Claiborne Fox Jackson Claiborne Fox Jackson ( April 4 , 1806December 6 , 1862 ) was Governor of Missouri in 1861 , then governor - in - exile for the Confederacy during the American Civil War . A successful manufacturing chemist , Jackson became heavily involved in Democratic Party politics and served twelve years in the Missouri General Assembly , before being elected to the state senate in 1848 . In the run - up to the Civil War , he claimed to be anti - secession , in order to get elected Governor , but was secretly planning a secessionist coup in league with Confederate President Jefferson Davis . When Union troops in St . Louis jailed the local militia , fighting broke out and Jackson declared Missouri to be a free republic . In November 1861 , the Confederacy recognised Missouri as its twelfth state , but the Union was increasingly dominant , and Jackson and his colleagues fled to Arkansas , pending a new invasion . Before this could happen , Jackson died of stomach cancer at Little Rock . Early life . Claiborne Jackson son of Dempsey Carroll and Mary Orea " Molly " ( Pickett ) Jackson , was born in Fleming County , Kentucky , where his father was a wealthy tobacco farmer and slaveholder . In 1826 Jackson moved with several of his older brothers to Missouri , settling in the Howard County town of Franklin . The Jackson brothers established a successful general mercantile store , where young Claiborne worked until 1832 and the outbreak of hostilities in the Black Hawk War . Claiborne Jackson organized , and was elected captain of , a unit of Howard County volunteers for the conflict . Claiborne Jackson married Jane Breathhitt Sappington , daughter of prominent frontier physician John Sappington , in early 1831 but she died within a few months of the nuptials . Returning from the war , Jackson chose not to resume his business partnership with his brothers , instead deciding to try his fortune in nearby Saline County . In 1833 Jackson married Louisa Catherine Sappington , sister of his late first wife . He also worked with his father - in - law in the manufacture and sale of " Dr . Sappington ' s Anti - Fever Pills " , a patent medicine cure for malaria . The pills were widely distributed and a best - seller , especially in the American south and the then - Mexican southwest due to Saline Countys proximity to the Santa Fe Trailhead . Subsequently both men and their extended family became quite wealthy and influential . Tragedy struck again however in May , 1838 when Louisa Jackson also died . It is possible this was due to complications of childbirth , as Claiborne and Louisa ' s infant son Andrew Jackson died the next month in June , 1838 . Claiborne Jackson ' s next , and final , marriage was to a third Sappington sister , Eliza . Eliza would survive her husband , dying in 1864 . Politics . Through his family connections with Dr . Sappington , Claiborne Jackson , along with brother - in - law Meredith M . Marmaduke became heavily involved with Missouri Democratic Party politics . Jackson was first elected to the Missouri General Assembly in 1836 , representing Saline County . He moved to the Howard County seat of Fayette , Missouri — then a center of political power in the state — in 1838 and worked for the local branch of the state bank . This would pay great political dividends later in his career . Claiborne Jackson would serve a total of twelve years in the Missouri House , including terms as Speaker in 1844 and 1846 . In 1840 Claiborne Jackson very nearly found himself involved in a duel over politics . Writing anonymously to a Fayette , Missouri newspaper , Jackson made accusations that the Whig candidate for Missouri Governor that year , John B . Clark , was guilty of election fraud . More harsh words were exchanged and eventually Clark challenged Jackson to a duel before cooler heads prevailed and the matter was settled without gunplay . Later , once Clark had switched party allegiance to the Democrats , he and Jackson became political allies . Claiborne Jackson was elected to the state senate in 1848 . As leader of the pro - slavery Democrats , he headed efforts to defeat powerful pro - Union Senator Thomas H . Benton . This was an event with both personal and political implications for Jackson . Until that time , like his father - in - law Dr . Sappington and brother - in - law Meredith Marmaduke , Jackson had been an ardent backer of Benton . Marmaduke chose to side with Benton , which not only cost him the chance to be elected Governor in his own right ( he had served ten months in the role following the suicide of Thomas Reynolds . The estrangement that developed within the family would not