History of the Thirteenth Regiment, Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry, U. S. A., Part 28

Author: Scott, Samuel W; Angel, Samuel P., 1840-
Publication date: [c1903]
Publisher: Philadelphia : P. W. Ziegler
Number of Pages: 576


USA > Tennessee > Johnson County > History of the Thirteenth Regiment, Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry, U. S. A. > Part 28
USA > Tennessee > Carter County > History of the Thirteenth Regiment, Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry, U. S. A. > Part 28


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THE HANGING OF THE PRICES.


"There was a touch of sadness connected with this tragedy, even greater than of the other lamentable scenes of like character we have related. While there is no doubt as to the correctness of the facts related, our informant


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was not sure whether the scene of the tragedy was John- son county, Tenn., or Ashe county, N. C.


"Jesse Price was a man advanced in years and he and his three sons were Union men. The family had moved back and forth between the two counties named, which, though in different States, adjoin.


"One Joe Long, a rebel, with a posse of men, captured old man Price and his three sons and put them in jail. Some charge was brought against them and all four of them were hanged to a white oak limb. It was late in the evening and the party believing them all dead cut them down and rode away.


"The next morning a passer-by discovered them and found that the old man and two of the sons were dead, but the other son, Franklin, was alive, sitting upright in the midst of the dead bodies of his father and two broth- ers. But it was found that his reason was gone and he was insane. He was taken back to jail and sometime af- terwards recovered his reason and was forced to join the Confederate army, but soon deserted and scouted his way through the enemy's lines and came to the Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, either at Nashville or Gallatin, Tenn."


We are glad to have our dear old friend and comrade, Captain Slimp, tell some of these revolting tragedies for us. He was in close proximity to the scenes where many of them were enacted and they bear upon them the stamp of truth, without any disposition to exaggerate. They are much like those we have told, and are such as may be heard from living and truthful witnesses all over, not only these two counties, but the whole of East- ern Tennessee.


DEATH OF THOMAS J. JORDAN.


In this connection we may as well relate what we have obtained from another source but which has been verified by Capt. Slimp, concerning the death of Thomas Jordan, who was born and raised in Elizabethton, but who mar -


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ried a Johnson county lady and moved to that county not far from the place known as Pandora. He was a Union man and subject to conscription. One day he and his younger brother, Elbridge Jordan, were near the former's home; it was in the spring of 1865 and the war being virtually over, he ventured to his home, when a posse of soldiers (conscript hunters) came suddenly upon them. Thomas Jordan started to run up a hill and through some small growth in front of his house. The soldiers fired on him, killing him instantly. They went to where he fell and taking him by the legs dragged him down into his yard and rode off as if nothing unusual had happened. His wife and three small children were in sight, and probably witnesses to the horror. It is unnecessary to make any comments. These facts speak for themselves. The younger brother made no attempt to escape and was not molested. He was probably under the conscript age, or the elder Jordan may have had an enemy among the rebel citizens who took this method of revenge. A word was often sufficient spoken by an enemy to set the soldicry upon an innocent man, and cost him his life.


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TWO MEN SHOT AND TWO OTHERS HANGED.


"Next to the massacre in Limestone Cove, Carter county, in shocking cruelty, comes the shooting of James Taylor, a Federal recruiting officer who had ben captured and escaped from prison, and was trying to make his way to the Federal lines, and Samuel Tatem, and the hanging of two other Union men at the same time and place- Alfred C. Kite and Alexander Rugger. The circum- stances were about as follows :


"These men had made preparations to go through the lines and collected together in the hills on the Watauga river, near Fish Spring, but across the river from that place, on the Johnson county side, the river being the line between Johnson and Carter counties at that point. They had been detained there for several days on ac-


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count of the river being swollen. A company of rebel soldiers passing along the road on the opposite side of the river saw them, and crossing the river, surounded the hill where they were, and closing in, commenced firing on them. Taylor was killed first, and Tatem soon after- wards, the other three ran some distance before they were captured. Two of them were hanged with ropes the sol- diers had with them to get forage for their horses, the third, was released after the rope had been placed around his neck. It was said some worthless arms were found on some of them but it is not known that they made any at- tempt to use them.


