William Henry Tebbs, born in Prince William County, Virginia 11/17/1822, married in Mason County, Kentucky 1/27/1846 to Martha E. Anderson (born 9/13/1828 - died Ashley County, Arkansas 1/22/1884)[note - the birth date above is from the Winston/Tebbs Bible, birth date from interment records at Belfontaine Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri is 11/16/1821]. William worked as a physician in Maysville, Kentucky 1846 – 1849 where he was partner with his brother-in-law Dr. James M. Davis. Drs. Davis and Tebbs were practitioners of eclectic medicine, a branch of American Medicine that used botanical remedies including Native American herbal medicine as well as physiological treatment. The practice was relatively new and progressive in the 1840’s and gained much popularity in the 1880’s before fading away in the late 1930’s. In recent years there has been a resurgence in natural/organic cures and the early practitioners of eclectic medicine are now viewed as progressive medical thinkers. In February, 1849 William organized a company with several other men from Maysville, Kentucky to travel west to the gold fields of California. As his party was advertised in the New Orleans, Louisiana newspaper it is likely the the group traveled by boat to California, most likely going over the Panamanian Isthmus via Chagres. William was accompanied to California by his brother Obadiah, who had recently returned from studying at Yale University. William settled in Mariposa County, and continued to practice as a physician. He soon moved to Solano County, California, and by 1854 had returned to Platte County, Missouri. In Platte County William worked as a physician and was a partner in a saw mill operation. In August, 1854 William and his brother Obadiah moved to the Kansas Territory where they had claims in what would become Jefferson County. In the words of Obadiah Tebbs in a deposition taken 5/30/1856 “He [William] had a claim at that time [8/1854], had a large number of cattle, and had hired persons to put his claim in a state of cultivation. He devoted his time to practice as physician. He went there to reside permanently in August, 1854… He left his family in Missouri because he owned a comfortable house there where they could live, and had not a comfortable house in the Territory. His wife was a very delicate woman, and he did not desire to bring her into the Territory, where he had such indifferent accommodations. He was advised not to put up comfortable buildings on the lands then, as they were Delaware lands, and we were likely to be driven off at any time, and therefore we did not put up any comfortable houses. We both went out there for the purpose of settling permanently, and become bona fide settlers, and have lived there ever since, bringing our families shortly after the election [5/1855]”. William became a deputy United States Marshall during the turbulent years following the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. In 1855 William H. Tebbs was one of 38 men elected to the Kansas House of Representatives as the First Kansas Territorial Legislature. The voting for this body was heavily influenced by nearly 5000 Missouri residents who took over the polls and voted as Kansas citizens. The result was a pro-slavery legislature that adopted the statutes of Missouri as the law of Kansas and has come to be called the “Bogus Legislature.” This Legislature enacted criminal sanctions for helping fugitive slaves, and appointed all the first county officials by Legislative fiat. It has been stated the much of the violence and turmoil that now called “Bleeding Kansas” was a direct result of the actions of the “Bogus Legislature.” Free-State advocates such as Joseph Lane quickly organized a rival political party and a competing legislature. The pro-slavery “Bogus Legislature” mobilized the Kansas militia to put down the free-state organizers, and much civil turmoil followed. In 1855 William Tebbs and his brother Obadiah Tebbs helped found the town of Osawkee in Jefferson County, Kansas. The town was located on the trail west and soon became the County Seat of Jefferson County, Kansas. It remained an active trading center until 1858 when a fire destroyed most of the town and the County Seat was moved to Oskaloosa. The town quickly faded and today is only a small rural village. After the free-state party political victory in 1857, William H. Tebbs and his brother Obadiah Tebbs moved to Ashley County, Arkansas where they settled on the west side of Bayou Boeuf near the town of Portland. William established his medical practice in Arkansas. In early 1861 William Henry Tebbs and Van H. Manning, a lawyer from Hamburg, Arkansas organized two companies of men and marched to Vicksburg, Mississippi for the purpose of joining the Confederate forces as the 3rd Arkansas Infantry. The Confederate Secretary of War refused their service at that time and most of the men were furloughed and sent home. William H. Tebbs and Van Manning went to Montgomery, Alabama to continue their quest of organizing a military unit as part of the Confederate forces. After enlisting the aid of Arkansas Congressman Albert Rust, the 3rd Arkansas Infantry was officially organized by companies in Lynchburg, Virginia 7/5/1861 and mustered into service. Albert Rust was Colonel of the unit, Van Manning Lt. Colonel and William H. Tebbs was Captain of Company A [The Arkansas Travelers]. The regiment was ordered to the mountains of West Virginia, where it performed "arduous and discouraging service" in the Gauley and Cheat Rivers Campaign [9/11 – 9/17/1861] and at Greenbrier River [10/3 – 10/4/1861]. Afterwards the unit was assigned to "Stonewall" Jackson and fought in several engagements in the "Valley Campaign" including the battle of Allegheny. In January, 1862 the unit marched from Winchester, Virginia to Romney, West Virginia, where the spent the winter. In late February they marched back to Winchester, Virginia and then east to Fredericksburg, Virginia where it was assigned to General Theophilus Holmes. At this time Albert Rust was promoted to Brigadier General and sent to the Western theatre of operations, Van Manning was promoted to Colonel and William H. Tebbs to Lt. Colonel. The unit was engaged in battle at White Oak Swamp, Virginia (6/3/1862), and at Malvern Hill, Virginia (7/1/1862) as part of the “Seven Days Battles.” The unit then saw action in the Second Bull Run Campaign [8/16 – 9/2/1862] and set 9/3/1862 out as part of the Maryland Campaign. At the Battle of Antietam (9/17/1862) Company A suffered heavy losses at the “Sunken Road” and Colonel Manning was seriously wounded. The unit conducted operations in Loudoun, Fauquier and Rappahannock Counties, Virginia from 10/26/1862 to 11/10/1862 then reported to Fredericksburg, Virginia and was assigned to Hood's Texas Brigade at that time. As part of the Texas Brigade the 3rd Arkansas fought in the Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia 12/12 – 12/15/1862. Soon afterward on 1/19/1863, William H. Tebbs resigned his command for "undisclosed personal reasons." (Although it is not known why Dr. Tebbs resigned, it is believed that his health was failing and he could no longer adequately tolerate the rigors of battle). After his resignation, the unit went on to fight at Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Knoxville, the Wilderness, Petersburg, Farmville, High Bridge and ultimately was at the surrender at Appomattox, Virginia. At the time of surrender only 144 of the over 1500 enlistees remained. Dr. William H. Tebbs returned to Hamburg, Arkansas in 1/1863. He died of stomach cancer 11/10/1866 while on a visit to the home of his brother-in-law Rev. John Brooks near Mexico, Missouri. His wife Martha Tebbs remarried 4/18/1874 to Homer L. Anthony (his seventh marriage), and died in 1884. She is buried in the Hamburg Cemetery in Hamburg, Ashley County, Arkansas. William and Martha Tebbs had no children. William Tebbs is buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery in Saint Louis, Missouri in the Evans/Buskett/McCarty lot, but has no marker.