Peregrine Hays and George Silcott were prominent businessmen before the Civil War, with Hays serving as sheriff of Calhoun County and Silcott as county clerk. In 1861 they helped form the Moccasin Rangers. After a truce they had helped arrange in May 1862 was revoked, the two were captured and sent to Camp Chase. Although later paroled, Hays and Silcott continued to aid the Confederacy. Their wives, sisters Louisa and Amie Sexton, also played active wartime roles. During the war, Louisa ran the Hays farm in Calhoun, raising livestock and grain, and reportedly took horses, money, and goods to her husband in Confederate areas. Amie acted as county clerk in her husband’s name, issuing at least a dozen marriage licenses, and later joined the men in Monroe County.