PROOF OF AUTHENTICITY.
This is to certify that I, the undersigned, am personally acquainted
with Samuel S. Hildebrand (better known as “Sam Hildebrand, the
Missouri Bushwhacker,” etc.,) and have known him from boyhood; that
during the war, and on several occasions since its termination, he
promised to give me a full and complete history of his whole war
record; that on the night of January 28th, 1870, he came to my house
at Big River Mills, in St. Francois county, Missouri, in company with
Charles Burks, and gave his consent that I and Charles Burks, in
conjunction, might have his confession whenever we were prepared to
meet him at a certain place for that purpose; that in the latter part
of March, 1870, in the presence of Sam Hildebrand alone, I did write
out his confession as he gave it to me, then and there, until the same
was completed; and that afterwards James W. Evans and myself, from the
material I thus obtained, compiled and completed the said confession,
which is now presented to the public as his Autobiography.
A. WENDELL KEITH, M. D.
* * * * *
STATE OF MISSOURI, }
COUNTY OF STE. GENEVIEVE. }
On this, 14th day of June, 1870, before me, Henry Herter, a Notary
Public within and for said county, personally appeared W. H. Couzens,
J. N. Burks and G. W. Murphy of the above county and State, and on
being duly sworn they stated that they were well acquainted with
Charles Burks of the aforesaid county, and A. Wendell Keith, M. D., of
St. Francois county, Missouri, and to their certain knowledge the facts
set forth in the foregoing certificate are true and correct, and that
Samuel S. Hildebrand also acknowledged to them afterwards that he had
made to them his complete confession.
WM. H. COUZENS, MAJOR C. S. A.,
J. N. BURKS,
G. W. MURPHY.
Subscribed and sworn to before me, this 14th day of June, 1870.
HENRY HERTER,
_Notary Public_.
* * * * *
The Statement made by A. Wendell Keith, M. D., is entitled to credit
from the fact of his well-known veracity and standing in society.
HON. ELLIS G. EVANS,
Senator, Rolla District.
HON. E. C. SEBASTIAN,
Representative, St. Francois county.
HON. MILTON P. CAYCE,
Farmington, Missouri.
FRANKLIN MURPHY,
Sheriff St. Francois county.
WILLIAM R. TAYLOR,
Clerk St. Francois county.
HON. JOSEPH BOGY,
Representative Ste. Genevieve county.
CHARLES ROZIER,
Clerk Ste. Genevieve county.
* * * * *
EXECUTIVE OFFICE, JEFFERSON CITY, MO.,}
June 22, 1870. }
I hereby certify that the persons whose official signatures appear
above have been commissioned for the offices indicated; and my personal
acquaintance with Dr. Keith, Honorables Evans, Sebastian, Cayce,
Bogy and Sheriff Murphy is such that I say without hesitation their
statements are entitled to full faith and credit.
J. W. McCLURG,
_Governor of Missouri_.
[Illustration: HILDEBRAND DRIVEN FROM HOME.]
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
OF
SAMUEL S. HILDEBRAND,
THE RENOWNED
MISSOURI “BUSHWHACKER”
AND UNCONQUERABLE
ROB ROY OF AMERICA;
BEING
HIS COMPLETE CONFESSION
RECENTLY MADE TO THE WRITERS, AND CAREFULLY COMPILED
BY JAMES W. EVANS AND A. WENDELL KEITH, M. D.,
OF ST. FRANCOIS COUNTY, MO.;
TOGETHER
WITH ALL THE FACTS CONNECTED WITH HIS
EARLY HISTORY.
JEFFERSON CITY, MO.:
STATE TIMES BOOK AND JOB PRINTING HOUSE,
MADISON STREET.
1870.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
SAM HILDEBRAND DRIVEN FROM HOME _Frontispiece._
FRANK HILDEBRAND HUNG BY THE MOB 45
SAM HILDEBRAND KILLING MCILVAINE 61
THE MURDER OF WASH. HILDEBRAND AND LANDUSKY 69
STAMPEDE OF FEDERAL SOLDIERS 139
SAM HILDEBRAND BETRAYED BY COOTS 179
SAM HILDEBRAND‘S LAST BATTLE 297
COL. BOWEN CAPTURES HILDEBRAND‘S CAVE 303
Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1870, by JAMES W.
