Lincoln [Kansas]
Friday, September 18, 1864

Dear Cutie [Augusta],

I received yours dated Sept 4th last evening and hasten a reply. I have just finished getting up my winter’s hay for up here. I have about three tons put up which I think will be a great plenty as we shall not probably winter but one horse. I told you in my last that I had sold Phil. She was always a kicking and flirting about so that she was a real bother and I did not want her if I could get rid of her reasonably. So I sold her for $75 and yesterday sold old Joe with my harness for seventy-five more which leaves me completely horseless. Mr. [John H.] Sherman has a four-year-old bay mare, which I would be glad to get if I could for $130. She is broken to the harness & saddle. I expect to go & see him today. If I get her, I shall be obliged to get me a new harness and then shall put the thills [1] in my buggy and drive singly. I think this will be economy in the team line. And I hope we may in time, if we live, raise some nice colts. Yes colts they should be, I.E., if the eggs all hatch.

I was glad to hear of your visit to Newfield [New York] and from some of my old friends there. When shall you start [on your trip] to [Hartford] Connecticut? I think I would before the weather becomes too cold. Mother must be quite smart to make such a trip. Did she come back with the excursionists? Where does Mary Kelly [2] live? What do you think about staying there all winter? Matters are in a somewhat unsettled state here now, but I think things will be different soon as cold weather sets in. I suppose Mother Goodrich would consent to let you stay from the way she writes, but it did not state whether Sarah would. You don’t say much about her in your letters. Has she grown young any? And does she talk any of coming back with you? And isn’t she never coming out to settle in this big west? Have you heard from [your brother] James yet? And does he talk any of coming home?

If I succeed in getting a horse, I shall probably go down to Topeka next week. You ask after Bro. [Luther B.] Jones. Did I not tell you in some letter that he had come home all safe and thought if the road opened [to Denver,] to go back again this fall? I am boarding with them this week, and sleeping & studying at home. The people don’t seem to pay in any [for my salary]. I suppose they think that because wife & children are gone, it don’t cost anything to live. I think there will be a change somewhere to get me back in this circuit another year. I have not heard from [my Presiding Elder] Bro. Taylor since he left. I guess he is better. What had I better do for a suit of clothes and where had I better get them? And what shall I get? This gray factory [suit] has not worn well. It’s in fringes around the bottom already and I spoiled my other grays when after the Indians. So you see I am getting out in several respects with everything almost but patience.

Be sure and tell me when you think I had better start for you. I want to do just to let me be absent 4 weeks precisely. I will try and write you from Topeka. Bro. Nash just up from there says corn is very light on account of the drought. [Ever yours – James]

Lincoln [Kansas]
Wednesday, September 21, 1864

My dear companion [Augusta],

I expect to start for Topeka in the morning. I should have gone yesterday but was called upon to attend the funeral of Sister Metcalf who was living in Seneca but had the funeral at Turkey Creek Meeting house where she was buried. She was the daughter of Sister Blue, who lives near Bro. [John] Sly's. She was a good woman. Experienced religion when only nine years of age and was 27 when she died. She was a widow and leaves a little orphan four years old. I came back this forenoon and should have gone on to Circleville to day but my buggy tire needed setting and Mr. Stinson cannot do it until morning.

I should be right glad to see you all today and hope you are well. Has Sissy recovered entirely from her boils? And does Johnny read his book regularly? And is he a good agreeable boy (please tell me just as it is). I was fearful he might be inclined to take liberties and make himself disagreeable, which I hope is not the case. And how is my boy Willie? Does ever say anything about his papa and talk any of coming to see me?

I have at last bought me a buggy beast. It is a four-year-old bay mare – a fine traveler named Fanny. She never was driven in a buggy until I bought her but had been harnessed to a double waggon and worked quite well. I bought her of old Mr. [John H.] Sherman for $128. I drove her down to Turkey Creek and she took me down there sooner and with far less urging than with both my others and seemed every way gentle. I like her right well so far. It will give her a good test to go down to Topeka. I am pretty confident you will like the exchange as she will only be the expense of wintering one instead of two, and I think do the work better, and then Joe was decreasing in value all the time. I believe I told you that I sold Phil for seventy-five dollars and Joe and the double harness for the same. I have bought a good set of single harness for nineteen dollars making old team and rig $150 and new rig & team $147. So I came out three dollars ahead after all and much better suited with my propelling power.

