USA > Tennessee > Johnson County > History of the Thirteenth Regiment, Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry, U. S. A. > Part 29
USA > Tennessee > Carter County > History of the Thirteenth Regiment, Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry, U. S. A. > Part 29
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LIEUT. W. F. M. HYDER AND SON. (See page 309.)
CAPT. J. W. ELLIS. (See page 311.)
CAPT. J. B. WYATT. (See page 222.)
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LIEUT. F. S. SINGLETARY.
Though a very young man F. S. Singletary was a member of the Greeneville Union Convention, partici- pated in the Carter county rebellion and was an officer in the 4th Tennessee Infantry. After the war he represented Carter county in the General Assembly of the State. He moved to Kansas in 1877; was elected County Attorney of Osage county and at the time of his death, which oc- curred at his home in Linden, Kan., May 4, 1881, he was a prominent lawyer and politician. We make special mention of the Singletarys because they were loyal men and were at one time honored citizens of Elizabethton, and because, in the death of Thomas Singletary, of Yancy county, N. C., in February, 1899, the only son of Dr. W. C. Singletary, the last male citizen bearing that name, passed away.
Col. N. G. Taylor and Rev. W. B. Carter were orators of a high order and became well known from their promi- nence throughout the State and Nation : the latter figures prominently in our history of the bridge-burning. Dr. Abram Jobe has been prominently mentioned in that con- nection as well as Col. Daniel Stover. Hon. Abraham Tipton and Charles P. Toncray were active members of both the Knoxville and Greeneville conventions. Hon. Albert J. Tipton and Hon. Hamilton C. Smith were among the most active and influential advisers and pro- moters of the Union cause, and were two of the men held as hostages when Elbridge Tipton was abducted by the Heatherlys. Rev. J. H. Hyder wielded a large influence as a citizen and an educated minister of the Gospel ; he was unfaltering in his devotion to the Union, and untir- ing in his efforts to aid and befriend the Union people. Benjamin F. Treadway, M. L. Cameron, James P. Scott. B. M. G. O'Brien and John F. Burrow, as has been noted elsewhere, were among the brave men "that took their lives in their hands" to aid the Government by burning the Zollicoffer bridge, they were in the Carter county re- bellion and active in all the adventures of the period.
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O'Brien was afterwards a citizen-aide on the staff of Gen. S. P. Carter. Peter W. Emmert and James P. Tipton were two other ministers who gave their means and influence to the cause. W. R. Fitzsimmons, though a most retired citizen, gave his sympathy and aid, and the benefit of a cultured mind, to the Union cause, though he was an ex- tensive slave-owner for this section of country. Jas. I. R. Boyd was prominent in the Carter county rebellion and afterwards a gallant officer in the army. Other men who deserve notice in this vicinity for their devotion to the Union cause, for their suffering and heroism, and for lending a helping hand to refugees and scouters were: Alfred M. Taylor. James Perry, D. P. Wilcox, John M. Smith, John J. Edens, William J. Folsom, John Helton, Jr., Col. J. G. Fellers, H. C. Beasley, William Burrow, Samuel Angel, James J. Angel, Abram Hart, Leander Hatcher, John C. Scott, Findley Smith, J. D. Smith, Wil- liam Colbough, Williams Cass, William P. Badgett, John Aldridge, Henderson Roberts, William Hawkins, James Holly and David Holly, his son, Samuel O'Brien, Samuel Tipton, Richard Douthat, Thomas C. Johnson, William Shell (conscripted finally and served in the Con- fedrate army), James and Jobe Newton, Nicholas Car- riger and Theophilus H. Roberts, William J. and A. R. P. Toncray, L. F. and A. J. Hyder, John Roberts, William Dawson, David A. Taylor. William Ryan, Harrison H. Price, William J. Jordan, William Marsh.
