intensely opposed to all Northern aggression
and all the forms of political and ecclesiastical corruption that emanated from Northern fanatics, yet he was
recognized and characterized by them as the "Great
Baptist Standard-Bearer of Missouri." Hie was the
first vice-president of the Southern Baptist Convention,
held at Memiphis, Tenn., in 1867, and whether presiding
over that body or engaged in its grave deliberations, he
was a recognized standard-bearer of the Church.
This good and great man left a faithful testimony
against the proscriptions and persecutions of ministers
of the Gospel in Missouri.
The following extracts from the unpublished journal
of Dr. Williams will reflect some of the strbng points
in his character, and indicate his real sentiments upon
some of the vital questions forced upon the Church
during the dark days of her persecution, for which the
reader will thank his estimable but bereaved widow.
In his journal for August, 1862, he says:
"I now proceed to record an event which ought t)
make every American ear tingle. While our General
Association was in session at Rehobath, SaIine county,
Mo., July 27th-Lord's day-a company of Federal
troops surrounded the meeting-house and compelled
365 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
every man, without exception, to march out into the
prairie adjoining, and then ordered them to separate
into three companies-First, The Union men to form a
line by themselves; second, such Southern men as had
taken the oath and given bond, to form a line by themselves;.and, third, all who had not taken the oath, to
form a line by themselves.  They then arrested all the
latter, marching some of them off to Marshall (fifteen
miles distant) to the provost-marshal's office, and paroling the rest to report during the week.
"Now, it strikes me that when a Christian denomination can not be allowed to meet in association to devise
means to spread the Gospel of the grace of God without
being arrested by Federal troops, and especially on the
Lord's day, religious liberty is gone. But there is still
a worse feature about this affair-there were Baptists
among the troops! Did not angels weep when they witnessed such a spectacle? Baptists assisting in arresting
their own brethren when assembled in General Association doing the work of the Lord!  The Judgment! O
the Judgment day!"
On the 4th of August of the same year Dr. Williams
makes the following entry:  "To-day f reported to the
provost-marshal at Marshall, and, notwithstanding he
had no charges against me excepting that I am a Southern man in sympathy and feeling, I was compelled to
take what is called an oath of allegiance, not only to
support the Constitution of the United States, but also
the Government thereof, and to give a bond of three
thousand dollars, with two securities. What will future
generations say when they read these facts? Such
arbitrary tyranny and oppression and such reckless
366 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
disregard of the Constitutional rights of unoffending
citizens will most assuredly sink the nation that practices it. My appeal is to the God of the oppressed and
wronged."
Passing over many instances of oppression, cruelty
and murder recorded by this good man, and which would
be of deep interest to his many friends, as well as to all
lovers of religious liberty, the following bears more
directly upon the purpose of this work:
"October 6, 1865.-On my way home from Warrensburg I called on Bro. Jonathan Gott, aBaptist minister,
and we halt a free talk about our new Constitution. I
told him that it seemed to me the object of the framers
and supporters of that instrument was to rid the
country of all mninisters who had the least Southern
sympathy, that they might fill it with Northern abolition
political preachers.   He said he thought that every
minister who could not take the oath ought to leave the
State. I told him that as for myself I could not think
of it, because here I was born, and here, from my early
youth, I had labored to build up and promote the cause
of Christ; that I had planted many churches; that I
had baptized parents and their children, and that all
my affections were too much interwoven with society
here to think about leaving.'Besides,' said I,'Bro.
Gott, do you think that the churches to whom I preach
would, if thus deprived of my ministry, accept such
substitutes as you propose?' After a pause he said,'I
reckon not.''No, sir,' said I,'you know they would
not.'
"October 22, 1865.-Lord's day, I preached to a large
and attentive congregation, from Heb. iv, 9. The audi
367 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
ence appeared quite solemn, as they attentively listened
to the word. Hope good will follow. I thank God
that I have such a sense of divine approval while I am
preaching at the risk of fine and imprisonment."
"Nov. 28.-I am this day compelled to record what
I never expected to have to record, and what grieves
me to record: I have been to-day arrested by the sheriff of
this (Saline) county, under indictment for preaching the
Gospel of the grace of God to the churches and to sinners
without filing an obnoxious oath! O my native State!
Art thou to be disgraced by becoming a land of religious persecution! God forbid!"
Dr. Williams was regularly indicted by the grand
jury for the body of Saline county, and the indictment
was made out by Horace B. Johnson, circuit attorney.
The case went on the docket of the Circuit Court like
hundreds of others.
The Baptists were divided in this State, and for a
time had two organizations. In the fall of 1865 a
"loyal Baptist Convention" met in Hannibal, 3Mo.,
composed of about a dozen ministers. They resolved
to co-operate with the "Home Mission Society of New
York," and proposed, through the Rev. J. V. Schofield,
of St. Louis, to enter into and take possession of all the
churches of the State. When they met again, in Kansas City, September 28, 1866, they found much of the
work of seizing churches yet to do, and they called for
lay preachers to turn in and help them. The " executive committee" of that body said in their report:
"Great is the religious destitution in our State.   The
750 Baptist churches and the 45,000 Baptists in this State
were never adequately provided with preachers. Now
368 
MARTYRDOMI IN MISSOURI.
the ease is much worse, since a disability or a disinclination to take the Constitution oath has emptied so
many pulpits. How shall the deficiency be supplied?
Your committee, aided and seconded by the'Home
Mission Society,' is supplying these churches with
ordained ministers as fast and as far as the funds will
allow."....  "Brethren, we must put our
shoulders to the wheel, we can not lie supinely and
leave the'Home Mission Society' to do all the work.
Already that Society feels that we are not doing all
we ought.
"In behalf of the Committee,
"I)D. J. HANCOCK, Chairman."
The General Convention for 1867 met at Jefferson
City in October.  The "test oath" of the new Constitution having been set aside, the Convention changed
its policy, and ordained three things as indispensable
prerequisites to membership in order to co-operation
with the Baptist General Association of Missouri:
"1. A continuance of their auxiliary relation to the
'American Baptist Home Mission Society,' in order to
secure their sympathy and aid in our work in this State.
"2. A continuance of the Board in St. Louis, as the
most proper and effective base of operations.
"3. A clear recognition of the Baptist doctrine, that
all Baptists, without reference to race or color, have an
equal right to a participation in our councils, immunities and privileges."
This put the Baptists of Missouri in a condition to be
sold out to the Northern Baptists, and henceforth to be
subject to the behests of the Board of Home Missions
of New York; and now the institutions and organs of
24
369
I 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
the Church in Missouri are in the hands of the political
Baptists of the State, while the true Baptists are deprived of their rightful heritage and denied the blessings
of Christian fellowship.
The history of the Baptist Church in Missouri is a
strange history, and one that will present a rare chapter of wrong and outrage upon the time-honored and
heaven-favored principles of the Church, for which
northern fanatics are responsible.
The foregoing facts have been furnished by a well
informed and reputable member and minister of the
Baptist Church in this State, with much more that can
not find room at this stage of this work.
The whole denomination has suffered a heavy loss in
the untimely and sudden death of Rev. Dr. A. P. Williams, the  "Baptist  Standard-Bearer  of Missouri."
The lasG and the ablest work of Dr. Williams was a
paper, prepared at the request of the General Association of Missouri, on the "test oath" of the new Constitution. This paper has recently been issued from the
press; and but for the fact that it has been copy-righted
and is being sold for the benefit of his widow, much of
its severe analysis of that instrument, and many of its
cogent reasons why ministers could not take "the said
oath," would be transferred to these pages. Dr. Williams sleeps under the sod of his native State, but his
works do follow him. Hiis name is sacredly enshrined
in thousands of hearts, and will ever be to his bereaved
Church "like ointment poured forth." Hle will live in
history "where he has turned many to righteousness,"
and " shine as the stars forever and ever," where per
370 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
secutions never come  and "test oaths" are never
required.
The truth of history required this bird's eye view of
the acts and doings of the super-loyal Baptists of this
State, who, like their Northern Methodist confederates
in oppression and crime, are now calling lovingly but
lustily for the mantle of charity to cover the dead past.
But charity has no mantle for crime; and the past is
not dead, but alive and active in the principles for
which the good and the pure suffered martyrdom.
"Times change, and men often change with them;
but principles, never."
REV. JAMES E. HUGHES.
Amongst the many Baptist ministers persecuted during the time the new Constitution was in force was
the Rev. J. E. Hughes, of Clinton county. He is a
native Missourian; was educated at Fayette, Howard
county, Missouri, and at Georgetown College, Kentucky,
at which latter place he graduated in 1852. He spent
one year at the Baptist Theological Seminary at Covington, Kentucky.  He was ordained a minister of the
Gospel in the fall of 1853, by Rev. Noah Flood and S.
C. Harris, and at once accepted a call to the Richland
Baptist Church in Callaway county. In the fall of 1855
he moved to Plattsburg, Clinton county, where he remained in enlarged and undisturbed ministerial usefulness until the war broke out in 1861. Of this period
he writes: "I had no connection with the war during
its whole continuance but as school commissioner and
as a minister of Christ. I labored to correct and im-r
prove the system of common school education in the
371 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
county on the one hand, and to ameliorate the spiritual
condition of those with whom I associated on the other,
until intercepted by a military despotism, whose mercenary ends were accomplished by a brutal soldiery.
I opposed the war because war is an evil per se, and
also because the germ that produced this war was
hatched in the brains of the politico-religious fanatics
of the North, who denounced the Constitution of the
United States as a league with hell and a covenant with
the devil.
"Again, I was not in favor of secession'per se;' I
doubted its constitutionality. The Constitution was
declared to be the supreme law of the land; and I felt
proud of the government of Washington, of its Constitution, of its laws and institutions, and felt then, as I
now feel, that whenever the Constitution is amended or
changed in any way for political ends it will become
less glorious as a magna charta and less effectual in subserving the wants of a great nation.
"During the war I was a loyal man, and was so considered by all except those driven to madness in the
war or those hyper-radicals who stood aloof from the
fields of carnage and sung their joyful peans over the
death of the old Constitution and the inauguration of
the new order of things.
"I made one or two public speeches at the breaking
out of the war, in which I expressed myself passionately fond of the Union as it came from the hands of
our fathers, and also expressed my determination to
stand by the Constitution and oppose all changes or
amendments coming from either north or south.
"Although totally opposed to the Lincoln admiinistra
372 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
tion and its innovations, I made it a point as a loyal man
to obey all orders, rules, edicts, &c., of the Lincoln
government so long as my religious rights were not in tercepted. Nor was it until the new Constitution was
formed by arbitrary military rule and all the principles
of free government disregarded that I came in contact
with the civil authorities of the State.
"This Constitution required that the ministers of the
Gospel in the State, before entering upon the duties of
their office, should lay down their ordination papers,
which they had received from the Presbytery of the
Church of God, and apply to the courts for political ordination papers, by virtue of which they might preach the
Gospel of the Son of God. Also, they were required to
take and subscribe to an oath which was both humiliating
and dishonorable to an American citizen; the prime
object of which, doubless, was to drive out of the State,
by torture, all southern and conservative ministers, and
make the State, in its religious and political complexion,
to use the language of one of their senators,'more
homo (negro) geneous.'
"I refused to obey, and denounced the demand as an
infringement upon the rights of conscience. In my
preaching I defined my position, and from Matt. 22, 21
as a text, I explained fully the reason why I could not
comply with the demand of the new Constitution and
also the proclamation of Governor Fletcher, who left
his high office and became an itinerant stump orator of
the fanatical whine, stumping the State, issuing his
pious bulls, threatning every minister in the State with
fire and brimstone or with imprisonment in the penitentiary of the State, which ws about the same, who
373
I 
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should offer to preach the Gospel of Christ without first
having taken this infamous test oath at or before the time
mentioned in his most royal proclamation.
"I preached to the people that the Constitution of the
United States prohibited all interference in matters of
conscience; that this test oath was an interference with
the rights of conscience. I also persuaded my brethren
of the ministry not to take the test oath as a qualification to preach; that by so doing they acknowledged the
supremacy of Cesar's government over that of our
Lord's, and made the latter subservient to the former;
that God's ministers had always refused to obey the
edicts of kings or the laws of human governments when
the rights of conscience were to be violated; that when
King Darius commanded Daniel not to offer up prayer
to his God for thirty days, Daniel wholly disregarded
his edict; and when Peter and John were commanded
not to preach in the name of Jesus Christ, they said,
'whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken
unto you more than unto God, judge ye.'
"The friends of the test oath generally acknowledged
the correctness of my position, but said the law required
that I should take the oath, and, therefore, as a loyal man,
I ought to do so. I responded that the same reasoning
was presented to Daniel, to Peter and John, and to all
the people of God in every age by the enemies of
righteousness.
"At this period of my ministerial life, and in January,
of the year 1866, i was arrested and tried for preaching
the Gospel of Christ.
"Below is a true and official transcript of the ploceedings against me, furnished by Colonel William L.
374
LI- 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
Birney, clerk of the circuit court of Clinton county,
Mlissouri."
Only so much of this transcript is'given here as
will furnish the reader a sample of the civil processes
against ministers in the courts of Missouri. Hundreds
of similar cases are on the court records of this State,
to remain as a part of the strange history of the
times.
The author is in possession of a mass of similar
matter from the court records of this State sufficient to
fill a good sized volume of itself, from which he can
only select such samples as may be necessary to present
all the peculiar phases of these civil processes against
ministers of the Gospel. What a remarkable study for
the lawyer, the philospher, the jurist, the statesman, the
politician, the Christian, the American and the student
of eclesiastical history these judicial records furnish.
"A Transcript of the papers in the Cause of the State of
Missouri vs. Jas. E. Hughes.
