Ozark County Bald Knobbers - Part 1

The Genesis of the Story

The prominent stories concerning the Bald Knobbers are generally known to come from the two Southern Missouri counties of Christian & Taney.  These confrontations with the Bald Knobbers are not insular to these two counties alone.  The Bald Knobbers in Taney & Christian Counties in Missouri have held quite a bit of notoriety to this day; yet, there were other branches that had their own leaders, scuffs & tribulations.  What is not commonly known are some of the other occurrences in surrounding counties that add volume to the Bald Knobber Saga.

The Bald Knobbers were not organized nor functioned as a one unit peace society.  Each county in Southern Missouri had their own league of Peace & Order Societies aka the Bald Knobbers, and they functioned autonomously.  We are going to delve into the league of Bald Knobbers native to Ozark County, Missouri.

After reviewing the following story, we will look at the families involved in this story over the next few posts.

According to the book Ozark County, Missouri: Records & Pioneer Families complied by William A. Yates in 1973 from Sparta, Missouri, Ozark County had their own league of the infamous peace society.

Mr. Williams chronicles the diary of Harry Nelson Force in which he narrates when the family of Benjamin & Augusta Force made their trek to Ozark County in the 1885.  Their son, Harry Force, was only 11 years old when he made his week-long journey from Indiana.  The land they purchased was along the banks of Lick Creek in the western part of Ozark County. (There are two Lick Creeks in Ozark County.) 

Map of Township 22-N, R16-W, 5th PM Meridian, in Ozark County, Missouri.
Family Maps of Ozark County, Missouri - Courtesy of Gregory A. Boyd, 
 Arphax Publishing Co., Norman, OK.

Silas Claiborne “S. C.” Turnbo also mentions Lick Creek in this region of Ozark County in his Ozark vignette, Dangerous Encounters between Wounded Bucks and Hunters and Their Dogs.

Just over the line in Ozark County, Mo., from Taney County, is a small stream that flows into Big Creek on the east side known as Lick Creek.  This valley was once noted for game and hunters of old visited there to kill deer... Lick Creek has its source among the Bald Hills which divide the head of this prong of Big Creek and part of the hollow of Lower Turkey Creek.  This part of Ozark County has not been settled many years.  The people are pushing and enterprising and we see a good number of nice little farms indicating that this section is improving some.  There is also a good school and church house in that settlement, known as the Tannihill house.

The Force family moved within a half a mile away from their nearest neighbor, Newton "Newt" Tannehill.

Platt Map Showing Acreage of Benjamin Force & Newt Tannehill in Close Proximity.

 Family Maps of Ozark County, Missouri - Courtesy of Gregory A. Boyd, 
 Arphax Publishing Co., Norman, OK.

Harry Force describes Newt Tannehill in the most colorful of terms:
 

Newt was one of the most vainest men I ever saw.  He belonged to the old school of Westerners who disappeared with the pigeons.  His hair hung in perfect curls down on his shoulders.  His high topped boots were expensive and ornate.  He was seldom seen without his spurs, and he always owned a good saddle horse and a fancy saddle and bridle.  He evidently tried to look like the pictures of Buffalo Bill, and he succeeded wonderfully well.

Buffalo Bill Cody by Burke, 1892. 

Wikimedia Commons.

The Force family homesteaded in a one room log cabin built with oak logs for the walls, and they were chinked & dabbed with clay & chunks of wood in the gaps in order to prevent the winters draft seeping through.  A load of pine lumber was brought in from a Rockbridge, Missouri, sawmill to supplement its construction.

According to Harry’s narrative, the Force family moved in about the same time as seven other families.  Nevertheless, these families began to move away due to the threats of the Bald Knobbers.  Intimidation was made by leaving notes, throwing rooks on the cabin’s roof at night, or throwing a bundle of fags/switches on the door’s threshold.  Harry Force believed Mr. Tannehill was selling land to families, and the Bald Knobbers were intimidating the new settlers.  Eventually, Newt Tannehill was buying back the land and making a profit each time.

Newt Tannehill’s current wife, Louisa, once made the comment to Mrs. Augusta Force that the Bald Knobbers were relentlessly making threats in the local area, and the Force family should be wary.  Louisa said she was afraid that the Bald Knobbers would run the Force family out of county as the other families were.  Mrs. Force quickly responded:
 

Well, Mr. Force went through the Civil War.  He and the boys are well armed and have plenty of ammunition.  If the Bald Knobbers make a raid on us, they will meet with a warm reception.

For several years afterward, Newt Tannehill rarely spoke to Mr. Force.  The Reason?  Mr. Force did not consult Newt in homesteading a claim so close to his own land. 

