Jackson County (Mo.) Historical Society

Portals to the Past

by David W. Jackson

1834 family Bible has miraculous history

The Jackson County Historical Society accepted more than 125 donations of historical documents and photographs into its collections in 2007. The latest addition—an 1834 Holy Bible from one of Jackson County’s most prominent pioneer families—is a testament to the charitable spirit of those having foresight to donate historical materials for the public good.

The Bible contains between the Old and New Testaments the handwritten recordings of births, marriages, and deaths of Jackson County’s Hudspeth family. These hard-to-find statistics may be desirable to countless descendants, today and into the future. There is more to the story beyond the good book’s usefulness as a permanent family record, as you will see. But, first here’s a peek into the main characters.

William Hudspeth, patriarch of the family, was born in North Carolina in 1778. He married Tabitha Beal, born in 1786. They had 11 children before Tabitha died; she is buried in Franklin, Kentucky. The Hudspeths moved to Jackson County in 1828, two years after the County was formed on December 15, 1826. Five of William’s sons were “’49ers,” having rushed to California Territory after the famous gold discovery at John Sutter’s fort (Sutter was also a former Jackson Countian, by the way).

One son, Benoni, is remembered for finding a “cut-off” route—Hudspeth Cut-Off—used by thousands of travelers to California for years to come. With California riches brought back in a trunk (which the Society has loaned for exhibit to the National Frontier Trails Museum in Independence), the Hudspeth family ended up owning extensive property and operations in Jackson County.

Most 49ers had hopes of striking it rich quick and to return home swiftly. Most of those were high hopes unfulfilled, and young wives were often abandoned back home for months and years. Some young men never returned. Thomas Jefferson Hudspeth, was one such man, but his failure to return was due to an untimely death upon reaching California. His faithful widow, Cyntha (or Cynthia), continued to run the Hudspeth home, farm and family, including slaves, for years to come.

Family lore accompanying the Bible donation has it that during the Civil War when Order No. 11 instituting martial law was enforced in Jackson County, Mrs. Hudspeth’s home was maliciously burned. The embers still red hot, Cyntha instructed one of her slaves, Sam, to rake through the ashes and salvage any possessions that might have survived. The family’s Bible, which had been hidden in a barrel of beans, was the only item to be found. Although the cover was charred, the pages were intact and readable.

You can’t imagine the feeling you get when you see this book and learn about its miraculous past. But wait, there’s more.

When researching for another Portals to the Past column, I gathered several sources to read. One of them happened to be the obituary of a former slave in Jackson County. As I read it, my jaw hit the floor. Yours might, too:

“Sam Jackson was owned by the Hamiltons and the Hudspeths of Fort Osage Township…. [He] was fond of telling stories of the times before the war, and one was of a miracle he saw with his own eyes. The old log house known as the Hudspeth home in Fort Osage Township was burned by the Federals under the famous Order No. 11. Mrs. Hudspeth was a very old and devout lady and she had the record of her family in an old family Bible which, at the time of the fire, was in a cupboard in the old house. When the house was smoldering the old lady called to Sam and point to a place where the fire had been the hottest and ordered him to take a long handled rake and dig into the coals. She told him he would find her Bible there unharmed. [He] dug into the coals and got out the Bible, which was scorched around the edges of the heavy leather cover, but unharmed inside. Old Sam always referred to this as a miracle.”

Lovingly handed down through the generations, Dora (Hudspeth) Slaughter, of Buckner, Missouri, had the foresight to donate the 1834 Bible to the Jackson County (Mo.) Historical Society for continued preservation…and future access through its Archives. The Bible will be exhibited at the 1859 Jail, Marshal’s Home and Museum (217 N Main, Independence), along with other Hudspeth family documents, photographs and artifacts at the beginning of April when the site opens for the tourist season. Call the Jail Museum at 816.252.1892 for hours and admission information.

David W. Jackson is archivist for the nonprofit Jackson County (Mo.) Historical Society’s Archives and Research Library at 112 W. Lexington Ave. Suite 103, Independence, MO, 64050. Explore deeper into local history topics like those presented in this column through the Jackson County Historical Society JOURNAL, a scholarly periodical delivered to Society members twice annually. For more information, or to donate historical materials, visit www.jchs.org, call (816) 252-7454, or e-mail info@jchs.org.

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