The following listed men served in the Mexican War as
members of the Perry Volunteers from Perry County, Alabama that became Company
C in the First Regiment of Alabama Volunteers.
The details of their service is documented in my book Perry Volunteers
in the Mexican War, Perry County, Alabama, First Regiment of Alabama
Volunteers, 1846-1847, and the Mexican War Diary of Captain William G. Coleman
published by Heritage Books, Inc.
J. Hugh LeBaron, Starkville,
Mississippi, [email protected].
DANIEL ALLEN was born in 1810 in Georgia and was a brick mason by
trade. He lived in Perryville Beat in Perry County
and was thirty-six years old when he enlisted in the Perry Volunteers. His children included William, Joshua,
Frances C. and Minerva Allen. [1850
Census of Perry County,
Alabama, p.
349B]
JESSE AYCOCK was born in 1826 in Alabama and was an overseer working for Mary
Bagley in Heard's Beat in 1850. He was
twenty years old when he enlisted for the Mexican War. Aycock was hospitalized at the General Hospital at Point Isabel on November 30,
1846. On February 5, 1847, Captain
Coleman noted in his diary that Jesse Aycock rejoined the Company at Tampico after a month in
the hospital. After he returned to Alabama from the war, he moved to Claiborne Parish, Louisiana
in 1850, where, in September 1877, he attended a convention of Mexican War
veterans with his former captain. During
the War for Southern Independence, he served
as a private in Company C of the 13th Battalion of Louisiana Infantry. Jesse's widow Almede W. Aycock collected a
pension for his Mexican War service beginning March 30, 1888. [1850 Census of
Perry County, Alabama, p. 355; Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest
Louisiana (The Southern Publishing Company, Chicago and Nashville, 1890; Roster
of Confederate Soldiers; Pension Widow's Certificate-4271; W. G. Coleman Diary]
SEABORN AYCOCK was born on September 27, 1819, in Georgia and was
a farmer who owned four slaves. He lived
in Perryville Beat and was twenty-six years old and married when he enlisted in
the Perry Volunteers. He was elected as the first sergeant of Company C and
served until he was discharged from the army on February 26, 1847, at Tampico, Mexico. During Seaborn's service in the Mexican War,
he suffered considerably from disease and illness based on the numerous entries
in the diary of Captain Coleman although there is no record he was ever
hospitalized. In September 1846, he
decided to return to Alabama
but was too weak and ill to make the trip.
His health improved and regressed in cycles until he was finally discharged. Seaborn married Angeline M. Ford, daughter of
Seth Ford and Elizabeth Melton, on December 19, 1844, and moved to Claiborne Parish, Louisiana
in 1850 with Captain Coleman. His
children included Seaborn B., Jesse A. and Dorthea Aycock. During the War for Southern
Independence, Aycock joined a volunteer company organized in
Claiborne Parish in February 1862 that became Company G of the 25th Louisiana
Infantry. Seaborn was elected Captain of
the company on March 15, 1862, at New
Orleans. He led
his company at Corinth, Shiloh, Farmington,
Perryville, and Murfreesboro. At Jonesboro, Georgia, Aycock was killed on August 31, 1864,
while serving in John Bell Hood's army defending Atlanta, Georgia. The Claiborne Parish,
Louisiana town of Aycock was named in honor of Seaborn's
service to his country in the war.
Angeline M. Aycock collected a widow's pension for Seaborn's Mexican War
service beginning February 30, 1888. [Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest
Louisiana (The Southern Publishing Company, Chicago and Nashville, 1890; 1850
Census of Perry County, Alabama, p. 351; Arthur W. Bergeron, Jr., Guide to
Louisiana Confederate Military Units, 1861-1865 (LSU Press, Baton Rouge and
London) pp. 133-134; Pension Widow's Certificate-4272; W. G. Coleman Diary;
Perry County, Alabama Marriage License # 1619; Ann Gleason]
JAMES FRANCIS BAILEY was born on January 21, 1811, in Wilkes County, Georgia
and died on April 18, 1889, at Marion,
Alabama. He was a friend of Captain William G. Coleman
but that friendship was strained by the differences in rank and Bailey's
personality. Coleman wrote in his diary
"my friend J. F. Bailey attacked with dropsy, much to my grief to discover
it" showing his concern for Bailey's welfare. On other occasions, their friendship was
strained as on September 26, 1846, when Coleman wrote, "my friend Jas F.
Bailey became hurt with me for that which I had not intended . . . " On October 17,
1847, Coleman wrote, "J. F. B. has taken some offence and treats me
coolly, for what I know not." Other
entries in Coleman's diary demonstrated difficulties during the war but their
friendship survived these difficulties.
Bailey's father was John Guinn Bailey of Wilkes
County, Georgia
who moved to Perry
County about 1818 and
settled in the eastern part of the county near Perryville, then the county seat
of government, where he became a farmer.
James graduated from the University
of Alabama in 1834 and the University of Virginia in 1837 with an LL.D
degree. He opened a law office in Marion in 1837 where he
associated himself with attorney John N. Walthall. Bailey married Ellen Amanda Mosley on
December 9, 1849. After returning from
the Mexican War, he ran for and was elected to the Alabama House of
Representatives serving in 1847-48 and was elected the first Probate Judge of
the county serving until 1865. Bailey
was a secessionist, attended the 1861 Alabama Secession Convention, and voted
to withdraw from the Union. After Alabama
seceded from the Union, Governor Andrew Barry
Moore placed Bailey on the Alabama Committee on Military Affairs. In 1860, Bailey owned seventeen slaves. Judge Bailey was a student of meteorology and
developed into a pioneer of the science, writing and publishing theories that
stand up well in the weather predictions of today. He was a Democrat and a member of the Siloam Baptist
Church in Marion.
He was a trustee of Howard
College from 1853 through
1880. Bailey collected a pension for his
Mexican War service beginning March 23, 1887. [Lovelace, Siloam History, p. 18;
W. Stuart Harris, Heritage of Perry County, Alabama,
v. I, p. 180-183; 1860 Slave Census of Perry County; Owen, Alabama Biography, v
III, p. 72; 1850 Census of Perry County, Alabama, p. 371, Marion Beat; Pension
SC-3367; W. G. Coleman Diary; Perry County, Alabama Marriage License # 2119]
WILLIAM B. BAILEY was discharged at Camp
Alabama on the Rio Grande on August 19, 1846. He was probably disabled from service due to
a severe debilitating diarrhea outbreak along the Rio Grande.
Bailey married Mary Jane Mayberry on February 10, 1844, in Perry County.
[W. G. Coleman Diary; Perry County, Alabama
Marriage License # 1557]
JOHN W. BARRON served as a first corporal of Company C. He was promoted to fourth sergeant on August
19, 1846, at Camp
Alabama. Barron was hospitalized at Vera Cruz on April
12, 1847, because of his exertions during a forced march to and from Alvarado
and was left behind when his regiment marched into the interior of Mexico to Jalapa. John P. Everett replaced Barron as fourth
sergeant on April 19, 1847, due to his inability to serve because of his
hospitalization. In the war for Southern Independence, Barron served in Company D of the
63rd Alabama Infantry Regiment. [Roster
of Confederate Soldiers]
JAMES BENNETT was the son of Reuben Bennett and Sarah
Edwards and lived in the Radfordville Beat in Perry County, Alabama. James was twenty-two when he enlisted in the
Perry Volunteers. While stationed at
Camargo, Bennett was assigned on Saturday, October 10, 1846, to work as a
blacksmith for Captain Franklin Smith.
Contrary to orders, James refused to work and did not report at all on
Sunday and Monday. He was put on report
by Captain Smith and placed in the guardhouse on bread and water for
insubordination along with four others who were insubordinate at Smith's blacksmith
shop. Captain Franklin Smith of the
Commissary Department wrote of Bennett in his Journal on October 12, 1846:
"2 Alabamians had reported to him Saturday, Collamer
and James Bennet.
Collamer worked half a day Saturday-Bennet not at all. Bennet soon left-Collamer (left)
at night-and neither of them ever returned." On October 13, Smith in a
letter to Captain Crosman wrote of Bennett, "The
names of the men are Wm. Robertson George Adams Co. I, J. Bennett Co. C, J.
Bird Co. K . . . " On November 7, 1846,
Bennett was "dangerously" ill at Camargo and "very sick" on
January 26, 1847, at Tampico according to notes in the diary of William
Coleman. He was discharged from the army
on February 26, 1847, at Tampico,
Mexico, along
with Seaborn Aycock and William H. Jones.
