St. Johns County Confederate Burial #2 William Dominique Ashton

William Dominique Ashton  Florida Conscripts


William Dominique Ashton was born some time around 1830 in Florida . The records are not completely clear but this gives a very good estimate that is in between the dates found. He was the son of John and Susan Ashton.


By 1860 William was married and he and his wife Mary had started a family. The 1860 census shows them having four children. Also in the home was William's younger brother, Samuel. William worked as a farmer and appears to have been a successful one. He owned $500 worth of real estate and had personal property worth $4,400. This personal property included four slaves; 3 males and a female. The war was not kind to the Ashton family and by 1870 his worth had dropped to a combined $800; less than 20% of his pre-war wealth. His family continued to grow however and the 1870 census showed he and Mary had nine children. The war could not have been far from the family mind when in 1867 they named a son Robert Lee Ashton. The year 1880 saw the family continue to grow and by this time there were at least 13 children though several had left home to start their own lives.


William was not to live much longer; passing away on June 8, 1887. William is buried in Sanksville Cemetery. The approximate GPS coordinates for his burial location are N 29.54.959 W 081.31.607 . His grave is marked with a Confederate headstone. It does not appear that his wife ever filed for a widows pension in the state of Florida so little is known about the family at this point.




William served a very short time as a Private in the Florida Conscripts. It appears he was a member of the Florida Conscripts and was mustered in to service on September 27, 1862. He was discharged for disability in December 1862. His military records show he was 5' 7" with blue eyes, light skin and sandy hair.

St. Johns County Confederate Burial #1 Noah Preslar

Noah Preslar 20th Battalion, Georgia Cavalry Co. A & F


Noah Preslar was born May 8, 1838 to parents Alvin and Esther Preslar of Union County, North Carolina. The 1850 census shows Alvin working as a farmer and having $150 worth of real estate. It does not appear that the Preslar family were slave-holders. Noah was the second oldest of six children in 1850. He had an older sister Theresa, a younger sister Rachael, and three younger brothers; Joseph, Hosea and Caswell.

By 1860 young Noah was living in Georgia Militia District 1211, Echols, Georgia working as a farm overseer. His wife Barbara was two years his senior and also in the home were daughter Esther and sons Hasletine and Levi. Big changes took place in Noah's life and by 1870 he was living in Orange County, FL with his second wife Emma working as a farm laborer. Emma was nine years his senior. Noah's first wife Barbara was living in Brooks County, GA with daughters Esther and Nora and sons Haseltine, Abraham and Hiram. Levi was working as a farm laborer in Echols County, GA before becoming a Valdosta, GA police officer.

Noah continued the life of a farmer living in Brevard County, FL as a widower in 1880. Noah had continued his itinerant ways and by 1900 was living in Precinct 4 of St. Johns County, FL along with third wife Martha and sons James and Ovie. Despite being over age 70 Noah was still working as a farmer in 1910 while living in St. John's County.

Noah passed away on April 18, 1911 and was buried in Sanksville Cemetery. Sanksville was founded some time after the Civil War to serve the Bakersville community. The cemetery, originally named Bakersville Cemetery, was used by both white and black residents and the name Sanksville comes from the Sanks family who are descended from Peter Sanks. Peter was originally a slave and after emancipation began buying land in the area.

Preslar had a mixed service record. He originally enlisted in Co. A, 20th Battalion Georgia Cavalry. He was enlisted by Captain S. B. Spencer at Thomasville, Georgia. The 20th also went by the names Millen's Partisan Rangers or the 1st Battalion Georgia Partisan Rangers. The unit served on the Georgia coast until spring 864 when it became part of P. M. B. Young's brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia. Here they would participate in the Wilderness Campaign, Cold Harbor and other battles. Preslar was not with the brigade long enough to see it disbanded and companies merged into other regiments.

By September 1863 Preslar had transferred to Co. A where he worked as an ambulance driver in early 1864. During the Battle of Haw's Shop (or Battle of Enon Church as it is sometimes known), in Hanover County, VA,  Preslar said he was shot in the right hip with the ball exiting his left leg. He was admitted to Wayside Hospital No. 9 on May 29th and was on a June muster roll at the 4th Division Jackson Hospital in Richmond in June, 1864. On June 23, 1864 he was granted a 30 day furlough but was listed a being a deserter on August 26, 1864.

