Don’t slink from reading this story with this slithery title, but stop and read it, for your forebear’s name will not be mentioned, besides my five uncles were of this tribe, who belonged to the Knights of the Golden Circle, and had as their John the Baptist, Clement Laird Vallandigham. This Clement Laird Vallandigham was born July 29, 1820, the son of a New Lisbon (now Lisbon) Presbyterian minister. Although the father bore a good reputation, the son never improved the world in which he lived, but the fact that he did live, gave rise to thousands of men losing their lives; provoked son to be arrayed against father; brother against brother; neighborhood against neighborhood; and dissension in churches. On top of all this, he caused his deepest concern to Abraham Lincoln, then President of the United States, when that great benefactor to all mankind was carrying a burden that was almost crushing. While this minister’s son was preaching the doctrines of Beelzebub, Lincoln was showing the highest type of moral leadership, and now almost a century later, still the best known and revered statesman in American history.

Many here in Ohio, even here in Knox Township, flocked to this arch traitor, Vallandigham’s banner, letting his filthy hogwash type of politics sway their emotions, when he villified [sic] the great emancipator from Illinois.

He lapsed into that villainous depth of calling Lincoln such names as "Lincoln the ape," "Abraham Africanus," and "the brute who masquerades as a human."

He often repeated such traitorous remarks as,

On all occasions this rabble rousing, disloyal rascal attacked Lincoln with vituperation and extreme bitterness, and roused his half witted followers to a frenzy—often leading to violence and disobedience. Towards Lincoln’s war efforts, he was defiant, and made extreme efforts to render them ineffective by urging disobedience, inciting riot and bloodshed. Lincoln pondered long hours what to do with this moral degenerate leader, who gloried that he and his followers bore such significant names as "Copperheads and Butternuts," and backed by such secret Southern sympathizing organizations as the "Knights of the Golden Circle" and the "Sons of Liberty."

The latter organization boasted that their purpose was,

As noted above, Lincoln studied deep and long about what he should do with arch traitor, Vallandigham. In his sound, hard reasoning Lincoln knew that one red mouth active radical, could do more harm than a dozen luke warm, conservative, appeasing people. He also knew, that whatever he did, he would be soundly condemned by these disciples of Lucifer. That, although the man deserved the reward of a firing squad, his brazen dupes would take this as martyrdom; he wisely knew that this type of traitor was not wanted even by those he was aiding, so that Lincoln was aided by a military order issued by Gen. Burnside on April 13, 1863, known as "General Order Number 38," stating among other things that, "The habit of declaring sympathy for the enemy will not be allowed."

On May 10, Vallandigham defied this order, in fact spat upon a copy, and then trampled it under his feet, and Lincoln in May, 1863, ordered that he be sent south through the Confederate lines, where he could be among real rebels who fought with iron guns, instead of brazen brassy tongues.

He was coldly received by the rebels, as Lincoln had expected, so that very soon he left for Wilmington, North Carolina. Here on June 17,1863, he boarded a rebel blockade runner and landed in Canada, to take up a new location and carry on his attack from Windsor, Canada, opposite Detroit. From Windsor, Canada, he ran for Governor of Ohio. He was soundly defeated by the God-fearing people of Ohio, Jno. Brough getting a majority of 101,099 votes. When running for Governor of Ohio, Vallandigham advised the south, "To hold out until after the election, when the democrats would sweep all and be forced to make peace."

Lincoln was delighted in Vallandigham’s, "The Exiled Hero’s," defeat and sent Brough the following telegram: "Glory to God in the highest! Ohio has saved the nation."

In a carefully worded letter to offset Vallandigham’s actions he said,

Up and until this time the great Civil War had not been going along as successfully as it should be, and disloyalty here in the north was at a high stage of activity.

Because most of the active, loyal men were already in the army, it was a time when the slimy Copperhead followers of Vallandigham came out of hibernation.

Among the Pennsylvania Dutch of Western Knox township, as were the same people of Salem and Germano, fully three-fourths of them were members or sympathizers of these disloyal organizations. The two worst, that had large following in southeastern Ohio, were the Knights of the Golden Circle, and the Sons of Liberty. These two held secret meetings at night in barns. They had military drills and bought revolvers; held horseback parades at night, to frighten loyal women and children, and to impress furloughed soldiers of their might and bravery; they had sent word to their rebel brothers in the cause, that if the south would invade Indiana and Ohio, these disloyal cowards (never known to keep their word) would turn out by the thousands and sweep everything before them.

General ROSENCRANS's Union Army was, in the early summer of 1863, putting stiff pressure on BRAGGS's Confederate Army in Tennessee, and Bragg hoping to ease the squeeze by cutting off the Union army's communications and supplies, sent General John Hunt MORGAN with three thousand troops to threaten Rosecran's rear. Morgan was ordered to go into Kentucky with eleven hundred men, and if possible capture Louisville, but not to cross into Ohio. It was at this point that Morgan was encouraged by these Northern Copperheads, and believing the plum was ripe and ready to pick, he made a dash into Indiana where these reptiles were most plentiful, and as usual they reacted as if a frost had overtaken them, and they retired into deep hibernation until the danger was over.

On July 13, John Morgan, John Hunt and his men crossed from Indiana to Ohio, going around strong forces posted at Cincinnati. Two days later he reached Washington Court House, and on the 18th of July he tried to re-cross the Ohio back into Kentucky, but failed, so he later tried to cross at the mouth of the Muskingum, but was being pushed too hard to be successful.

Now headed off in all his attempts to recross the Ohio, he made for "Old Nebo, (now Bergholz) where he arrived on the evening of July 25th, 1863.