Many of the above-named men for various reasons did not join the army, but each one of them braved the dangers of the hour; some were captured and imprisoned, others were refugees at different imes ; all were heroes and each performed his duty to his country and to humanity ; some befriending and sharing their means with the hungry and starving ; piloting refugees and escaped prisoners to Dan. Ellis, to be taken through the lines. All risked their lives and suffered in many ways for the cause they loved.
John Helton, Jr., was the gallant Captain of cavalry in the Carter county rebellion. He took fever and died in July, 1863.
Findley Smith was captured and died in prison.
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Among the older men who though advanced in years were the main-stay and support of the brave women and the children and the sick and helpless, especially in the last years of the war, and who were brave and fearless and true to their country were: James L. Bradley, Mathias Keen, Joseph Taylor, Joseph O'Brien, Pleasant Williams (Doe River), Samuel Patterson, John Minor, Jackson Jordan, Thomas Gourley, John Helton, Sr., John Crum- ley, Isaac Miller. Upon these men devolved the duty of caring for and protecting as far as they could the women and children, looking after the business interests of their absent sons or relatives and caring for their property, at- tending to the farms, aiding the sick and burying the dead.
HEROINES.
We give the names of some of the noble women in the two counties of Carter and Johnson, and only regret we can not follow them, one and all, as they went through the fiery ordeal of the Civil War, facing every danger, toiling and praying for the loved ones, dispensing love and sun- shine in their pathway. Their names should be written in letters of gold on imperishable parchment, or engraven on enduring metal that time cannot efface. They heard the roar of cannon and the rattle of musketry that told of battle and death. They witnessed bloody tragedies. They saw their loved ones imprisoned. They saw them brought home dead. They heard the tramp of armed men and the clanking of arms and the shouts of soldiers and the groans of the dying. They witnessed the cruelties of civil war in all its horrors and hideousness. They saw the dead bodies of men who had been hung or shot, some- times their own friends or relatives, and yet they lived through it all. They were familiar with danger and strangers to fear. They went out into the darkness and storm to aid the suffering. They ventured into dangers from which brave men recoiled. They seemed to require no rest but were always on the alert. They waited on
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the sick, dressed the wounds of those who had been shot and sometimes had to bury the dead with their own hands. They cooked and fed Union men who were in hiding and men who had escaped from prison, often piloting them to places of safety. Among those who received the care and hospitality of the loyal women of these counties were Albert D. Richardson, the gifted war correspondent of the "New York Tribune" and author of "The Field, Dun- geon and Escape," and Junius Henri Browne, the brilliant war correspondent of the "New York Herald."
We give first the names of those who lived at Eliza- bethton and in that vicinity: Mrs. Elizabeth and Evaline Carter, Mrs. Emma Taylor, Mrs. Sophronia Jobe, Mrs. Mary Stover, Mrs. Catherine Tipton, Mrs. Susan Fellers, Mrs. Edna Edens, Mrs. Joanna Tipton, Mrs. Jane Cam - eron, Mrs. Mary Ann Singletary, Mrs. Eliza Cameron, Mrs. Laura Cameron, Mrs. Margaret Toncray, Mrs. Martha Tipton, Mrs. Nancy Johnson, Mrs. Catherine Pat- terson, Mrs. Elizabeth Bradley, Mrs. Martha G. Angel, Mrs. Matilda Burrow, Mrs. Jane J. Scott. Mrs. Eliza Hawkins, Mrs. Mary Burrow, Mrs. Elizabeth Ryan, Mrs. Elizabeth Smith, Mrs. Nancy Barker, Mrs. Martha Perry, Mrs. Mary Hart, Mrs. Nancy Roberts, Mrs. Elizabeth Hyder, Mrs. Emily Collins, Mrs. Martha Hatcher, Mrs. Rosanna Taylor, Mrs. Margaret Toncray, Mrs. Mary Cameron, Mrs. Margaret Jobe, Mrs. Hester Williams, Mrs. Sarah Keen, Mrs. Susan