Notes on prisoners held at Gratiot from the ledger
transcriptions.
Joseph Lanier - Lanier (his name is misspelled
Lenier in the
ledger) was a farmer accused along with his uncle Andrew of burning a mill and
killing the owner near Savannah, Missouri. Lanier was held in the 'strong rooms'
in Gratiot's tower along with the other condemned prisoners. Shortly before his
execution, his fellow prisoners worked to help him escape. Griffin Frost
recorded: "June
9, 1864—Joseph Lanier was taken from here about midnight last night and sent
to Savannah, Andrew county, Mo., where he is to be shot to-morrow. Ten or
fifteen minutes later, would have placed him beyond their reach. He and his room
mates were working vigorously; had a rope already prepared and a hole cut nearly
through the wall. Their effort was a desperate struggle for the life of a fellow
prisoner. Lanier knew it was his only hope. They continued work until the tramp
of the jail men at the door told them that all was over, and it was too late.
The doomed man was taken and loaded with irons and carried off..." Lanier
was executed in Savannah a few days later. His uncle Andrew Lanier, also
sentenced to death, died apparently of disease, in Alton June 14th.
 Brig.
General M. Jeff Thompson - the "Swamp Fox". He was exchanged. Mayor of
St. Joseph in 1859. Photo
of Gen. Thompson's grave from Find-a-Grave (use your back
button to return here)
Jasper M. Peery - Jasper
Marion Peery, born April 24, 1832, married Gertrude L. Woods
Robert Louden - name
misspelled Loudon in ledger. Spy, saboteur, mail carrier. More on his story in
North & South magazine, Issue
5.1, December 2001 ("Sultana: A Case For Sabotage") and in the Boatburners.
Oldest son of Andrew and Christina Louden, Scottish immigrants from
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Died in New Orleans Sept. 1867.
Mary Louden - wife of Robert Louden. Mary J.
Gibson, daughter of William Gibson of Pittsburgh and Heloise Daguet of Ste.
Genevieve, Missouri, born November 1, 1832. First married to William Lynch (who
died in the Gasconade Bridge Disaster Nov. 1, 1855). Had two daughters, Lulu
Lynch (later McCarron) and Katie Lynch. Remarried to Robert Louden Aug. 28,
1858. Daughter Mollie Louden (later Conroy & Bell) born June 2, 1860, daughter
Anna Louden born February 1864. Mary was arrested April 25, 1863 both for being
part of Grimes' and Louden's mail smuggling ring, and also to try to extract the
location of her husband from her. Banished to the south with numerous other
women May 13, 1863. Allowed to return to St. Louis December 1863 after Robert's
arrest. Remained in St. Louis until her death at age 81. Buried in Calvary
Cemetery.
John F. Abshire - Hanged
October 14, 1864 for being a "guerrilla and murderer," for participating in the
killing of William Hayes of Wayne County, Missouri. John F. Abshire was
born in Arkansas about 1843. He grew up in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. In 1861
served four months under General Jeff. Thompson. Enlisted under Captain
Townstend. Captured at Bloomfield Jan. 27, 1863. Exchanged. Assigned to 6th
Missouri Infantry and sent to Vicksburg. Captured at Vicksburg July 4, 1863.
Sent to St. Louis where he was tried, convicted, and executed. Married (wife's
name unknown).
