Person Page - 372

      Alpha M. Sharrill was also known as Sharls.      Alpha M. Sharrill was born on 15 February 1819 in Bledsoe County, Tennessee.^1,2
     Alpha married Valentine Branson, son of Andrew Daniel Branson and Phariba Cock, on 22 January 1835 at Gasconade County, Missouri.^1,3
     Based on age, Alpha M. Sharrill was probably listed on the 1840 U.S. Census at Missouri as a free white female, twenty and under thirty years old and residing with Valentine Branson.⁴
     Alpha died on 18 December 1882 in Brookline Station, Gasconade County, Missouri, at age 63.¹

          Alfred P. "Alph" Branson, son of Valentine Branson and Alpha M. Sharrill, was born on 15 March 1838 in Gasconade County, Missouri.¹
     Based on age, Alfred P. "Alph" Branson was probably listed on the 1840 U.S. Census at Missouri as a free white male, under five years old and residing with Valentine Branson.³
     Alfred (his first marriage) married Elizabeth Haines (her first marriage), daughter of Luster Haines and Susanah Branson, circa 1857 at Missouri.¹ His wife, Elizabeth Haines, died on 15 March 1877 at age 38.¹
     Alfred (his second marriage) married Margaret Watts on 20 May 1877.¹
     Alfred died on 7 June 1909 in Mansfield, Tarrant County, Texas, at age 71.¹

          Olivia C. Branson, daughter of Valentine Branson and Alpha M. Sharrill, was born on 8 December 1839 in Gasconade County, Missouri.¹
     Based on age, Olivia C. Branson was probably listed on the 1840 U.S. Census at Missouri as a free white female, under five years old and residing with Valentine Branson.²
     Olivia (her first marriage)married Luster Anderson (his first marriage) circa 1861.³ Her husband, Luster Anderson, died on 19 February 1884 at age 51.³
     Olivia (her second marriage)married J. H. Barbrick (his second marriage) circa 1886.³
     Olivia died on 11 March 1897 at age 57.¹

