Elizabeth Thompson ran a general store with her husband James in Clay, Missouri. James also worked as a cattle farmer in Greene County. After the Confederate victory at the Battle of Wilson Creek in August 1861, Springfield and Southwest Missouri was under Confederate control. Receipts show that the Quarter-Master-General of the State of Missouri paid Thompson on several occasions, “for supplies for the Missouri Volunteers for the Confederate States service.”1

By the fall of 1861 Federal troops regained control of Missouri and forced Price and his Confederate soldiers to retreat to Arkansas. The Provost Marshall T.A. Switzler, discovered that the Thompsons had sold goods to the Confederate troops. During the war, civilians considered to be supporting the Confederacy by distributing supplies and goods, offering shelter, or relaying information or other communications were subject to arrest by the Provost Marshall. Switzler forced Elizabeth to sign an Oath of Allegiance to the United States, thus breaking future ties with the Confederacy.2 From then on the records from the Thompson’s store reflected that they supplied goods to Union troops, like the 6th Missouri Cavalry for six thousand pounds of corn.3

Springfield and the rest of Southwest Missouri changed hands several times during the war. This shifting of control made life difficult on civilians and business owners. While business owners and farmers may have felt personally aligned with a certain party, they had to support the ruling army in their area or face consequences. Also the lack of money circulating made it difficult for business owners to keep their operations running. With guerrilla warfare ravaging the countryside many civilian did not have the money or resources to pay their debts. This was the case of Mr. R.W. Folkner who owed money to Elizabeth’s father, Abner Dabbs. In order to reclaim the payment two of Dabbs’ daughters broke into Folkner’s home and stole “plunder” he had acquired. Folkner then accused the girls of stealing his stolen goods, and refused to formally pay the debt he owed until the matter was resolved.4

The St. Louis Republican described the conditions in Southwest Missouri as, “…positively alarming, they [the citizens of Southwest Missouri] being so destitute as to be in danger of starvation. Robbed repeatedly by the soldiers of both armies, their farms laid waste, their houses and fences burned, their horses and cattle driven off, and the male members of families absent in the contending armies, the situation of the women, children and old men, who remain, is most pitiable.”5

Regardless of their motives for the violence, the damage guerrillas caused and the terror they spread plagued the civilians of the Ozarks for over ten years. Not knowing whom to trust and literally living day-to-day, the people of the Ozarks persevered. Facing violence, managing a home without a secure network of support, raising a family in the midst of disease and deprivation, tending to crops with a diminished workforce…all combined to make hardship an everyday reality. Many civilians could not afford to stay on their property and fled to try and find safety and security in other parts of the country. It would take many years for families to regain the lives they had before the Civil War.

The Thompson papers documents the struggles of one family and business owner had during the turbulent time in American history. Included are personal correspondence from friends and family, legal documents, and business papers. The collection generally concerns the Civil War in southwestern Missouri, family matters, and business affairs. Only the documents related to the Civil War have been digitized. The remaining collection is available at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection in Rolla, Missouri.

Contributed by the STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA

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1. Receipt for James M. Thompson. Jan. 23, 1862. Elizabeth R.D. Thompson Papers, 1861-1866, R671, The STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA.
2. T. A. Switzler, Oath of Allegiance to the United States Government and Safeguard for Elizabeth H. Thompson. Aug. 23, 1862. Elizabeth R.D. Thompson Papers, 1861-1866, R671, The STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA.
3. William H. Daniels letter to William J. Robertson. Aug. 31, 1862. Elizabeth R.D. Thompson Papers, 1861-1866, R671, The STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA.
4. Sample Orr Letter to James M. Thompson. Oct. 6, 1862. Elizabeth R.D. Thompson Papers, 1861-1866, R671, The STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA.
5. “From the St. Louis Republican.” Milwaukee Daily Sentinel, March 21 1863, page 2 column 2.