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The Confederate Soldiers: JAMES HERVEY FOWLER (1831-1864)

Four sons of Womack Fowler left hearth and home behind as they marched off to fight in the War Between the States. Their wives, perhaps, shed a tear as their young children waved good-bye, and all listened as the footsteps of their brave soldiers faded in the distance.

One by one, war claimed the lives of the sons of Womack.

One by one, the sons of Womack died for a cause dear to their hearts while dear hearts back home were broken and would forever bear the scars of a husband … a father … lost in battle.

James Hervey Fowler was born on October 19, 1832. He married Mary Cansada James (b. 1833) about 1858. She was the daughter of David James (b. 1804) and a granddaughter of Revolutionary War soldier Shaderick James (1744–1852).

Mary Casanda James was no stranger to the reality of war. Surely she had heard the stories of her grandfather’s mighty battles in the Revolutionary War.

She must have heard the whispers that a war would soon come where brother would fight brother on the battlefield, and bloodshed would turn the red soil a darker shade of red.

James Hervey Fowler and Mary Cansada James had two sons and one daughter:

  • John Fowler (1859–before 1870)
  • Harrison David Fowler (1860–1927)
  • Sarah Carter Fowler (1862–1940)
Harrison David Fowler 1861-1927 Son of James Hervey Fowler

James Hervey Fowler enlisted in the 18th Regiment South Carolina Infantry, Company B on May 27, 1862 in Charleston — previously a charming, genial southern city, but a year into the war, filled with uncertainty, chaos, and confusion.

Company B was comprised of Union District Volunteers under the command of Colonel James M. Gadberry. Military records for James Hervey Fowler are scarce. I discovered only nine slips of paper under the name of J.H. Fowler documenting his movements during the war.

We know little of the trials and tribulations that he endured when he entered into his regiment as a Private until his promotion to Corporal and his eventual death in battle.

Company Muster Rolls for September/October 1862, November/December 1862, and January/February 1863 : J.H. Fowler was “present” in his company.

The September/October 1863 Company Muster Roll informs that J.H. Fowler was sick and on furlough until August 15, 1863. A surgeon’s certificate had extended his furlough to November 30, 1863. As the regiment was stationed at the Charleston Harbor during that time, it is hopeful that he was well enough to travel the almost two hundred miles home to visit his family.

In November/December, J.H. Fowler was “present” in his company and on duty as a boat hand. His brother Felix Parham Fowler was also assigned the same job and it must have been of some comfort for the two brothers to have had this time together.

The March/April 1864 Company Muster Roll for J.H. Fowler placed him into a different position: he was absent from his company and on detached service guarding prisoners since April 26, 1864. I do not know the location of the prison, nor do I know if he was guarding Confederate deserters or Union Prisoners of War.

Missing military records notwithstanding, the 18th Regiment South Carolina Infantry was involved in many minor skirmishes and more than a few major battles. We know that our James Hervey Fowler fought alongside his fellow soldiers for the greater part of the Civil War.

Of special note, a few of the better known battles where James Hervey Fowler fought the enemy and lived to fight another day were these:

  • The Second Battle of Manassas (August 28-30, 1862) where Colonel Gadberry was killed
  • The Battle of South Mountain (September 14, 1862)
  • The Battle of Antietam (September 17, 1862)
  • The Siege of Petersburg which began in June 1864 and lasted until almost the end of the war.

After facing death so many times, it was almost inevitable that James Hervey Fowler would lose his life , and he did.

On July 30, 1864, at the the Battle of the Crater near Petersburg, Virginia, James Hervey Fowler was killed in action.

He did not die alone: three hundred and sixty-one Confederate soldiers were killed that day.

The Company Muster Roll for April 30 to August 31, 1864 reported “killed 30 July 1864 in action” for J.H. Fowler.

The Register of Officers and Soldiers of the Confederate Army who were killed in battle or who died of their wounds or disease confirmed the July 30, 1864 death of J.H. Fowler near Petersburg, Virginia. The document detailed the money owed to the deceased soldier.

The name of James Fowler was published in a newspaper detailing the “Roll of Heroes” who were wounded, missing, or killed at the Battle of The Crater on July 30, 1864. Ebenezer Fowler was also mentioned.

Womack Fowler died on August 2, 1849. He did not have to watch his beloved sons march off to war. His own death twelve years before the first shot was fired at Fort Sumter denied him the knowledge that his sons lay in hastily dug graves far from home.

Womack Fowler’s own death spared him the agony and sadness that settled deeply into the souls of the war widows of his sons — and the sons of his sons — a thick, blinding fog of pain and despair.

The aftermath of war brought tragic times, with no bloodshed, but instead, hunger and fear and hardships unimaginable just a few short years before. The widows of the sons of Womack traveled to the Freedman’s Bureau for food. They were turned away, hungry children in tow.

Mary Cansada James Fowler was more fortunate. She and her two youngest children lived in the 1870 and 1880 household with her parents, David and Sarah James. Even if times after the war were unbearable, she and her children had the help and protection of her own mother and father.

The son, John, was not found in any documentation after the 1860 census and it is unlikely that he survived childhood.

The daughter, Sarah , married twice and left sons to carry on the bloodline of James Hervey Fowler.

The son, Harrison David, married and left sons who left sons to carry on both the name and bloodline of James Hervey Fowler.

And life went on, and so it goes.

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The Confederate Soldiers: J.M. FOWLER (1829-after 1870)

J.M. Fowler enlisted in Captain W. H. Sims’ Company H, 15th Regiment South Carolina Volunteers on September 11, 1861 at Mount Tabor in Union County. He was mustered into military service on September 16, 1861 at Lightwood Knot Springs near Columbia.

