Our Arklahoma Heritage: Union sympathizer arrested during Civil War fled state after avoiding death penalty
- Dennis McCaslin
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
Jonas March Tebbetts, a judge and civic leader in Washington County, Arkansas, played a significant role during the Civil War due to his steadfast Unionist stance.
Born on January 5, 1820, in Rochester, New Hampshire, Tebbetts lived a life marked by legal service and personal sacrifice, dying on January 16, 1913, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at age 93.
His story, documented in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas and census records, reflects the challenges faced by Union supporters in a Confederate-leaning region.
Tebbetts arrived in Arkansas in 1839 after studying at Phillips Exeter Academy and working as an instructor at Western University in Pittsburgh.
He studied law under Judge George W. Paschall in Van Buren, was admitted to the bar, and represented Cherokee, Choctaw, and Crow communities in Indian Territory.
He served as a judge in Van Buren and, from 1844 to 1861, as prosecuting attorney for Arkansas’s Seventh Circuit Court. In 1847, he married Matilda Jane "Mattie" Winlock, and they settled in Fayetteville, building the Headquarters House in 1853, now a museum maintained by the Washington County Historical Society.
A member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Tebbetts formed ties with antislavery figures like Robert Graham and William Baxter. His opposition to slavery and support for the Union put him at odds with many in Arkansas as the state seceded in 1861.
Washington County voted against secession in February 1861, and Tebbetts, a former state bank attorney and legislator, was a prominent Unionist. When Union forces occupied Fayetteville in February 1862, Tebbetts offered his home as their headquarters.
After Confederate General Benjamin McCulloch retook the town, Tebbetts was arrested for treason, sentenced to death, and imprisoned at Fort Smith. McCulloch’s death at the Battle of Pea Ridge in March 1862 led to Tebbetts’s release.
Fearing assassination, he fled to Missouri, retrieving his family in late 1862. They never returned to Fayetteville.
The Headquarters House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, served as a base for both Union and Confederate forces and was damaged during the Battle of Fayetteville in 1863. After the war, Tebbetts advocated for pardons for former Confederates, showing a commitment to reconciliation.
Census records track his later years: in 1850 and 1860, he lived in Fayetteville; by 1870, he was in Allegheny County, Maryland; and in 1880, he resided in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, where he was buried in Spring Hill Cemetery after his death in 1913.
Tebbetts and Matilda had seven children: Clinton Hale (1848–1920), Marian (1849–1943), Lillian (1856–1930), Harry (1859–unknown), Anna (1861–1883), Edward H. (1862–unknown), and Howard (1863–1914). A photograph, noted in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, shows Tebbetts with Colonel Clark Wright of the 6th Missouri Cavalry, highlighting his regional influence.
Tebbetts’s life, from his legal career to his Civil War trials, underscores the cost of loyalty in a divided nation.
Visitors can explore his legacy at the Headquarters House Museum, 118 E. Dickson St., Fayetteville, or online at encyclopediaofarkansas.net.