EVANS and A. WENDELL KEITH, M. D., in the Clerk‘s Office
of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of
Missouri.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Introduction.—Yankee fiction.—Reasons for making a full
confession. 25
CHAPTER II.
Early history of the Hildebrand family.—Their settlement in
St. Francois county, Mo.—Sam Hildebrand born.—Troublesome
neighbors.—Union sentiments. 29
CHAPTER III.
Determination to take no part in the war.—Mr. Ringer killed
by Rebels.—The cunning device of Allen Roan.—Vigilance
Committee organized.—The baseness of Mobocracy.—Attacked by the
mob.—Escape to Flat Woods. 35
CHAPTER IV.
McIlvaine‘s Vigilance mob.—Treachery of Castleman.—Frank
Hildebrand hung by the mob.—Organization of the mob into a
Militia company. 42
CHAPTER V.
His house at Flat Woods attacked by eighty soldiers.—Miraculous
escape.—Capt. Bolin.—Flight to Green county, Arkansas. 48
CHAPTER VI.
Interview with Gen. Jeff Thompson.—Receives a Major‘s
Commission.—Interview with Capt. Bolin.—Joins the Bushwhacking
Department. 54
CHAPTER VII.
First trip to Missouri.—Killed George Cornecious for reporting
him.—Killed Firman McIlvaine, captain of the mob.—Attempt to
kill McGahan and House.—Return to Arkansas. 58
CHAPTER VIII.
Vigilance mob drives his mother from home.—Three companies of
troops sent to Big river.—Capt. Flanche murders Washington
Hildebrand and Landusky.—Capt. Esroger murders John Roan.—Capt.
Adolph burns the Hildebrand homestead and murders Henry
Hildebrand. 66
CHAPTER IX.
Trip with Burlap and Cato.—Killed a spy near Bloomfield.—Visits
his mother on Dry Creek.—Interview with his uncle.—Sees the
burning of the homestead at a distance. 75
CHAPTER X.
Trip with two men.—Killed Stokes for informing on him.—Secreted
in a cave on Big river.—Vows of vengeance.—Watched for
McGahan.—Tom Haile pleads for Franklin Murphy.—Tongue-lashed
and whipped out by a woman. 84
CHAPTER XI.
Trip to Missouri with three men.—Fight near
Fredericktown.—Killed four soldiers.—Went to their camp and
stole four horses.—Flight toward the South.—Robbed “Old
Crusty”. 91
CHAPTER XII.
Trip with three men.—Captured a spy and shot him.—Shot Mr.
Scaggs.—Charged a Federal camp at night and killed nine
men.—Came near shooting James Craig.—Robbed Bean‘s store and
returned to Arkansas. 96
CHAPTER XIII.
The Militia mob robs the Hildebrand estate.—Trip to Missouri
with ten men.—Attacks a government train with an escort of
twenty men.—Killed two and put the others to flight. 102
CHAPTER XIV.
Federal cruelty.—A defense of Bushwhacking.—Trip with Capt.
Bolin and nine men.—Fight at West Prairie.—Started with two
men to St. Francois county.—Killed a Federal soldier.—Killed
Addison Cunningham.—Capt. Walker kills Capt. Barnes, and
Hildebrand kills Capt. Walker. 106
CHAPTER XV.
Started alone to Missouri.—Rode off a bluff and killed
his horse.—Fell in with twenty-five Rebels under Lieut.
Childs.—Went with them.—Attacked 150 Federals at Bollinger‘s
Mill.— Henry Resinger killed.—William Cato.—Went back to
Fredericktown.—Killed one man.—Robbed Abright‘s store. 114
CHAPTER XVI.
Started to Bloomfield with three men.—Fight at St. Francis
river.—Goes from there alone.—Meets his wife and family, who
had been ordered off from Bloomfield.—Capture and release of
Mrs. Hildebrand.—Fight in Stoddard county.—Arrival in Arkansas.
121
CHAPTER XVII.
