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The Deavers Meet Morgan's Raiders
The Deaver Family is well known in Morgan County. Patriarch Abraham Deaver came from Maryland to Morgan County in 1813. Abraham’s sons Levi and Reuben founded the village of Deavertown. Their younger brothers Eli and Henry were the first storekeepers there and the latter was the first postmaster.
Eli Deaver married Clarissa Augusta Thissell who came from Maine to Morgan County with her family in 1827. By the summer of 1863 Eli and Clarissa, together with their daughter Mary, were living and farming in Bloom Township.
Morgan’s Raiders were a famous contingent of over 2400 Confederate cavalry led by Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan that invaded Indiana and Ohio for 46 days. They destroyed bridges and railroads, burned buildings and boats, looted stores and homes, and generally wreaked havoc on the local citizenry. On July 13, 1863, they entered Ohio, striking terror into hearts of the residents. Martial law was quickly declared in Cincinnati.
Union Major General Ambrose Burnside organized Federal troops together with the Cincinnati and Marietta militias to engage the attackers and block Morgan’s escape route back to the South. Thus the Raiders were forced to march northeast, coming to Morgan County on July 22nd where they rested on the Weaver Homestead near Triadelphia. Taking young John Weaver hostage and using him as a guide, they made their way toward Eagleport and the Muskingum River.
The stage is now set for the Great Encounter.
On that fateful July day several Confederate officers came to Eli Deaver’s farmhouse and asked for something to eat. Eli said that his wife had baked bread the day before and that he also had fresh milk as the cows had been milked that very morning. Fresh bread and milk were brought forth and the tired and hungry Raiders fell to.
While the officers were eating, one said to Eli: “Now, grandpap, you stay in your house and you will be safe. Don’t run to the hills because some soldiers have been following us and we are going to fire a volley into the hill after we cross the river. If you stay in your house the bullets will go over you.”
Grateful for the officer’s concern for their safety, the Deaver Family promptly retired to their cellar which, as it happened, opened on the yard because the house was on a slope. Eli and Clarissa were careful to stay safely out of sight and well away from the line of fire.
But curiosity got the better of their daughter Mary. She kept peeking over the top of the barrel behind which she was hiding so as not to miss any of the action. Concerned and exasperated Eli finally called, “Mary, you might as well go outside! A stray bullet will hit you if you don’t keep down behind that barrel!”
The Deavers emerged from their ordeal relatively unscathed. (Though it is said that the soldiers took some quilts and left army blankets in their place – after all, Morgan’s Raid is sometimes called the “Calico Raid”.) Eli and Clarissa both lived to a ripe old age; they are buried side by side in the Lemon Hill M. E. Cemetery in Deerfield Township.
Mary married her childhood sweetheart Gilbert Wheeler after his discharge from the Union Army and they had two daughters. Clara, the older, remembered her mother’s story and in 1938 told it so that it could be written down and passed on.
Of course things did not go well for the Raiders. Morgan and his officers were finally captured in Columbiana County and sent to Columbus for incarceration in the Ohio Penitentiary.
Gen. John Morgan
drawing from Harper's Weekly
August 15, 1863
You may want to check out this web site featuring Harper's Weekly newspapers published during the Civil War. There is one edition that focuses on Morgan and his raiders - and others that you may find interesting.
Eli Deaver married Clarissa Augusta Thissell who came from Maine to Morgan County with her family in 1827. By the summer of 1863 Eli and Clarissa, together with their daughter Mary, were living and farming in Bloom Township.
Morgan’s Raiders were a famous contingent of over 2400 Confederate cavalry led by Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan that invaded Indiana and Ohio for 46 days. They destroyed bridges and railroads, burned buildings and boats, looted stores and homes, and generally wreaked havoc on the local citizenry. On July 13, 1863, they entered Ohio, striking terror into hearts of the residents. Martial law was quickly declared in Cincinnati.
Union Major General Ambrose Burnside organized Federal troops together with the Cincinnati and Marietta militias to engage the attackers and block Morgan’s escape route back to the South. Thus the Raiders were forced to march northeast, coming to Morgan County on July 22nd where they rested on the Weaver Homestead near Triadelphia. Taking young John Weaver hostage and using him as a guide, they made their way toward Eagleport and the Muskingum River.
The stage is now set for the Great Encounter.
On that fateful July day several Confederate officers came to Eli Deaver’s farmhouse and asked for something to eat. Eli said that his wife had baked bread the day before and that he also had fresh milk as the cows had been milked that very morning. Fresh bread and milk were brought forth and the tired and hungry Raiders fell to.
While the officers were eating, one said to Eli: “Now, grandpap, you stay in your house and you will be safe. Don’t run to the hills because some soldiers have been following us and we are going to fire a volley into the hill after we cross the river. If you stay in your house the bullets will go over you.”
Grateful for the officer’s concern for their safety, the Deaver Family promptly retired to their cellar which, as it happened, opened on the yard because the house was on a slope. Eli and Clarissa were careful to stay safely out of sight and well away from the line of fire.
But curiosity got the better of their daughter Mary. She kept peeking over the top of the barrel behind which she was hiding so as not to miss any of the action. Concerned and exasperated Eli finally called, “Mary, you might as well go outside! A stray bullet will hit you if you don’t keep down behind that barrel!”
The Deavers emerged from their ordeal relatively unscathed. (Though it is said that the soldiers took some quilts and left army blankets in their place – after all, Morgan’s Raid is sometimes called the “Calico Raid”.) Eli and Clarissa both lived to a ripe old age; they are buried side by side in the Lemon Hill M. E. Cemetery in Deerfield Township.
Mary married her childhood sweetheart Gilbert Wheeler after his discharge from the Union Army and they had two daughters. Clara, the older, remembered her mother’s story and in 1938 told it so that it could be written down and passed on.
Of course things did not go well for the Raiders. Morgan and his officers were finally captured in Columbiana County and sent to Columbus for incarceration in the Ohio Penitentiary.
Gen. John Morgan
drawing from Harper's Weekly
August 15, 1863
Morgan's Raiders
entering Washington, Ohio
as published in Harper's Weekly
Saturday, August 15, 1863
You may want to check out this web site featuring Harper's Weekly newspapers published during the Civil War. There is one edition that focuses on Morgan and his raiders - and others that you may find interesting.
Latest page update: made by LeilaN
, Apr 21 2008, 11:19 PM EDT
(about this update
About This Update
Moved from: Morgan County History in words and Pictures
- LeilaN
No content added or deleted.
- complete history)
Moved from: Morgan County History in words and Pictures
- LeilaN
No content added or deleted.
- complete history)
Keyword tags:
Bloom Township
Confederate calvary
Deaver
Deavertown
john hunt morgan
morgan county
Morgan's raiders
Thissell
More Info: links to this page
| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | |
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| LeilaN | the Deavers | 0 | Apr 5 2008, 9:32 AM EDT by LeilaN | |
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Thread started: Apr 5 2008, 9:32 AM EDT
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What a story, Franz! And in some ways, it doesn't seem that long ago since I can relate to my great-grandparent's time - which was the mid-1800's.
In searching for a photo/drawing of Gen. Morgan - I came upon the Harper's Weekly site online. What a rich source of information surrounding the Civil War! |
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