Marion Fowler, son of Stephen Fowler, enlisted on the same day and place as J.M. Fowler: September 11, 1861 at Mount Tabor.

It is my belief that J. M. Fowler was also a son of Stephen Fowler. It is my belief that J.M. Fowler was James Morman Fowler, born in 1829 and who died after 1870.

With one exception , all entries for the military records for this man are under the name of J.M. Fowler. The exception is the Header Card which reads J. Marion Fowler.

My speculation of this consists of the knowledge that two Fowler men enlisted on the same day: Marion Fowler and J. M. Fowler.

I attribute “J. Marion Fowler” as a mix-up of the names Marion and Morman. Am I right? I do not know. I do know that there was no other man born in the appropriate time frame in Union County with the name J.M Fowler or J. Marion Fowler other than (James) Morman Fowler.

The Company Muster Rolls for September 1861-April 1862 reveal to us that J.M. Fowler was “present” in his regiment with no illness, capture, or furloughs.

The Company Muster Rolls for May-October 1862 are not in his folder, although there are records stating that he was admitted in Winder Hospital at Richmond, Virginia on September 29, 1862, and afterwards granted Furlough on October 9, 1862 for twenty days.

Named for General John Henry Winder (1800-1865), the Camp Winder Hospital in Richmond was easily the largest Confederate hospital with 98 buildings and eventually a 5000 patient capacity.

The hospital, like the man it was named after, had an unpleasant reputation. Filthy living conditions, starvation, and ill treatment of both Confederate hospital patients and Union Army prisoners alike made General Winder a controversial figure in his roles as provost marshal of Richmond and the general of Confederate prisons.

Hospital wards at Camp Winder

The Company Muster Roll for November/December 1862 reported “absent, sick” for J.M. Fowler. He had recovered by the first of the new year as he was “present” for the January/February 1863 Roll Call.

The March/April 1863 Muster Roll Call is missing. However, there are documents within his file that reveal his movements during this time.

J.M Fowler had been admitted into Wayside Hospital/General Hospital #9 at Richmond, Virginia prior to March 14, 1863, for that was the day he was transferred to Chimborazo Hospital #5 in Richmond.

Used previously as a tobacco warehouse, Wayside Hospital #9 (also known as Seabrook Hospital) was a transit hospital. Confederate soldiers were examined and given basic care for their immediate medical needs in these “wayside” hospitals, and then sent to hospitals better equipped to care for the sick or wounded men.

Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond was built specifically to treat the Confederate Army injured and sick. Between the beginning of the war in 1861 until the end in 1865, over 78,ooo soldiers came through its doors. Only six to eight thousand did not make it out alive, thus this hospital had one of the lowest mortality rates of of Civil War hospitals.

Chimborazo Hospital

A most serious illness kept J.M. Fowler off the battlefield. He was shuffled from hospital to hospital as a result of his diagnosis: secondary syphilis.

It is a fact that more soldiers died from disease than on Civil War battlefields. Illness was unavoidable: these men lived in close quarters in filthy conditions. There was scant medical knowledge of how diseases spread. There were no antibiotics at the time. Many so called “cures” were often worse than the disease.

Since I research the Fowler family, I must mention that Thomas Fowler (1736-1801) of Stafford, England was convinced that a solution containing 1% potassium arsenite a suitable treatment for several diseases, including sylphilis. Fowler’s Solution was frequently used until the early 1900s when it finally fell out of favor.

One of the more common treatments for syphilis was even more toxic: Mercury. Mercurous chloride likely hastened the deaths of many who suffered from syphilis. It surely made the afflicted wish for death as the effects were excruciating and the methods of administration often barbaric. I do not know who coined the phrase ‘One night with Venus, a lifetime with Mercury’ but it was a fitting expression.

The soldiers of both armies –North and South — died by the thousands of typhoid fever, smallpox, measles, tuberculosis, diarrhea, malaria, and infected battle wounds.

In order to avoid the dreaded smallpox, soldiers engaged in a dangerous practice: they would introduce pus into their own body from an infected soldier suffering from the pox. It was simply a matter of scraping a lesion from an infected man, making a cut on their own body, and wiping the infected material into the cut. This gave them immunization from smallpox.

Or not.

Smallpox and syphilis had similar looking lesions. It was not uncommon for a soldier to introduce syphilis into his body instead of smallpox. Sadly, many cases of syphilis were transmitted between soldiers in this way during the war.

J.M. Fowler stayed at Chimborazo Hospital for a month, and then he was sent to the Hospital at Huguenot Springs, Virginia.

Planned by the Woolridge brothers, the Huguenot Springs Hotel Resort and Spa in Powhatan County, Virginia opened in 1847 and offered the local well-to-do a place of rest and relaxation.

The property was converted to a Confederate hospital in 1862, and the men lucky enough to be sent there were fed nourishing food by the local women who also nursed them back to health. Not only were their physical needs met, ministers were on hand to give spiritual comfort to the soldiers.

There are 250 men buried in unmarked graves who did not survive their wounds or illness. They, at least, had comfort at the end of life, unlike the thousands who died in battle or at other hospitals with inferior conditions and poor care.

The Hospital at Huguenot Springs

The convalescent hospital at Huguenot Springs may have been the only place where J.M. Fowler received true comfort and care during his illness. It is unfortunate that his stay there was brief.

On May 5, 1863, he was sent back to the Chimborazo Hospital #5 with a downgraded diagnosis of primary syphilis.

A month later — on June 6, 1863 — J.M. Fowler was moved to Howard’s Grove Hospital in Richmond and placed into the section of the hospital where smallpox patients were treated.

Howard’s Grove had been an area of recreation before the war, but like so many places all over the south, the Confederate army took possession and turned it into a place of military operations. Its use as a hospital began June 1862; its sixty-two buildings eventually housed 1800 sick and injured men.

