The execution of the Rev. Green Woods

            I was researching the circumstances surrounding the death of Col. Lewis Morrison Best and reread the following documents that had been in my files for some time. Upon reading it this time I found within another story that I had intended to research further and write about, but never had gotten around to doing so. The execution style murder of the Rev. Green Woods; Green Woods was the son of William Woods and Elizabeth McMurtrey Woods of Washington County, Missouri. The following documents will give you a feeling for how thing were in this neighborhood during the spring of 1862.  Jim Morris

HDQRS. DETACH. 13TH REGT. CAV.,

MISSOURI STATE MILITIA,

Camp at Rolla, June 24, 1862.

Colonel BOYD.

COLONEL: I have the honor to make the following report of trip to Texas County: Arrested Colonel Best, from Livingston County, Mo. (in citizens dress), with package of letters from Confederate Army. I herewith send package. They tell us of officers and men who have come back in different parts of State. Colonel Chiles letter intimates, besides I get from Colonel Best, that most of the Missouri troops were coming to Mississippi River with Texas and Arkansas troops. The Colonel has passes as William Morris, but before I found his name in letters found men that knew him. Passes enclosed. Found Confederate money on him, here enclosed. I arrested also Moses Bradford, the noted guerrilla. He has caused us much trouble to run after him. He will cause us no more. I have James W. Tinsley, fed Coleman’s men; I have John M. Richardson, fed Colemans men; I have J. S. Halbert, Southern Army; knew of Colemans men; did not give information. I shall keep these three for information and may yet fasten enough on them to shoot them. I will not trouble you with the real ones. I arrested a minister and congregation at the place where the Reverend Wood, who was shot by Kansas Fifth, was to have preached, and preached first to the minister then to the congregation. A more attentive audience never listened to man. I told them that they had to prove by acts that they loved our Government and we would protect them and their property. I drew more tears than the minister. Left my men (eighty) at Crows Station to bring in all who have made threats about Reverend Woods death. Will read orders to them to-night. Will go to Hartville, Wright County, and read orders. There is a rebel force there. They have shot two Union men there. I make the rebels I shoot tell me all. I came in with letters and for more provisions and comparing information. Will shoot Best after get all from him.

I have the honor to be, colonel, your obedient servant, H. TOMPKINS, Major, Comdg. Detachment 13th Regt. Cav., Missouri State Militia.

SAINT LOUIS,

June 24,1862.

Colonel BOYD, Rolla, Mo.:

Tell Major Tompkins I shall hold him strictly responsible for any shooting not authorized by my orders. He is not authorized to shoot men not in arms.

J. M. SCHOFIELD, Brigadier- General.

Saint Louis, July 1, 1862.

Col. J. M. GLOVER,

Commanding Rolla Division, Rolla, Mo.

COLONEL: The inclosed papers are respectfully referred to you for investigation and report. Please attend to the matter with as little delay as possible. If Major Tompkins is not guilty, as I believed him to be in issuing my order for his arrest, I desire that he be promptly restored to his command and fully exonerated. So far as I am able to judge from his report of June 24 upon which his arrest was based or from that of June 27, which I have received to-day, the shooting of Colonel Best was entirely unjustified by my orders or the customs of war. He does not appear to have been a member of any guerrilla band but a regular soldier of the rebel army on his return home. He may very probably have been a spy or been returning for the purpose of raising a guerrilla force, but neither of these would justify his summary execution without trial. No crime whatever would justify his execution without trial after he had been taken prisoner and held for several days, as appears to have been the case. Please give this and other transactions of Major Tompkins such explanation as will enable me to determine whether further proceedings are necessary.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. M. SCHOFIELD, Brigadier- General.

HEADQUARTERS ROLLA DIVISION,

Brigadier-General SCHOFIELD,

Rolla, Mo., July 6, 1862.

Commanding District of Missouri.