Beasley, Mrs. Nancy Tip- ton, Mrs. Matilda Wilcox, Mrs. Evaline Treadway, Mrs. Lucy Wilcox, Mrs. Lucy Turner, Mrs. Janes Minor, Mrs. Timanda Badgett, Mrs. Dorcas Gourley, Mrs. Mary Hil- ton, Mrs. Eliza Douthat, Mrs. Mary Angel, Mrs. William Cass. and Misses Mary and Eva Taylor, Miss Sarah Fol - som, Miss Eliza O'Brien, Miss Emma Jobe, Miss Lizzie Cameron, Misses Margaret and Lydia Barker, Miss Mary George, Misses Seraphina, Ann M. and Addie Johnson. Misses Agnes, Elmira and Latitia Roberts, Misses Po- litha and Hester Heatherly. Miss Mattie Tipton, Misses Cordelia and Amanda Hyder. Misses Susan and Mary Angel, Miss Alice Angel, Miss Cordelia Bradley, Miss
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Jennie Garrison, Misses Sue and Sallie Smith, Miss Mary R. Toncray, Miss Emma Roberts, Miss Emma Burrow. These ladies, old and young, performed deeds which, had they been done in ordinary times, would have won for them great honor and distinction, but in those perilous times brave deeds were done and little notice taken of them. It has been truly said of woman that she is timid and often shrinks from trivial or imaginary danger, but when confronted with great peril she rises to the occasion and displays the greatest courage and heroism. In the Civil War they were the sentinels on the watch-tower when every hour was fraught with danger and dread. Midnight, as well as midday, found them at their post, ready at the approach of danger to rush to the rescue of father, brother or friend, whether in the clarkness of the night, the raging storm or in the face of a relentless enemy. They never deserted the side of a father, brother or friend, no odds how great the threatened danger, but clung the closer to him. If we could but relate the stories or picture the scenes they passed through they would startle those who have known women only in time of peace. Imagine a hunted refugee, pursued by soldiers or Indians, taking refuge in a house whose on'y tenant is a woman-her husband or sons not daring to remain at home-the pursuers follow the refugee into the house, demand in angry tones and with guns in their hands to know where the man is hidden. Does she quail before them and scream and point out the trembling vic- tim to be dragged off to prison or death? You answer yes, what else could she do? She is but a woman. But he is her neighbor's boy, a youth, not long ago a mere boy -she knows him well. She calmly faces the men and tells them the boy passed through the house. She says to them with the greatest carelessness of manner, "Don't you see he is not in here ?" They pass on through and search the barn and out-houses, and when they are gone the boy is hidden more securely to await a chanceto escape. He was behind the door and the lady kept between him and the soldiers and her cool indifferent manner deceived
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them, and so she saved her neighbor's son. Was she not a heroine? Nor is this story a romance. Captain S. H. Hendrix was the youth, and Mrs. Christina Scott, of Turkey Town then, (now we trust a saint in heaven), was the lady.
Illustrative of woman's courage in the hour of danger we will relate an incident witnessed by ourselves, and the lady (lately deceased) was born and raised at Elizabeth- ton, and her name is familiar to many people there now. Before it was quite daylight on the morning of Decem- ber 20th, 1864, the Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry charged into the town of Marion, Va., and got mixed up with the enemy in the darkness. Bullets were whistling through the streets, sabres were clashing, and soldiers were fight- ing and dead bodies lying in the streets. Some soldiers had, or were attempting to set fire to a building. A lady was pleading with them not to burn it. One of the offi- cers recognizing her voice rode up to her, and making himself known, told her peremptorily that she must leave there or she would be killed. The lady was Miss Mary Johnson, and she was trying to save the home of a friend and seemed utterly oblivious of her own danger.
OTHER INCIDENTS AT ELIZABETHTON.
