About Tom

Tom Rafiner is an independent researcher and historian. Tom lives in Parkville, Mo. but was raised in Raytown, Mo. Tom's ancestral roots in Jackson County, Mo. stretch as far back as 1831. While conducting family research, Rafiner found relatives who lived in Cass County, Mo. during the Civil War. Tom's ancestors, the Samuel Parsons family, were driven from the county in 1863. Natural curiosity about Order No. 11 and questions about the fate of Cass County families soon became an all-consuming passion.

Six and a half years ago, Tom set out to answer four basic questions:

1. Who were the people who lived in Cass County when the war began?
2. Where did they go after Order No.11 was implemented?
3. Which families came back?
4. What were the stories of the families?

Tom's research into the lives of the 1700 families who lived in the county in 1860 has carried him all over the Midwest and to the National Archives in Washington D.C. 

Rafiner has visited the National Archives in Washington D.C. four times. These National Archives trips focused on researching "War Claims" filed after the Civil War by Cass County citizens. These War Claims files are rich in information about Cass County and its families. The claims provide extraordinary insight into events of the time. The information Tom has uncovered is original and has added significant depth and knowledge to Cass County's history.

Tom considers himself a storyteller. For the past 3 years he has been an active speaker for the State Historical Society's Speakers Bureau. Speaking engagements in St. Louis, Carthage, Warrensburg, Harrisonville, Kansas City, Miami County, KS, and Olathe, KS have established him as one of the area's primary authorities on Cass County Civil War era history. Tom has also has spoken at schools in the Chicago and Kansas City areas.

Tom's first history, Caught Between Three Fires: Cass County, Mo., Chaos, & Order No. 11, was completed and made available for purchase in November 2010.  This history follows Cass County families from 1860 to mid-1865. The primary theme integrates Cass County families, county history, with the overall history of western Missouri. The history expressly focuses on Cass County families. Buy the book. 

Three additional historical works are in progress.  All three projects focus on the Missouri - Kansas border.  A history of the area devastated by Order No. 11 entitled The Burnt District is well underway.  Tom's current passion, a biography of R.L.Y. Peyton, has taken center stage in his work.  Peyton represented Missouri in the Confederate Senate and is today largely unknown.  Lastly, Tom will be publishing a transcription of Philip P. Fowler's The Jay-Hawker.  This story was serialized in Lawrence's Herald of Freedom in 1859.

Tom Rafiner is a 1969 graduate of the University of Missouri, where he majored in Elizabethan Drama and European History. He earned a Master's degree in English and Education at the University of Missouri at Kansas City.  Tom serves on the University of Missouri, English Department Alumni Board.