GENERAL: I trust you will pardon the delay of my reply to your letter of 1st instant referring to me for investigation the execution of Best (alias Morris or Morrison) by Major Tompkins, of the Thirteenth Cavalry Regiment, Missouri State Militia. The press of business, the confusion and disorder among a portion of the troops at this post and the attention to be given to the rebel force under Colonels McBride and Coleman constitute my only apology. After a hurried investigation, general, I would respectfully report the following facts and conclusions collected from various sources and in part from the accompanying documents herewith submitted, marked A,B,C,D,E and F, together with a letter from Major Tompkins to myself, viz: That about 12 oclock (in.) Sunday, 22d June, Major Tompkins, and with considerable danger to himself, in person and alone arrested a man calling himself Morrison, who said he was returning from Prices army, passing stealthily through our lines along the by-paths of the worst guerrilla communities, being armed and having upon his person a large package of letters from rebels to their friends at home, inciting them to guerrilla warfare, the said letters being inflammatory and treasonable in the highest, revealing the facts that Morris or Morrison was Best, and that he had before acted in the same capacity, and was to return South again and consequently to communicate all he should learn within our lines, showing that he was not simply a regular soldier of the Confederate Army returning home but that he was at least a spy. That before the letters were read he was identified as Old Best, of Livingston County, Mo., by one George Irving, private in Company F, First Illinois Cavalry, whose influence had resulted in the death of more Union men than of any one man in that section of the State. Best stated he had no other business than to convey said letters. I learn that Major Tompkins after the arrest of Best delayed his execution only to satisfy himself clearly what was the character of the man and his own duty under General Schofields Orders, GO. 18. To do this the investigation shows he rode on Monday to Rolla, a distance of at least thirty miles, to consult said order and to confer with Colonel Boyd, commanding post, under whose written instructions the major was acting. After the consultation it was agreed that Best should not be brought in, so on Tuesday night Major T. reached his camp and early Wednesday morning Best was executed. It appears that the time of Bests imprisonment was consumed by Major T. in ascertaining what was his duty in the premises under his oath of office to obey his superiors, and having determined from the best lights around him he acted promptly. The foregoing constitutes about all the important facts I have been able to elicit in the hurried investigation I have been compelled to give the subject. Now the character of all those officers and men who have borne testimony I have no means of knowing save by their appearance and bearing while testifying. They seemed candid and sincere and gentlemanly. I have full confidence in the worth of their statements. Of Major Tompkins, comparatively a stranger, having known him only a few days, I take pleasure in saying his conduct and statements as far as known to me personally are those of a high-toned gentleman. Public report says of him that he is a brave, energetic and faithful officer. I am inclined to the opinion that he is not overrated. He seems to have the confidence of his men and the better part of his officers with whom I have conferred. He seems to have none of the elements of wanton- ness and cruelty in his character. Upon a strict and literal construction of General Orders, No. 18, I am satisfied he has erred, but I am equally satisfied he was aiming to and supposed he was carrying out in good faith said order. This would appear from his own reports where he executed Best because he was taken in arms and stealthily passing our lines, & etc.; did not execute a notorious guerrilla because he was captured without arms, & c. Major Tompkins seems to be candid, conscientious and undisguised, resting the whole matter upon his best intentions and the facts in the case, believing the order justified his action. Relative to other recent transactions of Major Tompkins which you enforce upon me to examine I cannot discover certainly to what they relate. I have only found there is some disaffection toward him on the part of one or two of his co-officers, resulting from the Majors exactions in discipline and morality. If it be consistent with the honor of the service and the commanding generals sense of duty I would be glad to see Major Tompkins restored to his command immediately, because I have no doubt that he executed Best from an honest sense of duty and because his battalion has suffered demoralization since his arrest from the evil examples and teachings of some of its officers which needs speedy correction, and which no one can do so promptly and effectually as Major Tompkins. I believe his country may expect much at his hands and his countrys enemies have much to fear.

I have the honor to be, general, in great haste, your obedient servant, J. M. GLOVER, Colonel, Commanding Division.

[Inclosure.]

HdQns. DETACH. 13TH REGT. CAV.,

MISSOURI STATE MILITIA,

Camp at Rolla, Mo.,

July 4, 1862.

Colonel GLOVER.

COLONEL: I herewith by request present affidavits of Lient. F. [M.] Avey, Lient. William A. Lord, Corporal Gilmore, Bugler Burns, Citizen Jacob H. Stuart (who was my guide) in the matter of my execution of Lewis Morris, in Texas County, Mo. The letters show him to be Colonel Best. He denied it. Facts proved are: First, a rebel. Second, he came stealthily through our lines. Third, armed. Fourth, exciting to guerrilla warfare. Fifth, passing through the worst section we have to contend with, evading our forces. Sixth, I gave him every opportunity to clear himself of the charge. Seventh, he made no plea that he was not guilty as to facts. Eighth, he presented pass from General Price, of rebel army, to pass into Missouri. Ninth, he was guilty not only of passing our lines (which would make him a spy) but of carrying the elements of sedition and insurrection with him in letters from those whom our army had driven out of State. And when he carries letters for others with their guarded advice, with the risk attending him, it is reasonable to believe he carried more in his heart, as I am well aware that he would have shot me but for my constant vigilance in not giving him an opportunity. I was alone when I captured him, and for one hour and a half before my men came. To be sure I was right I rode to Rolla, thirty-five miles, and was assured by Colonel Boyd that it was my duty to execute him; by General Curtis and General Schofields orders that I could not do otherwise. The fact of taking him prisoner and then shooting him afterwards is no abridgement of his rights under these orders, and was for my security of duty and information. Besides if men are taken with arms who did not fire upon me I should feel it my duty to take sufficient time before executing them to take military proof of their character. Should citizens only prove it turn them over to commission. The death penalty is hard to inflict. In this case my own knowledge was the evidence and the only question was did he come under the order. I endeavored to act with great care by seeing Colonel Boyd in person. I was ordered to go to Hartville, Wright County, and to have moved him was to have endangered his escape for which I would have been held responsible. Some to clear themselves might have given him a chance and thus executed the order. What I cannot do openly under orders I cannot consent to do slyly or by false or created pretext. I have the honor to be, colonel, yours, obediently,

H. TOMPKINS, Major, Thirteenth Regiment Cavalry, Missouri State Militia.

[Sub-inclosure A.]

