Arkansas Peace Society of 1861 and "chain gangs"

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 21:45:37 GMT

I've been working with a friend on his family tree over the last week or so, and found out something I did not know about Arkansas in the Civil War.

We had secret societies of what could be characterized as the first conscientious objectors. Apparently, they were more prolific in north central and northern Arkansas.

The CSA began early in the war in Arkansas to "investigate" and arrest people it considered traitors to the Southern cause.

According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture, the Arkansas Peace Society was "occasionally referred to as the Home Protection Society, Home Guard, and various other names at the time."

And so I ran and looked.

Yep, we had a few members of the Pope County Home Guard in my family.

My friend is researching the surname Turney.

At least one of the members of his family who were members of the Arkansas Peace Society was forced into the CSA after being led away in an infamous "chain gang," the brainchild of Colonel Samuel Leslie, commandant of Searcy County’s militia. In December 1861, he marched 78 men in chains to Little Rock, a trip that took six days.

One of the descendants of one of those men commented on a blog called The Civil War Daily Gazette:
Interesting article! My great-great grandfather Franklin Wortman was one of the seventy-seven men chained and marched away. My grandmother, Grace Wortman Cox (1906-2002) said that her father John Lemuel Wortman told her that he would never forget the sight of his father being marched away in chains.

The members of the Arkansas Peace Society are listed on a page of the Edward G. Gerdes Civil War Home Page, and were (his relatives in bold):
Adams, Green Berry - Adams, Joseph - Adams, Spencer - Addison, Mayfield - Arter, Carroll -
Arter, Joseph L.

Bailey, J. F. - Baker, B. A. - Baker, David C. - Baker, James A. - Ball, Gehuger
Ball, James W. - Barnes, James Jackson - Barnes, W. F. - Barnett, David - Bartlet, William
Bishop, Lindsay - Black, Simeon B. - Blasingame, Anderson - Bradshaw, Henry - Bradshaw, John H. - Bradshaw, William - Brantley, B. F. - Branum, Solomon - Bratton, William Milican - Brewer, Aaron V. B. - Brewer, Jonas - Brewer, Lewis S. - Brown, John - Brown, George - Brown, John - Brown, Solomon I. - Brown, William - Broyles, James F.

Carithers, John M. - Cash, Levi C. - Castleberry, John R. - Castleberry, Washington Cahal - Cates, William A. J. - Chambers, Jeff - Chambers, W. R. - Christy, James F. Homer - Christy, John - Christy, Joseph C. - Clark, Lewis - Conley, Beverly L. - Cook, Henry - Copeland, Alexander N. - Copeland, James B. - Copeland, William - Cummins, Joseph - Curl, John W. - Curl, Samuel M. - Curry, Anderson - Curry, David - Curry, James E.

Davis, H. M. - Davis, William - Denton, Chris - Dickerson, E. - Downey, Patrick L. - Duck, Timothy Arthur - Dugger, Jasper- Dugger, Thomas M. - Dugger, William M.

Ezell, Isiah - Ezell, John

Faught, Thomas J. - Faught, William C. - Fisher, William Thomas - Forehand, Jonathan - Forehand, Thomas - Foster, James B.

Gadberry, Wm. - Garner, Sr. Parrish - Garrison, _____ - Gary, B. H. - Gerner, Parish - Gilbreth, John - Grinder, Robert - Grinder, Samuel - Guthrey, Thomas

Harley, John - Harness, John W. - Harness, John - Harness, W. H. - Harris, John - Harris, Thomas - Harris, Wm. - Hatley, J. R. - Hatley, J. W. - Haynes, Wm. - Hays, George M. - Hays, Wm. - Hensley, F. H. - Hensley, P.M. - Henson, F. H. - Hoffs, John - Holly, Absolem - Holley, Alex - Holley, Reuben C. - Hollis, James M. - Holmes, John - Hooten, George

Jamison, D. - Jeffery, Wm. - Jenkins, John H. - Johnson,Robert - Jones, Stephen

Kamey, Thomas - Kesner, W. A. - Kilburn Carroll - Kirkham, John W. - Kuykendall, Francis

Ladamon, R. C. - Laive, Jo - Lee, Robert - Long, George - Love, A. J. - Luttrell, James - Lynn, W. G.

Maness, Claiborne - Marshall, William H. - McBee, Alexander - McBee, James H. - McDaniel, John W. - McDaniel, William F. - McEntire, John A. - McInturn, Thomas W. - McLane, S. Allan - McMillan, E. L. - McNair, James Claiborn - Melton, Thomas - Moody, Jonathan - Morris, John Wortman - Morris, John, Jr. - Morris, John, Sr. - Morris, William

Null, John R.

Osborn, Eli L.

Packet, W. J. - Palmer, Benjamin F. - Parks, Daniel J. - Parks, Theophilus (Dink) - Parsley, A. A.- Parsley, Abraham J. - Parsley, J. B. - Passmore, Benjamin J. - Passmore, Joel Henry - Pearce, William - Phillips, Luther P. - Pierce, Austin - Potter, William F. - Price, Charles William - Price, Lindsay - Price, William

Ramsey, Smith - Reeves, Asa - Reeves, Jarrett - Reeves, Joshua - Reeves, Peter - Richardson, James C. - Richardson, Joshua - Ridings, James C. - Rose, M. - Ruff, David Crocket

Sanders, John L. - Satterfield, A. J. - Satterfield, John R. - Satterfield, Nathaniel - Satterfield, P. M. - Scott, William Franklin - Seaton, Nicholas - Shipman, Matthew - Shirley, Wm. - Singleferry, Wm. C. - Slay, Benjamin F. - Slay, Thomas J. - Smith, Abner H. - Smith, Claiborn - Smith, G. W. - Smith, Gilmore - Smith, John - Snellgrove, Gasaway - Stobaugh, Ananias - Stobaugh, Edmond - Strickland, John Anderson - Strickland, Paris - Strickland, Samuel Smith - Strother, Wm. - Sutterfield, Ananias J. - Sutterfield, Nathanial - Sutterfield, Peter Moore - Sutton, Logan

Tackett, W. J. - Taylor, Benjamin Franklin - Taylor, Hezikiah - Terry, Morgan M. - Thompson, James Patrick - Thompson, Samuel - Thompson, Thomas - Thompson, William J. - Tilley, James -

Tinkle, Mike - Tinkle, Robert - Treadwell, John S. - Treat, James William - Treat, John B. -

Treep, James - Treese, Benjamin - Treese, Daniel - Treese, William - Tucker, John Allen - Tucker, John Middleton - Turney, Bowman - Turney, Pleasant B. R. - Turney, Presley - Turney, Si (Josiah S.) - Tyler, Peter A.

Wallace, J. W. - Wallis, James - Ware, J. J. - Watts, Asa - Watts, Benjamin G. - Watts, Samuel
Webb, John - Wells, Wm. C. - Whitmire, Henry J. - Whitmire, J. J. - Wiley, Wallis - William Jasper - Wilson, John - Winn, Wm. M. - Woodrum, Vinsom M. - Woodworth, Nathan F. - Wortman, Christopher M. - Wortman, Franklin - Wortman, John - Wren, Shadrich J.

Yeary, Wm. H. - Younger, Alexander - Younger, Thomas

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Arkansas Peace Society of 1861 and "chain gangs"