Seeking information on General Stewart Benjamin Hatton, the so-called King of Blackfoot (Perche Township, Boone County, Mo). Born Feb. 5, 1811, son of Ruben and Joan Ballew Hatton. Findagrave claims he died Aug. 7, 1874, but shame on them because that is incorrect. Findagrave didn't have a photo of the headstone so that speaks for itself, not to mention the fact he was prominently living and breathing after that date.
Stewart B. Hatton's rank was real, coming by virtue of pre-war service in the Boone County Militia. I'm not finding him in any civil war databases, although he led troops on at least two occasions in 1861. I suspect he never had an official commission in the MSG of CSA.
During the Civil War he actively recruited for the Confederacy, and led troops in the July 16, 1861 skirmish south of Fulton in Callaway County. Thomas A. Harris was in overall command of Confederate forces that day (he soon afterwards became a member of the Confederate States Congress).
A few months after this Fulton skirmish Hatton was de facto ranking Confederate officer of a few hundred southern troops during the Kingdom of Callaway events. Confederate-supporting Col. Jeff Jones gets all the good press from that one because of his savvy and masterful handling of the public messaging after the Southern forces disbursed and went home in the face of a few thousand Federal troops moving in quickly from every direction.
In the immediate aftermath of that affair Hatton was arrested and was held in Macon and/or Mexico for several weeks before being transferred to St. Louis, arriving there November 29, 1861. He soon took the oath, went home, and then got into more trouble. Taken into custody a second time, he escaped. Then around November 1, 1863 he was taken into custody a third time. Anyway, that's the gist of what I've cobbled together on him so far. Congressman James S. Rollins reportedly wanted him shot violating the oath and being so troubling.
Hatton was a prominent political figure in Boone County both prior to the Civil War, and after. The History of Boone County has a bio on him and speaks of him in the present tense indicating he was still alive in the 1880s. And he shows up in political campaigns and serving in public office a long after the 1874 date.
In addition, I've found two newspaper references from August 1893 speaking about how he was totally blind and in failing health. He would have been 82 at that time. I'm guessing he died around then..."guessing"...because he totally disappears after that. I'm not finding anything on him, which, for such a prominent pioneer of Boone County, is a bit perplexing.
Anyway, I'm trying to flesh out more details on his time in and out of Federal prisons during the war, as well as piece together a date of death on him. As always, any assistance is very much appreciated.