Picture courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Picture courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Kingdom City's name alludes to Kingdom of Callaway. How Callaway County came to be called a kingdom is a story dating to the early months of the Civil War.

In Fall 1861, the Union controlled the St. Louis area but the rest of the state was yet undecided. Southern forces were victorious at the battles of Wilson's Creek and Lexington. General Sterling Price envisioned a Confederate Missouri, and sent many men back to their home counties to recruit troops.

Here in Callaway, Col. Jefferson F. Jones decided to do price one better --- not only raising a brigade but equipping it. On Sept. 26 pro-Southern men raided the State Lunatic Asylum in Fulton, taking blankets, clothes and cookware.

Enraged Union supporters informed authorities who notified General John B. Henderson. He ordered seven companies from Pike County's 5th Missouri State Militia Regiment to Wellsville in Montgomery County. Some of these troops probed northeast Callaway County, indiscriminately arresting citizens and confiscating property.

Meanwhile, Colonel Jones was organizing and equipping companies of volunteers to await General Price's call. One company encountered Henderson's troops and brought word to Jones. The decision was to resist Federal invasion. Jones sent men forth to recruit other, asking all to rendezvous at Brown's Spring, in central northern Callaway County.

Hundreds of both fully equipped volunteers and fresh enlistees gathered at the hasty encampment. Determined to make a strong show of force, leaders drilled new recruits and fortified the camp with "Quaker Guns" -- logs painted to simulate cannon. Jones' camp, it has been reported, also featured a rare, operable wooden cannon.

Receiving reports of the camp's apparent strength, Henderson for reinforcements. Militia Gen. Chester Harding brought troops from Hermann, Mo., across into south Callaway County. Union forces in Columbia were also prepared to assist. Thus Colonel Jones would have been surrounded on three sides.

At a war council, Colonel Jones was persuaded to write a letter to General Henderson stating that Callaway men would defend their homes whatever the cost, but would peacefully disband if Henderson guaranteed he would not invade the county and would also assure their safety.

Three letters of compromise were carried between the camps. When two of the couriers were delayed, Jones moved troops near Wellsville to prepare for the inevitable battle. Finally, Henderson's letter capitulating to Jones' terms arrived and Jones, true to his word, disbanded his forces Oct. 27, 1861.

Thus Jones was able to accomplish something both Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson and General Price attempted but failed -- a non-invasion agreement. Sadly, it did not last. For most of the was Callaway County was occupied by Union forces, but ot before underlining a reputation for courage and independence that carried into postwar Reconstruction when it was frequently referred to as the Kingdom of Callaway.

Both attorneys by trade, Henderson and Jones were prominent in Reconstruction politics. As a U.S. senator from Missouri, Henderson authored the 13th U.S. Constitutional amendment abolishing slavery in December 1865. Meanwhile, Jones as a Democrat state representative co-sponsored an 1875 concurrent resolution granting amnesty to former guerrillas Frank and Jesse James -- then outlaws; but it failed to pass with the necessary 2/3 majority.

Comments (0)

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment