Benjamin F Simpson was my great great grandfather. His daughter Hattie Simpson married my great grandfather William Thomas Nichols. I have a book "The History of Bates County" published in 1901 that tells the story. Cass County was split into two counties, Cass and Bates Co. On January 1st 1862 the Kansas 7th cav. whose ranks were full of the murderous Redlegs burned Dayton Missouri. This was a ongoing raid that saw the burning of Morristown and other towns along the Kansas/Missouri border.
On January 2nd 1862 this group came upon Benjamin Simpson in a field and demanded his horses. He refused so the Kansas Redlegs decided he had to be a Confederate and murdered him on the spot. He was buried in the Dayton cemetary and you can see a photo of his marker on the find a grave website. I was born and raised just a couple of miles south of Dayton cemetary just across the Grand River crossing.