"This occurred in January, 1863, and the men en- gaged in it were Colonel Folk's men, assisted by the Johnson county 'home guards.' Many stories were re- lated in regard to this affair immediately after its occur- rence, some of them undoubtedly true, while others were at least exaggerated. The facts are bad enough and we do not wish to give them any false coloring. We have heard, on what seemed to be good authority, that Samuel Tatem, when shot, fell and remained perfectly still, feign- ing death, and that he was left for dead but finally recov- ered from his wound and was known as the 'dead Yankee.'


"One incident related to us by Mrs. Allan C. Carriger, who with her husband, now resides near the scene of the tragedy, shows a degree of moral turpitude that would be almost incredible were it not vouched for by this lady who is of unquestioned integrity. Alexander Dugger, one of the men who was hanged, was related to and had been raised by Mrs. Margaret Dugger, a widow, who owned the farm on which the killing and hang- ing were done. She was a highly respected old lady, was a land holder and had been a slave-owner. She belonged to a prominent family and was noted for her kind and charitable disposition and was loved and respected by all who knew her. The writer was the recipient of her motherly care when but a small boy, and knows whereof he speaks. At the time of the tragedy she was far ad-


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vanced in years, and was known as 'Aunt Peggy' Dugger. She was greatly attached to her foster son, Alex. When these soldiers got everything in readiness to hang him one of them rode down to her house only a short distance away and invited her 'to come and see her Lincolnite son hanged!' We forbear comment.


'One other incident : We were told that Daniel Shuf- field, (afterwards a member of Co. G, Thirteenth Ten- nessee Cavalry) was captured with the others, and that the rope was placed around his neck when he was recog- nized by a young rebel home-guard, Martin Moore, of Johnson county, who had known him at some time, and Moore demanded his release.


"One cannot help but think that if the crimes ( ?) for which these men gave up their lives was only such as might be set aside by a casual friend, or acquaintance, was it not a pity that the other four men had no rebel friend there !


Samuel McQueen, another prominent Johnson county rebel citizen, was killed by a squad of men in command of Captain Dan. Ellis, near the close of the war.


Since writing the foregoing notice of the death of Samuel McQueen the following particulars of that tra- gedy have been made known to us, and coming from a trustworthy source will be of interest to our readers :


"McQueen had been one of the most active of the John- son county 'home guards' and his name was associated with the killing of a number of Union men and when these two counties were finally occupied by the Federal forces in April, 1865, he left his home and crossed over into Ashe county, North Carolina. It chanced that Johnson county man who knew McQueen, and who was then a Federal soldier, was passing through the country and saw the latter and arrested him and brought him back to Johnson county and turned him over to a Federal offi- cer who was in command of colored troops. That officer told him if what he had learned of his cruelty to the Un- ion people was true he deserved hanging, but as the war was now about ended he would only send him to the jail


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for the present. He placed McQueen in charge of a squad of colored soldiers and ordered them to take him to Tay- lorsville (Mountain City) and turn him over to the jailer. McQueen objected to being placed in charge of colored men and asked to be placed in charge of white soldiers. Capt. Dan. Ellis, who was at that time operating in John- son county with a small detachment of the Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, volunteered to take charge of him and conduct him to Taylorsville. Ellis had captured Mc- Queen at one time previous to this and told him he would release him then, but if he ever heard of him mistreating Union men again he would not fare so well the next time he fell into his hands. Ellis and his squad started with him to Taylorsville, on foot; they had not proceeded far when one of the guard named Hascue Worley, who was walking a few paces behind him, shot him in the back and it is said Sergt. W. M. Barry also shot him after he fell. He was killed instantly. Col. T. H. Reeves ordered the men who shot him placed under arrest, but we are not ad- vised whether or not they were punished. McQueen, we are informed, was at one time sheriff of Johnson county, and a prominent and highly respected citizen, but his zeal for the Southern cause had made him a most vindictive enemy to most of his former friends and neighbors, yet many of them expressed great indignation at the manner of his death. It is said that Worley, the man who shot him first, had been regarded as a rebel until he joined the Federal army in 1863."