Put in a crop.—Took another trip to Missouri with six
men.—Surrounded in a tobacco barn.—Killed two men in making
his escape.—Killed Wammack for informing on him.—Captured some
Federals and released them on certain conditions.—Went to Big
River Mills.—Robbed Highley‘s and Bean‘s stores. 128
CHAPTER XVIII.
Selected seven men and went to Negro Wool Swamp.—Attacked
fifteen Federals—A running fight.—Killed three men.—Killed
Mr. Crane.—Betrayed by a Dutchman, and surrounded in a house
by Federals.—Escaped, killed eight Federals, recaptured the
horses, and hung the Dutchman. 136
CHAPTER XIX.
Went with eight men.—Attacked a Federal camp near Bollinger‘s
Mill.—Got defeated.—Men returned to Arkansas.—Went alone to St.
Francois county.—Watched for R. M. Cole.—Killed Capt. Hicks. 147
CHAPTER XX.
Trip to Hamburg with fifteen men.—Hung a Dutchman and shot
another.—Attacked some Federals in Hamburg but got gloriously
whipped.—Retreated to Coon Island.—Killed Oller at Flat
Woods.—Robbed Bean‘s store at Irondale. 153
CHAPTER XXI.
Started with six men on a trip to Springfield,
Missouri.—Deceived by a Federal spy in the Irish
Wilderness—Captured through mistake by Rebels.—Routed on
Panther creek.—Returned home on foot. 159
CHAPTER XXII.
Started with four men.—Surrounded in a thicket
near Fredericktown.—Escaped with the loss of three
horses.—Stole horses from the Federals at night.—Killed two
soldiers.—Suffered from hunger.—Killed Fowler.—Took a horse
from G. W. Murphy.—Went to Mingo Swamp.—Killed Coots for
betraying him.—Killed a Federal and lost two men. 168
CHAPTER XXIII.
Went to Mingo Swamp with ten men.—Went to Castor
creek.—Attacked two companies of Federals under Capt. Cawhorn
and Capt. Rhoder.—Bushwhacked them seven nights.—Went with
Capt. Reed‘s men.—Attacked Capt. Leeper‘s company.—Killed
fourteen, captured forty horses, forty-four guns, sixty
pistols, and everything else they had. 182
CHAPTER XXIV.
Took a trip with fifteen men.—Captured a squad of
Federals.—Reception of “Uncle Bill.”—Hung all the
prisoners.—Captured five more and hung one. 187
CHAPTER XXV.
Put in a crop.—Started to Missouri with nine men.—Killed a
soldier near Dallas.—Went to St. Francois county and watched
for Walls and Baker.—Watched near Big River Mills for
McGahan.—Narrow escape of William Sharp.—Robbed Burges, Hughes
and Kelley of their horses.—Robbed Abright‘s store.—Captured
some Federals on White Water. 195
CHAPTER XXVI.
Started to St. Francois county, Missouri, with eight
men.—Hung Vogus and Zimmer.—Hung George Hart.—Robbed Lepp‘s
store.—Concealed in Pike Run hills.—Started back.—Hung Mr.
Mett‘s negro, “Old Isaac.”—Hung another negro.—Took two
deserters back and hung them. 205
CHAPTER XXVII.
Started with nine men to St. Francois county.—Stopped in Pike
Run hills.—Robbed the store of Christopher Lepp.—Hung Mr.
Kinder‘s negro.—Attacked by Federals.—Killed two men and lost
one.—Shot two soldiers on a furlough.—Enters a mysterious camp.
212
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Capt. John and a company of Federals destroy the Bushwhackers‘
Headquarters in Green county, Arkansas.—He is bushwhacked,
routed and killed.—Raid into Washington county with fourteen
men.—Attacked by twenty Federals.—Killed the man who piloted
Capt. John. 219
CHAPTER XXIX.
Took a raid into Missouri with four men.—Killed a
Federal.—Killed two of Capt. Milks‘ men.—Started to De
Soto.—Routed by the Federals.—Adventure with a German.—Killed
three Federals on Black river. 228
CHAPTER XXX.
Commanded the advance guard on Price‘s raid.—The Federals burn
Doniphan.—Routed the Federals completely.—Captured several
at Patterson.—Killed Abright at Farmington.—Left Price‘s
army.—Killed four Federals.—Major Montgomery storms Big River
Mills.—Narrow escape from capture. 237
CHAPTER XXXI.