You saw in the letter from Carrie [Winans] that [her husband] Henry would buy my [live]stock down yonder [at Topeka] if I would sell. I thought I would see him and if I could exchange what Bro. Hannum’s [3] not obliged to winter for two or three of his colts, I could do it as they would be so much less expense to keep or winter. And when they get their growth, I can turn them back into other stock again if I desire it. By this I would not be obliged to put up so much hay. What do you think about it?

When do you think of going to Connecticut? And what is about the time you have fixed upon for coming home [to Kansas]? I wrote to [my brother] Daniel [in Baltimore, Maryland] the other day and told him you were there and urged him to come up & see us when I come and he would like to know the time if he comes. What do you think about staying there this winter and how will you manage to pay for it?

Don’t eat too many of those gnarly crab apples. I should think you would be ashamed to tell of it. Why we can get just such in Kansas. However, it’s comforting to know you can find something you like. But I don’t waste my time eating apples when we have lots of melons so much better. The fall weather is really setting in. We have had two or three touches of frost and the leaf painting has commenced in right good earnest. The long ridges of prairie fires are observable whilst I am writing away to the south on land I must pass tomorrow, and everything indicates that the time of teeth chattering is coming.

A man just came in by the name of [Aime] Chavanne [4], a Frenchman, son-in-law of Samuel Dennis, and wanted to trade for my big waggon. So I traded, as I am considerably in a trading mode nowadays. I got a mule just weaned for it and he agrees to winter it for me. If it lives and does well, I guess I shall loose nothing. It is getting towards suppertime. I am stopping at Sister Connell’s this week. All are well. My love, -- James

Owego [New York]
September 25, 1864

Dearest James,

Two letters came from you the past week & I have sent two, but if we go to Hartford [Connecticut] this week, I shall not be able to write so often I fear, but will whenever I can. We talk of starting Tuesday night or Wednesday morning in the Express [Train]. The [Tioga County] fair commences Tuesday and I expect to go in once on Tuesday afternoon. The fairground is changed and is on the flat above the old Beer’s place opposite Mrs. Tiffany’s.

I sent a letter to you Thursday morning and in the afternoon [our son] John fell from the wagon house and cut his chin & face badly. I cannot imagine what possessed the child to get up there. Herman Goodrich’s [boy named] Charlie was here & they got up on the shed that joins the wagon house & from that John went up on the wagon house. We did not see him at all. He went up to the top of the roof over on the other side & called out to Charlie, “Now you can’t see me” and soon Charlie said he cried out, “Oh! I’m falling.” I was upstairs & heard him scream as he came towards the house. I was frightened & asked him what was the matter & he said, “Oh Ma, I have killed myself.” His mouth & face was all blood & the cut looked very bad then. He fell & struck on the board fence & it is a wonder it did not break some bones or instantly kill him. He said he tried to keep from falling after he felt himself going. He says he never will climb up there again. It is a severe lesson.

We washed the blood off and put on arnica, the same they all use about here for wounds and bruises. His lower lip was cut clear through. It will leave a scar. I should have thought it would have knocked the breath out of him but he got right up & came toward the house. I thought Charlie had got up & coaxed him up, but John got up first & I have found out since that he had been on the shed before, but I think he will not do it again. It made me so nervous I could scarcely sleep that night & [my sister] Sarah nearly fainted. He wanted me to write you all about it. It was swelled badly but is healing now.

The boys were glad to get your letter to them. John opened it & felt proud of it.

I was in to Mr. [Charles C.] Thomas’ store the other day. He says you must come & see him when you come. Old Mr. [Isaac] Lillie [5] died night before last and is to be buried today.

And so you have sold both horses. I hope you are not going to lose by it. Is the one you talk of buying gentle? How had you calculated we should get to Lincoln from the [Missouri] river? Perhaps someone will be going down to St. Joseph or Atchison & we could ride up. The stage fare would be considerable for us. I think you had better start right away after your Quarterly meeting to come here. And [I also think] that we had better take another route back by way of Mr. Curtis’. [We should] start from here the last of one week & stay there over Sunday.

I am sorry about your clothes. I wish you could get something in Topeka for a pair & have Mother [Melinda] Philips make them for you. They will cost considerable. Everything is very high here. I shall have to borrow money if I go to Connecticut. I must have a shawl & other things & the children must have winter clothes &c. A shawl such as I paid seven dollars for before I was married is now 16 & 17 [and] other things higher in proportion. I think [my brother] Stephen will get the land and if he does, I will borrow of him until then.

