BTRVETC-L Digest Volume 98 : Issue 55 4 Sep 1998 Today's Topics: Who, What, Why? Interesting Article on the beginning of the Civil War. To Mitosis Re: Who, What, Why? Smiley Burnett John Turner Thank You John Turner TURNER, Elizabeth (Brashiers) Whatca Think ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 16:22:10 -0400 From: "Mitosis" To: "Btrvetc List" Subject: Who, What, Why? Received email asking "What's all this stuff abourt Charlie King Turner. This isn't a home for wannabe poets". Naturally, I looked to see who fired this volley... hum, anony-mailer ISP was the results of that trace. So, this is directed to "Whoever". Let's start with the last, "wannabe poet"... hell yes, or anything else that adds to my knowledge and skills as a human begining! Just cause I'm old, doesn't mean "I quit". I want to be able to pen things of worth as JUNE and EUNICE. I want to be able to juggle five jobs at the same time, like CHRIS. I want to be one third as good as "Puzzler", DAVID JONES... I want to be as warm as PAULA. I am envious of the talent that's at this site! What the hell have you done of late..... pick your nose! Now to "Charlie King Turner", I really doubt you are worth the trouble, however..... and this is gonna be short A_H_. Charlie King was my uncle, he was absent from most all trees... it was important to me that Charlie be there. All I had to go with was family memories. With the little information I had, I was unable to document Charlie. To must of us that's important! (I can image I never shall want to read your tree) With this "scrap" of information DAVID JONES, just because he wanted to help, plied thru documents until not only did he find "Charlie King", he found his gravesite. To your small mind that might sound easy, God I wish you knew. And yes, when DAVID gave me the news, this Old Man cried and I don't give a happy S_ what you think about it! (I have sumissed you probably don't respect your parents or much else in life for that matter) And yes, I wanted the world to know "Charlie" was found, and posted a, granted "Soppie" email to that effect. But it was honest and real, words I suspect unheard to you. It might amuse you to know, your message, unsigned I might add... was the only I received, so your "view" I fear is not shared. How does it feel to be the only A_H_ out there? To my family on this site, sorry for "flaming" the space... hope you'll forgive me. _Mitosis_ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 18:10:49 -0500 From: "Kevin K. Stephenson" To: "Burnett Family Newsgroup \(E-mail\)" Subject: Interesting Article on the beginning of the Civil War. Hi Cousins! I have been doing some research lately on the Burnetts in Kentucky and Indiana, and have learned that the Indiana Burnetts probably went there to leave slavery behind. I was given the following article by Will Burnett, a second cousin from Topeka, Kansas, and thought I would share it with you. It doesn't directly relate to the Burnett family, but it's an interesting insight into the events immediately preceding the Civil War, on both sides of which Burnetts fought. I live in Lawrence, which is roughly ten miles from Lecompton, where most of this story took place. Enjoy!! KANSAS CITY TIMES FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1936 AN OBSCURE KANSAS CLERK MAY HAVE HASTENED OUTBREAK OF CIVIL WAR _________________________ The Great Frauds in Connection With the Adoption of the Lecompton Constitution Came to Light Through the Revelations of Charlie Torry-Were It Not for Him, Lincoln Might Never Have Gained the Presidency. _________________________ In celebrating the diamond jubilee of statehood this year, Kansas school children, teachers, editors, and orators have had no trouble in remembering the famous deeds of John Brown, Jim Lane, Charles Robinson and other early Kansas heroes; but they are practically unanimous in forgetting Charlie Torry. And who was Charlie Torry? He was the most obscure of the seventeen clerks in the office of the surveyor general at Lecompton, the Kansas territorial capital. But despite his obscurity, or perhaps because of it, he was able to thwart the plan of President Buchanan and Congress to fasten slavery on Kansas; by his uncovering of election frauds in Kansas, he split the Democratic party in two in 1860, which resulted in the defeat of Stephen A. Douglas for the presidency; by splitting the Democracy, he brought about the election of Abraham Lincoln, which in turn brought on the Civil War and ended slavery. To understand the great part Charlie Torry played we must go back to February 2, 1858, when President Buchanan sent his famous Kansas Statehood message to Congress in which he urged the admission of Kansas as a