A young Rebekah Millwood was present and counted in the 1840 Union County, South Carolina Census. There were two young daughters and two young sons in the household.

Thirteen-year old James Millwood was in the Rebecca Millwood household of 1850 along with Narcissa and Pamela, and two younger children, Nancy and William.

The presence of James Millwood in the home of Rebecca Millwood is good circumstantial evidence that he was her son.

• Rebecca Millwood (40)
• Narcissa (19)
• Pamela (15)
• James (13)
• Nancy (5)
• William (3)

---

James Millwood married Melinda circa 1857. Their 1860 household included two daughters, Mary and Susan.

Rebecca Millwood was no longer in the home, and I find no record of her in 1860.

• James Millwood (28)
• Malinda (25)
• Mary (2)
• Susan (1)

---

The only evidence I have to determine that James Millwood married to Melinda was the son of Rebecca Millwood is based on census records.

An older, fifty-five year old Rebecca Millwood had returned by 1870 to the family home in north of the Pacolet River in Gowdysville, Union County.

James Millwood, wife Melinda, and three girls were in the home in 1870. Martha, aged eleven, was likely a daughter of James and Malinda Millwood.

I suspect that Eliza and Amanda, ages sixteen and fourteen respectively, were war orphans. They would be found ten years later in the 1880 census as adopted daughters of Marcus and Elizabeth Fowler.

• James Millwood (36)
• Melinda (38)
• Martha (11)
• Eliza (16)
• Amanda (14)
• Rebecca (55)

---

There were at least five men named James Millwood in Union County who were of age to serve in the Civil War.

There are Civil War military records for six men named James Millwood from South Carolina.

How do I know that I have the correct military records for the James Millwood married to Melinda? A simple clue from his obituary: he received a gunshot wound a short time before the surrender.

James Millwood –the son of Rebecca and the husband of Melinda — enlisted in the 18th South Carolina Infantry, Company B on July 1, 1862 in Columbia.

The Header Card for James Millwood is below on the left.

He was present in his Company until he was reported absent, away without leave on October 20, 1863 as per the record on the right.

---

March/April 1864: Absent; sick in hospital Charleston since March 5, 1864.

November/December 1864: Absent; sick in hospital Richmond, VA

January/February 1865: Absent; sick in Brigade since February 24, 1865

---

James Millwood was captured near the end of the war. Below are documents related to his status as a Prisoner of War:

---

It is a known fact more soldiers died from illness than on the battlefield during the Civil War. James Millwood had more than his share of illness during the war.

He was admitted into the Jackson Hospital December 17, 1864 until February 1, 1865 for dysentery; and again February 28 until March 22, 185 for fever.

---

James Millwood was sent to a Field Hospital on April 11, 1865 with a wound in his abdomen. He was transferred to the C.S. A. General Hospital in Farmville, Virginia two days later on April 13, 1865.

---

James Millwood had the misfortune to suffer a gunshot wound in his abdomen as the war ended. It is nothing short of a miracle that he survived and made it back home.

It was mentioned in the obituaries of both James and his wife Melinda that he “had been an invalid for several years.”

In spite of the serious injury, he lived almost thirty more years, far more years than the many who died on the battlefield or in Confederate field hospitals.

Melinda Millwood died September 3, 1894. She was buried at El Bethel Church Cemetery the next day.

James Millwood died a little over three months later, on December 26, 1894.

EL BETHEL CHURCH was established as early as 1803. The church is in present day Cherokee County, although it was part of Union County at its beginnings. It was located on the main road between Gowdeysville and Star Farm. Elder Jacob Crocker was the first church pastor leading into worship a congregation of twenty-one souls.

---