Courtesy: Florida Memory Project

Preslar tells a different story in his 1907 Florida Confederate Pension application. He claims to have been taken prisoner at Darien, Georgia and was sent to a prison in Hilton Head, South Carolina where we was until the end of the war. On his application a physician vouches for his claim of a gun wound to the left thigh and he was ultimately awarded a yearly pension of $120. This amount was renewed in 1909. After Preslar's death in 1911 his wife Martha was denied the widow's pension by the state because she was not married to Noah prior to 1895 as required by law. By 1913 however Martha was awarded the same $120 per year that Noah was receiving. Martha died in 1925.


The coordinates for Noah's burial location are 29. 54.972N 081 .31621W. From I-95 use exit 318.

What to Do with Extra Research

While doing research for my book, St. Augustine and the Civil War, I came up with a good amount of information that didn't get included for whatever reason. I have been trying to figure out what to do with it and have decided to use some of it here.

One of the things my wife and I did was to document all known Confederate graves in St. John's County. Using a list from the Sons of Confederate Veterans we photographed all the known burials and recorded GPS coordinates. This information was not included in the book mostly due to space constraints. In addition, is that list something a book buyer is interested in spending money on. So the photos are now sitting on my hard drive and the coordinates sit in a folder. It's time to start doing something with them.

I am going to do some very basic research on these men and report the findings here. With few exceptions these men were privates. There are no high ranking officers (we're not going to include William Loring here). Chances are there is not going to be a large amount to be found about these men. It is also unlikely there will be photos of the men but we just never know. No matter what I can find they do deserve a level of recognition and I am going to try and do that.
If you have a Confederate relative buried in St. John's County please feel free to get in touch. I would love to see what information you have and if you are willing then share it with others.

Thanksgiving 1864 St. Augustine, FL

While researching my book on St. Augustine during the Civil War I came across this short Thanksgiving remembrance. Written by Captain Albert W. Peck 17th Connecticut Co. D I think it shows the difficulties often faced by soldiers and their ingenuity in solving problems.

I remember Thanksgiving Day we had no meat for dinner so I took my gun and went up the river a mile or so and killed six nice ducks and I brought them home and our cook had them picked and roasted for dinner and we had a grand dinner.*

 

Albert Peck was born on February 7, 1838 in Bridgeport, Connecticut to Jabez and Henriette Peck. According to the 1850 United States Census he had two sisters and a brother. By 1860 he was living as a boarder in the home of Anna Banks. He was employed as a clerk and had personal property worth $300.

Peck enrolled in the 17th Connecticut Company D. According to the NPS Soldiers and Sailors website Peck enlisted as a First Sergeant in 1862. The 17th took part in battles at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. They also took part in siege operations against Fort Wagner and Fort Sumter. They were later transferred to duty in Florida serving  the remainder of 1864 and part of 1865 in the Jacksonville and St. Augustine area. The regiment six officers and 122 enlisted men die to either wounds or disease during the war. Peck was mustered out of service on July 19, 1865 at Hilton Head, South Carolina as a 1st Lieutenant.



Headstone for Albert
and Louisa Peck located
in Newton Village
Cemetery.
Photo Courtesy TomKat
on Findagrave.com.

 By 1870 Albert Peck was working at a merchant in Newton, CT. He was married to a woman named Louisa Booth and had a three year old son named Robert. His personal estate totaled over $5,100. In 1880 Peck was working as a farmer, a job he would hold until after 1900. During this time he and Louisa had two more sons, Charles and Albert Jr, and a daughter, Grace. It can be assumed that the Peck family was doing well financially as both the 1880 and 1900 Census list them as having live in servants.

Louisa passed away on July 24, 1905. The widower Albert and his youngest son Albert Jr. became boarders living with the Hiltbrand family in Newton, CT. The Hiltbrand family operated a dairy farm. Albert Sr. passed away on April 7, 1918. He is buried in Newton Village Cemetery in Newton, CT.

*Source: Peck, Albert W. Civil War Reminiscences 1862-1865. State Library and Archives of Florida, Tallahassee, FL.