STATE OF MISSOURI,

Phelps County, MO:

Lieut. William A. Lord, of Company II, Thirteenth Regiment Cavalry, Missouri State Militia, being duly sworn on his oath deposes and says that he witnessed the execution of Lewis Morrison by Major Tompkins; that Major Tompkins gave him every opportunity compatible with his situation as a prisoner to establish his innocence, or that he did not come under Orders, No. 18, issued by General Schofield; that said Morris was sullen and uncommunicative after his arrest to any but his fellow-prisoners, and seemed determined to keep all information to himself; that he was identified by one George Irving, of Company F, First Illinois Cavalry, as being as he called him Old Best. This was done by said Irving in presence of said Best. He, Irving, stated further that this man and his family and the McDow family, of Livingston County, had done more for the rebellion and had killed more Union men in that county than all others. And further deponent saith not.

W. A. LORD, Lieut., Company H, Thirteenth Regt. Cay., Missouri State Militia. Subscribed and sworn before me this 4th day of July, A. D. 1862, at Rolla, Mo. II. A. GALLUP, Major, Missouri State [Militia] Cay., Provost-Marshal Rolla Div.

[Sub-inclosure B.]

STATE OF MISSOURI, Phelps County, MO:

Lieut. F. [M.] Avery, of Company H, Thirteenth Regiment Cavalry, Missouri State Militia, being duly sworn deposes and says on his oath that he was present a few moments after the arrest and at the shooting of Lewis Morrison, in Texas County, by Maj. H. Tompkins; that he saw the revolver and letters taken from the said Lewis Morrison and heard many of the letters read inciting to guerrilla warfare. Adimitted he had no other business, and that he had come stealthily through our lines and that he was taken on by-road, avoiding our troops and passing through the worst settlement of guerrillas in this section of State. And further deponent saith not.

F. [M.] AVEY, Lieutenant. Subscribed and sworn before me the 3d day of July, A.D. 1862, at Rolla, Mo. H. A. GALLUP, Major, Missouri State [Militia] Car., Provost-Marshal Rolla Div.

[Sub-inclosure C.]

STATE OF MISSOURI, Phelps County, MO:

Oliver J. Burns, bugler of Company H, Thirteenth Regiment Cavalry, Missouri State Militia, being duly sworn deposes and says on his oath that he was present within a short time after the arrest of Lewis Morrison by Major Tompkins; that he was among the first of Major Tompkins men who came to him; that he saw the revolver and letters, and heard many of them read, which were taken from said Morrison; stood guard over him afterwards, and after Major Tompkins had told him what order of prisoners he came under he was sullen and used every strategy to get away. The greatest vigilance was required to keep him. He denied that his name was Best. Admitted he was of the rebel army, and had passed stealthily through our lines. Made no effort to prove himself not liable under Orders, No. 118. And further deponent saith not.

OLIVER J. BURNS. Subscribed and sworn before me this 3d day of July, A. D. 1862, at Rolla, Mo. H. A. GALLUP, Major, Missouri State [Militia] Cavalry, Provost-Marshal.

[Sub-inclosure B.]

STATE OF MISSOURI, Phelps County, MO:

Thomas Gilmore, corporal of Company H, Thirteenth Regiment Cavalry, Missouri State Militia, being duly sworn on his oath deposeth and says that he was present at the shooting of Lewis Morrison by Major Tompkins, in Texas County, Mo.; that the said Lewis Morrison admitted that he was of General Prices (rebel) army; saw the letters and heard many of them read inciting to guerrilla warfare in this State; admitted he had no other business in going to north part of State; denied that he was of any other name; saw the Confederate money taken from him; also a navy revolver of the latest pattern and largest size, the same taking place on the 23d and 25th of June, A. D. 1862. And further deponent saith not.

THOMAS GILMORE. Subscribed and sworn before me this 3d day of July, A. D. 1862, at Rolla, Mo. H. A. GALLUP, Major, Missouri State [Militia] Cavalry, Provost-Marshal.

[Sub-inclosure E.]

STATE OF Missouri, Phelps County, MO:

Jacob H. Stuart, of Phelps County, Mo., being duly sworn on his oath deposes and says that he was with Major Tompkins in his hunt for rebels from the 20th of June to the 27th day of June; that he was present within two hours after the arresting of Lewis Morrison; that he was present at his execution; that he saw the revolver and letters taken from him, and heard many of the letters read, which spoke of inciting to guerrilla warfare, in the presence of the said Lewis Morrison; that he admitted he belonged to rebel army; that he had no other object than the letters [sic]; that he admitted he had passed our lines stealthily; that he, said Morrison, was in by-roads traveling and in a section of country where nearly every inhabitant is a rebel sympathizer, and within four miles of where train was burned, and that he, said Morrison, was making inquiries for the by-roads to Waynesville, Pulaski County. And further deponent saith not.

