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Lewisburg Tribune issues from Aug 10,
1899 to May 2, 1902
MARSHALL COUNTY NEWSPAPERS
LEWISBURG
TRIBUNE
Volume II,
Number__?__
October
18, 1900
Page 1
OLD SOLDIERS REUNION
Surviving Members of Company G
Held Their Seventh Annual
Reunion Last Tuesday
ADDRESS BY REV. J. R. HARRIS
[Details as Gathered by a Staff Representative--Mr. and Mrs.
Endsley's Generous
Hospitality--Many Visitors]
The surviving members of Company G, Thirty-second
Tennessee Infantry
held their seventh annual reunion at the home of J.B. Endsley, two miles
southeast of Belfast, last Tuesday. The day, as it can be said of all of
their previous reunion days, was an ideal one, and the only regrets
expressed were that some of the old comrades were absent on account of
sickness. The old soldiers fell into line at 11:30 and the
following
answered the roll call:
J.D. Adams, A.D. Armstrong, C.S. Chapman, M. Cannon,
J.B. Endsley,
J.T. Gambill, A.L. Calahan, W.H. Hooten, Wm. Barron, A.N. Crawford, W.T.
Jones, H.T. Barron, J.A. Smith, J.W. Woodward, J.P. Wood, C.L. Coffey,
E.A.
McCool, G.W. Yarbrough, M.W. Twitty, J.C. Leonard, J.H. Brown, and M.W.
Allison.
Prayer was then offered by Rev. Jno. Royal Harris, of Lewisburg, after
which all members of the company and other visiting veterans marched out
to
dinner. There were over one hundred fed at the long table beneath
the
canvass on the east side of the house and after all had partaken heartily
of the good things, there was an abundance left.
All joined in the endorsement of resolutions adopted by the
old soldiers
in expressing their thanks for the elegant manner in which Mr. and Mrs.
Endsley, who were so kindly assisted by other ladies of the community,
entertained them. And, by way of parenthysis, the Tribune
representative
offers high praise for the young ladies who attended to the wishes of
those
at the table and also those who assisted in securing a list of the
guests.
Among those present were Misses Daisy and Sadie Orr, Maggie
and Sallie
Woods, Hettie Smiley, Maggie Cummings, Bertie C. Neely, of New Market,
Ala., Velna and Nannie Leonard, Vinie Wood, Martha and Mary Leonard, Phenton
McCollum, Angie Covvey, Maggie McCool, and Mesdames W.R. Cummings, W.P.
Irvine, of Lewisburg, William Neely of Newmarket, Ala., Mr. and Mrs.
Thos.
McAdams, Mr. and Mrs. John Smiley, Mr. and Mrs. Alva Endsley, Mr. and Mrs.
John Alder, Mr. and Mrs. Rufe Endsley, Mr. and Mrs. Jno. Woodward, of Bedford
County, and Mr.
and Mrs. Lee Calahan, Mr. and Mrs. J.P. Wood, Mr. and Mrs. Ed. Woodward,
Mr. and Mrs. William Jones, Mr. and Mrs. A.L. Calahan, Mr. and Mrs. J.C.
Leonard, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Twitty, Dr. T.B. Leonard and wife, Mr. and Mrs.
Sam Doolin, Mr. and Mrs. Ozro Chapman, Mr. and Mrs. B.F. Chapman, Mr. and
Mrs. James Moseley, Mr. and Mrs. W.S. Coffey, Mr. and Mrs. R.S. Walker,
and
others.
Among the visiting veterans of other companies were:
W.R. Phillips,
W.T. Jones, B.F. Chapman, James Endsley, Thos. Sherrin, R.S. Walker,
James
Adams, Ed. Woodward, Sam Leonard and James Moseley.
There were also present many little bright-eyed girls and
boys,
grand-daughters and grand-sons of those gray haired veterans, and the day
was one continious round of pleasure. Small groups of
the old comrades
of '61 - '65 could be seen seated in the yards and their rehersal of the
scenes as experienced in the dark days of war was, indeed, entertaining.
There are not many of the old soldiers left in Company G.,
and it will
be but a few more years until the small number remaining will have passed
over the river to meet in that grand final reunion on the other shore.
But while the remnant of this once large Company remains, it
is right
that they should be made to enjoy life, and in no better way can this end
be accomplished than to gather together as they did last Tuesday and
renew
the friendships formed on the battlefields and around the camp
fires. It
is always with pleasure that we attend these reunions, for it is then
that
we feel that the hearts of these old men are, for the time, made young,
and
in memory the gray-haired veterans go back to the days of their young
manhood and they enjoy the sensation of being boys again.