pass . While heading the Senate Ways and Means Committee , he introduced the " Jackson Resolutions " . These mandated that Missouri ' s U . S . Senators and Congressmen make proposals extending the Missouri Compromise to all new territories , asserting that Congress had no power to limit slavery . Jackson and the anti - Benton faction would have their way , with the long - time Senator being voted out of office in 1850 . However Benton supporters would exact revenge by derailing Jackson ' s attempts to secure the Democratic nomination for U . S . Congress in 1853 and again in 1855 . In 1857 , Jackson became Banking Commissioner of Missouri . In that position he established a system of six State Banks , with branch locations . This proved an advantage to business and the general public alike by stabilizing temporary currency shortages that happened from time to time , especially in the more rural areas of the state . As Commissioner Jackson traveled to various locations around the state inspecting banking facilities , while at the same time building a power base for his next attempt at elected office , Governor of Missouri . As governor . In the fall of 1860 Jackson resigned as Banking Commissioner to run for governor . Jackson campaigned , and was elected as , a Douglas Democrat , on an anti - secession platform , beating nearest challenger Sample Orr by nearly ten thousand votes . Immediately after his election , however , Jackson began working behind the scenes for Missouri ' s secession . Jackson assumed the governor ' s office on January 2 , 1861 . During his inaugural address he declared that Missouri shared a common bond and interest with other states that allowed slavery and could not separate herself from them if the Union should be dissolved . He further called for a state convention to decide the issue . On February 18 , Missourians elected a special state convention to decide on secession and other matters . The convention voted 98 - 1 against secession , despite lobbying by Jackson . Jackson announced that he would continue the policy of his predecessor Robert M . Stewart , whereby Missouri would be an " armed neutral , " refusing to give arms or men to either side in the approaching Civil War . Further , the convention declared the Governor ' s office vacated and appointed Hamilton R . Gamble as head of a new pro - Union provisional government . Jackson refused to give up his office however , carrying on secret correspondence with Confederate President Jefferson Davis , making plans to carry Missouri out of the Union by a military coup . The key point was the U . S . Arsenal in St . Louis , which contained large stocks of arms and ammunition . Jackson plotted to seize the Arsenal , and asked Davis to send artillery to breach the Arsenal ' s walls . After the bombardment of Fort Sumter on April 12 – 13 , President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation for the states to call up their militia and provide 75 , 000 troops to the Federal government to suppress the rebellion . He sent specific requests to all states , including Missouri . Jackson responded , The commander of the Arsenal was Captain Nathaniel Lyon , a pro - Union regular Army officer . On April 26 , 1861 , under orders form Secretary of War Simon Cameron , Lyon worked with Missouri Volunteers and Illinois troops to secretly move 21 , 000 weapons ( of 39 , 000 small arms present in the Arsenal ) across the Mississippi River to Alton , Illinois . Camp Jackson . On May 3 , 1861 , Jackson ordered the Missouri Volunteer Militia to assemble at various encampments throughout Missouri , including St . Louis for six days of training . They assembled in Lindell ' s Grove on the city ' s western outskirts , in an encampment now called Camp Jackson . Governor Jackson ' s order to assemble the militia was legal according to the Missouri state constitution , as long as the encampment was intended only for training , and not for offensive action against Federal forces . However , the St . Louis Militia was commanded largely by secessionists , and had recently enlisted a new regiment ( 2nd Regiment MVM ) composed almost completely by secessionists . Also , artillery seized by Confederates from the U . S . Arsenal in Baton Rouge was secretly shipped to St . Louis by steamboat and delivered to Camp Jackson . Lyon responded to the perceived threat with force . On May 10 , 1861 , Lyon surrounded Camp Jackson with pro - Union volunteer " Home Guards " ( mostly drawn from the German immigrants of St . Louis ) , and took the Militia prisoner . The prisoners were marched to the Arsenal , and during the march a riot broke out . During two