I am looking for information re: the killing of Young Finas Stevens of Wayne Co MO. Rose Cramer writes in her book "Wayne County Missouri" : “…in August 1862 Mr. Reeve was teaching about six subscription pupils when a messenger came and took away Finas and Alex Stephens. The man said that their father Young Finas Stephens had been murdered. The boys were also threatened. The boys were told to hitch up the ox cart and fetch their father’s body home. They found the corpse and turned it over to their mother, then escaped to Madison County where they hid from their enemies.” Page 428, Cramer.

There is a message on this board posted by John Russell which states, in part:

Re: More on Joel Dennis By:John Russell
Date: Monday, 8 October 2007

"…..The Dennis family connects back to Young Finas Stephens of Greenville MO who was murdered Jul 4 1864 on his farm by Union soldiers. His wife was banished to Illinois for the duration of the war."

Can anyone tell me what the correct date of his death would be, and where this information comes from? Is there something in the Provost Marshall's papers regarding his wife Emily's banishment? I did not find an entry under his (or her) name in the online Union Provost Marshall Papers database, and I don't find him listed at the Soldier's and Sailor's website.

Why would he have been killed by Union soldiers? Was he accused of something specific? Would appreciate any information.
Thanks,
Cynthia