The Boze/Huddleston Connection
The summer of 2015 will forever be known in our family as the “#adventuretuesday summer.” It was spent exploring our area, mainly Oregon County, to the west of our county.
Boze Mill was the first stop on our summer-long adventure. The spring forms a sparkling blue pool, producing over 12 million gallons of water a day. Remnants of the mill, including the turbine and rock wall are still there. I felt an instant connection to that place. Later, I found out I really do have a connection to Boze Mill.
My Huddleston family roots run deep in Oregon County, Mo. My great-great-grandpa Abraham Huddleston settled on the Eleven Point River three miles south of Thomasville in 1821. The area where he and his sons, a sister, and some nieces and nephews lived was called the Huddleston Settlement. Huddleston Cemetery was established in 1886, the same year my dad was born. The cemetery is still in use, and Huddleston Chapel still stands.
Abe had 12 children, two of them were Nathan and my great-grandpa Benjamin. Nathan’s daughter Elizabeth married a man named Richard Boze. Richard would later become infamously known as “Devil Dick” Boze. The Boze family owned and operated two grist mills on the Eleven Point. In the early part of the Civil War, Union forces came to the upper river mill, gored his ox, killed his brother and burned the mill. Richard vowed revenge and formed a band of marauders made up of family and friends who terrorized Union soldiers and sympathizers in the area. These bushwhackers stole, killed and forced people from their homes. The war ended in April of 1865, but the guerrilla war in Oregon County was still raging, mainly due to Devil Dick’s lawlessness and resistance of returning to civil government.
A special Union squad had been trailing Boze’s gang after the theft of some horses in Lesterville.
On the evening of June 14, 1865, Peggy Huddleston, Boze’s widowed mother-in-law, held a dance at her house at Huddleston Hollow. Boze and some of his crew spent the night. In the early morning hours after the party, the Union squad rode up. Some women sitting on the front porch gave warning and the men inside scattered in all directions. Richard ran from the cabin wearing only his night clothes and brandishing a revolver. The Yanks shot him down.
The war was over but fighting continued in Oregon County for a decade.
The area is now called Bone Hollow. Peggy Huddleston’s cabin survived into the 20th Century but was said to be haunted, and was unoccupied for years. The cabin was eventually taken by the river during a flood.
Devil Dick’s remains were moved to Spring Creek Cemetery and are said to be buried facing south to show his allegiance to the cause.