The Civil War Around My Cook & King Families

Long, E. B., Barbara Long, and Bruce Catton. 1971. The Civil War Day by Day : An Almanac, 1861-1865. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday.


I wanted to gain a better understanding of what my Cook & King families experienced in the region where they lived during the Civil War. They resided in the southern part of Rutherford County and northern Bedford County, Tennessee. I made a list of key locations and notable events from those areas using Long's Civil War Day by Day. The first part of 1863 appears to have been a particularly difficult time for them. I plan to do this exercise for a few other families and regions.

Eagleville

1863 Mar 2 skirmish

1863 Mar 31 skirmish

1863 Apr 16 skirmish

1863 May 3 Fed scouts

1863 Dec 7  skirmish

Eagleville Pike

1863 Jun 10  Federal scout

Rover
1863 Feb 19 skirmish
1863 Mar 13 skirmish

1863 Mar 15 skirmish

1863 May 5 skirmish

1863 Jun 23 skirmish

1863 Jun 28 skirmish

Shelbyville

1862 Mar 25 Fed Recon to 

1863 Oct 7 Sim's Farm

1864 Nov 28 Calvary units skirmished

Shelbyville Pike

1863 Jan 5 skirmish

1863 Feb 20 skirmish

1863 Apr 23 skirmish

1863 Jun 4 Confederate operation

1863 Jun 6 skirmish

Shelbyville Road
1862 Apr 24 skirmish

Unionville

1863 Jan 31 skirmish

1863 Mar 4 fighting

1863 Jun 23 skirmish

Versailles
1863  Fed Recon to Jan 13 Mar 9

Evander Warren Boyce(2 April 1866- 17 Dec 1944)

Funeral Services For Evander Warren Boyce

Funeral services for Evander Warren Boyce, 78, who died at 5:30 A.M. Sunday at his home in the 11th Civil District near Poplin's Cross Roads, were held Monday at 1:30 P.M., at the Rover Baptist Church by Rev. Crawford Reed and Rev. Bill Gentry. Burial was in Simpson Cemetery at Rover.

Mr. Boyce was the son of William Moody Boyce and Minerva Cook Boyce, both natives of Bedford County. Forty-seven years ago he married Miss Alda Epperson who survives. He was a farmer and had been a member of the Ray's Chapel Methodist Church twenty-two years.

Surviving besides his wife are five children; one daughter, Mrs. Pearl Wright of Chapel Hill; four sons, Clyde and Jno. of Chapel Hill, Forest of Eagleville and Herschel of Rockvale; 24 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild; one brother, H. H. Boyce of Unionville.

Source:
"Funeral Services for Evander Warren Boyce," The Shelbyville Gazette, Thursday, 21 Dec 1944, p. 3, col. 2; digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHK-93TS-532M : accessed 23 May 2024), IGN 8992189, image 105 of 1103.

Union Ridge Baptist Church--Bedford Co TN Deeds

Image created using DALL-E3

I discovered a deed on which W C Cook(my 2nd Gr Grpa) was a witness.  It had to do with lands for the Union Ridge Church.  Record loss for the period of 1850ish to the early 1860s makes that era difficult to research, so anytime I find something covering that time period it really helps.  There was an attempt made to record lost deeds in a notebook by the county clerk.  Another great help is a book published on that effort by Helen and Tim Marsh. 

Marsh, Helen C., and Tim R. Marsh. "The Burned Deed Index of Bedford County, Tennessee 1852-1861". Greenville, SC: Southern Historical Press, 1999. 

The deed book entry(Deed Book NNN pg 69) on which I found W C Cook as witness is written in very faint ink but it appears that it is an attempt to make sure that the original bargain of 1854 is on record.  I've listed notes below on the dates and persons mentioned.

Thomason & John Jordan  

To 

Deacons of Union Ridge:

Wm Elmore and R A Gantt 

Original Bargained on 7 Oct 1854

Witnessed on 6 Nov 1854 by
William C Cook

D A Elmore 

William Floyd

Signed:

W T Thomason

John Jordan

Noted on 7 Nov 1854 in Notebook #2 pg 32
Recorded the same day in Book VV pg 404-405
Act of 1865 Ch 28
Registered 28 April 1877
Recorded 30 April 1877

Source:  

"Bedford, Tennessee, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3QY-K92B-L : accessed Mar 24, 2024), image 61 of 638; IGN 008567899; citing, Bedford Co. TN Deed Book NNN, p 69, Deed from W T Thomason & John Jordan to Wm Elmore  &  R. A Gantt-- Deacons of Union Ridge Baptist Church part of the Duck River Association

 

Mary Amanda Morton Newsom

Mrs. Mary Amanda Morton Newsom
Died:  Aug 6th 1953 1:25am
Age:  78
Services:  Rover Baptist church on Friday Aug 7th 1953
Burial:  Simpson Cemetery
Lawrence Funeral Home in charge of services
Parents:  Elijah & Mary Culverhouse Morton
Husband:  Jerry Newsom(d. 1935)
Member of Baptist Church
Lifelong Bedford Co. resident

Survivors
Daughters:  Mrs. Albert Hudson of Rover & Mrs. Tanner Farris of Rockvale
Sons:      Frank Newsom of Morrison
                    Roy Newsom of Nashville
            Howard Newsom of Christiana
            James P Newsom of Rover Community
18 Grandchildren
7 Great Grandchildren
One sister, Mrs. Anna Anthony of Lakeland Florida
Two Half-brothers:  Jacob Morton & Robert Morton of Rockvale

Source:

"Mrs. Mary Morton Newsom," Nashville Banner, 6 August 1953, p. 10, col 2; digital images, Newspapers.com(https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 15 April 2023).

1840 Bedford Co TN--Dist 10

The 1840 US Federal Census for Bedford County TN's  Dist. 10 was enumerated in two separate halves so it makes it kind of hard to follow but not impossible.  We really need to look at that district because we won't see a census listing for it until 1860.  District 10 Rover pages are missing/lost from Bedford Co TN's entries for 1850.  I used the "tallying" part of the 1840 Bedford Co TN census pages to find where the two sections were and have listed the pages with links below.  It's easier to find at FamilySearch and free so I have the links from there.  You will need to be logged in to view but registration is free as is viewing once you are logged in.  At Ancestry there is a Warren Co Pennsylvania District listing at the first part if you browse to Bedford Co. TN for 1840 which is confusing.  

1840 US Federal Census of Bedford Co TN Dist. 10 1st half p. 42-45

Image 92-pg 42a https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YTB-92Z1?i=91&cc=1786457
Image 93-pg 42b https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YTB-927X?i=92&cc=1786457

Image 94-pg 43a https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YTB-92WK?i=93&cc=1786457
Image 95-pg 43b https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YTB-92QZ?i=94&cc=1786457

Image 96-pg 44a https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYTB-9GR6?i=95&cc=1786457
Image 97-pg 44b https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YTB-92WJ?i=96&cc=1786457

Image 98-pg 45a https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYTB-9P9N?i=97&cc=1786457
Image 99-pg 45b https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YTB-92WF?i=98&cc=1786457

1840 US Federal Census of Bedford Co TN Dist. 10 2nd half p. 52-54

Image 115-pg 52a https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YTB-923G?i=114&cc=1786457
Image 116-pg 52b https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YTB-9245?i=115&cc=1786457

Image 117-pg 53a https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YTB-92SG?i=116&cc=1786457
Image 118-pg 53b https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYTB-9G5M?i=117&cc=1786457

Image 119-pg 54a https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYTB-9GFD?i=118&cc=1786457
Image 120-pg 54b https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYTB-9G16?i=119&cc=1786457