After the war, he returned to his father's home, married and became an
overseer of his father's slaves. During
the War for Southern Independence, Bennett
served as a private in the 8th Alabama Infantry Regiment. He was captured at Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania on July 3, 1863 and died on
September 15, 1863, of disease at Point
Lookout, Maryland
while a prisoner of war. [1850 Censuses of Perry County, p. 345B and 1860
Censuses of Perry County, Alabama; Alabama Department of Archives and History,
Civil War Service Database; Colonel Hillary A. Herbert, "History of the
Eighth Alabama Volunteer Regiment," Alabama Historical Quarterly, p. 306]
JOHN C BLASSINGAME'S election as
Second Lieutenant was certified on May 25, 1846, according to election records. Blassingame was
born in 1824 in South Carolina and was the son
of William E. Blassingame and Elizabeth P. Townes from Greenville,
South Carolina. It is difficult to determine from the records
that he actually served in the position to which he was elected, but it appears
he did not. In the absence of proof
regarding his service, he is included since he appears in the record as a
member of the Perry Volunteers. Blassingame was a farmer, enlisted at the age of twenty-two
and lived in the Marion Beat in Perry
County with his mother
after the war. He married Lucy E. Wyatt
on June 29, 1856, in Perry County, Alabama.
John Blassingame moved to Franklin County,
Alabama after his mother died in 1857. [1850 Census of Perry County, Alabama,
p. 369; 1860 Census of Franklin County, Alabama, p. 789; Perry County Heritage,
p. 52]
PEACHY BLEDSOE was born in 1824 in Alabama and worked as an overseer for John
S. Ford. He lived in Marion Beat and
enlisted at the age of twenty-two and was single at the time of his
enlistment. Moses Bledsoe and Polly
Turner were his parents and his siblings were William Miller, Phoebe, and
Martha Ann. Bledsoe's grandparents were
Miller Bledsoe and Jean Elizabeth Bolling. Peachy's father was
a veteran of the Indian Wars enlisting in the Alabama Volunteers in 1836. Peachy was shot by his own sentinels at Tampico on January 23,
1847, and hospitalized for over two months due to his wound. After the Mexican War, he moved to Union
Parish, Louisiana with his family and later to
Texas. He served as a private in Company C of the
22nd Texas Cavalry Regiment during the War for Southern
Independence. [1850 Census of Perry County, Alabama, p. 365B; 1860
Census of Perry County, Alabama, p. 697; Roster of Confederate Soldiers;
Coleman Diary]
MARTIN BURCH was hospitalized at Vera Cruz from March 5
until on April 17, 1847. [W. G. Coleman Diary]
ALLEN L. BURT was discharged at Camp
Alabama, Texas
on the Rio Grande on August 19 and left camp for
Alabama on
August 22, 1846.
JOHN K. CALDWELL was twenty-seven when he enlisted in
Company C. He was born in 1819 in South Carolina and was a
tailor by occupation. He lived in the
Radfordville Beat in 1850 and later moved to Mississippi.
After the war, he married Susan W. Sansing on
December 15, 1850, in Perry
County. Susan Caldwell collected a widow's pension
for John's Mexican War service beginning on April 20, 1887. [1850 Census of
Perry County, Alabama, p. 344; Pension WC-621; Perry County, Alabama Marriage
License # 2218]
JAMES CARDIN was born in South Carolina in 1813. He was thirty-three when he enlisted. [1860 Census of Perry
County, Alabama, p. 696]
SHADRACK W. CARDIN was hospitalized at Point Isabel, Texas
on December 10, 1846, and released on January 9, 1847. He caught up with his Company in Tampico on February 5,
1847. After the Mexican War, he moved to
Mississippi. Harriett Cardin collected a widow's pension
for Cardin's service in the Mexican War beginning on February 8, 1888. [Pension
WC-4923; W. G. Coleman Diary]
YOUNG L. CARDIN was promoted to third sergeant of Company C
on March 1, 1847, at Tampico,
Mexico to
replace Robert M. Holmes who was promoted to first sergeant.
WILLIAM COFFEY served as a private in Company K of the 44th
Alabama Infantry Regiment during the War for Southern
Independence. He died of
disease on October 3, 1862, while serving in the Confederate Army. [44th Alabama Infantry
Regiment Muster Roll; Roster of Confederate Soldiers; Charles E. Boyd, The Devil's Den, 1987]
WILLIAM GOFORTH COLEMAN was born
in July 10, 1805, in Edgefield
District, South Carolina
and was of German descent. Politically,
Coleman was a Calhoun Democrat and an outspoken advocate of states right's
nullification of Federal laws. He was
also a secessionist during the period leading up to the War for Southern Independence.
Coleman first experienced war as a soldier under the command of Captain Jarnigham in the Creek War of 1837. He married Frances A. Johnson, the daughter
of William S. Johnson of Virginia. Frances bore four children before
her death in 1840. Coleman moved to Alabama in 1844 settling in the Plantersville area of
eastern Perry County.
Two years later, he organized the Perry Volunteers for service in Mexico at the
age of forty. He married Mary Jane Heard
in Alabama
and had eight additional children with his second wife. Coleman was a dedicated sportsman who enjoyed
horse racing and hunting. In late 1850,
he moved his family to Claiborne Parish in Northwestern
Louisiana. Here he had a brief
fling with politics running and winning as the Democratic Party's candidate for
the Louisiana Legislature in 1854. After
serving his term, he eschewed an active role as a political candidate. In Claiborne Parish, he joined the Baptist Church
at Lisbon in
1854 and was elected clerk of the church, a position he held for the next
twenty-three years. In September 1877,
Coleman attended a convention of Mexican War veterans which several members of
his old command. In Louisiana, he retained the title of
"Captain" all of his life, and the title appears in most records of
his day in reference to Coleman. He died
in October 19, 1888, at the age of eighty-three, having been a prominent and
active citizen throughout his life and is buried in the cemetery at Rocky
Springs Baptist Church at Lisbon, Louisiana.
Coleman's son, Benjamin Ryan Coleman, and grandson, Thomas A. Coleman
were prominent men in Claiborne Parish and the State of Louisiana, both holding many positions of
public trust. Mary Jane Coleman collected
a widow's pension for William's Mexican War service beginning on December 31,
1888. [1850 Census of Perry County, Alabama, p. 363; Biographical and
Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana (The Southern Publishing Company,
Chicago and Nashville, 1890); Mexican War Pension WC-5979; Perry County Alabama
Marriage License # 1804]
HILLARY T COOK was born in 1822 in South Carolina and was a farmer. He was twenty-four when he enlisted and lived
in the Dublin Beat. After the Mexican
War, he married Jane C. Terry on March 10, 1850, and moved to Texas.
Jane collected a widow's pension beginning on June 7, 1887, for
Hillary's service in the Mexican War. [1850 Census of Perry County, Alabama, p.
357; Mexican War Pension WC4641; Perry County Marriage License # 2156]
MICHAEL A COOK JR.was born in 1820 in South Carolina and was a farmer living in
the Dublin Beat. He was twenty-six when
he enlisted in the Perry Volunteers. [1850 Census of Perry
County, Alabama, p. 355B]
JOHN CROWLEY was born in Ireland in 1810 and dug and cleaned
ditches for a living. Crowley lived in Dublin Beat and worked for
William W. Morrow. He was single when he
enlisted. Captain Coleman noted in his
diary on January 29, 1847, "J. F. Bailey and John Crowley made bet of $10
aside and put the money in my hands-on Crowley's
drinking spirits in one month." [1850 Census of Perry
County, Alabama, p. 355B; W. G. Coleman Diary]
MILO CINCINNATI CURRY was the son of Thomas Curry and
Rebecca Petty and the grandson of John Perry.
Milo was born on October 18, 1818, in Putnam County,
Georgia and died on April
28, 1903, in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana
where he is buried in the Old
Friendship Cemetery. He married Clara Henry on February 12, 1836,
in Perry County.
According to Milo's Mexican War pension
papers dated June 6, 1887, he enlisted on June 11,
1846. In his later years, Milo received
a pension for his service in Mexico
amounting to eight dollars a month. He
moved to Louisiana
in the 1870s where he settled in the Flat Lick Community in Claiborne
Parish. His brother was Berkley Perry
Curry and his half brother was James H. Curry.
Curry's sisters were Sally, Martha, and Margaret Caroline. Milo was twenty-eight years old when he
enlisted and departed for Mexico. He was also married and the father of four
children. He lived in the Oak Grove Beat
and was a member of Ocmulgee Baptist Church
near where he lived in southeastern Perry
County. He joined Ocmulgee Church
on December 28, 1839, and was excluded from the church on April 24, 1841, for
"attending a horse race." He
was readmitted to the church on November 27, 1847, six months after returning
from Mexico. He subsequently served as the church
treasurer and was a respected member of his congregation until his resigned in
1877, to move to Louisiana. Milo's slave, Hannah, was also a member this
church, joining the same year as Milo and his
wife. [Mrs. Grace T. Watson, Minden, Louisiana; Alabama Records, v 241, p. 24;
1850 and 1860 Censuses of Perry County, Alabama, 334B and 701 respectively;
Ocmulgee Church Book; Mexican War Pension SC-10180; Perry County Marriage
License no. 911; W. G. Coleman Diary; Perry County Marriage License # 911]
JAMES T. DACUS died at Tampico,
Mexico on
January 20, 1847, while his regiment was on garrison duty in that city. Captain Coleman noted in his Mexican War
Diary on January 20, 1847, "James T. Dacus died
in Hospital in Tampico
of the fever after an illness of about ten days."
