Arkansas Civil War

The Truth Behind the Hanging of David O. Dodd by Miss Ellie

As you all know, I am a fanatic about women in history. For years I have searched for some evidence of the assistance David O. Dodd received from three women, Minerva Cogburn, Mary Dodge, and Mary Swindle. As luck would have it, I stumbled upon a book at work, Forever We Remember, A Tribute to David Owen Dodd, by Anthony C. Rushing. There it was, the truth behind the hanging of DOD.

Minerva Cogburn was the friend of David’s sister, Senhora. On a particular occasion of David’s return to Little Rock, he had three letters to deliver. One was addressed to Minerva. This being the Christmas season, Senhora’s reply to Minerva’s letter described David as having partied and danced the season, paying “special attention to a young girl named Mary Dodge.”

Some believe it was through Mary Dodge that Dodd received the information from the Federal troops in Little Rock which led to his demise. Miss Dodge was the daughter of Dr. R. L. Dodge, who was on friendly terms with the Federal army and was seen many times within the Federal garrison. The following is an excerpt from the book:

…the officers who furnished the information, through
Mary, were suspected but were never known.
However, General Steele somehow knew the
information had passed through Mary’s hands and in
a private discussion with her father, Steele told him
that “while he felt sure his daughter did not realize or
appreciate the gravity of the offense, something had
to be done about it.” General Steele further stated
that “although he was being criticized for his
friendliness to the people of the South, he could not
visit drastic punishment, such as the offense required,
on a young girl.”

Dr. Dodge and his daughter, Mary, were sent by Federal gunboat to Vermont. Sadly, we know who took the “drastic punishment”.

Note: The above article is from our world-famous newsletter Joshes & Chubs (August, 2008 Edition), dedicated in serving the Arkansas Civil War buff worldwide!

Frances Clalin known by her married name of Frances Clayton, was a woman who disguised herself as a man in order to fight in the American Civil War. She served in the Missouri artillery and cavalry units for several months. Frances Clayton took up all the manly vices. To better conceal her sex, she learned to drink, smoke, chew, and swear. She was especially fond of cigars. She even gambled, and a fellow soldier declared that he had played poker with her on a number of occasions.

—DeAnne Blanton and Lauren M. Cook, They Fought Like Demons

Frances Clayton was a woman who fought in the Union as a man named Jack Williams. She served in cavalry and artillery units, but it is unknown what unit she served in. The newspapers that reported her story told conflicting information, but most said that she and Elmer L. Clayton, her husband, had enlisted together in a Missouri regiment the fall of 1861, even though they were from Minnesota. Frances was born in Illinois and married Elmer who was born in Ohio, so both were from the North. They had a farm in Minnesota and Frances did housework until she enlisted for war. Frances and Elmer were also to have had three children. Elmer and Frances served side by side during the American Civil War until 1863, when he died in battle.

Frances is known to have fought in the Battle of Fort Donelson in Tennessee, February 13, 1862, where the Union won after three days of fighting. During this battle Frances was wounded, but was not discovered because of her injury. It wasn’t extremely hard for Frances to convincingly play the part of Jack Williams. She was tall and masculine, and had tan skin. She had also worked on perfecting manly activities such as smoking, drinking, chewing tobacco, swearing and gambling. Frances was quite fond of cigars as well. By doing these things, Frances increased her manly character so that she would fit in and others wouldn’t see past her disguise.

This plan was clever and effective, as some news reports state that Frances was never discovered to be a woman, but instead was discharged when she confronted her superiors.

Frances was also a said to be a good ‘horse-man’ and ‘swordsman’, and the way she carried herself in stride was soldierly, erect, and masculine. She was well trained and knew her duties well, but was also a respected person who commanded attention in the way she acted. It was said of Frances in one report that she did her duties at all times and was considered to be a fighting man. Frances was engaged in seventeen battles other than Fort Donelson, including the Battle of Murfreesboro December 31, 1862, where her husband died. The Battle of Murfreesboro was referred to as Stones River by the Union. Elmer was only a few feet in front of Frances when he died, but she didn’t stop fighting. She stepped over his body and charged when the commands came. There are two stories about how Frances was discovered to be a woman. One is that after this battle at Stones River, Frances decided to let her true identity become known and she was discharged a few days later in Louisville 1863, but the other is that Frances was wounded in the hip at Stones River, and was discharged after being discovered that way. Frances did fix the mistakes, but this error creates doubts about what really happened. After being discharged Frances tried to get back to Minnesota, and then decided to collect the bounty owed her deceased husband and herself, as well as to get some of Elmer’s belongings.