What about the Indians? Think there will be difficulties with them? I should think troops would be kept to watch them. [My sister] Sarah is anxious for us to stay out [of Kansas]. I do not want to stay unless necessary. Hope this will find you well. Give love to all. Ever your true wife, -- Augusta 

At Old Home [near] Topeka [Kansas]
September 28 [1864]

My Dear Wife [Augusta],

I came down [to our farm near Topeka] last Friday. Saturday I went down to Bro. Henry K. Winans’ and staid until today. Took dinner at Mother [Winans’] today, and am now at our [old] home where everything looks natural but the absence of my wife & treasures. I found Carrie [Winans] quite unwell with the chills. She had been to work outdoors helping Henry grind cane and whilst there, the old rubbish of last year took fire and she helped him fight it out. And it took till away along in the night and it was more than she was able to bear. It will take all the extra made by her help to pay the Dr’s bill, besides a long spell of sickness, so that he will find that outdoor work won’t pay for sickly women. It reminds me of your helping me once. Mother [Winans] had a great many questions to ask about you. So did Sister Ashbough. Said they wished you were there.

They are without a preacher yet in Topeka but are expecting a Bro. Vincent of the Iowa Conference in a Sabbath or two. Billings store on the corner blew up a few days ago and came near killing three or four men. Father Winans says [your brother] James left there a few days ago to go out to Fort Larned [6] to put up hay. He is to have one hundred dollars a month. Says he appears well. Says he lent him (Father W.) $200 more and lent $150 to some of the boys of his company so that he has been quite saving of his money. Thinks he will go on east soon as he gets back from his haying expedition.

I did not see Jake [Orcutt] or [his sister] Nancy. Hope to this week some time. The neighbors about here are generally well. Mrs. Stevenson appears thin and bad. Sister Naylor has become quite fleshy. Sister Hannum sends her compliments to you. It has been very dry here this fall. Sister Hannum has not put up a single pickle.  They have no potatoes and a quite light crop of corn. Brother [Osborn] Naylor had his wheat threshed Saturday and only had ______ bushels all told. I am afraid there will not be enough raised from wheat to pay the taxes. Brother Hannum wants to try it again another year. What do you think about it? Mr. Keyser moves into Mr. Copeland’s house at the bridge in the Spring…

I cannot come [to get you] until after my next Quarterly Meeting the 2nd Saturday & Sunday in November. It will take at least $150. Where can I get it? Kiss all the children for papa. He wants to see you all very much. Forever yours, -- James

In October 1864, Augusta left her two boys with their Uncle Stephen  Goodrich in Owego and journeyed to Hartford, Connecticut to visit her Uncle Elizur Goodrich. She traveled in company with her mother and her 13-month old daughter, Mary. Her Uncle Elizur still resided at 81 Buckingham Street, according to the 1864 Hartford City Directory:

Elizur is listed as E. T. Goodrich
Listed at same address is Frederick E. Goodrich (his son)

Hartford [Connecticut]
October 2, 1864

Dearest James,

A week has passed since I wrote to you and over a week since I received a letter from you. We were in hopes to get a letter from [my sister] Sarah last night but none came. Ma, [our daughter] Mary, & I are safe in Hartford.

We intended to take the one o’clock train Tuesday night & [my brother] Steve took us over [to Owego] a little after twelve. They said the train would be an hour behind time & the baggage master was asleep. But the train was only half an hour behind & the man was asleep when the train came up, & then said he could not check the baggage [in time]. So we had to stay over until the five o’clock train. Steve wanted we should go home & he would bring us back, but Ma did not like to, so we staid in the Depot & waited. While we were there, Mrs. Clark Beecher [7] came into the cars for Western N. Y. to visit her friends. The room was full nearly all night. It commenced raining about two o’clock & was unpleasant all day Wednesday.

We reached New York [City] between two and three, just in time for the Hartford boat. Had a pleasant sail and reached Hartford about seven Thursday morning. Found all well and expecting us.