JOHN W. DACUS was born in 1822 in Alabama and was an overseer. He lived in the Woodville Beat and enlisted
at the age of twenty-four. Dacus was single when he enlisted but married Mary Caroline
Ramsey on August 26, 1851, in Perry
County. Mary Caroline was born in 1834 and seventeen
years old when she married Dacus. Her father was Reverend Lewis P. Ramsey from Georgia. [1850
Census of Perry County, Alabama, page 317; Perry County, Alabama Marriage
License # 2273]
RUFUS W. DACUS' widow, Susan E. Dacus,
collected a pension for his service in the Mexican War beginning on April 23,
1887. During the War for Southern Independence, Rufus enlisted as a private in the
Home Guards of Lowndes County, Alabama under the command of Captain N. L. Break
on April 21, 1863, at the age of forty-five years. He was born in 1808 and enlisted in the Perry
Volunteers at the age of thirty-eight. [Mexican War Pension WC-633; ADAH Civil
War Service Database]
LEROY E DAVIS was born in Alabama on December 27, 1825, and was a
farmer. He lived in Heard's Beat in Perry County
and enlisted at the age of twenty years.
He was not married at the time of his enlistment. During the War for Southern
Independence, Leroy enlisted in Company A of the 20th Alabama
Infantry Regiment. He was promoted to
Captain of his company during the war. Davis died on June 4, 1894, and is buried in Pisgah Cemetery
in Perry County, Alabama. Leroy was paid
a pension for his service in the Mexican War beginning on January 24, 1895, and
his wife Martha J. Davis collected a widow's pension after his death. [1850
Census of Perry County, Alabama, Radfordville Beat, p. 352B; 1860 Census of
Perry County, Alabama, page 656; Muster Roll of the 20th Alabama Infantry
Regiment; Tracy's Brigade-1862-1865; Headstone Inscriptions; Mexican War Pension
SC-13731 and WC-10247]
CHARLES R. DENNIS was born in 1817 and was a twenty-seven
year old farmer when he enlisted in the Volunteers. He was hospitalized in Vera Cruz, Mexico on April 12, 1847, when the Perry
Volunteers marched to the interior of Mexico
to Jalapa, Mexico. On December 28, 1839, Charles joined Ocmulgee Baptist Church
and was dismissed by letter on December 23, 1843. He moved to Union Parish, Louisiana
after returning from Mexico.
[Ocmulgee Church Book; Harry Dill and William Simpson, Some Slaveowners
and their Slaves, Union Parish, Louisiana, 1839-1865; 1850 Census of Union
Parish, Louisiana]
JOHN R. DENNIS was born in 1818 in Georgia. He was a twenty-six year old farmer and the
father of three girls when he enlisted.
Dennis was hospitalized in Vera Cruz, Mexico
on April 17, 1847, when his regiment left that city for the interior of Mexico. John moved to Union Parish, Louisiana after completing his Mexican War
service. His children included Nancy
(1839), Amanda (1841) and Emily (1846). [1850 Census of Union Parish, Louisiana]
JOSEPH G. DENNIS was hospitalized at Point Isabel, Texas
on December 30, 1846. He was promoted to
fourth corporal on March 15, 1847, during the assault on Vera Cruz, Mexico. Dennis was a member of the Ocmulgee Baptist
Church, which he joined
on May 28, 1842. He moved to Mississippi after the
Mexican War. He served as a private in
Company K of the 11th Mississippi Infantry Regiment during the War for Southern Independence.
Dennis survived the war and collected a pension for his Mexican War
service beginning January 11, 1887. [Roster of Confederate Soldiers; Mexican
War Pension SC-646; Ocmulgee
Church Book]
WILLIAM N. EDWARDS was hospitalized at Tampico, Mexico
and discharged from the hospital on April 4, 1847. He married Cinda Bledsoe in 1842. [Perry
County Marriage License
1420]
M. A. EILAND was born in Georgia in 1820 and was a
physician. He lived in Radfordville
Beat, was single and was twenty-six when he enlisted in the Perry
Volunteers. In 1850, he was living in
the home of Spencer B. Rutledge. In 1860, he was living in Marion Beat and
owned nine slaves. While in Mexico, he served as acting Assistant Surgeon in
the hospital at Matamoros, Mexico after October 31, 1846. He rejoined the Perry Volunteers at Camargo
on November 4, 1846, and stayed with the Company until they were mustered
out. Captain Coleman noted in his
pension statement prepared in 1882 that Regimental Surgeon Moore detailed Dr.
Eiland as physician of Company C although such a position was not provided for
in Army regulations. [1850 Census of Perry County, Alabama, p. 354B and 1860 Census
of Perry County, Alabama, p. 722; William G. Coleman Pension Office Statement
Dated November 8, 1882, in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana; W. G. Coleman Diary]
JOHN PICKNEY EVERETT was born on March 20, 1826, in Dallas County, Alabama
but his parents moved to Perry
County the year he was
born. His father was Reverend George
Everett whose early preaching activities were
associated with Ocmulgee
Baptist Church
in Oak Grove Beat. John made a public
profession of his faith at Ocmulgee
Baptist Church
when he was nineteen years old and was baptized into the church on September
25, 1845, by his father. He joined the
Perry Volunteers in his twentieth year.
His mother died four months after he returned from Mexico. The family moved to Union Parish, Louisiana in 1849 and settled near the present town of Oakland. In 1851, John married Sarah J. Buckley of Tennessee, and she bore him ten children before dying of
yellow fever in Memphis
in 1878. John's father died in June 1855
and the care of his twelve siblings devolved to him. As a result, he was deprived of advantages
and his education was limited to seven months of school. However he possessed good abilities and by
hard work and application of his intellect he overcame some of these
disadvantages. In 1853, he was ordained
a deacon by the Spring
Hill Baptist
Church and licensed to
preach by that church in 1854 because of his "boldness in the
faith." In September 1855, he was
ordained as a minister and followed in his father's footsteps. In October 1856, John was installed as pastor
of the Spring Hill Church
and continued in that office until October 1876. During his tenure, he baptized over 500
converts into the fellowship. In
December 1876, he moved his family to Shiloh,
Louisiana to pastor a church there. John served the Louisiana Baptist State
Convention as President and authored periodical literature for the church. He died in Union Parish on June 21, 1891, at
the age of sixty-five years and is buried in the Liberty Church
Cemetery in that parish. Everett was a founder of the Everett Institute, the first
religious school in North Louisiana. His biographer in 1892 described John P.
Everett as an "eminent divine of the Baptist Church,
to which worthy calling he devoted the best energies of his life. His many noble characteristics endeared him
to a wide circle of friends, and as his was a truly Christian character, his
power for good was unlimited." Everett's children
included Laura E., Sallie M., James D., Charles H., Dettie
E., L. Etta and Edward. While in Mexico, he was promoted to fourth sergeant on
April 19, 1847, to replace John W. Barron while his company was on the Mexican National Road
in route to Jalapa, Mexico. Everett
received a pension for his service in the Mexican War beginning July 24, 1891,
and Sarah J. Everett received a widow's pension after John's death. [Timothy D.
Hudson, Winterville, NC; Louisiana Tombstone Inscriptions, Vol. VIII and XXIV;
Reverend W. E. Paxton, A History of Baptists in Louisiana From the Earliest
Times (C. R. Barnes Publishing, St. Louis, 1888), pp. 615-616, 580-582; McCord,
Baptists of Bibb County, Alabama, p. 135; Southwestern Baptist Newspaper, April
19, 1860; Glen Lee Greene, House Upon a Rock, About Southern Baptists in
Louisiana (Parthenon Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 1973), pp. 182-183; Dill and
Simpson, Some Slaveholders in Union Parish, Louisiana, pp. 21, 95-96; 1850,
1860 and 1880 Census of Union Parish, Louisiana; Ocmulgee Church Book, Perry
County, Alabama (unpublished); Mexican War Pension SC-15829 and WC-7660;
Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Louisiana, Volume1 (Goodspeed
Publishing Company, Chicago, 1892) pp. 405-406; W. G. Coleman Diary]
ROBERT FARLEY was born on December 13, 1822, in Halifax County, Virginia. He joined the Perry Volunteers at the age of
twenty-four years and was a farmer. He
was hospitalized in Tampico,
Mexico in
1847. In the War for Southern
Independence, he enlisted as a private at Pollard, Alabama in October 1863 in Company C of the
7th Alabama Cavalry Regiment. He
surrendered at Greensboro, North Carolina at the end of the war. Farley died on February 19, 1910, and is
buried in the cemetery at Pine Flat Baptist
Church in eastern Perry County. Lavina Sophronia Farley collected a widow's
pension for Robert's Mexican War service beginning April 12, 1910. [1907
Confederate Soldier Census; Harris, Heritage, v I, p. 230; Muster Roll of the
7th Alabama Cavalry Regiment; Pine Flat Cemetery Headstone Inscription; Mexican
War Pension SC-1630]
HEZEKIAH FILBERT fell victim to
disease at Camargo, Mexico. Captain Coleman recorded on October 23 and
November 22, 1846, "H. Filbert quite low" and on November 7,
"Two dangerous cases of sickness in my Company, . . . and Hezekiah Filbert."
