U.S. Prison Files, 1868, Jefferson City, MO

[Diane Merkel]

Here's a research question from Jeff Broome:

I have been very interested in the story of 7th Cavalry enlisted man John Kile, who deserted from Custer's summer expedition 1867 under the alias John Kelley. In 1869 he was awarded the Medal of Honor for action in the 5th Cavalry in the Republican River Expedition. He then re-enlisted in the 7th Cavalry in June, 1870, and 5 weeks later was killed in a drunken brawl by Wild Bill Hickok in Hays Kansas. That's the basic story of Kile, but I have been uncovering an interesting and deeper story, that includes two desertions in the 5th Cavalry and the 1st Infantry, and a 3 year prison sentence after a dishonorable discharge from the 37th Infantry in early 1868. When Kile deserted as Kelley from Custer in 1867 he soon joined the 37th Infantry as John Kile. His Medal of Honor was given under his mis-spelled name Kyle. I have verified all olf this from original records at the National Archives in DC.

My research question is this: does anyone know how to access the U.S. prison files for 1868 in Jefferson City, Missouri, where Kile was ordered to be brought to serve his 3 year sentence? Within 4 months of that order he resurfaces, voluntarily turning himself in to the 5th Cavalry for an 1866 desertion (three days after that 1866 desertion he joined the 7th Cavalry as Kelley). Either Kile escaped from prison at Jefferson City [or en-route] or there was some sort of sentence exoneration and subsequent new trail for his 1866 desertion in the 5th Cavalry, of which he served 8 months of hard labor and then was soon awarded the Medal of Honor in the summer of 1869.

If anybody can help me, please understand that I have spent days seeking this answer at the National Archives, both in Kansas City, Denver and DC. From assistance at those agencies, there apparently is no understanding of where the correspondence records of the Jefferson City Prison might repose. If I could look at those records for April through July 1868, maybe I could learn the answer to this mystery. Does anyone have any idea where to look? Much appreciated.

[elisabeth]

Obviously I'm the last person who'd know, being on another continent! But for what it's worth, I've just come across this list of Missouri historical societies:
home.att.net/~amcnet3/topos/missouriml.html

It may be that one or other of these, particularly the genealogical societies, might know where to look?

One other thought, though I'm sure Jeff will have tried this already: the local newspaper(s). If he did escape from prison, that'd surely be newsworthy.

[markland]

At the time, this site only has data for four or five Misery counties on it but I believe it will add more. It is from the Missouri Dept. of Archives so Jeff may find something to save a trip to Jefferson City.

www.sos.mo.gov/archives/mojudicial/default.asp

As far as newspapers, I can run over to Topeka one Saturday and snoop around if it comes to that.

Billy

[Dark Cloud]

If this tale is true, or mostly true, what in the world does it say about the vetting process for soldiers after the CW? Half the 7th could have been composed of aliases, and who would know? Of those who'd know, who would tell, given they might have stuff to hide as well? What would be the training level of such a soldier, and to what - being multiple deserter, snowbird, felon, former rebel - would be his core allegiance?

After experience with the new composition of the Army, what officer would feel the sort of unit cohesion under him that previously consoled them under pressure in the CW?

The U.S. had, in essence, a foreign legion in those days but pretended it was a volunteer army of citizens, and that fabrication may have been more trouble than it was worth. Custer chose to view the 7th as a mere extension of his CW units in quality, not spending a lot of time with it and then mainly other officers, while Reno and Benteen, dealing with the men closer than Custer, may have had a far more reliable and accurate estimation.

Obviously, no way to prove any of that, but there is no reason to think that the already rather large number of dubious identities in the ranks is anywhere near the total.

[elisabeth]

I'm sure you're right, and that those who weren't lying about something -- name, age, origins, or all three -- were a distinct minority. Even the famous Sgt. Wyllams (he of the mutilated-corpse photo) turns out to have been an impostor.