days of rioting and gunfire several soldiers , prisoners , and bystanders were killed . Alarmed by the incident , the Missouri Legislature immediately acted on Governor Jackson ' s call for a bill dividing he state into military districts and authorizing a State Guard . Civil war in Missouri . On May 11 , 1861 , Jackson appointed Sterling Price to be Major General of the Missouri State Guard to resist invasion ( by federal forces ) and suppress insurrection by Missouri Unionist Volunteers in Federal service . On May 12 , Price met with General William S . Harney , the Federal commander in Missouri . They agreed to the Price - Harney Truce , which permitted Missouri to remain neutral for the moment . Theoretically , Price promised that the state forces , and the state government , would hold the state for the Union and prevent the entry of Confederate forces . However , at the same time Governor Jackson had secretly dispatched envoys to CSA President Jefferson Davis and Confederate commanders in Arkansas asking for an immediate invasion of the state , and promising the State Guard would cooperate with the Confederate Army in a campaign against Federal forces to effect the " liberation " of St . Louis . In addition , Lt Governor Thomas C . Reynolds traveled to Richmond , with the agreement of Major General Price , to ask Jefferson Davis to order an invasion of the state . Missouri Unionists were dismayed at what they perceived as Harney ' s one - sided adherence to the truce , and petitioned for Harney ' s removal from command . Harney was eventually removed on May 30 , and temporarily replaced with Lyon , who was promoted from captain to brigadier general of volunteers . On June 11 , 1861 , Jackson met with Lyon , hoping to extend the truce , but Lyon refused . Lyon marched on Jefferson City with his forces , entering on June 13 . Jackson and other pro - Confederate officials fled to Boonville , Missouri . Union forces routed the State Guard , commanded by Jackson ' s nephew John Sappington Marmaduke , at Boonville on June 17 . At Carthage on July 5 , Jackson himself took command of 6 , 000 State Guardsmen ( becoming the only sitting U . S . Governor to lead troops in battle ) , and drove back a much smaller Union detachment led by Colonel Franz Sigel . However , the Union forces were in a dominating position , and Lyon chased Jackson and Price to the far southwest of the state . On July 22 , 1861 , the Missouri State Convention reconvened in Jefferson City . The convention again voted against secession , and on July 27 , it declared the governor ' s office vacant . On July 28 the convention appointed Hamilton Gamble as provisional governor . Missouri would have an unelected governor for the remainder of the war . However , Jackson did not recognize their actions and on August 5 issued a proclamation declaring Missouri a free republic and dissolving all ties with the Union . He then traveled to Richmond , Virginia to meet with Confederate President Davis to seek support for Sterling Price ' s forces and official recognition by the Confederate government . On October 28 , 1861 , in Neosho , Missouri , some secessionist members of the Missouri General Assembly met ( with Jackson present ) and passed an ordinance of secession . On November 28 , 1861 the Confederacy recognized Missouri as its twelfth state , with Jackson as governor and Senators and Representatives to the Confederate Congress were elected . However , Union forces occupied almost all of Missouri at the time , making the recognition and elections moot . Jackson took refuge in Arkansas with General Price and the Missouri army , where they were soundly defeated at the Battle of Pea Ridge . Claiborne Jackson traveled to southern Arkansas in the spring of 1862 to regroup and meet with wealthy Missouri secessionists who had fled south . There was talk and hope of a new campaign to retake Missouri but Jackson ' s death would come first . Death . His health increasingly poor throughout 1862 , Claiborne Jackson nonetheless traveled to Little Rock , Arkansas in November of that year for military planning meetings for the aforementioned new campaign . However , on December 6 , 1862 Jackson died from stomach cancer at age 56 in a Little Rock rooming house . At first denied a burial in Missouri by the circumstance of the ongoing war , he was buried in Little Rock ' s Mount Holly Cemetery . Following the end of the Civil War he was exhumed , and reinterred in the Sappington Cemetery near Arrow Rock , Missouri . In memoriam . The Claiborne Fox Jackson Provisional Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans ( Caimito , Panama ) is named in his honor .