Author Archives: foothillsmedia

Lately I’ve been finding a lot of information on the railroad that passed through Bollinger county. Originally built by the St. Louis Iron Mountain and Southern, the line eventually fell into the hands of the Missouri Pacific railroad and though few signs remain to remind the public the railroad existed, it was once an engineeringContinue reading “Burlison Opposed Abandonment of the Belmont Branch”

The May 26, 1871 Perryville Weekly Union documented a rivalry of sorts between it and the Bollinger county Standard. The cause of the rivalry was whether or not the Iron Mountain railroad would be built through Bollinger or Perry county. The Weekly Union quoted the Bollinger county Standard which had reported: “Perry county is anglingContinue reading “Bollinger, Perry Counties Competed for Railroad”

The Perryville Weekly Union archives have really turned out to be a treasure trove for Southeast Missouri history. The May 15, 1863 edition of the paper reports of Frank Valle capturing capturing local militia members stating: “Militia Captured – We are informed that on last Sunday evening, while Henry Farrar, Daniel Rhyne and Major Clifton,Continue reading “Frank Valle Captures Union Militia”

Most of us were probably taught that the American Civil War was fought over slavery. In reality, the reasons for the war were far more complicated. Abraham Lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation on January 1, 1863. This was done for political purposes. From the Digital History website: “In August 1862, Lincoln stated: “If I could save the unionContinue reading “Many Unionists Protected Slavery”

From the June 19, 1867 Daily Missouri Republican, a story of a horse thief from Bollinger county horse thief named “Brake” and a Madison county sheriff who planned to “break” him of his hobby. The writer of the article had fun with a little play on words. Quoting from the article: “Sheriff Cooper, of MadisonContinue reading “Breaking Brake”

I’ve been finding some historical gems in the archives of the Perryville Weekly Union as of late. Some are rare historical finds while some are are historical and humorous. This is of the humorous variety. The May 29, 1863 edition of the paper carried the story of a Mr. Herwig who was arrested by SheriffContinue reading “Hidden in a Hogshead”

The Friday May 29, 1863 edition of the Perryville Weekly Union reports that guerrillas (Southern partisan fighters) intercepted a Union captain and some other Union troops from Madison County, Missouri were traveling to Patton, Bollinger County Missouri to get some men of the Enrolled Missouri Militia resulting in a small skirmish. Note that the newspaperContinue reading “Guerrillas in Patton”

In my previous post “Frank Valle: A Perry County Secessionist That Bollinger Countians Wanted to Elect” I noted that: “The radicals of the era , as they referred to themselves, imposed harsh treatment of Southern sympathizers both during and after the war. In fact, after the war, they turned on the Germans.” Proof of this canContinue reading “Radicals Treatment of Conservatives in Missouri”

The July 8, 1864 issue of the Perryville Weekly News (Perry county, Missouri) paid special attention to inquiries from Bollinger County, to its paper seeking information pertaining to whether or not a Perry county resident by the name of Frank Valle had been nominated to the state convention. According to the paper: “We received aContinue reading “Frank Valle: A Perry County Secessionist That Bollinger Countians Wanted to Elect”