Riverbend Journal

  A picture from  Claude depicting where I will be for the next week. He apparently isn't as gifted of a painter as Microsoft's Bing AI .

Although few details were offered, McComb and Taylor weren't on the lamb for long and the Sheriff and a posse of seven men caught up with the pair about two miles south of Portland in Van Buren county, about 20 miles away, three days after their escape. The Sheriff and the posse successfully brought the pair back the same day and ensconced them back in their cells with their shackles once more back on. Four days later, another mob started forming. An estimated 300 men, mostly from Wapello county but a few as far away as Keokuk county, began forming in an attempt to bring about justice in the form of hanging McComb. According to witnesses, many were from the July mob that had unsuccessfully tried the same thing. But when the mob made it's way to the jail, they found it well guarded, they had second thoughts about retrieving McComb by force and so appointed a committee to request that Sheriff Derby resign his office or at least put up a resemblance of a fight why they stripped th...

William Hix Wells, Maud Orinda Wemple and five of their eight children I have begun to turn my focus onto my 2nd great grandparents in my quest to write up a set of notes on my ancestors with the sum total of my research. Above are two of my 2nd great grandparents with my great grandmother Dorothy, sitting on William lap on the left and three of her older sisters and younger brother. This picture was taken probably 1906 when the young boy, Myron was born earlier that January. In the process of doing notes, one of my first steps is to look up an obituary if possible and indeed I found one for my great great grandmother Maud. As I was reading through it, I was shocked to see that she was a member of the Daughter's of the Confederacy. Older readers will know that I have sought out Confederate ancestors to see if there were any slave holders among them but to day, I have found not a single one though I have identified one family that moved from the Virginia area right at the start of t...

  Victor Stephen Kuck In my quest to write research notes on my ancestors, I started writing them on the one great grandfather whom I got to meet in person and have 12 years of memories with, Victor Kuck. I thought I knew everything I could know about the man because I often talked to my grandparents about him and even his wife, my great grandmother, for many years after Victor's death. I assume that I also talked to him but I have no memories of those conversations, only one sided ones I had with him after a stroke left him uncommunicative. I also have my great great grandmother's memory album full of newspaper clippings on those around her including dozens of them about her son Victor.  After compiling all the information from various typical genealogy records like census, birth, marriage, death and military records, I am of the habit to do one more search for newspaper articles on the person at hand, in case I might turn up something interesting or unknown. Also, all the ne...

After a nearly all night grilling session by Sheriff Derby, son George finally confessed to the truth.  Both McComb and Taylor had repeatedly over the months, shared gifts of fruit they received from visitors with George and he had reciprocated by volunteering to purchase things that the prisoners desired, often allowing George to pocket some of the change. At the same time, the prisoners told George of all their plans to see the world when their trials were over, often involving shows, circuses, and theaters. George, like most 11 year old boys, got caught up in the excitement so when they offered him a large sum of money to help them escape and even promised to take George with them to see all these marvels that he had only read about or heard others talk of seeing.  After weeks of grooming, the date of their escape had been set for Monday, August 22, 1864 but when the prisoners heard of Derby's departure to Keokuk the following day, when Deputy Sheriff Jones would be watchin...