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Submitted by: Ellen
Email address: hnelsonn@cox-internet.com
Husband: Wiley B NELSON
Birthdate: August 17, 1841
Birthplace: Muscogee County, Georgia
Death date: September 27, 1916
Place of death: Simpsonville, Upshur County, Texas
Father: Jesse C. NELSON
Mother: Susan WALL
Marriage date: October 14, 1860
Marriage place: Chattahoochee County, Georgia
Wife: Narcessa SCARBROUGH
Birthdate: May 31, 1845
Birthplace: Muscogee County, Georgia
Death date: October 12, 1924
Place of death: Thomas, Upshur County, Texas
Father: Ivey SCARBROUGH
Mother: Sarah BECK
CHILDREN
Child No. 1: Susan Melissa NELSON
Sex: f
Birthdate: July 18, 1861
Birthplace: Georgia
Death date: December 18, 1939
Place of death: Texas
Marriage date: 1898
Marriage place:
Spouse's name: James Edgar Little
Child No. 2: James Wiley (Jimmy) NELSON
Sex: m
Birthdate: October 01, 1863
Birthplace: Georgia
Death date: June 17, 1927
Place of death: Texas
Marriage date: January 05, 1888
Marriage place: January 05, 1888
Spouse's name: Mary Alice LITTLE
Child No. 3: Alice Arrene NELSON
Sex: f
Birthdate: October 14, 1866
Birthplace: Georgia
Death date: October 17, 1926
Place of death: Harris County, Texas
Marriage date: December 09, 1886
Marriage place: Wood County, Texas
Spouse's name: William Daniel (Zeke) Hester
Child No. 4: Ivey Isaiah NELSON
Sex: m
Birthdate: September 28, 1868
Birthplace: Georgia
Death date: October 06, 1936
Place of death: Simpsonville, Upshur County, Texas
Marriage date: January 25, 1891
Marriage place: Texas
Spouse's name: Hattie Odella GAUTNEY
Child No. 5: Rasper Battle Roe NELSON
Sex: m
Birthdate: May 20, 1871
Birthplace: Georgia
Death date: October 12, 1905
Place of death: Texas
Marriage date: January 30, 1897
Marriage place: Texas
Spouse's name: Willie SPARKMAN
Child No. 6: Charles E NELSON
Sex: M
Birthdate: February 14, 1873
Birthplace: Texas
Death date: October 06, 1902
Place of death: Texas
Marriage date:
Marriage place:
Spouse's name:
Child No. 7: Willie Ezekiel Nelson
Sex: m
Birthdate: February 15, 1875
Birthplace: Texas
Death date: September 08, 1877
Place of death: Texas
Marriage date:
Marriage place:
Spouse's name:
Child No. 8: Henry Thomas"Tommie" NELSON
Sex: m
Birthdate: December 10, 1876
Birthplace: Texas
Death date: June 22, 1884
Place of death: Camp County, Texas
Marriage date:
Marriage place:
Spouse's name:
Child No. 9: Infant Nelson
Sex: m
Birthdate: January 26, 1879
Birthplace: Texas
Death date: January 26, 1879
Place of death: Texas
Marriage date:
Marriage place:
Spouse's name:
Child No. 10: Walter Leafitte NELSON
Sex: m
Birthdate: April 24, 1880
Birthplace: Wood County, Texas
Death date: June 06, 1964
Place of death: Tyler, Smith County, Texas
Marriage date: March 09, 1899
Marriage place: Simpsonville, Upshur County, Texas
Spouse's name: Della Mae MULLINIX
Child No. 11: George Andrew Jessie NELSON
Sex: m
Birthdate: September 20, 1882
Birthplace: Texas
Death date: April 19, 1951
Place of death: Texas
Marriage date: abt 1908
Marriage place: Texas
Spouse's name: Annie MORRIS
Child No. 12: Narcisa Sariah (Lucy) NELSON
Sex: f
Birthdate: February 27, 1884
Birthplace: Texas
Death date: October 23, 1958
Place of death: Simpsonville, Upshur County, Texas
Marriage date: abt 1899
Marriage place: Texas
Spouse's name: John S. MULLINIX
Child No. 13: Mary Ellen NELSON
Sex: f
Birthdate: May 27, 1886
Birthplace: Texas
Death date: October 23, 1902
Place of death: Texas
Marriage date:
Marriage place:
Spouse's name:
Child No. 14: Noah Lawson NELSON
Sex: m
Birthdate: April 03, 1888
Birthplace: Texas
Death date: July 22, 1889
Place of death: Camp County, Texs
Marriage date:
Marriage place:
Spouse's name:
Documentation:
Narcessa was living with Susan Nelson, future mother in
law, in Chattahoochee County August 10, 1860 and the marriage of Narcessa
and Wiley occurred in October of 1860. Wiley was working in Stewart
County in June 1860. The timing fits nicely, if you wish to believe
that
he was working to support the household because his father had died
in
1855 and there were no other men in the household.
