Family Feuding

[robotech_master]

The other day in the K-Mart where I work, I processed a check from a Bilyeu. That being a lady with the surname Bilyeu, from the family line of that name (which is pronounced something like "blue" or "b'lue"). Whenever I meet someone from that family (which happens every so often, given that they settled in this area over a century ago and a lot still live here), I always like to mention, "Oh, hey, I'm a Meadows." Usually they react with a kind of knowing smile. We're related, distantly, you see. By someone's marriage, I think.

But the time was that we were also separated...by bad blood. A blood feud, in fact. It started in 1898, over a fence. The full details of how it got started are here; I'll just excerpt a couple of the more interesting paragraphs.

Steve Bilyeu and Bud Meadows had adjoining farms, and the fence between them had fallen into disrepair, and there was some argument over who was supposed to be keeping it up.

Apparently there were numerous confrontations between the two factions and Pete Bilyeu, Steve's son, reportedly took delight in heaping verbal abuse on Meadows. On occasions Pete had threatened Bud and forced him to perform degrading acts. Once Bud was made to bite the muzzle of a cocked rifle that Pete was holding. In those days, it was the practice of the County Road Department to permit the taxpayers to work out their tax bills by repairing the county roads. Such work was under way in the fall of 1898 and the work crew included both the Bilyeus and Bud Meadows. Due to the friction between the families, Bud requested to be allowed to work at a different location so he would not encounter the Bilyeus. When Pete Bilyeu learned of Bud's request, he became angry and threatened Bud with a pistol and compelled him to crawl on the ground and perform other demeaning acts. Matt Stevenson, who witnessed the incident, told Pete he was making a serious mistake. "That man will kill you for what you made him do," Matt warned Pete. "I saw it in his eyes." Pete scoffed at the warning, saying Meadows didn't have the nerve to kill anyone. But Matt recalled later, "Within three weeks, I helped lay Pete Bilyeu out."

Ironically, Bud Meadows was married to the daughter of a cousin of Steve Bilyeu's, and that cousin and his son were even there helping Bud when the fighting broke out.

The rather graphic description Bud gave to the Springfield paper shortly afterward is pure Ozarkana...the sort of thing one would think was parody or exaggeration if it weren't documentable.

We went to the field without any guns and started to remove the rails. In a short time we saw Steve and his sons, Pete, age 26 years, and Jim, age 16 years, come with guns. i went to the house and got my Winchester and Hosea's and Martin's pistols, and my brother Bob's shotgun. When I returned, Steve told me I could not remove the rails where they were working until another time, but if necessary I would replevin the rails. We started to walk away and had gone but a short distance when somebody yelled to me to look out, and I turned instantly and saw Steve aiming his shotgun at me, and he fired. He missed his mark and I threw my Winchester to my shoulder and fired at Steve but missed him. I fired again and killed him instantly. I saw Mrs. Bilyeu, Steve's wife, coming toward me but did not take any further notice of her. Pete Bilyeu fired at Bob Meadows who responded-both men missing. Pete was taking aim to fire again when I shot him, killing him instantly. Mrs. Bilyeu attacked me at my back with a butcher knife and slashed me viciouly half a dozen times. I saw Jim Bilyeu with a revolver in his hand aiming at me but he was afraid to shoot as he might hit his mother. He called to his mother to get away and I realized I would get shot unless I acted quickly. By this time Mrs. Bilyeu was at my throat and I threw the Winchester down over her shoulder and aiming at Jim who was only six feet distant, fired. The aim was true and he dropped dead. I suceeded in getting away from Mrs. Bilyeu who was like a wild animal. She went to her husband and boys and found them dead and her sorrow was great. Hosea Bilyeu and his son Martin, had not fired a shot. We went to our houses and concluded to come to Ozark and give ourselves up to the sheriff. I am sorry the affair had to occur, but Steve Bilyeu and Pete got what they deserved. I regret that I had to kill Jim who was a good sort of boy--but it could not be helped.

The case wended its way through the courts; in 1900 it was dismissed on a technicality. And there was some bad blood for at least a couple of decades after that.

There are a few more anecdotes relating to the feud on that page, but those are the heart of the matter, and if I quoted the whole thing I'd be passing a bit beyond the boundaries of fair use. I wish I could find more information about it all, just for the sake of knowing more of the history (so I can "freak the mundanes" by rattling some of the skeletons hanging on my family tree :), but that's the only webpage I can find that even mentions the feud. I'm told it ended when some Meadows married some Bilyeu, but I wasn't given any specifics, and it may just be that they got the facts muddled since Meadows and Bilyeu were already married before the thing started. I reckon it's just as likely, if not more so, that it just petered out after the people who were most affected died off toward the middle of the 20th century.

Comments

Bilyeu

[artmomz.livejournal.com]

I went to high school with a "Matt Bilyeu" in Dixon. (I'm not originally from Missouri. Being a military brat, I am not really from any where in particular.) But, anyway, he died in a car wreck before he had a chance to graduate.

[(Anonymous)]

its over now no grudges are carried and trust me if there was i would be the bilyeu to finish it but my blood is cold and no longer boils on the subject