It must have been very scary to live during, and after the civil War. There was still a lot of bad blood for decades after the Civil War. Not counting the fact you had to deal with outlaws, cut-throats, and bands like the Ku Klux Klan.
Here an article from the Office of the Governor Benjamin Gratz Brown.
October 4, 1871 | Violence—Stoddard County: dispatch report, Edmund Furlong, chief clerk, Adjutant General‟s Office, to Col. Albert Sigel, Adjutant General, Jefferson City, Cole County; report in accordance with special order no. 22 by Governor Brown; investigation into the activities in Stoddard, Dunklin, and New Madrid counties, organized band of men in the county, called by some Ku-Klux Klan, composed of (6) six companies, each 50 strong; horse thieves, robbers, and murderers; ride around the country during the nights, armed and masked; band mainly consists of fugitives from justice from Illinois, Arkansas and Kentucky; swamp hideouts; whipping of Latham and Cooper; attempted murder of Hanna; Capt. W. R. Frakes; list of respectable citizens of Stoddard County to aid in the effort to suppress the Ku Klux Klan; Clarkton, Dunklin County, badly afflicted as Stoddard with a band of robbers, under the name and disguise of Ku Klux Klan; determined action of the Sheriff and his Deputy, Col. Jeffries, as well as the killing of four Ku Klux and the wounding of two caused them to desist for the present; Allenville, Cape Girardeau County; Charleston, Mississippi County, incident in Allenville, 10 or 15 men disguised as Ku Klux called during the night at the house of a colored man at that place; warning the black community against building black schools and black churches; arrest of "Klein, Harden and Higgins for the murder of Scarlett" in New Madrid County |
We know from records that Allenville and it's African American community over came the Klan in Allenville by building an African American Church, and School. But, by the fact there were different Schools and Churches for whites, and Blacks let's us know that there was still a long way to go for equality among mankind.
It was just a violent time in our country following the Civil War, and most of the time the Judge and Jury was the man willing to pull a trigger. Here's a small list of Allenville shootings, but I have no doubt that this list would be much, much longer if I had all the records.
A. J. Causey shot and killed by his son Reding Causey 1884.
George Vaughn shot and killed by Christian Ulrich (ruled an accident) 1884.
Gabriel Mouser shot and killed at the Allenville Railroad platform (No shooter charged) 1897.
R. W. Renfroe Struck and killed by a club in the hands of Clary Kinder 1889.
William McGee shot and killed by Will Rucker 1902.
It seems that the Civil War went on for several years after it's so called end, and in many ways it's still going on today.
May God help us all, to love each other as He has loved us.
CRH