The Troubled Troublemaker: Edward Rumsey Weir
Edward Rumsey Weir: 1816-1891 (Maternal First Cousin 4x Removed)
“Get in
good trouble, necessary trouble, and redeem the soul of America.” Rep. John Lewis, speaking on March
1, 2020 at a ceremony at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama,
commemorating the Bloody Sunday attack on civil rights marchers on March 7,
1965.
I believe
Edward Rumsey Weir would have understood and supported John Lewis’ call to “get
in good trouble.” Weir got in considerable trouble himself, supporting
abolition in pre-war and Civil War era Kentucky. He believed that as a
slaveowner himself, his calls for abolition would be more persuasive. He
supported abolition despite the potential cost to his own businesses. Many of
his fellow Kentuckians did not agree with him, and his views and actions made
him a veritable pariah.
In
addition to Edward Weir’s business interests, he was involved in politics,
serving as a representative in the Kentucky House during two separate periods.
His first term ran from 1841 to 1842. He was re-elected to the Kentucky House
in 1862, serving through 1865.
Edward was
also a candidate for the Kentucky State Convention called in 1848 to prepare a
new state constitution. In his memoir, Edward recalled,
“I took
to the stump as an opponent of slavery.
After a heated and dangerous campaign, I was defeated by some 200 or 300
votes. My opponent was a Democrat. Nothing but the fact that I was one of the
largest slave owners in Muhlenberg County and a born Kentuckian made it
possible for me to discuss slavery.
More than once did I hear the pistol click in the pockets of my
pro-slavery listeners as I spoke about the issue plainly before them.”
As the country
became more divided over the issue of slavery heading into the election of
1860, Edward entered the political fray again.
During the campaigns of 1860, I again took to
the stump. I ran up and down my County
in support of the Unionists. My speech
came from the heart and was strong against those who favored succession and a
disbanding of the Union. In some
circles, the opposition had become so strong to my position that a price had
been placed upon my head. I went few places
without my trusty side arm at my side.”
Edward
also travelled Washington D.C. to listen to the debates on the admission of the
state of Kansas as a free state. He was assessing the mood of the federal
government, and returned home fearing the country was headed for war. He
travelled to the Kentucky state government and tried to rally Republicans to
the Union cause and persuade the southern supporters to stay in the Union.
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1861 drawing of the Kentucky capital building |
He
returned home prepared for the worst, recalling:
“I came
home and held family council - a solemn one, and we decided not to abandon our
home and state, but to fight it out "on our native hearth" though we
all expected to lose our home and property. “
Edward
started raising a militia group, arming them at his own expense and insisting
they swear an oath that “demanded allegiance to the United States
Government, ‘against all enemies, domestic or foreign’".
Eventually,
Edward had 9,300 men under his command. This came at enormous personal cost. He
wrote that,
“Guns
and ammunition cost me $245 each. Each
man in my companies gave me his note for that amount which of course I never
called and never received. To me, it was
the least that I could do to repay my Country for the opportunities it had
given me.” (pg 14)
Edward
continued to procure munitions once the militia units were replaced by federal
infantry units. He was given a letter of credit for $10,000 to get supplies. He
ended up using his own money, never tapping the federal credit. As it was
unsafe for him to remain in Greenville, he ended up living in a Union Army camp
for months. He noted that he was “tired of being afraid to sleep in my own
bed.” (pg 22)
His wife
and children were also forced to flee to safety in Illinois. Their neighbors
were Confederate supporters and were a danger to the family. Edward’s wife and
daughter were incredibly brave and stood up to raiding parties and mobs
searching for Edward, but eventually they decided to wait out the war in a more
secure environment.
In 1863 he
won election to the Kentucky House again. He recalled that:
“While serving in the legislature, by voice and vote, I supported the government at every turn. On the floor of the House, I denounced the positions taken by the "weak kneed" Republicans of KY. I gave such a stirring speech, that I was called upon by the Republicans of both Houses to furnish them a copy to be used as a campaign document.”
Residence of Kentucky State Rep Edward R Weir during 1864-65 legislative session, printed in the Courier Journal, Jan 31, 1865.
He ended up leaving the legislature when his family came down with smallpox. He went home to nurse them. His eldest son, now a Captain in the Union army, also spent months ill, sent back to Kentucky to recuperate before returning to battle. He was mustered out in 1864 as the war drew towards an inevitable end.
Even after
the war’s conclusion, Edward continued to serve. He reported that:
“After
my wife returned from Illinois after the fall of Ft's. Henry and Donalson (she
had fled to Jacksonville to escape the dangers of the War), we kept an open
house for all Union soldiers calling.
Often our floors were covered with weary Union soldiers, unknown to me
except by their blue. My wife and
servants made our old kitchen hot with constant cooking. Many a unit in need of supplies was willingly
furnished for Union script [Figure 12] which I did not collect at War's end.”
(pg 41)
Edward
summed up his war years in a ridiculously modest fashion:
“Reflections
upon our life at home during the War, considering how close to the enemy we
were at times, it was rather mild. At
the beginning of the War, I owned a large farm near Greenville, KY (over 1,000
acres under cultivation). It was well
stocked with horses, mules and cattle.
Confederates during the early part of the War often visited the
farm. Their defiance forced me to remove
all of my livestock behind Union lines after I lost five or six horses.”
I was
only captured by the enemy once. It was
for a very short time, as my captors did not know who I was. I escaped from the semi-guerrilla band at the
risk of my life. Many a time I had to
sneak away from my farm just ahead of an approaching enemy force.” (pg. 40)
In the
next post, I will report on the financial cost of Edward’s support of the
Union. He remained convinced that his political positions and his personal
support of the Union were correct—merely what was required of him as a loyal
citizen of the United States.
Sources:
1. The Recollections of Edward R. Weir, Sr.
Written 1888.
Douglas B. Brockhouse, Ed. MSS 651, Manuscripts & Folklife Archives,
Library Special Collections , Western Kentucky University.
https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=2&article=5534&context=dlsc_mss_fin_aid&type=additional
2. "Edward Rumsey Weir, Sr." in the Civil
War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition,
discovery.civilwargovernors.org/document/N00009772, (accessed September 19,
2023).
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