John,

The man I seek went by "J. Drury Pulliam," too. I put in the "John" so that we wouldn't leave a stone unturned.

As you acknowledge, this man can't be positively identified in the 1860 census (and evidently not in the 1850 one either).

The tombstone date (corrected to Oct. 8, 1864) matches rather well to the Captain J. Drury Pulliam I seek, although I don't seem to have anything on him after May 1864 myself. Eakin and Hale's "Branded As Rebels" gives the date for his capture and murder as 29 August 1864 according to his former commander, Colonel Sidney Drake Jackman. The problem I have with this is that Jackman in the "O.R." excerpt Elmer cited does not give the date for Pulliam's demise. Eakin and Hale give as their sources either Neil Block, a knowledgeable researcher of Randolph County, and "Monnett," but I can't find a "Monnett" in the "Branded As Rebels" bibliography. There were instances in late summer 1864 where Confederate behind-Union-lines recruiters were captured and murdered, but not on or near those dates to my knowledge. However, while General Price's raid was underway sheer bedlam broke out across wide areas and it is possible that Captain Pulliam could have been captured and slain on 8 October 1864 somewhere in central or northeast Missouri, and I not have a record of it.

I still don't know if those military service cards for Sergeant J. D. Pulliam of Howard and Texas Counties could be Jackman's Captain J. Drury Pulliam. I'm just not sure enough to stake my reputation on that yet.

Bruce