Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Making Good Trouble in 1860s Kentucky: 52 Ancestors 2023 Prompt “Troublemaker”

 

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's ancestor said the "trusty side arm" was a "six-shooter minie ball revolver" that remained in the family into the 1900s. There is some question as to whether a revolver could fire a minie ball, but the Remington Army Revolver may have been able to use minie ammo.

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.

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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