On the 13^th of October 1909, Mr. B. B. Hemphill, one of the oldest and best citizens, departed this life at the ripe old age of 88 years, 8 months, and 3 days.  He was born in McDowell county, North Carolina, and came to Murray county, before the Civil War.  He enlisted in the Southern cause and made a brave and fearless soldier serving four years in the prime of his life.

In the year 1860 he enlisted in the service of Christ after having served for half a century, (using his words) “If my Master calls I am ready to go.”

He leaves his wife, Mrs. Fannie Hemphill, and two daughters, Mrs. Mary Stroud, of Texas, and Mrs. Josephine Butler, of this county, with a host of other relatives and friends to mourn his departure.

A Friend

This article was originally published in The Murray News on Friday, November 5, 1909.

Source:  Hemphill Scrapbook; privately held by D. H. Davis, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] , D. H. Davis, “Death of B. B. Hemphill”, 05 Nov 1909, The Murray News, 13 Jul 2009.

Note: the collage was created with pieces from the Stace Scrapkit by Heather Johnson at 3Scrapateers, the Happy Go Lucky kit from Shabby Princess, and Torn Paper Embellishment Template by Diane Miller at Scrap Girls.

Twice Told Tuesday is an ongoing series featuring family-related articles republished from old books, magazines, and newspapers. To see all posts in the series, click here.

My great-great-great-grandfather, Monteville Roberts, was born April 27, 1827 in McMinn County, Tennessee, the son of John Roberts and Rebecca (possibly Sammons).  He is found in Bradley County, Tennessee in 1840 and 1850 and in Hamilton County, Tennessee in 1860.  

Monteville married Mariah Langston on July 18, 1852.  (I have conflicting information regarding Mariah’s family, which I will try to decipher in a later post.)  He enlisted in the Confederate Army in the spring of 1863.  He fought in several battles in North Georgia, eventually losing his left arm after being shot at the Battle of New Hope Church.  Monteville and Mariah were burned out of their home in Hamilton County by the Yankees and moved to Murray County, Georgia, where they stayed for the remainder of their lives, except for brief stays in neighboring Whitfield County. 

 Monteville died December 1, 1895 and is buried at Spring Place Cemetery in Murray County.

Butler, my paternal grandmother’s line, presents research challenges, but when you find the people, they’re interesting!

James Benjamin BUTLER (1880 – 1944) is my paternal grandmother’s father.  He was tall, with blue eyes and sandy hair.  Like most people in the rural south, James was a farmer.  He later became Sheriff of Murray County, a dangerous job – he was shot by a “would-be prisoner” in November 1930.  He and his wife, Maud, had ten children.

David Sanford BUTLER (1855 – 1938) is James’ father.  Dave’s mother (Rhoda Quarles) died when he was a baby and his father was what my dad would describe as a “rogue.”  During his early childhood, Dave lived in the household of William T. Wofford, who was a Brigadier General in the Confederate Army.  As far as I know, the Woffords are in no way related to the Butlers or Quarles’, so their reasons for taking in Dave are unclear at this time.  In 1895, Dave was convicted of accessory to murder in a notorious whitecapping case.  I’ll write that story another day.

James B. BUTLER (1816 – 1876), the aforementioned rogue, deserves a post of his own.  I’ve written a bit about him here.  He fought in two wars, was a bigamist, and died in the State Lunatic Asylum at Milledgeville, Georgia.

The line stops here.  James had a sister named Susannah, who married a Sullins.  She reports her own birthplace as Virginia on the 1850, 1870, and 1880 censuses, but as North Carolina on the 1860 census.  In 1880, she says both parents were born in Virginia.

More about the Butlers:

• A complete list of deceased Butlers in my genealogy database.
• Posts about Butler ancestors and relatives in this blog.
• Butler documents, photos, and headstones.

Research To-Dos:

• Locate J. B. and Maud on the 1910 census.
• Locate Dave on the 1860 census.
• Try to locate James Butler on the 1860 and 1870 censuses; given his lifestyle, he may not have been enumerated.
• Continue researching Susannah to try to locate the next generation.
• Research details on the whitecapping case.

If you have additional information (or corrections) on the Butlers, comments are most appreciated!

This post is part of an ongoing series focusing on specific surnames. To see all posts in the series, click here.

This week’s challenge from Amy at WeTree is to play with Google Maps, a “a helpful tool for determining the locations of addresses in your family history.”  My genealogy software uses Google Maps to map all the locations for each individual within the database, so I’ve never gone straight to Google Maps and used it as a genealogy resource.  This was a fun exercise to see what the possibilities are.

I decided to look up Rock Island Arsenal, home of the Confederate Prison Camp where my great-great-grandfather was held prisoner during the Civil War.  I did not have an address, but I knew there was museum on the site, so I searched on “rock island arsenal museum, rock island, illinois.” (Click on any of the images below to see larger versions.)

Next, I changed to Satellite view and zoomed in on the Confederate Cemetery.

Next I clicked on the “More” Button and chose “Photos.”  Several photos appeared on the map, two of which were on Rock Island.  I switched back to “Map” view to make the photos stand out better, then clicked on one near the National Cemetery to make it larger.

