Biography
Marshall identifies J. W. Harper, a Booneville druggist, as one of five civilians seized with minister Henry M. Paynter in August 1861. The account says the commander acknowledged no individual charges and held the men as hostages against a Confederate attack. During the September 13 engagement they were threatened with death; the ensuing armistice provided for release of the hostages except Paynter. The narrative confirms release of his fellow prisoners, but supplies no individual release day. Source: John A. Marshall, American Bastile (1869), printed pages 542-544, https://archive.org/details/americanbastile00marsgoog/page/n559/mode/1up.