True, too, that the company-level officers seem to have taken this in their stride. There's a pretty good illustration of army attitudes in the Langellier/Cox/Pohanka biography of Keogh, p. 121, in the story of Private Thomas P. Downing, of Co. I. He was using his real name -- a rarity -- but had lied about his age. (He must also have lied about his marital status, as he'd abandoned a six-months-pregnant wife when he enlisted.) The book says:
'He was, in fact, sixteen years old and not twenty-one as he had stated. In a letter home, Downing responded to his father's threat to expose his real age in order to get him out of the army. "Come, now," Downing wrote, "the Govt. doesn't care if I am seventeen or thirty so long as I can perform a soldier's duty." The young Irish soldier added that it was pointless to tell Keogh about his "escapades" as the Army did not care about his civilian past. "In fact," he continued, "some of the hardest cases that I ever came across are at present serving in this company ..."'
I'd imagine most company commanders understood perfectly well what they were dealing with, and that the code of the west -- don't ask questions about anyone's past -- applied as strongly in the army as it did among those desperadoes who weren't (for the moment) in uniform. A good officer could still make something out of this sorry crew: creating a degree of personal loyalty by treating them well; judicious use of bribery (the $30 reward for turning in a deserter) to encourage the men to police themselves; unit cohesion built up through company activities, such as Benteen's baseball team, Co. E's clog-dancers, or Co. I's orchestra and glee club. They managed.

Whether Custer was under more illusions about the calibre of his enlisted men, I rather doubt; the lofty distance he chose to maintain from them suggests possibly not. He'd had a harsh lesson in Texas, before he even got to the 7th. The Duke of Wellington said of his own ragbag of an army that they were "the scum of the earth", but he didn't let it bother him; same with Custer, I suspect. They'd do as "food for powder".

In any event, they didn't actually do that badly when it came to it, false names/dodgy pasts or not. They were fine in the Barnitz fight; they were fine in the other 1867 skirmishes; they were fine in the summer of '68; they were fine at Washita; they were fine in the two Yellowstone engagements. And it was officers, not men, who let the side down in the Reno valley fight; the men seem to have collected themselves remarkably quickly after the panicked retreat. We can't, of course, know exactly what happened in Custer's own battle: whether the quality of the men was the issue, or whether officers broke. But up till then, there was nothing to suggest that this bunch of multiple deserters, snowbirds, felons, etc. wasn't perfectly adequate to the task in hand.

From Kile/Kyle/Kelley's record, it seems clear that the 5th Cavalry and the 1st and 37th Infantry at least provided a ready home for dubious characters -- so the 7th isn't unique in this. Your "foreign legion" analogy is a good one, the army in general being the place of refuge for anyone who needed to lie low for a while. I'd be prepared to bet that if any other regiment were to be studied in the same detail as the 7th, we'd find the same proportion of aliases, serial deserters, and so on ... Nothing worse about the 7th -- unless, that is, Custer harboured illusions about them.

[Diane Merkel]

Thanks for all of the replies. Jeff gave me permisson to post this letter, which explains his interest in Kile:

Missouri State Archives
A division of the Office of the Secretary of State
600 West Main Street
P.O. Box 1747
Jefferson City, MO 65102

Friend:

I am writing to you about an inmate you had clear back in 1868. His name was John Kile. I have written two books on Indian war history and Kile has been featured as part of the story in both books. The more I have researched him the more intrigued I get with his story. I would like to know if you can help me solve a mystery, and hence my correspondence with you.

John Kile was sentenced to the U.S. Prison in Jefferson City, Missouri for a three year sentence after being found guilty in a military court-martial held at Camp Plummer, New Mexico Territory. He had earlier enlisted in the 37th Infantry July 24, 1867. On Christmas Day, 1867 he got drunk and with a couple other soldiers broke into the Sutler’s store at Camp Plummer and stole things and did damage to the tune of about $400.00. For that he was court-martialed and found guilty on April 1, 1867. He was given a dishonorable discharge and sentenced to three years i n prison and ordered to be delivered to your prison to do his three year sentence. That’s all fine and good, except that on August 19, 1868, within 4 months of this sentence, he voluntarily turns himself in for an earlier desertion from the 5th Cavalry, from which he had deserted from back on November 20, 1866. How did he avoid this three year prison sentence and what inspired him to turn himself in from an earlier desertion, knowing he would experience another court-martial?

