The Missouri in the Civil War Message Board

Re: Seriously flawed research/logic/headstone

I spent the day working on this David Guitar story and I think I know how the Confederate and southern sympathizer rumor started.

First, there is substantial primary evidence to suggest David Guitar was a Captain in the 61st EMM. The Missouri SOS database shows this with his enrollment date Sept 27, 1862 in Columbia MO and 79 days of service. The Journal of the Senate of the State of Missouri at the Adjourned session of the 22nd General Assembly published in 1863 shows him as a Captain in Company B of 61st EMM. The Columbia Statesmen if Dec 26, 1863 page 3 has a list of officers of the 61st. David Guitar comes up in a text search but I cannot put my eyeballs on this document. The Will F. Switzler 1882 History of Boone County lists David Guitar as a member of the 61st EMM (p 482). It also contains references to his post-war activities in various committees and leadership roles that would not be possible as a former Confederate during that time period.(various pages) The same book has his biography which indicates he was a captain of a militia company under General Douglass.(page 764). This would be General Joseph B. Douglass who led the 61st EMM. Mr Guitar's entry in the 1910 census correctly does not claim Union army service--he was a member of the Missouri EMM. (Mr Guitar is indexed as David Grinter for those seeking him).

David Guitar was quoted in the University Missourian Dec 6 1911. "Although we lived out on the farm at the time of the Civil War we were not often molested," said Captain David Guitar. "This circumstance may have been due to the influence of my brother General Odon Guitar, a brigadier general in the State Militia." He recounted a story when soldiers came to his door at night and left the family unharmed.

David Guitar's obituary in the University Missourian Jan 2, 1912 page 1 explicitly stated that he was a captain in the Union Army. Additionally, it revealed that the cause of death was senility at age 85.

Here's where the problem started--back on Feb 9, 1911 the University Missourian published David Guitar's life story. Quoting: "At the outbreak of the Civil War, Mr. Guitar was given a commission in the Confederate Army by Governor Gamble. He enlisted at Independence KS. His brother was a general in the Confederate Army. Mr Guitar freed four slaves valued at $5000." As we know, Governor Gamble cooperated with the Union. General Oden Guitar's papers are in the Missouri State Historical Society, all digitalized, transcribed and searchable; he is definitely a Union officer. Oden's union military records are available for inspection at Fold 3. So what happened? Was the elderly Mr. Guitar confused and suffering from senility or was the reporter confused? Could the reporter have heard "militia" and not realized the complex history of the period? After all, he was writing 50 years later and did not have easy access to a guidebook. Given the journalistic standards of the time period, I vote for the latter.

Nevertheless, the story was apparently used as a source by Walter Williams when he produced the 1913 Volume 2 of A history of northeast Missouri. Mr. David Guitar's bio appears on page 1249. This book is cited by the Missouri Secretary of State Civil War soldier's index as the sole source for David Guitar Confederate soldier. The card indicates that Williams suggests Guitar raised a company and served until the close of the war under Price. Maybe, the clerk who prepared this card thought that EMM meant Confederate. Maybe the book states that he was Confederate. I could not examine this book--my closest copy is at Stanford--which has very limited access for non-students. Perhaps, one of you can check the exact wording.

Then Marie Nau prepared the 1993 report nominating the David Guitar house for the National Register of Historic Places. On page 6, she cites the Will Switzler History of Boone county page 482 mention of David Guitar as part of the 61st EMM. And then she refers to him as a confederate--even though she knows he was in the EMM. However, she learned that the property "Confederate Hill" was so-named by [Ward A.] Dorrance" purchased the property and the home in 1940. Perhaps, knowing the name "Confederate Hill" biased her against checking what EMM meant and how it came about.

David Guitar was a slave holder. In 1860 census, he owned 15 people. The names are arranged in two family groups. Six people were age 12 and older. The 12 year old boy was Mulatto. In the Census of 1880 and 1900 Mr Guitar had a black servant woman living with the family. Sometimes the woman had children. The next one or two households were comprised of Black families. The 1993 report on the David Guitar site indicated that the property was once very large, serving as a farm and a mill. Perhaps, black families continued to work for Mr. Guitar. As an aside, I did not find any slaves associated with Mr. Oden Guitar in the 1860 Slave Census.

I have found some remembrances that suggest the EMM groups were comprised exclusively of people who were not really pro-union, but just trying to find a way to survive. Perhaps, that is true for some people. In my extended family, most men went to war. The remaining men were older and they cared for all the farms and all the women and children. In David Guitar's case, he may have been encouraged to stay behind to keep his mill running. He had many young children and by 1870 his wife's parents and "crippled" brother were living with them. Could that have been a factor in his decision to delay service until the mandatory call-up?

I investigated Mr Guitar's grave in Boone County using Findagrave. He is part of an extended family gravesite with a simple in-ground marker for his name. The marker style does not match the style used in my area during his death year. There is a large monument for the family name. I wonder whether he is in the cemetery or if the marker is a memorial. I do not see any marking of his Confederate service. However, perhaps there is a separate plaque somewhere else at the cemetery. The cemetery website refers to him as a Confederate. Perhaps, some Confederate grave marking group used information in Mr. Walter Williams book as sufficient proof of Mr. Guitar's confederate service. I wonder whether descendants knew. Perhaps, someone in Boone County could explore this more thoroughly.

It seems to me that Mr. David Guitar was a slave holder who recognized the importance of joining the EMM when the time came.

In my neck of the woods, we have a court of historical accuracy run by a local superior court judge. We can bring "Historic Wrongs" to the court and argue them like a court case and the judge and jury (comprised of historians) make a decision and letters are issued to various agencies to correct or annotate their errors. The results are published in our local papers and newsletters. Would Boone County or Missouri have something like that?

Messages In This Thread

Controversy re: David Guitar, Columbia, Mo.
Re: Controversy re: David Guitar, Columbia, Mo.
Seriously flawed research/logic/headstone
Primer on Slaveholding Unionism
Re: Primer on Slaveholding Unionism
More slaveowning Unionists
Newspaper report of Guitar's death; Ghosbusters
Re: More slaveowning Unionists
Re: More slaveowning Unionists
Re: More slaveowning Unionists
Re: More slaveowning Unionists
Re: Seriously flawed research/logic/headstone
Re: Seriously flawed research/logic/headstone
EMM membership; Odon Guitar as slaveholder
Re: Seriously flawed research/logic/headstone
David Guitar myth dissected
Re: David Guitar myth dissected
Re: Seriously flawed research/logic/headstone
Re: Controversy re: David Guitar, Columbia, Mo.
Re: Controversy re: David Guitar, Columbia, Mo.
Re: Controversy re: David Guitar, Columbia, Mo.
Re: Controversy re: David Guitar, Columbia, Mo.
Re: Controversy re: David Guitar, Columbia, Mo.
Contents of Special Order 126, 1864?
Re: Contents of Special Order 126, 1864?
Re: Contents of Special Order 126, 1864?
Re: Contents of Special Order 126, 1864?
Re: Contents of Special Order 126, 1864?
Re: Contents of Special Order 126, 1864?
Re: Contents of Special Order 126, 1864?
Re: Contents of Special Order 126, 1864?
Re: Contents of Special Order 126, 1864?
Re: Contents of Special Order 126, 1864?
Special Order 126 seems to have targeted Radicals
Re: Special Order 126 seems to have targeted Radic
Review DMD?; David Guitar a Radical??
Re: Contents of Special Order 126, 1864?
David Guitar loyalty; Analysis of his company
Re: Controversy re: David Guitar, Columbia, Mo.
Re: Controversy re: David Guitar, Columbia, Mo.