During the Civil War, the county was occupied alternately by the opposing forces. Several engagements were fought in and around Neosho, Newtonia, and Granby, at some places more than once; frequent skirmishes took place between small units and raids by predatory parties who belonged to no army. The schools were closed during the war and most of the schoolhouses destroyed. The new courthouse was occupied by troops of both armies during the war and finally destroyed "circa" 1863. After the war, the county records were found intact in a cell in the jail, where they had been concealed by R.W. Ellis, the county clerk, before he left to join the Confederate Army in 1861.