A Michigander's view of happenings in St Joseph Mo. May 13 1861

major bill

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Not sure this is a good city for a Michigan boy to be in. The Hudson Gazetteer is a small city newspaper. The Ten Eyck family was a well connected Michigan family. I wonder if young Charles took an oath to support the state of Missouri or did in fact join Jim Lane's regiment? Not sure wearing red, White and blue shirts would be too wise.

st m.jpg
 
IIRC, the fight the writer referred to in St. Joseph and in Savannah both had to do with Southern men raising rebel flags in both towns. Jeff Thompson, the "Swampfox of the Confederacy" was the mayor of St. Joseph about this time, but soon left to join the MO. State Guard. This part of MO., though not considered a part of "Little Dixie" still had a large number of southern men, and southern sympathisers. My father's side of my family all came from a little town about 12 miles from St. Joseph and 8 miles from Savannah. I inherited a farm there that has been in my family since the opening of the "Platte Purchase" in1838.

I hope the writer didn't join up with Lane and his jaywalkers. They burned my gg grandfather's farm, and he was a Union man. But that didn't matter to the jayhawkers, as my gg grandfather was also a Missourian. Such was the way the war was fought out here. You can kind of see that attitude in the letter.
 
IIRC, the fight the writer referred to in St. Joseph and in Savannah both had to do with Southern men raising rebel flags in both towns. Jeff Thompson, the "Swampfox of the Confederacy" was the mayor of St. Joseph about this time, but soon left to join the MO. State Guard. This part of MO., though not considered a part of "Little Dixie" still had a large number of southern men, and southern sympathisers. My father's side of my family all came from a little town about 12 miles from St. Joseph and 8 miles from Savannah. I inherited a farm there that has been in my family since the opening of the "Platte Purchase" in1838.

I hope the writer didn't join up with Lane and his jaywalkers. They burned my gg grandfather's farm, and he was a Union man. But that didn't matter to the jayhawkers, as my gg grandfather was also a Missourian. Such was the way the war was fought out here. You can kind of see that attitude in the letter.
apparently neither according to soldier sailor database

The only one with that name was in a USCT organized in 64 in NY
 
I found the thought of wearing a red, white and blue shirt interesting. The article is also interesting as a view of the early war feelings in Missouri. I wish I could say the feelings of a neutral outsider, but he doesn't appear to be all that neutral.
 
I found the thought of wearing a red, white and blue shirt interesting. The article is also interesting as a view of the early war feelings in Missouri. I wish I could say the feelings of a neutral outsider, but he doesn't appear to be all that neutral.
He was neither neutral nor an outsider. Missouri was clearly his home, he never speaks of it in any other way ... wherever he might have been born. And he was a Unionist Missourian.

I also expect the "red, white and blue shirt" was just euphemism -- a bit of levity to end his letter.
 
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