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SCV Grave Marker Dedication

Dedication Program

On Saturday, April 14, 2012 the Sons of Confederate Veterans St. Johns Rangers Camp 1360 and the United Daughters of the Confederacy Stonewall Jackson Chapter 1981 presented a headstone dedication and Confederate Memorial Day Service.

What started out as an overcast day cleared nicely as approximately 75 people attended a service at Oakdale Cemetery in DeLand, FL. Being honored was Private John Anderson Bradley, Jr. 2nd South Carolina Cavalry Co. A.

Private Bradley was born on October 29, 1842 in Chester Co. South Carolina. He came from good stock his grandfather having been a general in the War of 1812 and also Lt. Governor of South Carolina. His father was an elected sheriff and also served as state representative.

John attended the Citadel before he enlisted in the Confederate army at Richmond, VA in June 1861 serving in Co. A 2nd South Carolina Cavalry. He served until the unit was disbanded in April 1865. His service record shows him having been admitted to Jackson Hospital in Richmond during March 1864 having pneumonia. He returned to duty before months end. In August of 1864 he was granted a 20 day furlough and was reported absent. Despite several letters in his service file requesting a promotion Bradley ended the war as a private.

During the war the 2nd South Carolina cavalry fought at Second Manassas, South Mountain, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Brandy Station, Second Winchester, Gettyburg, Bristoe, Mine Run, the Wilderness, Cold Harbor and other locations.

After the war John studied law and moved to Florida in search of better career prospects. After having lived in Enterprise the family settled in DeLand in 1888 where John served as a justice of the peace and also deputy clerk of the court. He and his wife Mary Lucinda Davis were the parents of eight children with four of them attending the local Stetson University.

In 1905 the state of Florida awarded Bradley a pension of $120 per year for his service to the Confederate army. His pension application contains reference to a hip injury that prevented him from working (that and the fact that he was 63 years old). The doctor put forth that this injury was the result of exposure during his time in the service. Also included in his pension application are transcripts of letters from General Wade Hampton: "...It gives me pleasure to state that he was a true and gallant soldier." Also included are transcripts from General M.C. Butler: "...was a faithful and gallant soldier in the Confederate states army...was a worthy comrade of the men in this splendid Brigade." Bradley's wife continued to receive his pension after his death in December 1910.

The new headstone that was dedicated on
April 14, 2012.

Several SCV leaders and speakers from the event
including Commander of Camp 1360 Byron Peavy,
Robert Meeks, and 3rd Lt Commander Don Young.

Descendants of Private Bradley including granddaughter
Sharon Malloy and great great granddaughter
Marissa Stanley on their way to place flowers on their
ancestor's grave.

Civil War veteran to be laid to rest decades after death - KPTV - FOX 12

I have not done any further research on Peter Knapp other than to see that there are 14 listings on the Soldiers & Sailors database. If you see anything further or do any research on Mr. Knapp please feel free to add it to the comments section.


Civil War veteran to be laid to rest decades after death

By Laura Rillos

PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) -

A Civil War veteran will be laid to rest with full military honors Friday, 88 years after he died.

The cremated remains of Peter Knapp and his wife, Georgianna, sat in storage at a crematorium in Portland until a distant relative tracked them down.

Alice Knapp didn't start out looking for the remains. Instead, she was trying to track down a diary Peter Knapp kept during the war.

"I'm just floored at the attention this is getting. I'm very, in a sense, very humbled by the whole experience," she said. "All I wanted to do was get information and find the diaries."

Peter Knapp is the "third great-uncle" of her late husband, she said. The soldier began fighting for the Union during the Civil War and even spent months in a Confederate prison in Andersonville, GA.

After the war, he settled in Kelso and began operating sawmills. Peter Knapp died in 1924. His wife died a few years later. For reasons no one knows, their remains were never interred.

Alice Knapp, of Nehalem, has been researching the family's genealogy since the 1980s, an endeavor that's gotten easier thanks to the internet.

After a distant cousin, found online, mentioned Peter Knapp's diary, Alice Knapp's research led her to a crematorium where the remains were being held.

She said, "I just felt that, you know, if it was a relative of yours, if you suddenly discovered your relative was forgotten about at a mortuary somewhere, and had never been buried or no final arrangements made for them, wouldn't you want to bury them?"

The ceremony will be held April 13 at 3 p.m. in the Willamette National Cemetery.

Copyright KPTV 2012 (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.