Jackson County (Mo.) Historical Society

Historical Perspective

by David W. Jackson

Miracle saved a piece of history

Buckner, Missouri, resident Dora (Hudspeth) Slaughter, had the foresight to donate her family’s 1834 Bible to the Jackson County (Mo.) Historical Society for continued preservation…and future access through its Archives. Slaughter’s gift 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 early and prominent Hudspeth family.

William Hudspeth, patriarch of the family, was born in North Carolina in 1778. 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.

One son, Benoni, named “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—the one donated by Mrs. Slaughter--had been hidden in a barrel of beans and was the only item found. Although the cover was charred, the pages were intact and readable.

Imagine my excitement when I happened across an obituary of a former slave in Jackson County:

“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.”

The Hudspeth 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 through the end of 2008 (except November when the museum is closed to prepare for year end holidays). Call the museum at 816.252.1892 for hours and admission information.

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