Ancestors of K. Rusk Past President, Vice President

Charles Hughes Rex was the eleventh child of Jane Black and George Rex. He was born March 11, 1830 in Jefferson, Greene County, Pennsylvania.

Jane died in 1850. After the death of his father in 1856, Charles left Pennsylvania and went to Unionville, Putnam County Missouri.  On December 27, 1857 he married Sarah Starns, a daughter of Liberty Starnes and Nancy Adams. 

In December 1861 Charles joined the Union Army and served in Company D, 18th Regiment Missouri Infantry as a Bugler, and served until the end of the war.  His older brother, Harper Rex, who had remained in Greene County Pennsylvania enlisted on November 21, 1862 in Company A, 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry and served until the end of the war. Both brothers drew pensions for their service.

In a letter home, Charles Hughes Rex wrote:

"Port Chewalla, Tennessee.  April 6, 1863.  I have been in the army over twenty months and have seen some sport but the hardships overbalance the sport so you see I don't love soldiering very much,  especially when it comes to fighting.  It will be one year tomorrow morning since we were pushed into the Battle of Shiloh.  Desperate was the scene that I witnessed on that bloody field. I was in Iuka, the battle before Corinth, and the Battle of Corinth on the 3rd and 4th of October."

At the three day long Civil War Veterans Reunion in 1889, held at Unionville Missouri, Charles was one of over 700 veterans along with their families who came to hear the speeches and listen to the cannon fire once more.

A unit history "The Eighteenth Missouri" by Leslie Anders (Bobbs-Merrill 1968) is out of print, but can be found in many libraries or through interlibrary loan. More info on Missouri in the Civil War can be found at Missouri's Civil War Heritage Foundation website.

Charles and Sarah lived out their lives on a farm eight miles southeast of Unionville, and were the parents of sixteen children.  He died April 15, 1903. Both are buried at Anders Cemetery in Putnam County Missouri.

Charles Hughes Rex

Calvin Marion Trout was born in Calloway County, Missouri about 1825. At this time, his parents names are unknown.

Marriage Records of Franklin County Missouri indicate that he married Martha Jane Phillips on May 27, 1856. She was a daughter of Nathan Phillips and Hannah Leach of Franklin County. Calvin, Martha and their four children were enumerated on the 1860 Federal Census of Franklin County Missouri, in Meramac Township, on page 222 by only their initials.

Calvin enlisted into the Union Army at Rolla, Phelps County Missouri on September. 27, 1862 and Mustered into Company I, 3rd Missouri Cavalry on June 21, 1863 at Arcadia in nearby Iron County Missouri. In March of 1864, the regiment formed part of Anderson's Brigade of Carr's Division, in Steele's Camden Expedition and remained in Arkansas the greater part of the year onscout duty. Calvin was wounded by gunshot, and on July 11, 1864 he was honorably discharged at Little Rock Arkansas.

Marion C. Trout

The photo of Calvin shows him wearing a sling, and so was probably taken shortly after his service. Calvin returned to Franklin County, Missouri, where his wife, two sons and two daughters were living. The children of Calvin Marion Trout and Martha Jane Phillips were Clementine, Nancy, Henry and John. Calvin was a Miner by trade.

Family oral tradition tells us that "Calvin went to town to do the shopping and hitched a ride with a neighbor. A stranger also hitched a ride, and for no reason accused Calvin of many untruths. He hit Calvin with a board and knocked him from the wagon. He was stunned when he arrived home, and was put to bed. Calvin died three days later. Martha was so filled with grief that she took a cold and died two weeks later of pneumonia." The deaths of Calvin and Martha apparenly occurred shortly before the 1870 census. Their places of burial for Calvin and Martha are currently unknown.