In a message dated 3/12/2007 6:51:30 PM Central Standard Time, Mike@landwehr.com writes: > Wouldn't it be great if > we could spend just 15 minutes with one of our ancestors, and ask all those > questions we wonder so often about? > Hi Mike, I've wished so many times to be able to do just that! In genealogy, there seem to be so many "whys" that are impossible for us to figure out at this point in time. Just maybe the reason Lindley Couch left Oregon Co. right after the Civil War was because he had chosen to join the Union Army, causing conflict within the family. Then again, WHY would he move to Saline Co., AR; farther into Confederate sympathizing territory? More questions we can only conjecture about. Please keep in touch if/as you learn more. Carlene Missouri Ozarks ************************************** AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at http://www.aol.com.

Hi Carlene, I'm still facinated by the fact that Lindley Couch served in the Union Army. As you are probably aware, Lindley's older brother, Alfred P. Couch, enlisted in the Missouri State Guard when Governor Claiborne first called for volunteers to protect the state from Federal forces in the summer of 1861, then later served in three different Confederate regiments, serving until the end of the war. Lindley's brother, George W., joined Fristoe's Regiment (Confederate) in the summer of 1864. And if the service of Alfred and George left any doubt as to the Simpson Couch family's sympathies, we have the fact that Simpson named his youngest son, born in November of 1861, Sterling Price Couch. Sterling Price was the general who led the Missouri State Guard against the Union forces in Missouri in the latter half of 1861. Many families with strong southern sympathies named their sons after Sterling Price. I earlier raised the question of whether the Lindley Couch who served in the 40th Missouri (Union) could have been a different Lindley Couch, simply because it was difficult to accept that Simpson Couch's son would have served in the Union Army. But I just checked the list of men who served in Fristoe's Regiment (organized in July of 1864). The men of Company G included Alfred P. Couch, George W. Couch, and Francis M. Couch, all of Webster, Missouri. These would have been three of Simpson Couch's four eldest sons. If the three Couch boys enlisted about July of 1864, they were probably 21, 17 and about 15 years of age (I don't have Francis' exact date of birth). Missing from the list, of course, was their brother, Lindley Couch, who enlisted in the 40th Missouri (Union) in St. Louis a few weeks later, on September 1, 1864. It would sure be interesting to know what circumstances led Lindley Couch to enlist in the Union Army! You have to wonder how he could have gone back to Oregon County after the end of the war, and been accepted by the residents of this area (and by his family!), who were so strongly sympathetic with the Confederate cause. I assume that being the son of as prominent a man as Simpson Couch would have provided some refuge, but it still must have been very difficult, both for Lindley, and for Simpson and his family. Carlene, I have a note in my file that Lindley Couch and his family moved to Bryant, in Saline County, Arkansas, in 1886, and lived there the rest of Lindley's life, except for the year 1893, when the family lived in Couch, in Oregon County. I suspect you may have been the original source of that information. Have you ever heard anything about why Lindley and Mary moved their family from Oregon County to Saline County? Do you know of any relatives or friends who were living in Saline County before Lindley and his family moved there? I find it very interesting that Lindley apparently moved to Saline County in 1886, the same year he applied for a Federal pension based on his service in the Union Army. I can't help but suspect that there was a connection between the two events. I'd love to hear your thoughts, Carlene. Mike > Hi Mike, > > I've wished so many times to be able to do just that! In genealogy, there > seem to be so many "whys" that are impossible for us to figure out at this > point > in time. > > Just maybe the reason Lindley Couch left Oregon Co. right after the Civil > War > was because he had chosen to join the Union Army, causing conflict within > the > family. Then again, WHY would he move to Saline Co., AR; farther into > Confederate sympathizing territory? More questions we can only conjecture > about. > > Please keep in touch if/as you learn more. > > Carlene > Missouri Ozarks > > > ************************************** > AOL now offers free > email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at > http://www.aol.com. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MO-OREGON-HISTORY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Mike, Men in the area were required to join whatever army was in the area or be shot. I have some who are listed on both sides, same man, different armies, because of the threats to him and his family. Lanita