Howard’s Gap Hospital

.J.M. Fowler was granted furlough for thirty days on June 17, 1863. He was “absent, sick at home, left camp 30 April” for the May/June 1863 Roll Call, and “absent without leave, at home” for the July/August 1863 report. The reason for his furlough was given as dēbilitās, i.e. weakness or infirmity.


It is obvious to this writer that Private Fowler became ill during April 1863, entered into the hospital and was transferred back and forth until he was given permission to go home. He overstayed his furlough, but returned back to his regiment sometime in September 1863. He was “present” for the Muster Rolls from September 1863 until June 1864.

There is another gap in his military records. There are no Muster Roll Calls after July 1864 but there are other documents that prove he was in his company until the end of the war.

J.M. Fowler was admitted into the CSA General Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina on February 6, 1865 with a return to duty on March 13, 1865.

His diagnosis was typhoid fever. Considering the severity of symptoms of the disease, the lack of effective treatment, and his quick recovery time, I have to wonder if J.M. Fowler suffered from some other illness. Typhoid Fever was usually a death sentence.

There is little information on the Confederate hospitals in Charlotte. It is known that there were at least two hospitals operating at the close of the war: the transit Wayside Hospital No. 6, the main General Hospital No. 11.

In addition to the Muster Roll Calls and hospital records: two receipts for pay received are found in the military file of J.M.Fowler:

No doubt, the document that would have been the most important to J.M. Fowler is the one below, the undated Muster Roll of Officers and Men paroled at Greensboro, North Carolina on May 2, 1865.

The Civil War was finally over. The years of bloodshed on the battlefields had come to an end, but the heartache and hardships of the soldiers who returned home would continue for many, many years.

It must be assumed that J.M. Fowler made his way home and resumed his life back in Union County, South Carolina. Did he die from his illness or did he live a long life and die an old man in his bed?

If this man, J.M. Fowler, was one and the same as Morman Fowler, his death occurred after 1870, the last time his name appeared in a census record.

After 1870, I find no records for either J.M. Fowler or Morman Fowler. Of course, my search for proof of his life and his eventual death will continue. I know, deep in my heart, that I will find a document buried deep in the court house, and all will be revealed.

For more information on Morman Fowler, please click on this link:

MORMAN FOWLER (1829-after 1870), Son of Stephen Fowler

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MORMAN FOWLER (1829-after 1870), Son of Stephen Fowler

Morman Fowler is somewhat of a mystery to me. I have spent much time looking back through time so that I may discover more about his life.

Morman Fowler was born circa 1829, a son of Stephen Fowler (1800-1866) and his first wife Sarah.

Morman Fowler was a grandson of Ephraim Fowler (1765-1822) and a great grandson of Henry Ellis Fowler (1746-1808).

My time spent in the Union County Court House searching for evidence of Morman Fowler finally paid off when my eyes fell up the estate settlement of Stephen Fowler. If not for the discovery of this document, Morman Fowler‘s origins may have remained obscure.

Stephen Fowler died June 13, 1866. Because he left no Last Will and Testament, His widow Letticia petitioned the court to settle his estate.

The names of his children by his first wife Sarah, who was deceased, were listed: Morman Fowler, Henry Fowler, Shelton Fowler, Cansady Wright, Susan Palmer, and Briant Fowler.

His children with second wife Letticia were Louisa Fowler and Marion Fowler.

Transcribed: “at law, the following persons, viz your Petitioner his widow, Marion Fowler, Louisa Fowler, children of our Petitioner. Moorman Fowler, Henry Fowler, Shelton Fowler, Cansady Wright, Susan Palmer, and Briant Fowler, children of Sarah Fowler, deceased former wife of intestate, that the said children are all of age and reside in this District, that at the time of his death, the said……”

William Bevis — with his many ties to the Fowler family — was the administrator for Stephen Fowler’s estate. The sale of the material goods accumulated during the lifetime of Stephen Fowler was held on November 30, 1866.

Letticia Fowler was required by law to buy anything she wanted from her late husband’s estate, and she ended up with the lion’s share Son Marion Fowler bought items at the sale, but his older half brother, Morman Fowler, was the big spender that day — he bought two iron wedges for $1.10 and a mule for $99.95.

Morman Fowler was Head of Household in the 1850 Union County, SC Census. I have questions about the other members of the household. Was Lucinda Fowler his wife, sister, or a cousin?

1850 Union County SC Census

Another question. Was Nancy married to Columbus Garner a sister of Morman Fowler?

I have seen undocumented information that Nancy was Nancy Jane Fowler, the great great grandmother of Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. (1929-2006), also known as Buck Owens.

Buck Owens was born in Texas in 1929. He was a musician, singer, songwriter, and the co-host of the long ago popular television show Hee Haw which began airing in 1969. My family watched it religiously every week.

I remember an incident in the early 1970’s when my dad was driving us home from a weekend at the lake. We got off to a late start and that meant we were going to miss our favorite tv show with its cornball cast of characters.

My dad must have been driving a little too fast as a highway patrolman turned on his flashing lights and pulled us over. I will never forget what my dad said to the patrolman when he asked why he was speeding.

My dad replied honestly, “We are trying to get home so we can watch Hee Haw.” The patrolman laughed and let us continue our journey home without a ticket.

I met Buck Owens in Las Vegas in the 1990s. He came to see a show that I was lighting, and we had a nice conversation afterwards. I did not know at the time that he had possible Union County, South Carolina Fowler connections. Too bad; the conversation would have definitely taken a different turn.

The 1860 Union County Census: James M. Fowler (age 30) lived next door to Stephen Fowler (age 62).