Filbert was hospitalized on November 24, 1846, and died two days later
on November 26, 1846. He was probably
the son of Mary A. Filbert who lived in Radfordville Beat and the head of the
only Filbert family in the county in 1850.
There were no Filberts listed in the 1840 Census of Perry County. [1840
and 1850 Census of Perry County, Alabama,
p. 344B; W. G. Coleman Diary]
HOMER M. FORD was born in 1826 in Alabama and enlisted at the age of
twenty. He was the son of Absalom and
Sarah Ford. Sarah was the daughter of
William Thomas Ford and Absalom's cousin. After his service in Mexico, Homer returned home and managed the farm
for his aging father and married Susannah E. Mims on October 19, 1848, in Perry County. With the commencement of the War for Southern
Independence, Homer enlisted as a private in Company K of the 28th Alabama
Infantry Regiment at Perryville,
Alabama on March 29, 1862. In October 1862, he was promoted to the rank
of Sergeant and later to Captain of Company K.
He was paroled at Selma,
Alabama on June 9, 1865. After the war, he moved to Texas.
His wife received a widow's pension for Homer's Mexican War service
beginning on October 10, 1887. [28th Alabama Infantry Muster Roll; 1850 Census
of Perry County, Alabama, p. 345B; 1860 Census of Perry County, Alabama, p.
723; Mexican War Pension WC-2991; Perry County, Alabama Marriage License #
2003]
THOMAS M. FORD served in Company K of the 20th Alabama
Infantry Regiment during the War for Southern Independence.
[Roster of Confederate Soldiers]
WILLIAM MARSHALL FORD was a member of the board of directors
for the Alabama Baptist Bible and Colporteur Society whose purpose was to
distribute Bibles and religious literature.
Ford was born on September 26, 1822, and died on March 22, 1861. He was the son of John Ford and Elizabeth Farrar. He married Sarah Stinson Miree on July 4,
1844, two years before joining the Perry Volunteers. William's wife received a widow's Mexican War
pension beginning on March 11, 1887. He
was granted a furlough to return to Alabama on
August 22, 1846, while camped at Camp Alabama on the Rio
Grande. He
returned from furlough on October 8, 1846, bringing news from home and biscuits
from Captain Coleman's wife and money from the Captain's father-in-law. He owned three slaves in 1860. In 1861, he enlisted in the Confederate Army
in Company G of the 4th Alabama Infantry and was also a member of Company C of
the 4th Regiment of Alabama Volunteer Militia. [Harris, Heritage of Perry
County, Alabama, v I, p. 192; 4th Alabama Muster Roll; 1850 Free and 1860 Slave
Census; Owen, History of Alabama, p. 108; 4th Militia Muster Roll; Mexican War
Pension File WC- 1777; W. G. Coleman Diary; Perry County, Alabama Marriage
License # 1592]
WILLIAM T FORD was born in Georgia in 1815 and was the son of
John F. Ford. He was a farmer living in
Radfordville Beat. William was
thirty-one and unmarried when he served in the Mexican War. He was discharged from the army at Camp Alabama,
Texas on
August 19, 1846, and left for home three days later. During the War for Southern
Independence, Ford enlisted in Company K of the 28th Alabama
Infantry at Perryville on March 29, 1862, at the age of forty-six. He was appointed a third Lieutenant on March
29, 1862, and resigned five months later on September 7, 1862. In 1860, he owned four slaves. [28th Alabama
Infantry Muster Roll; 1860 Slave Census; 1850 Census of Perry County, Alabama,
p. 346B; 1860 Census of Perry County, Alabama, p. 631; Walker, Gallant 28th
Alabama]
WILEY W. FOWLER was a farmer and lived in the Oakmulgee Beat of Perry County. He was born on October 24, 1842, in Spartanburg, South Carolina
and was promoted to 4th Corporal of the Perry Volunteers on August 20, 1846, at
Camp Alabama.
After the Mexican War, he married Nancy S. Dross on October 30, 1848 in Bibb County, Alabama and
served as the Third and First Sergeant in the Perry Guards, 4th Regiment of
Alabama Militia, organized for 90 days on April 10, 1862, in Marion, Alabama. Nancy Dross was born on November 20, 1829 in Perry County. She died on May 31, 1880 and is buried in the
LeGal
Cemetery in Perry County,
Alabama. Wiley died on January 31, 1904
in Maud, Bowie County, Texas
and is buried in Center Ridge Cemetery
in Maud, Texas. Wiley received a pension for his Mexican War
service beginning on September 3, 1887. [Perry Guards Muster Roll; Mexican War
Pension SC-11366; Bibb County, Alabama Marriages 1820-1862; Marlene Walker,
Lorena, Texas]
JOHN ALFRED FULLER was born on July 29, 1824, in Perry County
and died on August 21, 1900. He married
Cynthia Powell Miree on February 2, 1849, in Perry County. John was the son of Jesse Franklin Fuller and
Mary Elizabeth Jackson and the grandson of Green B. Jackson, Elijah Fuller and Sincy Browning.
Fuller was a farmer who owned six slaves and was unmarried when he
joined the Perry Volunteers at the age of twenty-two years. In 1878-79, John A. Fuller was the
representative of Perry
County to the Alabama
Legislature. Most of his family moved to
Union Parish, Louisiana
in the years after the Mexican War.
During the War for Southern Independence,
he served as a corporal in the 7th Alabama Cavalry Regiment. Fuller received a Mexican War pension
beginning on January 19, 1900, and his wife received a widow's pension after he
died. He held the rank of Second Corporal
during the Mexican War. [1850 Censuses of Perry
County, Alabama, p. 359; Roster of Confederate
Soldiers; Mexican War Pensions SC-2576 and WC-12728]
JOHN B. FULLER was mustered into
the army on June 13, 1846, was elected regimental Sergeant Major on June 27,
1846, and brevetted a Third Lieutenant on August 1, 1846. Colonel John R. Coffey requested his
commission on August 12, 1846. However,
Captain Coleman recorded in his diary on August 3, "had an election for
3rd Lt. John B. Fuller was chosen."
Fuller was the son of John Alfred Fuller and Susannah Burford, the grandson of Elijah Fuller, Sincy
Browning, John Browning and Elizabeth Demorest.
John married Sarah Elizabeth Roden. He was born in Greene County, Georgia
and was a farmer who owned five slaves.
He was thirty-five years old, married and the father of eight children
when he enlisted. John's sons, Richard
and George, served in Company K of the 8th Alabama Infantry Regiment during the
War for Southern Independence. Richard was severely wounded and taken a
prisoner at Gettysburg
on July 3, 1863, but was released due to the severity of his wounds. He surrendered at Appomattox with the Army of Northern
Virginia. George was wounded at Gaines
Mill, Virginia so severely that he had to be
detailed to the Arsenal at Selma,
Alabama. Fuller moved to Texas and his wife received a pension for
his Mexican War service beginning on April 14, 1887. [1850 Census of Perry
County, Alabama, Perryville Beat, p. 347B; 1860 Census of Perry County,
Alabama, p. 693; Robert S. Davis, Jr., Alabama Officers in the Mexican War
1846-1848, pp. 10-11; 1850 Slave Census of Perry County; Owen, History of
Alabama, p. 986; Mexican War Pension WC-699; W. G. Coleman Diary]
SAMUEL P. BURFORD FULLER was the son of John Alfred Fuller
and Susannah Burford and the grandson of Elijah
Fuller and Sincy Browning. He married Delano Heard on February 4, 1845,
in Perry County and owned two slaves. Samuel was born in Alabama and was eighteen years old when he
enlisted in the Perry Volunteers. He was
a member of Ocmulgee Baptist Church
in southeast Perry
County, which he joined
on August 26, 1843. He was excluded from
the church on April 26, 1845, for "fighting and drunkenness." Fuller was a farmer after the war. In Mexico,
he was promoted to second corporal on April 19, 1847, at Cerro Gordo, Mexico. Captain Coleman's diary noted on that date,
"elected .
. . one corporal, 2nd S. B. Fuller."
Samuel's son Jesse S. Fuller died of typhoid fever in a Richmond,
Virginia hospital while serving in Company K
of the 8th Alabama Infantry Regiment during the War for Southern
Independence. Fuller moved
to Mississippi
and received a pension for his Mexican War service beginning on February 11, 1887.
[1850 Census of Perry County, Alabama, p. 349; Bettye
Prince Gilbert, Jefferson City, Missouri; Mexican War Pension SC-9397; W. G.
Coleman Diary; ; Perry County, Alabama Marriage License; Perry County, Alabama
Marriage License #1646]
ANDREW M. GOIN was a pump maker
and lived in the Perryville Beat of Perry
County. He was born in 1830 in Alabama and owned one slave. He was sixteen and single at the time of his
enlistment. Andrew served as a private
in Company I of the 26th Alabama Infantry Regiment during the War for Southern Independence.