Street view was not available, possibly because the Rock Island Arsenal is the largest government-owned weapons manufacturing arsenal in the United States.

Now I want to visit Rock Island in person and tour the museum.  Sounds like a road trip in the making!

This post was written as part of an occasional series called “52 Weeks to Better Genealogy.”  To see all posts in the series, click here.  It is also a qualifying post in the 2010 Geneablogger Winter Games.  Click here to see all posts related to the Games.

I had a conversation with my dad on Friday about his ancestors who fought in the Civil War.  I thought it would fun and interesting to put together a list, with a summary of each person’s military service.  I’ve also included each person’s relationship to my dad (as opposed to me, which is my usual practice.)

James B. Butler, my dad’s great-great grandfather – Prior to the Civil War, James served in the U. S. Army, fighting in the Second Seminole War in Florida.  He enlisted on October 5, 1837 for a period of six months.  He served as a Private under Captain Abram Chastain in the 1st Regiment of Georgia Mtd. Volunteers, commanded by Col. E. W. Chastain.

James enlisted in the Confederate Army on June 17, 1861 in Adairsville, GA. He was mustered in at Camp McDonald as a private in Colonel Wofford’s 18th Georgia Regiment, Company F. He spent at least 60 days in the hospital for nephritis and bronchitis. Due to these illnesses, he was declared unfit for duty and was discharged on November 6, 1861 at Camp Goldsboro, North Carolina.  James re-enlisted and served in the 18th GA Infantry, Company H. On September 2, 1864, he was at Jackson Hospital in Richmond, VA and given a 30-day furlough to go to Atkins, GA. He was captured in the hospital at Richmond, VA on April 3, 1865.  He was transferred to Libby Prison in Richmond, then to Newport News, VA, where he was released on June 15, 1865.

Benjamin Burgin Hemphill, Dad’s great-great grandfather – Ben enlisted in the Confederate Army on March 10, 1862 at Spring Place for a period of 3 years or until the end of the war.  He was a 5th Sergeant in Company A, 39th Georgia Infantry.  He was captured at the Siege of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863 and paroled “according to the terms of capitulation entered into by the commanding Generals of the United States and Confederate forces July 4, 1863.” He signed his oath of allegiance to the United States on July 8, 1863.  He appears on a list of men of the 39th Georgia regiment who were furloughed at Enterprise, Miss about July 22, 1863.  He appears on the muster roll of officers and men “paroled in accordance with the terms of a Military Convention entered into on the 26th day of April, 1865, between General Joseph E. Johnston, Commanding Confederate Army, and Major General W. T. Sherman, Commanding United States Army in North Carolina.”

Francis Marion Kendrick, Dad’s great-grandfather – Francis served as a Private, then a Sergeant, in Company B, 29th Tennessee Infantry in the Confederate Army.  He was captured in Murray County on January 21, 1864 and sent to the Union prison at Rock Island, in Illinois, on January 31, 1864.  Francis spent nine and a half months as a prisoner at Rock Island.

On October 13, 1864, in exchange for his release from Rock Island, Francis enlisted as a private in the 3rd U. S. Volunteers, Company A for a period of one year. The company arrived at Fort Kearny in Nebraska on April 9, 1865. Francis spent his time in the U. S. Army as a stock hand. He mustered out of the U. S. Army at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas on November 29, 1865.

William West, Dad’s great-grandfather – William served as a private in Company D, Lillard’s 3rd Tennessee Mounted Infantry, Confederate Army.  He enlisted on March 1, 1862, in Benton, Tennessee, for a period of three years or until the end of  the war.  He spent several months as a patient in the hospital in Meridian, Mississippi in 1862 and 1863, returning to active duty on March 5, 1863.  He was captured at the seige of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863.

In addition to these ancestors, my dad (and I) have other, more distant, relatives who fought in the Civil War, mostly on the Confederate side, but at least one who fought in the Union Army.

Several days ago, Sharon of Kindred Footprints bestowed me with the Kreativ Blogger Award, a meme which has been flying through the geneablogger community for the last few weeks.  Thanks Sharon!

The rules say that I must reveal seven things about myself, then pass the award on to seven other blogs, so here goes.

Seven Things You May Not Know About Me (and My Family History)

1.  I was born in Hawaii.

2.  My parents are third cousins, once removed.

3.  Three of my grandparents are still living (and on a belated-Thanksgiving note, I’m very thankful for this).

4.  One of my great-grandfathers sued the company for whom I now work.

5.  One of my great-great-grandfathers served in both the U. S. and Confederate Armies during the Civil War.

6.  One of my great-great-great-grandfathers was killed by a roving gang of Union sympathizers near the close of the Civil War.

7.  One of my great-great-great-great-grandfathers was married three times and fathered 22 children (some of these children’s ages overlap – he was quite the ladies man).

And the Kreative Blogger Award Goes To:

What’s Past is Prologue

Taneya’s Genealogy Blog

Little Bytes of Life

Bluebonnet Country Genealogy

Consanguinity

Tangled Trees

Sands of Time

So, in Follow Friday tradition, check out these blogs for the great stories they have to tell.