Samuel Angel was a well known and highly respected citizen of Elizabethton. He was a Union man and had two sons, Adjutant S. P. and James R. Angel in the Thir- teenth Tennessee Cavalry. A few days before the killing of Reese and Benjamin Bowers (about September, 1863. ) the Johnson county home-guards came down in the vicin- ity of Elizabethton on a marauding and murdering ex- pedition. Two of them went to the home of Mr. Angel one Sunday evening and asked for supper. The two young daughters, Susan and Mary, got their supper and treated them pleasantly as they could. Unfortunately they made Rio, instead of rye coffee that was in common use at that time. This gave them a hint that the sons had probably sent the coffee home, and perhaps other things to the family, knowing they were in the army.
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The next evening, after dark, two men ( supposed to be the same ones ) came back and called Mr. Angel out of the house. When he came out they took hold of him in a rough manner, called him a Lincolnite and told him they wanted his money. They fired off their pistols to intimi- date him and frighten the family away so they could rob the house of anything valuable it might contain. In the scuffle with the men Angel managed to get his pocket- book out of his pocket and drop it on the ground, but it being dark they did not see it. Finding no money on his person they let him loose.
Angel was a man of courage and not easily intimi- dated. He ran into the house and got his gun and fired at the men, but it being dark missed them. They left hurriedly but came back with more men, and went into the house and rifled the drawers, taking coffee, sugar and everything they could find, including the clothing of Mrs. Angel who had recently died. In the meantime the family had left the house and Mr. Angel ran down the street to try to get protection from the rebel citizens, some of whom were closely related to him. He was seen running by another one of this gang, who raised his gun to shoot him, but was prevented from doing so by William G. Bowers, who was a rebel soldier (having been con- scripted), but who knew Mr. Angel to be a peaceable man and a good citizen.
A number of rebel citizens, including James A. Bur- row. brother-in-law of Angel, Geo. W. and H. M. Folsom and Dr. H. T. Berry went to Angel's house and told the family they should be protected. They also had the cloth- ing that had been taken away returned. Mr. Angel thought best to keep out of the way until the excitement subsided.
The children, six in number, including Cary Jordan, a grand-child, came back to the house that night. The two girls were the oldest, the others were boys ranging in age from six to fifteen years. Some of the neighbors came in to remain with them during the night. About midnight two of the men came back to the house and
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asked if Mr. Angel was there. They came in and sat down and told the girls they were going to burn the house the next morning. While they were there Mr. Angel came into an adjoining room and set his gun down, but discovered that some men were there before they dis- covered him, and left the house without the men knowing he was there. It is probable they had come to kill him and would have done so had they found him.
At the time of Mrs. Angel's death, July 20, 1863, guards were placed around the house hoping to capture the sons who it was thought would try to get home to take a last look at their dead mother !
Besides the sorrow brought to this family by the Civil War, death made two sad inroads into it, taking first the mother, Mrs. Martha Angel, July 20, 1863, and then a sister, Mrs. Ann M. Ellis, wife of Captain John W. Ellis, in June, 1865.
Mrs. Mary A. Singletary was a most highly respected widow lady who lived at Elizabethton at the time of the Civil War. She had a son, Lieut. F. S. Singletary, in the Federal army, and also a son-in-law, George W. Ryan. Mrs. Ryan moved into the house with her mother in the absence of her husband.
At one time a rebel officer with a squad of soldiers came to the house in search of the son, who he heard had been seen at home. These men usually looked out for coffee, sugar or any other valuables they might "confiscate," for the property of Union people at that time was considered a lawful prize to whatever marauder could find it first. On this occasion Mrs. Singletary had a quantity of coffee stored in a closet under the stairway. They told the member of the family who was piloting them through the house to open the closet ; this was done with the remark, "You are welcome to all you can find in there." This threw them off their guard and they did not find the coffee.
