(photo by C. Lester)

Billie Demint, Jr
The Ongoing Legend

If you ask almost anyone around Dunklin County, MO if they know the story of Billie Demint, you are almost sure to find out they do. Unless they are new to the area or too young to have heard the tale, they not only know about it but also have an opinion of what really happened on Crowley's Ridge way back in November 1863.

I grew up in Malden, MO knowing I was related to the infamous Billie Demint and was told stories about him by my father, Dalton Folks and grandmother, Ruth Morefield Folks. What was heard around our house was that Billie's family had moved from the Crowley's Ridge community of Hopkins, three miles northeast of Campbell, MO, to an area just north of the former Malden airbase, later known as Townley.  Ten year old Billie had gone back to Hopkins to retrieve some missing livestock and ran into a group of three Confederate guerrillas who demanded to know where his father was.  When Billie refused to give his father's location they hung the boy from a tree and left him there. Several days later he was found by Celia Jane Gunnels, age 12, and a friend on their way to school. The girls' parents cut him down from the tree and buried him at the spot. (Locals know this area as County Road WW near the microwave tower) A wooden fence was erected around the grave by John Hopkins and William Jackson but eventually the fence was lost to the elements. The exact burial site was unmarked for over 30 years but many people of the area knew its' approximate location based on several nearby trees. The legend of what happened to Billie continued and in the early 1940's a group of citizens from Malden and Cambell placed a modern tombstone over the most likely burial spot; its' inscription reads: "At Rest Billie Demint, Jr Aged about 10 years. Hung by guerrilla band during Civil War Nov. 1863 because he would not tell where his father was. Erected by his friends." (see photo above) Later that same decade the Rural Electric Company was drilling to extend light poles and discovered the exact burial site which was very close to where the monument had been placed.  I was also told by my father and grandmother that Billie's father found out who murdered him and he hunted them down and killed all three men involved.  Swift and effective frontier justice!

As legends go it was pretty cool stuff with good guys and bad guys set against the Civil War. When I began seriously researching this branch of my family history in 2003, I hoped I'd be able to solve the mystery of Billie Demint but found only more speculation. After talking with local persons familiar with the story I discovered there were as many versions of the event as there were questions about it. Why was a ten year old boy walking alone miles from home with the Civil War in progress in the area? What brought the Demint family to Dunklin county? And why where these men interested in Billie's father?

What I do know is that William (Billie) Demint was the son of James (b 1817 IN) and Elvira (b 1825 TN) Demint. (Elvira's maiden name unknown but I believe it was Smith) Billie (he appears as William on all census records) was born in Illinois in 1846 which makes him about 17 when he died, not 10 as the legend states. Perhaps a 17 year old walking alone makes more sense than a ten year old. He also had a sister, Amanda M. (b 1850 IL) and a younger brother, John M. (b 1853 IL) and three years after his death, a half sister, Alice Jane Demint, was born in 1866 near Campbell, MO. And this is how I am related to Billie Demint-Alice Demint was my great grandmother. According to land entry records James Demint bought 166 acres of land in Massac County, IL between 1846 and 1856 and sold it all in 1859. The 1855 Illinois State Census shows the family having 8 hired hands living with them in Massac county. By 1860 the Demints moved to Missouri; they are listed on that year's Federal Census for Dunklin County, Union Township, in the Hopkins community. James stated his occupation as "farmer" with the value of his real estate and personal estate being $2500. However, according to some resources, James Demint may have owned the only grist mill in northern Dunklin County. (I've not confirmed this) Living with the Demints in 1860 was Salina Carter, who was the daughter of James' sister Mahala Carter. Three residences away from the Demints was the Timothy Beche family and they had Hulbert Carter living with them; he was Mahala's son. Ten years prior to this, on the 1850 Census for New Madrid County MO Mahala and her family are listed as living there. I'm assuming that something happened to Mahala and her husband and the children went to live with friends and family. I'm not sure yet of the relationship between the Demints and the Beche family. The death of his sister could have been a reason that James Demint moved to southeast Missouri. Hopkins neighbors of the family in 1860 also included the Fletchers, the Wells family and Dr. Fuller Ballard. In November 1863, the Demints, according to legend, had moved ten miles away from Hopkins to the East Swamp area in New Madrid County, MO (Townley was on western edge of East Swamp and on Dunklin-New Madrid County line) and this is when the tragic incident occurred. I find no written record of the family until 1865 at which time James Demint married Martha Mosier Glover, a widow, in New Madrid County, MO and a year later their daughter Alice, my great grandmother, was born. Some recent research has pointed me to an area just north of Piggott, AR as the possible home of one of the guerilla members involved with Billie's death; this is still being investigated.