slave state. Congress was all set to do his bidding and the machinery was oiled in both the House and Senate to rush the admission bill through. But at the very moment while Buchanan^Òs message was being read, the election frauds in Kansas were being uncovered by Torry, and Congress dared not follow the President. Torry had been a sheriff and schoolmaster back in Berks County, Pennsylvania, before being appointed, because of his loyalty to the Democratic Party, as clerk, messenger and janitor in the office of the surveyor general. Torry had fallen on evil days back in Pennsylvania and was glad to accept any sort of a job, and so he came to Kansas and went to work. He never had anything to say, and his superior officers supposed him to be a dumb clerk, who knew only how to sweep out well and who wrote a fair hand and who did everything he was told to do. A BENEFACTOR OF LINCOLN The chief in the surveyor general^Òs office was John Calhoun, who is known to readers of the biographies of Abraham Lincoln from the fact that he gave Lincoln his boost up the ladder of fame by appointing him assistant surveyor of Sangamon County, Illinois, when Calhoun was county surveyor. Calhoun was a Jackson Democrat and Lincoln a Henry Clay Whig, but Calhoun recognized that the long, lean grocery clerk was quick at figures. He taught Abe surveying and gave him the job by which he earned money to buy law books and study law. Later Calhoun became ambitious. He ran for the governorship and for Congress and was defeated. Then he accepted the surveyor generalship of Kansas and laid his plans to become a political leader in the territory with the thought in mind that when Kansas should become a state he would be one of the senators. He picked the proslavery party as the one most likely to succeed, or perhaps he picked the proslavery party because he thought that Kansas should be a slave state. The proslavery party was running things in Kansas in those days, and when, in 1857, it was decided to write a constitution for Kansas and apply for admission as a state, the managers of the territory made no provision for registering voters in several of the counties where the free-state party was in the majority. Districts in the other counties were so gerrymandered that the proslavery delegates were bound to be elected. For that reason the proslavery party won the election and packed the convention, which met at Lecompton, with proslavery delegates. John Calhoun was elected president of the convention. While the constitution was being written another election was held to choose territorial legislators. This election, which was fairly conducted, resulted in the election of a free-state legislature. The Lecompton delegates, therefore, resolved to use other means to secure the adoption of their constitution than by submitting it to a fair election. The convention voted not to submit the constitution as a whole, but only the slavery question. The ballots were made to read: 1. For the constitution with slavery. 2. For the constitution with no slavery. If proposition No. 1 carried, Kansas would be admitted to the union as an unrestricted slave state. If No. 2 carried, then the right to import slaves from other states was denied, but all slaves within the state at the time of its admission, ^Óand their increase,^Ô should remain slaves. Since the voters had to vote for slavery no matter which proposition they chose, the free-state voters remained away from the polls a second time. ELECTIONS OF LITTLE VALUE The result was that the constitution with slavery won, the announced vote being 6,143 for the constitution with slavery and 569 for the constitution with no slavery. Of the votes recorded, 3,012 were fraudulent, as Charlie Torry was to uncover at the right time. Following the adoption of the constitution, Calhoun called a second election, January 4, 1858, to choose provisional state officers, who would serve in case Congress admitted Kansas under the Lecompton Constitution. In this election both proslavery and free-state candidates were nominated. According to unofficial returns, the free-state candidates won by about 300 majority, but Calhoun refused to announce the returns, and it was feared that if he was allowed to keep them for an indefinite period he could falsify the returns. The territorial legislature took two steps to prevent Congress from accepting the Lecompton Constitution as the voice of the people of Kansas. First they called an election on the constitution itself, at which it was defeated by a vote of 10,226 to 161. In that election the proslavery voters did not participate, contending that it was illegal. The second thing the territorial legislature did was to appoint a special committee