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 “In contemplating such a scene as this, how the heart saddens and
sickens to know that humble and devoted ministers of the cross are
put to death for no other cause than that of being ministers of the M.
E. Church, South. Is it because that Church has been, and still is, in
the way of those who profess to have all the piety, loyalty and religion
in the land, that its members and ministers are specially denounced,
proscribed and persecuted, and are the marks of special vengeance
for every gang of raiding soldiers that chance to come into Missouri?
“I am credibly informed that the deceased had never taken any
part in the excitement growing out of the war up to that time; that he
had never mentioned politics in the pulpit, and had never left home
on account of the troubles during all the dark days of ’61 and ’62.
“Rev. Green Woods was a native of Missouri, and through many
portions of Southern and Southeastern Missouri will he be
remembered, as his powerful and eloquent voice echoed and died
away upon the gently murmuring breezes of his native hills and vales
in calling sinners to repentance. But he now sleeps the long sleep of
death. That clarion voice is now silent, and will no more be heard on
earth proclaiming the good news and glad tidings of salvation which
shall be unto all people. But we close, and drop a silent tear to his
memory; knowing that He who holdeth the earth in the hollow of his
hand, and who numbereth the very hairs of our heads, doeth all
things well.
“We have good reason to believe that the religion he so long and
faithfully preached to others sustained him in the last trying hour;
and in the great day, when all mankind shall stand forth to be judged
according to the deeds done in the body, many will rise up and call
him blessed.

R.”

Thus passed away, by the hand of violence, one of the excellent of

the earth, “of whom the world was not worthy.” A faithful witness for
the word of God and the testimony of Jesus, having committed no
offense against the laws of God or man, he fell a martyr to the truth;
gave his life for a principle and a cause, and offered himself upon the
service and sacrifice of his chosen Church, and the faith she
vindicates in his death, and ascended the thrones of martyrdom, to
await, with the martyrs of all ages, the final and glorious triumph of
the Kingdom of Messiah, in whose service he counted not his life
dear unto himself. It is a grand thought that Infinite Goodness and
Power has ordained that “Christ must reign till he hath put all
enemies under his feet.” “Then cometh the end.” “Even so: come
Lord Jesus.”
 CHAPTER XX.
REVS. A. MONROE, W. M. RUSH,
NATHANIEL WOLLARD.