I have no proof yet, but I believe that James M. Fowler was James MORMAN Fowler. The household included a wife, Jane, and two daughters: Eliza, Amanda, and an infant son James.

Jane Fowler and the three children disappeared from records after that census.

1860 Union County SC Census

Morman Fowler was of the right age to have served in the Civil War. Did he enlist in the Confederate army?

I have searched Civil War military records for Morman Fowler, Moorman Fowler, Moman Fowler. There is nothing.

There are, however, Civil War military records of thirty-five year old J.M Fowler who enlisted the same day — September 11, 1861 — as seventeen-year old Marion Fowler in Captain W.H. Sims’ Company 15th Regiment South Carolina Volunteers.

Both men, J.M. Fowler and Marion Fowler enlisted at Mount Tabor, just down the road from the farm of Stephen Fowler.

Were these the sons of Stephen Fowler … one older and one younger … enlisting together? It is known for certain that Marion Fowler was a son. Was J.M. Fowler also a son? Was he really Morman Fowler?

The military records for J.M. Fowler only mentioned a variation of the name once: J. Marion Fowler. A little confusing to be sure, but I feel it was a slight mistake, that it should have been J. Morman Fowler, the mix-up being caused the presence of younger brother Marion Fowler.

Both men, Marion Fowler and J.M. Fowler, survived the war .

Morman Fowler was Head of Household in the 1870 Union County Census. He was married to a woman named Angeline. There was a nine year old son, Thomas, in the household.

1870 Union County SC Census

Who was Angeline? I am still researching this woman. I have several theories but no proof.

My top four guesses as follows:

  • Angeline Fowler b. 1846, daughter of Daniel P. Fowler
  • Angeline Millwood b. 1846, daughter of Jefferson Millwood
  • Angeline McKinney b. 1843, daughter of Barney McKinney
  • Angeline Weir b. 1848, daughter of Joseph Weir

One thing that I am sure of is that the Thomas Fowler in the 1870 census was the son of Morman Fowler. This Thomas Fowler was laid to rest at Philippi Cemetery in Union County.

If you learn one thing from this post, know that the Thomas Fowler who lies at Philippi is NOT the son of Gassaway Fowler and Elmira Smith.

How do I know this?

THE DEATH CERTIFICATE FOR THOMAS FOWLER WHO DIED SEPTEMBER 17, 1937, AND WHO WAS BURIED AT PHILIPPI, CLEARLY STATES THAT HIS FATHER WAS MORMAN FOWLER.

Gassaway Fowler was the son of Thomas Gillman Fowler (1798-1880), son of Godfrey Fowler.

Although a Union County native by birth, Gassaway Fowler and his wife Elmira Smith lived much of their married life in Fairfield County, South Carolina. Both Gassaway and Elmira died in Fairfield County and it is there where they rest in peace.

Gassaway and Elmira Fowler had a son named Thomas Fowler, born circa 1858, but there is no shred of evidence that their son Thomas Fowler lived anywhere other than Fairfield County. There is no evidence that any of the Gassaway Fowler family ever lived near the Philippi Cemetery, nor were any of them ever buried there.

I have seen many family trees on-line that have Thomas Fowler of the Philippi Cemetery as the son of Gassaway Fowler. This is wrong. Please do your research and stop the spread of incorrect information! There are also no documents stating that Thomas Fowler of Philippi was named William Thomas Fowler. Research. Research. Research.

As Thomas Fowler is the only child of Morman Fowler who seems to have a documented line of descent, I shall follow this line down to present day.

If we are to take his headstone as the gospel truth, Thomas Fowler, son of Morman Fowler, was born October 12, 1854.

About the year 1889, Thomas Fowler married Sarah “Sallie” Moore, born in 1869, and the daughter of Leander Jackson Moore (1826–1915).

Thomas Fowler and Sarah Moore had four children. One of the children did not live past infancy. Perhaps the name was recorded in a family bible, but it is unknown to me. The three children who carried on the family name and their children are below:

  • Clyde Thomas Fowler (1896–1989) married Clara Austin (1902-1985)
    • Curtis Ross Fowler 1921–2004
    • Marie Fowler (1925–1994)
  • Jessie May Fowler (1897–1986) married Wallace Thomas Alexander (1897-1958)
    • Melvin Albert Alexander (1919–1981)
    • Francis Alexander (1922–2007)
    • Madeline Alexander (1925–1991)
    • Wallace Thomas Alexander (1931–2018)
    • Daughter Alexander
    • Son Alexander
  • Rosa Mae Fowler (1908–1985)

His name, Morman, was one of a kind in the Union County Fowler family, and my research continues. Where was his home place? When did he die? Where was he laid to rest? I feel there is more to be discovered deep in the dusty documents of the Court House, unseen for decades.

My research mission is to bring Morman Fowler into the minds and hearts of the ones who live today because he lived yesterday. May he rest in peace and never be forgotten.

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The Confederate Soldiers: MARION FOWLER (1847-before 1900)

Marion Fowler was the youngest son of Stephen Fowler (1798-1866), son of Ephraim Fowler (1765-1822), son of Henry Ellis Fowler (1746-1808). His mother was the second wife of Stephen –her name was Letticia and she may have been a Bentley by birth.

According to census records, Marion Fowler was born 1847. If true, then he was as young as 14 when he joined the Confederate Army.

A young Marion Fowler — his age was given as seventeen in 1861 — enlisted in Captain W. H. Sims’ Company H, 15th Regiment South Carolina Volunteers on September 11, 1861 at Mount Tabor in Union County. He was mustered into military service on September 16, 1861 at Lightwood Knot Springs near Columbia.

Marion Fowler’s first years of battle were uneventful : no illness or wounds sustained in battle were reported, nor capture by the Union army. He was “present” for company roll calls September 1861 -December 1863.