to investigate the elections and to make an official report of the returns which Calhoun had refused to divulge. Before he could be subpoenaed by the legislative committee, Calhoun announced he would make public the official returns after Congress had acted on the Lecompton Constitution. He then departed for Washington, to lobby for Kansas statehood. This removed him from the jurisdiction of the Kansas legislative committee. MANY PROTESTS TO BUCHANAN President Buchanan apparently agreed with everything that Calhoun told him and prepared his message. Governor Robert J. Walker, a Mississippian, who had been Secretary of the Treasury in Polk^Òs cabinet when Buchanan was Secretary of State, hurried from Lecompton to Washington to warn the President that the Lecompton Constitution had been adopted by fraud and to have nothing to do with it. Buchanan, however, declined to heed Walker^Òs advice, and the Kansas governor resigned. Buchanan next appointed James Denver, a Californian and former Virginian, as territorial governor. Denver soon sensed that the Lecompton Constitution did not represent the will of the Kansas people and protested to Buchanan against his endorsing it. He sent Rush Elmore, a widely known Kansas slave holder, to Washington to warn the President that the constitution was full of dynamite. J.H. Stringfellow, editor of an Atchison newspaper, and a leader of the proslavery faction, also protested against it as a fraudulent document. Buchanan, however, foresaw that the proslavery leaders of the South wanted Kansas to be a slave state and that unless it was admitted as a slave state they would probably withdraw their states from the union. In the interests of harmony, or because he was playing politics, Buchanan sent his message saying that slavery already existed in Kansas and that ^ÓKansas is therefore as much a slave state as Georgia or South Carolina.^Ô Warning the congress against doing anything that would disrupt the union, the President ended his message with these words: ^ÓThe dark and ominous clouds which now appear to be impending over the union, I conscientiously believe may be dissipated with honor to every portion of it by admission of Kansas during the present session of congress, whereas, if she should be rejected, I greatly fear those clouds will become darker and more ominous than any which have ever yet threatened the Constitution and the union.^Ô Kansas, in those days, had no telegraph wires and Washington listened to the President^Òs message and after hearing it members of both houses of Congress began writing the Kansas Statehood Bill. But at Lecompton events were happening with dramatic suddenness. The legislative committee, foiled in its attempt to bring Calhoun before it, summoned his chief clerk, L.A. McLean. He testified before the committee on January 30 that Calhoun had taken the election returns to Washington with him to show them to the President. CHARLIE TORRY^ÒS WORK But this selfsame McLean went at midnight with another of his clerks, John Sherrard, placed the returns in a candlebox and buried the box under a woodpile back of the surveyor general^Òs office. Charlie Torry was such a poorly paid clerk that he made ends meet by sleeping on a cot in the office. From a window he watched the burial of the box. He later went to the yard, removed the wood, dug up the box, and examined the contents. Here were the missing election returns. The next day Torry notified a friend who carried the information to both the legislative committee and the sheriff of Douglas County, Sam Walker. But before notifying anybody, Torry reburied the box and replaced the wood. On February 2, while Buchanan^Òs message was being carried to Congress, Sheriff Walker arrived with eight men and a search warrant to look for the ballots. Walker and his eight possemen were all stark warriors, who would rather fight than not. One of them was Joe Cook, who was to hang for being with John Brown at Harper^Òs Ferry. The others had all been prominent in the border warfare. When it became apparent to McLean that the eight were going to remove the woodpile, he signaled to the seventeen clerks to pick up their rifles and resist. Fighting was so common in those days in Kansas that each clerk kept a loaded rifle at his desk. These were old-fashioned muzzle-loaders with percussion caps. But as each of the clerks picked up his weapon to fight, he noticed, upon cocking the piece, that the percussion cap had been removed. Torry had removed the caps in the night and the guns were worthless. The sheriff^Òs posse exhumed the candlebox and galloped to Lawrence, where the legislative committee was in session. McLean and Sherrard, frightened at what might happen to