It is also speculated that she wanted to reenlist, but she was unable to. Her train was attacked by a Confederate guerrilla party, and she was robbed of her papers and her money. Frances then went from Missouri to Minnesota, then to Grand Rapids, Michigan, and on to Quincy, Illinois.

In Quincy a fund was created to aid her quest for payment by former soldiers and friends. Frances was last reported to be headed for Washington, D.C. Frances became popular with the newspapers. Her story was published in about six different papers, but they got her story jumbled up. In some articles it was stated that Frances had been wounded and discovered at Stones River where her husband died, but others said she was wounded at Fort Donelson, and was able to keep her identity a secret until her husband died and she went to her superiors with her secret. Frances was actually wounded at Donelson and was able to keep her secret unknown, and she corrected these misunderstandings in her last interview but she never stated what regiment she had served in. This was probably never asked of Frances, because the reporters were more interested in the story of a devoted wife, rather than the actual details of JackWilliams’ soldier life.

Frances didn’t become particularly well-known for her hardships or bravery, but she was still recognized for her acts of soldiery. Frances’ picture is on book covers and in pages of Civil War books, though not much information is given about her in them. This is most likely because the news wasn’t interested in her soldier life as much as it was her wife life, making it hard to find data-filled resources about her. Also, books dedicated to women like Frances have many stories to tell about more famous women, taking up the room to go into greater detail on Frances and other unfamiliar women.

Frances was brave, strong-willed and went through a lot to be with her husband, which is a noble deed. Because of her choice to be with him, she helped in battles and served her country in a way that an estimate of only 400 other women did. Frances was wounded a total of three times for her country, and was even taken prisoner once, all the while supposedly remaining Jack Williams. Frances worked hard to do her duties as a soldier, and served her country by her husband’s side for two years until he died. During these years Frances served in cavalry and artillery units for the Union. Frances gave up a lot to do this, but did it anyway. She saw her husband die right in front of her and continued to fight. Frances wasn’t even able to receive her back pay or bounty after her discharge because she was robbed by Confederate guerrillas.

This article can be downloaded from the May, 2008 edition of the newsletter located at the top of the page…great Civil War articles written by Civil War buffs in Arkansas.

The United States celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in May. In the United States, Mother’s Day was loosely inspired by the British day and was imported by social activist Julia Ward Howe after the American Civil War. However, it was intended as a call to unite women against war.

In 1870, she wrote the Mother’s Day Proclamation as a call for peace and disarmament. Howe failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mother’s Day for Peace. Her idea was influenced by Ann Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who, starting in 1858, had attempted to improve sanitation through what she called Mothers’ Work Days. She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors. In parts of the United States it is customary to plant tomatoes outdoors after Mother’s Day (and not before).

When Jarvis died in 1907, her daughter, named Anna Jarvis, started the crusade to found a memorial day for women. The first such Mother’s Day was celebrated in Grafton, West Virginia, on 10 May, 1908, in the church where the elder Ann Jarvis had taught Sunday School. Grafton is the home to the International Mother’s Day Shrine.

From there, the custom caught on spreading eventually to 45 states. The holiday was declared officially by some states beginning in 1912. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother’s Day, as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war.

Nine years after the first official Mother’s Day, commercialization of the U.S. holiday became so rampant that Anna Jarvis herself became a major opponent of what the holiday had become. Mother’s Day continues to this day to be one of the most commercially successful U.S. occasions. According to the National Restaurant Association, Mother’s Day is now the most popular day of the year to dine out at a restaurant in the United States.

