Order Number 11 Remembered

By: Mabel Elizabeth Caldwell
Information provided by the West Central Genealogical Society.
Transcribed for the WWW by M. Antal(c)1999

On August 25, 1863, in Jackson and Cass Counties, Order Number 11 was issued to 
all residents, forcing them to leave their homes.  A bit of history follows.

My grandparents, Philip Jacob Spohr of Scottish decent and his wife, Cassandra 
Sease Spohr, lived in the area two miles south of Lone Jack.  My grandfather was 
a Southern Methodist lay minister, also a cabinet and chairmaker.
My grandparents raised their own flax, cotton, and kept sheep for wool.  
Grandmother had a loom and spun the flax, carded wool, and wove all their 
clothes and blankets. I have pictures of my grandfather in his homespun suit.  
They made their own candles.  They had an orchard and bee hives.
Other families living in the area at the time that my mother mentioned were 
Yankee, Blevins, Alice Holcom, Martha Ellen Carey, and the Colin Noland family.  
In fact Noland Road was named after young Colin or Bob Noland.
When the Order 11 was issued in 1863 for all residents to leave their homes, my 
grandparents were lucky to have oxen which they hitched to the wagon.  Taking as 
many possessions as possible with their family - John 9, Will 6, and my mother, 
Marietta 4, they traveled to Ray county where they stayed two years until the 
war was over in 1865.
When they returned home, they found everything gone.  The house burned, the 
orchard gone, and the bee hives taken.  They rebuilt the home and lived there 
many years until they passed away.
Another interesting detail I would like to tell about my grandparents is that 
they were very religious.  They were great fans of John Wesley and his hymns.  
My grandfather's favorites were "Amazing Grace," and "How Firm a Foundation."  I 
have his Bible dictionary which was saved from the fire when your house burned 
when I was eight years old.  His big Bible burned, too.
When my mother was nearly grown, she attended the Old Singing School at Chapel 
Hill.  Another fact concerns the old grist mill at Lone Jack.  My mother and her 
brother rode horseback, carrying corn to the old mill to grind for corn meal.  
They worked hard but enjoyed life along with the bitter and the sweet.
My mother married John Porter Noland and they lived on the home place where my 
five sisters and one brother were born.  My sister, Blanche, and I were both 
born in Warrensburg.
My parents moved to Warrensburg so the family could have advantages of schools 
and college.  My father often said, "An education is something no one can ever 
take away from you."  We really took advantage of the schools as seven family 
members received degrees from college and taught school.