Darrell,
I will tell Dad how you relate to the Maples who rented and then bought the house in McGirk, and that he was correct about Betty Maples, only he couldn't remember her first name. Even though he is 90, Dad's mind is real sharp.

Regarding Shumate, up until about a year or two ago his descendant in Grayson County, TX was emailing me about what she researched about him. I will look up my correspondence with her and give you more from that later. I remember she wrote that Wiley owned and operated a store in or near Grayson County, and he is buried nearby. I saw a faded picture of his tombstone.

I think that Wiley Shumate is a son of Methodist minister Nathan Shumate of Jefferson City. Nathan was born in KY and was 40 in the 1860 census, with the older children born in Indiana, probably including Wiley. The next nearest Shumates were in Crawford County, two counties away from Cole County. Wiley was probably on his own at the time of the census, which missed him. There was an 18-year-old Mary Shumate born in Indiana living in the Nathan Shumate household, then much younger children, not to mention 34-year-old Indiana-born Harriett, who was probably Nathan's wife.

The "Daily MO Democrat" of 29 January 1862 has a long list of POW's released from Gratiot Street Prison in St. Louis after taking oath of U.S. allegiance and in the list was W. H. Shumate, perhaps our guy.

The Wiley Shumate who was one of Crabtree's staff or cadre served in Pindall's Sharpshooters as Private, Company A, enlisted 29 August 1862, but that he deserted at Fort Smith AR 10 January 1863. I don't blame Wiley for leaving that last part out of his pension application.

I am starting to think as you do, that Crabtree is the lieutenant L. P. Crabtree. I also agree with another's assessment that Crabtree was an effective although bloodthirsty recruiter, that last part caused the Confederacy to refuse to bring him into their army as an officer. Perhaps that business about him taking upon himself the title of "general" bothered the Confederate officials, too.

More later, Bruce