On January 10, 1863, nine men, including two Confederate officers, prominent local citizens, and Masonic lodge members, were taken from a guardhouse near Huntsville, led to Samuel Vaughn's farm one mile northeast of town, and shot, with only John Parks surviving. Lt. Col. Elias Baldwin of the 8th Missouri Cavalry (U.S.) was arrested for the murder of prisoners of war but was freed when witnesses failed to appear. The killings may have been motivated by the deaths of 18 Union soldiers escorting Isaac Murphy's daughters to their home in Huntsville in November 1862. Those killed were Chesley H. Boatright, 39, a blacksmith; Confederate captains Hugh Samuel Berry, 31, and John William Moody, 22; former county treasurer William Berry, 60, a farmer; Watson Stevens, 29, the Berrys' cousin; Robert Coleman Young, 56, a minister; and Askin Hughes and John Hughes of Tennessee, who were visiting Huntsville when it happened. After recovering from his wounds, John Parks moved to Mississippi, and no one was ever punished for the slayings.