It has rained some every day since we started until yesterday & is raining quite hard this morning so that none are going to church. Ma enjoys her visit very much. Uncle [Elizur Goodrich] and Aunt [Mary] do everything to make it pleasant. Yesterday, although a carriage costs two dollars an hour, he took us all to ride for an hour and a half, over the city. Hartford is certainly the most beautiful city I was ever in, and has improved more in the last ten years than in the 30 preceding so the old inhabitants say. Ma enjoyed the ride very much. I cannot go about as I would like, but have made three or four calls & took tea at Mr. Beach’s last night. They inquired about you, as many others have, & would like to see you here. All are urging us to come east somewhere to live. But I tell them our home is there [in Kansas] &c. and that I like to live there. Still I would rather live east if we were in circumstances that we could. It is pleasant.

Aunt Mary has the fattest baby I almost ever saw – a very pretty child. [Our daughter] Mary is somewhat fretful; otherwise does as well as I could expect and looks pretty dressed neat and clean. Aunt Eliza Danforth [8] & Aunt Betsy Beach [9] board with Uncle [Elizur]. That and his salary as clerk, economically used, supports them so they keep out of debt. Uncle looks to be only about 35 – has not grown old one particle that you can see [even though] he is 47.

I wrote you in my last about [our son] John’s fall from the wagon house. The wound was healing very fast when I left home. But Tuesday morning he & Willie were hulling nuts with a hammer & iron & Willie told John to put his finger on the iron & maybe he would not pound it. John did it & Willie gave it a blow with the hammer on the nail & it burst the back of the finger open. It was very painful indeed but was better when I left. I don’t think he will either get on the wagon house or put his finger to be pounded again but they were two very severe lessons. Willie felt very bad after it was done. I want to hear from them very much.

Tuesday before we left home, Mr. Keyes called & we had a house full of company all day, and beside went to the county fair just opened, and had baking, ironing, and a great deal to do. Our trunk was not packed until after ten o’clock at night. Aunt Mary has given me an overcoat of Uncle [Elizur’s] that will answer very well for you & save getting one this winter. I do not know but I ought to get cloth for you a pair of pantaloons but will have to borrow money of [my brother] Steve to do it. He wants to buy the land & pay part for it now & the rest some other time. We expect to go to Glastonbury tomorrow. I will write as often as I can. Ever yours – Augusta

At old home [near Topeka, Kansas]
October 3, 1864

My dear wife [Augusta],

Sister Hannum told me that she has written a letter to you in my absence to attend brother Tegart’s  Quarterly Meeting and that I can put in a line to you. I think of starting back home [to Lincoln, Nemaha County, Kansas] in the morning. Have had quite a pleasant time around among our old neighbors. It has been so dry here this summer that the crops are poor. Br. Hannum will scarcely raise enough to pay for his trouble. Our hedge around the orchard is doing pretty well but the one around the field has not done much. The fruit trees have made quite a good growth this summer. Those peach seeds that I planted have come up pretty well – enough to fill up all the vacant places with trees. There are a few peaches on the trees.

Brother [Osborn] Naylor’s crops are tolerably good and his stock is doing well. So with Brother [Jesse] Stevenson. [10] He sold pumpkins off from an acre and a half to come to seventy dollars and has quite a number of loads left. He has about $600 worth of pork to sell and has nine head of horses and is making money. He has woven enough lindsey [woolsey] to clothe the children and are getting along finely. He now asks $6,000 for his farm. He intends to dig a well on that piece he bought of me and build over there soon as he is able. But to go there you would think he was almost on his last legs and at a loss to know how he would be able to make the riffle. So it is. Some don’t know when they are well off and the more money they have, the poorer they feel.

Sister Hannum’s health is not first rate. She has something like the ____. Eddie [Hannum] has the whooping cough very bad. I suppose she has told you all about the neighbors. I hardly know what to do about coming after you this fall. The Hannibal & St. Joe [railroad in Missouri] is not safe to travel on. Guerillas are continually doing mischief on it and then it never has been ballasted and continual disasters are taking place. If I come, I cannot until after my next Quarterly Meeting which takes place the second Saturday & Sunday in November, and our preacher’s meeting the Tuesday and Wednesday after at Circleville, so that I could not well get started the next week and it will bring it away into the winter. I am not sure that I had better wait until February and I don’t see how I can. I wish you would suggest how we had better manage. I expect to go by Brother Curtis’ [home in Illinois] when I go… Now dear, tell me just what you think I had better do. I want to see you all very much but if you keep well and when I know you are right at home and enjoying yourself so well, I must forego the pleasure of your company until I shall get to see you again.

