‘That damn Rebel’

In case you didn’t know, there is a museum here in Poplar Bluff. It has tales of us, our family, and our history. I want to tell you some of those tales found within the museum walls.

John Monroe Bradley was a private in the Confederate Army.

In John Stanard’s book “A Pictorial History of Butler County,” he tells the story of Pvt. Bradley. He stated Bradley was captured and convicted of being a spy. He was sentenced to death by gunfire at sunrise.

That night, Bradley killed his sleeping guard and escaped.

Stanard further states after the war, Bradley came to Poplar Bluff. He was actually elected coroner in 1870. Bradley proceeded to arrest the sheriff, Ben Turner, for alleged embezzlement.

The sheriff fumed, “This is a hell of a disgrace for a staunch Republican like me to be arrested by that damn rebel.”

The investigation revealed the sheriff was not only innocent, but the county owed him $12. The two men later became life-long friends.

Bradley died in 1948 at the age of 106, making him the last Civil War veteran in Butler County.

Stanard’s biography of Pvt. Bradley is on display in the Kanell Hall Veterans Museum in the Poplar Bluff Museum. His granddaughter’s copy of the portrait of “Grandfather John” is also on display.

The museum is handicap accessible and open from 1-4 p.m. every Sunday free of charge at 1010 Main St., Poplar Bluff (Formerly the Old Mark Twain School). Tell them Mike sent you!

Mike Shane is a veteran, Poplar Bluff resident and board member for the Poplar Bluff Museum.