The fate of Marion Fowler was going to change in a big way. He was captured by the enemy on August 16, 1864 — on the third day of fighting — at The Second Battle of Deep Bottom, also known as The Battle of Fussell’s Mill, in Henrico County, Virginia, eleven miles southeast of Richmond.

The military records for his capture have a conflicting date of August 25, 1864. No matter, Marion Fowler was sent to Washington D.C., on August 29, transferred to Camp Delaware, sent to Camp Chase in Ohio, where he was paroled, and finally transferred to Point Lookout, Maryland on March 18, 1865.

Marion Fowler survived the war and returned to Union County. He married Frances Horn (1845-1928). Francis gave birth eleven times, but only one son and an abundance of daughters survived:

  • Hattie Fowler (1870–1923)
  • Annie L Fowler (1872–)
  • William F Fowler (1875–1934)
  • Lola Fowler (1882–1966)
  • Addie Fowler (1885–)
  • Lela Fowler (1887–)

After the Civil War ended, Marion Fowler, as did most of the white men in Union County and the greater part of the American South — became involved in the Klu Klux Klan. Many of the Klansmen from Union County left for Texas and parts unknown to escape arrest when men of law began rounding up these lawless men …. the ones who rode their horses in the darkness of midnight to terrorize and kill the newly freed blacks and anyone who sympathized with them.

Marion Fowler was arrested and tried in Columbia, South Carolina for his activities in the KKK. His age was given as nineteen when he pled guilty on December 20, 1872 and was ordered to pay a one hundred dollar fine. He was also sentenced to serve four years in the penitentiary in Albany, New York.

Marion Fowler, his cousin John Whitlock, and eight other men from Union, Yoik, and Spartanburg Counties convicted of Klan activities were loaded onto a steamship in Charleston — the James Aldger — and sent to New York City. They arrived on January 18, 1873 at the Warren Street Mooring on the Hudson River.

The prisoners were transferred to the Seneca, a Harbor Police Boat which took them to 42nd Street on the East River. They were taken to the Grand Central Depot train station — built by railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1871 — and were then transported by train to the penitentiary in Albany, New York.

Grand Central Depot

Marion Fowler was a home-grown county-boy from the Pea Ridge section of Union County. True, he had seen several years of battle and had spent time as a Prisoner of War during military service for the Confederate Army, but his future as a convict must have shaken him to his core.

I can imagine the fear in his heart when his eyes fell upon the imposing structure that was to become his home for the next four years.

The Penitentiary at Albany, New York

It was reported in January 1874 that Marion Fowler was pardoned for his crime of conspiracy against citizens of African descent to their right of suffrage.

It must be presumed that Marion Fowler soon afterwards returned to his home and family in South Carolina. He died before 1900. His wife Frances, who outlived him by many years, and at least two of his adult children were buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Spartanburg. I do not know where Marion Fowler was laid to rest.

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The Life and Death of a Confederate Soldier: George Gresham (1818-1862)

March 8, 1862. George Gresham of Wilkes County, Georgia put pen to paper and signed his name to his Last Will and Testament. Four days later, he enlisted in the Confederate Georgia Infantry. Eight months later, he was dead.

Who was this southern man, turned soldier from the south, buried far from home and hearth?

Born in 1818 in Georgia, son of Kauffman Watts Gresham and Temperence Ivey, husband of Nancy Sanders Quinn, father of six sons bookended by two daughters:

  • Lucy Ann Gresham (1847–1907)
  • Edward Euselius Gresham (1849–1929)
  • Benjamin Watson Gresham (1851–1940)
  • Rufus Quinn Gresham (1855–1942)
  • George A. Gresham (1857–1910)
  • John Kauffman Gresham (1858–1907)
  • William West Gresham (1860–1941)
  • Ada Temperence Gresham (1861–1862)

It is fortunate for all researchers of George Gresham that there is an abundance of military records to peruse. It is perhaps unfortunate that the documents — concise and straight-forward at the beginning — evolve into speculation and hearsay; thus, the fate of Private Gresham is hinted at but not entirely clear.

George Gresham traveled to Beaulieu, Georgia and enlisted under Captain Colley in the 61st Regiment Georgia Infantry Company G on March 12, 1862.

Dating back to a land grant of 1737, the Beaulieu Plantation was located on the Vernon River 12 miles south of Savannah. John Schiley and his family, owners of the home and its lands since 1854, were forced to leave and turn over the property to the Confederate government when the Civil War began.

The Beaulieu Plantation became the Beaulieu Battery under the command of Robert E. Lee, and it was here where George Gresham entered into military service in 1862.

The documents below attest to the enlistment date of Private George Grisham, the location and officer of enlistment, the Regiment and Company. The period of enlistment — “the war” — was both an ambiguous and ambitious commitment.

The Company Muster Rolls below confirm that Private Gresham was “present” from March 12 until October 31, 1862.

George Gresham’s health declined over the next months. He was reported to be “absent, sick” for the Nov/Dec 1862, Jan/Feb 1863, and Mar/Apr 1863 Company Muster Rolls.

Still missing from his regiment in the spring of 1863, half-hearted explanations began creeping into the Muster Roll Calls:

“absent, sick; was left at Winchester November 1862, has not been heard from since”

and

“absent, wounded, supposed to be dead“

Rumors of his death notwithstanding, George Gresham was reported as “absent, sick” in the Company Muster Rolls of Sept/Oct 1863 and Nov/Dec 1863.

That would change in the new year. The Jan/Feb 1864 Company Muster Roll stated “was sent to hospital near Winchester Va in Nov 1862, has not been heard from since. His family heard he died sometime in 1862. His estate has been administered upon.“

The family of George Gresham back home in Georgia heard of his death, and accepted it as truth. It took the Confederate army fourteen months to finally acknowledge the possibility that the soldier they left behind in Winchester was no longer among the living.