Selected three men and went to Missouri to avenge the death of
Rev. William Polk.—Got ammunition in Fredericktown.—Killed the
German who informed on Polk.—Return to Arkansas. 244
CHAPTER XXXII.
Started with eight men on a trip to Arkansas river.—Hung a
“Scallawag” on White river.—Went into Conway county.—Treachery
of a negro on Point Remove.—“Foot-burning” atrocities.—Started
back and hung a renegade. 250
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Gloomy prospects for the South.—Takes a trip to Missouri with
four men.—Saved from capture by a woman.—Visits his mother
on Big river.—Robs the store of J. V. Tyler at Big River
Mills—Escapes to Arkansas. 257
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Started to Missouri with three men.—Surrounded at night near
Fredericktown.—Narrow escape by a cunning device.—Retired to
Simms‘ Mountain.—Swapped horses with Robert Hill, and captured
some more.—Killed Free Jim and kidnapped a negro boy. 264
CHAPTER XXXV.
Trip to Missouri with four men.—Attempt to rob Taylor‘s
store.—Fight with Lieut. Brown and his soldiers.—Killed
Miller and Johnson at Flat Woods.—Return home from his last
raid.—The war is pronounced to be at an end.—Reflections on the
termination of the war.—Mrs. Hildebrand‘s advice.—The parole at
Jacksonport. 275
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Imprisoned in Jacksonport jail.—Mrs. Hildebrand returns
to Missouri.—Escape from prison.—Final settlement in Ste.
Genevieve county.—St. Louis detectives make their first
trip.—The Governor‘s reward.—Wounded by Peterson.—Removed
to his uncle‘s.—Fight at John Williams‘.—Kills James
McLaine.—Hides in a cave. 286
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Military operations for his capture.—Col. Bowen captures the
Cave.—Progress of the campaign.—Advent of Governor McClurg.—The
Militia called out.—Don Quixote affair at the Brick Church.—The
campaign ended.—Mrs. Hildebrand escapes to Illinois.—“Sam”
leaves Missouri.—His final proclamation. 300
PREFACE.
The public having been grossly imposed upon by several spurious
productions purporting to be the “Life of Sam Hildebrand,” we have no
apology to offer for presenting the reader with his authentic narrative.
His confession was faithfully written down from his own lips, as the
foregoing certificates abundantly prove.
From this copious manuscript we have prepared his autobiography for
the press, with a scrupulous care to give it literally, so far as
the arbitrary rules of language would permit. Sam Hildebrand and the
authors of this work were raised up from boyhood together, in the same
neighborhood, and we are confident that no material facts have been
suppressed by Hildebrand in his confession.
The whole narrative is given to the reader without any effort upon our
part either to justify or condemn his acts. Our design was to give the
genuine autobiography of Sam Hildebrand; this we have done.
The book, as a record of bloody deeds, dare-devil exploits and
thrilling adventures, will have no rival in the catalogue of wonders;
for it at once unfolds, with minute accuracy, the exploits of
Hildebrand, of which one-half had never yet been told. Without this
record the world would forever remain in ignorance of the _night
history_ of his astounding audacity.
We here tender our thanks to those of our friends who have kindly
assisted us in this work, prominent among whom is Miss Hilda F. Sharp,
of Jefferson City, Mo., who furnished us with those beautiful pencil
sketches from which our engravings were made.
JAMES W. EVANS,
A. WENDELL KEITH, M. D.
BIG RIVER MILLS, MO., June, 1870.
INTRODUCTION.
THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE HILDEBRAND FAMILY.
Before proceeding with the Autobiography of Samuel S. Hildebrand,
we would call the attention of the reader to the fact, that since
notoriety has been thrust upon the subject of these memoirs, public
attention has been pointed to the fact, that in German history, the
Hildebrands occupy a very prominent position.
The authors of this work, by a diligent research into ancient German
literature, have been able to trace the origin and history of the
Hildebrand family, with tolerable accuracy, to the beginning of the
ninth century. The name Hildebrand or Hildebrandt is as old as the
German language. Hilde, in ancient German, signified a “Hero,” and
brand, a “blaze or flame.” It is thought by some writers that the name
doubtless signified a “flaming hero.”