          Galba Edward Branson, son of Valentine Branson and Alpha M. Sharrill, was born on 18 May 1841 in Gasconade County, Missouri.¹
     Galba Edward Branson served circa 1862 in the Civil war. He was first a private in Captain McDaniel's Company A, Gasconade County Battalion, Missouri Home Guard. Later he served as a Corporal in Company F, 31 Missouri Infantry then as a Corporal in Company A, 32 Missouri Infantry. Enlisted 20 Aug 1862 at Canaan, Gasconade County, Missouri
Discharged for Disability 10 November 1862.²
     Galba (his first marriage) married Eliza Ann Cooper (her first marriage) on 9 October 1863 at Woollam, Gasconade County, Missouri.^3,4 Galba Edward Branson moved circa 1881 from New Woollam, Missouri to Brookline, Greene County, Missouri. He took the remainder of his family to his mother's home after the death of his wife. His youngest daughter, Nancy, was left with his sister-in-law in Cooper Hill, Missouri and raised by her.³
     Galba Edward Branson he homesteaded 160 acres in 1881 at Taney County, Missouri.³
     Galba (his second marriage) married Elizabeth David in 1882 at Missouri.^2,3 Galba Edward Branson was a member of the Bald Knobbers, one of the 13 original members in 1885 at Missouri. The Bald Knobbers were a group of men who were fed up with local lawlessness, a countywide vigilante organization. Because they held their meetings in and around the treeless hilltops common to the ares, the group became know as the "Bald Knobbers." From these peaks sentries commanded an unobstructed view of the countryside.³
     Galba Edward Branson was elected Deputy Sheriff circa 1887 at Missouri.³
     Galba Edward Branson was elected Taney County Sheriff on 6 November 1888 at Missouri.³
     Galba died on 4 July 1889 in Kirbyville, Taney County, Missouri, at age 48 shot at the Ffourth of July picnic by the Miles brothers, Emanuel, Billy and Jim. Ed Funk who was either a hired killer from Eureka Springs, Arkansas or a detective deputized by Sheriff Branson was killed along with Branson..^1,3 He was buried in Missouri in a meadow just west of the Branson home, a site which Galba had selected earlier. Ed Funk was burried next to him.³
     Galba Edward Branson received a land grant, issued under May 20, 1862 Homestead Entry (12 Stat. 392) on 17 July 1890 at Missouri. The land was described as 160 acres in NW part of section 23, township 23 N, range 21 W.⁵
     The Bald Knobbers were late 19th century vigilantes who controlled Taney County during its most violent period of time. They worried about the government's ability to control the "lawless element" and formed a massive organization of men who at one time grew to number nearly one thousand.
Historians are now beginning to admit that perhaps their motives were not and never were pure.
Ila Miles DeClue tells of two major shootings involving her father, Emanuel Miles, and his brothers. These incidents resulted in the deaths of the Bald Knobber leader, "Captain" Nathaniel N. Kinney, in August 1888, and Ed Funk and Sheriff Galba E. Branson on July 4, 1889. The deaths of these men put an effective end to the violence of the Bald Knobber era.
The Bald Knobbers' reign of terror began in late 1884 and reached into 1889. This four-year period of time is till shrouded in mystery although the march of time has begun to uncover, layer after layer, the secrets hidden by this oath bound society.
"Uncle Bill Miles was my granddad. He and Grandmother Katy came to Taney County from Washington County, VA, in 1870. Their boys, Bill, Jr., was three and Emanuel was only one," recounts Ila.
The county was growing and filling with homesteaders. According to Elmo Ingenthron and Mary Hartman's book, Bald Knobbers: Vigilantes on the Ozarks Frontier, the county government was in disarray and several murders and thefts had not been solved.
About that time, a newcomer from Springfield, MO, moved near Kirbyville. Ila describes him: "Captain Kinney was a big, old, burly, red-headed man with heavy eyebrows, just a tough-looking man. Mean. Had to have been mean to kill innocent men, take them out and hang them!"
In the winter of 1884-85, Nathaniel Kinney, a former saloon keeper and Civil War soldier, along with twelve other businessmen and professionals, formed a secret oath bound society. Known as the original thirteen Bald Knobbers, this group of men was to bring the lawless element under control and return the corrupted county government to the people. Within months they numbered one hundred. Several members quietly coerced others into joining.
"Many wouldn't join this group until they hung the first men by the name of Frank and Tubal Taylor. They took everything these men had from their families. From then on, they didn't have any trouble getting men and boys to join them--until they called on Uncle Bill Miles" Ila declared proudly.
"Uncle Bill" William Miles, Sr., and his sons steadfastly refused to join the Bald Knobbers. Miles' friend, Sampson Barker, who was the Taney County school superintendent, also resisted. Sampson Barker was Ila's great grandfather.
"Captain Kinney sent word to my grand-daddy that he wanted him and his three oldest sons to join." William Miles' reply was a vehement refusal. "We ain't angels but we ain't devils neither," he told the messenger. "We will never join you!"
Ila said the trouble then began in earnest. "They killed Granddad's stock at night and made trouble for the three boys everywhere they went."
Since the identity of many of the Bald Knobbers was only rumored, neighbors hardly knew whom to trust. Families kept to themselves. Some families disappeared and were never heard from again. Later, a suspected Bald Knobber would show title to the missing family's property and stock.
The courthouse was torched by arsonists Dec. 19, 1885. Most county records, including land records, were destroyed except for one land title volume rescued by Charles H. Groom, then Taney County Treasurer and one of the original Bald Knobbers.
Ingenthron and Hartman wrote, "At first few ignored the Bald Knobbers' veiled threats. Then resistance grew, and the night riders began to waylay and capture those who ignored the bundle of switches. Occasional shooting matches broke out, with casualties on both sides, especially when several victims banded together for self-defense. Ultimately, however, the Bald Knobbers captured their man and took him into the woods. They stripped him, tied him to a tree, and applied a black snake whip or a hickory gad (a spear or wand). The stubborn victims suffered as many as two hundred lashes. Some were left unconscious and covered with blood.