The first Mother’s Day observance was a church service honoring Mrs. Anna Reese Jarvis, held at Anna Jarvis’s request in Grafton, West Virginia, and in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 10, 1908. Carnations, her mother’s favorite flowers, were supplied at that first service by Miss Jarvis. White carnations were chosen because they represented the sweetness, purity and endurance of mother love. Red carnations, in time, became the symbol of a living mother. White ones now signify that one’s mother has died.

This article can be downloaded from the May, 2008 edition of the newsletter located at the top of the page…great Civil War articles written by Civil War buffs in Arkansas.

A man was having A conversation with the Lord one day and said, Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like." The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and made the holy man’s mouth water. The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and although each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. The Lord said, "You have seen Hell."

They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew whichmade the holy man’s mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. The holy man said, "I don’t understand." It is simple" said the Lord, "it requires but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each other, while the greedy think only of themselves.“ When Jesus died on the cross he was thinking of you!

by Andy Taylor

In the city of Chicago, one cold, dark night, a blizzard was settin’ in. A little boy was a sellin’ newspapers on the corner, the people were passing by tryin’ to hurry home to their warm homes where they’d be in out of the cold. The little boy was so cold that he wasn’t sellin’ very many papers. In the city of Chicago, one cold, dark night, a blizzard was settin’ in. A little boy was a sellin’ newspapers on the corner, the people were passing by tryin’ to hurry home to their warm homes where they’d be in out of the cold. The little boy was so cold that he wasn’t sellin’ very many papers.

He walked up to a policeman and said, “Mister, you wouldn’t happen to know where a poor boy could find a warm place to sleep tonight would’ ya?” He said “You see, I sleep in a box up around the corner there down the alley and it’s awful cold in there at night. Sure would be nice to have a warm place to stay.” The policeman looked down at the little boy and said “You go down the street to that big white house and knock on the door. When they come to the door you just say John 3:16 and they will let you in.”

So he did, he walked up the steps to the door, and knocked on the door. When a lady came to the door. He looked up and said John 3:16. The lady said “Come on in son.” She took him in and she set him down in a split bottom rocker in front of a great big old fireplace and then she went off. He sat there for awhile, and thought to himself, “John 3:16, I don’t understand it, but it sure makes a cold boy warm.”

Later she came back and asked him, “Are you hungry?” He said, “Well, just a little. I haven’t eaten in a couple of days and I guess I could stand just a little bit of food.” So she took him into the kitchen and she set him down to a table just full of nice food. He ate until he couldn’t stand anymore. Then he thought to himself again, “John 3:16. Boy I sure don’t understand it, but it sure makes a hungry boy full.”

She took him off upstairs to a bathroom to a big old bathtub full of warm water and he sat there and he soaked for awhile. As he soaked he thought to himself, “John 3:16, I sure don’t understand it, but it sure makes a dirty boy clean. You know I’ve not had a bath I guess, in my whole life. The only bath I ever had was when I stood in front of the big old fire hydrant as they flushed it out.”

She came in and she got him, and took him and tucked him into a big old feather bed. She pulled the covers up around his neck, and kissed him goodnight and turned out the lights, laying there in the darkness, he looked out the window with the snow comin’ down, it was so cold and dark outside, he thought to himself, “My, John 3:16, I don’t understand it, but it sure makes a tired boy rested.” The next morning she came back up and took him down again to that same big table full of food. After he ate she took him back to that same old split bottom rocker in front of the fireplace and she took a big old Bible and sat down in front of him and she looked up at him and said, “Do you understand John 3:16?” And he said, “No ma’am I don’t, the first time I ever heard it was last night when the policeman told me to use it.”

Then she opened the Bible to John 3:16 and she began to explain to him Jesus. Right there in front of that big old fireplace he gave his heart and his life to Jesus. And he sat there and thought, “My, my, John 3:16, I don’t understand it, but it sure does make a lost boy saved.”

You know, I have to confess, I don’t understand it either, how God would be willing to send His Son to die for me, and how Jesus would agree to do such a thing. I don’t understand it either, but you know, it sure does make this old lost person saved.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that He gave His
only begotten son, that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life