" STATE OF MISSOITRI, 
COUNTY OF CLINTON.   SS.
"Before me, Francis I). Phillips, a Justice of the
Peace for said County, personally came Henry C. Poe,
who being duly sworn according to law, deposeth and
saith, that on or about the twenty-eighth day of January, 1866, in the County of Clinton, one James E.
Hughes did preach, officiating as a clergyman in violation of law, by not having first taken, subscribed and
filed the oath of loyalty, as required by law.  And  this
deponent doth verily believe that the said James B.
Hughes is guilty of the fact charged, and further this
deponent saith not.
"(Signed)      HENRY C. POE.
375 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
"Sworn to and subscribed before me, in the County
aforesaid, this seventh day of February, 1866.
"(Signed) FRANCIS D. PIIILLIPS, Justice of the Peace.
"The above and foregoing is a true and correct copy
of the affidavit filed before the Justice of the Peace in
the Cause of the State vs. James E. Hughes.
"(Attest)   WM. LEONARD BIRNEY, Clerk.
" STATE OF MISSOURI, )
COUNTY OF CLINTON. SS
"To the Sheriff or any Constable of said County, Greeting:
" Whereas, complaint has been made before me, one
of the Justices of the Peace in and for said County of
Clinton, upon the oath of Henry C. Poe, that one James
E. Hughes, late of the County of Clinton aforesaid, did,
on or about the twenty-eighth day of January, 1866, at
the County of Clinton, preach, officiating as a clergyman, in violation of law, by not having first taken, subscribed and filed the oath of loyalty, as required by law.
These are, therefore, to command you to take the said
James E. Hughes, if he be found in your County, and
him safely keep, so that you have his body forthwith
before me, or some other Justice of the Peace in said
County of Clinton, to answer the said complaint, and
to be further dealt with according to law.
" Given under my hand and seal, this seventh day of
January, 1866.
[Seal.]  "FRANCIS D. PHILLIPS, Justice of the Peace.
"The above and foregoing is a true and correct copy
of the warrant issued by the Justice of the Peace, on
the affidavit made and filed before him as aforesaid, as
the same is on file in my office.
"(Attest)         WM  LEONARD BIRNEY, Clerk.
376
IV 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
" STATE OF MISSOURI, 1S
COUNTY OF CLINTON. 
" State of iissouri vs. James E. Hughes.
"On this seventh day of February, A. D). 1866, before
the undersigned, a Justice of the Peace within and for
said County, came Henry C. Poe, and filed his statement, under oath, that James E. Hughes, of said County,
on the 28th day of January, 1866, at the County of
Clinton aforesaid, did preach, officiating as a clergyman, without first having taken the oath required by
law, and in violation thereof.
"Writ issued on the 10th day of February, 1866,
returnable forthwith, and placed in the hands of George
Funkhouser, Sheriff of said County.
"Subpoena issued this 10th day of February, A. D).
1866, for James M. Riley and Henry C. Poe, witnesses
on the part of the State.
"And now, on this 10th day of February, 1866, the
said writ is returned by the Sheriff, served, by producing the body of the said James E. Hughes. And the
said defendant answers ready for trial, and in open
Court admits that the facts charged in said statement,
filed as aforesaid, are true.
"Whereupon the Justice orders that the said James
E. Hughes give bond in the sum of $1,000 for his
appearance at the next term of the Circuit Court to be
holden for said county of Clinton, on the ninth day of
April next, and not to depart the same without leave of
said Court.
"And the said James E. Hughes gives bond, as required by the Justice, with James H. Birch, jr., and
Biazleton A. Jones as his securities, which said bond is
approved and certified.
377 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
"STATE OF MISSOURI, S
COUNTY OF CLINTON. S
"I, Francis D. Phillips, do certify the foregoing to be
a true and complete transcript from the entries on my
docket in the Cause of the State of Missouri vs. James
E. Hughes, on the charge of officiating as a clergyman
without first having taken the oath required by law,
and in violation thereof. And all the papers before me
are attached hereto and herewith returned.
"Given under my hand this 28th day of March, A.
D. 1866.
"(Signed)            FRANCIS D. PHILLIPS,
"Justice of the Peace.
"The above and foregoing is a true copy of the transcript of the Justice in the above-entitled cause, as
certified and on file in my office.
"(A+test)    WM. LEONARD BIRNEYT Clerk."
REV. JOHN H. PRTICE.
One of the most shocking and diabolical outrages
committed during all of these strange times was the
mobbing, almost to murder, of the Rev. John H. Price,
in DeKalb county, Missouri.
Mr. Price was a quiet, orderly, peaceable and useful
minister of the Baptist Church. He was born and raised
in Orange county, North Carolina, moved to Missouri in
1855, and settled in Clinton county. He was converted
to God under the ministry of Rev. A. P. Williams, and
in 1857 entered the ministry of the United or Missionary Baptist Church, with which people he is still identified.
He took no part in the war, believing, as he writes,
378 
MART YRDOM IN MISSOURI.
that the weapons of his warfare were not carnal, and
that God had not called him to fight, but to preach the
Gospel of peace. Of his trials he writes as follows:
"It was not long, however, until a company of men,
in the garb of soldiers, under command of one Captain
Thompson, then stationed at the Platte river bridgey
made a raid through our settlement, arresting every
man they came across. When they came to my house I
told them I was a minister and did not wish to have any
thing to do with the war.  They then swore that they
intended to make me have something to do with it, and
carried me to their headquarters at the bridge, and kept
me confined for eight days, compelling me to perform
hard labor a part of the time. This was in July, 1862.
After this I was not troubled any more until after the
enactment of the test oath. In the meantime I left
Clinton county and moved to DeKalb county, where I
purchased a small farm and was living in peace. Fedling it to be my duty to warni men to flee from the wrath
to come and prepare to meet God in peace, I continued
to do so regardless of the oath or the authority of those
who attempted to interfere between my conscience and
my Maker. I was careful all the while to preach Christ
crucified, the Way, the Truth and the Life, saying
nothing about politics, for that was not my work or
business.   My radical friends finding this out, and
wanting a pretext to work on, they resolved to stop me
from preaching or kill me, one or the other.   At
length they prepared themselves and came to my appointment on Sunday for that purpose.   The result
was that two of their number were killed.   They
resolved, however, to be avenged on me. In the meand
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.1 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
while I was arrested, with a writ in the hands of the
sheriff, and carried without my consent to the county
seat, and there compelled to file a bond of a thousand
dollars, all for daring to preach the Gospel contrary
to the command of Cesar, or Mr. Drake. This I had
to do or go to jail. But they were not satisfied yet, and
resolved on further punishment. At length they raised
a mob and came to my house at one o'clock at night,
dragged me from my bed, and by force carried me
to the brush, at the same time tearing off what clothes
they had permitted me to put on. My back being naked,
they broke limbs from the nearest tree and marked my
back from my shoulders down. After beating me on
my head and side severely with their pistols, from
which I did not recover for months, they released me
only upon condition that I would agree to leave the
county in three days, which I did, but had to be hauled
in a wagon. I was then compelled to dispose of my
effects in DeKalb county at a loss and leave in order to
save my life. These things took place in July and
August of the year 1866, and all for no other crime than
preaching the Gospel to perishing sinners, for I resolved
from the first to have nothing to do with the war in any
shape or form, which resolution I have carried out to
the letter even to this day.
"It was somewhat amusing to see the turn their counsel took in the case of my trial before the court for
preaching the Gospel. They would not say'Gospel,'
but,' for preaching from the Bible without taking the
oath.' This was a kind of mock trial gone through
with, in which I was bound over in the one thousand
dollar bond to keep out of jail."
380 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
Rev. Mr. Price had been preaching regularly to the
Third Fork Church in DeKalb county and to the Bethel
Church in Andrew county. Upon inquiry as to the
place where he was mobbed and the names of the outlaws, he says: "The place where the mob occurred in
which two men were killed was the Third Fork Church.
The leaders of the mob were Pope and Medcalf, who
were both killed. The names of the men who came to
my house at night I did not learn. They were of the
lowest order of the radicals, the very scum of the earth,
and, as I learn, have all been dispersed to the four winds.
The name of the justice of the peace before whom I was
tried I can not now remember. The sheriff who arrested
me was William Ayers. The lawyer who appeared
against me was William Moore, of Stewartsville, who
ought to be covered with infamy, as he had long been
acquainted with me and knew my standing.  Mr. Perkins, a Union man, went on my bond.
"The mob came to my house about the last of August,
1866. I do not remember the day. After waking me,
they called for me to come out. This I refused to do.
They declared that they would burn my house if I did
not. I then lighted a candle, when three or four of
them came in, seized me, dragged me out by force
and carried me to the brush, stating at the same time
that I was a rebel, and had been the cause of two of
their men being killed, and if I did not leave the country ill three days they would kill me certain. After
having nearly killed me, they suffered me to return to
my house.
"Mark this! I had been tried before a justice's court
and bound over to appear at the next term of the Cir
381
I 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
cuit Court, at which time the grand jury found no bill
of indictment against me. This so exasperated the enemies of all righteousness that they swore vengeance
against me. This was Judge Hlerens' court, and no man
seemed more hurt over the refusal of the grand jury to
indict me than the circuit attorney, I. C. Parker, of.St.
Joseph, a man whom you know. Old Henry Vories, of
St. Joseph, was my attorney before this court. All he
had to do was to mention the case, and the judge released
me from my bond, to the great mortification of my enemies and the friends of Mr. Drake's usurpation and
tyranny.
"There are some strange circumstances connected
with the mob that came to my appointment. The young
man Pope, who was made the leader of the mob, lived
in Arizonia, Andrew county, thirty miles distant; the
son of a widow. The mob was raised by some low
flung radicals in the neighborhood, who said that no
man should preach in that Church or any where in that
neighborhood who would not take the oath, and Pope
was persuaded to join them. iHe was made their leader
and spokesman. The radicals told them to break up
the meeting and drive me away and they would foot the
bill. But as it turned out, it was a hard bill to foot, for
two of them lost their lives.
"When the mob reached the Church I was preaching,
and they formed in double file outside and then marched
in and up the aisle near to where I stood.  They halted,
and Pope, who was in the lead, ordered me to stop
preaching. I reasoned mildly with him upon the impropriety of their course. Hie replied that he would
risk the consequences. I told them solemnly that they
382 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
would all have to answer at the judgment seat of Christ,
then dismissed the congregation and went off home.
In less than twenty minutes Pope was lying a corpse on
the very spot where he stood when he ordered me to
stop preaching. He was shot outside of the house, and
never spoke afterward. He was carried in by his comrades and laid beside Medcalf, who was killed at the same
time. I was not present, but was told that the house
looked more like a slaughter pen than a Church.
"I feel clear in all this matter, as I plead with those
young men that day to desist from their course, and told
them that I was not preaching politics or treason, but
the Gospel of peace. They told me that nobody should
preach who would not take the oath. I could not learn
the names of all the mob-only Pope, Medcalf, Dick
Veal, and I think another Veal, two sons of the widow
Ketchum and one son of the widow Hudson.   The man
who promised to foot the bill if they would break up
the meeting was named Kinison.  He has since left the
country.
"After these difficulties the brethren were prevented
from holding meetings at the Third Fork Church for
several years. The first preacher who went there to
preach was Elder Joseph Yates, a missionary Baptist
from Illinois. A man by the name of Spangler pointed
Elder Yates to the blood on the floor, and told him that
more blood would be shed if he attempted to preach
and organize the Church again.
"These are about all the facts that I can remember
and all the names that I can learn.
"Your affectionate brother in the Gospel of Christ,
" JOHN H. PRICE."
383
I 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
The following account of this horrible affair was fur nished by a sister of the living martyr, written by
a highly esteemed young minister of the Missouri Con ference of the M. E. Church, South, and must close this
chapter:
"Rev. John i. Price is a minister of the Missionary
Baptist Church. Hie was born and raised in South
Carolina; moved to Missouri at an early day, and settled
in Clinton County; from thence, in the spring of
1866, moved to I)eKalb county, and settled on the Lit tle Third Fork of Platte River, where he was living at
the time of his ill-treatment.
"iHe was assailed by a mob while preaching in July
or August, 1866; ordered to stop, and driven from the'
pulpit. After he had left the Church and was gone, the
mob and some of the congregation got into a fight, in
which two of the former were killed.
"Some time in August or September following the
mob came to his house, about one o'clock at night (about
fifteen in number), and called to him to get up and come
out. Hie refused. They then went in, made him
get up and dragged him from the house, his wife the
meanwhile begging them to spare his life, which they
promised to do. They then placed a guard at the doors
and windows of the house to prevent the inmates from
escaping to raise the alarm, while they took him some
distance from the house, beat him over the head with
their revolvers, stripped him almost naked, gagged him,
and then whipped him with hickory withes until they
were satisfied. Hie was still able to speak, and they
ordered him to leave the country within three days or
they would kill him.
384 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
"After sacrificing his farm and other property he was
hauled away. lHe was unable to go about or to do anything for a long time after, he was so cruelly beaten.
They told him that it was because he would not take
the oath.
"M ir. Price is spoken of every where as a good man,
a peaceable, orderly, quiet citizen, who never meddled
with politics. In fact, I have always heard him spoken
of in the very highest terms, as a man, a citizen and a
minister."
Comment is under restraint in the presence of such
facts, and exclamation finds expression only in the
words, " How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou
not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on
the earth?"
The Rev. 1. ]E. iedgepeth, now of precious memory,
the Rev. Jesse Bird and others, were mobbed in that
part of the country, and had their churches closed
against them by lawless ruffians, and for the very same
reasons. In that part of the State more than any other
"the heathen raged, and the people imagined a vain
thing."
25
385
I 
MARTYRDOM  IN MISSOURI.
CHAPTER XVIII.
