Category Archives: Uncategorized

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”

“HELLSTORM” by Thomas Goodrich is available in paperback, audio book and a documentary DVD at Money Tree Publishing. World War II has often been described as “the good war” and those who lived and fought during this period in history are often called “the greatest generation.” While Americans who answered the call to save EuropeContinue reading “Bombshell: Review of Thomas Goodrich’s “Hellstorm””

The February 10, 1864 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer carried the news of John Bolin’s capture on Holcomb Island, the many papers mistakenly reported Holcomb was “near” Cape Girardeau, Missouri , it is much farther South. The paper reported that Union forces killed seven and captured eight of Bolin’s command (including Bolin himself) and wereContinue reading “The Capture and Execution of John Bolin”

From the late 1800’s through the early 1900’s it was not uncommon for rival newspapers to take lighthearted jabs at each other from time to time but an article found in the October 29, 1897 Dunklin Democrat newspaper revealed a feud between two papers that was anything but lighthearted, in fact, it was down rightContinue reading “Harsh Words and Veiled Threats All Part of a Newspaper Feud”