Whether this is the case or not, it matters but little, as the fact
remains clearly defined that the first man of that name known to
history was a hero in every sense of the word. The “Heldenbuch” or Book
of Heroes, in its original form, dates back to the eighth century. It
is a beautiful collection of poems relative to Dietrich or Theodoric.
It was written down from memory by the Hessian monks on the outer pages
of an old Latin manuscript, and was first published by Eccard in prose,
but it was afterwards discovered that the songs were originally in
rhyme.
The poem treats of the expulsion of Dietrich of Vaum out of his
dominions by Ermenrick, his escape to Attila and his return after
an adventurous exile of thirty years. Hildebrand (the old Dietrich)
encounters his son, whom he left at home in his flight, in a terrible
encounter without knowing who he was. We will present the reader with
Das Hildebrands lied (The song of Hildebrand), not on account of any
literary merit it may possess, but because of its great antiquity and
its popularity among the German people at one time, and by whom it was
dramatized.
The Song of Hildebrand.
“I must be up and riding,” spoke Master Hildebrand,
“’Tis long since I have greeted the distant Berner land;
For many a pleasant summer in foreign lands we‘ve been,
But thirty years have vanished since I my wife have seen.”
“Wilt thou be up and riding?” outspoke Duke Amelung;
“Beware! since _one_ should meet thee—a rider brave and young.
Right by the Berner market—the brave Sir Alebrand;
If twelve men‘s strength were in thee, he‘d throw thee to the sand!”
“And doth he scorn the country in such a haughty mood?
I‘ll cleave in twain his buckler—‘twill do him little good;
I‘ll cleave in twain his armor with a resistless blow,
Which for a long year after shall cause his mother woe.”
Outspoke of Bern, Sir Dietrich, “now let that counsel be,
And slay him not, old hero, but take advice from me:
Speak gently to the Ritter, a kind word soonest mends;
And let your path be peaceful, so shall ye both be friends!”
And as he reached the garden, right by the mart of Berne;
There came against him riding, a warrior fierce and stern.
A brave young knight in armor, against Sir Hildebrand;
“What seekest thou, old Ritter, in this, thy father‘s land?”
“Thou bearest splendid armor, like one of royal kind;
So bright thy glit‘ering corselet, mine eyes are stricken blind;
Thou, who at home should‘st rest thee, and shun a warrior‘s stroke,
And slumber by the fireside,” the old man laughed and spoke.
“Should _I_ at firesides rest me, and nurse me well at home,
Full many a fight awaits me, to many a field I‘ll come.
In many a rattling foray, shall I be known and feared;
Believe my word, thou youngster, ’twas thus I blanched my beard.”
“That beard will I tear from thee, though great may be thy pain.
Until the blood-drops trickling, have sprinkled all the plain;
Thy fair green shield and armor, must thou resign to me,
Than seek the town, contented my prisoner to be.
“My armor and my fair green shield have warded many a blow;
I trust that God in Heaven still will guard me from my foe.”
No more they spoke together, but grasped their weapons keen,
And what the two most longed for, soon came to pass, I ween!
With glittering sword, the younger struck such a sudden blow,
That with its force the warrior, Sir Hildebrand, bent low;
The youth in haste recoiling, sprang twelve good steps behind,
“Such leaps,” exclaimed the gray-beard, “were learned of womankind.”
“Had I learned ought of woman, it were to me a shame,
Within my father‘s castle are many knights of fame;
Full many knights and riders about my father throng,
And what as yet, I know not, I trust to learn ere long.”
Sir Hildebrand was cunning, the old gray bearded man,
For when the youth uplifted, beneath his sword he ran;
Around the Ritter‘s girdle his arms he tightly bound,
And on the ground he cast him—there lies he on the ground!
“Who rubs against the kittles, may spotless keep who can—
How fares it now, young hero, against the _old gray man_?
Now quickly speak and shrive thee, for I thy priest will be;
Say, art thou a young Wolfing? perhaps I‘ll let thee free.”