Years after the Bald Knobber incident transpired, it was discovered that Newt Tannehill was the leader of the local band of Bald Knobbers in Ozark County.  Though no list of this vigilante group has been rendered, it is usually presumed to be numbered by close friends and family members.

In the next 2 posts, we will look at Force, Tannehill & McKenney families involved in this story.

Source Citations:

Anderson, Vincent S. Bald Knobbers: Chronicles of Vigilante Justice. The History Press,Charleston, SC. 2013.

Boyd, Gregory A. Family Maps of Ozark County, Missouri, Township 22-N, R16-W, 5th PM Meridian. Arphax Publishing Co., Norman OK. 2004.

Turnbo, Silas Claiborne, Campfire Stories: Hunting Series. Editor: Blevins, Bill Dwayne. 2006.

Yates, William A.  Ozark County, Missouri: Records & Pioneer Families, Sparta, Missouri. 1973.

The Ballad of the Bald Knobbers

Bald Knobbers: Chronicles of Vigilante Justice - Part 3

Read Part 1 of Bald Knobbers: Chronicles of Vigilante Justice  by clicking here.

Read Part 2 of Bald Knobbers: Chronicles of Vigilante Justice  by clicking here.

The Ballad of the Bald Knobbers is an important chronicle of the events that transpired during the 1880's & 90’s in the Ozarks.  Though I may not agree with every word of the song, it is an important side of the Anti-Bald Knobber history that should not be lost. 

I have found this song written in a couple of sources.  I also looked for the music for the Ballad of the Bald Knobbers to no avail.  According to author Vance Randolph’s book, Ozark Folksongs, Mary Elizabeth Mahnkey, a daughter of an original Bald Knobber, A.S. Prather, testifies to the originality of this song.  She also recalls its lyrics to the melody of My Name is Charles Guiteau.  Since I didn’t have the music to the Ballad of the Bald Knobbers, I decided if I could discover the tune to My Name is Charles Guiteau, I would also have the time to the Ballad of The Bald Knobbers.

Here's a little history behind the song about Charles Guiteau. It proves to be quite interesting.

The History of a President, a Lunatic & a Tune.

James A. Garfield was elected to the office of the President of the United States in 1880. Mr. Garfield was the third consecutive Union general to become President after the Civil War.  After being in office for less than four months, Mr. Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau on the 2nd of July, 1881.  The reasoning for the murder was that Charles Guiteau believed he had been promised a job in the Garfield administration because Mr., Guiteau believe it was his zeal and one small political speech, that was poorly attended, that prophetically launch Mr. Garfield to the presidency.

President James A. Garfield

Charles Guiteau

When Charles Guiteau realized that a job would not emerge, Guiteau attempted to assassinate Mr. Garfield on the 2nd of July, 1881.  Garfield was severely in the back but did not die.  After two and a half months of agony & mishaps by doctors who didn’t wash their hands or disinfect the wound, President Garfield died on the 19th of September, 1881.

Sickroom of President Garfield

The trial for the murder of President Garfield was a boon for the media and a circus for the day’s press.  Mr. Guiteau, the defendant, viewed himself as a martyr and a celebrity.  Charles Guiteau was sentenced to be executed on the 30th June, 1882.

Before being hung on the gallows, Charles Guiteau gave a rousing & confusing oratory in the form of a poem called:

I Am Going to the Lordy.

I am going to the Lordy, I am so glad,
I am going to the Lordy, I am so glad,
I am going to the Lordy,
Glory hallelujah! Glory hallelujah!
I am going to the Lordy.
I love the Lordy with all my soul,
Glory hallelujah!
And that is the reason I am going to the Lord,
Glory hallelujah! Glory hallelujah!
I am going to the Lord.
I saved my party and my land,
Glory hallelujah!
But they have murdered me for it,
And that is the reason I am going to the Lordy,
Glory hallelujah! Glory hallelujah!
I am going to the Lordy!
I wonder what I will do when I get to the Lordy,
I guess that I will weep no more
When I get to the Lordy!
Glory hallelujah!
I wonder what I will see when I get to the Lordy,
I expect to see most glorious things,
Beyond all earthly conception
When I am with the Lordy!
Glory hallelujah! Glory hallelujah!
I am with the Lord.

After hearing these words uttered from the scaffold, many people were convinced Guiteau was insane.  Nevertheless, justice was meted out.  Subsequently, a ballad was written concerning these events.  This song is also known as a traditional Appalachian song, and it is sometimes referenced as a "Touch-up" & “Confession Ballad.”  

The Ballad of Charles Guiteau
Come all you tender Christians, wherever you may be,
And likewise pay attention to these few lines from me.
For the murder of James A. Garfield I am condemned to die
On the thirtieth day of June, upon the scaffold high.

CHORUS:
My name is Charles Guiteau, my name I'll ne'er deny.
I leave my aged parents in sorrow for to die.
But little did they think, while in my youthful bloom,
I'd be taken to the scaffold to meet my fatal doom.