So what happened to Billie Demint's family after November 1863 and how much of the legend is accurate? Billie's mother, Elvira was living with the family on the 1860 Dunklin County census but on Feb. 8, 1865, James Demint married Martha. Did Elvira die between 1860 and 1865 or did she and James divorce? I don't find records for either occurrence. If Billie was killed and not found until a few days later, did his parent look for him? One version is that James Demint knew he was a wanted man and laid low; he had possibly been receiving threats of some sort which led him to move from the area. This could be why Billie was in Hopkins that day and not James. And why was James wanted by this guerrilla band of three men? Were they acting in an official capacity or was this something personal? Was James a known Union sympathizer? Was James a wealthy man whom these three planned to rob? Was he thought to have a large amount of money from the sale of his land in Illinois? Why does Billie's tombstone, placed nearly 80 years after his death, have the initials "Jr" on it when his father's name was James? Was he really known as Billie Demint, Jr or is this just hearsay woven into the legend over the years? Why has it always been said that Billie was ten years old when he died? One resource states Billie was a teenager when he died and was described as being small and frail, and blind in one eye. Interestingly, his younger brother, John, was ten at the time of Billie's death. He may have also spent the night prior to his death at the home of Dr. Jacob Snider at the foot of Crowley's Ridge before continuing on to Hopkins the next day. According to descendants of Dr. Snider and other sources, the two families were friends and Dr. Snider lived about half way between Billie's new and previous homes on what is now known as Dunklin County Road 113. Adding to the mystery, Alice Demint is found living in Obion County, TN on the 1880 census with her mother's brother. What happened to James and Martha Demint and James' other children, Amanda and John? According to my second cousin, Jerry Walls, his families version of the story has John at work in a sawmill a few years after Billie's death and overhearing two men talking about hanging a young boy on Crowley's Ridge during the war. John is supposed to have killed one of the men while the other escaped. John then fled to New Madrid county, ended up with a wife and daughter and died sometime before the 1880 census during a meningitis outbreak. Incidentally, on every written record I've recovered, the family surname is spelled "Demint" not "Dement."

Billie's grave is located on private property with no trespassing posted but his legend continues to be as popular as ever. Dunklin County Road WW which is about 100 yards from the grave, was designated a National Scenic Byway in 1998 and its' Board of Directors plans to have a memorial there so visitors can read about what happened in 1863. In 2003, Billie was chosen for the Dunklin County Hall of Honor in Kennett, MO. While it's unlikely the entire truth surrounding the events of November 1863 will ever be known, I'd like to fill in this part of my family history as completely as possible. I've been in contact with the National Dement Family Association, talked with local people and searched cemeteries, courthouses and genealogical records in several counties as well as internet research and have come up with little additional info. Unfortunately Dunklin County records were destroyed when the courthouse burned in 1872. If anyone has additional info, please contact me. I'd like to hear what you know so I can research it. You can email me at:

maldenmusic@yahoo.com

or reach me at:
(573) 276-5716

Cindy Folks Lester
updated January 2010


James DEMINT/Martha Mosier Glover=Alice Jane DEMINT(half sister of Billie Demint)
Alice Jane DEMINT/Asbury John MOREFIELD=Ruth Ellen MOREFIELD
Ruth E. MOREFIELD/Goah Jake FOLKS=Dalton Ward FOLKS
Dalton W. FOLKS/Colleen C. Hoggard=Cynthia Ruth FOLKS