Rev. A. Monroe, the Patriarch of Missouri Methodism—Age,

Honor and Sanctity not Exempt from Profanation—Mr. Monroe
and his Wife Arrested in Fayette—Mrs. Monroe’s Trials and
Witty Retorts—How Mr. Monroe Escaped the Bond—Robbed of
Everything by Kansas Soldiers in 1864—An Old Man Without his
Mittens—A Tower of Strength—“Our Moses”—Calls the Palmyra
Convention—Rev. W. M. Rush—The Character of Missouri
Preachers—A Native Missourian—Settles in Chillicothe—In St.
Joseph the First Year of the War—Caution in Public Worship—
An Offensive Prayer by Rev. W. C. Toole—General Loan Closes
the Church and Deposes Mr. Rush from the Ministry by Military
Order—General W. P. Hall vs. Mr. Rush—Hall Publishes a Letter
that Denies Mr. Rush Protection, and Exposes him to
Assassination—Mr. Rush Returns to Chillicothe—His House a
Stable and his Home a Desolation—Bold Attempt to Assassinate
him—Correspondence with General Hall—Goes to St. Louis—
Masonic Endorsement—In Charge of the Mound Church—Will
Hear of Him Again—Rev. Nathaniel Wollard Murdered in Dallas
County—Horrible Details—Particulars—Reflections.
 Rev. Andrew Monroe.
Even this venerable and honored servant of God—now the
Patriarch of Missouri Methodism—was not exempt from trials and
troubles during the late war. If a venerable form, erect and majestic;
grey locks, long and flowing; lofty mien, benign and saintly; a pure
life, long and useful; an honored name, associated with the history of
the good and pure in the State; saintly beneficence, sanctified to the
highest purposes of the gospel, and a meek and quiet spirit diffused
through the toil, and suffering, and labor, and triumphs of half a
century in the ministry could disarm malice, awe the passions into
reverence, break the force of prejudice and shield the person and
property, the home and happiness, the liberty and life from vicious
violation and petty profanation, then Andrew Monroe had lived in
peace unmolested, and his humble house, a freeman’s sacred castle,
been secure from the tread of vandalism and the hand of plunder.
But no altar was too sacred, no home too pure, no name too greatly
reverenced and no life too pure and holy to deter the invader or
wither the sacrilegious hand of the spoiler. Meanness was not an
incident of the war, and sacrilege was not confined to Mexican
guerrillas. Men are naturally mean, and depravity is a fact of human
nature. Nor did the war make thieves, and robbers, and murderers,
and highwaymen; they were such before, the occasion only was
wanting. The sunbeam does not create, it only reveals the motes in
the atmosphere. The war furnished the occasion and unveiled the
meanness of men; the pure gospel ministry rebuked it, and, naturally
enough, provoked its malice and became its victim. Even Andrew
Monroe, the noble old Roman, could not escape.
In the winter of 1862 the Rev. A. Monroe was traveling the Fayette
Circuit, Missouri Conference M. E. Church, South, and living in the
town of Fayette, Howard county. Fayette, like all other towns of
importance in the State, was a military post, with one Major
Hubbard in command.
One day of that winter Mr. Monroe and his family were surprised
by the appearance of a Federal officer and a squad of men entering
his humble home, placing him and his wife under arrest, and
marching them off to headquarters, for what offense they never
knew.
The soldiers had arrested many other ladies and gentlemen at the
same time, and they had plenty of company when they reached
headquarters, amongst whom was the Rev. Dr. W. H. Anderson, then
President of Central College.
When Major Hubbard came in and saw the number of ladies
present under arrest he affected surprise, and said that he had not
ordered their arrest; that his subalterns had transcended his orders,
and at once informed the ladies that they were released, remarking at
the same time that when he wished to see them he would not send
for them, but do himself the pleasure of calling at their homes. To
which Mrs. Monroe promptly replied that she was obliged to him for
releasing them so early, but as for seeing him, she had no desire
whatever to see him at her house or anywhere else.
Many a true and modest woman had occasion during those
troublous times to call upon her ready wit to reply to the various
impertinent inquiries and demands of a ruffian soldiery; and while
Mrs. Monroe was surprised at her own courage, her indignation was
somewhat appeased when she observed the cutting effect of her
retort. Not many days afterward she had occasion again for her ready
wit and her Christian fortitude and forbearance. Very early in the
morning five soldiers called and demanded breakfast. Mr. Monroe
was at home, but he soon retreated from the front door and called
upon his wife to meet the issue. She had no help, and the idea of
cooking for so many, and these, too, whom she believed to be her
enemies, and who would not hesitate to do her any injury, was very
repulsive. But to get rid of them was a difficult question, as many
ladies know. By the time she reached the front door and heard their
request her answer was ready. She replied, “My Bible teaches me, ‘If
thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink;’ upon
