By 1861 there were several small river mill settlements, some mining camps and about nine or ten towns (seven platted) in Jasper County, Missouri. Avilla was newly formed and "bustling" with over one hundred citizens (compare with the county seat of Carthage that had an estimated population between four and five hundred at that time). As in all of the border state towns, families in Avilla were split over the question of Missouri secession, and some were slave owners. Dr. Jaquillian M. Stemmons actually owned eight inherited slaves himself; however, he and the other town leaders were Unconditional Unionists and remained aligned with newly elected president Abraham Lincoln. Dr. J.M. Stemmons never bought or sold slaves and was known to have retained his family inherited slaves simply for their very own safety. He supported the abolition of slavery in the United States. Avilla's political alignment was in sharp contrast to neighboring Sarcoxie to the south, where the first regional Confederate flag was raised. The rebel "Stars & Bars" also flew over Carthage to the west in 1861, following an early Confederate victory at the Battle of Carthage on July 5. At a distance of only two counties away, Arkansas had already become the ninth state to secede, and on October 28, 1861, Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson met with the Missouri General Assembly in Neosho and declared Missouri as the twelfth state to join the Confederate States of America. In spite of being engulfed by the Confederacy, the United States flag continued to fly over Avilla, boldly hoisted to the top of a flagpole in the town center park and guarded by the townsmen. Schoolhouses were closed and many families evacuated their women and small children to safer areas in other states.