Goin married Arminta
Barnett on November 29, 1848, in Perry County, Alabama. [1850 Census of Perry
County, Alabama, p. 349; Roster of Confederate Soldiers; ; Perry County,
Alabama Marriage License # 2020]
ROBERTTHOMAS GOREE was the son of
James Lyles Goree, a Perry
County planter. Robert was elected as first lieutenant of the
Perry Volunteers on May 25, 1846, and discharged from the regiment on July 15,
1846, at Brazos Santiago, Texas. William
Coleman noted succinctly in his diary on July 14, 1846, "R. T. Goree
discharged from U.S.V" and again on August 22, 1846, "R. T. Goree
left on the 18th July." A third
entry on October 11, 1846, reads "R. T. Goree left our camp for his home
in Alabama a
second time having been discharged, Go, I say, and stay there." He was born in 1823 in Greene County, Alabama
and died in 1858. Goree was a farmer
living in Barron's Beat and had substantial assets with personal property
valued at $10,000 inherited from his father.
Robert married Caroline Nelson about 1848 in Greene
County, Alabama after he returned
from Mexico. He was the nephew of Langston James Goree and
the brother of John Rabb Goree (1811-1852) and Dr.
James Langston Goree (1819-1866) [1850 Census of Perry County, Alabama, p. 295;
Paul R. Goree; Coleman Diary; International Genealogical Index; Harris, Perry
County Heritage, p. 102, Perry County Will Book A, p. 115]
JOHN WILLIAM GRIFFIN was born in Georgia
in 1822 and was the son of Owen Griffin of Wilkes County, Georgia and Elizabeth Heard and the
grandson of John Heard, Owen Griffin and Elizabeth Stovall. He was a farmer living in Perryville Beat in
1850 and owned four slaves. He enlisted
at the age of twenty-four and married Barbara Harbour
on May 24, 1849 when he returned home from the war. Barbara was the daughter of William Harbour
and Temperance Radford. Together John
and Barbara were the parents of Sarah Frances, William Owen, Elijah Talmon,
Nancy Caroline, John Richard and Ardella Hackworth Griffin. John contracted typhoid fever during the
Mexican War but served his full enlistment, mustering out with his regiment in New Orleans on May 27,
1847. He was hospitalized at Point Isabel, Texas on
December 11, 1846, and rejoined the Company on February 5, 1847, at Tampico. He was again left in the hospital at Vera
Cruz on April 17, 1847, having been overly fatigued during a forced march from
Vera Cruz to Alvarado, Mexico and back. During the War for Southern
Independence, he was conscripted on May 17, 1862, and assigned to
Company K of the 8th Alabama Infantry Regiment that was part of the Army of
Northern Virginia. Following the Battle
of Gaines' Mill, Virginia,
he displayed exceptional bravery and his name was placed on the regimental ROLL
OF HONOR. He served as a private until
the end of the war and surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9,
1865. After the war, Griffin
moved to Kemper County, Mississippi
where he died on October 26, 1897, and is buried in the Hopewell Methodist
Church Cemetery. Barbara Anne died in 1887. Griffin
received a Mexican War pension for his service beginning on June 27, 1887.
[1850 Census of Perry County, Alabama, p. 350B; Herbert, 8th Alabama, pp. 66
and 310; Heritage of Bibb; Heritage of Perry; 1860 Census of Perry County,
Alabama, p. 699; Mexican War Pension SC-11598; Perry County, Alabama Marriage
License # 2074]
GEORGE W. GRISSOM was born in 1824 in Tennessee.
He was a farmer and enlisted at the age of twenty-two. Grissom was left at the hospital in Matamoros on August 27, 1846, when his company moved to Camargo, Mexico
from Camp Alabama,
Texas. He was detailed for twenty days by Lieutenant
Colonel Earle to drive a wagon for the army.
After returning from Mexico,
he married Elizabeth V. Rogers on September 14, 1848, and moved back to Tennessee. Grissom received a pension for his Mexican
War service beginning on June 17, 1897. [1850 Census of Perry
County, Alabama, p. 343; Mexican War Pension
SC-11272 and WC-11191]
JOSEPH B. HALE was discharged at Vera Cruz, Mexico on April
12, 1847. Captain Coleman noted in his
diary on April 11, 1847, "got a discharge for Joe Hale" and on April
26, 1847, "bot cot from J. B. Hale" [W. G.
Coleman Diary]
GEORGE H. HANSON remained behind in the hospital at Vera Cruz,
Mexico on April 17, 1847,
when his regiment marched into the interior of Mexico
to the town of Jalapa. Hanson was a Georgia born farmer living in the
Perryville Beat when he enlisted. He was
born about 1810 and was about thirty-six and married with three children at the
time that he enlisted. He married
Susannah A. Radford on July 30, 1829, in Perry County. Susan was the sister of John W. Radford who
served in the Perry Volunteers. George
died about 1859. According to his
descendants, George died while sitting on the porch of his Perry County
home, assumedly of a heart attack. Susan
Radford was the daughter of William Radford and Nancy James. She was born March 29, 1812, in Georgia and was the mother of seven children by
George H. Hanson, three of whom served in the War for Southern
Independence. The Hanson
children separated after their fathers death: one
remained in Perry County; two moved to White County,
Arkansas, with one later moving to Texas. Hanson owned at least four slaves at the time
of his death. [1850 Census of Perry County, Alabama, p. 351B; Louise
Birchfield; Perry County, Alabama Marriage License # 392]
ANDREW C. HAYWOOD HARVILL was the son of Thomas Harvill, a
wealthy Perry County planter and slave owner. Andrew married Emily T. Mastin on November 2,
1847, in Dallas County, Alabama.
Andrew was born in 1826 in Perry
County and enlisted at
the age of twenty years. In Mexico, he was hospitalized at Point
Isabel, Texas on November 30,
1846, and rejoined his company at Jalapa,
Mexico on April
29, 1847. Harvill was a member of Ocmulgee Baptist
Church in southeastern Perry County,
joining on December 4, 1852, and was excluded on April 24, 1853, for
"excessive and frequent drunkenness."
Harvill appears to have been a wastrel squandering his inheritance.
[1850 Census of Perry County, Alabama, p. 333B; Ocmulgee Church Book
(unpublished); 1860 Census of Perry County, Alabama, p. 681; Harvill Estate
Papers]
JESSE W. HEARD died on July 22, 1846, of pleurisy while
Company C was camped at the mouth of the Rio Grande
in Texas. [W.
G. Coleman Diary]
JOHN G. HEARD was the son of Thomas A. Heard and the brother
of Joseph and Thomas R. Heard who were also members of the Perry
Volunteers. He was the brother-in-law of
Captain William G. Coleman and is mentioned frequently in the Captain's diary
of his war experiences. John was born in
Georgia
in 1823 and farmed his father's property along with his brothers. He was twenty-three when he enlisted and
lived in the Plantersville Beat in Perry
County. In Mexico,
he was hospitalized at Point Isabel,
Texas on November 30, 1846, and
did not rejoin his regiment until March 1, 1847. He married Susan Martin on June 2, 1851. She was born in 1832 and was the daughter of
Robert Martin, a Baptist preacher from North
Carolina.
During the War for Southern Independence,
Heard joined Company H of the 17th Louisiana Infantry in October 1861 and was
elected Lieutenant of his company. In
September 1877, he attended a convention of Mexican War veterans with others
from his regiment. [1850 Census of Perry County, Alabama, p. 363; Madge Pettit,
Pioneers and Residents of West Central Alabama, (Heritage Books, Inc., Bowie,
Maryland, 1988), p. 165; W. G. Coleman Diary; Perry County, Alabama Marriage
License # 2229]
JOSEPH B. HEARD was the son of Thomas A. Heard and the
brother of John G. and Thomas R. Heard.
Joseph was born in Alabama in 1824 and
lived with his father in Plantersville Beat of Perry County. He was hospitalized at Point Isabel, Texas
from November 30, 1846, until March 1, 1847.
During his service in the Mexican War, Joseph was frequently ill as
reported in wartime diary of his brother-in-law William Coleman. Joseph moved to Louisiana
after returning from Mexico. Heard received a pension for his service in Mexico
beginning March 22, 1887. [1850 Census of Perry
County, Alabama, p. 363; Mexican War Pension
SC-13341; W. G. Coleman Diary]
THOMAS RICHARD HEARD was born in 1827 in Georgia and was
the son of Thomas A. Heard, a wealthy farmer who owned over fifty slaves, and
the brother of John G. and Joseph Heard.
During the Mexican War, he was the subject of numerous diary entries by
Captain Coleman, his brother-in-law. All
of the diary notations mentioned Heard's health except for an unexplained entry
made on April 7, 1847, at Vera Cruz that read, "Richard Heard got badly
hurt by a trifling Regular Soldier."
During the War for Southern Independence,
Heard served as a second lieutenant beginning on May 8, 1861, and Captain
beginning on June 30, 1862, in Company A of the 8th Alabama Infantry
Regiment. He was wounded at the Battle
of Gaines' Mill, Virginia on June 27, 1862, and again at the Battle of the Wilderness on May 6, 1864. He retired from the Confederate Army on
December 14, 1864, due to his Wilderness wounds. Heard's widow, Frances C. Heard, received a
widow's pension for his service in the Mexican War beginning on March 21, 1887.
