Rutland Ohio: The Underground Railroad and the KKK

While researching the "Unsung Heroes" of Meigs County, I discovered something I would have preferred to have left buried in the anus of time. (Yes, I said "anus," not "annals," because of whom I'm about to talk about.) I discovered that the KKK was pretty big in Rutland. I was gobsmacked. How on earth do you go from being a village of abolitionists who risked it all to help runaways, to the KKK?

Obviously, those who were abolitionists didn't become members. (At least I hope not.)  But, what strikes me odd though, is that none of those who became KKK members ratted on the abolitionists when they were actively helping runaways. So, why the change of heart? 

What are your thoughts?

The Real Captain of the 7th Ohio Battery

 In doing research for "Unsung Heroes", I've had to read a lot of local history. Thankfully, I've been quite skeptical about a lot of stuff I've read, which lead me to  research things I found either questionable or wanted to learn more about.

For instance, as I've mentioned in an earlier post, one local Union soldier in the Civil War claimed he spent 19 months in the Andersonville Prison. An impossibility since the prison was only open 14 months.

Today, I was reading, "The Pioneer History of Meigs County." The book claimed a guy named McNaughton was captain of the 7th Ohio Battery. No, he wasn't. The captain was Silas Burnap. When I did a search through the book on Burnap, it said he was a "captain of an Ohio battery."

Interesting! Burnap was a "respected" lawyer. The first to enlist when the war broke out, and had returned to Meigs to recruit for the 7th Ohio Battery. Yet, the author of the book somehow forgot where he served. 

Now, I'm no big fan of Burnap. Actually, I'm pretty close to hating him. As a captain? He was a putz. Perhaps that's why the author intentionally forgot he was captain of the 7th. He despised him as well. 

Anyway, I'll get to him being a putz in a minute. When Burnap came back to Meigs to enlist more soldiers, those here wrote to the Governor and insisted Burnap be made their captain. The Gov agreed to their demand. So! Burnap became captain of the 7th Ohio Battery. 

As for Burnap being a putz! My great, great, great grandfather, Henry Wehrung, was a Sergeant in the 7th. He was made sergeant because he had just a few months under 10 years military experience in the French army, and had been a sergeant in a battery there.

Grandpa was used to discipline. But, the guys under him were just a bunch of yahoo's who didn't believe in discipline and believed he had no right to try and inflict it on them. A lot of generals felt the same way my grandfather did. They also got the same response.

Anywho! Grandpa went to Burnap and explained the situation. Burnap demoted him to Private. Yeah. Instead of standing by him - he turned his back on him and demoted him. Therefore, Silas Burnap is a putz. 

Burnap must have known how hated he was because he didn't return to Meigs. Instead, he went to California. Perhaps that's why he isn't credited in the book as being captain of the 7th. We'll never know. But, when you're recording history, whether you like the person or not - you have to give proper credit.