Griffin Frost - Born March
14, 1834 in St. Clairsville, Ohio. Moved it Missouri in 1854 where he owned a
newspaper in Palmyra. Married Elizabeth R. Johnson September 10, 1857. One
child, Annie, born January 1859. Brother Daniel Frost was a Union Colonel in the
11th West Virginia Infantry. Griffin Frost died April 4, 1909. Griffin Frost was
in Gratiot Street Prison twice and later at Alton. He kept a detailed diary of
his time there which he published after the war as "Camp and Prison Journal" (Available from Camp Pope Bookshop)
Mrs. Mary Russell alias
Margaret A. Russell - sent to the penitentiary at Jefferson City,
Missouri July 3, 1865. Military prisoner. Sentence 1 year, sentence expired
December 21, 1865
Miss Maggie Kelley alias Miss Maggie - military
prisoner sent to penitentiary at Jefferson City, Missouri July 3, 1865. Sentence
1 year, sentence expired December 21, 1865
Mrs. Drusella (or Drucilla)
Sappington & Mrs. Siegler or Ziegler - a newspaper article about
Dursella Sappington can be seen on the
St. Louis in the
News page. Both of these women were held in the main Gratiot building in the
room next to Ab Grimes in 1862; they aided his escape.
Annie E. Fickle
- Annie Fickle was 21 years old in 1865, born in Missouri with auburn hair, grey
eyes. She was connected with several of Quantrill's guerrillas, her boyfriend
being one of them. She was arrested after an escape attempt by the boyfriend and
the subsequent deaths of some Federal soldiers ("Noted Guerrillas" John N.
Edwards tells this story. "Confederate Mail Runner" by
Absalom C. Grimes tells a variation--he met Annie at Gratiot, probably heard
a garbled version of her story. "Border Bandits" by J. W. Buel tells of Annie
Fickle's Quantrill connection, of her presenting them their black flag which she
is said to have sewed). Annie
was sent to the penitentiary at Jefferson City with a 10 year sentence but was
pardoned by order of the president Jan. 30, 1865
Welthy Robinson
- Griffin Frost describes her as the one with the child:
SEPT. 2.—Our new lady
prisoner, of last evening, is a Miss Jane Hancock, arrested for smuggling
ammunition through the lines. Eleven of the Myrtle street ladies were brought
over this evening and all except two are young ladies, one of the two is a very
old lady, seemed quite feeble, scarcely able to walk; the other had a little
child with her. Nearly all of them were dressed in black.
SEPT 3 -Another
female prisoner was introduced to Gratiot to-day. She is a large fine looking
lady, reported to be from Kentucky, her name I have not heard. The following is
a list of the shipment of ladies consigned to our house from the firm on Myrtle
street: Miss Jane Ward, Mrs. Eliza Spencer, Mary Spencer, Mrs. Harriet Spencer,
Mrs. Welthy Robinson, and Miss Fannie Little, of Johnson county; Miss Sue
Bryant, of Cooper county; Miss. Mary Call, of Henry county, and Mrs. Mary A
Harlow, of Lafayette county. All the above ladies are from Missouri, and are
quartered in a building opposite Gratiot, as the house in the rear was found to
be too small to accommodate them. "Camp and Prison Journal" (Available from Camp Pope Bookshop)
Sarah Gray, Harriet Martin
- these women worked on the steamer White Cloud, upon which
was found a Rebel mail being smuggled by Robert Louden. The women were held
prisoner as witnesses in the White Cloud smuggling investigation.
See more on the White Cloud Incident.
Martha Cassell
- 23 years old, b. Missouri, black hair, black eyes, fair complexion,
sentenced to imprisonment during the war. Pardoned by president Oct. 31, 1864
 James
Yarbrough - married to Nancy Pankey. James Yarbrough passed on the
following story of his stay at Gratiot Street Prison to his family, "Supposedly
he had very little food, and felt he was near to starving. According to my
grandmother, James told her he and several others he knew in prison would have
starved if it were not for a black woman who took special care of
prisoners who were in obvious need of more nutrition. Supposedly, what the black
woman would do is wrap large leaves of turnip greens around her body before she
would dress in the mornings and would unwrap these raw leaves and give
them to prisoners when she couldn't get caught. Apparently she worked at the
prison feeding the prisoners, and therefore could tell who was dying from
starvation, and therefore would supplement those she felt needed it out of her
own food at home."
Eugene Elton -
survived the war, raised two families, died in Citra, OK in 1911
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