these terms and no other you can get breakfast.” To her surprise one
of them said, “Madam, we will accept breakfast upon those terms, for
I profess to be somewhat acquainted with the Bible.” She thought
they would turn and go away in a rage, but, on the contrary, she had
to turn and get breakfast for “her enemies” with the best grace she
could.
 It turned out that the spokesman was a local preacher in the
Northern Methodist Church, and at the table he remarked to Mrs.
Monroe that his father was as great a rebel as she was. To which she
replied, that it was a thousand pities that he had so far departed from
the ways of his father as to be a degenerate son of an honored sire.
Whereupon he said, “As a loyal man, I would hate awfully to have to
live with such a rebel. Gen. Price could well afford to issue a
commission to you, madam.”
Not many days after this Mr. Monroe was just ready to mount his
horse one morning for a tour of appointments in the country, when a
soldier appeared with orders to arrest him and take him to the
headquarters of Capt. Hale, then commanding the post. The
venerable man of God was then marched up to headquarters at the
point of the bayonet and required to take the military oath, (so-
called), and give bond, with good security, for his future loyalty to the
Government, and for the loyalty and good order of his family, the
Captain remarking that “the secesh talk of the women of his family
should be stopped.” Mr. Monroe replied that he could take the oath if
he would then let him go about his Master’s work, but as for the
bond, he must excuse him, as he did not wish to involve his friends
and he had but little property. If it was his little property he was
after, he might as well go and take charge of that at once and let him
go about his business. The Captain saw the point and told him to
take the oath then and “go preach the gospel to every creature.”
“In 1864 Mr. Monroe was living on a farm about eight miles from
Glasgow, in Howard county, when General Price made his famous
raid into Central Missouri, and took Glasgow amongst other places.
The day before the battle of Glasgow Mr. Monroe was out in a field
on his little farm, and his family all away from home except a
servant, when a company of Kansas soldiers passing along the road
halted, entered the house and robbed it of everything of value they
could find. The house was literally pillaged. Mr. Monroe’s watch, a
fine cloth coat, several pairs of bed-blankets, quilts, comforts, and,
indeed, everything of any value to them. While thus engaged they
saw a young man who lived near approaching the house, all
unconscious of what was going on. He was arrested and relieved of
all his money, $75. One rough-looking Dutch soldier rode out to the
field and accosted the venerable man with an imperative demand for
his money. When he found that he had but two dollars in the world,
he would not take it, but rode back in disgust. A young man—Mr.
Monroe’s nephew—was met near the house on his uncle’s only riding
horse, with his only saddle and bridle. The young man was arrested,
and the horse and equipments taken to Glasgow and never heard
from afterward.
Thus, in one single hour, the venerable servant of God stood alone
in his field, stripped of everything he had—horse, watch, clothes,
blankets, bedding—everything of value. What must have been the
feelings of Mrs. Monroe on returning home, after an absence of just
one hour, to find her house plundered by a ruffian soldiery, and her
husband beggared. To complete the work, a small squad of soldiers
passed along soon afterward, and when they could find nothing else
to steal or appropriate, a rough, drunken Dutchman demanded of
the old man his woolen mittens, which a lady had but recently given
him. He gave them up, and considered himself fortunate to get off so
easy.
With such petty annoyances, involving privation and suffering, this
faithful minister of the gospel—this pioneer and patriarch of
Missouri Methodism—passed through the dark and trying scenes of
the late civil war, always hopeful and joyful, and ready to rejoice that
he was counted worthy to suffer for a cause of which himself was the
finest type, and a principle to maintain which he was willing to go
even to prison and to death. To the struggling cause of Christ and his
suffering friends he was a tower of strength, to the discomfited and
disheartened hosts of the Methodist Israel, he was “our Moses.”
When “these calamities were overpassed,” and the shock of war had
expended its fire and force—when the smoke of battle cleared away,
and the stormcloud hung low upon the horizon, he surveyed the
field, marked the desolation, measured the extent of the wreck,
discovered some remains of Zion’s former beauty, while others, with
indecent haste, sounded her funeral knell; and his voice, like that of a
mighty chieftain, was heard over the prairies, along the railroads and
in the cities of Missouri, calling the faithful to duty, and rallying the
scattered forces for counsel. Upon his call a few ministers and friends
convened in Palmyra, in June, 1865, and decreed the life of the
Church, the resuscitation of her vital powers, the recovery of her lost