“Like wolves are all the Wolfing, they ran wild in the wood,
But I‘m a Grecian warrior, a rider brave and good;
Frau Ute is my mother, she dwelleth near this spot,
And _Hildebrand_, my father, albeit he knows us not!”
“Is Ute then thy mother, that monarch‘s daughter free?
Seekest thou thy father, Hildebrand? then know that _I_ am he!”
Uplifted he his golden helm, and kissed him on the mouth;
Now God be praised that both are safe! the old man and the youth.
“Oh, father dear, those bloody wounds!” ’twas thus the young knight said:
“Now would I three times rather bear those blows upon my head.”
“Be still, be still, my own dear son! the wounds will soon be past;
And God in Heaven above be praised, that we have met at last!”
This lasted from the noonday well to the vesper tide,
Then back into the city Sir Alebrand did ride.
What bears he on his helmet? a little cross of gold;
Who is he that rides beside him? his own dear father old.
And with him to his castle, old Hildebrand he bore,
And with his own hands served him—the mother grieved full sore—
“Ah, son, my ever dearest son, the cause I fain would know,
Why a strange prisoner, like this, should e‘er be honored so?”
“Now, silence, dearest mother, and list to what I say!
He almost slew me on the heath in open light to-day;
He ne‘er shall wear, good mother, a prisoner‘s attire,
‘Tis Hildebrand, the valient, thy husband and my sire!
Oh, mother, dearest mother, do him all honor now;”
Then flew she to her husband, and served him well, I trow;
What holds the brave old father? a glittering ring of gold;
He drops it in the wine cup—it is her husband old!
We congratulate our readers on having survived the reading of the above
poem, written a thousand years ago, about old Dietrich, the “father
Abraham” of all the Hildebrands; but he must not forget that he is
subject to a relapse, for here are two verses not taken from the “Book
of Heroes,” but from an old popular song in use to this day among the
peasantry in South Germany:
Hildebrand and his son Hudebrand.
Hildebrand and his son Hudebrand—Alebrand,
Rode off together with sword in hand—sword in hand—
To make fierce war on Venice;
Hildebrand and his son Hudebrand—Alebrand,
Never could find the Venetian land—‘netian land.
With flaming swords to menace!
Hildebrand and his son Hudebrand—Alebrand,
Got drunk as pigs with a jolly band—jolly band,
All the while swearing and bawling;
Hildebrand and his son Hudebrand—Alebrand,
Drank till they could neither walk nor stand—walk nor stand,
Home on all fours they went a crawling.
The reader will perceive that the peasantry are disposed to “poke fun”
at the great ancestor of the Hildebrand family; this, however, we will
attribute to envy, and make no effort to prove that “Hildebrand and his
son Hudebrand” were Good Templars, lest we prove too much, and cause
the reader to doubt their Dutch origin altogether.
Following the geneology down, we meet with several of the Hildebrands
celebrated in the ecclesiastical, literary and scientific world. Of the
parentage of Gregory VII. but little is known more than that he was a
Hildebrand, born near Rome, but of German parents. On becoming a Roman
Pontiff in 1077, he assumed the name of Gregory. He occupied the chair
of St. Peter for eight years, during which time he assumed an authority
over the crowned heads of Europe, never before attempted. He was a bold
man, but was driven from his chair in 1085.
George Frederick Hildebrand was a famous physician, who was born June
5, 1764, at Hanover. He was one of the most learned men of his age; was
appointed professor of Anatomy at Brunswick, but he soon took the chair
of Chemistry, at Erlangen, in Bavaria. He died March 23, 1816, leaving
some of the most elaborate and valuable works ever written.
Ferdinand Theodore Hildebrand was born Juno 2, 1804, and under the
tuition of Professor Schadaw, at Berlin, he became very renowned as a
painter. He followed his tutor to Dusseldorf in 1826, and was one of
the most celebrated artists of the Academy of Painting at that place.
In 1830 Hildebrand visited Italy to view the productions of some of
the old masters, and afterwards traveled through the Netherlands. Some
of his best pictures were drawn to represent scenes in the works of
Shakspeare, of which “King Lear mourning over the death of Cordelia,”
was perhaps the most important. But among the critics, “The sons of
Edward” was considered his greatest production.
