This is one of those stories that’s been passed down for several generations and which I tend to follow up on it in fits and starts: John Lake’s murder in Chariton County, Missouri, in 1864 by Bushwhackers.  The Kentucky native, according to family tradition, met his fate in his barn. That much of the story I’ve not been able to verify.

According to the War of the Rebellion, John Lake was one of several Union sympathizers killed on 26 December 1864 in Chariton County, Missouri. The account lists him as “about sixty years old, [and] a good Union man.” That age is a bit off, but there’s no reason to doubt the other details and the date of his death is consistent with an estate settlement that is opened up for him in Chariton County.

The incident is mentioned in the St. Louis Republican on 10 January 1865. Lake is not named, but there’s no reason to doubt that the reference is to the one in which Lake is killed. The paper claims that Jim Jackson, “the noted bushwacker,” was behind the incident.

I do need to see if there are local newspapers that provide more detail of the account than what is listed in the St. Louis newspaper.

The good thing is that I was able to find something on this incident and I know have some evidence that it took place. What I need to do is determine what my research goals are on John Lake and how further research on his murder by Bushwhackers would help to meet those goals.

Not that historical things like this are not interesting. They are interesting and can provide better insight into our ancestors’ lives. Researching this further may provide additional names of associates of John Lake while he was in Missouri. Since research on his wife’s family is somewhat stymied, those names may come in handy. It is just that the researcher has to avoid getting sidetracked by details like this.

Seeing how our family’s life was impacted by historical events is always interesting, sometimes educational in ways we don’t expect, and occasionally leads to genealogical discoveries.

One just has to try and avoid the rabbit holes.

How this was located:

The War of the Rebellion material was located by performing a search on Google Books (http://books.google.com). While reviewing those hits, the incident was referenced in a footnote in a recent publication. That footnote gave the date of the newspaper article which has also been included in this post.