REVS. W. A. TARWATER, S. W. BURGIN, GEO. W. ROBEY AND
MANY OTHERS.
Rev. W. A. Tarwater-Arrested often and Bonded, but none of these
Things moved Him-Rev. S. W. Burgin "in Perils Oft" —Rev. Geo.
W. Robey-Rev. Josiah McCary-Rev. W. S. Woodard-A Singu lar Case-A Court Adjourr ed because Attorneys would not Prepare
Bills of Indictment against Ministers;-Rev. Jas. Ragan, Rev. John
A. Mumpower-Rev. J. S. Frasier-Rev. J. B. Christie —Rev A.
H. Dean-Rev. L. F. Aspley-Elder wr'm. C. Ligon-Elder Geo.
P. Kinnard-Martvred-Rev. M. L. Eads-Indictment against the
Author and many Others.
REV. W. A. TARWATER.
Few men were called to suffer more under the pressure of the new Constitution than this humble, earnest,
faithful and successful minister and member of the Missouri Conference of the M. E. Church, South. Arrested
often in the very midst of his usefulness; taken from
the very midst of revival scenes into the judgment
halls; had before rulers and civil magistrates and put
under bonds; yet,'none of these things m(,ved him,'
for he'counted not his life dear unto himself,' but
rejoiced that he was counted worthy to suffer for the
name of Christ.  Mr. Tarwater is a splendid specimen
of a Missouri preacher amid those dark scenes of trial
and persecution, and it would defraud the public not to
allow him to tell his own story in his own way:
386 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
"Religious liberty in Missouri had come to an end, at
least so far as the M. E. Church, South, in northeast
Missouri was concerned. The convention oath of 1861
had been prescribed and administered; but the heaviest
blow was struck by the Draconian Constitution, which
would make every minister of the land subscribe to
an oath as the condition of his continuing in the sacred
office. I had made up my mind, on my knees, that I
would not take it. For I would not have taken any sort
of oath from any civil authority as the condition of my
preaching.
"The circuit court of Lewis county, Missouri, was
now in session. I received a message purporting to
come from a county official, runing about thus:'Sir,
change the services of to-morrow into a prayer meeting,
and thereby secure your liberty another six months.'
I thought it would be rash not to comply, as there
seemed to be a promise in it that I would not be interfered with until the following term of the Circuit Court.
But such was not the case, as it was soon noised abroad
that I should be chastised for not hearing and obeying
the voice of men.  We had a prayer meeting.  It was
a solemn occasion. The congregation never felt the
force of civil prohibition as they then felt it.  The Holy
One was in the hearts of his people. I had already refused to perform the rights of matrimony, upon the
generally received opinion that it was a civil contract.
But feeling most solemnly convinced that no legislative
enactment could invade the pulpit, I only refused to
quit preaching. I was now waited on by a committee,
whether self constituted or sent by the'Loyal League'
I could not know, but so strong was my belief that the
387 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
latter was true that I did not ask them. Theyinformed
me that I must' leave the State, take the oath of loyalty,
or quit preaching.' I replied, in substance, as follows:
'All my interests are in Missouri; my friends are here;
it is the place of my nativity, and 1 feel like remaining,
laboring and suffering with the Church in Missouri. As
to the oath, I can not take that, for if I have any authority
to preach, I received it from a Hiigher Court than any
civil tribunal.  I can not repudiate that autho'rity and
claim to be an ambassador of Christ, who said,' Lo, I
am with you always,' &c. Again, I have taken the
oath of'61, which bound me not to take any oath of
any legislature or convention which is in violation of
the Constitution of the United States, and, with my
present convictions, I can not take that oath without
being a perjured man.'
"On leaving, they informed me that the men who
framed and supported that instrument were the men
who put down the rebellion, and that they would enforce
that law to the end.  I answered,'The Lord being my
helper, gentlemen, I shall attempt to preach next Sabbath in that Church,' pointing toward the Church house
in Canton.
"It should be stated that I afterward stood by the
dying bed of one of these men, who asked me to pray
for him. I tried as best I could to do so. A short
time before his death he expressed a degree of readiness, and said he had some comfort as he passed through
the chilly waters of death. Holding me by the hand
and looking me in the face he said,' To be consistent,
I have gone too far.'
"All the preachers in the county (not Radical) had
388 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
quit preaching. I stood alone, but enjoyed great peace
of mind. Indications of the divine presence were witnessed in almost every congregation. I fully believe
the Lord sanctioned my course.
"A few Sabbaths came and went, and still I was at
liberty. Other preachers reascended the pulpit and
preached with a fireshness and energy they had never
known before. Many threats were made to mob me as
a lawless man. I told them I did not regard myself
lawless while I stood ready to suffer the penalty.
Finding that I was not to be moved by threats, they
determined upon my arrest. It was Monday morning.
I had tried to preach twice in Monticello on the previous day. Rumors were afloat that I was to be arrested
that day. I felt very much composed. Entering a
workshop of a friend, the deputy sheriff came in after
me. He read the summons. Placing myself under
his protection, I was marched across the street to
the court room of Justice Newland and introduced to
the Court. The deputy who arrested me was one Wm.
Cisler, a brother of the sheriff. The court room was
crowded, as it was the first time a man had been
arrested in that county for preaching the Gospel, and
there was considerable excitement in the village.
"When asked if I was ready for trial, I replied that
I was not, and asked for a change of venue. When the
Justice asked why I wanted a change of venue, I
replied that it was upon the ground that he (Justice
Newland) was an ex-Rebel and a perjured man, and that
I could not hope to get justice in such a court. At this
he became exceedingly angry, but when I informed him
that some of the best citizens of the county were now
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I 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
ready to make good the charge, he cooled down, and
consulted a lawyer as to whether I had a right to take
a change of venue.
"This same Justice Newland was in the beginning of
the war a strong Southern sympathizer, and helped to
outfit Col. Green's men for the Confederate service by
shoeing their horses and making butcher knives with
which to cut Yankee throats, and his only charge was,
'see that you make good use of them.'  He atterward
became loyal, and, like many others, wished to do some
very loyal deed, that he might atone for his rebellion
and elevate himself in Radical favor.
"The Court entered into a preliminary examination;
called one witness; consulted one Mr. Rollins, who
claimed to be a lawyer, went through the farce of an
investigation, and bound me over in the sum of one
thousand dollars for my appearance at the next term of
the Circuit Court, upon which I was dismissed.
"Hiere the question arose,' had I bound myself not
to preach?' No. I would have gone to jail before
giving such a bond. So the following' Sabbath I tried
as best I could to preach Jesus and the resurrection,
morning and evening.  I was soon arrested again, held
in custody a portion of the day, and acquitted for want
of testimony. The man who complained and had me
arrested would not appear as a witness in the case. So
ashamed was he of the whole thing that he could not
be found.  A few weeks elapsed, when I was engaged
in a ve y gracious revival of religion in the city of
Canton. The sheriff, Cisler, came down to arrest~me
again. He said:' Sir, I have come to arrest you again,
as you will not take the oath of loyalty.' I was in a
390 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
happy frame of mind, and, laying my hand on his
shoulder, said,'Sir, I am ready to go with you to Monticello, the gallows, the stake, or to prison, for the good
Lord has done great things for me recently, and I am
prepared for the worst; but I can not take that oath.  I
can not dare to have my commission renewed by a civil
officer.'  He  hesitated a few moments and said,'I
forgot some of my papers and will not take you to-day.'
This was noised abroad in the town of Canton, and
some expressed their indignation toward the officer that
would not perform his duty; whereupon the city authorities took it in hand, and the following morning
Bro. James Penn and myself were arrested by Constable Wilson and brought before Justice Page, who bound
each of us in a bond of five hundred dollars to appear
at the ensuing term of the Circuit Court. We returned
to the church and resumed the meeting, almost under
the shadow of the Justice's office. The good work
went on, and scores of souls were converted at that
meeting. It was the most successful year of my ministry. By this time I began to be regarded generally
among that class as a lawless man, a pestilent fellow,
and should not be allowed to remain in that part of the
country. Two or three unsuccessful attempts had been
made to mob me out of the country. Providence so
ordered it that there never was a violent hand laid on
me. Those persons who seemed to be full of the spirit
of mobocracy were encouraged by those il honorable
positions. It is true there were some honorable exceptions to this rule, who were, while Radicals, opposed to
such conduct. At the ensuing term of the Circuit
Court a bill was found against me, the result of which
391 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
has been furnished you by the legal gentlemen, Messrs.
Hawkins, Anderson, Lipscomb, and others whose
names I have forgotten, who volunteered to defend me.
May the Lord keep us all humble and save us and them
at last.                         W. A. TARWATER."
"STATE OF MIssOURI, Pl'f.  ) Indictment
VS.                   for
WILLIAM A. TARWATER, Def.  Preaching.
"In the Circuit Court of Lewis county, Missouri,
April Term, A. D. 1866.
"The defendant, by his attorney, moves the Court to
quash the indictment herein found, and assigns the following reasons, to-wit:
"1st. Because the indictment is not authorized by
the Constitution of the United States.
"2d. Because the indictment is not authorized by
any law of Congress or of the United States.
"3d. Because the indictment is not authorized by the
Constitution of the State of Missouri.
'4th. Because the indictment is not authorized by
any act of the Legislature or law of the State of
Missouri.
"5th. Because the indictment is not authorized by
the common law of England.
"6th. Preaching is not an offense by the Constitution
of the United States, or the laws of the United States.
"7th. Preaching is not an offense by any statute of
the State.
"8th. Preaching, is not an offense by the common
law of England, in force in this or any other Stat-..
"9th. There is no provision in any statute of this
State to enforce the penalty in the Constitution, nor is
392 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
there any provision in the Constitution to enforce its
own penalty against preaching, &c.
"Therefore, the defendant prays the judgment of the
Court upon the law and facts in the indictment.
"M. C. IIAWKINS, Att'y for Tarwater."
"These are the names of the Grand Jury that found
the indictment against Mr. Tarwater: Grand Jury for
the April term of the Lewis Circuit Court 1866-Wallace Gravis, Francis Byres, Robert MaGee (not C. A.
MaGee), A. G. Cave, John Marks, Solomon Glove, James
Burnes, Lloyd Reese, Robert W. Nelson, Henry Snyder,
J. D. Fulkerson, John Burmbaugh, Frank Green, J. D.
Warner, Jno. K. McColm, John McKenzie."
REV. S. W. BURGIN.
This faithful man of God and minister of the M. E.
Church, South, thus narrates his own sufferings and
trials:
"BRO. PINCKARD:
"Only for the sake of our beloved Church in her
just and reasonable request for incidents relating to
the persecutions of her ministers would I write this
brief sketch of our wrongs in Harrison county. Therefore you will please accept this as a true history of our
persecutions here during the time of our late troubles,
and pardon me for referring to myself as the chief sutferer in this part of our Lord's vineyard.
"Soon as the war comnmernceed I seemed to be an
object marked for destruction. Our preachers, W. C.
Martin, G. C. Brown and Geo. N. Newton, sent on this
work, all retired from the post of danger, leaving me to
stem the torrent as best I could. Our people still
393
I 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
desired preaching, and, yielding to their wishes, I kept
up regular appointments at various places on our little
Circuit.  Meanwhile I was shunned, slighted, slandered,
insulted and threatened.
"The rope, the bullet, confiscation, &c., were all
nothing more than my due! I often looked for death or
ill treatment by the road side or at the place of public
worship. Flags waved over me while preaching, and
many took pleasure in my reproach.
"A public school house was burnt to prevent myministrations in that quarter.  The Union League at Eagleville decreed my banishment, and an armed band
brought me the unwelcome tidings, giving me only ten
days to escape. The Provost-Marshal, H. T. Combs,
refused to give me a hearing, and favored my exile. I
trusted in God and was delivered from the destroyer.
But the new Constitution came, crowned with the terrible "Oath of Loyalty," and as I could neither bow the
knee to Baal nor render him honor, I must no longer
preach Jesus and the resurrection. I resorted to prayer
and class meetings.  But this was too nmich, for the law
forbade teaching, and, gathering strength and boldness
from public mandate, an attempt was made for my
indictment before the grand jury.
"Failing in this, effectual means were to be used in
seizing and binding me at Snellesville and beating me
with rods. I moved my appointment to another place.
About this time I was reorganizing two classes of my
torn and scattered members, and a prominent member
of the M. E. Church told me that this was the occasion
of the threatened treatment.
"But my cup of sorrow was not yet full.  In May,
394 
MARTV'RDOM IN MISSOURI.
1867, a time ever dark in memory's history, we
attempted to hold a quarterly meeting in Snellesville,
at a house reared by voluntary subscriptions from our
members and othiers, for schools and other public services. A night or two preceding its commencement
a party met there and decided that we should not hold
the meeting at that place, which becoming known, we
moved it to Brother Woodard's, in the immediate
neighborhood. In this assembly were members of
other denominations. Whereupon a plan was originated, doubtless, to break up our meeting-which had
progressed finely on Saturday-by mobbing. Under
the disguise of keeping order, a constable was employed with a writ, who arrested my son on Saturday
night or Sunday morning before day, and was proceeding on his way to Snellesville to bind him to keep the
peace, when an armed mob arose out of ambush, seized
the prisoner, dragged him through the brush and
swollen creek, tore off bis clothes, beat and mangled
him miserably, stamped him in the face, tarred him,
and then left him lying on the ground. lie had been a
regular Confederate soldier, but was then a peaceable
man, a member of our Church, and was quietly attending the meeting. They also struck my eldest son-a
local preacher-across the face with a club, inflicting a
deep scar and producing indistinctness of vision for life.
Had Bro. W. M. Rush, our Presiding Elder, attended,
he would probably have shared a similar or worse fate.