J. H. STUART. Subscribed and sworn before me this 3d day of July, A. D., 1862, at Rolla, Mo. H. A. GALLUP, Major, Missouri State Militia Cavalry, Provost-Marshal.

[Sub-inclosure F.] 

ROLLA, Mo., July 5, 1862.

We, Lieut. William A. Lord, Thirteenth Regiment Missonri State Militia Cavalry; Lieut. F. M. Avey, Thirteenth Regiment Missouri State Militia Cavalry; Thomas Gilmore and 0. J. Burns, privates, Thirteenth Regiment Cavalry, Missouri State Militia, being duly sworn testify as follows: That Best (alias Morrison) was captured by Major Tompkins in person and alone about 12 m. on Sunday, 2d June. On Monday Major Tompkins left for Rolla for information and advice at the hands of Colonel Boyd, commanding post, and in relation to General Orders, Nos. 18 and 21, issued by Generals Schofield and Curtis. Returned to camp on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning early Best was executed (5th). The distance to Rolla from place of execution was at least thirty miles. We all regarded Best as a spy and a very bad type of a traitor. The major stated on his return that it was Colonel Boyds opinion Best should not be brought in. We are all perfectly satisfied that Major Tompkins was endeavoring in good faith to execute the orders above alluded to. If he has erred it is an honest error. We all testify that the major used diligently all his time and energy to ascertain whether Best came within the provisions of General Orders, Nos. 18 and 21, and it was only after he satisfied himself perfectly that he did and of his infamous and cruel character that he was executed. We further state that in our presence one George Irving, private in Company F, First Illinois Cavalry, identified Morrison as Best, of Livingston County, Mo., and as one of the worst and most dangerous men in that county and section of the State, who had done more toward killing Union men than all the men in the county of Livingston.

W. A. LORD, First Lieut. Co. Iii, Thirteenth Regt. Cav., Missouri State Militia. F. M. AVEY, Second Lieut. Co. Iii, Thirteenth Regt. Car., Missouri State Militia. THOMAS GILMORE, Private Thirteenth Regiment Cavalry, Missouri State Militia. OLIVER J. BURNS, Private Thirteenth Regiment Cavalry, Missouri State Militia. Subscribed and sworn to before me this the 5th day of July, A. D. 1862, at Rolla, Mo. T. M. WILCOX, Lieutenant and Assistant Provost-Marshal.

Skirmish at Crows Station, near Licking, Mo. Report of Col. Sempronius H. Boyd,

Twenty-fourth Missouri Infantry.

ROLLA, May 26, 1862.

Our train was attacked this morning 8 a. m. by 170 men under Coleman. Our escort was 80 men. Nine wagons burned, several men killed on each side, and still fighting and endeavoring to corral train. Disaster may be great. I have sent out all the troops that can possibly be sent now. I do urge the necessity of sending two or three companies here immediately. Kansas Fifth will not be here for four or five days. I know nothing of Colonel Sigel’s men coming down to Waynesville. Can I not expect re-enforcements from Saint Louis to-morrow to stay here for a few days?

S. H. BOYD. General KETCHUM.

ChAP. XXT.J CORRESPONDENCE, ETC.UNION.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSISSIPPI, & Saint Louis,

May 27, 1862.

Col. J. C. KELTON, Assistant Adjutant- General, Monterey, Tenn.: Coleman, with 250 men, attacked Union train, escorted by 80 men, on 26th instant, at Crows Station, 32 miles from Rolla. Union loss, 2 men of Twenty-fourth Missouri killed; Captain Talliaferro, of Twenty- fourth Missouri, shot through both knees, and 12 or 15 missing and 12 wagons burned. Enemy retreated with considerable loss.

W. SCOTT KETCHUM, Brigadier-General, Acting Inspector-General. 

            I next located the following article:

Methodist pastors killed during Civil War are commemorated

By FRED KOENIG
Publications Editor

Send Email

10/25/2010

Sectarian violence. People being gunned down in front of their family, due to the label attached to who they are. A central government struggling to gain control of warring factions. The combination of religion and violence being used to push a personal agenda forward. All are words currently used to describe the war-torn countries of Iraq and Afghanistan – or the United States less than 150 years ago. 

In the state of Missouri, there are accounts of seven Methodist pastors being murdered during the Civil War. They weren’t soldiers or slave holders, by historical accounts it seems they were killed because they were serving churches that were part of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Having “South” attached to their religion resulted in their death. Although most people would now agree they were on the wrong side of the conflict, the details of the brutal nature of their killings demonstrate that they were victims of violence that extended far beyond the field of battle. 

The Missouri Conference Archives and History Commission has been on a mission to find the graves of these pastors, and recognize them with a simple marker. They are half-way through this endeavor now, and may complete it next year, which marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War.