Besides the names of those whose deaths and the man- ner of them, we have endeavored to relate, we give an additional list of names of men who met violent deaths in Carter and Johnson counties during the Civil War. These we presume were killed for the same reasons and under similar circumstances as those already described, and we confess that we have little disposition to delve farther into the grave yards of the past with a view of uncovering and bringing to the light the skeletons of these martyrs though the cause for which the most of them died, if not a holy one, was at least a glorious one-


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the preservation of the American Union, which we be- lieve is, and is to be, the hope and beacon light of man- kind struggling to be free, and to enjoy the blessings of religious liberty, "from earth's remotest bounds."


A Union man by the name of Gentry, a native of Car- ter county, and another, a stranger, were both killed out the same day on Stony Creek. William Blevins was shot down near his home also on Stony Creek by Confederate soldiers. William Waugh, a prominent secessionist of Johnson county, was shot down at his home by Lafayette Jones.


Green Moore was a prominent rebel citizen who lived in the 2d Civil District of Johnson county. He was killed by a man named Alvin Taylor, who, we are told, was at first a rebel, but later joined the unprincipled gang of robbers and murderers who infested the mountains to- ward the close of the war.


Timothy Roark was a Union man who was killed by the rebels in the 3d Civil District of Johnson county. We are not advised as to the cause or manner of his death.


Isaac Younce was an old man killed near the Walnut mountain by Captain Bozen's men in January, 1864. It is alleged he was first hanged to make him tell where the scouter's camps were, but either not knowing, or refusing to tell, he was finally killed and stripped of his clothing.


Four other men were killed in the Limestone Cove by this same company in March. 1864. Their names were : John Campbell, Robert Dowdel and John and Eli Fry. It was said they were most cruelly and inhumanly treat- ed one of them, being run through with a bayonet and pinned to a tree and then shot.


Andrew Taylor, a well known citizen of Carter county, a true Union man, was called out of a house where lie was visiting and foully assassinated.


One word more by way of apology for the discon- nected manner in which these stories have been told, and this for the benefit of the fastidious reader who may be partial to order and sequence in all things, and this chap- ter will be closed.


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Our time for gathering up and verifying .these trage- dies was limited, and while we might have given more time to arranging them in consecutive order and less to their verification we have preferred to sacrifice the former to the latter, and present our readers with a chap- ter of facts that we have every reason to believe are such, than take the chances of substituting fiction even in a more polished and readable form.


It was our design to give in this chapter a "brief out- line" of the tragedies that were enacted in Carter an ! Johnson counties during the civil war. We have only mentioned a sufficient number of them to show the state of feeling that existed at that time. We might continue the recital of similar horrors until they would form a good sized book in themselves, but we assume that our readers, like ourselves, are satiated with these scenes of blood and will be more than pleased to consign the re- mainder to silence and oblivion, but we may remember that these are only a part of the terrible scenes that were enacted in two small counties of East Tennessee, and that similar tragedies were taking place at the same period all over the beautiful, historic but blood-stained moun- tains and valleys of the remaining twenty-nine counties of that devoted land.


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CHAPTER XXVIII.


The Heroes and Heroines of Carter and Johnson Counties in the Civil War.


We approach this subject with much distrust of our ability to do justice to these people. We usually : peak of a hero or heroine as some great or distinguished man or woman whose name is upon every lip, and whose praise is heard throughout the land, but there are other heroes and heroines whose praise has never been sung and whose names have never been honored. He or she who per- formed a brave deed for country's or humanity's sake, though unknown outside the neighborhood in which the deed was done, is as truly a hero or a heroine as though th whole world looked on and applauded the deed. The world is indebted for its advancement largely to the heroic deeds of men and women in the humble walks of life. The fame of the heroes of the past which has survived the destroying influences of time is due in a great meas- ure to the ability of their historians and the attractive manner in which the stories of their deeds have been told. Some have been perpetuated in song and poetry and em- bellished with the beautiful language of the poets, which has rendered them immortal. Who has not read "Paul Revere's Ride," immortalized by Longfellow? The Civil War produced many Paul Reveres in Carter and Johnson counties who, with flying steeds, rode through the dark - ness and storm, or with tireless limbs climbed the rugged mountain side to warn the hunted refugees of the ap- proach of the soldiers or Indians, but we have not the gift to tell their story as it should be told. We know of the happy contented people in these counties before the Civil War, but it would require a Goldsmith or Robert Burns to describe their happiness, their simple lives, their cheerful songs, their hospitality, their love of country and their faith in God.