Judge Walter Cox

'Twas down at the station I tried to make my escape,
But Providence being against me, there proved to be no show.
They took me off to prison while in my youthful bloom
To be taken to the scaffold to meet my earthly doom.

I tried to play off insane but found it ne'er would do,
The people were all against me, to escape there was no clue.
Judge Cox, he read my sentence, his clerk he wrote it down,
I’d be taken to the scaffold to meet my earthly doom.

My sister came to see me, to bid a last farewell.
She threw her arm around me and wept most bitterly.
She says, "My darling brother, this day you must cruelly die
For the murder of James A. Garfield, upon the scaffold high.

 End of Song

I have also found the following audio & YouTube files of this song.

Track 1

Track 2

Track 3

 

 

      Musician: Clay Riness

This ballad about Charles Guiteau was modeled after an earlier ballad of an execution of James A. Rogers who was executed November the 12th, 1858, in New York.  It may not be a shocker to find out that this same tune also conforms to other confession& murder ballads, such as:

Fower  Maries (Four Marys) - 1546
Lisnagade  - July  13, 1789
Come All You Warriors / Father Murphy - 1798
Fair of Turloughmore - Aug. 1, 1843
My Name is Joe Bowers - 1849
The Lamentation of  or Execution of James A. Rogers  - Nov. 12, 1858
My Name it is John T. Williams - 1870's
Execution of Gustave Ohr  - June 25, 1880
The Ashland Tragedy  - Dec. 23, 1881
Execution of Charles Guiteau  -  June 30, 1882
Ewing Brooks  - Aug. 10, 1888
Ballad of the Bald Knobbers - Late 1880's
Gruber Meadow – May 1925

Back to the Ballad of the Bald Knobbers
I finally took this very old tune that has been used for hundreds of years and incorporated the words of the Ballad of the Bald Knobbers.  
I made an an audio file  it's currently on Google Play at Vincent Anderson's Ozarks' History.


The Ballad of the Bald Knobbers
Adieu to old Kirbyville, I can no longer stay,
Hard times and Bald Knobbers has driven me away,
Hard times and Bald Knobbers has caused me for to roam,
My name is Andrew Coggburn, near Kirbyville’s my home.
My friends and relations, it’s much against my will.
To leave my dear old mother and go from Kirbyville.
But for the sake of dear ones, who want me for to go,
I'll arm myself with weapons and I'm off to Mexico.

Bald Knobbers are no gentlemen, they're nothing more than hogs,
they tried to hunt me down and treat me like a dog.
They’re nothing but big rascals, and their names I'll expose.
They’ll take all of your money and rob you of your clothes.
There’s one big Bald Knobber who is a noted rogue.
He stole from Joseph Bookout some sixteen head of hogs.
Walked boldly in the courthouse and swore they was his own.
He stole them by the drove and horsed ’em over home.

There’s another Bald Knobber who rides a pony blue.
He robbed old Nell MacCully and Mister Thompson, too.
He took from them their money and from them rode away,
And now the highway robbers is the big men of the day.
There’s one big black rascal whose name I will expose.
His name is Nat N. Kinney, and he wears his Federal clothes.
He tries to boss the people and make them do his will.
There’s some that does not fear him, but others mind him still

To raise Bald Knobber excitement, I made a splendid hand.
I don’t fear judge nor jury, I don’t fear any man.
If the Knobbers want to try me, they’ve nothing else to do.
I’ll take me my old Colt and I’ll make an opening through.
These Knobbers run the country, but they can’t keep it up.
They’ll stick their tail between their legs, like any other pup.
And there’s a day a-coming when they will hunt their dens,
And if I’m not mistaken, there’s some will find their ends.

I’ve tried to live in peace with all, Bald Knobbers they say no;
And if you don’t do what they say, you have to up and go.
My mother begs and pleads with me, she’s fearful for my life;
She wants me to depart from here & from Bald Knobber strife.
For each stripe that they gave me, I’ve sworn to get a man,
I’m spending all my time now in thinning down the klan.
And there’s a day a-coming when they all will hunt their dens,
And if I’m not mistaken, there’s more will find their ends.

Reflection
It is amazing to look back at the intricate threads that are woven into our past.  These threads still survive in the remnants of our conduct, speech, and songs.  In retrospect of our Ozarks’ History, it may seem we have been placed remotely in the solitary hills of our past. Actually, we are never alone in our words & deeds.  We are surrounded by a grand host of witnesses that are looking on to see where we walk.  We all are pilgrims & pioneers. 