My question to you is simple: did he arrive at Jefferson City Prison sometime between April and August 1868, and if so, how long was he there, and how in the world did he get out of that sentence and voluntarily turn himself in for an earlier desertion? I am wondering perhaps if he somehow escaped from his prison sentence, either en-route to Jefferson City or after he got there, and then turned himself in as a “different” John Kile in the 5th Cavalry. I have verified through signature analysis and from the records in the National Archives in Washington, DC that this is the same John Kile.

Part of the reason why I am so interested in this guy, and why I am so interested in your help in solving this prison mystery, is the rest of his story, which is simply amazing. In a nutshell, here it is: he enlisted in the 5th Cavalry in 1865, deserted, as I said, November 20, 1866 (got drunk and missed a train), but three days later joined the 7th Cavalry under the alias John Kelley, and then deserted from Custer’s first Indian campaign June 20, 1867 (snuck out of camp to go to a ranch but got lost in thick fog when he tried to come back and missed the command as they moved out), and one month later joined the 37th infantry again as John Kile (this brings the story to where I am seeking your help), got the Dishonorable Discharge and three year sentence, then somehow turns himself in for his 1866 5th cavalry desertion when he should actually be in the Jefferson City Prison; did 8 months of hard labor (ball and chain, originally 12 months but 4 months suspended because he voluntarily turned himself in), completes that sentence and then goes out on an Indian campaign with the 5th Cavalry in Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado and that summer (1869) is the only soldier on the campaign to be awarded a Medal of Honor for a very brave action in a fight with Indians July 3, 1869. He completes his original enlistment with the 5th cavalry, goes home to NY and then enlists in New York in the 1st Infantry as John Kyle (that was the name in his Medal of Honor papers), immediately deserted, took a train to Chicago and enlisted again (enlistment bonuses) in the 7th Cavalry, as John Kile (again showing his Medal of Honor papers for his enlistment bonus), gets sent to Kansas (Hays), where soldiers recognize him as the deserter John Kelley from 1867, is then taken to Custer, shows his Medal of Honor papers and citation; Custer exonerates his earlier 1867 desertion, and then 4 weeks later he goes into Hays and gets into a drunken brawl with Wild Bill Hickok and loses, after he had his pistol at Hickok’s head but the gun misfires. Kile is thus shot and dies July 18, 1870. So by the age of 24 he had served twice with Custer, got the rare Medal of Honor, deserted from perhaps four different units of military, and gets killed by the famous Hickok. Talk about a guy who walked into the history of fame. Now you see why I want to solve the mystery of how he got out of his 3 year sentence at Jefferson City, sometime between April and July (or early August). Boy, if you could find something in your files that would tell us what happened with Kile and his sentence, I would be so appreciative.

The books I have written are:

Dog Soldier Justice: The Ordeal of Susanna Alderdice in the Kansas Indian War (being reprinted in 2009 by the University of Nebraska Press), and this November, Custer into the West (his first Indian campaign in 1967), by Upton and Sons, Publishers.

I saw on your webpage the following explanations where something on Kile might be found:

The Index and Register of Inmates to the Missouri State Penitentiary which contains each prisoner's name, prison number, some background information (place of birth, education, family), crime committed, and date of release.

Missouri's judicial heritage files, which contain case files and papers of all hearings before the Territorial Court (1804-1820) and the Missouri Supreme Court (1821-present). An alphabetical index is available on microfilm for these cases. Most of these records have not been microfilmed and are available for use in their original paper format.

Another record group in your files is The State Appellate Court cases from the Eastern, Western, and Southern district appeals courts.

Your archives is also involved in the Judicial Records Project, which rescues court records from accidental loss or from destruction when there is insufficient storage space in county facilities. Probate court records and circuit court records from counties across the state are being microfilmed for patron use, thus making available in one location information that s was inaccessible or difficult to access. Perhaps something on John Kile might be there too if nowhere else.

