Individual Details

Birth

From gravestone.

Census

Age 10

Census

Age 20

Military

He was discharged 29 Mar 1864, having resigned at Nashville, TN, due to hemorrhoids.

Census (family)

Alonzo Prather 30
Maria Prather 25
Hiram R Prather 5
Benjamin Prather 3
Frank W Prather 1

Census (family)

Alonzo Prather 38
Maria Prather 34
Robert Prather 15
Benj Prather 13
Frank Prather 10
Richard Prather 8
Mary Prather 2
Joseph Prather 11m

Miscellaneous

 One of the thirteen original founding members of the "Bald Knobbers" from Taney County,MO. The Bald Knobbers were a non-racial motivated vigilantes in southern Missouri during the period or 1883-1889. They are commonly depicted wearing hoods with horns, a distinction that evolved during the rapid proliferation of the group into neighboring counties apart from its Taney County origins. The group got its name from the grassy bald knob summits of the Ozark Mountains in the area. The hill where they first met is called Snapp's Bald, located just north of Kirbyville, Missouri. The Bald Knobbers, who for the most part sided with the North in American Civil War, were opposed by the Anti-Bald Knobbers, who for the most part sided with the Confederates.  The Taney County chapter In 1883, thirteen men led by the giant Nat N. Kinney formed the group, in retaliation against the hordes of invading marauders that had plagued the area since the start of the Reconstruction Period. The original thirteen were Nat Kinney, James A. DeLong, Alonzo S. Prather,  Yell Everett, James B. Rice, T.W. Phillips, James R VanZandt, Pat F. Fickle, Galba E. Branson, J. J. Brown, Charles H. Groom, James K. Polk McHaffie, and possibly Ben Price. During the period of 1865-1882, over thirty murders were committed, none leading to a conviction. The original name of the group was "The Anti-Horse Thief Association", followed by "The Law and Order League". However, because their secret meetings were held atop a "bald" mountaintop (in order to keep a look-out for spies), the public began to refer to them as the Bald Knobbers. As their numbers grew into the hundreds, out of a county of only 7,000 people, the original intent began to lose focus. Though initially praised for driving out the notorious outlaws (such as the Taylor brothers), public sentiment soon turned against them. Although the men initially wore nothing more than a simple kerchief over their lower faces, if any disguise at all, many soon adopted a simple white muslin hood with corners tied off like ears, and cut out eye and mouth holes. This fearsome appearance only inflamed the anti-sentiment, peaking with the formation of the anti-Bald Knobbers. While the Bald Knobbers were mostly Republicans that had fought for the Union Army, most of the anti-Bald Knobbers were Democrats that had fought for the Confederacy. When the county courthouse burned down, both rival sides pointed fingers at each other, intensifying the bitterness between the groups. This loosely-knit group of anti-Bald Knobber pacifists was best represented by the 19 year-old orphan Andy Coggburn. Coggburn hated Kinney, a very persuasive individual with a mysterious past, who had moved into the area with his family two years before the Bald Knobbers came into being. Coggburn took great pleasure in deriding Kinney, pulling pranks and speaking out against the vigilante gang. Kinney and his fellow Bald Knobbers held considerable pull in the county, and in no time Coggburn was shot and killed by Kinney in "self defense" outside the local church of Forsyth, where Kinney had gone to preach that night. Though their opponents could never agree upon a proper means of dissolving the Bald Knobbers, they did succeed in petitioning the Missouri Governor to send an Adjutant General to Forsyth to investigate the situation. Upon arrival, although the representative was pleased to see the atmosphere of order that prevailed, he recommended to Kinney that an official dissolution of the Bald Knobbers would be in the best interest of the county. That next day a formal dissolution ceremony was held in the town square where the Bald Knobbers were publicly disbanded, having served their original purpose.

Miscellaneous

From: U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938 (Ancestry.com)

Death

From gravestone.