ground, and the rehabilitation of her distinctive institutions and
organs. (See the particulars of this Palmyra meeting in its
appropriate place.)
 Rev. W. M. Rush.
Few men suffered earlier, or more, than the subject of this notice.
For many years the name of the Rev. W. M. Rush has been
conspicuous on the rolls of Missouri Methodism. Prominent amongst
her ablest and truest ministers and foremost in her aggressive
evangelism, he has stood through many years of her history.
Identified with her early struggles and a faithful laborer upon her
broad foundations, he has grown with her growth and strengthened
with her strength, until his life and her history are one. Few men
have been more conspicuous in her councils or more distinguished in
her fields of labor and conflict. The class-mate of Marvin, the senior
and compeer of Caples, the companion of Monroe, and Jordan, and
Smith, and Eads, and Johnson, and Redman, and the noble band of
Methodist pioneers and patriots, his name will adorn the early
annals of the Church, as it will illustrate her later persecutions.
Mr. Rush does not care to conceal the fact that he is a native of
Missouri. He was converted to God July 8th, 1838, and united with
the Methodist Church the following August. He was licensed to
preach in Sept., 1841, and was admitted on trial in the Conference
the following October, at Palmyra, Bishop Morris presiding and W.
W. Redman acting as Secretary. He has ever been, since that date, an
effective itinerant preacher—never sustained any other relation to
the Conference.
While traveling the Brunswick district, in 1856, and by the advice
of Bishop Pierce, he made arrangements to settle his family in a
permanent home, and selected Chillicothe, Livingston county, as the
most central and suitable location. He purchased eligible lots, with
land adjoining the town, and erected an excellent and commodious
residence for his large family. He also improved, furnished and
stocked his adjoining lands to make them productive. Here he settled
his family and remained until 1860, when he was appointed to St.
Joseph station, and it became necessary for him to lease out his
property in Chillicothe and move his family to St. Joseph, where he
was living when the war broke out in 1861. He was deeply impressed
with the necessity of caution and prudence in the conduct of his
pulpit and public services, as the people to whom he ministered were
divided on the questions at issue in the war. He was so careful not to
give offense to any that he framed a somewhat formal prayer to be
used in public services touching the troubles of the country.
It was about as follows: “O Thou, who art infinite in wisdom, in
goodness and in power, we pray thee so to direct in the affairs of this
country, that the events that are now transpiring may all result for
thy glory and the well-being of humanity. We pray that those in
authority may have wisdom to direct them in adopting such
measures as shall be promotive of the best interests of all the
people.”
To this form of prayer and the sentiments it contained he thought
all good citizens of either party could say, Amen. He carefully
abstained from every expression that would be offensive to the
sectional feelings and views of any of his congregation. In this he was
particular, and, he thought, successful. Matters passed on well
enough until early in February, 1862, when, after preaching on
Sabbath, he called on the Rev. W. C. Toole, a local preacher, to close
the service with prayer. He was a strong partisan, and his language in
the prayer was extremely bitter toward those in rebellion against the
Government. Though the congregation was much divided in
sentiment, they were at peace among themselves. This prayer was
like a firebrand. It excited a good deal of feeling, and people of
opposite views thought it much out of place. Upon reflection and
consultation with his leading brethren, he determined thereafter to
close his own services with prayer, which ministers should always do
unless other ministers are present and in the pulpit. He pursued this
course but one Sabbath afterward, and then a brother minister, the
Rev. S. W. Cope, preached for him, when, during the week following,
Brigadier-General B. F. Loan, then in command, sent for Mr. Rush to
report himself at his headquarters. This he did, and Gen. Loan told
him that he had concluded to close his church. Mr. Rush asked him
on what account. He replied, “Because of disloyalty.” He was then
asked in what respects they were disloyal, and answered that he was
informed that a prayer for the Government could not be offered in
that church without giving offense.
 The whole matter of the prayer of Mr. Toole and the general
character of the service were then explained to Gen. Loan. Mr. Rush
was careful to give the reasons for avoiding the introduction of
anything savoring of sectional views into the public service; that they
could not settle the troubles of the country in the church service; that
such an effort would only destroy the peace of the church without in
the least benefiting the country; that no prayer savoring of secession
had ever been offered in the church or would be tolerated on any
account; that the course pursued was the only proper one; and that if