Here is a sample of Sister Stevenson’s and Sister Hannum’s dress. Sister Stevenson’s calico [cost] 80 cents [a yard]. Sister Hannum’s gingham [cost] 40 cents [a yard]. Please write soon. Tell when you get this letter. Ever yours, -- J. S. Griffing

Lincoln [Kansas]
October [5th or 6th] 1864

My Dearest [Augusta],

I just reached home from Topeka last evening and was glad to find there letters in the [Post] Office from yourself and one from [my brother] Daniel. He had just received a letter from [my brother] Samuel informing him that you had come and if he can get away, will try and come when I come out. Daniel’s wife’s mother continues quite feeble and all the time grows weaker. Should he come, he wants his wife to come with him but it is impossible for her to come under the circumstances at present. Says he received a letter from [our nephew] John B. Kelly just before the fight at the Weldon Railroad [11], but nothing since. Says he has his fears that he was killed as his Corps, the 18th [led by General Ord], was engaged. Said that several trains of cars containing the wounded and prisoners captured by Gen. Sheridan came into the city [of Baltimore] yesterday and today. That [General] Early’s army is completely routed and Baltimore breathes much more freely. [12] 

I left the people under a great deal of excitement at Topeka. The militia have all been ordered out in that section to go down on the border to release the regulars who have been standing at different posts on the frontiers, so that they (the regulars) might be ready to repel any invasion by [General] Price [13] or army of the band of the guerilla’s [14] who seem to have become quite desperate of late. The farmers were all very busy about their fall’s work, but had to leave everything and go – [At least] those who could not obtain a substitute. You have no idea what a drain it has made upon the farming & mechanical interests of the entire community. I hope they may be permitted to return safely. Bro. Hannum, Stevenson, Naylor, Prigmore, Wards, Palmers &c &c. all must go unless they can provide substitutes. Of those not obliged to go, everything looks quite natural about the old premises. The crops are about a failure. Bro. Hannum has made considerable joining with Mr. Rice in the hay business. He has hay enough put up to winter the stock.

Sister Hannum sells all the butter she makes to spare right at the house for 40 cents a pound. They did not raise any tomatoes this year and scarcely any garden vegetables. Potatoes are four dollars a bushel in Topeka. Goods fell in Leavenworth in one day some 20 percent. I think soon after the presidential canvass, goods will fall. The war is about on its last legs and I think that it will be best to trade just as little as possible until there is a change. Can you not buy second hand clothing that will do to work into children’s clothes? And can you not make those shawls of yours answer till goods fall a little? If the greatest economy is not practiced just in these times, bankrupsy will be the inevitable result. It will cost us a great deal much more than we ought to spare to get around home again all right and I want we should be able to keep our heads above water. Our circuit for some reason has scarcely lifted its finger pecuniarily since you left. I suppose they think it don’t cost me anything to live now for you are gone with the children. I notice the [wagon] trains are moving on the roads again. I saw a very large one going west from the door a few moments ago so I guess the Indians have ceased hostilities for the present. [Give my love to all, your husband. – James]

[1]    Thills are the two long shafts between which an animal is fastened when pulling a wagon.

[2]    Mary Permelia Kelly, born 1844, was James Griffing’s niece. She was the daughter of Lydia Griffing & John C. Kelly.

[3]    Joshua B. Hannum rented James Griffing's farm near Topeka during the time that James and Augusta were living in Lincoln, Kansas. He was Captain of the local militia and in October 1864, led the men of Company C, at the Battle of Westport.

[4]    According to the book, Old Settlers' Tales, by F. F. Crevecoeur, "Aime Chavanne came to the United States from France in 1851 when he was nineteen years of age. He came to Kansas in the late 1850's and owned a farm near Seneca. Here he married (in August 1861) Mary Ann Dennis (1841-1894). He then moved to Jackson County and came to Neuchatel about 1863 where he bought 40 acres of land of Desire Wery..."  The 1870 Kansas Census shows Aime Chavanne farming in Vienna Township, Pottawatomie County, Kansas. In 1880, his residence is listed at Mill Creek, Pottawatomie County, Kansas. Mary Ann Dennis was the oldest child of Kentucky-born Samuel Dennis (1817-1869) and his first wife Matilda Eskew (1817-<1860). Samuel and his second wife Amanda lived in Lincoln, Nemaha County, Kansas in 1865.

