“Nobody in this county ever dreamed that Abraham Lincoln would be elected President; and though there were less than one hundred Republicans in the county, yet the excitement ran higher than usual. When Lincoln was elected, many of our people felt it their duty to stand by him. John A. Logan openly declared that he would shoulder his gun to have him inaugurated.
The people commence to change over to the Republican Party before Lincoln took his seat. They first declared for the Union, then endorsed General Scott, and finally Abraham Lincoln. But among the old liners a strong sympathy for the South was felt.
By the first of April, 1861, the parties were nearly equally divided and excitement was running very high. Our leading men were in trouble, and some were noisy and clamorous for Southern Rights.
In a few days after the Lincoln Inauguration, Peter Keifer made a speech in the Court House, in which he said, “Our Country Must Be Saved,” but it was understood that “our country” meant the South, by the motion of his hand.
Sympathy of “our Southern brethren” became stronger and stronger every day. Propositions for organizing the people into companies and regiments were made. Secession was openly talked of until the 9th day of April, 1861, when it began to take shape.
It was just after the fall of Fort Sumter; a party of ten or fifteen men got together in a saloon in Marion, and agreed to call a public meeting to pass ordinances of secession. They appointed a committee on resolutions, who were to report at the public meeting.
The call was made for a meeting to be held in the Court House, on Monday, April 15th, 1861, to provide for the “public safety.” A large crowd came in, and the meeting was called to order, and James D. Manier elected President. He then appointed George W. Goddard, James M. Washburn, Henry C. Hooper, John M. Cunningham, and Wm. R. Scurlock, a committee to draft resolution of secession.
The saloon committee had the resolutions already prepared, and they were reported and passed with but one dissenting voice, and that was A.T. Benson.
The original resolution for secession was as follows:
“Resolved that we, the citizens of Williamson County, firmly believing, from the distracted condition of our country — the same being brought about by the elevation to power of a strictly sectional party, the coercive policy of which toward the seceded states will drive all the border slave states from the Federal Union, and cause them to join the Southern Confederacy.
“Resolved that in that event, the interest of the citizens of Southern Illinois imperatively demands at their hands a division of the state. We hereby pledge ourselves to use all means in our power to effect the same, and attach ourselves to the Southern Confederacy.
“Resolves, that, in our opinion, it is the duty of the present administration to withdraw all the troops of the federal government that may be stationed in Southern forts, and acknowledge the independence of the Southern Confederacy, believing that such a course would be calculated to restore peace and harmony to our districted country.
“Resolved, that in view of the fact that it is probable that the present governor of the state of Illinois will call upon citizens of the state to take up arms for the purpose of subjugating the people of the South, we hereby enter our protest against such a course, and as loyal citizens, will refuse, frown down and forever oppose the same.”
These resolutions were written by Henry C. Hooper. The Republicans of this county used to accuse the Hon. Willis J. Allen of drafting them, on account of the peculiar phraseology; but in this they were wrong.
The news of this meeting spread rapidly, and by the next morning it had reached Carbondale, Illinois and had been telegraphed to Gen. Prentiss, at Cairo. The people of Carbondale, seeing the trouble our people were bringing on themselves, sent J. M. Campbell up to Marion on the 16th of April, to tell the people to revoke the resolutions, he said they must be repealed, or war would be brought on our soil and at our own doors. The people were excited badly.
A meeting was called to repeal the resolutions, and to meet instantly, but not by the same men who were in the meeting of the 15th. Willis J. Allen was called in to address the meeting, which he did at some length. He said he was for repealing the resolutions, and that others could do as they pleased, but as for him and his house, they would stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.
The resolutions were repealed, and A. T. Benson appointed a committee of one to convey a copy of the proceeding to Gen. Prentiss. When he arrived at Cairo he found Gen. Prentiss reading the resolutions. He gave him a copy of the proceedings of the meeting of the 16th, and Prentiss said, “I am glad to see them. The resolutions of secession would have caused your folks trouble, but I hope all will be right.”
Those men, who held the meeting of the 15th, contended that the meeting of the 16th had no right to repeal the resolutions, and that they were not repealed, and that the people must organize.
On August 19th, John A. Logan delivered his appeal to the secessionists to rethink their decisions and join with him in support of the Union cause.