Bushrod Taylor built a hotel on the main street in Winchester, Virginia in the mid 1840s. The hotel was used as a military base for General Stonewall Jackson early in the war. It was later used as a military hospital for both Confederate and Union soldiers.

Was this the hospital that housed George Gresham during his illness?

The name of George Gresham was on an undated List of Deaths in the Confederate Hospital at Winchester, Virginia.

Cause of death: Febris Typhoides (Typhoid Fever).

Date of death: December 5, 1862.

On August 10, 1863, widow Nancy S. Gresham filed a claim for settlement with the Office of the Confederate States Auditor for the War Department.

An undated Bounty Pay and Receipt Roll for Private George Gresham verified that $50 bounty pay was due to him or his estate.

Document showing receipt of Nancy Gresham’s claim for the death of her husband George Gresham.

George Gresham had the foresight to realize the possibility of his death in battle, and the Last Will and Testament that he left behind was presented by his widow Nancy to the Court of Wilkes County, Georgia.

State of Georgia, Wilkes County: Document admitting the Last Will and Testament of George Gresham into record on April 6, 1863.

Nancy Gresham was granted Executorship by the court over her late husband’s estate on July 18, 1863.

Documents related to the military service, death, and estate settlement of Private George Gresham:

Below is a document dated April 1864 stating that the death of George Gresham was not reported.

George Gresham did not return home from the war. Reading between the lines of the military records, it must be presumed that he died in the hospital at Winchester, Virginia.

If the above is true, then the next question has to be “where is his grave?“

Although it is my belief that George Gresham died in Winchester, Virginia, I have not found any documentation of his burial.

In searching for the final resting place of George Gresham, I stumbled upon an entry on Find a Grave for his memorial in the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery in Lexington, Virginia. There are 144 Confederate soldiers buried in this cemetery which was originally called the Presbyterian Cemetery and is also referred to as Oak Grove Cemetery.

George Gresham died in Winchester, Virginia —127 MILES AWAY from Lexington, Virginia.

I find it extremely unlikely that the body of George Gresham was carried over a hundred miles away — during a civil war awash in bloodshed — with a confederate graveyard at hand.

Instead, it is my belief that someone confused the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery in Lexington, Virginia with the Stonewall Confederate Cemetery in Winchester, Virginia.

There are over 3000 Confederate soldiers buried at the Stonewall Confederate Cemetery (a subsection of the Mount Hebron Cemetery) in Winchester. Some died on battlefields near Winchester; others — like George Gresham — died in hospitals in Winchester.

The Stonewall Confederate graveyard is the finest I have ever seen.

Each State has its own unique and beautiful monument standing guard over the men who lie beneath … each monument standing upright and at attention in respect for the men who fought and died for their country and her cause.

The monument for the State of Georgia was put into place in 1884. Each side is engraved with words to honor the men who died fighting for their country, the men who sleep deeply beneath in the most Holy Ground.

More than 800 Confederate soldiers who lie in the Stonewall Confederate Cemetery in Winchester are unidentified. Was George Gresham one of many men laid to rest with no name on a headstone?

There are two headstones in the State of Georgia section of the Stonewall Confederate Cemetery with the name “Gresham” engraved deeply into the rock. Do the bones of George Gresham lie beneath one of these markers?

I cannot answer that with one hundred percent certainty, but I believe George Gresham and one of his kinsmen lie near each other in this graveyard. I believe the final resting place of a brave soldier has been, finally, found.

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In The Jail House Now: My Outlaw FOWLER Family

I always look for the best in my Fowler family ancestors. I am always a little shocked when I find a skeleton in the closet. But everyone has a black sheep in their past regardless if they know it or not.

I have discovered a new research source: South Carolina, U.S., Sheriff Department Records.

A thief, a murderer, disorderly conduct and enough drunkenness to rival Otis of Mayberry, I found out more than I bargained for. But no one is perfect….. right?

ELIAS FOWLER

Elias T. Fowler (1836–1908) was the son of Permilly “Milly” Mitchell (1811-after 1880) and Lemuel Holter Fowler (1808–1865), son of John Fowler The Hatter (d. 1833).

  • Arrested Nov 27, 1889: Grand Larceny
  • Arrested Mar 3, 1890: Stealing
  • Arrested Nov 3, 1890: Drunkenness

Click on the link for more information about Elias Fowler:

The Confederate Soldiers: ELIAS FOWLER (1836-1908)

FRANK FOWLER

  • Arrested Sept 18, 1900: Disorderly

There were several Frank or Franklin Fowlers in Union County who could have been the man arrested for being disorderly in 1900. After more research, I will revise this post to reflect newly discovered information.

GEORGE W. FOWLER

  • Arrested Aug 28, 1886: Accessory to murder
  • Arrested Oct 17, 1886: Murder; acquitted
  • Arrested June 26, 1890: Disorderly Drunkenness
  • Arrested Nov 30. 1894: Disorderly Drunkenness
  • Arrested Mar 2, 1896: Drunkenness
  • Arrested Nov 17, 1896: Drunkenness
  • Arrested Feb 18, 1897: Disorderly Drunkenness

George W. Fowler (1847-1913) was the son of William Goode Fowler (1825–1899) and Salena Bevis (1824–1897).

Many years of research have been invested in this Fowler family. Please click on the link to find out more:

WILLIAM G. FOWLER (1825-1899) married to Salena Bevis

GILBERT FOWLER

  • Arrested Dec 3, 1900 Disorderly

Gillman Fowler (1863-1930), son of William Fowler and Charity Fowler was often referred to as Gilbert Fowler.

