Obadiah Wilson Stitt, was my g.g.grandfather. He was born in 1815 in Hamilton Co. Ohio. His parents were from Virginia, and two years after their marriage, they migrated to Ohio with her parents and their other children. At the age of 22 he was married to Miss Malinda Fallis. They had one son in Hamilton Co. Indiana, and she died shortly after. He then married in 1843 his first cousin Sarah Ann Wilson. They with their children lived in Noblesville, Indiana until 1850. We next find them in Mahaska Co. Iowa where 4 children were born and only one lived. Then to Page Co. Iowa where he purchased a store.

In 1856 he was located in Nodaway Co. Mo,and pre-empted a claim of 490 acres. He lived there until April 9, 1860, when he went to Lawrence, Kansas and purchased a farm in that locality, and lived there until the fall of 1870.(History of Nodaway Co. MO.)

Obadiah, wife and family, located in Wakarusa Township, Post office Franklin, per 1860 Douglas Co. Fed. Census.

John and Rachel Ashcraft Hall m. September 1802, Madison Co.Ky. Her parents, Amos and Elizabeth Evans Ashcraft, located in Howard Co. Mo. before 1812. Ivan Hall, son of John and Rachel, went to Howard Co Mo. approximately 1827. Two of his children were born in Ky. The third child, Albert Gallatin Hall, b. March 4, 1832 in Howard Co. Mo. It is stated in family bible that he came to Jackson Co. Mo, at an early age. The Cole and Younger families were distantly related to him. Both families from Howard, Cooper, and Chariton Co. Mo.

When the war broke out, A.G., as he was known, joined Co. H Colonel Upton Hay's 2nd Missouri Calvary. under General Joseph Shelby and General John S. Marmaduke, in Price's Second Army CSA under General Joseph Shelby and General John S. Marmaduke, in Co.H Colonel Upton Hay's 2nd Missouri Calvary. A Liet. and listed as one of Shelby's Sharpshooters. Reported as killed in 1862, Wash.D.C. Archives

Kansas Historical Society at Topeka is reported to have a story about some of the raids that Quantrill carried out, Lawrence being one of the. Seems that before they hit Lawrence, they went through Franklin, and to the farm of Obadiah W. Stitt. William Wilson Stitt, messenger for Union Army, could not stay and help defend the farm of his family, due to his service duties. Quantrill raided the farm, and took the horses. Obadiah said, "Those Copperheads took my horses."

My mother also recounted that an uncle of the family had owned a grocery store in Lawrence, that the goods were dumped outside, the store burned and the uncle killed.

The family who have records, of A.G. say he rode with Quantrill, and that he was there when they burned Lawrence. Was A.G. there with Quantrill when he raided Obadiah's farm? Could he have been the one who killed the uncle.

In early 1997 I found that The Kansas Heritage Server had an article contributed by Richard A. Ensminger about Quantrill's Guerrillas in the Civil War. This story was paticularly interesting to me.

Here is basically what it says.

Several female relatives were held in confinement in a delapidated building in Kansas City, Mo. There is no proof that the foundations were diliberately weakened, despite the claims of Quantrill's men. The death and injuries to the women are often cited as the justification for the continued acitvity and acts of the guerrillas, both during the Civil War and afterward. The building was located at 1409 Grand Ave. Kansas City, Mo.

This story had been told to me by a granddaughter of A.G. back in 1980, and said that many who were injured or killed were related to the Cole's, Youngers, and Anderson's. Also that A.G.'s wife and her sister were in there also, and that the sister jumped to her death, when the jail was set on fire.

Albert Gallatin Hall, was my husbands g.grandfather. Isn't it interesting how close they were to each other as they made the trip from Va. and Ky to Missouri.

Oh, and by the way, A.G. lived until 1914. He plowed lots, with a team and wagon, for Kansas City Power and Light Co. He owned the land where the Union Station and Crown Center is now. He traded the land for farms in Admire, Kansas. Man of leisure as it was stated in family records.

Obadiah Stitt lived till 1889. He went on to Bates Co. Mo.in the fall of 1870 and purchased 1500 acres of land. Listed in History of Bates Co. Mo. as one of the men who settled in West Boone Twp, after the Civil War. Lived in what they called Dana. His children gave the land to build the town of Merwin, Mo. and to allow the Railroad to come through. and also the building of Merwin College.