The previous post included a newspaper article about the death of Samuel Long. This correspondence is also about his death. Thanks to Samuel's descendants Vincent and Norm and Becky for sharing this information. Double click on the photos to enlarge them. Then, use your back arrow to return to this page.
Page 2 states that the soldiers went to "arrest Sam Long", but I haven't found why he was being arrested. My own great Uncle Fred had told the story that a neighbor of his grandfather's was killed because he wouldn't join the army, so Sam Long's death was not an isolated incident and he might not have done anything wrong other than having slaves. Although Missouri was officially a "Slave State", with so many German Yankees, the area was very volatile.
This section above repeats the belief that Sam Long tried to escape.
But, these sections include Sam's son William's defense of his father.
I think the really revealing section is " They replied he would have no use for a horse, they then started with him along the main road----then about three fourths of a mile when they turned off from said road to the head of a deep hollow in to a dense thicket of under brush and at the distance of about 152 yards from the road in the thickest of the brush he was shot through the head. . . .the gun which they took from my father's house was left by his side loaded."
It makes me wonder why they wouldn't allow an old man ride a horse if they were just arresting him, but if they intended to execute him anyway. . . . Then, why would they take him off the main road, if they weren't trying to conceal his body. And if they took his rifle from his house, why would they have it close enough for him to grab. If he had made a run for it, why was he found 152 yards from the main road---young soldiers couldn't keep up with a 67 year old man? So, a 67 year old man grabbed the rifle, ran through the brush 152 yards before four young men caught up with him? I may be prejudiced, but I tend to believe William's version.
Page 2 states that the soldiers went to "arrest Sam Long", but I haven't found why he was being arrested. My own great Uncle Fred had told the story that a neighbor of his grandfather's was killed because he wouldn't join the army, so Sam Long's death was not an isolated incident and he might not have done anything wrong other than having slaves. Although Missouri was officially a "Slave State", with so many German Yankees, the area was very volatile.
This section above repeats the belief that Sam Long tried to escape.
But, these sections include Sam's son William's defense of his father.
I think the really revealing section is " They replied he would have no use for a horse, they then started with him along the main road----then about three fourths of a mile when they turned off from said road to the head of a deep hollow in to a dense thicket of under brush and at the distance of about 152 yards from the road in the thickest of the brush he was shot through the head. . . .the gun which they took from my father's house was left by his side loaded."
It makes me wonder why they wouldn't allow an old man ride a horse if they were just arresting him, but if they intended to execute him anyway. . . . Then, why would they take him off the main road, if they weren't trying to conceal his body. And if they took his rifle from his house, why would they have it close enough for him to grab. If he had made a run for it, why was he found 152 yards from the main road---young soldiers couldn't keep up with a 67 year old man? So, a 67 year old man grabbed the rifle, ran through the brush 152 yards before four young men caught up with him? I may be prejudiced, but I tend to believe William's version.
1 comment:
Hello Jaclyn, I believe that I am also related to Samuel Long and his Son William Long.
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