The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-05-10
lCONFEDERATE DAYS IN ST. LOUIS
FEMALE PRISONERS OF THE WAR.
Extracts From a Series of Papers Outlining Events in St Louis Before and During
the Rebellion.
.nrrrEN FOR THE SUNDAY REPUBLIC

4UrrrKN FOR THE SUNDAY REPUBLIC
After the assessments hal hen enforced
tuf some time. thousands Of dollars worth
. a. property taken from homes and sold FOR
sons pc criticisms Of Eastern papers on
the tdlng grew 70 be too personal and
she autboritiss in 81. Louis abandoned the
81 . careful eye was kept on those on
. he list Of assessed. The ladies' continued
b visit the prisons and hospital as often
. ef success so much depended on the mood
. a those In charge.
Annonx the more active ones was Mrs. NJ.
lSd to her Imprisonment In her own houss
!. sn Chestnut street. April S. 1855. to her ban
! Shment soon after. The charge agains,
!, q St. Louis ladies minlstered to the pris-
} eners, sick and well. On more b one
] occasion Mrs. Sire took to her home a sick
yederal soldier that she might have the
ing for young Harry Gazzan. some one IN
authority asked Mrs. Sire why she id not
lake q IKE interest in sick Union sol
Sc answered by telling them TO give her
~3Sk Union soldier. she would take care
~ az well Frequently after tbs Mrs
Sral sosdier in her home at the same time.
ner broad mind and grand nature able TO
cope with suffering wherever found. No
can be complete that does not embrace
mother Of Mrs. E c.. simmons Of St Louis.
Mass. S Mssssi 1haash years e nat of h or as.eh n
Ne- Orleans. She was the daughter Of
Captain Tufts, who owned the first line OF
snd Nea ori tsas pi sl. 0 Ms,eS u ssce os SsE
way TO the latter place when military rules.
forders and blockades compelled her to halt
IN St Louis. where she remained until
Thought by the authorities to be better than
Eneir company. and an escort beyond the
Federal lines was furnished. But during
zner stay In St Louis. Mrs. WEIGH gave
snore than one suffering Confederate prs
liner In the McCreery hospital, for It was
II here her chief work Vas dons-reason to
remember her. Mrs. Miriam Meredith, SO
yell known to many Of the Old families OF
st Louis. was another lady good to the
FIRST LADY PRISONER
shs was a relative of General Meredith.
At one time commanding this department.
oners, male and female. There had been
Thought OF nttins up a female prison in the
later Il was opened In the row on Eighth
street, opposite the college. where at one
time as many as seventeen female prison
Frost In his prison tournar' tells of the
nrst lady prisoner brought to the Mcdowell
college prison after he became a resident
Captain Frost says all the men were
locked in their rooms BY order to keep them
from seeing the lady as she passed. but
r ,ney cut nrs a hole hole through the wooden plank
a A Mrs. Campbell OF Memphis she
was. who was soon taken across the street.
70 woman from the South could come to
risk OF arrest and Imprisonment.
No. attention was paid to any explanation
or plea made. Her presence showed her to
OF the chapter. Her tate was sealed by the
eentU pee. imprisonment during the war"
eonS ttmes she had what was called by
to q prison outside the city.
No evidence was necessary for convic-
ton Sentences were stereotyped. The wife
to ST. Louis from Mississippi The lady
was born IN Missouri. descended from one
Of the Oldest families in the State. and fol-
the Southern Army. Business Of
An urgent personal character vas the oc-
casion OF the wife coming to ST Louis.
lady received a notice to appear at
the Provost Marshars once. from which
she and her infant Daughter were taken to
tention. friends Of the lady's husband had
lines. The business thus neglected. in
large property interests was en-
Another case was that Of q lady. who
belonging in 81. Louis came to see her sick
notices. she reported at the Pro-
vost Marshars ONCE, only to be escorted to
the Mcdowell College prison.
A few day after q trial" Vas held.
found h prisoner guilty of being q
spy snd condemned her to the Alton
prism until the close Of the Val. go far
being q spy as q matter Of fact this
lady had never seen a military camp In
HE Confederacy ard had no knowledge Of
nor ACQUAINTANCE with military people.
After some months in the Alton prison
family influence released the LADY with the
ssual penalty attached to the reIease-ban-
Iehment. Mrs. william McPheeters was i'm
for three weeks In the Mcdowell
College female prison. \
HUSBAND IN THE SOUTH. |
Doctor McPheetefs had gone South and
a surgeon In the Confederate Army. i
"a the first days of her Imprisonment, Mn. !
pleaded with her feilOw-prfsou- .
srs not to go near the windows, the order !
peing to nail planks across the panea Of )
Tlass II the prisoners assembled In front. +,
BY standing q few feet back Mrs. Nc :
Pheeters could peep out and see on the
Sidewalk her three little children. /,
or Who0e presence she had arranged daily |
It 5 p. M. thus assuring herself Of their
veilbefn8. Mr.. winston Churchill IN the J
Crisis" tells US nc women were imprisoned :.
St Louis during the Civil War. At last |
* weary weeks before she was enabled to
DIN her husband. /,
The entire party of banished people was
in the most barren part Of Ar
barren By the constant raids
-