1860 GA Steward County Lumpkin P. O. p. 83 online
Page 362 Enumerated 28th day of June 1860
House # 16
Benjamin Davis 20 M overseer AL
$8000 $14000 ( I have to tell
you that if Benjamin had had 20 slaves he would have been called a
planter. It seems he needed one more slave.)
James M.
16 M
AL
Button ? maybe Britain
14 M
AL
Wiley Nelson 19 M
Laborer GA ===============
1870 GA Polk County Post Office: Cedartown --- all from
Georgia p321 p
152online/188
Wiley B Nelson 28 farmer
Narcissa 25 keeping house
Susan M 9
James W 5
Alice A 4
Isaiah I- 1
Scarbrough, Mary E 22 domestic servant, (sister of Narcessa, dtr of
Sarah
Beck and Ivey Scarbrough)
" Jesse 12 farm laborer (Jesse Homer, son of Nancy
P Nelson and Ivey
Scarbrough)
" Jason J. 11 farm laborer (Jason Jerry Miah, son of Nancy P Nelson
and
Ivey Scarbrough)
===========
1880 Texas Wood County Census Found ED 127 precinct 4 pages 26-27
Wiley as 37 from GA VA GA
Narcessa was 35 GA GA GA.
Susan was 18 GA
James 15, GA
Alice 14, GA
Isaiah 12 GA
Resper 10, GA
Charley (had a disability, which is unreadable on census) 7
Thomas 3 TX
Walter 2 months TX
==============
1900 Texas Wood County pct 4 p. 20 of 47 online ED 145 p. 10B
Wiley B Nelson Aug 1841 58 GA GA GA
Narsis, wife May 45, 55 GA GA GA
Andrew, son Sept 1882 17 TX GA GA
Ellen, dtr May 1886 14 TX GA GA
================
1910 Upshur County Census, ED 97 listed the following present:
Wiley, age 65 GA SC SC
Nassie N. Nelson, 64 GA NC NC
Alice Hester, dtr, 42, GA
Kate Hester, grdtr, 17
Vallie, grdtr, 14
Ezekiel, grdson, 12
Artis Tillery, grdson, 2
====================
Marriage
information: Nelson, Wiley and Scarbrough, Narcissa Oct 14, 1860
James
C. Coleman, JP (Coleman worked with Methodist and Baptist churches
in the
area. He "kept a tavern at the Mill House" where travellers liked
to
stay. (p.91) He also gave land to the Methodist Episcopal
Church to
build after the old church located in Ft.Benning required them to
move....p.92. N K Rogers: A History of Chattahoochee County.)
===============
After
Wiley married Narcessa, he went to Covington County, Alabama. He may
have
been a part of the 100 families who decided to move from the Cusetta
area
to Covington, Alabama looking for cheap land. In 1854 the
land prices
in Covington dropped. The good tracts had already been
acquired and
what was left, though not the best, was available at good prices.
This
account of land purchasing can be found in "Early History of
Covington
County, Alabama" by Wiley Donald Ward at the Mobile Genealogy Library.
Wiley had to have been in Covington County by 1862 based on the
muster
roll. Co. I. 40th Alabama Infantry Regiment, formally,
was formed from
Capt. Gantt's Co., 4th Regiment. Ala. Volunteer Militia.
The company's
name was Covington County Farmers and the Muster Rolls, that
we were
able to find were 05/15/1862 (Gantt's Co.) and 10/31/1862 (Co. I).
The company was organized under the acquisition of the Major
General of
the 11th Division, Alabama Militia calling for one hundred troops from
the 60th Regiment (Covington County) Militia. The men were all
volunteers, and they originally enlisted at Randal's on April 2, 1862
in
the service of the State of Alabama for ninety days. Elections
were held
for company officers and the company selected as its name, Covington
County Farmers. By April 15, 1862, the company had moved
to Mobile and
were awaiting orders. On May 10, 1862, fifty-five of the 106
members re-
enlisted in Co. I, 40th Alabama Infantry Regiment for the duration
of the
war. The remaining 51 members, which included many of the influential
young men in the county, returned home. Many of these were later forced
into service, but some never served in the regular Confederate Army."
One of the 55 members who joined the 40th Alabama included Wiley
Nelson
, Pvt .