"I will here record another incident relating to that
eminent servant of God, William Ketron: By request,
he came up to give us a quarterly meeting at McCol lum's school house. But services had hardly com
395
.1 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
menced when an armed band came rushing up, took
the old man out of the house, and, disregarding his loyal
papers, hurried him off to Eagleville, where he was
subjected to the form of a sham trial.  Finding  no
fault in him, they released him, but compelled him to
leave immediately for home, and, late in the evening,
he came to my house, depressed in spirit and suffering
from heat and fatigue.
"All these things and many others occurred here,
doubtless, for the manifest design of breaking up our
Church in this place. But she still lives, and now a
traveling preacher and his family live peaceably in my
house, flushed with the success that attends his labors,
and rejoicing in the prospect of a brighter future. The
Lord be praised for his happy and wonderful deliverance.                            "S. W. BUITGIN."
ELDER GEORGE W. ROBEY AND OTHERS.
The following account of the persecution and prosecution of ministers of the Baptist Church is furnished
by one altogether competent and reliable:
" In the fall of 1865 the Bethel Association convened
with the 3~ount Pleasant Church, and about the close of
our business a resolution was offered by me, declaring
that, as Baptists, we alone had the right to decide upon
the qualifications of our Gospel ministers. That any
other qualification than that which was prescribed by
the word of God was of man, and, therefore, not binding
upon either conscience or soul. The resolution was adopted
unanimously.  Itwas intended and recognized as a stand
point for the ministers of our Church within the bounds
of the Bethel Association, and it affords me pleasure to
396 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
say that butfew of our preachers turned and bent the knee
to Fletcher before they could bear aloft the banner of
our crucified, yet risen, Saviour.
"On the 3d Saturday in December, 1865, Elder G.
W. Robey was called to the pastoral care of our Church
(Emerson).
"On the 31st day of the same month, as by previous
arrangement, he commenced a protracted meeting, Bro.
W. Cleaveland coming to his assistance. Preaching was
continued from day to day for about two weeks. During the time, a deep interest was taken in the exercises
and nine souls were led to hope in the pardon of their
sins, their acceptance with God, and they were baptized
and entered into the fellowship of the Church.
"A short time before the close of the religious exercises one Elijah Bohon, claiming to act as deputy constable, with a posse of three men (Wm. Moston, Samuel
Imbler and Ephraim Imbler) made their appearance at
the Church, each well armed with revolvers, which they
seemed in no wise disposed to conceal, and let the people
know that they had the necessary papers authorizing
them to arrest Elders G. W. Robey, W. R. Cleaveland
and Eastham Ballinger for daring to preach the Gospel
without first taking the'test oath;' in other words, for
not making the law of God subordinate to the civil law.
" The deputy constable, Elijah T. Bohon, was exceedingly anxious to have Brother Robey pointed out to
him. The only reply was, let your informant do it.
"At the appointed time Brother Robey commenced
the exercises. Elijah T. Bohon, deputy constable, and
two of his posse entered the house, took their seats in
a very orderly manner and heard a religious discourse
897 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
delivered, unmixed with politics. The interest in the
meeting was widening. The alternate shades of joy
and deep concern could be plainly seen upon every face.
The exercises came to a close, and Elijah T. Bohon,
deputy constable, then proceeded, in the discharge of his
voluntary duty, to arrest Elder Robey.
" In an unintelligible manner, and trembling like an
aspen leaf, he went through the form of reading the
writ. The writ was issued by one John T. Bohon
(brother of Elijah T. Bohon, deputy constable), who was
duly elected a justice of the peace under the Draconian
Constitution.
Deputy constable Elijah T. Bohon required Brother
Robey to appear before Justice John T. Bohon at his
office, some four miles off, at 2 o'clock of that day,
which Brother Robey did, with all the male members
and friends who were present when he was arrested.
"Brother Robey waived an examination, and was required to give bond for his appearance before the Circuit
Court on the 4th Monday in February, 1866. Squire
Bohon condescendingly informed Elder Robey that he
must not preach any more. If he did, it would be his
duty to have him re-arrested. Brother Robey returned
and preached the same evening from Acts xxii. 24.
Hie delineated with a master hand the great necessity
of enduring all things subservient to the will of God.
"During the sitting of the Circuit Court Elders G. W.
Robevy, W. R. Cleaveland, James S. Green, J. Hiill
Luther, Eastham Ballinger and others, who held the
divine above the civil law, were indicted for preaching
the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a dying world. Elder
Robey was required by the circuit judge, W. P. HIarrison,
-398 
MARTYRDOM.  IN MISSOURI.
to enter into a recognizance of $L,000 for his appearante before the judge on the fourth Monday in July
following. He appeared, and was again recognized to
appear before his Honor on the fourth Monday in February, 1867. He again appeared, and the prosecution
was dismissed. I believe that all the parties concerned
in the prosecution, except the witnesses (members of
the Church), voted for the new Constitution, thereby
making themselves particeps crimninis to this infamous
and most unhallowed persecution.
"The Church at Emerson took prompt action to assist
Brother Robey. A committee was appointed to accoinpany and render him any assistance in their power.
"Messrs. R. E. Anderson, IH. S. Lipscomb and H. J.
Drummond, gentlemen of eminence in their profession,
rendered the accused, qratuitously, all the assistance they
could.
"I trust that I may never again witness the time
when I shall behold the true and faithful servant of the
Most High God arraigned before our courts for preaching
the unsearchable riches of Christ to a lost and ruined
world. Howv strange it sounds to enter the temple of
justice and hear read from the docket: State of Missouri
vs. Judy Wilson, for keeping a bawdy-house. State of
Missouri vs. James S. Green, for preaching the Gospel.
State of Missouri vs. Jim Jones, for grand larceny.  All
this has transpired among a civilized people, and that,
too, in the nineteenth century.
"J. J. SAMUELS."
REV. JOSIAH M CARY.
This good man and faithful minister of the Gospel
399
.1 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
and member of the St. Louis Conference, M. E. Church,
South, furnishes the following account of his own trials
and persecutions, and, with many others, believes that
there was formed in this State a well-laid scheme for
the persecution of every Southern Methodist preacher
who could neither be scared away nor bought up:
"In my own case, some time in May, 1861, just before
I reached one of my places of preaching, I was met by
a friend, who inquired of me if I was going to fill my
appointment?  I answered,'Yes.'  Said he,'I am
informed you will not.' My answer was,'Your infoormant don't know.' I went to the place and delivered my
message to a large and attentive congregation, which,
wlhen dismissed, retired peacefiully from the house.
Several of the people informed me that many threats
had been made against me, and thought from the tone
of some that an effort would have been made that day
to take me out of the house or to prevent my going
into it.'What is the accusation against me?' I inquired.
'Southern Methodist preacher and a Southern man,'
was the answer.'If this is my crime I am ready to
answer.  If a man is to be punished for being born in
any particular part of these United States, or to be
condemned for belonging to any religious body whose
sole aim is to benefit mankind, who, then, is safe when
law and liberty are at an end? If he goes North they
kill him because he did not go North to be born.  If he
stays at home or goes to the house of God to worship,
they kill him and then rob his family.'
"At my next appointment every thing was r-eady, I
was informed, for an assault upon me.  Some  young
men requested me to permit them to arm themselves
400 
MARTYRDOM  IN MISSOURI.
for my defense. This I refused. I went and preached
the Gospel of peace and salvation to the people, but no
man rose up against me. The mob, no doubt, thought
they were too weak to be successful, as the audience
was large.
"In a short time after a company of about forty came
to my house to hang me-so a messenger who informed
me of their coming said. I plainly saw there was but
one hope or chance left me-that was to get out of
their reach, which I did. I was driven away from my
own house. In a short time my house was robbed of
every thing valuable they chose, breaking open trunks
with axes and carrying off their contents, with the
blankets from the beds. In the dead of winter, in
December, 1861, an armed band came in the night and
burned my house to ashes; then came the militia-and
tore down the corn house and corn pens on the premises, and carried off about two thousand bushels of corn,
for which I have never received one cent from the
Government to this day. Mine was not the only case.
The wrath and fury of the enemies of our preachers
fell heavily on us all, in which many lost not only their
property, but their lives, upon whose moral character
no stain can be found. I have often remembered the
word of the Lord to Cain,' The voice of thy brother's
blood crieth to me from the ground.'
"After the close of the war I attended the Annual
Conference of the M. E. Church, South, held at St.
Louis, and was sent to Georgetown Circuit. I came
on at once and got off the Pacific railroad at Dresden,
Mo., where I was informed that very night by one who
was dubbed' Governor of Pettis county' that if I
26
401
.1 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
attempted to preach on the Circuit I would get into
difficulties I would not get out of soon. I understood
that my life would be taken. I went to my farm, or
where the farm ought to have been, on Warrensburg
Circuit, and under the test oath, as it was called, I was
arrested for preaching the Gospel.
"Who would, who could, have believed, until it actually did take place, that such instruments of torture
should ever be invented in the State of Missouri by
authority of law, so-called, as have been put in operation to punish men for opinion's sake. One would have
thought that not one man could be found who would be
willing for his name to go down to posterity in the
history of the times stained with so foul a blot as must
forever rest upon the name of the men who tool part
in getting up and carrying forward the wicked schemes
contemplated by the test oath. I have often thought,
since many in our land have engaged so earnestly in
plotting destruction against their countrymen, of the
old Greek poet who says:
"The eagle saw her breast was wounded sore;
She stood and weeped much, but grieved more;
But when she saw the dart was feathered, said:
Woe's me, tor my own kind hath me destroyed."
Yes, our own countrymen! There is one comfort to
me after all. I would rather lose all I have lostand
suffer all I have suffered than to be the man of such
wicked contrivance to bring suffering on others. Little
and unknown let me live and let me die rather than go
down to the grave with the consciousness of having
lived to inflict injury upon others who never injured
me.                                JOSIAH MCCARY."
402 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
"'At the April term of Pettis county Circuit Court,
1866, the following grand jurors for the State of Missouri for the body of the county of Pettis aforesaid
were sworn and empanneled, viz.: George W. Smiley,
IH. Richardson, John Shaw, T. B. Chapin, John H.
Jones, George Lower, R. D). Middleton, James Marlin,
W. H. Yankee, Ira L. Blair, W. R. Bohon, David Wagner, N. Ray, J. H. Colton, J. J. Weiler. W. Ramney.
"At this term of the Court the following indictment
was made out against me by the attorney for the State,
found by the jurors above named. The following is an
exact copy from the record:
" STATE OF MISSOURI,  In the Pettis Co. Circuit Court,
COUNTY OF PETTIS. at the April Term, A. D). 1866.
"'The grand jurors for the State of Missouri for the
body of the county of Pettis aforesaid, upon their oath
present that Josiah McCary, late of the said county, on
the first day of April, in the year of our Lord eighteen
hundred and sixty-six, was a minister, and as such
minister did, then and there, preach the Gospel to a
Church, or congregation of people, then and there
assembled for the purpose of religious worship, without
him, the said Josiah McCary, having then and there
taken, filed and subscribed the oath of loyalty prescribed
by the Constitution of the State of Missouri, which said
oath of loyalty the said Josiah McCary was then and
there duly and legally required to take, subscribe and
file before he, the said Josiah McCary, was competent
as a minister to preach the Gospel, contrary to the
form of the Constitution in such cases made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State.
"'HORACE B. JOHNSON,
Circuit Attorney.'
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I 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
" In the last of May following the term of the Court
at which I was indicted I was arrested by the Deputy
Sheriff and refused for some time to give bond for my
appearance at the next term of the Court; but on
account of the helpless condition of my family 1 was
induced to give bond in the sum of five hundred dollars,
William Hutchison and John M. Sneed securities.
"At the July term of the Circuit Court for Pettis
county, 1866, I entered my appearance in Court.  The
most eminent lawyers in the State outside of the city
of St. Louis appeared as my counsel-Judge Wright,
Judge Hicks, Col. John F. Phillips and George Heard.
Judge F. P. Wright moved to quash the indictment, in
which he showed, when he came to speak in the case,
the unconstitutionality of the law and the defects of
the indictment itself, the impossibility, according to the
laws of all civilized nations and the natural law, to
punish a minister of the Gospel for preaching the Gospel of the grace of God. Judge Hicks followed and
said Judge Wright's position was well taken, and his
premises and conclusions were just; that the laws
enacted and approved by men, however just, noble and
great, were as nothing when compared to the law of the
Great Lawgiver of the universe, the all-wise God,
whose laws none could violate with impunity, nor could
any be punishable for conforming to them. He then
quoted the great commission,' Go ye into all the world
and preach the Gospel to every creature,' etc. From
the premises he laid down it was evident that Judge
Hicks had entrenched himself in such a manner that it
was impossible for all the tyrants in the world to rout
him by fair argumentation. The friends of persecution
404 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
and the enemies of the Gospel of peace quailed before
him, and the friends of law, liberty and the rights of
conscience rejoiced in heart that in this degenerate age
the noble, the strong and the good were still battling
for the law of God, for the Constitution of the country
and the just laws of the land.
"When Judge Hicks concluded his able speech the
prosecuting attorney, Mr. Johnson, made a short speech
in favor of the writ, in a very concise manner, and
very respectfully submitted the case to the Court.
He appeared in every respect a gentlemanly, well-bred
man, and, I thought, ashamed of the members of the
Convention who framed the Constitution, the members
of the Legislature an.d the Governor of the State.
"Judge Tutt, presiding, felt mortified, I have no
doubt, when looking over the docket to see men indicted
for preaching the Gospel, others for theft and the basest
of crimes. After examining into the case fully he sustained the motion to quash the indictment, and brought
upon himself the bitter curses of a few Radical bigots
who were clamoring for the blood of Southern Methodist preachers in Missouri.
