My favorite subject, 1860-1865 in Northwest Arkansas.... For example: There was a group of people centered around Searcy County Arkansas, but think some men from Van Buren County and other nearby counties with family ties to Searcy County were included. They formed a secret society called Peace Society. When the vote was taken to leave or stay with the Union....NW Arkansas voted to stay. Kind of like part of Virginia which became West Virginia. (for some reason, it seems to me many of the areas in mountains, TN, KY, NC, etc at first wanted to stay in the Union). When the vote finally went for AR to leave Union, the governor of Arkansas sent army up to Searcy County to round up this Peace Society. They had a dawn raid, caught a lot of them, chained them two by two with heavy logging chains....thus they were called the chain gang. Marched them to Little Rock. Special session was called with Governor in charge, told the men to either join CSA or be shot.....so they all joined. This is such an interesting story what happened to those men. Some stayed in CSA and were killed, one was a Turney killed at Pea Ridge, one Turney from chain gang made it home. Others as soon as possible escaped from CSA and joined USA. Boman Turney before the battle of Shiloh, told his relative who was with him, that he was going to try to escape during the battle. After the battle, his relatives found him shot in the back of the head. The CSA said he had gotten shot running from the battle as a coward. His family always felt he had been shot by CSA trying to run to Union lines. A good book on Peace Society YELLAR RAG BOYS also think there is a list of members on Searcy Co Ar genweb page. now go back a few years to ca 1840 I will say it again. find these little towns on Arkansas map Higden in Cleburne County (near Heber Springs) (was Van Buren till 1880s) Snowball in Searcy County (find Leslie and go north, little west) Crooked Creek or Bellefonte in Boone County (near Harrison) now draw a line between these 3 spots....this was first migration route in that area from 1834-1840s. You will find one Eoff in VBC, one in CArroll/Boone. One Potter in VBC, one in Searcy County. Etc. I have always said there needs to be a group for those first families who settled along that line since it covers more than one county. So many people do not realize that a first settler in Van Buren county might have had a sister who went to Searcy County. Or one brother in one county, another further along the line. If you are researching first families in that area, you have to look along that line to find their relatives, and the people they lived next to before the move to Arkansas. These people did come in groups. And one relative would come, the next year a brother would follow. The connections between families along this line will knock your socks off. For example: 1820s a lot of people left area of Smith Co Tennessee (would include what later was Cannon, Dekalb, etc). They went to Illinois, but by 1840 or so you find them in Arkansas. Some of their neighbors and relatives stayed in TN but moved to Arkansas in late 1830s, early 1840s.....so they met up again. And they stayed in contact up to 1860....some of them went off together to fight in Mexican War together. Why would a Turney from Boone county go off with a Campbell from Searcy Co to Mexican War? Because, the Boone Co Turney, his brother settled in Searcy Co and the Campbell had married into that family. When you look at roster rolls for any of the wars or little battles from 1800 - 1860, I can tell you ..... you will find your ancestor in same unit as his cousins, his wife's family, his mother's family....they will have different surnames, but relatives served together. So really look at those roster sheets and check out some of the other names. Enough I guess. Mary Turney Miller [email protected]