all the churches in the land would attend to their appropriate work
and let politics alone it would be far better for the country. To all of
this the General replied that the time had come when there must be a
distinction in the churches between patriots and traitors. Mr. Rush
told him that he could not discriminate in his church on account of
political opinions; that he had been in the ministry more than
twenty-five years, and in all that time he had not in a single instance,
in prayer or sermon, given utterance to a word or sentence by which
his opinions could be known upon any political questions at issue
before the country, and that he did not expect in the future to depart
from that course. He replied that his mind was made up to close the
church. The interview ended, and the church was closed.
Soon afterward the General directed a special order to be issued
forbidding Mr. Rush from preaching or conducting any kind of
religious service within the bounds of his military district. Thus he
was silenced—deposed from the ministry, and his ordination
credentials revoked by a military satrap. An ambassador for God
stricken down by one stroke of a pen to which bayonets imparted
power! A messenger of salvation to dying men silenced by the caprice
of shoulder-straps, and one to whom the risen Messiah by his spirit
said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature,”
suspended from his divine commission by the decree of human
power! A “legate of the skies” at the feet of a miserable specimen of
human weakness clothed with a little brief authority! Impious
presumption! equaled only by sacrilegious contumely and prurient
vanity.
After Gen. Loan was dismissed from the military service by Gov.
Gamble, and Gen. W. P. Hall had succeeded him in command of the
district, Mr. Rush addressed a note to Gen. Hall, calling his attention
to the order of Gen. Loan, and asking its revocation. Mr. Rush hoped
for much consideration at the hands of Gen. Hall from a somewhat
intimate acquaintance of sixteen years, and the further fact that at
the beginning of the troubles their views were in perfect harmony.
He had no doubt whatever but that the silencing order of Gen. Loan
would at once be revoked. But for once he had mistaken the man.
Mr. R. did not then properly estimate the power of the German
Radicals of the district nor the ambition of Gen. Hall—the necessity
for him to manufacture a character for extreme loyalty, in doing
which he would sacrifice any man or any principle that stood in the
way of his personal promotion.
Gen. Hall not only refused to revoke the order of Gen. Loan, but
published in the St. Joseph Herald, a paper that circulated
extensively in the military camps, his letter to Mr. Rush, in which the
latter was denounced as a traitor and unworthy the protection of the
Government. While Gen. Loan, in his personal intercourse with Mr.
Rush, was courteous and gentlemanly, Gen. Hall was abusive,
ungentlemanly and tyrannical. His published letter unveiled his true
character, while it subjected its helpless victim to suspicion, insult
and attempts at brutal assassination.
Mr. Rush, in the midst of such trials and dangers, had to give up
his charge and return to Chillicothe. Here he found his beautiful
home laid waste; the fencing destroyed, the house broken up, horses
stabled in three rooms on the first floor, and soldiers quartered on
the second floor, and the fruit and shrubbery all destroyed.
He rented a house for his family, and while the officers of the post
always treated him with courtesy and kindness, Gen. Hall’s letter had
stirred up the common soldiery until his life and the lives of his
family were in constant peril. When he discovered this state of
things, he wrote Gen. Hall a polite letter, protesting against his
published letter, representing the injustice he had done him, and the
danger to his person and life caused by it. Gen. Hall returned his
letter, and in reply threatened him with a military commission.
About the 1st of May, 1863, a bold attempt was made to
assassinate him in his own house. His house was first assailed with
stones and brick-bats, by which the windows were crushed in and the
door battered. Pistol shots were then fired through the doors and
windows; but a kind Providence protected him and his family from
serious injury.
Upon reporting the facts to the officers in command, protection
was promptly furnished, and a guard stationed at the house. But, at
the same time, the officers advised him to seek safety elsewhere; that
with all their efforts to protect him the assassin’s missile might any
moment put an end to his life.
The week after this occurrence he went to St. Louis to attend the
sessions of the Grand Masonic bodies of the State. These grand
bodies gave to his ministerial and personal character their highest
endorsement, by electing him Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge,
also of the Grand Chapter, and also of the Convention of High Priests
for the State of Missouri.
The following is the written order which Gen. Loan directed Col.
King, his subordinate, to issue deposing Mr. Rush from the functions
of the ministry in his military district:

“Headquarters Reg’t M. S. M., }

Chillicothe, Mo., April 24, 1862. }

“Rev. W. M. Rush, Chillicothe, Mo.:

“Dear Sir—I am directed by the Brigadier-General commanding

the district to notify you that it is deemed advisable and necessary to
suspend you from the performance of your duties as a minister, or
preacher, within this military district, so far as they relate to any of
the public services in the church. This will, you observe, include all
preaching, the conducting of prayer meetings, &c., &c. Of said
suspension you are hereby notified.
“This, I will add, results from information, deemed entirely
reliable, of your disloyal sentiments, and of your very great desire to
actively promote the cause of the traitors.
“I am, sir, very respectfully,

“Walter King, Col. M. S. M.,

“Commanding Chillicothe Post.”
 Mr. Rush had been prohibited by verbal order from preaching in
St. Joseph. After he left St. Joseph he preached once in Plattsburg
and once in Chillicothe, whereupon General Loan ordered Colonel
King to issue the above order. It was this order which Mr. Rush
requested Gen. Hall to revoke.
The reply to the letter asking the revocation of Gen. Loan’s order,
besides being published, was sent as a private note also, and is as
follows:

“Headquarters N. W. Dis., }
St. Joseph, Mo., February 17, 1863. }

“Rev. W. M. Rush, Chillicothe, Mo.:

“My Dear Sir—I am in receipt of yours of the 16th inst. I regret that
I am not able to comply with your request. According to my views, a
religious congregation that can not endure prayers for its
Government is disloyal; and a minister that encourages such a
congregation in its course is also disloyal.
“I agree with you, that allegiance and protection are reciprocal. But
allegiance requires the citizen to protect the Government against all
enemies. This you not only refuse to do, but you are not willing to
pray for the success of your Government over traitors. You claim to
be neutral. A citizen has no right to be neutral when enemies are
assailing his Government.
“I can not relieve you from Gen. Loan’s order.

“Very respectfully,
“Willard P. Hall,
“Brig.-Gen. Com’dg.”

The following letter was written to General Hall after Mr. Rush
had suffered long and much from the effects of his published letter.
It explains itself:

“Chillicothe, Mo., April 30, 1863.