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Again, we know that time and space as well as our inability to secure the names of all will compel us to omit many names that should be mentioned and fail to give extended notice of many others who are entitled to much honor and praise. But we give here many incidents and names that will recall to the memory of those still living who can remember the Civil War, some brave and noble men and women. We trust their names will be read in these pages long after the last survivors of the Civil War shall have passed away.


Incidents that occurred in the vicinity of Elizabethton: 7th and 15th Civil Districts of Carter Co., Tenn. :


This town, at the beginning of the Civil War, was a vil- lage of 300 or 400 inhabitants. It is situated near the confluence of the Doe and Watauga rivers. A channel for a race, known as Carter's race, has been made at the south end of the town leading a part of the water of Doe river along the base of the Lynn mountain on the east side of town and emptying into the Watauga river at the north end of town. The main part of Doe river making a bend some distance below where the race leaves it, also empties into the Watauga river a short distance west of the mouth of the race, thus forming an island containing an area of about 80 acres, on which all of the town was located then. The town did not cover all the island at the time of the war, a large field at the north end of it being used for agricultural purposes. Since the war this has all been built up and the town extended to the west side of Doe river where there are now a number of manufac- turing plants, including a large saw mill, flouring mill and cotton mill, the Tennessee Line and Twine Works, chair factory and pants factory. The town has now (1902) a population of about 1500.


On the north of the town is the Holston mountain, a beautiful range just far enough in the distance to make a lovely landscape, immediately to the east and extending to the edge of the town is the abrupt termination or "cut off" of the Lynn mountain rising to an altitude of several hundred feet. On the south are the Iron and Jenkins


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mountains in the distance, while to the westward are un- dulating hills, glades and valleys. The altitude of the town is 1549 feet, the climate mild and healthy, the water pure and plentiful and the soil rich and fertile, while the scenery around is indescribably beautiful and enchanting.


When the war came the town and the fertile valleys extending many miles along the rivers above and below it were inhabited by a class of people, many of whom were well educated and well-to-do in the world, some of them slave-holders. The people were more divided in senti- ment here than in any other part of the county. Yet a large majority of them remained loyal to the Union, among whom were some of the largest land and slave- owners, and those who were highly educated and among the most prominent and leading citizens. Such were the people and surroundings, among whom, and where many of the incidents we are about to relate occurred.


THE FIRST CONFEDERATE FLAG.


The first Confederate flag, as far as we know, ever publicly displayed in Elizabethton was brought there by William J. Stover, an enthusiastic young Secessionist, who lived on the Watauga river, four miles east of the town. At that time George W. Ryan had a blacksmith shop on the street leading past what is now known as the Snyder House, and on past the Duffield Academy. Young Stover came into town with the flag and when he reached Ryan's shop, the latter halted him and told him he could not take that flag any further into town. Stover told him he was on his way to Zollicoffer and was only going through that street. He went on as far as Main street and turned south and went beyond the public square, wav- ing the flag and shouting for Jeff. Davis. Ryan met him near the corner where Mrs. Doctor Cameron now lives as he was returning and began throwing stones at him. Stover turned out that street and ran into a wood-pile where his horse fell with him, but he finally made his es- cape closely pursued out of town by Ryan.


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HOW THE PRISONERS ESCAPED.