[1850 Census of Perry County, Alabama, p. 363; Hilary Herbert, History of the
8th Alabama, Alabama Historical Quarterly, 1977, Vol. XXXIX, p. 662; Roster of
Confederate Soldiers; Mexican War Pension WC-1447; W. G. Coleman Diary]
WILLIAM C. HEARD was the son of Charles Heard. William was born in Alabama in 1828. He was eighteen at the time of his enlistment
and living with his father in Marion Beat.
Captain Coleman noted in his diary on December 18, 1846, "Bot a hat and shoes Mexican made-gave them to W. C.
Heard." Heard married Amarintha
Crawford on December 15, 1850. [1850 Census of Perry County, Alabama, p. 367B;
W. G. Coleman Diary; Marriage License # 2217]
ARCHIBALD A. HENRY died at Camp
Alabama, Texas
on the Rio Grande
on August 18, 1846, at six o'clock in the afternoon. Captain Coleman noted in his diary on August
19 at Camp Alabama "buried A. Henry." [W.
G. Coleman Diary]
ROBERT M. HOLMES was the son of John Holmes and lived in the
Perryville Beat in Perry
County. He was a mechanic, was born in Alabama in 1823 and was twenty-three years old when he
enlisted for service in Mexico. Holmes was promoted to first sergeant from
third sergeant at Tampico, Mexico on March 1, 1847. Captain Coleman noted in his diary on January
23, 1847, that Robert Holmes' brother John Holmes visited the Perry Volunteers
at Tampico and
on January 29 that Holmes had nursed him through an illness and was a good
friend. Coleman recorded Holmes'
promotion on March 1, stating, "appointed R. M.
Holmes 1st Sergt." [1850 Censuses of Perry County, Alabama,
Perryville Beat, p. 348B; W. G. Coleman Diary]
IRA J. HORTON received a pension for his service in the
Mexican War beginning on February 6, 1888. [Pension SC-14004]
JOEL H. HUNLEY was left in the hospital at Vera Cruz, Mexico on April 17, 1847, when the Perry
Volunteers marched to the interior of Mexico. Hunley was a Radfordville Beat farmer who was
born in Virginia
in 1800. He was the old man of the
company being forty-six when he enlisted.
Hunley moved to Texas after returning
from Mexico. Joel received a Mexican War pension beginning
on September 14, 1894, and his wife, Martha C. Hunley, received a widow's
pension after he died. [1850 Census of Perry
County, Alabama, p. 346; Mexican War Pensions
SC-6920 and WC-10721]
JAMES H. IRBY died at Camp
Alabama, Texas
on July 29, 1846, which was twenty-five days after arriving in Texas. Captain Coleman noted the event in his diary
on July 29, 1846, "James H. Irby died at 3 o'clock a. m." and
"buried J. Irby, Camp
Alabama." Irby married Mary Hill in Greene County, Alabama
on June 21, 1839, and was the son of Moses Irby. [Greene County, Alabama
Marriages 1823-1860; W. G. Coleman Diary]
CHARLES GREEN JACKSON was born on October 29, 1826, in Perry
County, Alabama. He was the oldest son
of Abraham Wyche Jackson and Jane F. Crow, the grandson of Reverend Charles
Crow, Sarah Harlan, Green B. Jackson and Clara Yeates and the great grandson of
John Jackson and Elizabeth Lloyd of South
Carolina.
Charles' grandfather Green B. Jackson was born on May 6, 1767 in Lexington District, South Carolina
but moved to Greene County,
Georgia shortly
after his father, John Jackson, died in 1794. Green left Georgia for Alabama
in 1819 and died in Perry
County on November 20,
1849. During his life, Green B. Jackson
was quite prosperous. Charles' father
Abraham was a prosperous planter, slave owner, and an ordained Baptist
Minister. Charles Green was educated in
the common schools of Perry County and lived his entire life in the county before
joining the Perry Volunteers and sailing for Mexico. Three months after returning from Mexico, he left Perry
County and moved to DeSoto Parish, Louisiana
with his family. Charles married in Louisiana and fathered
two children by his first wife, Mary Ann Cowley, the daughter of James Cowley
and Susan Russell. He married twice more
to Laura Virginia Oliver and Anne E. Connevey.
During the War for Southern Independence,
he fought with Company B of the 24th Louisiana Infantry Regiment until that
regiment was merged with other regiments to form the Consolidated Crescent
Regiment. At the Battle of Mansfield,
Louisiana, he was among the Confederates commanded by General Richard Taylor,
the son of Zachary Taylor, Charles' commander in Texas
and Northern Mexico. Charles had the distinction of serving under
both father and son. He was described as
5' 9 " tall, light complexion, gray eyes, and black hair at the age of
twenty. Jackson
died on September 13, 1911, at Grand Cane in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana. He received a pension for his service in Mexico. It amounted to $8.00 a month in 1888 and
increased to $20.00 a month by the time of his death. Copies of some of his pension records are
attached as Appendices including a note from his former commander, William G.
Coleman. [Mexican War Pensions SC-17323 and WC-15841]
JESSE F JACOBS was a physician. He was discharged from the army on August 19,
1846, at Camp Alabama,
Texas and
died of consumption in Perry County, Alabama on January 24, 1852, at the home
of his father-in-law Seth B. Ford at the age of thirty-three years. Jacobs was born on February 14, 1818, in Greenville District, South Carolina
and migrated to Alabama
in 1841 where he set up a medical practice in Perryville. He married Nancy E. Ford on November 12,
1845, and volunteered for service in the Mexican War in May 1846. Jacobs is buried in the Ford family cemetery in
Perry County.
Captain Coleman noted in his diary on August 19, 1846, that "Doctor
Jacobs . . . called for a discharge to go home" and on August 22 that
"the following men belonging to the Indt.
Rangers left for home with their discharges: . . . J. F. Jacobs . . ."
[South Western Baptist, March 24, 1852; 1850 Censuses of Perry County, Alabama,
Heard's Beat, p. 354; Ford Cemetery Headstone Inscriptions; W. G. Coleman
Diary; Perry County, Alabama Marriage License # 1734]
DAVID A. JONES received a pension for his service in Mexico
beginning on February 10, 1906. His wife
Mary A. Jones received a widow's pension after David's death. Captain Coleman noted in his diary on March
16, 1847, that "got sword belt from D. A. Jones." [Pensions SC-6089
and WC-14462]
JAMES JONES was born in Georgia
in 1824 and was a farmer living in the Perryville Beat of Perry County. He was twenty-two years old when he
enlisted. Jones was hospitalized at Point Isabel, Texas
on December 10, 1846. After the war,
Jones married Nancy Crawley on December 19, 1847, and moved to Louisiana. He received a pension for his service in Mexico
beginning on May 17, 1895 and his wife Nancy received a widow's pension. Captain Coleman noted in his diary on
December 10, 1846, that he "sent James Jones . . . to P. Isabel with their
guns and accoutrements" and on February 5, 1847, "some of my Company
joined us which was left at Point Isabel . . . James Jones . . . " [1850
Census of Perry County, Alabama, p. 351; Pensions SC-8760 and WC-9794; W. G.
Coleman Diary; Perry County, Alabama Marriage License # 1947]
WILLIAM H. JONES was born in 1826 in Alabama and enlisted at the age of
twenty. Jones lived in the Pinetucky
Beat of Perry County
and was discharged from the army at Tampico,
Mexico on
February 26, 1847. He married Elizabeth
W. Cross on September 21, 1847. Jones
moved to Louisiana
after the war and received a pension for his Mexican War service beginning on
August 21, 1908. After his death, his
wife, Elizabeth received a widow's pension.
An entry in Coleman's diary dated February 26, 1847, reads, "discharged . . . W. H. Jones." [1850 Census of Perry
County, Alabama, p. 289; Mexican War Pensions SC-52246 and WC-15129; W. G.
Coleman Diary; Perry County, Alabama Marriage License # 1999]
WILLIAM A. KELLY was born in Georgia in 1827 and was a
mechanic. He lived in Perryville Beat
and was nineteen when he enlisted. Kelly
was hospitalized at Matamoros,
Mexico on
August 24, 1846. A Coleman diary entry
dated August 27, 1846, reads "Kelley to go to the hospital." William married Martha Perry on November 29,
1848. [1850 Census of Perry County, Alabama, p. 349B; W. G. Coleman Diary;
Perry County, Alabama Marriage License # 2022]
JOHN A. LEACH was born in 1823 in Georgia and was a farmer that owned
one slave. He was twenty-four when he
enlisted and lived in the Pinetucky Beat.