“Gen. W. P. Hall:
 “Dear Sir: Some months ago I requested you to relieve me from
Gen. Loan’s order. This you declined to do, and at the same time
(unintentionally, I hope,) inflicted upon me a severe injury. Your
letter was published in the Herald, and was made the basis of
various actions against me. Dr. Hughs, who classified those who were
exempt from military duty as loyal and disloyal, enrolled me disloyal.
I asked him on what ground he so enrolled me, and told him that I
claimed to be as loyal as any man in the Government, and that I
challenged any man to show the contrary. He told me that he acted
upon your letter and did not feel himself authorized to go behind it.
He assigned no other reason. Dr. Hughs, you may know, is an
extreme Radical man.
“On the 1st of January Capt. Moore, Provost-Marshal of this post,
gave what are called free passes to my negro woman and girl, and
they are now in Kansas. I called on him to know on what ground he
based his action. He said he concluded from your letter that I was
rebellious, and, therefore, gave the passes without any charge or
proof.
“On the first Monday of April, at our municipal election, my vote
was challenged by a Lieutenant from St. Joseph, I believe. I asked on
what ground. He said my name was on the disloyal list. I told him I
did not put it there. Capt. Moore said it was put there by order of
Gen. Loan.
“Such are some of the open effects of your published letter, and, as
a lawyer, you doubtless know the extent of your legal responsibility
for such publication.
“In your published letter to me you regarded me as disloyal
because, as you say, I encouraged a congregation that could not
endure prayers for its Government. If by the Government you mean
the country and the Constitution, I beg to inform you that prayers
are regularly offered for the country, in the public congregation as
well as in my private family; and in private I pray to Him who is
infinite in wisdom, in goodness and in power, that he would so direct
in the affairs of the nation, and so control the events that are now
transpiring as that all things might yet result for his glory and the
well-being of humanity; that he would grant unto our rulers wisdom
to adopt such measures as would speedily bring peace and prosperity
to our distracted country.
 “If by the Government you mean the measures of the
Administration, I must say that I do not pray for the success of the
President’s Proclamation liberating the slaves of the South.
“Since these troubles began, I have claimed to be, and I believe I
am, as loyal a man as there is in the country, and the Constitution
does not permit you, nor any body of men, to prescribe a form of
prayer as a test of my loyalty. Since the commencement of these
troubles I have been a man of peace. I believed that war would be
disastrous to the country, and that if persevered in it would tear
down the fair fabric which my fathers helped to rear, and that my
children would be left without a country.
“Sir, I boast not of family, but an ancestral name stands on the
Declaration of Independence, and the family has represented the
Government at Paris and at London. Sir, I can pray for peace, but I
can not pray for war. I never in public or in private prayed for the
success of the sword as wielded by any power on earth.
“What was my offense? I labored to preserve the peace of my
congregation. I thought that the Church was not the proper arena for
the strife of those contending opinions that were convulsing the
nation.
“Why did not Colhoun and Lyon of the Presbyterian Church offer
such prayers as that offered by W. C. Toole? I will answer. They had
too high a sense of religious propriety. Sir, political preaching has
sown the seeds that are bringing forth the death of the nation. In
more than twenty years in the ministry I have never given utterance
to a political sentiment in the pulpit. But now these political
preachers are heroes, and I am without a pulpit.
“You have, also, published to the world that I have no claim upon
the Government for protection. Thus I am published by you as an
outlaw, to be slain by any one who may be so disposed. And this,
notwithstanding I have constantly performed every duty enjoined
upon me by the Constitution and laws of the country.
“On last Wednesday evening, just at dark, my son William, while
feeding, was shot at by some one who had secreted himself but a few
yards from him. The bullet entered his cap just over his forehead and
passed out behind. An inch lower would have killed him. The shot
was, no doubt, intended for me.
 “When I wrote to you before, I did it that you might make your
own record in my case. You had the opportunity of revoking Gen.
Loan’s order or of sustaining it. You saw proper to exceed very much
the order of Gen. Loan.
“One word more. I had a financial interest of $1200 a year in my
pulpit so long as my pastoral relation to the Church should continue.
That relation still continues, but my financial interest in the pulpit
has been confiscated, without the authority of law and contrary to a
general order issued by the General commanding the department. I
am advised by eminent legal counsel that yourself and General Loan
are financially responsible to me.
“General, I have thus written to you candidly, as I think a man of
conscious integrity has a right to write to one to whom he is willing
to accord equal integrity. If you think that order should still remain
in force, so let it be.

“Your obedient servant,

“W. M. Rush.”

To this letter General Hall made the following reply:

“Headq’rs Seventh Military Dis’t of Mo., }

St. Joseph, Mo., May 2, 1863. }

“Rev. Wm. Rush, Chillicothe, Mo.:

“Sir—I return herewith your very extraordinary letter of the 30th

ult. Notwithstanding the threats contained in it against myself, you
surely did not consider what you were writing. My opinion was, and
is, that it would do a serious injury to the public for me to rescind
Gen. Loan’s order with reference to yourself. To threaten an officer
for the discharge of his duties, especially in times like these, is a
serious offense, which a Military Commission would promptly
punish. I bear you no malice. I have done what I have done in your
case because I believed my duty required it. My advice to you is, to
make no more threats.

“Very respectfully,
“Willard P. Hall,
 “Brig.-Gen’l E. M. M.”