On October 12, the commission traveled to the Elm Spring cemetery (near Fair Grove) in the Ozarks North District to place a wreath near the new marker for Rev. Samuel Headlee. Headlee was a presiding elder who went to reorganize the Pleasant View Church, a church of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, which had fallen into disarray during the war. He was met there by an armed mob, which included members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, North, who prevented him from entering. He discussed the situation with them, ascertaining that the church was the property of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and they didn’t have the authority to prevent him from preaching there. Finally, he agreed to instead go to a grove of trees he owned about a mile away and preach there instead. After going about half that distance, he was approached by four armed men from the mob, who shot three times. According to the historical account, he rode 50 yards to the shade, took off his gloves and said, “Friends, I am a dead man.” Turning to face his murders, who were still in sight, he added, “Those bad men have killed me. Lord have mercy on them. Lord save them.” 

Headlee does have a very prominent tombstone in the cemetery, which was provided by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, at the time of his death. He fared better than Rev. George Sexton. He served in Scotland County, then Boone County, seeking a safer area, but was still sent to the military prison in Alton. After his release, he was shot down by federal soldiers while traveling, then taken to a house to be treated, but taken then from that house and was never heard of again. Leftwhich writes, “When, where, an 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.” 

More gruesome is the story of Rev. Green Woods. He was planting a crop in his field, and was taken by federal troops. His body was found a week later, minus his left hand. It appeared he had been dragged a few hundred yards and shot. The family learned that the hand was taken to the commander of the federal troops to prove Woods had been killed. That commander was also a presiding elder in the Methodist Episcopal Church, North. 

Many of the details of the incidents come from a two-volume history of persecutions of Southern Methodist preachers entitled “Martyrdom in Missouri,” by William Leftwhich. 

“The accounts themselves seem almost preposterous to us today, but they fit with the tenor of the times, and the way northerners treated southerners in occupied Missouri,” stated John Gooch, a member of the Missouri Archives and History Commission.

After a graveside prayer at Headlee’s grave in Elm Spring, the commission traveled north to Urbana. There they met with the descendants of Rev. Thomas Glanville, to dedicate his marker. Glanville received written permission from the local militia to preach, and did so for a time. But one day militiamen told him a couple hours before the service that he would not be allowed to proceed, so he stayed home. Despite his compliance, that night he was killed in his home. He was shot in the face through a window, and the shooter then opened the window and shot him again in the chest. The shooter and two others then forced their way into the house, and shot him a third time. Then they rode two miles to his son Adam’s house, and shot and killed him also. Adam was a school teacher. 

Meeting the commission at the cemetery near Urbana was direct descendants of Glanville. Charles Glanville is the great, great, great grandson of Thomas. He was present, along with his children and his mother, Joyce. She provided some more information about the incident that was passed down through the family. 

“Adam’s widow, Minerva, was pregnant, and she gave birth the following February,” she said. “The men who killed him where neighbors, and they told her she was young enough to remarry.” 

Adam didn’t have a grave stone, so his death was noted on the marker that was put up for Thomas. The commission purchased the memorial markers from Carter’s in Moberly for $500 to $750. 

Maryellen McVickers, chair of the Archives and History Committee, said it is time that those who died in service to the church are recognized. 

“I admire Headlee and Glanville for standing for the beliefs, and being true to what they perceived to be God’s will,” she said. “This was a horrible time in our history, and things like this must be remembered so they are never repeated.” 

A more complete account of the murdered Methodist pastors is in the Fall 2009 edition of Toward the Setting Sun. 

The above article led me to the following:

Extracted from MARTYRDOM IN MISSOURI 

A HISTORY OF RELIGIOUS PROSCRIPTION, THE SEIZURE OF CHURCHES, AND THE PERSECUTION OF MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL, LN THE STATE OF MISSOURI DURING THE LATE CIVIL WAR,AND UNDER THE TEST OATH" OF THE NEW CONSTITUTION. 

 ………………..

REV. GREEN WOODS.

The subject of this sketch was born in Bellevue, Washington county, Missouri, Feb. 27, 1814, where he grew up on a farm in sight of Caledonia. He was received on trial in the Missouri Annual Conference M.E. Church in the fall of 1836, when the Conference was held in St. Louis, and was appointed by Bishop Eoberts, junior preacher on the Farmington Circuit, with George Smith as his senior. The next year he was returned by Bishop Soule to Farmigton, with Alvin Baird as his senior.

The next year his name does not appear in the minutes, nor does it appear again until the year 1853, when he rejoined the St. Louis Conference and was appointed by Bishop Andrew to Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

In 1854 he was appointed to Ste. Genevieve Circuit, and at the Conference of 1855, at Springfield, he was received into full connection, and returned to Ste. Genevicve Circuit, with ,J. H. Cumming as junior preacher.

It is needless to follow his appointments in the Conference further than to say that everywhere he was well received and always well reported of for good works.

He was a diligent and faithful laborer in his Masters vineyard, and few men stood higher in the estimation of the people or was more securely enthroned in their affections. He was a man of unblemished character, unswerving integrity, unwavering fidelity, deep and

fervent piety, and of good preaching ability. He was unobtrusive, unostentatious, civil, courteous, gentle and kind to all ] had many friends and few enemies lived for his work, and attended strictly to his own business. The last man who would ever intermeddle with politics or make himself officious or offensive to any man or party of men. He had charity for all, and malice for none. This is written by one who knew him well, and

loved him much, and was a member of the same class of undergraduates in the conference.