"f was indicted again at the July term of the Pettis
Circuit Court and put under bond of one thousand dollars, with C. Wood, of Sedalia, security. At the next
term the case was dismissed, on account of the decision of
the United States Supreme Court."
REV. W. S. WOODARD.
The following interesting document explains itself:
"MIAMI, MOo., Feb. 4, 1869.
"]REv. P. M. PINcKARD:
"Dear Brother-Since your call for material for
405 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
your forthcoming book, I have been thinking for something to report to you that might be worthy of a place
therein.
"I have thought of nothing more likely to be of
service to you than the following, which I place at your
disposal:
"It will be remembered that the St. Louis Conference met in St. Louis the week preceding the time
when the Constitution oath was to take effect.
"I presume this time was selected to give the preachers an opportunity to consult with each other in reference to what they would do when the Strong-Drake
contrivance got between them  and their God; and
while He said' Go, preach,' it said,' If you do you shall
be punished.
"'In the multitude of counsel there is safety,' saith
the proverb.
"Well, we met. The roll was called, the regular business was taken up, the various questions were called,
and the interests of the Church were attended to in the
usual way. We were nearly through,the businessnearly ready to adjourn-and had not yet reached the
new Constitution. It did not seem to fall easily within
the purview of an Annual Conference. What ought to
be done? We  wanted to take'counsel' with one
another in reference to our action in the future. But
no one seemed inclined to dirty hii hands by touching
the' unclean thing.' No one wanted the journal of the
Conference blurred with a resolution that would take
cognizance of the fact that the State was making an
effort to prevent any one from preaching the Gospel
except those whom she would choose to license.
406 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
"Are you going to take the oath? Will you preach
without taking the oath?' These questions were repeatedly asked and answered on the streets, but never on
the Conference floor.
"Being anxious to know the sense of the Conference,
I wrote the above questions in my memorandum book,
and made  two columns, over which I wrote'yes'
and' no.'
"1 still have the book.  Under the question:'Are
you going to take the oath?' and in the column headed
' No,' I find the following names: F. A. Morris, G W.
Horn, W. S. Woodard, Jos. Bond, G. M. Winton, T. W,
Mitchell, S. S. Headlee, M. M. Pugh, P. M. Pinckard,
J. T. Peery, J. McCary, J. C. Shackleford, D. R. M'Anally, T. M. Finney, D. A. Murphy, D. J. Marquis, H.
N. Watts, W. M. Williams, G. C. Knowles, Jno. Campbell, L. W. Powell, N. M. Talbot, W. J. Brown, L. B.
Ellis, J. P. Barneby, J. S. Frazier, H. W. Webster, G.
P. Smith and J. E. Godbey.
"Under the question:' Will you preach without taking the oath? and in the column headed' yes,' are the
following names: F. A. Morris, G. W. Hoin, W. S.
Woodard, D. M. Proctor, M. M. Pugh, D. R. M'Anally,
J. W. Lewis, T. M. Finney, D. A. Murphy, J. T. Peery,
N. M. Talbot, W. J. Brown and J. E. Godbey.  The
following answered,' I think so': HI. N. Watts, D. J.
Marquis, G. C. Knowles, Jno. Campbell, L. B. Ellis and
G. P. Smith.
"Bro. Lewis assisted me in getting the above answers. Some of the preachers did not answer either
question. Some answered one who did not answer the
other.
407 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
"There may have been some who did not have an
opportunity to record their answers.
"The oath took effect on Saturday before the first
Sabbath in September. Some weeks before, I had pub lished that I would preach a funeral at Stone Ghurch,
St. Frangois county, on the second Sabbath. At the
appointed time I was at the appointed place. Some of
my friends said,'Don't preach; you'll be arrested; the
officer is on the ground.' I decided not to disappoint
my  congregation.   At  the  close of the services it
was announced that there would be preaching in the
afternoon.
"The  hour  came-the  congregation  was  there-a
number of preachers were present, not one of whom
would preach. My health was feeble, yet I was able to
read, with some emphasis, the 267th hymn:
"Shall I, for fear of feeble man,
The spirit's course in me restrain?
Or, undismayed, in deed and word,
Be a true witness for my Lord?
"Awed by a mortal's frown, shall I
Conceal the Word of God most high?
How then before Thee shall I dare
To stand, or how thine anger bean?
"Shall I to soothe th' unholy throng,
Soften thy truth, and smooth my tongue,
To gain earth's gilded toys, or-flee
The Cross endured, my Lord, by thee?
"What then is he whose scorn t dread,
Whose wrath or hate makes one afraid?
A man! An heir of d,ath! A slave
To sin! A bubble on the wave!
"Yea, let men rage since thou wilt spread
Thy shad'wing wings around my head:
Since in all pain thy tender love
Will still my sure refreshment prove.'
"During the singing, E. H. White whispered in nmy
ear,'Be cautious; there is danger'.'
408 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
" The sermon that followed wns impromptu. Text,'I
have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel
of God.'-Acts xx. 27.
"Bro. White preached at night. The meeting continued two weeks, with gracious results.
"I preached in nearly every county in Southeast Misouri. Was indicted (so I had been informed) in Jefferson, St. Frangois, Cape Girardeau and Crawford counties, but was never arrested. I witnessed but one arrest,
that of Rev. Reuben Watts, by the sheriff of Bollinger
county.                            W. S. WOODARD."
A Singular Case —A Court adjourned because Attorneys
would not prepare Indictments aqainst Ministers.
" At the May term of the Jefferson Circuit Court, 1866,
there were present-James W. Owens, judge; C. C.
Fletcher, sheriff; and S. A. Reppy, clerk.
"The following were sworn as the Grand Jury for
that term: John W. Sullins (son of Isaac Sullins, a
Northern Methodist preacher), foreman; Martin Hohl
J. Ed. Walker, Z. Pritchett, Wesley Skaggs, Ienry F.
Ditmers, Adolph Weber, Benj. F. Butler (not spoony
Ben), D. F. McKee, George Martin, John Koh, Florence
Spitz, Wm. Mlockbee (democrat) and John Foxton. All
these were extreme radicals, except Mockbee, democrat.
"This jury found several bills of indictment against
ministers of the Gospel for preaching without taking
the'I ron-clad Oath,' but Col. David Murphy, who was
circuit attorney at the time, refused to draw up the indictments. The jury reported this fact to Judge Owens
while court was in session.  The judge called Colonel
Murphy up and asked him if it was a fact that he would
409
.1 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
not draft the bills of indictment which the Grand Jury
had found. The colonel replied that he had refused in
the case of the ministers, but no one else, believing that
the oath was unconstitutional. The judge then, his eyes
flashing fire, asked each attorney present to act as circuit attorney pro tern., to draw up these indictments,
and each one peremptorily refused. Judge Owens then
said he would do no more business until he could find a
lawyer who would help him to execute the laws against
the criminals of the State, and, without further ado, adjourned court to third Monday in June. He ordered
the same Grand Jury to meet him then. Owens came
back on the third Monday in June and brought J. H.
Pugh, of Washington, Franklin county. He called court
and Pugh drafted indictments against Henry Brockhager, a German Catholic priest; against Wm. O. Gibson,
a minister of the Baptist Church, and against Wm. G.
Walker and D. J. Marquis, of the M. E. Church, South.
Gibson was tried and acquitted at the November term,
1866. Wm. G. Walker was arrested, but nothing was
ever done with his case. Brockhager was arrested,
gave bond and took a change of venue to St. Louis
county, and thus ended his case.  And Mr. Marquis-I
don't know what became of his case.
"Judge Owens would not transact any other business
than indicting the ministers, because the attorneys refused to become tools of oppression.
"The writer was present and saw it all.
" JOHN L. THOMAS."
State of Missouri vs. Rev. James Ragan, of the Cumber              land Presbyterian Church.
The following contains a true copy of the proceed
410 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
ings in the case of the State of Missouri vs. Jas. Ragan,
in the Gentry county Circuit Court, in the State of
Missouri, for preaching without taking the oath of
loyalty, to wit:
Copy of Indictment:
"STATE OF MISSOURI, 
SEVENTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT. 
"In the Circuit Court of Gentry County, March Term,
A. 1). 1866.
"The grand jurors for the body of the county of
Gentry aforesaid, upon their oaths, present that James
Ragan, late of the county of Gentry aforesaid, on or
about the 25th day of February, A. D. 1866, and divers
times before and since, with force and arms, at the
county of Gentry aforesaid, did unlawfully hold and
exercise the profession and functions of a minister of
the Gospel and of a religious denomination, by then and
there teaching, preaching, exhorting, explaining and
expounding the Scriptures without him, the said James
Ragan, first before the holding and exercising the profession and functions of teaching, preaching, exhorting
and explaining the Scriptures as aforesaid, having taken,
subscribed and filed the oath of loyalty prescribed by
the sixth section of the second article of the Constitution of the State of Missouri, adopted in Convention
begun and held at the city of St. Louis, on the 6th day
of January, A. D. 1865, to the form of the statute in
such cases made and provided, and against the peace
and dignity of the State.
"T. H. COLLINS, Circuit Attorney."'
Said indictment was endorsed as follows:
411 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
"The State of Missouri vs. James Ragan.  Preaching
without oath of loyalty. A true bill. Reuben Wood,
foreman of the grand jury.  Witnesses: Wm. Madden,
Felix Dunagan and W. H. Marrs. Filed March 22d,
1866. Charles S. Comstock, clerk."
Mr. Ragan gave bond in the sum of $500.
Copy of proceedings, September term, 1866, Sept.
25, 1866:
"The State vs. James Ragan. Preaching without taking
oath of loyalty.
"On defendant's application, this cause is placed at
the foot of the docket."
"The State vs. James Ragan. Preaching without taking
oath of loyalty.
"Elbert Ragan is ordered to be released from his
recognizance herein, and cause continued, and ordered
that an alias capias issue for the arrest of the defendant,
directed to the Sheriff of Linn county."
Proceedings at March term, March 25th, 1867:
"The State vs. James?agan. Preaching without taking
oath of loyalty.
"Now, at this time comes the Circuit Attorney, and
on part of the State enters a notle prosequi in this cause.
Whereupon it is ordered by the Court that defendant
be discharged from further prosecution in this cause."
"State of Missouri, County of Gentry, ss.
"I, James West, Clerk of the Circuit Court within
and for the county aforesaid, certify that the above and
foregoing contains a true copy of the records and proceedings in the case of the State of Missouri against
James Ragan, for preaching without taking oath of
412 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
loyalty, as the same are shown by the papers on file
and of the records now in my office.
" In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my
hand and affixed my official seal, at office, in
[SEAL.]    Albany, Mo., this 16th day of March, A. D.
1869.
"JAMES WEST, Clerk."
REV. JOHN A, MUMPOWER.
From the records of the same court as the above,
and upon the official certificate of the same clerk, the
legal proceedings in the case of Rev. J. A. Mumpower,
of the Missouri Conference, M. E. Church, South, has
been furnished. This document embraces a copy of the
affidavit upon which the warrant for his arrest was
issued, made by S. W. Davis and Frank R. Owen; a
copy of the "warrant" issued by M. L. Miller, J. P., and
its return by the sheriff, H. M. Rice; a copy of the
"bond" for $500, with twelve good names as security;
a copy of the transcript from the docket of Justice Miller; a copy of the "indictment" found by the Grand
Jury, endorsed by L. G. Jenkins, foreman, and I. C.
Parker, circuit attorney; a copy of the "recognizance,"
and the dismissal of the suit upon a nolle prosequi, with
the certificate of the clerk and the seal of the court.
REV. J. S. FRASIER.
The Grand Jury for the body of Madison county
found a "true bill" against Rev. J. S. Frasier, of the St.
Louis Conference.  The  indictment was prepared by
J. B. Robinson, circuit attorney, and the case was
docketed for the April term of the Circuit Court, 1866,
413
I 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
from which a certified copy has been furnished by H.
H. Finley, clerk.
REV. J. B. CHRISTIE.
From the Circuit Court records of Gentry county
a certified copy of proceedings against Rev. J. B. Christie is furnished. The affidavit was made by Jno. Persinger, before Jacob Jones, a County Court judge, by whom
the writ was issued for Mr. Christie's arrest, and before
whom he was arraigned and bound in the sum of two
hundred and fifty dollars to appear at the next term of
the Circuit Court. The Grand Jury found an indictment, which was prepared by I. C. Parker, circuit attor
ney.
On the Circuit Court docket is this record: "Thursday, September term, 1866. September 27, 1866.
" THE STATE, )
vs.          Preaching without oath."
J. B. CHRISTIE.)
The transcript is certified by James West, clerk, and
the court seal.
REV. A. H. DEAN.
This faithful and humble minister of the Baptist
Church was indicted, arrested and lodged in jail for
preaching the Gospel without taking the oath. IHe
was indicted and arrested in Cass county, and taken to
Independence, Jackson county, and thrust into the
county jail. The fact that he had been a major in the
Union army did not exempt him from the treatment
above indicated. His conscience would not let him
take the oath, and his caution will not let him furish
the facts.
414 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI,
REV. L. F. ASPLEY.
The following is the brief account of the peculiar
trials and persecutions of this good and true minister
of the St. Louis Conference, M. E. Church, South, furnished by himself:
"I, too, was numbered with the sufferers of Missouri.
I was a prisoner several times; my life threatened;
driven from home; house burned, and the last dollar's
worth of property I had in the world taken from me.
I was indicted twice by the Grand Jury of Scott county
for preaching without taking the oath prescribed by
the new Constitution.
"I do not write to complain of the sufferings and
hardships through which I have passed; but I thank
God that I was counted worthy to suffer for His name's
sake."
REV. WM. C. LIGON AND ELDER GEO. P. KINNAIRD.