Leach remained in the hospital at Vera Cruz, Mexico
on April 17, 1847, when his regiment marched into the interior of Mexico. After returning from Mexico, Leach married Sarah Barnett on November
28, 1848, and moved to Union Parish, Louisiana,
later moving to Texas
where he received a pension for his Mexican War service beginning on June, 20,
1896. His wife Sarah received a widow's
pension after John died. [1850 Census of Perry County, Alabama, p. 292; Mexican
War Pensions SC-15840 and WC-10393; Dill, Some Slaves; 1860 Census of Union
Parish, Louisiana; ; Perry County, Alabama Marriage License # 2021]
WILLIAM J. LILES was hospitalized at Point Isabel, Texas
on December 12, 1846. He was born in
1823 in Alabama
and was a mechanic. He lived in
Perryville, was single and was twenty-three when he enlisted. Captain Coleman noted in his diary on
December 12, 1846, "W. Liles went to Point Isabel sick" and on
February 5, 1847, at Tampico, Mexico "some of the sick of my Company
joined us which was left at Point Isabel . . . Wm. Liles . . ." [1850 Census of Perry County, Alabama, p.
349B; W. G. Coleman Diary]
JOHN B. MARTIN was the son of Buckley and Susan Martin who
lived in the Perryville Beat. John
enlisted at the age of eighteen and was born in Georgia in 1828. After the war, he returned to his father's
home and became a farmer. He was
hospitalized at Vera Cruz, Mexico
on April 17, 1847, when his regiment left for Jalapa, Mexico. [1850 Census of Perry
County, Alabama, p. 349; W. G. Coleman Diary]
WILLIAM C. MAYES was born about 1838 in Marion, Alabama
and was the son of Thomas Mayes and Jane G. Burleson. William married Martha Jane Crow, the
daughter of Silas Harlan Crow and Sarah A. Martin, on December 7, 1847, six
months after returning from Mexico. Mayes was a member of Ocmulgee
Baptist Church
in Perry County.
Mayes' wife received a widow's pension for his service in the Mexican
War. He moved to DeSoto
Parish, Louisiana and served as a
private in Company F of the 19th Louisiana Volunteer Infantry during the War
for Southern Independence. Mayes's wife was a first cousin of Charles G.
Jackson. [Mayes Family Newsletter; Mexican War Pension WC-3317; International
Genealogical Index; ; Perry County, Alabama Marriage License # 1938]
THOMAS EDWARD McCRAW, JR. was the
son of Thomas Edward McCraw, Sr. and Sarah Mitchell. Thomas, Jr. was born on December 13, 1826, in
Alabama and
was nineteen when he enlisted. He was
the grandson of Edward McCraw and Mary Owen.
Thomas Edward McCraw, Sr. was born on December 4, 1787 in Virginia and died on February 1, 1854 in Perry County. Thomas' was one of eleven children; his
siblings included Lemuel J., Ruhamy, Nathaniel Mitchell, Chloe Elizabeth, Nancy
Carolina, Mary Elizabeth, Sarah Ann, Selinda Catharine, William Smith and James
W. McCraw. [It's McCraw not McGraw, compiled by Carol Joyce McCune McCraw]
ALBERT G. MELTON was left behind in the hospital at Vera
Cruz on April 17, 1847, when his regiment marched into the interior of Mexico. He died on July 3, 1847, one month after he
returned from Mexico. He was the son of Nancy Haynes and William
Allen Melton, a native of Edgefield District, South Carolina who died in Perry County
on May 16, 1864.
LEWIS A. MIREE was discharged from the army on August 19,
1846, at Camp Alabama,
Texas. Captain Coleman noted in his diary that Miree
left Mexico on August 22 and
on September 13, 1846, Coleman recorded that he "got a letter from Lt.
Ford yesterday written from New
Orleans stating the death of Lewis A.
Miree." It appears that Miree died
on the way to the United States
or in New Orleans
before reaching home. [W. G. Coleman Diary]
JAMES ALFRED MOORE was the son of James B. Moore. James A. was born on April 4, 1824 in Alabama and died on
January 4, 1854 at the age of twenty-nine years and nine months. He became a
farmer like his father after the war and lived in Barron's Beat. He was hospitalized at Point Isabel, Texas
on December 10, 1846. Moore received a pension for his Mexican War
service beginning on April 1, 1887.
Captain Coleman noted in his diary on December 10, 1846, "sent . .
. James Moore to P. Isabel with . . . guns and accoutrements" and on
February 5, 1847, "some of the sick of my Company joined us which was left
at Point Isabel . . .James Moore . . ." Moore
is buried in the Fairview Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Barron's Beat. [1850
Census of Perry County, Alabama, Barron's Beat, p. 294; Alabama Records, v 241,
p. 19; Mexican War Pension SC-1496; W. G. Coleman Diary; Fairview Presbyterian
Church Cemetery Headstone Inscriptions]
JOSEPH T MOUNT was born in 1819 in New York and was twenty-seven when he
enlisted. He married Elizabeth Ann Davis
on January 17, 1850, and was a tailor by trade.
During the War for Southern Independence, Mount served as a private in the
Perry Guards in the 4th Regiment of Alabama Militia, organized on April 10,
1862, in Marion. In 1864, he served as a private in Company H
of the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the Alabama Reserves. Joseph's wife Elizabeth received a widow's
pension for Mount's Mexican War service beginning on March 11, 1887. [Perry
Guards, 3rd Alabama and Perry Volunteers
Muster Rolls; 1860 Census of Perry County, Alabama, p.
663; Pension WC-3414; ; Perry
County, Alabama Marriage License # 2139]
ALFRED MUCKLE was born in 1824 in South Carolina. He was the son of William Muckle and enlisted
at the age of twenty-two. William Muckle
was a native of England,
owned over seventy slaves and was quite wealthy. Alfred moved to Texas
after the war and received a pension for his service in Mexico
beginning February 26, 1887. Muckle
married L. J. Tubb in Perry
County on March 30, 1869.
[1850 Census of Perry County, Alabama, p 343; 1860 Census of Perry County,
Alabama, p. 632; Pension SC-2915; International Genealogical Index]
DUKE NALL was born in 1827 in Alabama and was a farmer. Duke was nineteen when he enlisted in the
Perry Volunteers. After his service in Mexico, he
returned to his mother's home, operated her farm and married Sarah A.
Bennett. In the War for Southern Independence, he was the Captain of Company K of
the 8th Alabama Infantry, the Southern Guards, from May 16, 1861, until
November 2, 1864. On November 2, 1864,
he was promoted to Major of the 8th Alabama Infantry Regiment when Colonel
Young Lea Royston was forced to retire from the army due to battle wounds. This left an open officer position in the
regiment and Nall filled the Major's vacancy.
An artillery shell wounded him as the 8th Alabama
was moving into position at the Battle of Sharpsburg, Maryland on September 17,
1862, and seriously wounded at the Battle of the
Wilderness in Virginia
on May 6, 1864. At the Wilderness fight,
Nall briefly commanded the 8th Alabama
but was shot through the lungs. Henry
Clinton Lea, Jr., replaced Nall as commander.
Nall died on November 4, 1864, of complications caused by his Wilderness
lung wound. He was assumed to have
recovered and returned to the regiment.
However in the winter of 1863-64, he was attacked by pneumonia and
inflammation set up in his old wound resulting in his death. During his Confederate service, Nall was
present at the Siege of Yorktown, and the battles of Williamsburg,
Gaines' Mill, Frazier's Farm, Second Manassas, Fredericksburg,
Salem Church and Bristow Station. At the Battle of Williamsburg, Nall was in
charge of two companies occupying Fort
Magruder. He was the son of Margaret Nall and the
brother of Robert Nall. In 1860, he
owned twelve slaves. [Microfilm number 1462787 Family History Center LDS
Church; Herbert, 8th Alabama, pp. 56, 79, 110, 139, 176, 178, 202 and 306; 1860
Slave Census of Perry County, Alabama; 1850 Free Censuses of Perry County,
Alabama, Perryville Beat, p. 347B]
SIMON H. NICHOLS was discharged from the army at Camp Alabama,
Texas on
August 24, 1846.
JOHN OWEN was born in 1823 in Georgia and worked as a
laborer. He enlisted in the Perry
Volunteers at the age of twenty-three and lived in Severe Beat. His Mexican War service was short, and he was
discharged at Camp Alabama, Texas
on August 19, 1846. Once home, he
married Lucinda Weger on December 22, 1846.
John died on December 7, 1863, at Kingston,
Georgia during the War for Southern Independence.
He joined Company K of the 28th Alabama Infantry Regiment on March 29,
1862, at Perryville, Alabama as a private. [28th Alabama Infantry
Muster Roll; 1850 Free Census of Perry County, Alabama; Walker, Gallant 28th
Alabama, p. 329; ; Perry County, Alabama Marriage License # 1882]
LEWIS T. PALMER died at Camargo, Mexico
on September 8, 1846. Captain Coleman
noted on September 1, "Lewis T. Palmer died at � past 1 o'clock p.m."
and "sold L. T. Palmer things" on September 16, 1846. [W. G. Coleman
Diary]
JAMES H. PITTS was born in 1820 in South Carolina. He was a farmer who owned seventeen slaves
and lived in the Perryville Beat. He was
twenty-six and married with one child when he enlisted. Pitts became the Company's first lieutenant
after Robert T. Goree was discharged on July 15, 1846. He moved to Texas
after the war and his wife Elizabeth received a widow's pension for his service
in Mexico. James' son, John A. Pitts, was born on June
21, 1848, and died on May 31, 1851, at the age of two years and eleven months.