them, especially to McLean, who had perjured himself, fled across the Kansas River, seized a pair of mules belonging to a farmer, threw off the harness and rode bareback to Missouri to be outside the jurisdiction of the Kansas authorities. When the election returns were examined it was discovered they had been padded outrageously. At Oxford, in Johnson County, a precinct with six houses, the returns showed that 1,266 votes had been cast. At Shawnee Mission, the returns had been padded to show 729 votes, although the number of voters there was less than a hundred. At Kickapoo, in Leavenworth County, which had only a few houses at a point where the trail crossed a creek, the returns showed 1,017 ballots had been cast. THE EFFECT ON THE NATION. When the news arrived in the eastern states, the newspapers were filled with the account of the fraud. Northern congressmen did not dare vote for the bill. Stephen A. Douglas was in a particularly bad spot. It was 1858 and he had to face Abraham Lincoln in a senatorial contest. The summer of the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates was just ahead of him. Douglas could take no chances. He could not support the Lecompton fraud. Douglas led the opposition to the bill, but despite his opposition it passed the senate, but it failed in the house. Lincoln was beaten by Douglas for the senate, but the presidency was another matter. The South never forgave Douglas for his desertion. The southern Democrats bolted the Democratic National Convention in 1860 and nominated John C. Breckenridge as the candidate of the South. The northern Democrats nominated Douglas. With a divided party, the Democrats, although greatly in the majority, were unable to defeat Lincoln, the Republican nominee. With the election of Lincoln, the South did as Buchanan had feared. It withdrew from the union. Civil War followed and out of the Civil War came the end of slavery. Back in Kansas, Charlie Torry continued his service as clerk, messenger and janitor. Nobody suspected him. Calhoun dared not return to Kansas, and so Buchanan permitted him to remove his office to Nebraska City, Neb., and Torry followed him there. He needed the job. Not until after McLean, Calhoun, and Torry were dead, did the truth come to light that Charlie Torry had given the tip that revealed the candlebox under the woodpile. But there are documents in the archives of the Kansas Historical Society, including a letter from Charlie Torry, which reveal the true facts of the disclosure. Kevin K. Stephenson 1600 Kentucky St. #2 Lawrence, KS 66044 (785)865-1586 Data/Fax:(785)865-1586 e-mail: kevinS@ukans.edu website: http://falcon.cc.ukans.edu/~kevin2/homepage.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 19:26:12 -0400 From: "Eunice B. Kirkman" To: "BTRVETC List" Subject: To Mitosis Hi Kid, (I'm older than you) Seems there's always one of those on every list. Guess we have to learn to ignore them. Who knows what kind of games they have to play to get them through life? It must be a sad one. I think I can speak for the majority when I say, "We understnd what finding your Uncle Charlie meant to you, and we rejoiced with you." Good luck to you, and keep up your poetic pursuit! Eunice B. Kirkman ***** ekirkman@swva.net ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 01 Sep 1998 20:30:39 -0500 From: Nicholas Gilliam To: Mitosis CC: Btrvetc List Subject: Re: Who, What, Why? Mitosis wrote: > > Received email asking "What's all this stuff abourt Charlie King Turner. > This isn't a home for wannabe poets". Naturally, I looked to see who > fired this volley... hum, anony-mailer ISP was the results of that > trace. So, this is directed to "Whoever". > > Let's start with the last, "wannabe poet"... hell yes, or anything else > that adds to my knowledge and skills as a human begining! Just cause > I'm old, doesn't mean "I quit". I want to be able to pen things of > worth as JUNE and EUNICE. I want to be able to juggle five jobs at the > same time, like CHRIS. I want to be one third as good as "Puzzler", > DAVID JONES... I want to be as warm as PAULA. I am envious of the > talent that's at this site! What the hell have you done of late..... > pick your nose! > > Now to "Charlie King Turner", I really doubt you are worth the trouble, > however..... and this is gonna be short A_H_. > Charlie King was my uncle, he was absent from most all trees... it was > important to me that Charlie be there. All I had to go with was family > memories. With the little information I had, I was unable to document > Charlie. To must of us that's important! (I can image I never shall > want to read your tree) With this "scrap" of information DAVID JONES, > just because he wanted to help, plied thru