A When the war broke out Mr. Woods was Presiding Elder on the Greenville District, St. Louis Conference; was extensively known in Southern and Southeastern Missouri, and had been just as extensively useful. But the troubles thickened so fast and the country was so generally disturbed and distracted that with a heavy heart he gave up his regular work on the district and contented himself with such preaching as he could do near his home in Dent, county, while he attended to the cultivation of his little farm.

The following account of the events of 1862, furnished by his eldest daughter; will be read with deep interest, as they culminate in the awful tragedy of his murder: " In the spring of 1862 the excitement in the country became so intense that my father could no longer travel his district so he thought he would stay at home and try to make enough to support his family on his farm. As the people in the neighborhood desired him to

preach to them, he made an appointment to preach, about three miles from home, the second Sunday in May. He filled this appointment, and announced another at

the same place for the second Sunday in June, Before that time arrived he was advised by some of his friends not to go to his appointment, as they believed that he would be taken prisoner, and perhaps killed, that day by the soldiers if he attempted to preach. But he told them that he would go and preach, and if the soldiers wished to arrest him they could do so ; that if necessary he could go to jail. He said that he did not believe that they would kill him, as he had not done anything to be killed for.

Name:	HAMBY, SILAS K.
Rank:	Private
Conflict:	Civil War
Side:	Union
Type of Unit:
Organization:	Enrolled Missouri Militia
Name of Unit:	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.
Alternate Unit Name:
Company:
Period of Service:	GO 107
Commander:
Note:
Record Group:	Office of Adjutant General
Series Title:	Record of Service Card, Civil War, 1861-1865
Box:	35
Reel:	s893

A man by the name of Silas Hamby a member of the Methodist Church, North, had said some time before that no Southern Methodist preacher should preach at Mount Pleasant again. But my father thought it was an idle threat, as he had heard of no preacher being

killed because he was a preacher. "When Sunday morning came, father and my sister,

younger than myself, went to Mount Pleasant, and he preached to a small congregation the people being afraid to turn out on account of the soldiers and returned home the same evening unmolested. The next morning he took my sister just thirteen and two little boys he had hired, and went out to a field one mile from home to finish planting corn. While they were at work the mother of the boys came by the field on her way to our house. She saw that they were nearly done, so she thought she would wait till they finished and come along with them. By this means there was one grown person present to witness his arrest. I think it was about the middle of the forenoon of that Monday, June 9, 1862, when sixteen men, armed and uniformed as Federal soldiers, came to our house and surrounded it. They inquired for father. Mother told them that he was not at home, but out in the field (father told her if they came and called for him, to tell them where he was). They made a general search, and then huddled up out in the yard and held a council a few minutes.

Five of them were sent to the field, and while they were gone those at the house were stealing everything they could get their hands on that belonged to father, leaving very few things behind. " When the five soldiers got to the field father was not quite done planting. They rode up and asked if his name was Green Woods; he told them it was. They told him that he was the man they were after, and ordered him to alight over the fence. He asked them if they would not wait until he could finish planting, as he had then but a few short rows; but they told him, with an oath, that they were in a hurry, and kept hurrying him while he was getting his horse ready to start. When they started from the field my sister asked them what they intended to do with father. They told her, with an oath, that it was uncertain where he would get to before he came back. They brought him to the house and allowed him to eat his dinner. But when he went to dress himself, he could not find a change of clothes, as the soldiers had taken all that he had, and would not even give him his pants and hat. They took him about three miles from home, to a man s house by

the name of Jones, and pretended to get evidence against him. (This was north-west from where we live). They then took him about three miles from home, to where a man lived named Peter Skiles, who kept a blacksmith shop. They stopped and staid there awhile, and searched the house, as Skiles was a Southern man. They then took father about half a mile and killed him, and left him lying out in the woods away from the road no one knew where except those who placed him there. Two guns were heard after the soldiers left

Skiles. "This was done on Monday, and his body was not found till the next Monday. We did not know that he was killed until his body was found. When found he was lying on his back with his overcoat spread on the ground under him ; one arm was stretched out one way, and the other stretched out the other way, his hat drawn down over his face, his coat and vest and left glove lying on the ground near him, his right glove on, his left

shirt sleeve torn off, and his left hand off and gone. He seemed to have been dragged some two or three hundred yards before he was shot, as there was but little blood

along the trail, and was found as above described near a large tree and among some low bushes. " We have heard several times that the Northern Methodist presiding elder, by the name of Ing, sent the men to kill my father. I have given you the substance of what we know of father s death.

(Signed) " JOSEPHINE M. A. M. WOODS,

"Eldest Daughter,

"E. A. WOODS, Wife, and

"MARY LOUISA, Daughter of  "Rev. Green Woods."