With all its flaws and bruises I still gratefully called the Ozarks home.  Whether you are a native from the Ozarks or have the heart of a pioneer, you too can have the same heart.  When we look back for the lessons of the past, we should never take our hand off the plow nor despise the field we are currently plowing.  We are all a part of this tapestry.  Enjoy your Ozarks’ History.

Sources:
Anderson, Vincent S. Bald Knobbers: Chronicles of Vigilante Justice. (Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2013).

"My Name is Joe Bowers." American Ballads and Songs www.traditionalmusic.co.uk (Accessed August 21, 2013).

"My Name is Joe Bowers - 1846"  Lyon College: John Quincy Wolf Folklore Collection web.lyon.edu/wolfcollection (Accessed August 21, 2013).

Randolph, Vance. Ozark Folksongs, (Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1982), 175.

Traywick, Ben T. Who Was Joe Bowers? www.thetombstonenews.com (Accessed August 21, 2013).

Dedication to Lyle W. Mabe, alias George Aggernite

 Bald Knobbers: Chronicles of Vigilante Justice - Part 2

Read Part 1 of Bald Knobbers: Chronicles of Vigilante Justice  by clicking here.


First, let me make a distinction between two Ozark groups with the same name...but each is spelled differently.  

1. The Bald Knobbers - the Vigilante Law Group

2. The Baldknobbers -  the Branson, Missouri, Entertainers

When I was a child, my favorite singing group was the Baldknobbers Hillbilly Jamboree Stage Show from Branson, Missouri.  These Baldknobbers originated in 1959 with the four Mabe brothers banding together: Jim, Lyle, Bill & Bob.  Lyle W. Mabe performed in Branson’s first show as comedian George Aggernite, which was the name his father gave him as a small boy.  Lyle Mabe/George Aggernite was one of the main characters I always watched on stage because, in my mind, he was larger than life.



Click on the picture to learn more about the history of the
Baldknobbers Hillbilly Jamboree Stage Show.



Every so often in the 70’s, I would get the opportunity to see George Aggernite appear on the nightly ten o’clock Channel 3 News, KYTV, out of Springfield, Missouri.  George would crack a few jokes or ad-lib to somebody, while doing a commercial for Empire Gas before the weather forecast.  One of his tag lines he made famous was, “Empire Gas…"It's Economical." The last word, Economical, he would ad lib & sometimes have troubles spitting out the syllables because he would have his dentures out as part of his character.

Below is a classic YouTube clip of Ned Reynolds, KYTV sportscaster, with George Aggernite doing a bit called, "Gasnac the Magnificent," which is a parody imitation of Johnny Carson as "Carnac the Magnificent."



I didn’t get to watch him often because we didn’t have a TV—we lived too far in the valley to get a signal.   Sometimes, I would spend the night at my grandmother’s home because she had a TV, and I knew she would watch the ten o’clock news.  Consequently, I would see George Aggernite with his toothless smile.

I also remember the Baldknobbers Hillbilly Jamboree Stage Show traveling to nearby Mountain Home, Arkansas, in late April 1972 for a performance.  Ticket prices were $1.25 for adults and $0.50 for children.  This jamboree consisted of some wild characters and great musicians, such as the Wild Man on the guitar, Droopy Drawers playing the washboard, and George Aggernite thumping a string on a washtub bass.

The small school stage was packed full of musicians and equipment, and the night began in the gym auditorium with enormous excitement.  After the second song, comedian George Aggernite was announced.  As he ran onto the stage, he tripped over his washtub and fell off the platform.  A collective moan could be heard across the auditorium.  George Aggernite was the consummate entertainer and performer; he crawled back on the stage, cracked a few jokes, played a song ,and then went backstage to bandage his cut leg.  He came back a few moments later and acted like nothing was wrong.   

After reading the chapters in the book, Bald Knobbers: Chronicles of Vigilante Justice, one may see the term Bald Knobber as a name that is despised and unredeemable. The initial vigilante leader of the Bald Knobbers was a man named Captain Nathaniel N. Kinney, whose nickname was the “Old Blue Gobbler.”  It is from him that the lore of the Bald Knobbers began. 

Nevertheless, my book is dedicated to the memory of Lyle W. Mabe, alias George Aggernite, a different kind of Baldknobber, who brought smiles and laughter to the Ozark hills where there had been dissention, poverty, and tears.

 Thanks Mr. Aggernite.


Addendum:

Lyle W. "George Aggernite" Mabe passed away  the 27th of February, 2010.  You can find more about him by clicking here at: Find A Grave.

Sources:
Anderson, Vincent S., Bald Knobbers: Chronicles of Vigilante Justice. (Charleston, SC, The History Press, 2013) 9.

The Joplin Globe, “Branson: Baldknobbers’ Lyle Mabe dies at 71.” March 1, 2010.

Stinky Edwards. Old Baldknobbers Video. YouTube. July 19, 2013.