Tuesday's Speaker Tom Rafiner's Bio:

Tom Rafiner is an independent researcher and historian. He lives in Parkville, Missouri, but was raised in Raytown, Missouri and discovered that his ancestral roots in Jackson County stretched as far back as 1831.  While conducting family research he found relatives who lived in Cass County, Missouri, during the Civil War who were driven from the county and their homes in 1863.  Curiosity about Order No. 11 and questions about the fate of Cass County families soon became an all-consuming passion.

 

Three fires raged around and through the families of Jackson and Cass County during the Civil War in Missouri.  For Kansas and Missouri, this was the undying Border War— one of the most vicious in The War Between The States.  Although little is known about Order No. 11 in the public eye, the conflict in the three-county border area was so extreme that the area came to be known as "The Burnt District."  The three fires of Unionism, Secessionism, and the undying Border War resulted in universal destruction for this area and these families.  You will find these stories and more in:  Caught Between Three Fires: Cass County MO, and Chaos, and Order No. 11.