Mrs. Woods furnishes the following additional particulars : "While eating his dinner the soldiers asked him if he did not think he ought to have taken the oath meaning

the oath of allegiance which all citizens were required to take. He replied that he would he candid with them, as he tried to be with all men; that it afforded no protection, as only the day before the soldiers had been taking the property and breaking the guns of those who had taken the oath, and he could not see that the oath had profited them any. They hurried him much to finish his dinner. He asked them for his hat, which they refused to give him. He said that he would then wear his old one, and be with his equals meaning that he was about as near worn out as his hat. "Thinking that it might have some good effect upon the soldiers, I reminded him, in their presence, that the meal was out, and asked what I must do, now that he was going away. He replied, the Lord will provide/

And, so far, it is literally true; the Lord has been merciful to give us our daily bread, as we have never had a single meal without bread. " When he started he told me to do the best I could, and seemed to have a presentment that he would never return. "On the way that evening he was stopped at the house of Dr. Boyd. While there he said to Mrs. Boyd,

Tell Mrs Woods that you saw me here. Mrs. Boyd also heard him tell the soldiers to hurry up and take him wherever they intended to take him ; that they would keep him in the hot sun till he would be down sick. They replied that they had a good doctor. He had been very sick only a short time before. It was his custom to hold family worship night and morning, no matter what else was to do. The last day of his life he read for the morning lesson the thirty-seventh Psalm." Strenuous efforts have been made to obtain the names of the guilty parties, with but little success. The following statement is the latest and most reliable :

"A man by the name of Dennis was the pilot, and it is said helped do the shooting. A man named Wells (Benjamin Wells) was in the company. We can not give the first names of either of these men now, but have the promise of them. A young man named Bill (William) Fudge, the son of North Methodists who were once members of the Southern Methodist Church, and another named Harrison Batliff, it is said, helped commit the murder." To the question, " What evidence have you that Ing, the North Methodist presiding elder, sent the men to commit the murder?" the following reply was furnished : "All the evidence we have that Ing sent the men is, that he was their commander at the time ; and it has been told, by those who said they saw it, that fathers hand was carried to Ing as proof that they had killed him, and that he still had it in his possession a year or two ago.

Respectfully, JOSIE M. A. M. WOODS."

When Mr. Woods dead body was found, "his left hand was off and gone." Common rumor in the community, and the statement of several reliable gentlemen which may hereafter be given go to confirm this horrible and savage report about the hand.

The following account of the affair was published in the St. Louis Christian Advocate, of June 13, 1866, and signed " B. of Crawford county :

"REV. GREEN WOODS.

Mr. Editor: In the letter of your California correspondent, in last weeks Advocate, the names of several ministers formerly connected with the St. Louis Conference are mentioned with that of the lamented Green Woods, who the writer too truly mentions as having been cruelly murdered in the summer of 1862. And, as the writer of this sketch had known the deceased for many years, and was living in an adjoining county at the time the cruel murder was committed, he may be able to furnish some facts relative

thereto that would interest his many friends and acquaintances of by-gone days. He was at the time (1862) living at his home, in Dent county, Mo., on a little farm that he was quietly cultivating with his own hands, and had been guilty of no other offense that that of preaching through the county in which he lived every Sunday, and oftener as he found opportunity. And, at the time he was torn from his weeping wife and little ones, he was at home plowing in his field, when suddenly he was surrounded by men wearing the uniform of soldiers, and hailing from Kansas regular Jayhawkers How many broken-hearted wives and mothers, and destitute orphan children, throughout Missouri will have cause to remember these cruel; Kansas Jayhawkers! The cruel assassination of loved husbands and fathers; the burnt and blasted homesteads, where lonely chimneys only are left to tell the tale of once happy and contented households now scattered and torn by the ruthless storm of war in the wake of these Kansas desperadoes. Truly the fate of Missouri has been hard; and of many it may be said they are strangers in their own land. "When informed by them that he must go with them as a prisoner, and probably knowing from the fate of others what he might expect of them, he told them that

he had violated no law,, that he was a minister of the Methodist Church, South, and that if they intended to kill him, he was not afraid to die. Then taking, as he well believed, a sad and final farewell of his wife and little children, he started with his captors to the town

of Salem, as he thought. But, alas ! what must have been the agony of the fond wife when she learned, several days afterward, that he had not been taken to Salem at all ! Diligent search but confirmed her worst fears. He had been taken about two miles from home by the road side and shot. There the mortal remains of Green Woods were found a cold and lifeless corpse with the fatal bullet shot through the head. "In contemplating such a scene as this, how the heart saddens and sickens to know that humble and devoted ministers of the cross are put to death for no other cause than that of being ministers of the M. E. Church, South. Is it because that Church has been, and still is, in the way of those who profess to have all the piety, loyalty and religion in the land, that its members and ministers are specially denounced, proscribed and persecuted, and are the marks of special vengeance for every gang of raiding soldiers that chance to come into Missouri?

"I am credibly informed that the deceased had never taken any part in the excitement growing out of the war up to that time ; that he had never mentioned politics in the pulpit, and had never left home on account of the troubles during all the dark days of 61 and 62.