[1850 Censuses of Perry County, Alabama, Perryville Beat, p. 348B; Pension
WC-3518; W. G. Coleman Diary]
JOHN W. RADFORD was born on April 18, 1825, in Alabama and worked as an
overseer. He enlisted at the age of
twenty-one and lived in the Radfordville Beat.
He was assigned as a nurse in the hospital at Matamoros, Mexico
from August 10 until November 4, 1846.
Radford was a patient in the hospital at Point Isabel, Texas
on December 11, 1846, where he remained until March 1, 1847. He was the son of William Radford and a
brother-in-law of George H. Hanson.
[Louise Birchfield; W. G. Coleman Diary]
JOHN C. ROGERS was born in 1818 in Tennessee.
He was a farmer and lived in the Pinetucky Beat of Perry County. He served as the drummer of Company C during
the Mexican War. In 1836, Rogers served in a militia company known as the Selma Rangers
during the Creek Indian War, leaving Selma
on May 25, 1836, and served for eight weeks.
He married Mary Ann Jones on October 16, 1845. [1850 Censuses of Perry
County, Alabama, Pinetucky Beat, p. 287; Selma Free Press, May 28, 1836;
Walker, Gallant 28th Alabama, p. 330; ; Perry County, Alabama Marriage License
# 1703]
JOHN WILLIAM ROGERS was born in 1820 in Perry County,
Alabama and was twenty-six years old when he enlisted in the Perry
Volunteers. John was the son of Reuben
John Rogers and Elizabeth Watters and married Nancy Richardson on January 20,
1848. Rogers' Mexican War record contains a note
that he was sick at Point Isabel,
Texas on December 2, 1846. Another note sets the date of his
hospitalization on December 11. He
remained behind as a nurse in the hospital at Point Isabel,
Texas, but he rejoined the Perry Volunteers on
April 23, 1847, at Jalapa, Mexico. Rogers was
killed at the Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia on September 20, 1863, while
serving as 3rd Sergeant in Company K of the 28th Alabama Infantry during the
War for Southern Independence. He enlisted at Perryville on March 29, 1862,
at the age of forty-one. After his
death, his wife Nancy H. Rogers filed a claim for $165.09 owed to John. In 1860, he owned one slave. [28th Alabama
Infantry Muster Roll; 1850 Free Census of Perry County, Alabama, Radfordville
Beat, p. 346B; 1860 Slave Census of Perry County, Alabama; LDS Pedigree
Resource File; Perry County, Alabama Marriage License # 1959]
GEORGE W. SMEDLEY was discharged from the army at Camp Alabama,
Texas on
August 29, 1846. After returning to Alabama, he moved to Lauderdale County, Alabama.
[1850 Free Census of Lauderdale County, Alabama, p.36; W. G. Coleman Diary]
DANIEL W. SNEED was born in 1819 in Bibb County, Alabama
and was the son of Daniel Sneed and Margaret Graham. Sneed was twenty-eight years old when he
joined the Perry Volunteers. He was
discharged from the army at Matamoros,
Mexico, on
October 13, 1846. Captain William
Coleman noted in his diary under the date December 7, 1846, "Mr. Snead
took leave of us all for Alabama."
[International Genealogical Index, Coleman Diary]
JAMES WILSON STANLEY was born on November 27, 1819, in Bibb County, Alabama. He married Elizabeth G. Griffin in November
1848 in Perry County.
Elizabeth G. Griffin was the daughter of Bird O. Griffin and Alsira
Autrey. Elizabeth Griffin was born
September 18, 1832, and died on September 5, 1907. Stanley
was twenty-eight years old and single when he joined the Perry Volunteers. He received a pension for his service during
the Mexican War beginning on April 4, 1887.
He died March 12, 1919, in Whitehouse, Smith County,
Texas and is buried in the Whitehouse Cemetery.
[Pension SC-4747; Perry County, Alabama
Marriage License # 2017]
WILLIAM G. STINSON was left behind in the hospital at Vera
Cruz, Mexico on April 17,
1847, when his regiment marched to the interior of Mexico. Beginning on May 11, 1919, his wife received
a widow's pension for William's service in Mexico. [Pension WC-15274]
THOMAS W. SWANSON was hospitalized at Point Isabel, Texas
on December 2, 1846.
GEORGE CLEMENT TILLMAN was the son of Mary Tillman and lived
in the Oak Grove Beat. He was born in
1826 in South Carolina
and was twenty when he enlisted. His
mother owned twelve slaves and was a farmer.
After returning from the Mexican War, he married Sarah E. Fincher on
November 29, 1849, in Perry County, Alabama.
George Clement moved to Texas
after the war and received a pension for his service in the Mexican War and his
wife Sarah E. received a widow's pension after his death. [1850 Censuses of Perry County, Alabama, p.
334; Pensions SC-11323 and WC-14212; Perry County, Alabama Marriage License #
2121]
JOHN MILLER TILLMAN was discharged from the army at Camp Alabama,
Texas on
August 20, 1846. He married Mary
Elizabeth Plummer in May 1847 after returning from Mexico. Tillman's wife received a widow's pension for
his service in Mexico
beginning February 19, 1887. Their son
John Plummer Tillman was born on January 25, 1849, at Perryville, Alabama,
and he married Sarah Hurt in 1876. Three
other children of John Tillman lived tragically short lives: Frederick Jacob
Tillman was born on October 1, 1856, but lived only one year and a day; George
Clement Tillman was born February 25, 1864, and died on November 8, 1868. Robert Henry Tillman was born December 20,
1866, and died on October 20, 1868. [Pension WC-822; International Genealogical
Index; Headstone Inscriptions; Perry County, Alabama
Marriage License # 2016]
JOHN MOORE TILLMAN married Martha F. Mitchell on May 7,
1845, in Perry County, Alabama and died at Camp
Alabama, Texas on July 29, 1846, at nine o'clock in
the morning. He was buried on July 30
"on the Rio Grande
River" according to
an entry in the wartime diary of Captain William G. Coleman, Tillman's uncle.
[W. G. Coleman Diary]
STEPHEN D. TILLMAN moved to Texas
after returning from Mexico. His wife Mary P. Tillman received a widow's
pension for his service in Mexico
beginning February 10, 1887. [Pension WC-4475]
LAFAYETTE VANCE was left in the hospital at Vera Cruz on
April 17, 1847, when his regiment moved into the interior of Mexico to the town of Jalapa.
He was shot by his own sentinels on January 23, 1847, at Tampico, Mexico
but was not seriously injured. Captain
Coleman noted in his diary on January 23, 1847, "at night Peachy Bledsoe
and Lafayette Vance both got shot by their own sentinel, truly sorry to learn
the fact." [W. G. Coleman Diary]
BENJAMIN F. WALKER was discharged from the army at Camp Alabama,
Texas on
August 19, 1846. He moved to Mississippi after returning from Mexico. His widow received a pension for Benjamin's
service in Mexico
beginning June 8, 1901. [Pension WC-13074; Coleman Diary]
WILLIAM WALLACE was born in North Carolina in 1829, joined the Perry
Volunteers at the age of eighteen and lived in Radfordville Beat. During the
War for Southern Independence, Wallace was conscripted into Company K of the
8th Alabama Infantry Regiment on February 1, 1863, in Perry County. He was wounded and captured at the Battle of
Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, and sent to the Federal hospital on David's Island
in New York City
harbor. His wounds led to a parole by
the enemy and he was transferred to the Confederacy where he died in Howard's Grove Hospital
in Richmond, Virginia on July 4, 1864. [Herbert, 8th Alabama, AHQ, p. 316; 1860
Census of Perry County, Alabama, p. 642]
ALFRED W. WEST was born in 1823 in North Carolina and was a farmer. He lived in Radfordville Beat, owned one
slave and was twenty-three when he enlisted.
West married Asa Ann Wilson on December 11, 1851, in Perry County,
Alabama. [1850 Free and Slave Censuses of Perry
County, Alabama;
Perry County, Alabama
Marriage Records]
SEP was not officially a member of the Perry Volunteers but
served Company C for the year they were in Texas
and Mexico. Sep made all of the marches and suffered the
hardships and privations of the Company with no pay for his efforts. He was the black body servant of Captain
William G. Coleman and a slave. His
service to the captain took him into Mexico, a free country, and he
could have fled as some other slaves did that accompanied Southern regiments to
the war. Yet he stood fast by his
master, nursed him in sickness, administered to his wants and extended his
ministrations to others in the Company C.
Sep was the trusted custodian of the men of Company C who left their
little treasures in his care. He never
betrayed a trust, taking great care with their possessions. He returned to Alabama
with Captain Coleman after the war and moved to Louisiana with his master where he died of
old age in Claiborne Parish.
Submitted by: J Hugh LeBaron