The latter a martyr. Read and ponder.
"At the time the unparalleled decree of the Convention took effect the writer was living in Carroll county,
Mo., where he had resided since 1841, and was well
known in the county as a Baptist minister. On account
of my age I was often consulted as to what ministers
should do about the'test oath.' I replied, that no
human authority has a right to prescribe qualifications
for the ministry, and the requirements of the Constitution'test oath' was in contravention of the Constitution of the United States, and we should utterly disregard it and risk the consequences-disregard it and
pursue our ministry as heretofore, trusting in God and
415
I 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
meet the consequences. To these opinions most of my
brethren gave their assent. The result was a presentment by the Grand Jury empanelled at the March term
of the Circuit Court of Carroll county, in 1866, against
Wm. C. Ligon and George T. Kinnaird, Baptists, and
Thomas A. Gaines, a Reformer, or Campbellite. The
Grand Jury making the presentment consisted of Jonathan Trauber, W. Vinson, Col. Axton, H. R. Brotherton,
Tom Mattox, R. M. Millon, Milton Stanley (a Baptist),
W. G. Ross (whom my informant denominates'a thief'),
David Freeman, Bill Jones and Slmon -(his name unintelligible). The prosecutions were all dismissed at the
term of the Court to which they were returnable by
Honorable Walter King, the Circuit Judge, on account
of some informality. Gladly would I close this communication, as a complete narrative of the evils resulting from enactments which would have added a signal
blot to the character of a Nero, but the melancholy
sequel compels me to proceed.
" GEORGE T. KINNAIRD.
"One of the Baptist ministers named above, as guileless a man as I have ever known-a man universally
esteemed and eminently useful as a Gospel minister,
lived about five miles from the court house, and in
obedience to a writ which had been served on him,
attended the Fall term of the Court to which the writ
was returnable.  The clemency and confidence of the
Judge, who knew he was trustworthy, allowed him to
return home until his case would be adjudicated. He
was in delicate health, the weather was decidedly
irnclement, and in attempting to pass a creek, swollen
416 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
by a recent rain, was submerged, which produced an
attack of pneumonia, resulting in his death. His ministerial labors were signally crowned and blessed of
God.  His example practically said,'Follow, me as I
also follow the Lord Jesus Christ.' But in attempting
to render to an iniquitous'Cesar the things which
belonged to Cmesar,' he was cut down in mid-life and signal
usefulness.
"A pious and amiable wife and an interesting rising
progeny were deprived of a pious husband and father,
and the community of a highly efficient minister of the
grace of God.
" He thus fell as virtually a martyr, through the decree
of the Missouri Convention, as he would have been had
his head been violently taken off, or his body burned at
a stake, as were those of John Huss or Jerome of
Prague.
"The hour of retribution must and will come.  The
members of the Missouri Convention will be confronted
on the day of final reckoning by their persecuted and
murdered victims.  The assizes of that day will result
joyously to the persecuted pious.   But  wo to the
wicked! It will be ill with them, for they must' eat of
the fruit of their doings.'
"The dying exercises of my esteemed brother Kinnaird were ample evidence of his meetness for heaven.
As his life was fast ebbing he motioned to his afflicted
wife to imprint on his dying lips the parting kiss, after
which he soon expired, while attempting to sing (in
which exercise he had excelled):
"Once more before we part
We'll bless the Savior's name.
"WM. C. LIIGON."
27
417
I 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
REV. MARTIN L. EADS.
This venerable servant of Christ, now sainted, was
not exempt from the persecutions incident to the times.
The following communication will be read with melancholly interest:
"Brother Pinckard: I have been wandering up and
down in this world for more than forty years, trying to
preach Christ's Gospel to my fellow men. I have
always been an ardent lover of popular liberty and a
great admirer of the free institutions of our common
country. I have often devoutly thanked Almighty God
on my knees in the pulpit and around the family altar
for the sacred privilege of worshiping God'under our
own vine and fig tree, none daring to molest or make
us afraid.' And as I have witnessed the rise and progress of Christianity and liberal principles in this country, I never conceived the thought that 1 should live to
see the day when those liberal principles should be
violated and the progress of the Gospel impeded and
trammeled by an iron-clad oath which no Christian
minister of the Gospel could take-according to my
view-without doing violence to his conscience and
prostituting the sacred office of the Christian ministry
to corrupt political party ends. Yet I have lived to see
it. In September, 1865, Constable Glenn came to my
house with a writ for me to appear before Esquire
Aubry, of Wellsville, to answer to the charge of preaching the Gospel without taking the oath. When I appeared before him he required me to take an oath and
sign a bond, both of which I refused to dQ. Esquire
Aubry insisted on it, though in a mild and gentlemanly
418 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
manner. I told him that I was seventy-four years of
age, and before I would do so I would spend my few
remaining days in jail. The reason why I acted thus
was because I could not take the oath without doing
great violence to my conscience. I could never have
gone before a congregation to preach the Gospel to it
with a commission from a County Court that supplanted
a commission from the'King of kings,' under which
I had been preaching for more than forty years. During
my trial a Rev. Mr. Dowler, of the Northern Methodist
Church, who was the instigator of my arrest, without
any provocation, said to me:'Mr. Eads, do you know I
am an officer of the Government?' I simply replied
to him by saying that I thought the Government had
made a poor selection in an officer. There seemed,
after refusing to take the oath, no alternative but to go
to jail. I was on the eve of starting to Conference
when I was arrested. I suggested to the Esquire to
wait until I had returned from Conference, to which he
readily acceded.
"On my return from Conference I started to report
myself to Esquire Aubry, according to promise. I overtook Constable Glenn on the way there, by whom I sent
word that I was of the same mind-I could not take
the oath, and that he might issue his mitimus as soon
as he pleased. A few days after this, in Montgomery
City, Constable Glenn came up to me and said,'Mr.
Eads, I suppose nothing more will be done with that
matter.' Why they did not enforce the law against me
I do not know.                         M. L. EADS."'
THE AUTHOR.
The following is a true copy, verbatim et literatim, of
419
I 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
the indictment found by the grand jury for Buchanan
county and State of Missouri.
The document bears the following endorsement on
the back:
"Filed 30th November, 1865. W. C. Toole, clerk;
by E. Toole, deputy.   State of Missouri vs. Rev. Wm.
.A. Leftwich; failure to take the oath as a minister of
the Gospel.   A  true bill.  George  Lyon, foreman.
Witnesses: Joseph P. Grubb, S. S. McGibbens, I)D. J.
Hleaton, Wm. S. Leach, Jas. Kay.
"State of Afissouri, County of Buchanan, ss.  In the Bu   chanan Circuit Court, at the adjourned November
term of the September term thereof, A. D). 1865.
"The grand jurors of the State of Missouri for the
body of the county of Buchanan, being duly emrpaneled
and sworn, upon their oaths present that, whereas the
revised and amended Constitution of the State of Missouri, adopted by the people of said State on the 6th
day of June, A. D). 1865, and declared by proclamation
of the Governor of said State, issued on the 4th day of
July, A. D. 1865, to be the supreme law of the State,
provides, among other things, in the ninth section of
the second article thereof, that after the expiration of
sixty days after this Constitution, thereby meaning the
Consltution above referred to, takes effect, no person
shall be competent as a bishop, priest, deacon, minister,
elder, clergyman of any religious persuasion, sect or
denomination, to teach or preach or solemnize marriages unless such person have first taken, subscribed
and filed the oath known in said Constitution as the
oath of loyalty, provided and prescribed by the terms
of the sixth section of the second article of said Con
420 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
stitution; and that, whereas the fourteenth section of
the second article of said Constitution, among other
things, provides that whoever shall, after the time limited in the seventh and ninth sections of this article,
hold or exercise any of the offices, positions, trusts,
professions or functions therein specified, without having subscribed and filed said oath of loyalty, shall, on
conviction thereof, be punished by fine not less than
five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county
jail not less than six months, or by both such fine and
imprisonment, and the persons aforesaid, upon their
oaths aforesaid, do say that the Rev. William M. Leftwich, both of said county, then and there being a minister of the Gospel or clergyman, did, on the'19th day
of November, A. D. 1865, at the county of Buchanan,
the said 19th day of November, 1865, being after the
expiration of sixty days after said Constitution took
effect and became the supreme law of the State of Missouri, willfully preach and teach as such minister without having first taken, subscribed and filed the oath of
loyalty aforesaid, against the peace and dignity of the
State.
"I. C. PARKER, Circuit Attorney."
Rev. R.. Weller, rector of the Episcopal Church,
and two Catholic priests, were honored with the same
attentions at the same time. We positively refused to
give bond for our appearance at Court, and tried thus
to force the officers to jail us, but they would not do it.
About this little matter the writer could " a tale unfold;"
but then he is not writing of his own, but of the persetions of others.
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MANY OTHERS.
Time and space would fail me to tell of Revs. W. S.
Woodard, T. R. Kendall, John Campbell, Thomas
Frazier, Joseph Thorp, H. N. Watts, W. M. Rush, H.
Lauthan, A. C. Blackwell, Thomas Hllurst, M. M. Pugh,
J. C. Campbell, J. G. Martin, V. S. Carter and hundreds
of others, "who had trials of cruel mockings, yea, of
bonds and imprisonment," under the same legalized
proscription and authorized persecution of ministers in
the State of Missouri.
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
CHAPTER XIX.
REV. SAMUEL S. HEADLEE AND REV. ISAAC FRAZEE.
Rev. S. S. Headlee-The most Noted of all the Missouri Martyrs Biographical Sketch - Earlv Ministrv - In Labors Abundant Headlee "'as a Preacher "-,'As a Man "-As a Presiding Eldel The Circumstantial Details of His Murder - Deeplv Affecting
Scenes during the Last Hours of the Dying Martyr-His Murderers
-Their Names and the Names of tho(se who saw them Commit the
Deed-Responsible Certificates-Justice seeks its Vindication in
History when denied in Civil Tribunals-Rev. Isaac Frazee-Alur dered by Soldiers.
REV. SAMUEL S. HEADLEE.
No one case of persecution and martyrdom during
the late war or under the test oath of the new Constitution produced so profound a sensation, attracted so
much public attention, and became so widely known as
the murder of Rev. S. S. Heeadlee.
It would be as difficult to reflect the public feeling
created by the sad event as to collate the notices and
comments of the press of the country.  Indeed, few
events of the war in Missouri excited more of public
and general interest and touched more sensibly the
popular heart. His memory is embalmed in the most
sacred shrine of the religious consciousness of his
Church, apd his name stands peerless upon the roll of
Missouri martyrs.
All the distinctive elements of a Christian martyr
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are conspicuous and unadulterated in the circumstantial
details of his death. An affecting and not altogether
inappropriate estimate of the cause and manner of his
murder has compared him to the apostolic martyr St.
Stephen. In all the history of martyrdom there are
few cases recorded in which men were put to death
more directly and positively "for the Word of God
and the testimony which they held," and with less
admixture of other and foreign issues.  But space will
neither allow a further vindication of his claims to a
martyr's crown nor a full account of his life and sufferings, with the circumstantial details of his murder.
The decisions of the righteous Judge and Avenger of
all the holy martyrs will do the one, and the affectionate records of a chastened Church will do the other.
His name will live forever in the hearts of his brethren
and will not soon perish from the history of his Church.
Generations to come will study his life and character in
the history of martyrdom, and the hearts of men will
kindle with holier devotion at the mention of his name
-shining illustrious and peerless among the martyrs
of Missouri.  But the purposes of this work will be
accomplished in the following narrative, for the correctness of which the author has abundant and substantial
evidence:
"Rev. Samludel S. Headlee was a native of Tennessee.
His parents moved to Missouri at an early day, where
Mr. Headlee was raised, converted to God, and entered
the ministry. He was received on trial in the St. Louis
Conference, M. E. Church, Sovth, at Lexington, in 1852,
Bishop Paine presiding and ID. B. Ml'Anally secretarv,
and appointed to Rich Woods Circuit, in the Jefferson
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
City District, with John K. Lacy Presiding Elder. He
was returned to the same Circuit the next year, only it
was put into the St. Louis District, with W. Browning,
Presiding Elder. The next year he was admitted into
full connection, and appointed to the St. Louis Circuit.
The next year he was appointed to Fremont Circuit in
the Springfield District. Wherever he went he was a
faithful and an acceptable minister of the Lord Jesus
in word and in doctrine. It is needless to follow him
to all of his appointments and through all of his labors.
He was humble, pious and zealous; unobtrusive and
diligent; not profound or brilliant, but possessed of a
mind deeply imbued with religious principles and
thoroughly sanctified by grace divine, he gained ready
access to the hearts and confidence of the people, and
was every where "highly esteemed in love for his work's
sake. "
The most of his life was spent in the counties of
Southwest Missouri, where few mnen stood higher in the
estimation of the people, and none had a purer record
or a more spotless character. He loved the Lord Jesus
Christ in sincerity, loved Hiis cause, loved the souls of
men, and publicly and from house to house ceased not
to warn men to flee fromn the wrath to come. He gained
for himself "a good report of them which are without"
as well as among his own brethren. Dr. AM'Anally says
of him:
"It can not be said that he was profound or brilliant.
Possessed of a good share of common sense, and deeply
pious, his preaching was earnest, plain, practical and
useful. The love of Christ constrained him, and he
preached' the Word,' reproved, rebuked, exhorted
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
with all long suffering, and doctrine. Ardently loving
the Church of his choice, and having a good understanding of her doctrines, discipline and usages, he
labored faithfully and constantly to extend the benign
influences of Christianity, as developed through that
organization, and every where sought to build up believers in their most holy faith.
"Wherever, in the judgment of his brethren, it was
best for him to go and labor, there he went without
murmuring and labored without complaint."