"Rev. Green "Woods was a native of Missouri, and through many portions of Southern and Southeastern Missouri will he be remembered, as his powerful and eloquent voice echoed and died away upon the gently murmuring breezes of his native hills and vales in calling sinners to repentance. But he now sleeps the long sleep of death. That clarion voice is now silent, and will no more be heard on earth proclaiming the good news arid glad tidings of salvation which shall be unto all people. But we close, and drop a silent tear to his memory; knowing that He who holdeth the earth in the hollow of his hand, and who numbereth the very hairs of our heads, doeth all things well. "We have good reason to believe that the religion he so long and faithfully preached to others sustained him

in the last trying hour; and in the great day, when all mankind shall stand forth to be judged according to the deeds done in the body, many will rise up and call him blessed. R-" Thus passed away, by the hand of violence, one of the excellent of the earth, "of whom the world was not worthy." A faithful witness for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus, having committed no offense against the laws of God or man, he fell a martyr to the truth; gave his life for a principle and a cause, and offered himself upon the service and sacrifice of his chosen Church, and the faith she vindicates in his death,

and ascended the thrones of martyrdom, to await, with the martyrs of all ages, the final and glorious triumph of the Kingdom of Messiah, in whose service he counted not his life dear unto himself. It is a grand thought that Infinite Goodness and Power has ordained that " Christ must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet." "Then cometh the end." "Even so: come Lord Jesus."

The local Militia:

AGEE, SAMUEL	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
ALLY, DANIEL B.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
ARD, REUBEN J.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
ASHER, MICHAEL R.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
BENTON, ANDREW	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
BENTON, JOHN W.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
BERRY, JAMES H.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
BERRY, JOHN H.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
BOWMAN, THOMAS J.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
BOYD, DAVID	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
BRIGMAN, EDMUN A.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
CALLAHAN, BENJAMIN F.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
CALLAHAN, JAMES E.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
CALLAHAN, JOHN R.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
CAMPBELL, JAMES B.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
CANE, LEONARD	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
CAUSEY, JOHN	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
CLARK, GEORGE W.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
COLE, ELISHA	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
CRAIG, WILLIAM H.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
DAVIS, SOLOMON	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
DIXON, ISOM	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
FERRELL, WILLIAM J.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
FISHER, NOAH	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
FLOYD, ENOCH	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
FLOYD, PETER	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
FOX, JAMES C.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
FOX, JEFFERSON	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
GRAGG, ROBERT A.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
GRAHAM, JOHN	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
GREEN, JOHN H.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
HAGLER, WILLIAM F.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
HAMBY, SILAS K.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
HAWS, SOLOMON	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
HAYS, JAMES H.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
HEDRICK, DAVID	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
HENDERSON, DAVID R.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
HEROD, JAMES W.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
HILL, HENRY	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
HOBSON, CHARLES	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
HODGES, SAMUEL	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
HOWELL, JOSEPH M.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
HUFFMAN, JOHN T.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
HUNT, JOSEPH C.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
HUNTER, J. F.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
JONES, GEORGE W.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
JONES, MICHAEL D.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
KAUSE, J. W.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
KEETON, WILLIAM	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
KENADA, CALIP	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
KENADA, MOSES	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
KENAMORE, GRANT A.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
LANE, PLEASANT	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
MANN, WILLIAM H.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
MASSENGILL, GEORGE	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
MCDONALD, WALLACE	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
MCNEILL, MALCOM	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
MITCHELL, EDWARD A.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
MITCHELL, JAMES T.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
MOBLEY, THOMAS H. B.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
NELSON, JAMES S.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
NICHOL, R.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
NICHOL, RICHARD W.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
NICHOLS, JOHN	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
NICHOLS, WILLIAM J.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
PAIN, JOHN	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
PETTY, JEFFERSON	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
PHARIS, LOGAN	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
REDDICK, RANSOM	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
ROBERTS, S. H.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
ROBINETT, ROBERT A.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
SAMPLES, JAMES W.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
SAMPLES, SAMUEL	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
SHULTS, FRANCIS M.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
SIMMONS, ROBERT M.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.
SKILES, HESEKIAH	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
SKILES, PETER	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
SKILES, WILLIAM R.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
SMITH, JAMES	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
SMITH, THOMAS H.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
SMITH, WILLIAM F.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
STEPHENS, ALBERT S.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
STEPHENS, ALBERT S.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
STEPHENS, WILLIAM M.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
THOMASSON, J. C.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
THOMASSON, THOMAS A.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
THOMASSON, WILLIAM	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
TRIPLET, HORTON	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
VAUGHAN, JOHN L.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
WALKER, FRANCIS M.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
WALKER, IRVIN B.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
WALLACE, ANDREW M.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
WIGGINS, BENJAMIN S.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
WIGGINS, SAMUEL H.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
WILLIAMSON, PETER B.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
WOFFORD, CHARLES P.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
WOFFORD, H. C.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
WOFFORD, JAMES	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
WOFFORD, JAMES A.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
WOFFORD, WILLIAM J.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
WYNN, DANIEL O.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.		view details
YORK, JAMES M.	Civil War	Capt. James E. Callahan's Dent County E.M.M.