[5]    Isaac Lillie was a school-teacher and land surveyor in Owego, New York. He was born 19 October 1788 at Scotland, Windham County, Connecticut. He died on 23 September 1864 in Owego, Tioga County, New York. He was the son of Jared Lillie and Susannah Tuckerman. Isaac married Julia Ann Hoyt in Gilbertsville, Otsego County, New York about 1812 and came to Owego, New York, in 1814 after a short residence in Montrose, Pennsylvania. He married second Rachel Nealy sometime before 1826. 

[6]    For a great web site on the history of Fort Larned, click here. James Goodrich found employment as a civilian working for the U.S. Army putting up hay for the cavalrymen's horses and other livestock kept at Fort Larned.

[7]    Mrs. Clark Beecher was the former Mary Ann [?], born about 1821. She and her husband lived on a farm in Newark Valley, Tioga County, New York.

[8]    Aunt Eliza Danforth was the unmarried 67-year old daughter of Edward Danforth and Jerusha Moseley. Eliza had two older sisters -- Mary Tabor Danforth, born 1792, and Jerusha Danforth, born about 1795 -- both of whom were the consecutive wives of John Beach, born 28 Jan 1792. John Beach and Mary Tabor Danforth were the parents of Mary Catherine Beach, the first wife of Augusta Goodrich's uncle, Elizur Tryon Goodrich.

[9]    Aunt Betsy Beach was the younger sister of John Beach mentioned in footnote 8. Betsey Beach was born 26 May 1794.

[10]    Jesse W. Stephenson, farmer, P. O. Topeka, Sections 34 and 35. Owns 164 acres, 120 of which are under cultivation, with good dwelling and good out-buildings. Makes a specialty of wheat and corn, but deals in stock, horses and cattle. Has been a member of the school board several years. Came to Kansas in March, 1864, locating on his present farm. Mr. S. attended the first public meeting ever held in Tecumseh Township, as well as the first election, when they were driven away by an armed band of border ruffians, who carried the election to suit themselves. Was at Atchison in 1861, when the first lead was thrown from the Missouri side of the river. Enlisted in Company C, Second Kansas Cavalry as a private. Was with his command in the battle of the Big Blue in Missouri during the Price raid, and was elected to First Lieutenant and was mustered out at Topeka in November, 1864. Mr. S. was born in Ohio in 1828; at the age of three years removed to Edgar County, Ill., where he was married in 1851 to Miss Nancy Jane Jordan, remaining there until he came to Kansas. They have nine children, viz - Emma E., Nancy Candace, Eva, William, Mary E., Hattie J., Marinda L., Ulysses Grant and Jesse W. Mr. Stephenson has been a member of the Methodist Church for the past forty years. Source: William G. Cutler's History of the State of Kansas, Shawnee County, Part 40.

[11]    John B. Kelly, born 1838, was James Griffing's nephew. He was the son of Lydia Griffing and John C. Kelly. By the summer of 1864, the Union army had surrounded Petersburg, Virginia. Failing to capture the city, Grant initiated a siege and began to attack the city's supply lines such as the Weldon Railroad. Between June and August 1864, a numbers of raids were made on this railroad and the XVIII Corps, which included the 2nd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, Battery M, (the unit to which John B. Kelly belonged) was engaged. For a description of these battles, click on Weldon Railroad.

[12]    General Jubal Early led Confederate forces through Virginia to the outskirts of Washington D.C. during the late summer of 1864 in an attempt to draw Union forces away from Richmond.

General Jubal Early

[13]    Major General Sterling Price, known as "Old Pap" to his rebel army, led a raid through Missouri in the late summer of 1864 and threatened to invade Kansas.

Major General Sterling Price

[14]    Bloody Bill Anderson, who once rode with William Quantrill, led his own band of guerillas throughout central Missouri in 1864. His greatest fame came as a result of a massacre and battle with Union soldiers in and near the town on Centralia on September 27th 1864. In the days and weeks prior to this, he and his band had been stopping trains in central Missouri, robbing the innocent civilians, and murdering any soldiers they might be carrying. "Bloody Bill" was killed on October 27th 1864 near Orrick, Missouri when he was ambushed by Union troops just days after the Battle of Westport.

Bloody Bill Anderson