After the Carter county rebellion the arrests of Union men were so frequent that notwithstanding the prisoners were sent on to Knoxville as rapidly as possible the jail at Elizabethton would not hold them, and it often became necessary to keep them under guard. William M. Gour- ley, Andrew C. Fondren, Lawson F. Hyder and Isaac Ellis were captured a day or two before Christmas in 1861. The two former were reported as bridge-burners and it was said they were to be shot on Christmas day. The following plan was devised for their escape: Some of the Union girls arranged to have a party at the home of William Hawkins on Christmas Eve and invited the rebel guards and other rebel soldiers to attend. The guards were also invited to the home of James Perry, a Union man, who lived near town, for supper. Perry had provided some good apple brandy to treat them, hoping to get them intoxicated so the prisoners could get away. The guards and prisoners ate supper and drank together and then went to Hawkins' to the party, where Wm. Hawkins and William Shell again treated them to liquor. They were feeling pretty merry by this time and the girls invited them to engage in a play or dance called "Weavily Wheat." The guards and prisoners all joined in the play except William Gourley. It was understood that he was to be on the watch and give the signal when to make a break for liberty. Finally the prisoners and girls com- menced singing at the top of their voices and coming down on the floor with their feet with a vengeance ; Gour- ley managed to touch the other prisoners and make a break for the door, the others following. The guards were pretty drunk by this time and the girls kept up the sing- ing and dancing so they did not catch on to the scheme un- til three of the prisoners had got out into the darkness and were soon safe on the Lynn mountain. The third man, Ellis, did not get away but he was not an important pris- oner and managed to make his escape the next day.


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The girls engaged in this affair, as well as can be re- membered now, were: Misses Sarah Folsom, Eliza O'Brien, Margaret and Lydia Barker, Jennie Garrison, Politha and Hester Heatherly and Loyette Hilton.


FLAG-POLES CUT DOWN.


A tall flag-pole was erected near the southwest corner of the public square in Elizabethton in 1861, and the Na- tional flag floated on it until after the Carter county re- bellion in November of that year. When the Confederate troops came to that place November 17, 1861, after dis- persing the Union men at Doe River Cove, they cut the pole down and tore up the National flag. The same pole was raised in the center of the public square and a Con- federate flag hoisted. Though martial law had been pro- claimed, a Provost Marshal appointed and Confederate troops stationed in the town, Charles Gourley and W. G. Merideth, two brave Union men, watched an opportunity and cut the pole down one night and carried off the Con- fedrate flag. The next day L. W. Fletcher. another Union man, finding the soldiers out of town, cut the pole up and remarked that he was going to make it into rails "and fence in the Southern Confederacy."


DR. WILLIAM C. SINGLETARY.


Dr. Singletary was the son of Rev. John Singletary, a well-known and highly respected Methodist minister of Elizabethton who died December 5, 1860. Dr. Single- tary was raised in Elizabethton, studied medicine there and practiced medicine in Carter county for many years. He moved to Arkansas in 1859. The rebel sentiment was strong in the locality where he lived, but the few Union men there. Dr. Singletary among others, held se- cret meetings to discuss plans for their safety. They were arrested, chained together and taken to Georgia and forced to join the army. He finally got a position as


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Surgeon in the Confederate army. Later he got a fur- lough to visit his mother at Elizabethton, who had been an invalid for many ears. When his furlough expired he scouted in the mountains with the Union men, render- ing much assistance to those who were sick. When the Federal soldiers came in he came to Elizabethton to re- main with his invalid mother. The troops fell back and before he was aware of it the town was full of rebel sol- diers. He made his escape dressed in woman's apparel and made his way to Knoxville.


Dr. Singletary died at his home at Sulphur Springs, Ark., May 9. 1894.


M. D. L. CAMERON.


Mr. Cameron was a native of Carter county, Tenn., having been born and raised in Elizabethton. His father, Jacob Cameron, who died a few years before the com- mencement of the Civil War, was a prominent and highly respected citizen, and was also a slave owner. His mother, Mrs. Jane Cameron, owned slaves when the war began, but her three sons, Lafayette, Dr. James M. and John W. Cameron, were all enthusiastic Union men.


Lafayette Cameron was a merchant in Elizabethton at the beginning of the war and his place of business was the resort of leading Union men where they met to con- stilt about the state of affairs and lay plans for their mutual protection. The plans for the burning of the Zollicoffer bridge were discussed there by Col. Stover and others, and Mr. Cameron took an active part in their execution, being one of the men who put the torch to the bridge. He was also one of the parties recognized by Jenkins, the bridge guard. Mr. Cameron not being a man of a rugged constitution, and being unused to the cold and exposure which his situation at that time neces- sitated, fell a victim to consumption and died at the home of Mr. Smitherman, a loyal man and a friend of Mr. Cameron who resided in what was then the Limestone Cove in Carter county. Tenn.




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