The Confederate Connection

It seems that almost everything in the church here has a dedication on it. Some of these names we see every Sunday, like those on the stained-glass windows, and they should serve for us as reminders of the “great cloud of witnesses” that have gone before us at St. Paul’s. We will learn more about many of these people in the coming weeks.

In the 1970’s, the largest, and most mysterious, of these dedication plaques was removed as part of the church renovations. Many may remember the dark wainscoting that once lined the chancel around the altar as well as the large wooden plaques that ran the length of both walls and read “To the Glory of God and in Memory of William Parkinson McLure: Entered into Rest April, 1863.” The strange thing is, we have no record of a McLure family ever attending St. Paul’s. There were, however, many Parkinsons who did. These Parkinsons were the descendants of the first settlers of Monongahela City (once called Parkinson’s Ferry). Some searching revealed that a member of this family, Margaret Parkinson, married William McLure of Forward Township in 1833, and moved west to Missouri, eventually settling in St. Louis. Although northern by birth, Margaret McLure, like many of St. Paul’s original parishioners, was southern in sympathy during the years of the Civil War. She became noted in St. Louis, which found itself situated right on the border of the two conflicting halves of our country, for aiding the escape of Confederate prisoners and delivering messages across enemy lines. At one point she was arrested and spent time in a military prison. Eventually she was loaded on a boat and sent down the Mississippi River, having been banished to the Confederacy.

Now, Mrs. McLure had a son whom she named after her father, William Parkinson. He was born in Missouri, but eventually travelled even further west. He became one of the first postmasters of Denver, Colorado, despite being a rather rough character (he often engaged in duels and once barricaded himself in the post office to evade the police). When the war broke out, William Parkinson McLure, and some others tried to win the Territory of Colorado to the Confederate cause, but failing, travelled back east to join the fighting. McLure became a captain in the 1^st Missouri Cavalry, a Confederate Regiment which saw most of its action making raids on pro-Union towns and military posts in Missouri. Early in the war he was captured and spent a year in the Delaware Island Prison in Ohio. He later rejoined his regiment only to be killed in battle in April, 1863. While records are unclear about the location of his death, his Division fought in only one battle that month, a small skirmish at the town of Cape Girardeau, Missouri. (The account of the battle as reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer is seen here.)

Captain McLure’s mother, Margaret, returned to St. Louis after the war and remained active in southern causes. She helped found the United Daughters of the Confederacy as well as the Missouri Home for Indigent Confederate Veterans. One of her favorite causes though was promoting the memory of her son. She financed the dedication of several things in his honor, one of which was likely the interior of the chancel of the new St. Paul’s Church being built back in her hometown, Monongahela City.