Hanging of Union Men

The illustration above is from the Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 20 Feb 1864. Several smaller illustrations comprised a doublepage centerfold, about 22X16 in size and entitled "Rebel Barbarities in Texas." This illustration was in the center of the page and called, "Hanging of 30 Union Men," which depicted the Great Hanging at Gainesville, Texas.

I was able to purchase a copy of the original 1864 Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper through an antique dealer and placed a very high quality scan on fold3.com. To look at the full doublepage centerfold of the above 1864 newspaper illustration, go to www.fold3.com   http://www.fold3.com/image/52160008   Personal and family use granted to all.  If you wish to use this photo or the one placed on fold3.com to post online, blogs, social media, or commercial sites such as Ancestry.com, please use a text link back to this site or use the following wording placed nearby the information used:  Information and/or image courtesy of http://www.gainesvilletx1862.blogspot.com/ 

Bringing in Union Men

The illustration above is from the Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 20 Feb 1864 and is entitled "Bringing in Union Men."

On the night of 30 September 1862, men surrounded the homes of suspected unionists and at daybreak on October 1st the unionists were arrested.  Susan Leffel, in a letter dated June 1869, stated that the "leader of their families were taken off by those nocturnal visitors and destroyed by the hanging."  The 1941 obituary for the daughter of John Miller, Nannie Miller Brand, states: "The tragedy occured at night, and the terror-stricken little girl [Nancy] took her little sister by the hand and found her way through the forest at night by a blazed trail to the home of a neighbor." 

According to Barrett, "the heaviest rains I ever saw" started and the arrests took place in the pouring rain.

I was able to purchase a copy of the orginial 1864 Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper through an antique dealer and placed a very high quality scan on Fold3. To look at the full doublepage centerfold of the above 1864 newspaper illustration, go to www.fold3.com  and to view the image: http://www.fold3.com/image/#52160008.   Personal and family use granted to all.  If you wish to use this photo or the one placed on fold3.com to post online, on blogs or commercial sites such as Ancestry.com, please use a text link back to this site or use the following wording placed nearby the information used:  Information and/or image courtesy of http://www.gainesvilletx1862.blogspot.com/

Nathaniel Miles Clark

Nathaniel Miles Clark

Probably more is known about Nathaniel Miles Clark (and his family) than any other man who was hanged.  There are several reasons for this; first, Clark’s son, James Lemuel Clark, kept letters, interviewed others and wrote down his memories and recollections of “the greatest tragedy of his lifetime,” and, secondly, the Clark family stayed in Cooke County, Texas keeping the memory of their ancestor alive with frequent reunions over the years.  L. D. Clark, grandson of James Lemuel Clark, took the memoirs and papers of his grandfather, edited them and added an introduction for a book called “Civil War Recollections of James Lemuel Clark and the Great Hanging at Gainesville, Texas in October 1862.”  Anyone serious about learning more about the Great Hanging needs to read Clark's book.

Description from back cover of book:

  "Not all Texas agreed with the decision to secede from the Union in 1860, and while most did abide by the decision, many remained outspoken against the laws of the Confederacy.  Civil War Recollections of James Lemuel Clark is the story of one Texas family who suffered more at the hands of their neighbors than any warring enemy.

The memoirs of James Lemuel Clark describe his involvement in a series of events leading up to the hanging of forty men in Gainesville, Texas.  Eighteen at the outbreak of the Civil War, Clark was the son of one of the men hanged for their Union sympathies in October 1862.  Clark's memoirs also tell of his experiences with the Texas militia in Indian campaigns and with the Condederate Army.  Civil War Recollections gives an overview of the events that shaped the lives of war survivors and influenced the reconstruction of Texas."





Nathaniel Miles Clark was born 26 Jun 1818 in Christian, Kentucky, the son of Lemuel Marion Clark and Anna Henderson.  He married Mahuldah Lutisha Hicklin 7 Jul 1841 in Missouri. In 1850, Nathanial and his family are found living in Cedar County, Missouri.  By that time, the couple had four young children: James, Cordelia, Martha, and William. Just after 1850, the Clark family moved from Missouri to Cooke County, Texas. They are found in the 1860 Census for Cooke County.  Four more children had been added to their  family by 1860: John Boone, Mary, Joseph, and N. M. Douglas. 

Many of Clark’s neighbors in 1860, also lost their lives during the time of the Great Hanging: Thomas Floyd, Wesley Morris, Washington Morris, Eli Scott, Hiram Kilborn.

1860 Census Cooke County, Texas

Nathaniel lost his life along with so many others in the Great Hanging at Gainesville in October, 1862.  His family buried him in the Clark Family Cemetery outside of Gainesville, Cooke County, Texas.  His headstone inscription reads: "Nathaniel Miles Clark June 26, 1816 (should be 1818) Murdered by a Mob October 13, 1862 His last words to his companion Prepare yourself to live and die. I hope to meet in a better world God bless you all"

After Texas seceded from the Union in 1862, Nathaniel's oldest child and son, James Lemuel, was drafted into the Confederate Army.  Ironically, James Lemuel was serving in the Confederate Army at the time his father was lynched. After hearing of the death of his father, James deserted the Confederate Army and returned to Texas for several months to take care of his widowed mother and younger siblings. Upon getting them settled somewhat, he later ventured north to Missouri to join the Union Army, therefore serving on both sides during the Civil War. 

Photo of Eli Sigler Thomas & wife, Susan Mary Hedenberg Thomas

This is a photo of Doctor Eli Sigler Thomas and his wife, Susan Mary Hendenburg Thomas.

Doctor Eli Sigler Thomas was one of the men killed in the Gainesville Hanging. He was hanged on 19 Oct 1862, along with nineteen other men. He left behind a wife and two children.

Information on Eli Sigler Thomas can be found in several earlier posts:
http://gainesvilletx1862.blogspot.com/2008/11/doctor-eli-sigler-thomas.html

http://gainesvilletx1862.blogspot.com/2008/11/more-on-eli-s-thomas-family.html

Many thanks to the Dr. Eli Sigler Thomas descendant who sent this photo to the blog.  This is one of two known photos of a victim of the Great Hanging.

Honoring Those Who Died

On Sunday, October 19, 1862, the final nineteen victims of the Gainesville Hanging were hanged.

So last month, on Sunday, October 19th, several of us who are descendants visited the Georgia Davis Bass Park, the location of the Great Hanging at Gainesville, Texas 1862. Sunday, October 19th was chosen because that is when our ancestor and 18 other men were hanged. We don't know the exact location on Pecan Creek where their bodies were buried, so we left flowers and flags at the historical marker in the park.

The burial place for most of these men was along the banks of Pecan Creek. No headstones were ever placed on any of the graves of the men who were buried there along the creek. There could be over thirty (30+) men who are buried there. Even though there are no headstones to mark the exact grave sites, that area along Pecan creek is considered a cemetery or sacred ground by all of us who are descendants of one of the victims of the Gainesville Hanging.

There are only five known grave sites for the victims of the Gainesville Hanging. An earlier post (http://gainesvilletx1862.blogspot.com/2008/08/where-are-they-buried.html) listed the known and suggested burial places.

This last picture is on the opposite side of the historical marker and is looking toward the bridge.