Neither explanation nor comment is necessary to the full meaning

of this instance of heartless cruelty and wanton oppression. The fact
that General Hall’s mother-in-law, with whom he lived, was at the
time one of the most devoted, pious and prominent members of Mr.
Rush’s Church, only shades the deeper and darker the character of
this Missouri Nero.
General Hall’s skepticism and political ambition made him a ready
and a cruel instrument of religious persecution. Without the moral
courage to avow his skepticism, and denied the force of character
necessary to meet and master opposition, he was just the man to use
the authority of shoulder-straps to make war upon the institutions of
heaven and persecute God’s chosen ministers of salvation; and he
will feel very uncomfortable in the history he has made.
Mr. Rush found it necessary for his own safety to remove his
family to St. Louis, and remain there until the close of the war. He
found the Mound Church without a pastor, and by the appointment
of the Presiding Elder took charge of that Church, and there
remained until the quiet and safety that succeeded the war was
restored to the State. Mr. Rush will appear again as a victim of the
New Constitution, and a noble champion of the liberty of conscience
and the supremacy of Christ in his Church, which the infidel
provisions of that instrument endeavored to strike down.
It will be appropriate to close this chapter with an account of the
murder of the
 Rev. Nathaniel Wollard,
A minister of the Calvinistic, or, as generally termed, “Hard-Shell”
Baptist Church.
Elder Wollard, or “Uncle Natty,” as he was familiarly called, was
an aged man, in his seventy-second year. He had lived a long time in
Dallas county, Mo., where he was extensively known and very highly
appreciated as a true man, a good neighbor, a kind father, an
affectionate husband, a peaceable citizen and an acceptable minister
—highly esteemed in love by his denomination for his character and
work. He could not, nor did he desire to, take any part in the strifes,
excitements and dangers of the war. He craved the boon of living at
home unmolested, and spending the evening of his life in peace in
the bosom of his family.
He had grown up in the olden times, and under the old regime,
when men were outspoken, candid and fearless in the utterance of
their sentiments; and, hence, be expressed himself in opposition to
the “abolitionists,” as he called the Union men, and in sympathy with
the South. He did not make himself officious or offensive in the
expression of his Southern sympathies. He was not a secessionist per
se, but a Southern man, deeply impressed with the conviction that
the Northern fanatics intended to break up the Government and
destroy the foundations of republican liberty. He honestly believed
that the success of the South in the struggle would vindicate the
wisdom of the fathers of the Republic, and establish firmly and
forever the vital principles of civil and religious liberty for which
“Washington fought and freemen died.”
The fact that he entertained such sentiments, however prudent
and cautious in their utterance, “was sufficient to call forth the
vengeful feelings and murderous purposes of the militia of this
State.”
A detailed account of his murder has been furnished by one
acquainted with all the facts, in the following language:
“The murder was committed on the evening of Sept. 1, 1863—that
dark and bloody year. A cheerful fire had been made in his sitting
room, and he was peacefully enjoying an evening with his family, all
unconscious of the approach of danger—not dreaming that his peace
would so soon be disturbed, or that his long life was so near its end.
While thus in domestic tranquillity, and unconscious of danger, a
squad of militia scouts rode up to the door, dismounted and walked
in without any ceremony. They addressed the old man in a very
rough manner, ordering him out of his house, as they wished to
speak with him. Father Wollard told them that they could talk to him
where he was; that he was not going to leave his house.
“The intention of the militia was evidently to get him out of his
house, feign that he made an effort to escape, and shoot him. If this
was their intention they were defeated by the fact that Father
Wollard supposed that if he left the house, one or two men would
guard him and his family while the rest of them would pillage and
then burn the house.
“When they found that they could not get him out of the house,
one of the militia raised his pistol and shot him, the ball taking effect
in the face and inflicting a mortal wound. He was removed from the
house into the yard and laid on a bed prepared for him, his head
resting on the bosom of his heart-broken companion, while his son, a
youth of sixteen, was wiping the blood from his face, and keeping it
from his mouth, as it flowed so freely from the wound that he feared
it would strangle his father. In the meantime the militia had set the
house on fire and committed everything they had to the flames.
“Having finished their work of destruction, one of them came to
where the dying old man was lying, and, finding that he was not yet
dead, shot him again, the ball taking effect in his forehead. He
instantly expired.
“The only charge they made against him was that he fed
‘bushwhackers,’ which was not true. He had fed Southern and
Federal soldiers alike when they came to his house, and some of
these very men had been recently fed at his table who now turned
upon him and brutally and barbarously murdered him.
“The men who committed this fatal and foul deed belonged to
Capt. Morgan Kelly’s company of militia. They were never punished,
but are now living in Dallas county undisturbed, except by an
accusing conscience. Capt. Kelly himself professes to be a minister of
the gospel, of the Christian, or Campbellite, Church, yet he seems to