Our trip to Wake Forest was good. However, it rained all day Friday, so I got no sight seeing/cemetery crawling accomplished. On Saturday, we drove to Morganton for an author's festival, which went really well. Terrel Garren was there, author of Mountain Myth, along with Jerry Goodnight, co-author of The Tarheel Lincoln.
On Sunday afternoon, I had the chance to participate in a memorial service for Levi Franklin Jarrett, a member of Company B, 58th NorthCarolina Troops. The descendants of Jarrett placed a cenotaph next to the grave of his wife in the Lily Branch Cemetery in Mitchell County. Jarrett died in November 1863. His final resting place is unknown. He died of the measles, possibly in Atlanta, or Chattanooga, or maybe even in Newton, NC. There are good stories to back up each of those places.
There are seven other Confederates and one Federal soldier buried inthe Lily Branch cemetery.
Yesterday, I finished transcribing the Gettysburg section of the diary of Lt. Nathaniel Horton of Company B, 37th North Carolina Troops. I have edited the transcript, and made some remarks about Horton's service. Horton was wounded and captured on July 3, and was in prison until the end of March 1865.
Tonight, I'm off to App to continue my research into the 58th NCT.
I have several ancestors in the 58th. I can't wait to see what you dig up on their history.
ReplyDeleteMichael,
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to the book on the 58thNC. I am looking for ancestors from Mitchell and Yancey myself.
Ellis, Sparks, Silver(s), Penland, (W)Ray, Duncan, among others.
As I'm sure you know, this area was particularly divided.
And some hard feelings STILL exist.
And sometimes data is hard to come by. People just don't want to talk about it.
I am pretty sure I have ancestors in the 2nd and 3rd Nc Mounted Infantry (US) as well.
I do hope you mention those US units as a counterpoint in your book.
On an semi-related topic:
Do you ever swap info with Clint Johnson?
A damn fine historian and all around good guy, even if he does hail from Florida.
Sorry to have missed the meeting in Spruce Pine.
I look forward to seeing you in the future>
Reards,
Kevin Ellis,
26thNCT