I hope what I have submitted to you will both excite your interest in wanting to assist me and also will give you the necessary clues where you might find what I am looking for. I would so appreciate your help.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Jeff Broome Ph.D.

[Dark Cloud]

There's no insinuation the 7th was worse than any other comparable unit, so it's rather puzzling to fixate on that and defend against it.

And the other actions mentioned bear small comparison to the LBH. They were either quite small or the 7th greatly outnumbered the enemy and/or knew huge reinforcements were coming soon. At none was it a 'groundhog case' as Benteen put it. Knowing how the 7th was composed, and that it would be a fight for their lives, additional strains on it to start an offensive scout for Custer under the circumstances were not wise and weren't forced.

Kile/Kelly was a conman, nobody anyone should have trusted, and no more on the Hinge of History's Wheel than the other guys Hickock killed. That his story isn't considered unique or much different from a lot of others is revelatory. The Medal of Honor was given for the hell of it, often enough, and shouldn't be considered in the same breath with more recent winners. To say that Kile's life went from the MOH to prison and back isn't necessarily denoting a breadth of bi-polar ethical activity to stun anyone.

["Hunk" Papa]

Somewhat aside from this thread but still under the heading of prisons, does anyone know if there is a website which would allow me to discover the names of people executed at Huntsville, Texas, in 1908? The reason for my inquiry is that a friend believes her great grandfather was executed there in that year but I have not obtained any information by simply Googling his name.

Hunk

[Diane Merkel]

James Cason??? He was the only white man executed in Texas in 1908. Five black men were hanged that year.

Hanging was means of execution between 1819 and 1923.

The State of Texas authorized the use of the electric chair in 1923, and ordered all executions to be carried out by the State in Huntsville. Prior to 1923, Texas counties were responsible for their own executions.

Source: www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/drowfacts.htm


Thanks to your question, I've found a wonderful website, Black Sheep Ancestors! blacksheepancestors.com/index.shtml

Here's a link to the list:

users.bestweb.net/~rg/execution/TEXAS.htm

Detective Diane

["Hunk" Papa]

Sept 22, 2008 17:56:47 GMT -6 Diane Merkel said:

James Cason??? He was the only white man executed in Texas in 1908. Five black men were hanged that year.

Hanging was means of execution between 1819 and 1923.

The State of Texas authorized the use of the electric chair in 1923, and ordered all executions to be carried out by the State in Huntsville. Prior to 1923, Texas counties were responsible for their own executions.

Source: www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/drowfacts.htm


Thanks to your question, I've found a wonderful website, Black Sheep Ancestors! blacksheepancestors.com/index.shtml

Here's a link to the list:

users.bestweb.net/~rg/execution/TEXAS.htm

Detective Diane

All hail the all seeing Goddess!! Under the site users.web etc., I found exactly who I was looking for. It wasn't James Cason although that was the logical choice for 1908 and in fact it would have helped if I had said the man I was seeking was a Crow Indian or at least a Native American.

The friend I referred to was the same one who I mentioned under Crow Indian - Red Wing on the NA Indian thread earlier this year. From the information I received from her she was sure that her ancestor had been executed in 1908 but the Red Wing who turned up on the boards both in text and by photograph (Edward S. Curtis) was being photographed in Montana by Curtis in that year so it did not make sense to me.

Thanks to you mighty sleuth, I have now discovered that the ancestor was named Edward Red Wing and he was electrocuted at Huntsville in November 1931 for Murder/Rape. I am very much afraid that my friend Paddy is going to be hugely disappointed that the Red Wing of Curtis fame is not her ancestor because he was a scout with Leforge at Fort Custer in the 1880's and a respected member of the Crow tribe. He is mentioned several times in "Memoirs of a White Crow Indian" and is shown on the 1910 Crow reservation census, but not on that of 1930. Edward Red Wing is described as a 'dancer' on the list of those executed at Huntsville, presumably a performer of Native American dances.

A great find Sherlockess, many thanks. Now all I have to do is to break the news to Paddy!

Hunk