While here at Old Nebo, as Bergholz was formerly named, this truly disgusting incident took place. Morgan was invited to take dinner at the home of Keziah Morgan ALLISON. She was the sister of Jane Morgan, and both were cousins of General Morgan.

Now Jane Morgan was the mother of William CAMPBELL, the very man who joined up with William PITTENGER in the celebrated Andrew's Raid in 1862, during which they stole a locomotive on the Georgia State Railroad, but failed, and were captured. William Campbell, a large man, when hanged broke the rope and fell to the ground. When he regained his senses they compelled him to mount the gallows, when a stronger rope was used, with success. Surely Aunt Keziah Morgan Allison's soul, conscience and good sense could all have occupied a grain of mustard seed with the lid down and a "Room for Rent" sign displayed on the outside. When her dear cousin General John Hunt Morgan, Arch Rebel and Horse Thief Plenipotentiary, had to leave her, she gave him a new, clean shirt, and he left several of his badly wounded rebels for her to look after.

Here at Nebo, he found a true Copperhead, by the name of TAYLOR, who lived on the Middle Fork of Yellow Creek. He invited Morgan to occupy his best bed for the night, and on the following morning at three o'clock, he showed and led Morgan to the best route of escape—the same rebel horse thief that had stolen a half hundred horses in that vicinity, while there—besides burning the county bridge in front of Taylor's house.

At this point we will drop the doings of Morgan and his "friends" and see what other things were happening.

If the reader had been standing nearby the little five-year-old- railroad at Shanghai (now Empire) on that hot summer afternoon of July 24, 1863, you would have seen a little wood burner locomotive steam into the burg of Shanghai, her cars loaded down with four hundred men and their horses. This was Major George W. RUE.;'s Ninth Kentucky Calvary. Officers had been notified by Major BROOKS to place this cavalry unit aboard cars and make with all speed for Steubenville, due to a telegram General BURNSIDE had sent to Major WAY on July 25, 1863. It read as follows:

When Major Rue reached Steubenville, he found that Morgan's army had been in the nearby village of Wintersville and was rapidly heading towards Richmond, so he ordered his train to make for Shanghai, where he again awaited orders, or fresh news of Morgan's whereabouts. He disembarked the cavalry at Shanghai at 7 P.M., Saturday, July 24, 1863, awaiting to see if Morgan was not going to cross at Shanghai was Rue's reason for his long delay at Shanghai, so as to be absolutely sure of that fact and not be caught off guard.

Rue now ordered his troops to mount their horses, and he headed them along the public road for five miles, when he reached Knoxville at twelve o'clock midnight, and stopped there. It was at Knoxville that he found out that Morgan had already passed Richmond, west of Knoxville, at 7 P.M. that evening and was moving northeast through Fairfield and East Springfield. Rue felt that Morgan would soon have to make another dash for the Ohio River, or perchance cunningly retrace his trail like a fox, and evade his pursuers.

Major Rue left Knoxville at 4 A.M. Sunday morning going northwardly through New Somerset and joining General Shakleford at Hammondsville at 8 A.M. From here the news received caused them to move on towards Salineville—where Morgan had already surrendered—and his supposed friends, the Copperheads, had quickly crawled into their dens for a final hibernation—their cause was lost.

If the word of H.J. BOICE. J.;, a seventeen-year-old boy, a medical discharged member of the 98 O.V.I. who was at his home at Monroeville, when the rebel raider reached that point, is to be taken at face value, the surrender of Morgan's men might have taken place in Hammondsville. These hungry rebels had eaten the village of Monroeville clean of all food material. Their Copperhead friends had taken to the tall timbers, coal banks and deep ravines.

An officer approached young Boice, and asked him if he had heard any word from Hammondsville, a little burg southeast of Monroeville, and Boice replied that he had heard there were 6,000 Union troops at that village although he did not know if there was any at that time. Next the officer asked if there were any troops at Salineville, and Boice knowing that a man by the name of Robert MILLER had just gone to that place to inform the Federal troops, Boice answered in the negative, adding the Union soldiers were hunting the Confederates near Hammondsville.

It was while Major Rues men were in Knoxville, one of the loyal citizens of that village, saw his neighbor slip out the back kitchen door and dart into a pig pen. This was reported, and Major Rue sent a sergeant who found the scared, yellow scoundrel had taken refuge behind an old mother pig and her ten sucklings in the pig stye.

At the thought of the cold steel, he rolled over and came out with both hands high, mumbling, for he stuttered badly,

This man was an officer in the Knights of the Golden Circle, and was such a radical supporter of Vallandigham that he voted for him when only nineteen years of age, and then in his fright changed the ages of all his brothers and sisters in the family Bible record, to clear his conscience of his manly blunder.

Another man of the same stripe crawled into an old, unused coal bank, and although his neighbors notified him that all danger was over, he refused to come out until he heard these words from the mouth of his trusted wife.

Page after page could be written to chronicle the doings of this strange thinking clan of people, but it's only a waste of time to render them this glory.

We started out to tell about Clement L. Vallandigham.; (some named their babies for him) who was killed by his own revolver—only, fifty years too late.

Before this supposed accidental death, he had the good sense to accept the results of the Cival [sic] War as final, and ceased from referring to his past action, but the damage was done. Many of his local dupes continued their disloyal mouthings against "old Lincoln" and the war, up until their last day on earth—and died peacefully in a land they did their utmost to drag down to destruction. If their acts were due to ignorance and environment, let us in charity grant the same to Arnold, Lee and Burr.