The selection of officers, place of meeting and other
business of the
reunion was taken up in the afternoon. The old officers were
re-elected as
follows: C.S. Coffey, President, G.W. Yarbrough, Vice President,
J.C.
Leonard, Secretary; J.H. Brown, Chaplin. The home of C.L. Coffey
was
chosen as the place and October 15, 1901, as the date for their next
meeting. Rev. Jno. Royal Harris was elected honorary Chaplin and
C.H.
Christopher an honorary member of the Company.
After the business of the reunion was over Rev. Jno. Royal
Harris
delivered an eloquent and impressive address upon "Heroism."
The social
attractions of the day were very striking and the music rendered by the
Woods Brothers Stringed Band from Belfast added melody to the occasion.
Alex Crawford was present and rendered his famous "gobble."
There were probably various sayings and actions which
helped strengthen
the courage of the old soldier during the trying conflicts of bloody war,
but it is claimed that none had as ready and telling effect upon Company
G., in a skirmish as did Alex Crawford's "gobble."
There were present last Tuesday, twelve members who were
mustered in
and went out with the Company upon its first service. This Company
was
made up by Capt. W.P. O'Neal from the counties of Marshall and Bedford
and
these annual reunions are held alternately in each county.
Following is a list of the officers:
W.P. O'Neal, Captain, promoted to
Lieutenant Colonel; died since the war;
L.D. Stockard, First
Lieutenant, died since the war;
H.L. Custer, Second Lieutenant,
promoted to Assistant Surgeon, died during the war;
F.R. Wade, Third Lieutenant,
died at Murfreesboro during the war;
John Leonard, First Sergeant,
died since the war;
M.R. Allen, Second Sergeant,
living on Snake Creek;
Wm. McLean, Third Sergeant,
died since the war;
J.W. Alexander, Fourth
Sergeant, killed in 1864;
W.C. Denham, Fifth Sergeant,
history not known;
J.G. Sanford, First Corporal,
promoted to Third Lieutenant, history not known;
W.L. Stilwell, Second Corporal,
died in prison;
J.R. Jewell, Third Corporal,
died in Georgia;
A.D. Armstrong, Fourth
Corporal, living near Belfast
C. H. C.
>
NOTES:
MR. & MRS. J.B. ENDSLEY, the host and hostess, were JAMES BURGESS
ENDSLEY and wife, MARY AMNA (BELL) ENDSLEY.
MR. & MRS. RUFE ENDSLEY were J.B. & Amna's son, GEORGE RUFUS
ENDSLEY and
his wife, GERTRUDE (WOODS) ENDSLEY. "Gert's" family, the
JOHN BEDFORD
WOODS family, is listed next to the J.B. Endsley family in the 1900 and
1910 Census of Marshall County. "Gert" was a sister to
"The Woods Brothers
String Band" members.
Mr. & Mrs. JAMES ALVA ENDSLEY were son & daughter-in-law,
NORA (WOOD)
ENDSLEY.
Mr. & Mrs. JOHN ALDER were J.B. & Amna Endsley's daughter, HATTIE
NEAL (ENDSLEY) ALDER & her husband, JOHN C. ALDER. They lived
near
Jasper, Marion County, TN. They had one daughter, DAISY LEE ALDER.
HATTIE ALDER ( _?_ Jan 1880 - 24 Oct. 1908) died of typhoid fever
and is buried at Pine View Cemetery north of Jasper.
WILLIAM NEELY of Newmarket, Ala., was a son-in-law of J.B. & Amna
Endsley. He was married to their daughter, IDA MAY ENDSLEY.
J.B. & Amna's sons not listed in the article were:
William McGee Endsley (b. 24
Dec 1866, age 33, the eldest son)
Charles Ross Endsley,
Sr. (age 15)
John Lee Endsley (age
12--b. 22 Nov 1887)
J.P. WOOD was JOHN PAISLEY WOOD, father of Nora Wood (Mrs. Alva
Endsley) and had served in G Company, 32nd Tenn. Inf with J.B. Endsley.
JAMES ENDSLEY ( visiting member of another unit) was JAMES KIDD
ENDSLEY who had served in the 8th Tennessee Infantry, another regiment
raised in the Marshall/Lincoln/Giles county area. To date, no kinship
connection between his line of Endsleys and the James Burgess Endsley line
has been recognized. Several of his descendants remained in the Marshall
County TN area and there are many descendants there today.
The Endsleys were neighbors of and related to many of those present.
Notably, the CUMMINGS, SMILEYS, WOODS, COFFEYS.
REV. JOHN ROYAL HARRIS, minister of the First Cumberland Presbyterian
Church in Lewisburg at the time, was very much in demand as a gifted
public
speaker.
This article was transcribed and
generously donated by Dick Wood
These Graphics found at:
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/6603/lines.htm