They looked up the chimney to see what they could find there. Mrs. Singletary's young granddaughter told the officer she never heard of but one man hiding up the chim-
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ney and he was a rebel. She added, "Union men have got too much sense to do that."
At another time a rebel officer who desired to punisli Mrs. Ryan because her husband had gone to the Federal army came and told Mrs. Singletary that if she did not throw her daughter's plunder out into the street he would burn the house down over her head. She told him he would have to burn it then. She said : "I cannot turn my daughter and her little children out of my house; if we have to suffer we will all suffer together." These were brave words, and even the officer was seemingly touched by them as the house was not burned.
O'BRIEN'S FORGE, I4TH CIVIL DISTRICT OF CARTER COUNTY.
This place is now known as Valley Forge, and is on the Doe River, three miles south of Elizabethton. Near this place was the home of Daniel Ellis, the noted pilot. It was near this place the men would meet before starting together on the long and perilous trip across the moun- tains and rivers to where they hoped to reach a place of safety and freedom.
THE REBEL SOLDIER.
We will relate an incident that occurred near Valley Forge, illustrating the heroism displayed by a young lady.
At one time a company of Morgan's men were sta- tioned at Elizabethton. They often got meals and feed for their horses at the homes of the Union people. These men, as a rule, were more gentlemanly and treated the Union people more kindly than other rebel soldiers that were stationed there had done, and in turn the people treated them better. One of them had frequently stopped at the home of James G. Smith, a well-known Union man who lived near Valley Forge. He became well acquainted
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with Mr. Smith's family and knowing they were loyal people confided to them that he was not at heart a rebel ; that he believed the Union cause was right, and if he could get with Dan. Ellis he would leave the Confederate army and go through the lines. At first Mr. Smith was not disposed to trust him but he appeared so honest and manly he gained his confidence and finally told him if he was sincere in the matter he would assist him any way he could.
Soon after this the man came to Smith's house and said he had left his command and wanted to be shown to Ellis or find some place where he could conceal himself from his late comrades until Ellis could take him through the lines. It happened that it was known to Smith that Ellis was a few miles from there with a company of men ready to start through the lines. But he could not direct the man so that he could find Ellis alone, besides being a stranger to them it would not be safe to go there by him- self. The night was dark and stormy, and Smith, who was advanced in years, did not feel able to go with him and there was no other boy or man on the place. The man knowing that he was liable to be missed and followed at any moment showed much uneasiness and expressed great regret that he had no one to take him. At this juncture one of Mr. Smith's daughters, Miss Margaret, who was familiar with every road and bridle-path in the neighborhood volunteered to act as his guide. Mounting one of her father's horses she led the way through the darkness and rain, over the hills and through the woods she conducted the man safely to Ellis and returned to her home alone. Thus this brave girl aided the Union cause by taking from the Confederate army an unwilling soldier, and in all probability he joined the other side.
The women in this locality were often called upon to prepare rations for large companies of men, enough to last them several days. Often a single family would cook and prepare five days' rations for as many as ten or fifteen men. They would send to them baskets full of boiled ham, bread, pies and vegetables. This they did cheer- fully and without pay.
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We give the names of those we remember who lived in the vicinity of Valley Forge during the Civil War, and there is not one among them who did not aid to his utmost the cause of the Union, or would not brave any dangers to succor the conscripts and refugees: William X. O'Brien, James G. Smith, John C. and Robert A. Smith, Abram and Elijah Hathaway, John Bayless, Elbert Range, David S. Hilton, James Garrison, Alfred Wil- liams, John Grindstaff, James and Joseph Hyder, Wiley Ellis, James McCathern, Virgil Morris, Elisha Collins, Eli Fletcher, Mordicai Williams, Brownlow Fair, Chris, Sim- erly, Jehu Humphreys. We give here the name of some of the wives and daughters of these men, each of whom did many heroic deeds like the one we have nar- rated, had we time and space to tell them: Mrs. Elizabeth and Mrs. Rosanna Smith, Mrs. Ann O'Brien, Mrs. Martha Ellis, Mrs. Hannah Garrison, Mrs. Sarahı Bayless, Mrs. Celia Humphreys, Mrs. Jane Hathaway, Mrs. Margaret and Eliza Jane Hyder, Mrs. Louisa Camp- bell, Mrs. Nora Williams, Mrs. Vina Fletcher, Mrs. Eliza Humphrey, Mrs. Ollie Hilton, Mrs. Hugh Jenkins, Mrs. Salina Collins, Mrs. Sabina Grindstaff, and Misses Mary, Caroline and Margaret Smith, Miss Minerva Ellis, Misses Rebecca, Alpha and Sarah McCathern, Miss Jane O'Brien, Miss Ann Barnes.