William Fowler (1810-after 1870) was likely the son of Jasper Fowler (1785-before 1849), son of Ephraim Fowler (1765-1822), son of Henry Ellis Fowler (1846-1808).

Charity Fowler (1822– after 1880) was the daughter of John Fowler (1787-before 1840), son of Ephraim Fowler, (1765-1822) son of Henry Ellis Fowler (1746-1808).

JAMES FOWLER

  • Arrested Oct 14, 1892: Aggravated assault
  • Arrested Mar 6, 1893: Aggravated assault

There were several James Fowlers in Union County who could have been the man arrested for aggravated assault in 1892 and 1893. After more research, I will revise this post to reflect newly discovered information.

SMITH FOWLER

Robert Smith Fowler (1881–1935), son of Ellis Jackson Fowler (1854–1893) and Ellen Woolbright (1859–1935); married Ida Inez Garner (1884–1938).

  • Arrested Nov 27, 1900: Shooting (?)

For more information on the family of Robert Smith Fowler, click on the link below:

Finding E.J. “JACK” FOWLER (1856-1893) ELLIS JACKSON FOWLER

WASHINGTON FOWLER

  • Arrested Jan 15, 1889: Assault with intent to kill
  • Charged Jan 17, 1889: Rape

Washington Fowler was born circa 1810, son of John Fowler (1787–before 1840), son of Ephraim Fowler (1765-1822), son of Henry Ellis Fowler (1746-1808).

For more information about Washington Fowler, please click on the link below:

WASHINGTON FOWLER (1818-after 1860) Son of John, Son of Ephraim

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The Confederate Soldiers: WYMAC FOWLER (1836-1862)

Wymac Matthew Fowler was born September 27, 1836, south of the Pacolet River in Union County, South Carolina. He was the youngest son — the fourteenth child — born to Susannah and Womack Fowler (1785-1849).

Wymac Matthew Fowler, grandson of Henry Ellis Fowler (1746-1808), married Jane (b. 1839) and had two children: James Madison Fowler (b. 1858) and Lula Fowler (1861–1877).

He enlisted in Company F of the 15th Regiment under C.W. Boyd’s South Carolina Volunteers on August 29, 1861, and was mustered into service on September 7 at Lightwood Knott Springs near Columbia. Many soldiers began their military life at these muster grounds before being sent to fight in Virginia or elsewhere, facing the possibility of death on every battlefield.

The soldiers of Company F 15th Regiment were sent to protect the coast of South Carolina from attacks by the Union army. They came face-to-face with the realities of war during the Battle of Port Royal Sound on Hilton Head Island on November 7, 1861. They remained on the Carolina coast until July 1862 when they were sent to Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.

Wymac Fowler never made it to Virginia. Only twenty-five years old and just starting his life, he died of Typhoid Fever at Camp Elliott in Beaufort County, SC on May 18, 1862.

His widow Jane filed a claim with the Confederacy for money owed to her husband after his death.

Jane’s claim was approved in January 1864. She was to received $56.60: $6.60 due Wymac Fowler for his service from the last day he was paid until his death (May 1-18); and $50 for bounty money.

As she was a woman in an era when women had no rights, Jane was to receive her money by way of F. W. Eison on August 11, 1964, more than two years after the death of her husband and the father of her two children.

For more information on the short life of Wymac Fowler and the story of his widow Jane after the war, please click on the following link:

WYMAC MATTHEW FOWLER (1836–1862) Son of Womack Fowler

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The Confederate Soldiers: LEONARD FOWLER (1831-1903)

Leonard Fowler was born in 1831 in Union County, South Carolina, a son of William G. Fowler of the Israel Fowler family line with earliest known origins from Wight Island, Virginia.

Although a few stayed in Union County, many of the Israel Fowler family line moved into nearby counties, and by 1850, the William G. Fowler family were found in York County, South Carolina. Less than a decade later, Rutherford County, North Carolina became the home place for William G. Fowler, and sons Leonard Fowler and Daniel Wallace Fowler.

In 1856, Leonard Fowler married Jane Louise Henson (1837–1895) in Rutherford. County, North Carolina.

Their children:

  • Benjamin Franklin Fowler 1859–1933
  • Charles Wallace Fowler 1861–1900
  • Deidamia J. Fowler 1863–1949
  • Humphrey Miller Fowler 1866–1937
  • William Oscar Fowler 1869–1938
  • Edward Govan Fowler 1875–1934
  • Mary Fowler 1878–

Although he took an Oath of Allegiance to the state of North Carolina in 1861, Leonard Fowler was a son of Union County, South Carolina; hence, his inclusion in this series of Union County Confederate soldiers.

Along with his elderly father William G. Fowler, and his younger brother Daniel Wallace Fowler, thirty-year old Leonard Fowler enlisted in the 34th Regiment North Carolina Infantry, Company I on October 6, 1861 in Rutherford County. He was mustered into service at Camp Fisher on October 25.

Alive, well, and present at all recorded regiment roll calls until the spring of 1864, Leonard Fowler was reported “absent, sick” in the May/June, July/August, and September/October 1864 reports.

There are missing regiment roll call reports during the years of 1862-1864 that would have shed more light on the military life of Leonard Fowler had those reports been found…….

His name was for being “wounded at 2nd Manassas and Gettysburg” was on Roll of Honor. The Battle of Second Manassas was fought August 28-30, 1862, and the battle at Gettysburg was waged July 1-3, 1863.

On August 16, 1864, Leonard Fowler was sent from the General Hospital at Fort Winder in Richmond, Virginia — where he had been admitted on June 14, 1864 — to Cherryville, NC.

On February 22, 1865, Sergeant Leonard Fowler was issued a Certificate of Disability effectively retiring him from military service. He had suffered a gun shot wound to his right leg, and amputation of the limb was required.