"Gossipers claimed that the Bald Knobbers flogged several men to death, then buried their bodies in the woods. Harvey Castleman interviewed old-timers who swore on a stack of Bibles that they never say nor heard from certain men again after the vigilantes took them out to the woods. Castleman also alleged that a number of Bald Knobbers disappeared, shot to death by their intended victims."
Ila's voice sharpened. "The anti-Bald Knobbers didn't believe in killing innocent men, taking their wives out, and taking their hogs and pigs out and selling them and keeping the money. That's the Bald Knobbers for you! Dad said they did it!"
In 1886, Governor Marmaduke ordered the Bald Knobbers and the anti-Bald Knobbers, who had loosely formed, to disband. By then, several original Bald Knobbers had left the band and some had even left the county.
The Bald Knobbers increased the pressure on the Miles family to join. "One day Granddad got word, "We're a coming for your wife and girls.' Granddad said, 'Come on, the string to the latch hangs on the outside.' but, he left Grandma and the girls with guns at the house. He and the boys laid down the road a ways and when they came, the Miles shot 'em out of their saddles."
The word came to them again--join! Ila said, "Granddad told Billy, 'keep the gun a shining and if you ever have to shoot, don't let the Captain get his gun first." Kinney persisted and demanded that Miles' three oldest sons come and see him. Billy was twenty, Emanuel was eighteen, and Jim was only sixteen. "Billy got to the store where Captain Kinney was and he said, 'I'm Billy Miles. You sent for me?' Captain said, 'I sure did. Did you come to join?'
"Billy said, 'I'll die first!'" recalls Ila. "Captain reached for his guns and Billy shot him several times. They heard him hollering all over Forsyth."
Billy gave himself up to Sheriff McHaffie, another of the original thirteen Bald Knobbers who was disenchanted. According to Ila, "Billy said, 'I just kipped Captain Kinney in self-defense.' " Jim was outside "around the back" but Ila doesn't know whether her father went to town that day.
Billy was tried in Springfield on a change of venue and acquitted by the jury. His attorney ironically was J.J. Brown, one of the thirteen original Bald Knobbers. The prosecuting attorney was James DeLong, another original Bald Knobber and Kinney's stepson.
Ila said that none of her family members ever told a story about Billy winning a card or dice game in a macabre attempt by anti-Bald Knobbers to decide who should kill Kinney, as reported by Ingenthron and Hartman. The "hit man" theory then becomes suspect. "Billy came to the Captain because he was sent for," Ila contends.
The Captain was dead and the Bald Knobber conflict quieted somewhat.
On July 4, 1889, nearly one year after the shooting, the annual Kirbyville picnic attracted many Taney Countians. "Just before sundown, Rufus Barker, who was a friend of the Miles' boys, heard the Bald Knobbers had a stranger there to kill Billy. Taney County people kept coming up to Billy, warning, 'Stranger in town, stranger in town!' So they talked it over and decided to leave the picnic before dark, as Billy didn't want to be ambushed," said Ila.
Billy, Emanuel, Jim and Elisha, along with Rufus Barker, got their horses and left the picnic grounds. They stopped at the spring for a drink (the whiskey seemed to be kept there), and while Billy dipped cold water out for some women and children, a man called, "Are you Billy Miles?"
Billy responded, "It sure is." The stranger went for his gun but Billy and Jim shot first. As the stranger fell, his gun discharged and the bullet hit 16-year-old Jim in the leg.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Galba E. Branson, a known Bald Knobber and one of the original thirteen members, pulled his gun and aimed at Billy. "Dad said never was heard such a mournful sound as he heard from Branson when he shot him. He jumped into the air and fell dead. Dad got one of Branson's shots in the coattail," said Ila.
It was later told by Branson's widow that the stranger, Ed Funk, hailed from Eureka Springs, AR, and was introduced to her as a U.S. Marshall. Funk in reality was a gunman hired by Kinney's widow to kill Billy Miles. "Branson's widow later told how she tried to keep her husband and Funk from going to the picnic," said Ila. The widow reported that her husband told her to bury them on "that knoll over yonder if the Miles Boys gets us first." Ila takes much satisfaction in remembering that two lonesome graves still lie atop that knoll with Branson's and Funk's names on them.
The Miles, along with Rufus Barker, escaped on horseback, helping the wounded Jim between them. Elisha was sent home. Rufus was sent for the family doctor. The boys hid at the home of a friend. Rufus returned, reporting that the doctor was too afraid to come. "Dad said, 'I'll go after him and he'll come.' He did, but was too afraid to doctor Jim so the women of the house did their best," said Ila.
Angry Bald Knobbers swept the dense countryside, looking for the boys. Emanuel and Billy stood guard all night. "The next day, Granddad came down with some other men and helped take Jim home," said Ila. William Miles, Sr., sent word that Jim and the other boys were at his home if any of the Bald Knobbers cared to come for them.
There were no takers, and when Jim recovered enough to travel, the three walked the sixty miles to Springfield to the home of Rufus Barker's brother. "The boys decided to go down to Virginia to their mother's people," Ila said. However, authorities found Billy and Jim and jailed them in Springfield. Emanuel managed to escape by borrowing his girl cousin's clothes. He escaped to Virginia, where he stayed several years.
Later, Jim and Billy were both acquitted. Billy moved to Texas, saying mournfully," I never shall return to my home in Taney County." Ila said, "He married a Texas girl and that's one Miles I never did see. He never came back." Jim married a Texas girl, too, and had five children. He lived from time to time in Taney County. Ila knew him well and thought he was the most handsome of the brothers, although he had a notorious reputation in Taney County. In 1912, he killed a clerk in the meat market in Branson and spent four years in the state penitentiary. He later moved back to Texas, where he died in 1954 at the age of 83.
Emanuel returned to Taney County, where he and his brother Elisha stayed and farmed for most of their lives. Emanuel married Rufus Barker's daughter, Nellie, his second cousin. And in 1902, Ila was born.⁶