The same writer gives the following estimate of him:
" AS A MAN AND AN INDIVIDUAL CHRISTIAN
"He was truly exemplary, in the full sense of that
word. To his superiors in age, wisdom or experience
he was deferential and respectful, to his equals courteous and agreeable, and to the weak and erring he was
pitiful and kind. For his meek, quiet, inoffensive spirit
he was remarkable. Possessed of exceedingly tender
and delicate sensibilities, he acted toward others as if
they possessed the same, and would not willingly wrong
any one, harm any one, or offend any one.
"Htis naturally mild and quiet disposition was greatly
improved and sweetened by the refining influences of
deep, earnest and consistent piety-a piety consisting
in supreme love to God and universal love to man.
He was the enemy of none; nor was there an intelligent, honest, upright or good man or woman in all the
land that was an enemy to him.
"A truer, kindlier, milder, sweeter-spirited, or more
heavenly-minded man is rarely found."
His last appointment was Presiding Elder of the
IL
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Springfield District, St. Louis ConfereNce, where he
labored faithfully and extensively to reclaim the waste
places-to reorganize and rebuild the wasted, scattered
and desolated Church.
So complete and extensive had been the wreck and
ruin of the Church in that part of the State that for
years after the war closed it was called, by way of distinction, "the'burnt district."  In this "burnt district"
but few churches remained standing and but few societies preserved an organized existence. Mr. Headlee
had done as much if not more than any other man in
that part of the State to save the Church, prevent disintegration and absorption, and defeat the purposes of
the Northern Methodist disorganizers and church
thieves.  He was faithful amid the faithless, but neither
officious in the affairs of others nor offensive to any
right-minded, honest man. Yet his firmness and fidelity
to principle, though quietly and cautiously maintained,
encouraged the timid, assured the doubtful, steadied the
wavering, inspired hope and courage every where, and
thus defeated the purposes of designing men, and provoked the malice - even vengeance' of the faithless
fanatics who were bent on the destruction of the Southern Methodist Church.  To be a faithful, devoted, useful
Southern Methodist preacher in that country, at that
time, who could neither be scared nor bought, was equal
to a man's life.  Mr. iHeadlee had prevented  some
churches from breaking up and becoming a prey to the
prowling wolves in sheep's clothing, and was extensively useful in gathering the scattered membership and
reorganizing the dismembered societies, and the following narrative of his cruel murder will show how much
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this "work of faith and labor of love" cost him, and
how much it was worth to the Church.  In the same
biographical sketch from which quotations have already
been made the following account of his murder is given:
HIS DEATH
Occurred on Saturday, July 28th, 1866, and never, perhaps, in all the history of the United States was there
a more deliberate, a more unprovoked, or more atrocious murder.
The killing was done in Webster county, near what
has been called Pleasant View Church, a house of worship legally and morally belonging to the denomination
of which Mr. Headlee was a minister.  As Presiding
Elder of the Springfield District this church was in his
bounds and regularly under his care.
Thither he had gone to hold a quarterly meeting and
reorganize the Church, which had been greatly scattered, torn and distressed by thie public troubles of the
country.
The appointment of the meeting had been publicly
announced and generally circulated for some time previous. At the appointed time Mr. Headlee arrived at
the church punctually, and was met by an armed band
of some twenty or more men. These men were led, or
seemed to be led, by one Henderson McNabb, a man
who at the beginning of the late war was a member,
and once a steward, of the M. E. Church, South, but
who sometime during the war changed his Church relations by attaching himself to the M. E. Church, North,
and, for aught I know or have ever heard, is still a
member of that Church. This man acted as spokesman
for the armed company, and told Mr. Headlee that he
could not and should not preach in that church, and
threatened him with violence if he attempted it. Mr.
Headlee expostulated, and asked by what authority
they threatened him and forbade his preaching to the
people then and there assembled at their own house?
McNabb, waving his hand to the armed band, replied,
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"There is my  authority."  The parties being well
known to each other, Mr. Headlee proposed a friendly
discussion, and stated that he knew he was preaching
without having subscribed to the oath required by the
new Constitution, but that he was ready and willing to
answer to the law for that, and that he expected to
answer. In reply he was told that they cared nothing
about the law, but intended to stop his preaching there.
Finding all persuasions vain, and being abused and
cursed the more the more mild he was, Mr. Headlee at
length proposed to go to a grove about three-fourths of
a mile distant, which grove was on his own land, and
there preach, provided they would not interrupt him.
To this they agreed.  He and a number of the people
then prepared to go. As he was going to his horse
some of the band placed the muzzles of their guns
against him, pushing him forward, all the time using
foul and abusive language.  His only remark was, "Let
me alone; I can walk without help."
He and his company having gone about half a mile
toward the designated grove, four of the armed band
came galloping up. One rode up to Mr. Headlee's side
and began abusing him and asking some impertinent
questions.  M{r. Headlee replied, "If you talk to me
as a gentleman I will talk with you." At this the man
drew a revolver and fired three shots. The first entered
Mr. Headlee's right side and passed through the lungs;
the second passed through the lapel of his coat, on the
right side, and the third struck him on the hip, making
only a flesh wound. The assassin and his accomplices
then galloped back a short distance to McNabb's house,
where the rest of the band were waiting.
On being shot Mr. Headlee neither screamed, nor
spoke, nor moaned, nor did he change his position in
the saddle, but sat erect as though nothing had happened.
The following deeply affecting account of the martyred minister's last hours and last touching interview
with his beloved companion is from the same source:
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After having been shot he rode some fifty yards, to a
shade, alighted from his horse, took off his gloves, put
them in his pocket and calmly remarked, "Friends, I
am a dead man;" and turning his face toward his murderers, who were still in sight, added: "Those bad men
have killed me! Lord have mercy on them! Lord save
them!"
The men of his company were terror-stricken, not
knowing but that they would next be shot; but the
women acted the part of true Christian heirones, and
waited around the dying martyr as faithfully as others
of their sex once waited around the cross of the dying
Jesus.
The nature of the wound and the intensity of the
suffering were such that he had to be kept in a sitting
posture.  After considerable delay and some trouble a
chair was procured, on which he was carried to the
house of his sister, half a mile distant, where he died at
ten o'clock that night.
His home was twelve or fifteen miles distant. His
wife was immediately sent for, and what occurred after
she reached him an eye witness relates as follows:
"He was shot near 12 o'clock, and his wife reached
him about 7 o'clock. When she went in, he raised his
right arm and put it around her, but did not speak for
a minute or more.  He then said-she was sobbing and
crying-'.Ma, you must not grieve for,me. I thought
I was doing right; I still think I was doing my Master's work. Think of me often, and tell my brethren I
fell at my post. All is clear; I have no doubts as to
my acceptance with God; my whole trust is in the
mercy of God through the mediation of Jesus Christ.'
He then told her all that passed between him and
McNabb; how they called him names, and one ruffian
caught hold of him, and pushed him round and jerked
him about till a lady interfered; said he did not for a
moment lose his balance; that he kept calm, and tried
to reason with them.  He said that he knew he had to
die as soon as the man' Drake' rode up. Htis wife asked
him'if he did not ieel scared?''No, no,' said he," l
never felt the least alarmed or excited.''How did you
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feel when he drew his revolver?' asked his wife.
'Well,' said he,'God had most graciously removed all
fear of death by violence. I knew that my time was
come, and felt that I was ready and willing to go.' He
told her that she must not let the children forget Pa;
that she must talk to them of him often, and train them
for heaven and glory. His talk with his wife was with
much difficulty, as his lungs were all the time bleeding
profusely, and he was suffering most intensely and
sinking rapidly. Just one hour before he died his only
brother reached him.  IHe was then wading deep in the
cold Jordan of death; but on seeing his brother he held
out his hand and said:'Asbury, I'm almost home; I'm
almost home! Oh, that I had strength and time to tell
of my prospects of heaven and immortality! Oh! those
bad men, those bad men! Lord have mercy upon them!
Lord save them! With but a few words more of endearment to his wife, and messages of love to his children,
he fell asleep, not gently, like the babe on its mother's
bosom, but with intense physical agony, like the martyred Stephen amid a volley of stones."
It was thus he lived, and thus he passed away.
The next session of the St. Louis Conference after
his death was characterized by profound grief and the
most solemn and effective services in memorian. The
session was held at Lexington, Mo., and the following
statement and  correspondence will explain the occa
sion:
THE OPENING OF THE FIFTH SEAL.
The St. Louis Conference having requested the Rev.
W. Mi. Prottsman to preach a sermon on the occasion of
the death of Rev. Samuel S. Headlee, the Committee
on Public Worship announced Tuesday afternoon as
the timne appointed for this service. At three o'clock a
large congregation assembled with the Conference in
the spacious audience room of the church at Lexin,i'ton,
where the following discourse was delivered, Dr. D. R.
M'Anally, Dr. E. W. Sehon and Bishop Doggett assisting in the service.
i
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ST. Louis, November 23, 1866.
REV. W. iM. PROTTSMAN:
Dear Brother-We hereby request, for publication,
a copy of your discourse on the death of our lamented
brother, Rev. Samuel S. Headleee, delivered before the
St. Louis Annual Conference, at its late session, by
request of the Conference. We believe its publication
to be eminently fitting, and are sure it will be esteemed
as a special favor by large numbers in our State who
had not the privilege of hearing it on the occasion of its
delivery. He was widely and most favorably known
among us; and the circumstances attending his death
fixed upon it the attention of the nation and excited the
most thrilling public interest. We would also suggest,
as proper, that the publication be made serviceable for
the relief of the large family whom his sudden death
has left without comfortable provision for their wants.
Hoping to receive your compliance with this request,
we are,
Yours fraternally,
THOMIAS M. FINNEY,
MIILTON ADKISSON,
JOsEPH BOYLE,
WM. S. WOODARD,
G. W. HORN,
F. A. MORRIS,
D. M1. PROCTOR,
P. M. PINCKARD.
ST. Louis, November 24, 1865.
REV. THOMAS M. FLINNEY, and others:
Dear Brethren-In reply to your note and request
of yesterday, I herewith send the Discourse for publication, hoping with you that it may be made serviceable
for the relief of the family of the deceased.
Very truly yours, etc.,
W. Al. PROTTSMAN.
The sermon on the "opening of the fifth seal" was
an able and eloquent tribute to the memory of the m,rtyred Headlee, and a manly and fearless vindicationof
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the principles in the defense of which we have the history of Martyrdom in Missouri.
The following extract from the sermon will throw
light upon the dying moments of the martyr and indicate correctly the feelings of his brethren:
Of our beloved Headlee your Committee on Memoirs say: "The spirit and conduct of our beloved
brother in his last hours were such as become the Christian. He retained his right mind till the last, and employed his heart and intellect in religious service till
his spirit fled to the presence of his God. Like his
Saviour in the last hour, he prayed for his murderers.
Their malignity and cruel wrong did not put out the
flame of love that God had kindled in his heart.  And
while we grieve to record his untimely death, we rejoice
to have it to say that he imitated his Lord, and died
praying,'Father, forgive them!'  This impulse of his
warm heart was the regular pulse of his religion? His
dying prayer was the involuntary emotion of his faith!
An  hour before he died," says the committee, " he
quoted the words,' And God said, let there be light, and
there was light.' And when the pure, soft light that
flows from where the flash of sun and star grows dim in
uncreated light came quietly falling around his dying
pllow, he exclaimed,
" O sing to me of Heaven,
When I am called to die,"
and as these words died on his lips his spirit "crossed
the flood."
When the startling intelligence of the murder of
Samuel S. Hleadlee reached me, with you, with the
community, I was shocked at the atrocity of the deed.
We were none of us prepared to believe that such malignant and demoniacal conceptions of Satan could find
instruments in our land for their execution. But we
were compelled to acknowledge this truth in sorrow,
and weep for the darkness and wickedness of our " civlized and enlightened land." Outside of the skirts of
28
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such a civilization who would not seek justice and peace
in the light of heathen darkness?
We leave this murder to the invincible law of time
and events. As days pass on, the shock of such deeds
pass off; their stunning blindness clears away, men
recover from the dizziness of the blow, and the true
nature of the deed is seen. Then will this act stand up
in its naked deformity before the world. Then will it
be realized and felt by all, as it is now felt by those in
whose hearts he still lives. And then will it give a distinguished name to his murderers from which neither
time nor death can relieve them.
Sad and mournful as would have been the task, I
would have deemed myself happy, if Headlee must thus
die, to have sat by his side and heard from his dying
lips his farewell song,
"0 sing to me of Heaven."
Had I been there I would have whispered in his ear
Jeremiah's funeral song, " Leave thy fatherless children;
I will preserve them alive, and let thy widow trust in
me."
But what could I have said to the living? What
can we say now to her
" Whose spirit is broken, -
Whose sighs are heard, but woes unspoken;
Who pines in the vigils of midnight alone,
O'er hopes that have faded and joys that have gone;
On whose brow, tho' the semblance of quiet be there,
'Tis the sadness of grief-'tis the calm of despair."
We can not say, do not weep, for when Mary's
brother died Jesus wept.  Nature must suffer for its
losses. Sorrow we must have; not alone because "God
knew what human hearts would prove, how slow to
learn the dictates of his love," but because we are
social, sympathetic beings, and can not be indifferent to
heart losses or the sufferings of others.
" O0,'tis hard to lay in the grave
A countenance so benign!-a form that walked
But yesterday so nobly on the earth."
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But who committed this atrocious murder, and thus
deprived the State of one of its best and purest men?
Who are the guilty parties, and what have the civil
authorities done to bring the outlaws to justice? The
war had closed more than a year before this event,
the civil law was supreme, and not an arrest was made,
not an indictment found. Aye, more-nearly four years
have elapsed since the murder of Mr. Headlee, and if
any man has yet been tried by any court for complicity
in this atrocious crime, the fact has not been made
public. About two years ago some paper published
the fact that one of the men had been arrested and
lodged in jail, but that was the last of it.