Co. I 4th Regiment Alabama (Senior) Reserves Muster roll, October
20,
1864 included men between 45 and 50 who were mobilized after the
Confederate Congress passed an act to increase the numbers needed to
fight the war. Wiley's name is listed on this muster roll in
Alabama
archives and many of the regular army lists. When the unit became
the
40th Alabama, his name is on the roster.
As for the role of the 40th Alabama, we checked the Alabama State
Archives, the National Park Service and the Regimental Histories for
the
Georgia gen/web site and summarized the following :
This regiment was organized in May 1862 at Mobile, and remained there
till December with men from the following Alabama counties: Choctaw,
Colbert, Covington, Mobile, Morgan, Pickens, and Sumter. It went
to
Vicksburg by way of Columbus, Mississippi.
At Vicksburg, it took part in the operations on Deer Creek. (Featherstone
was in command at the Steel'e bayou expedition). While in that
region,
it was brigaded with the 37th Alabama, and 42nd Alabama, and
2nd Texas
Cavalry, under Gen. S C. Moore. Four companies were placed in
Fort
Pemberton, and were from there transferred to Gen. Bragg's Army of
Tennessee March 16-22, 1863. It appears to have served in a detachment
as sharpshooters
The other companies of the 40th Alabama were part of the garrison of
Vicksburg, suffered severely, and were captured.
After being paroled,
it joined its command in Tennessee in time to take part in the battle
of
Chickamauga, September 19th and 20th, where it lost heavily.
On November
24th the 40th was at Look-out Mountain, but with few losses.
The regiment was united near Missionary Ridge on November 25th, and
took
part in that battle. General Alphaeus Baker became its brigadier,
and it
wintered at Dalton, where Gen. Baker took command of the brigade.
May 9th and 10th, 1864 the 40th was at Rocky Face. There was fighting
at
Resaca on May 14 and 15th and at New Hope Church on May 25th, and fought
well. In midsummer, 1864, the brigade was transferred to Mobile,
and ,
under General Maury, took part in the defense of Mobile for some months.
But Hood, needed the help of the 40th and in January, 1865, they were
sent back to the Army of Tennessee. And after skirmishing and fighting,
last of all, at Bentonville, March 18th, the regiment (after
severe
loss), consolidated with the 19th and 46th, and surrendered at Yadking
River Bridge in North Carolina on 26 April 1865.
The 40th Alabama Field and staff officers: Colonel. Augustus A. Coleman
(Sumter; resigned); John H. Higley (Mobile; captured, Vicksburg); Lt.
Colonels. John H. Higley (promoted); Thomas Stone (Pickens; died in
service); Ezekiel S. Gully (Sumter); Majors Thomas Stone (promoted);
Ezekiel S. Gully (promoted); Elbert D. Willett (Pickens).; and Adjutant
Clarence H. Ellerbee (KIA, Bentonville).
(Source:http://www.archives.state.al.us/reference/alamilor/mil_org.html
The Fortieth Alabama Infantry Regiment from Military Organizations
Raised in Alabama)- and sources from a Civil War Center at Tarleton
State
and notes from Confederate Military History by Lt Gen. Joseph
Wheeler.
Wilmington NC, 1987 and excerpts from The War of Rebellion)
Some things we know for sure and some we can only speculate about:
Prior to the siege at Vicksburg, Wiley's company I and companies
D and A
were ordered north of the siege to the Sunflower River area to stop
Sherman's advance. They did not return to Vicksburg, but
skirted around
to fight in another area. The mystery of all this is why
Wiley was in
the siege and his company was elsewhere. Was he sick, injured,
assigned
to scouting or in the quartermaster's unit? The quartermaster
supplied
the entire 40th and was in the siege. It is very likely
Wiley was
left behind because of illness or had been wounded . Many of the soldiers
were ill with measles, pneumonia, dysentery, or wounds. The less ill
took
care of those in more serious condition. He may have stayed behind
to
help the quartermaster. Those who fought at Vicksburg were
paroled
and/or involved in a prisoner exchange. The men gave up
their weapons
and walked away to a holding area. There are stories that the Union
soldiers cheered for them as they walked out of the trenches, honoring
them for their fierce fighting.
After the paroles were issued, Captain Pembroke , a Confederate officer,
ordered his officers to muster their soldiers including the
40th
Alabama at Demopolis. Thus they rejoined the war
effort. Those who
arrived late were not given full "salaries", because they had been
told
they when and where to report before they left Vicksburg. Some
men went
home. We don't know whether Wiley did. It would have been
a long
journey back to Alabama.