It is not our purpose to name all the illustrious Hildebrands who have
figured in German history or literature; for it must be borne in mind
that from the ninth century down to the sixteenth, the name Hildebrand
was almost invariably applied as a given name; it was not until that
century that it appears as a sur-name. It is a fact, however, well
known to historians, that the same given name is frequently retained in
a family, and handed down from one generation to another perhaps for
one thousand years.
In the southern part of Germany the name Hildebrand was borne by a
certain class of vassals, but in the Northern States of that country,
there were families of noble birth by the same name. The record of
those nobles runs back with a great deal of certainty to a very remote
period of German history—beyond which, the dim out-lines of tradition
alone can be our guide. This tradition, whether entitled to credit or
not, traces the geneology of the Hildebrands in the line of nobles up
to Sir Hildebrand, the exiled hero mentioned in the Book of Heroes.
According to the record of the Hildebrand family, as given by Henry
Hildebrand of Jefferson county, Missouri, to the authors of this work;
the seventh generation back reaches to Peter Hildebrand of Hanover. He
was born in 1655, and was the youngest son of a nobleman. His father
having died while Peter was yet a boy, he was educated at a military
school, and after arriving to manhood he served several years in the
army. Returning at length, he was vexed at the cold reception he
received from his elder brother, who now inherited the estate with all
the titles of nobility belonging to the family. He resolved to emigrate
to the wild solitudes of America, where individual worth and courage
was the stepping stone to honor and distinction.
His family consisted of a wife and three children; his oldest son,
Jacob, was born in 1680; when he was ten years of age the whole family
emigrated to New Amsterdam, remained three years and then settled in
the northern part of Pennsylvania, where he died a few years afterwards.
Jacob Hildebrand‘s second son, Jacob, was born in 1705. He was fond
of adventure and joined in several exploring expeditions in one of
which he was captured by a band of Miami Indians, and only escaped by
plunging into the Ohio river and concealing himself under a drift of
floating logs. His feelings of hostility against the Indians prompted
him to join the expedition against them under Lieutenant Ward, who
erected a fort at what is now called Pittsburg, in 1754, here he was
killed in a vain attempt to hold the garrison against the French and
Indians under Contrecoeur.
His third son, John Hildebrand, was born in 1733, and at the death of
his father was twenty-one years of age. Like most of the frontiermen
of this early period, he seemed to have an uncontrolable love of
adventure. His most ardent desire was to explore the great valley of
the Mississippi. At the period of which we are now speaking (1754),
he joined James M. Bride and others and passed down the Ohio river in
a canoe; to his regret, however, the company only reached the mouth
of the Kentucky river, cut their initials in the barks of trees, and
then returned. In 1770 he removed to Missouri. His family consisted of
his wife and two boys—Peter was born in 1758, and Jonathan in 1762.
He built a flat-boat on the banks of the Ohio, and taking a bountiful
supply of provisions, he embarked with his family. To avoid the Indians
he kept as far from each shore as possible, and never landed but
once to pass around the shoals. On reaching the Mississippi he spent
more than a week in ascending that river to gain a proper point for
crossing. He landed on the western side at Ste. Genevieve.
Viewing the country there as being rather thickly settled, he moved
back into the wilderness about forty miles and settled on Big River at
the mouth of Saline creek. He was the first settler in that country
which was afterwards organized as Jefferson county. He opened a fine
farm on Saline creek, built houses, and considered himself permanently
located in that wild country. The Indians were unfriendly, and their
hostility toward white settlers seemed to increase until 1780, when
Peter Chouteau, by order of the Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana,
went to see Hildebrand and warned him to leave on account of Indian
depredations. He then removed to Ste. Genevieve.
In 1783, Peter Hildebrand left Ste. Genevieve and settled on Big River
in the same neighborhood where his father had resided. He had a wife
and four children, whose names were, Isaac, Abraham, David, and Betsy.
He was a good marksman and very fond of hunting. After he had resided
there about one year, he was shot and killed by the Indians on the
bank of Big River one morning while on his return from hunting wild
game; after which the family removed nearer to a settlement.
In 1802, David Hildebrand settled on Big River, and about the same time
Jonathan Hildebrand settled himself permanently on the same river. He
lived until the commencement of the late war, and then died at the
age of one hundred years. He had three sons, whose names are, George,
Henry, and Samuel.