          Hannah Minerva Branson, daughter of Valentine Branson and Alpha M. Sharrill, was born on 29 August 1843 in Gasconade County, Missouri.¹
     Hannah (her first marriage)married J. H. Barbrick (his first marriage) circa 1865.²
     Hannah died on 19 June 1885 in Missouri at age 41.¹

          Lewis F. Branson, son of Valentine Branson and Alpha M. Sharrill, was born on 7 July 1845 in Gasconade County, Missouri.¹
     Lewis died on 5 November 1924 at age 79.¹

          Thomas Jefferson Branson, son of Valentine Branson and Alpha M. Sharrill, was born on 2 June 1847 in Woollam Post Office, Gasconade County, Missouri.^1,2
     Thomas married Martha A. (?) circa 1869.³
     Thomas married Parmelia E. (?) in 1887.⁴
In 1910 Thomas Jefferson Branson farmed at Brooklyn Township in Greene County, Missouri.⁴
     Parmelia and Thomas Jefferson Branson lived in 1910 at Brookline Township in Greene County, Missouri. Residing with them were, their children Ira, Thomas, Homer and Otis.⁴
     Thomas died on 31 July 1914 at Brooklyn Township in Brookline Station, Greene County, Missouri, at age 67.^1,2 His cause of death was acute dilation of the heart.² He was buried on 1 August 1914 in Brookline Cemetery in Greene County, Missouri.²

          Mary Ann Branson, daughter of Valentine Branson and Alpha M. Sharrill, was born on 10 October 1849 in Greene County, Missouri.¹
     Mary married Nicholas Young circa 1865.²
     Mary died on 30 October 1866 in Gasconade County, Missouri, at age 17.² She was buried in November 1866 in Woollam Cemetery in Woollam, Gasconade County, Missouri.²

          Valentine Branson, son of Valentine Branson and Alpha M. Sharrill, was born on 10 January 1851 in Gasconade County, Missouri.¹
     Valentine (his first marriage) married Sarah Catherine Jenkins (her first marriage) on 17 August 1873.² His wife, Sarah Catherine Jenkins, died on 12 February 1877 at age 22.²
     Valentine (his second marriage) married Mary Elizabeth Smith on 25 February 1878.² His wife, Mary Elizabeth Smith, died on 2 May 1893 at age 37.²
     Valentine (his third marriage) married Ellen Frances Smith on 30 August 1893 at Maries County, Missouri.^2,3
     Valentine died on 13 June 1934 in Bland, Gasconade County, Missouri, at age 83.¹

     
     Reuben married Mary Thomas Cooper.³      Reuben Spaulding Branson, son of Valentine Branson and Alpha M. Sharrill, was born on 22 August 1853 in Gasconade County, Missouri.¹
     Reuben died on 10 February 1935 in Forsyth, Taney County, Missouri, at age 81.¹

          William H. Branson, son of Valentine Branson and Alpha M. Sharrill, was born on 28 May 1855 in Gasconade County, Missouri.¹
     William died circa 1933.¹

          Samuel K. Branson, son of Valentine Branson and Alpha M. Sharrill, was born on 3 February 1857 in Gasconade County, Missouri.¹
     Samuel died on 2 September 1936 at age 79.¹

     
     Louisa married Ernest Lloyd.²      Louisa Caroline Branson, daughter of Valentine Branson and Alpha M. Sharrill, was born on 2 September 1859 in Gasconade County, Missouri.¹
     Louisa died in Springfield, Greene County, Missouri.¹

          Christianna Almeda Branson, daughter of Valentine Branson and Alpha M. Sharrill, was born on 6 October 1861 in Gasconade County, Missouri.¹
     Christianna died on 11 November 1864 in Missouri at age 3.¹ She was buried in Woollam Cemetery in Woollam, Gasconade County, Missouri.²