Francis Humphrey, a young son of Young Humphrey (the latter died while a member of Company A, Thir- teenth Tennesse Cavalry), kept a boat near O'Brien's Forge for the purpose of taking Union men and refugees across Doe River as they passed back and forth at night to see Dan. Ellis. Though a mere boy then he was im- plicitly trusted by Ellis and all the Union people. He now lives near Jefferson City, Tenn.
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CRAB ORCHARD. 2D AND 3D CIVIL DISTRICTS
OF CARTER COUNTY.
The entire country along the East Tennessee and West- ern North Carolina Railroad from what is now known as Crab Orchard Station in Carter county to the North Caro- lina line southeast of Shell Creek was known as the Crab Orchard during the Civil War. This is for the most part a rugged country, but presents most magnificent scen- ery. There is a place on this narrow-gauge road called the "Gorge" that is the wonder of travelers now, it was often the retreat of refugees in those days, but now the little engine pursues a steep, narrow and tortuous track through the tunnels and along the moutain side where naked cliffs rise perpendicularly for hundreds of feet, and the little river (Doc) tumbles along among the large boulders far below. The scenery is said by experienced travelers to equal in grandeur that of any ever seen, though not as extensive and imposing as at some places they have been. Here the Roan Mountain rises in ma- jestic grandeur to an altitude of 6394 feet, and upon its summit is built a summer hotel known as "Cloudland," which is said to be "the highest human habitation east of the Rocky Mountains." In the valleys of the mountains along the Doe river are fertile coves where many prosper- ous farmers dwelt before the war. When the war came the mountains were a favorite hiding place for escaped prisoners, conscripts and refugees. Finding it difficult to find these men the Confederate authorities conceived the idea of bringing into these mountains some ignorant and half-civilized Indians, belonging to an organization known as Thomas' Legion, from Cherokee county. N. C. Indians were always noted for cruelty and cunning and for their ability to move stealthily through the woods and come unawares upon an enemy. So many stories had been told of their cruelty and savage character that it was sup- posed the very name of Indians would strike terror to the
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conscripts and induce them to come in and give them- selves up. They were brought into Carter county about the month of May, 1863, and were in command of Cap- tain Walters, from Georgia, who had command of two or three companies of white Confederate cavalry besides one or two companies of Indians, the latter being directed or commanded by Lieut. R. P. Tipton, of Carter county, during the time this force was engaged in conscript hunt- ing. In justice to the latter officer, Lieut. Tipton, who met a tragic fate afterwards at the hands of the Heath- erly's we have been told he did not approve of all the harsh measures of Walters' towards the Union people.
Starting out from Elizabethton this company had reached a point about six miles from what is now. Roan Mountain Station when a widow by the name of Hannah Wilson, who was a brave Union woman, had started in the direction of Elizabethton on horseback, saw the Indians coming and knowing there were many Union men in hiding near Roan Mountain she wheeled her horse in the road, and the better to keep her seat on the horse adjusted herself on him man-fashion or astride, and lay- ing whip soon spread the news of the approach of the In- dians for miles around, and no doubt saved many Union men from being captured.
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