Today’s posting is in memory of my 1st Cousin – Juan Brantley. Juan was the only son of my Mother’s only sister, Mary Ellen Brantley. He knew the people of Chesterfield and he knew the history of the county. His sudden death in 2005 was a great loss to his family and relatives.
During this past week FamilySearch posted a new on-line database entitled “South Carolina, Confederate Home Records, 1909-1958” 1
This database contains records of individuals who applied for admittance to the “Confederate Soldiers Infirmary”. In order to be accepted at the home you had to be at least 70 years old and almost destitute. The Home was located on Confederate Avenue, Columbia, South Carolina.
At age 37, William Pinkney Brantley enlisted with Company "A" 12th Battalion South Carolina Cavalry. [http://www.fold3.com/image/20/66892791/]. In June 1863, William was selected for detached duty as Battalion Headquarters ambulance driver (Special Order #197, date 25 June 1863). Then on 31 December 1963, General Walker issued Special Order #230 extended his detached duty as battalion Ambulance driver. [http://www.fold3.com/image/20/67673575/] 2 3
There are many that are unfamiliar with the injustices placed on Chesterfield County and it’s people during the first week of March 1865. The Civil War, once thought to be over with in months, had now entered into it’s 5th years with the end nowhere in sight.
General Kirkpatrick having no idea that the war was less then 6 weeks from it’s end, gave orders to round up all the young men, of fighting age, in the County and make them prisoners of war. Many were rounded up, forced marched to New Bern, NC where they were placed on troop trains to the Union POW Camp at Point Lookout, Maryland. Point Lookout was the Union’s equivalent to Andersonville. The Commandant of Andersonville was hung in Washington, DC while the Commandant at Point Lookout received no punishment for the same atrocities that existed at Point Lookout.
William P. Brantley’s application for admissions to the Confederate Soldiers Infirmary shows that he was captured as the union forces of General Sherman entered Chesterfield County, South Carolina. 4
William P. Brantley submitted his request for entry into the “Confederate Soldiers Infirmary” on the 15th of May 1909. Within the application William stated that he was 85 years of age and that he was wounded in the knee in 1864. 5
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William Pinkney Brantley was enumerated in the Confederate Soldiers Infirmary in the 1910 Census, page 68, line 18. 6
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William Pinkney Brantley died on 8 April 1911, at the Confederate Soldiers Infirmary, and is buried in the Hopewell Baptist Church Cemetery. The following inscription can be found on his tombstone though it is in bad shape.
Honor and fame from conditions rise, act well your part, there all the honor lies.
William Pinkney Brantley is the 2nd Great Grandfather of Juan Brantley.
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[1] "South Carolina, Confederate Home Records, 1909-1958," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-36736-5691-32?cc=2126716&wc=39Z8-7MQ:1558788802,1558789101 : accessed 31 March 2015), 1909-1939 > A-J, James S. Adams-W.H. Joyner > image 212 of 1259; South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia.
[2] http://www.fold3.com/image/20/66892791/
[3] http://www.fold3.com/image/20/67673575/
[4] "South Carolina, Confederate Home Records, 1909-1958," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-36736-5691-32?cc=2126716&wc=39Z8-7MQ:1558788802,1558789101 : accessed 31 March 2015), 1909-1939 > A-J, James S. Adams-W.H. Joyner > image 212 of 1259; South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia.
[5] Ibid.
[6] 1910 U. S. Census, Richland County, South Carolina, population schedule, Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina, enumeration district (ED) 0075, Page: 18A/68 (stamped); Line 18;, Confederate Soldiers Infirmary, William P. Brantley; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : viewed 30 March 2015); citing National Archives Microfilm T624_1471.
[7]
Charlie, since we have been comparing family notes in hopes of finding a DNA connection, your title today caught my eye. I have Brantleys in my mother's line, as well. However, no William P. Brantley; mine is a William Rufus Brantley. However, even though mine lived--for the most part--farther south and west than yours, is there any possibility you have any LINGOs in your line? That is my Brantley connection.
ReplyDeleteJacqi,
ReplyDeleteNo Lingo's. I'm afraid this is going to be a long journey.