documents until not only did > he find "Charlie King", he found his gravesite. To your small mind that > might sound easy, God I wish you knew. > > And yes, when DAVID gave me the news, this Old Man cried and I don't > give a happy S_ what you think about it! (I have sumissed you probably > don't respect your parents or much else in life for that matter) And > yes, I wanted the world to know "Charlie" was found, and posted a, > granted "Soppie" email to that effect. But it was honest and real, words > I suspect unheard to you. It might amuse you to know, your message, > unsigned I might add... was the only I received, so your "view" I fear > is not shared. How does it feel to be the only A_H_ out there? > > To my family on this site, sorry for "flaming" the space... hope you'll > forgive me. > _Mitosis_ Dear Mitosis I used to work for a man with the sign on his desk "non carborundum illegitimi", a so-so attempt at translating into latin Dont let the bastards grind you down". I f any one is not interested they can always quit reading and delete. Nick Gilliam ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 02 Sep 1998 07:17:57 -0700 From: jbbork@ix.netcom.com To: "BTRVETC-L@genealogy.org" Subject: Smiley Burnett I lost my record of Smiley, the cowboy. Does anyone have his record? Thanks, June ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 02 Sep 1998 07:19:08 -0700 From: jbbork@ix.netcom.com To: "BTRVETC-L@genealogy.org" Subject: John Turner John Turner (1747-1816) m. Elizabeth Price. I believe he was son of Shadrack. Need data on John and who was Elizabeth Price?? /s/ June ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 02 Sep 1998 18:36:46 -0700 From: jbbork@ix.netcom.com To: "BTRVETC-L@genealogy.org" Subject: Thank You What a wonderful response to the John Turner and Elizabeth Price query. Each time I am researching another state, somehow it leads me back to ole' Patrick/Henry. And clear across the U.S. too. I was working in Oregon. Some of the Price family from Patrick and Henry and I think Franklin went to Missouri and then Oregon. I am on a new book, so all the wonderful answers saved me lots of time searching. The Burnetts, Turners, etc., will again be featured in this book. I will let you all know later. I don't believe I have ever seen anything about the following Rev. War Pension record of James Turner, so I hope this will be helpful to some. This James Turner was born 15 Aug 1762 in Bedford Co, Va: "1832 Aug 27 - Wayne Co, Ky Court - Pension #S.90757 - Virginia: James Turner, age 70 on the 15th instant states that he entered the service in 1778, in the fall under Merry Carter, as a cattle driver with orders to go to Fort Pitt. He and many others were put to collecting beef cattle in Bedford Co, Va and collected on through Botetourt Co and finally delivered a large amount of beef cattle to Fort Pitt for the use of the army. Camped there some weeks and marched to the Cow Pasture and having served 3 months, was discharged and returned home to Bedford Co. Again he was called on when it came to his number by Col. James Calloway to guard the Tories that were then prisoners at New London. This was in the Fall of the same year, 1779. Was not engaged the full 3 months but was discharged for a 3 month tour. Returned home again and remained there until it again came to his turn. Entered the service under Capt. John Trigg sometime in the winter. Marched under him to Petersburg and then to Cabin Point where we were put under Col. Meriweather and there joined General Muhlenberg's army. Then marched to Dismal Swamps against the British. Next marched to Gregory's Camp then to Tanyard & was again discharged there in the month of April 1780. Having served a full 3 months, returned home to Bedford Co In the fall of 1780, was called and most of the men enlisted as it was understood that the enemy was making their way up in Virginia. We marched under Capt. Trigg through various places in Va suspecting to meet the enemy. There was no battle and was marched again to New London by order of Col. Callaway and was discharged and returned home and remained a few months. In the later part of the summer of 1781 was called and marched to old Jamestown where we joined some other troops and marched to Williamsburg and on to York to join Gen. Washington's army. Remained there and was engaged in the most difficult labor for about 2 weeks where a certain Col. Joe Preston of Bedford Co informed me of 3 deserters whom he had learned had deserted from some place near Charlestown and that they were there about our camp. Joel Preston and Wm. Melton and myself apprehended them and carried them before Col. Charles Dabney. Dabney sent us back to our Capt. and we were