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William Pickles (bef. 1813 - 1861)

William Pickles
Born before in Haworth, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdommap
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of — married 16 Mar 1835 in Shipley, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdommap
Father of and
Died after age 48 in Farmington, St. Francois, Missouri, United Statesmap
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Profile last modified | Created 25 Dec 2023
This page has been accessed 110 times.

Contents

Biography

Flag of Yorkshire (adopted 2008)
William Pickles was born in Yorkshire, England.

Birth and Parentage

William Pickles was born in Haworth, Keighley, Yorkshire, England, NW of Bradford, before 7 June 1813 the day of his christening in the Haworth parish church of St Michael & All Angels. [1][2]Thought to be the son of William Pickles and his wife Hannah, (maiden name unsure) Pickles was brought up in Haworth, famous as the birthplace of the Brontë sisters.

Marriage and Family

He married Ann Ambler, daughter of Tate Ambler and his wife, Frances 'Fanny' née Morley, in Shipley, near Bradford, Yorkshire, about 8.5 miles from Haworth, on 16 March 1835.[3]

Haworth is an idyllic place today, but in the 1840s, it was an unsanitary hell-hole, and this may have been the reason why the Pickles family left England for the clean air, wide open spaces and new opportunities of America.

According to his son Dr Tomm Pickles' obituary, [4]William Pickles immigrated to America in the early 1840's and his mother and three sisters came a year or two later. One sister, Hannah, remained in England with her maternal grandmother (Fanny (Morley) Ambler) to be educated. She was lost crossing the Atlantic Ocean. [5]

Their children [6]were:

  • Maria
  • Fanny
  • Olivia[7]
  • William
  • John
  • Tomm, b.14 Feb 1853, d. 6 Apr 1927, bur. 7 Apr 1927[8]
  • Moses Morley Pickles, b. 8 Oct 1854, d. 3 Aug 1935, bur. 4 Aug 1935[9] [10]
  • Henry
  • Louise

Pickles became a miller and owned land in and around Saline Township. [11]Having lost one leg, William could not join the army, but he supported the Union, advocating the cause of the Government in private and in public. [5]

Death and Burial

For so doing, he was foully murdered on a Sunday evening, 11 August 1861, by a band of guerrillas (bushwhackers) in Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri, during the American Civil War.[5][12] The circumstances surrounding his death were hushed up, resulting in the legend that he was killed by the notorious outlaw Sam Hildebrand, but in Hildebrand's 'confessional' autobiography, there is no mention of Pickles. [13]but Bob Schmidt's research into the mystery surrounding William's death suggests that William

was killed by Confederate Guerrilla John Highley and an associate Matt Sweeney in western Ste. Genevieve County.
Accompanying the two to the Pickles’ homestead on Aug. 11, 1861 were a mob of men from the Valle Forge community of eastern St. Francois County where Pickles earlier operated a mill.

Schmidt says that only Highley and Sweeney took part in the murder,

said by Highley to be the retaliation for the death of William Hunt near Farmington the month before by soldiers of the De Soto Home Guard. Sweeney was a notorious renegade, described by Provost-Marshal-General for the Dept. of MO Col. Bernard G. Farrar on February 22,1862 as
a desperado, who has committed more outrages in North Missouri than any other bandit of the whole secession horde. He is not a commissioned officer even in Price's army and his character is so well known here that all the army officers and principal citizens complain that he should be suffered to swagger about the streets and public places declaring that he would not observe his parole one moment longer than suits his convenience...[14]
Highley was a Confederate militiaman at the time, as well as were the others in the mob. He blamed Pickles for informing the Union Home Guard that merchants of Valle Forge had been stockpiling guns and powder for use against U.S. forces. Schmidt said only Highley had the motive to kill Pickles because he was the only one associated with Hunt. Highley claimed Sweeney killed Pickles. Schmidt is convinced Sweeney shot Pickles in the abdomen area and then when Pickles was on the ground, Highley shot Pickles in the mouth. He said witnesses testified to this and Highley was convicted of the killing. [15][5]

The inscription on William's grave reads:

F.L.T. (Friendship, Love and Truth)[16]
Wm Pickles
'Miller'
1813 - Aug. 11. 1861
Murdered by Guerrillas
Ann
1816 - 1861[17][18]

Sources

  1. ↑ William Pickles in the England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. Ancestry. Retrieved from Ancestry Sharing (Here;) Accessed 25 Dec 2023.
  2. ↑ William Pickles, 1813 in England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 FamilySearch Online Database, FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 24 Mar 2024.
  3. ↑ Ann Ambler in entry for William Pickles, 1835. England Marriages, 1538–1973. FamilySearch Online Database. Retrieved from FamilySearch 8https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N2FT-686 (Here;)] Accessed 24 Mar 2024.
  4. ↑ Obituaries and Death Notices in the Jonesboro Gazette., 1927., Jonesboro, Union County, Illinois Transcribed by Darrel Dexter Rootsweb. Retrieved from srw (Here;) Accessed 26 Mar 2024.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Biographical Publishing Company., (1893)., The Biographical review of Johnson, Massac, Pope and Hardin counties, Illinois: containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, also biographies of the presidents of the United States., (p. 591)., Chicago: Biographical Pub. Co. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 25 Mar 2024.
  6. ↑ Entry for William Pickles and Ann Pickles, 1860 in United States Federal Census, 1860. FamilySearch Online database. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 25 Dec 2023.
  7. ↑ Entry for William Pickles and Ann Pickles, 1850 in United States Census, 1850. FamilySearch Online database. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 25 Dec 2023.
  8. ↑ Ann Ambler in entry for Tomm Pickles, 1927 in Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947. FamilySearch Online database. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 25 Dec 2023.
  9. ↑ Ann Ambler in entry for Moses Marley Pickles, 03 Aug 1935 Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947. FamilySearch Online database, Public Board of Health, Archives, Springfield; FHL microfilm 1,765,616. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 25 Dec 2023.
  10. ↑ Ann Ambler in entry for Moses Morley Pickles, 1881 in Illinois Marriages, 1815-1935. FamilySearch Online Database. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 25 Dec 2023.
  11. ↑ The State Historical Society of Missouri. Ste. Genevieve County. Home Manuscript Collection., Columbia Manuscript Collections., Ramsay Place Names File. Retrieved from shsmo (Here;) Accessed 24 Mar 2024.
  12. ↑ The Missouri in the Civil War Message Board. Retrieved from history sites (Here;) Accessed 25 Dec 2023.
  13. ↑ Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 24 Mar 2024.
  14. ↑ United States. War Dept; United States. War Dept. War Records Office; United States. Record and Pension Office; United States. Congress. House; Making of America Project; Scott, Robert N. (Robert Nicholson), 1838-1887; Lazelle, H. M. (Henry Martyn), 1832-1917; Davis, George B. (George Breckenridge), 1847-1914; Perry, Leslie J; Kirkley, Joseph W. (Joseph William), 1841-1912; Ainsworth, Fred C. (Fred Crayton), 1852-1934; Moodey, John S. (John Sheldon), b. 1842; Cowles, Calvin D. (Calvin Duvall), 1849-., The War of the Rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies., Washington: G.P.O. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 24 Mar 2024.
  15. ↑ Jenkins, Kevin., (2012). Solving a Civil War murder mystery. Daily Journal Online. Retrieved from djo (Here;) Accessed 24 Mar 2024.
  16. ↑ Ohio Genealogical Society. Common Cemetery Book and Tombstone Abbreviations. Retrieved from ogs (Here;) Accessed 25 Dec 2023.
  17. ↑ Memorial page for William “Miller” Pickles (1813–11 Aug 1861), Find a Grave, database and images. Find a Grave Memorial ID 208358802, citing Odd Fellows Cemetery, Farmington, St. Francois County, Missouri, USA; Maintained by Wayne1954 (contributor 50323842). Retrieved from Find A Grave (here;) Accessed 25 Dec 2023.
  18. ↑ Civil War Mysteries Solved: Murder of William Pickles & Prairie Du Rocher Raid. Retrieved from Google Books (Here;) Accessed 25 Dec 2023.
  • North Carolina and South Carolina in the American Civil War. Retrieved from carolana (Here;) Accessed 25 Dec 2023.




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