The author of this work wrote to Gov. Fletcher,
calling his attention to the murder of Mr.  Headlee,
the inhuman treatment of Rev Mr. Price, in DeKalb
county, and several other cases of crime and outlawry,
but nothing came of it; and the answer returned by
Lieutenant-Governor Smith, in the absence of the Governor, professed deep regret at the facts, but indicated
no official purpose to bring the outlaws to justice. Yet,
if they have escaped the punishment due to their bloody
work at the hands of the law, by the indifference or
connivance of civil magistrates and grand juries, or for
any other cause, they shall not escape the verdict of
history and the execration of posterity. They were
"making history," and we are "writing history," and
their children after them, and their children's children,
to the third and fourth generations, shall have the deep
humiliation of seeing their names in criminal association with the bloody history they have made.  "After
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
the sword comes the pen," and after the crime comes
the deliberate verdict of posterity.
The following statement is from a responsible eyewitness:
"MARCH  27th, 1867.
"REV. P. M. PINCKARD:
"Dear Brother-I send you, according to promise,
the names of the men who killed and were accessory to
the killing of the Rev. S. S. Headlee, at PleasantView
Church, in Webster county, Mo., on the 28th day of
July, 1866.
"They are as follows: 11. W. McNabb, Virgil jlcNabb, Martin McNabb, John BMcNabb, Manasah P. Derick, Jessey B. Derick, A. J. iall, S. T. Reeves, Wm.
Halbert, Wm. Drake, Wm. Powell, Marion Chitty, Jas.
Frank Davis, John Neut. Davis, Clark Davis, Thadeus
Snider, J. W. Snider, Frank Warnack, J. C. Wiseman,
John Jackson, J. T. Robins, Wm. Popegay, Ned Popegay and Joseph Nimo.
"Those who were at the Church on the day of the
murder, and who will testify to the above named persons being there assembled as a m6b, foir the purpose of
preventing Mr. Headlee from preaching there on that
day, and who also heard the conversation between Mr.
Ieadlee and Mcl abb-and the threats of the latterare the following named persons:
"George Kooner, Sarah Kooner, W. C. Dryden,
Sarah Dryden, Willis Spence, Sarah Spence, John Kontner, Wm. Ollman and lady, Riley Humes, Rhoda
Humes, Caleb Humes, James Cousin and Dr. Tuttimore." 
The facts as above narrated are substantially con
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firmed by the written statements of Rev. C. F. Dryden
and Rev. Thomas Hill, both reputable ministers of the
Gospel, and by George H. Loudon and W. H. Pipkins.
If grand juries would consult any of the above named
witnesses, or call upon John Latimore, Silas White and
many others who were cognizant of the circumstances
they would testify to facts that would be sufficient to
convict at least MciNabb and Drake of murder in the
first degree.
Let the following certificates from responsible men
close up the history of this bloody tragedy, convict
the guilty and point the sad lesson:
"I was present on the 28th of July, 1866, at the church
house known as Pleasant View Church, and heard the
following threats made concerning Rev. Samuel S.
Headlee:
"MIy first conversation was with H. W. McNabb.
After many remarks had been made by McNabb, I asked
the following questions:' What do you want Brother
Headlee to do?  Will you arrest him if he comes here?
and if so, will you institute or bring a civil process of
law against him?' These questions were propounded
to McNabb, who was, or seemed to be, the leader of the
band. His reply was that he did not want him to come
on the ground. I then proposed to go and let Brother
Headlee know that it was best for him not to come to
that place, when I was told (and i think by McNabb
himself) that if he knew what was best for him he had
better stay away.
"The next person that talked to me was one Thomas
Robins, and among many other threats was the following. I propounded the same interrogatories as above.
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
He said that he (Headlee) deserved to die; that Parson
Bewley had been killed in Texas, and Headlee ought
to be killed on that account, and appealed to McNabb
to know if it would not be just and right, and I believe
McNabb bowed his head assentingly.
"Robins then said that there were four or five of
them there; that if he came there they intended to
hang or shoot him, and appealed to a man whom he
called'Bill' to know if they would not do it; and this
man gave his assent. There were a great many other
like expressions made by this same Thomas Robins,
but I do not think it necessary to mention them now.
"I was present when Brother Headlee was shot, some
half mile from the church house. I did not know the
man who shot him, but I would know him should I see
him again. I would also know one of the men that
was with the man that did the shooting. As to the
other two men, I can not say whether I would know
them or not.
"The above I am willing to swear to, as also several
other threats that were made. But the above will do
for this time, I think.
"Respectfully yours,
"THOMAS P. HILL."
" WEBSTER COUNTY, MO., March 23, 1867.
"Brothers Pinckard & Prottsnian: I, the undersigned,
state that I was present at Pleasant View on the day
of Rev. S. S. Headlee's murder, and state to you the
substance of what I saw and heard:
"A man by the name of Robins stated that he had
sent word to Headlee of what they intended to do ifhe
(Headlee) came, and that they intended to do it, but he
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did not say what it was. The word was sent by Parson
Hill, I believe.
"After Mr. Headlee came he remarked to McNabb
that he understood that they intended to hang or kill
him. McNabb's reply was that he should not preach
there. He then asked him for his authority for such
treatment, and under what law they were acting.
McNabb replied that he did not care for law, and, pointing to the mob, said:' There is my authority,' and also
stated that he had consulted the best counsel in the
State, and that he did not care for the law.
"Manassah Derick stated during the time that'Andy
Johnson pardons rebels, but we don't-we put them
through.' Hall said,' Trot him.' So far as I could
see, all of twenty.five or twenty-six men composing the
mob acted in concert, and seemed to harmonize in the
abuse of Mr. Headlee.  When they left the ground I
returned home and saw no more.
"GEORGE H. LOWDER."
"Brother Pinckard: I was present at Pleasant View
on the day that Brother Headlee preached there, some
three or four weeks before his murder. After he had
announced an appointment for a two days' meeting I
was in conversation with McNabb. He said:'You will
not hold that meeting;' and also said he would not
trouble us with the law.           C. F. DRYDEN."
"John Newt. Davis remarked, as Mr. Headlee was
leaving the Church, that somebody had better be preparing to die. It was understood by all present that
he meant Headlee, and what immediately followed
proves it.
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
"Alban McNabb and Daniel Wand, two members of
the North Methodist Church, at Pleasant Hill, and who
signed the remonstrance against Headlee preaching
there. in a conversation with Mr. Headlee's sister (who
is also a North Methodist) said, that they told H. W.
McNabb to let lHeadlee alone (or, in other words, not
to use any violence, for that was their meaning), and
put the law in force against him. McNabb replied,
that he was not in favor of the law being used in this
case. I consider this evidence of importance, for it
proves what McNabb's intentions were, and that the
killing was premeditated.
"Clark Davis says, that when McNabb was round
drumming up his men, he told them that they
could not do anything with Headlee by law for the
reason that he was aMason. The persons whose names
I have given were all present at the Church, and heard
and saw what passed there, and several of them were
in company with Mr. Headlee when he was shot.
John Fontners will swear positively that he saw Wm.
Drake shoot Mr. Headlee; that he was close enough to
see the dust (for it was very dusty) fly out of Mr.
fleadlee's coat when the ball struck him; he will also
swear positively to the three men who were with Drake
when he did the shooting, and that'they and Drake
were a part of the mob that was at the Church when
Headlee left there; and that after they had shot Headlee they galloped back to McNabb's house, where the
rest of the mob were. It is impossible for me to give
you all that was said and done that would have a bearing on the case if those men were brought to trial.'I
It
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I
iL 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
think what I have given you is sufficient to prove that it
was a premeditated and cold-blooded murder."
" W. ]F. PIPKINS."
The following reflections from the biographical sketch
written by Dr. MI'Anally, and extensively circulated,
with the funeral sermon, in pamphlet form, are appropriate and to the point, while they throw light upon
some facts not othewise presented:
"But it may be remarked: 1. Mr. ieadlee had been
very active and very successful in his efforts to prevent
our members being led off to another denomination.
The disturbances of the war had left many, indeed,
most of our people, in that part of the State without the
regular Gospel ministrations, and great efforts had been
made to induce them to leave the Church of their early
choice. They were told that' the M. E. Church, South,
was dead-would never be resurrected; that their
preachers would not be allowed to preach; and that,
there was nothing left them but to change their Church
relations,' etc.  These reports Mr. Headlee contradicted, and prevented the results that were expected to
have followed.
"2. He had been active in his efforts to regain, by lawful means, the possession of several church-houses in
that part of the State, which had been seized and were
occupied by others. In these efforts he was likely to
be successful.
"3. In the month of August following the murder of
Mr.  Headlee, a term of the Circuit Court for Webster
county was held. During that term of the Court a
gentleman went to the foreman of the Grand Jury and
asked if he would investigate the matter of the killing
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1,M 
MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
of Headlee. He replied:' It will be attended to.' The
gentleman then furnished him with a list of the names
of persons who might be summoned as witnesses. Some
of these persons were summoned, but the more important ones were not. A day or two afterward the same
gentleman furnished the foreman of the Grand Jury an
additional list of names and told him that those witnesses would testify that "on the day preceding the
murder of Mr. Hleadlee, Henderson McNabb and son
went through the neighborhood and gathered the mob;
and that on the day of the killing, when the mob manifested any disposition to be quiet, McNabb would and
did excite them again by violent and boisterous language.
To this the foreman replied,'I have given the subject
as thorough an investigation as my sense will admit of.'
There the subject was dropped, and there it rested. The
gentleman who did this, and who reported the facts to
me from the county site of Webster county by letter,
dated September 1, 1866, added,'He (the foreman of
the Grand Jury) is a Northern Methodist preacher.' Of
McNabb he said,' With all men in this community not
entirely blinded by party feeling and party hate there
is no doubt of his (McNabb's) complicity in this foul
murder. Yet he and his associates in crime go unpunished. He is a member of the M. E. Church in good
standing. No charge has been brought against him,
no investigation had, and no disposition manifested
even to inquire into the matter.'
"The gentleman who wrote the above is extensively
and favorably known in Missouri for the many and
faithful public services he has performed.
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
" 4. All these statements can be substantiated by good
witnesses. The reader can draw his own inferences."
REV. ISAAC FRAZEE.
Among the many atrocious murders committed during the war, the following case is too important, unprovoked and wanton to be omitted, though its record here
is out of place, chronologically. The reason that it did
not appear earlier in this work, somewhat in keeping
with the dates, is, that the facts were not obtained in
time. And even now nothing has been learned of his
life and labors, and only the following meagre but perfectly reliable account of his murder has been furnished.
Rev. Isaac Frazee was a reputable minister of the
Gospel in connection with the regular Baptist Church,
and lived in the southwest part of Caldwell county,
]Iissouri He was considered an inoffensive, humble,
devout Christian and a useful minister. He took no
part in the strife; kept himself aloof from all exciting
subjects and places, and tried, in his quiet, orderly way,
to promote "peace on earth and good wi}l amongst
men."
As was too often the case in those days, he, by some
means, had the ill-will of somebody connected with the
State militia, and the authority of arms was used in the
interest of personal malice. The militia of the county
were at the time under the command of the notorious
John Ross, and had their own way with everybody
and everything, and the people, being disarmed, were
powerless and helpless in their hands. They seemed
to have full license to do as they pleased, without fear
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI.
or favor, and amongst other victims of their mean
vengeance was this humble minister of Jesus.
Sometime in August, 1862, Captain Ross himself,
with about one dozen of his men, went to MIr. Frazee's
house at midnight, called him out and marched him off
on foot, while they were mounted.  They gave no intimations of their purpose, and studiously concealed from
their victim their murderous intent. When they had
gone about a mile from the house they called a halt and
held a brief consultation, Mr. Frazee, the meanwhile,
standing some distance from them. It was mnisting
rain and quite dark. At the close of the consultation
they ordered Mr. Frazee to march on ahead of them.
No sooner had he started than they fired.  He instantly
fell and cried out in pain. The ball took effect in the
loins. When he had a moment to think he called to
his murderers; told them they had killed him, and said
he desired to talk with them. When they heard his request they advanced a little nearer, and instead of
listening to what he had to say, fired a second time, one
ball cutting his hand in two. They then left him in the
mist and darkness, supposing that the work of blood
and death was done.
Fortunately for the truth of history, although to his
unutterable agony, his life was spared until late in the
following day. What he suffered during the remaining
hours of that dreadful night no tongue could tell, no
language portray. About 8 o'clock the next morning
he was found and carried to his house, where he lingered
in the greatest pain until late in the evening.  Hie was
perfectly rational till the last; knew his murderers, and
related to his friends the circumstances as above narrated.
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I
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1
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MARTYRDOM IN MISSOTRI.
This only adds another name to the long roll of Missouri martyrs, and furnishes another illustration of the
intolerance, proscription and persecution of the dark
and bloody period through which we have come and of
which we write.
The list of Missouri Martyrs furnished in this work
is not yet complete. There were others, but reliable
information in the proper shape has not been obtained,
and their names must be left for the faithful gleaners;
and, indeed, the facts and incidents that make up the
history of these terrible times have been left here and
there by'rich "handfulls," enough to make another
volume, which, with that herein collated, may be presented hereafter in a more enduring and valuable form
by some ecclesiastical Macauley.
The sentiment of the poet will appropriately and
touchingly close this sad history:
"Flung to the heedless winds
Or on the waters cast,
The Mtrtyrs' ashes watched
Shall gathered be at last;
And from that scattered dust,
Around us and abroad,
Shall spring a plenteous seed
Of witnesses for God."
THE END.
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