          Leanah (?), daughter of Hannah Eads, was born in 1802 in Halifax, Halifax County, Virginia.¹
     Leanah (her first marriage)married William Weldon Bumpass (his first marriage) in 1820 at Virginia.¹
     Leanah died circa 1825.¹

      Jared Branson was also known as James.³      Jared Branson, son of Thomas G. Branson and Susanna Alma McGowan, was born on 15 October 1817 in Tennessee.^1,4
     Jared married Sally Bumpass on 14 December 1839 at Gasconade County, Missouri.^4,5
     Jared died on 6 October 1882 in Maries County, Missouri, at age 64.^1,2,4 He was buried in Bumpass Cemetery in Weldon, Maries County, Missouri.^1,2,4

          Mary Branson, daughter of James Jared Branson and Sally Sarah Bumpass, was born in 1840 in Third Creek, Gasconade County, Missouri.¹

          William Gree "Blackhead Bill or Black Head" Branson, son of James Jared Branson and Sally Sarah Bumpass, was born in 1842 in Third Creek Township, Hiblers Prairie, Gasconade County, Missouri.^1,2
     William (his first marriage) married Martha A. Finn (her first marriage), daughter of Barnett "Barney" Finn and (?) (?), circa 1862 at Maries County, Missouri.²
     William (his second marriage) married Margaret Ann Crismon (her second marriage), daughter of James "Slim Ike" Crismon and Frances "Franky" Eads, on 24 December 1873 at Missouri.²
     William married Martha Alexander on 6 December 1891 at Iberia, Miller County, Missouri.^2,3
     William died on 22 February 1893 in Missouri.² He was buried in Jim Crismon Family Cemetery in Maries County, Missouri.^2,4

          Elizabeth Miller, daughter of Thomas Miller and Altha Sherril, was born circa 1825 in Bledsoe County, Tennessee.¹
     Elizabeth married Francis Ulyssis Bumpass, son of William Weldon Bumpass and Leanah (?), circa 1844.¹ Elizabeth Miller was buried in 1865 in Pointers Creek, Osage County, Missouri.¹
     Elizabeth died circa 1869 in Linn, Osage County, Missouri.¹

     
     Thomas married Altha Sherril.¹

     
     Altha married Thomas Miller.¹

          Louisa J. Bumpass, daughter of Francis Ulyssis Bumpass and Elizabeth Miller, was born circa 1845 in Cooperhill, Osage County, Missouri.¹
     Louisa died circa 1880 in Osage County, Missouri.¹

          Wiliam D. Bumpass, son of Francis Ulyssis Bumpass and Elizabeth Miller, was born on 7 October 1846 in Missouri.¹
     Wiliam married Isabelle C. Perkins, daughter of Isaac Perkins and Elizabeth F. Lewis, on 26 January 1868 at Gasconade County, Missouri.^1,2
     Wiliam is a head of household (no relatives were residing with him) on the 1870 U. S. Census for Jefferson Township, Osage County, Missouri.³
     Wiliam died on 27 April 1877 at Jefferson Township in Missouri at age 30.¹

          Lycurgus Bumpass, son of Francis Ulyssis Bumpass and Elizabeth Miller, was born in November 1849 in Cooperhill, Osage County, Missouri.¹
     Lycurgus died in August 1932 in Osage County, Missouri, at age 82.¹

          Thomas Jefferson Bumpass, son of Francis Ulyssis Bumpass and Elizabeth Miller, was born circa 1852 in Cooperhill, Osage County, Missouri.¹
     Thomas died circa 1883 in Missouri.¹

          Hannah Bumpass, daughter of Francis Ulyssis Bumpass and Elizabeth Miller, was born circa 1855 in Cooperhill, Osage County, Missouri.¹

          John B. Bumpass, son of Francis Ulyssis Bumpass and Elizabeth Miller, was born circa 1858 in Cooperhill, Osage County, Missouri.¹

          Augustus D. Bumpass, son of Francis Ulyssis Bumpass and Elizabeth Miller, was born on 6 January 1862 in Cooperhill, Osage County, Missouri.¹
     Augustus died on 18 June 1937 at age 75.¹

          T. Wesley Bumpass, son of Francis Ulyssis Bumpass and Elizabeth Miller, was born circa 1864 in Cooperhill, Osage County, Missouri.¹

          Elizabeth Bumpass, daughter of Francis Ulyssis Bumpass and Elizabeth Miller, was born circa 1869 in Cooperhill, Osage County, Missouri.¹