A meeting was called to meet on the 27th of April, pursuant to the one of the 15th. The meeting was called to order, and a motion made to “seize the money in the hands of the Sheriff to defray the expenses of arming and equipping soldiers for the Southern Army.”
The fever for organizing into military companies had cooled off, so that this motion was lost, and the meeting broke up in a row.
John A. Logan, who had come home, told the participants in these meetings that “the resolutions were treason, and they would all be hung,” and they got scared and sent men out in the country to tear down the “Notices to Organize,” which had been stuck up. But excitement continued to increase, and party feeling to deepen, and leading Democrats began to look upon Logan with suspicion, and accuse him of being a “turn-coat.” In defense of himself he said that he would suffer his tongue to cleave to the roof of his mouth, and his right arm to wither and fall palsied by his side, before he would take up arms against his Southern brethren, unless it was to sustain the Government; and that if the war was prosecuted solely for the purpose of freeing negroes, he would not ground his arms, but would turn and shoot them North.
Logan at this time was against the Abolitionists, but this opposition was lost in his terrible opposition to treason and traitors.
Gen. Prentiss had dropped off a company of men at Big Muddy Bridge (four miles north of Carbondale) as he was going to Cairo; this was intolerable to our people; the whole country was in a flame.
Thorndike Brooks and Harvey Hays raised the whoop in Marion; runners were sent out all over the county to tell the people to come into town next morning with their guns.
Next morning a great many people came into town with guns, anxious to know what was wanted with them, when they were told that “the men at the bridge must be whipped away.” Most of them turned and went home. Some objected, and said they had no guns, and that the soldiers had good guns, but some few went on to Carbondale, and others tried to get them not to go.
At Carbondale, they found a noisy crowd assembled for the same purpose. Soon after they met they sent Isaiah Harris up to the bridge, which was four miles north of Carbondale, to spy around. When he got in sight of the soldiers he saw a cannon, and returned and told them that they could not whip the soldiers.
News of these proceedings having reached Gen. Prentiss at Cairo, an hour before, he sent up another company, with more cannon. The train stopped at Carbondale, when the crowd was at its highest and most clamorous condition.
After staying there awhile, she pulled on up to the bridge. At this crisis, Gov. Dougherty, W. Hecker, of Cairo and Gen. I. N. Hannie made speeches to the people, and told them to stand by the Union. Gov. Dougherty said, “That the speeches and guns persuaded the people not to attack the bridge.”
The people of Marion were standing listening for a bloody battle, but they were disappointed. A few straggling crowds came back from Carbondale, cursing and frothing like wild men. William Crain swore he could have taken his boys and cleaned out the soldiers, and Brooks and Wheeler called the people cowards and slaves.
In two or three days after the Muddy bridge raid, which was about the 30th of April, John A. Logan, George W. Goddard, John H. White and John M. Cunningham, neither of whom was in the raid, met in secret caucus in White’s office, and they solemnly pledged each other their honor that they would stand by the Union.
They agreed that Logan should go on to Congress, and after he returned home they would raise a regiment of Union soldiers, of which he was to be Colonel, John H. White, Lieutenant Colonel, and Goddard was to be Captain; and White the County Clerk, were both to appoint John M. Cunningham deputy to run the offices, and he was to be for the Union. This agreement was faithfully carried out by all parties concerned, but Cunningham continued to sympathize strongly with the South.
In a few days after the meeting, someone reported having seen eighteen soldiers in the tall grass near town. They raised a general uproar. Nobody knew what to do to save the town. Finally John H. White told the people that there was but one salvation, and that was to hoist the flag. In a few minutes the Star-Spangled Banner was seen waving against the sky.
After Stephen A. Douglas made his Union speech, his liberty pole was cut to the ground in Marion, with some ceremony; and this was the first time a flag had been displayed. As soon as the excitement subsided, the flag was taken down.
There never was but one rebel flag displayed publicly in this county, and that was about the first of June, 1861, at one of Charley Goodall’s barbecues, four miles east of Marion.” —Milo Erwin, 1875
Sam’s Notes: Shortly after these events reported above by Milo Erwin, recruitment for the south continued and after a group left for Kentucky to join the Confederacy another scare got locals stirred up fearing they would return to cause problems creating the Goodall Bridge incident. Many citizens of Marion made the choice to support the Southern cause including several prominent people.
(Extracted from Milo Erwin’s, History of Williamson County)