RESOURCES
1848 Bureau of Land Management Land Patent Records, Washington, DC
1850 US Federal Census, Massac County, IL
1855 Illinois State Census, Massac County
1860 US Federal Census, Dunklin County, MO, Union Twsp
1880 US Federal Census, Obion County, TN
1900 US Federal Census, New Madrid County, MO
1910, 1920, 1930 US Federal Census, Pemiscot County, MO 
New Madrid County, MO Marriage Records
Missouri Department of Vital Statistics, Jefferson City, MO
Illinois GenWeb
Indiana GenWeb
Obion County, TN RootsWeb
Massac County, IL Historical Society, Metropolis, IL
Massac County, IL Land Entry Records, Metropolis, IL
National Dement Family Association
The Grave of Billie Demint by Homer E. Book; Malden Press Merit, Malden, MO March 21, 1957
Civil War Remembrance by Ada Knox Dickerson; The Piggott Times, Piggott, AR Sept. 5, 1990
How a Local Boy Died author unknown; The Flint Journal, Flint, MI 1956
On Crowley's Ridge by Joe Brasher; The Delta News, Malden, MO April 2, 1980
The Legend of Billie Demint by Dawn Dement Detring, National Dement Family Association
Who was Billie Demint, Jr? by Mike Everett; About Town Magazine May 1997
History of Dunklin County, MO 1845-1895 by Mary F. Smyth-Davis
Borderland Rebellion by Elmo Ingenthron
Campbell Area History 1800's-1900's by the Campbell, MO Genealogical & Historical Society
Personal records of Ermazine Woodward, Gr Granddaughter of Celia Jane Gunnels
Family records of Jerry E. Walls, descendant of Billie Demint, Jr.
Family records of Norma Gilbow Ortiz, descendant of Billie Demint, Jr.
Family records of Cindy Folks Lester, descendant of Billie Demint, Jr.
Verbal history from the descendants of the James Demint family
Verbal history from the descendants of Dr. Jacob Snider

The picture below is Alice Jane Demint Morefield, half sister of Billie Demint, daughter of James Demint and great grandmother of Cindy Folks Lester.
It was taken in the 1920's or 30's in New Madrid or Pemiscot County, MO.  It's the only photo of Alice that I know of.
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This is a photo copy of the official entry from the New Madrid County, MO record books of the marriage of my gr-gr grandparents, James Demint and Martha Anne Mosier Glover

 Although it's not very legible, the picture below is a copy of a portion of the 1850 US Census for Massac County, IL. The James Demint family is shown and includes William (Billie), age 4.

Even harder to read is this scan of the 1860 US census for Union Township in Dunklin County, MO. It lists the Demint family with William (Billie) now age 14.  Salina Carter, Billie's cousin, is also living with them.

Below is a portion of a copy of the United States Land Grant which gave title to land in Massac County, IL to James Demint, Billie's father

This is a scan of Alice Demint Morefield's death certificate; it lists Jim Demint as her father but it has her birthplace wrong; she was born outside Campbell, MO not Kentucky. Her husband Asbury was born in Kentucky. All of her census records confirm that she was born in Missouri.

The photo just below is the present day entrance to Billie's grave; the gravesite is several hundred yards beyond here and everything is on private property



According to descendents of Dr. Jacob Snider, the next photo shows the approximate location of Dr. Snider's home in 1863 on what is now Dunklin County Road 113. It is possible that Billie spent the night prior to his death here with the Snider family

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I am always looking for more info and theories. Feel free to contact me!
Cindy Folks Lester

BATTLE OF MINGO SWAMP MEMORIAL

While traveling north of Advance, MO near Greenbriar I noticed the sign above "Mass Grave" which got my attention. After driving a few hundred yards down the gravel road, I came to the Greenbriar-Zephyr Cemetery which contained the memorial above. The Battle of Mingo Swamp was fought Feb. 4, 1863 and the mass grave and marker are in remembrance of that long ago event. A very nice lady who lives here told me that the community of Greenbriar used to be known as Zephyr and at one time Zephyr had a post office, several stores and a train depot.  About all that is left now of Zephyr is an old hand pump which sits in what used to be the middle of the town. During this trip I also saw the truck below parked beside the gravel road in what is now downtown Greenbriar. The same lady who told me about Zephyr said her husband bought the truck several years ago from someone in Malden. I never expected to see a truck from my hometown sitting just down the road from the Battle of Mingo Swamp memorial in a town I'd never heard of before. Just proves what a small world it really is.
cfl

 MISSOURI HISTORY

For Missouri historical data, including death certificates prior to 1959, log on to the Missouri State Archives at:
http://www.sos.mo.gov/mdh

Death certificates are found by looking under the heading "Collections" and "Family & Faith." You can then search under the name you are looking for. A copy of the actual death certificate will be shown.
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