In spite of a medical board of no less than three surgeons declaring that Leonard Fowler was completely and permanently disabled from his right leg amputation and unfit for military service, it appears that the Confederate Army was so desperate for living, breathing soldiers –no matter if maimed, crippled, or missing limbs.

There was back-and-forth correspondence: the Confederate army declaring that one-legged Leonard Fowler would be able to serve his country in some form or another; Leonard responding in kind that an Act of Congress allowed him to go home and live out the rest of his days … knowing that he had given his country more than a few years of his life and his right leg.

The Confederacy asking for more service…….

….. and the reply from Leonard Fowler:

I do not know if Leonard Fowler served past his retirement from the Confederate army. I can find no records that he remained. He was paid $211.13 on February, 25, 1865. It is certain that he more than deserved an honorable discharge.

It is known that he finally returned home to Rutherford County from the war and lived the rest of his life surrounded by his family.

His beloved wife Jane died in 1895. Leonard Fowler lived his remaining years in the home with his youngest sons, William and Edward.

Leonard Fowler died in 1903. He was laid to rest in his family graveyard, finally rejoining his dear Jane in eternal sleep.

Who was Leonard Fowler, really? Standing at 5 foot 11 inches, a tall, dark haired farmer, a son of William, a husband of Jane, a father to sons and daughters, a soldier, a leader of men.

Captain W.T. R. Bell, orator of the Confederate Memorial Day in Wilmington, NC in May of 1899 summed up the life of Leonard Fowler far better than I could ever aspire to do.

The following is an except from the speech that Captain Bell gave on that glorious day of remembering and honoring the Southern men who served, who were wounded, and who died on battlefields across our great land. It was printed in The Wilmington Messenger on May 11, 1899.

In the words of Captain Bell:

“Pardon me for one more illustration taken from my own county of Rutherford. When one week after that call a band of young men in my own town had asked me to come down and organize and lead them to the front, the first man who met me at the recruiting office was a one legged confederate soldier, Leonard Fowler of Jenkins’ company (I) Thirty-fourth North Carolina regiment. In addition to the loss of his leg, Leonard Fowler bore on his person four other wounds received in battle. With an eye full of patriotic spirit, though moistened by the tear which tells, often, of the daring soul, he said: ‘Captain Bell, I have come to bring you my two sons, and my only regret is that I am too old and crippled to go with you and them.’“

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The Confederate Soldiers: WILLIAM E. FOWLER (1827-1862)

Born in 1827 in Union County, South Carolina, William E. Fowler was the son of William G. Fowler (1805-1886), grandson of Israel Fowler II, and great grandson of Israel Fowler from the Isle of Wight, Virginia.

It is probable that William E. Fowler married a woman named Elizabeth before 1850. My speculation is that Elizabeth the first wife died (in child birth?) and by 1855, William E. Fowler had married Susan Wright (1833-after 1870).

Two sons were born of this union:

  • William Wright Fowler (b. 1856)
  • Adolphus Fowler (b. 1860)

William E. Fowler was thirty-eight years old –according to military records– when he traveled to the Union Court House and joined Captain C.W. Boyd’s Company F of the 15th South Carolina Infantry on August 29, 1861.

As did many young men of the south, William E. Fowler left his family behind and marched off to war. He was mustered into service at Lightwood Knott Springs near Columbia on September 7, 1861.

On September 14, 1862, the Battle of South Mountain took place in Maryland. Three mountain passes – Crampton’s Gap, Turner’s Gap, and Fox’s Gap – became the battlegrounds. Confederate forces, outnumbered by the Union Army of the Potomac, suffered a devastating defeat.

General Robert E. Lee was forced to withdraw his southern troops after darkness fell, but not before over 300 of his men were killed, 1500 wounded, and 800 missing.

William E. Fowler was one of the missing.

The November/December 1862 Muster Roll for his regiment reported that William E. Fowler was “Missing in Maryland near Hagerstown since September 14, 1862. Nothing heard from him since.”

Having control of the battlefields, the burial details of the Union Army began the gruesome task of burying their dead on September 15.

The dead Confederate soldiers lay scattered and in piles, on stone walls and on the cold, bloody ground.

They were finally buried in mass graves, in shallow trenches, unidentified and uncared for in death. At least 58 of the Confederate dead were thrown down the well of Daniel Wise.

It took until September 18 for all of the dead to buried.

Although the bodies of some Union soldiers were retrieved and reburied later by their families –for the most part — the deceased soldiers from both north and south remained buried near where they fell. The Union Soldiers were exhumed and reinterred in 1867 into the Antietam National Cemetery. The Confederate dead were reburied at Rose Hill Cemetery in Hagerstown in 1874.

It is doubtful that the body of William E. Fowler was ever found. It is likely that he lies in the cemetery in Hagerstown, Maryland next to the unidentified soldiers that he fought beside.

On May 27, 1864, Susan Fowler, widow of William E. Fowler, filed a claim for a settlement with the War Department for her deceased soldier husband.

I have to wonder when she found out that her husband was not coming home to her and her two young boys.

Susan Wright Fowler disappeared from records after the 1870 census.

Her son William Wright Fowler (1856-1900) married Martha Jane Johnson (1856-1934); their children:

  • Magnolia Maggie Fowler (1884–1974)
  • Corrie Melissa Fowler (1887–1972)
  • Charles Manuel Fowler (1887–1973)
  • William Wright Fowler (1889–1930)

For more information on this family:

https://henry-ellis-fowler.com/2022/04/16/wright-fowler-1856-before-1900-martha-jane-johnson-1856-1934/

For more information on the Burial of the Dead, I found this wonderful history:

https://www.historynet.com/confederate-bodies-daniel-wise-well/