In 1832, George Hildebrand and his family moved higher up on Big
River and settled in St. Francois county—his house was the Hildebrand
homestead referred to in these pages—and he was the father of Samuel S.
Hildebrand, whose Autobiography we now submit to our readers.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SAMUEL S. HILDEBRAND.
CHAPTER I.
Introduction.—Yankee Fiction.—Reasons for making a full
confession.
Since the close of the late rebellion, knowing that I had taken a very
active part during its progress several of my friends have solicited
me to have my history written out in full. This anxiety to obtain the
history of an individual so humble as myself, may be attributed to
the fact, that never perhaps since the world began, have such efforts
been put forth by a government for the suppression of one man alone,
as have been used for my capture, both during the war and since its
termination. The extensive military operations carried on by the
Federal government in South-east Missouri, were in a great measure
designed for my special destruction.
Since the close of the rebellion, while others are permitted to
remain at home in peace, the war, without any abatement whatever, has
continued against me with a vindictiveness and a lavish expenditure
of money that has no parallel on this continent; but through it all,
single-handed, have I come out unscathed and unconquered.
My enemies have thrust notoriety upon me, and have excited the public
mind at a distance with a desire to know who I am and what I have done.
Taking advantage of this popular inquiry, some enterprising individual
in an eastern state has issued two or three novels purporting to be
my history, but they are not even founded on fact, and miss the mark
about as far as if they were designed for the Life of Queen Victoria.
I seriously object to the use of my name in any such a manner. Any
writer, of course, who is afflicted with an irresistible desire to
write fiction, has a perfect right to do so, but he should select a
fictitious name for the hero of his novels, that his works may stand
or fall, according to their own intrinsic merit, rather than the name
of an individual whose notoriety alone would insure the popularity of
his books. But an attempt to palm a novel on the inquiring public as a
history of my life, containing as it does a catalogue of criminal acts
unknown to me in all my career, is not only a slander upon myself, but
a glaring fraud upon the public.
Much of our misfortune as a nation may be attributed to the pernicious
influence of the intolerant, intermeddling, irrepressible writers of
falsehood. In a community where the spirit of fiction pervades every
department of literature and all the social relations of life, writers
become so habituated to false coloring and deception, that plain
unadorned truth has seldom been known to eminate from their perverted
brains; it would be just as impossible for them to write down a naked
fact as it would for the Prince of Darkness to write a volume of psalms.
The friend who has finally succeeded in tracing me to my quiet retreat
in the wild solitudes of the down trodden South, is requesting me
to make public the whole history of my life, without any attempt at
palliation, concealment or apology. This I shall now proceed to do, in
utter disregard to a perverted public opinion, and without the least
desire or expectation of receiving justice from the minds of those who
never knew justice, or sympathy from those who are destitute of that
ingredient.
The necessity that was forced upon me to act the part I did during the
reign of terror in Missouri, is all that I regret. It has deprived me
of a happy home and the joys of domestic peace and quietude; it has
driven me from the associations of childhood, and all the scenes of
early life that so sweetly cling to the memory of man; it has caused my
kind and indulgent mother to go down into her grave sorrowing; it has
robbed me of three affectionate brothers who were brutally murdered and
left weltering in their own innocent blood; it has reduced me and my
family to absolute want and suffering, and has left us without a home,
and I might almost say, without a country.
A necessity as implacable as the decrees of Fate, was forced upon me by
the Union party to espouse the opposite side; and all the horrors of a
merciless war were waged unceasingly against me for many months before
I attempted to raise my hand in self defense. But fight I must, and
fight I did! War was the object, and war it was. I never engage in but
one business at a time—my business during the war was killing enemies.
It is a very difficult matter to carry on a war for four years without
some one getting hurt. If I did kill over a hundred men during the war,
it was only because I was in earnest and supposed that everybody else
was. My name is cast out as evil because I adopted the military tactics
not in use among large armies. They were encumbered with artillery and
fought where they had ample room to use it, I had no artillery and
generally fought in the woods; my plan was the most successful, for in
the regular army the rebels did not kill more than one man each during
the war.