===========
The Parole List from National Park Service in Vicksburg
shows a NELSON B M PVT 40TH AL
INFANTRY CO. I
============
As a side note: We asked the NPS in Vicksburg to correct
their records
from BM Nelson to W B Nelson. We were assured that it was
probably an
error in transcription. There was a BW Nelson in Dallas
County, Texas
whose records were confused with our Wiley B's in the Texas State
Archives. The man from Dallas enlisted in Dallas and fought at
Vicksburg. His papers and pension records had been placed in
Wiley's
file by mistake. We located the census records for BWN in 1860
and also
found that he was in the Texas Cavalry. We notified
the pension office
in Austin about the records and those belonging to BW Nelson
were placed
in the correct file.
A paper from the War Department, The Adjutant General's Office from
Washington, Dated March 17, 1909 and addressed to The Comptroller,
State
of Texas, Austin, stated that the records of this office showed :
*that Wiley B. Nelson, private, Company I, 40th Alabama Infantry,
Confederate States Army, was enrolled May 14, 1862;
*that he was captured at Vicksburg, Mississippi, July 4, 1863,
*and that he was paroled at the same place July 9, 1863.
*No later record of him has been found.
*Mr. Nelson makes affidavit that he served until the close of the war
*and also a witness, J. M. Scarbrough (Jason Jerry Miah Scarbrough,
brother of Narcessa) swears he served
until the end of the war in 1865.
Wiley was given a parole along with many others.
The Union didn't want
to assume responsibility for all of their prisoners at that time-----
meals, clothes, etc. Grant decided that if he granted paroles,
that
most of the men would go home and stay there and not return to battle.
He misjudged apparently. (Source: www.vleddy@usa.net/
and
www.geocities.com/SoHo/9787.military) Also, on Wiley's
pension
application he states and has a witness, Narcessa's brother,
swear that
he was in the war until the end. That means he fought at
some of the
worst battles in the war. The 40th had a reputation for
fighting
aggressively. This was evident in 1865 when 120 soldiers of the
40th
had survived out of approximately 1000. One other comment
about the
parole process: General Grant had about 100,000 soldiers by the end
of
the siege, some men and their units reporting in each day. However
outnumbered by the union army they fought well and held out as
long as
they could. Speaking of the Confederates: "The parole lists
indicated
29,491 men in the Vicksburg lines, of whom 23,233 were privates. Of
these
3,084 were paroled in the hospital. The men were marched out after
being
provisioned, and it was at once apparent by their painful and tedious
progress that they could not have escaped from the siege. They
were
taken to Demopolis and there went into camp as paroled prisoners under
charge of their own provost marshals." Source: Confederate Military
History, Vol, 7 Chapter IX.
The Alabama Archives had a few original copies of pay vouchers and
some
original letters and muster rolls for most of the companies of the
40th
Alabama, but none for Company I. There was one Quartermaster's
list of
equipment. Two of the most engaging finds were the diaries of E.D.
Willett(History of Company B, Colonial Press) and J.H. Curry (The Alabama
Historical Quarterly, Vol.17,1955). Each gave a realistic
account of
the conditions at Vicksburg.
We don't know exactly when and where or how Wiley was injured.
He was
using crutches in a family photo when he was in Texas and his pension
application states that he was wounded and never really recovered from
the effects of the wound. Wiley made a powder horn and
carved his
initials into it along with some "x's". Family tradition
is that Wiley
made the marks during the time he was recuperating from his wounds.
According to Walter Nelson, the food Wiley had at Vicksburg was pea
soup
and bread and dirty water. He and others had difficulty getting water
because of leaving a trench in the direct line of fire. It was
interesting to hear the same information from the National Park Service
historian. There is an account in "History of Company
B, 40th Alabama"
by John Curry of a meal:" Four men cooked their rations together
in the
rear of the lines: 1/4 pound bacon, peas enough, one small corn cake,
a
few ounces of rice and sugar every fifth day. The men can barely
live
and are daily losing strength." Oh, I forgot, they also received
a plug
of tobacco every fourth day. When rations were reduced to 4 ounces,
that
was just enough to make one biscuit. A few times, especially
when the
regiment moved through South Carolina, the men were well fed.
As to the location ,during the siege at Vicksburg, of the companies
of
the 40th Alabama, it was near the redoubt, a fortress-like area,
on the
north side of the railroad approach from the east and Jackson,
Mississippi. There was evidence of infantry lines and several
artillery
batteries. We walked the area and paused to think about how close
the
battle lines were and how miserable the soldiers must have been.
The NPS
has placed an iron tablet labeled: "40th Alabama Infantry" on
Confederate Avenue, south of the Mississippi Memorial. On the
tablet is
written: "This unit was attached to Brig. Gen. John C. Moore's 2nd
Brigade of Maj. Gen. John H. Forney's Division, Lt. Gen. John C.
Pemberton's Army of Vicksburg and was commanded by Col. John H. Higley".