discharged and sent home. This was the last of my services which amounted to 5, three month tours. I continued to live in Bedford Co, Va until about 15 yrs ago and then moved to Wayne Co, Ky where he has lived ever since. Thinks he can prove his services by Capt. George Dabney with whom he served his 3 last tours. Affidavites of James Lear and Evan Thomas state that they are wll acquainted with the soldier In 1833, James Turner made another declaration and states that he was born in Bedford Co, Va 15 Aug 1762 and that he was raised in that county. States that he had discharges signed by Merry Carter, Col. James Callawy and John Trigg. He was at the Seige of York and he thinks he can prove his character by many persons who were residences of Bedford Co but who now reside in Wayne Co Ky Affidavit of George Dabney, a citizen of Wayne Co, Ky - 1833, age 73 oh the 15th of Sept ensuing - States he has heard and well understood the original and amended declaration of James Turner and that Turner was discharged by putting a deserter in his place, and quit the service a few days before he, Dabney did Affidavit of Robert A. Dabney of Wayne Co, Ky - 1833 States he sent to the War Dept the original affidavit of his father, George Dabney and the declaration of James Turner his UNCLE to obtain pension under act of 7th of June 1832. States he was making every effort to help his UNCLE JAMES TURNER secure his pension. [Note by Bork: James Turner m. Molly Dabney, dau of Cornelius Dabney, who d. 1792 in Bedford Co, brother to George Dabney} ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 22:23:51 EDT From: NCreed1@aol.com To: BTRVETC-L@genealogy.org Subject: John Turner June: You must have received a person reply about John Turner and Elizabeth Price. Can you share it with the rest of us? Thank you. Nyla ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 00:32:14 -0400 From: "Mitosis" To: "Btrvetc List" Subject: TURNER, Elizabeth (Brashiers) The "Elizabeth" referenced in Caroline Record Book, is this assumed to be Eliza, wife of John1? My reason for the question is that I have 3 different dates for her death. If I cipher correct the Caroline record would place her death about 1742. ------ Got this I believe from the Compiled files... Wife: Elizabeth Brashears Born: 27-Jul-1699 in: Prince George Co., MD Died: 1794 in: PG Co., MD Father: Benois Brassier Mother: ? unknown ----- Also have 1736, which appeared on database at "FTM". ---- 1736,1742,1794... like to narrow that down abit. You could also slip a whole generation within that time frame. Maybe I'm just plain "wrong" about who the Eliza is in Caroline record? ----- Now the bigger issue I'm hurting my head with... and why trying to get little better stats on Eliza, I see one John Turner, married Elizabeth Brashiers in Maryland, however it does read like John1 to me, I dunno. John Turner, Jr., Prince George County, Md., the son of John and Sarah Turner died in 1738. He made his will on July 8,1738, which was probated 29th November,1738. (Will book No. 22, folio 3, Annapolis,MD.) He married Elizabeth Brashears. They had issue: *(no Meshack and Abendnego here, is Shadruck same as our Shadrack?)* John Turner Died in 1737, Will book 41, folio 293, 25 acres of addition. Samuel Turner Of whom presently. Tract lying near Collington branch which my father John Turner willed me. Shadruck Turner *(Typo ?)* Upper half of Ralph's, next to my brother Solomon Turner. (My grandfather could have this misspelled. He tended to put extra l's or leave off s's in names.) *(The way this is worded could almost make one believe Shadruck wasn't his brother... eh)* Philip Turner *(Can't match)* Lower half of Ralph's. Sarah Turner Elizabeth Turner Ann Turner who married William Webster, Jr., (St. John Parrish) Rachell Turner Darkens Turner *(Can't match)* There are so many problems with this scenrio that frankly, just laid it aside. Now if some one suggest this Eliza married both Johns.... Nah, I don't need another headache. Just starting with this Brashier, Brashears, Brassier, thing, so maybe I just haven't gathered enough data. Somebody throw me a rope! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 19:12:34 -0400 From: "Mitosis" To: "Btrvetc List" Subject: Whatca Think Here's an idea from another "list", would all who have "Homepages" post their URL's to the list, maybe a short note as to the main "thrust" or "Lineage" persued. . Suspect there are many sites with information of interest that not all are aware. Now I don't mean something like a Cyndi List. Just those sites with families as referenced in the BTRV...etc dodad. Thanks -------------------------------- End of btrvetc-d Digest V98 Issue #55 *************************************