Civil War cavalryman who was murdered after his discharge by a Confederate nightrider.
In his youth he studied under his cousin Martin John Spalding. He was married on October 26, 1840 at Holy Mary Catholic Church, in Calvary, Marion County, Kentucky to Elender Rhodes. A blacksmith, he enlisted on March 3, 1864 in Co. C, 12th Regt., of the Kentucky Cavalry. He was later transfered to the 74th Co., 2nd Battalion, of the Veterans Reserve Corps, and was discharged with a surgeon's certificate of disability on May 29, 1865 at Camp Nelson. The original copy of his Civil War discharge is in my possession. In it, his personal description is given as height 5'8", his hair dark, eyes hazel, and dark complexion. I have photocopies of affidavits from the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Pensions, detailing his murder on the porch of his home in Meadeville by an unknown assailant, and the subsequent scouring of the countryside by Union troops stationed at Brandenburg. Family tradition passed down through the descendants of his daughter, Martha Luellen Newton Ritchie, claims his body was hurriedly buried in the night to keep his body from being desecrated further by any returning Confederate nightrider.
Biography compiled by James' 3rd-great-grandson, Todd Whitesides.
In his youth he studied under his cousin Martin John Spalding. He was married on October 26, 1840 at Holy Mary Catholic Church, in Calvary, Marion County, Kentucky to Elender Rhodes. A blacksmith, he enlisted on March 3, 1864 in Co. C, 12th Regt., of the Kentucky Cavalry. He was later transfered to the 74th Co., 2nd Battalion, of the Veterans Reserve Corps, and was discharged with a surgeon's certificate of disability on May 29, 1865 at Camp Nelson. The original copy of his Civil War discharge is in my possession. In it, his personal description is given as height 5'8", his hair dark, eyes hazel, and dark complexion. I have photocopies of affidavits from the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Pensions, detailing his murder on the porch of his home in Meadeville by an unknown assailant, and the subsequent scouring of the countryside by Union troops stationed at Brandenburg. Family tradition passed down through the descendants of his daughter, Martha Luellen Newton Ritchie, claims his body was hurriedly buried in the night to keep his body from being desecrated further by any returning Confederate nightrider.
Biography compiled by James' 3rd-great-grandson, Todd Whitesides.
Civil War cavalryman who was murdered after his discharge by a Confederate nightrider.
In his youth he studied under his cousin Martin John Spalding. He was married on October 26, 1840 at Holy Mary Catholic Church, in Calvary, Marion County, Kentucky to Elender Rhodes. A blacksmith, he enlisted on March 3, 1864 in Co. C, 12th Regt., of the Kentucky Cavalry. He was later transfered to the 74th Co., 2nd Battalion, of the Veterans Reserve Corps, and was discharged with a surgeon's certificate of disability on May 29, 1865 at Camp Nelson. The original copy of his Civil War discharge is in my possession. In it, his personal description is given as height 5'8", his hair dark, eyes hazel, and dark complexion. I have photocopies of affidavits from the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Pensions, detailing his murder on the porch of his home in Meadeville by an unknown assailant, and the subsequent scouring of the countryside by Union troops stationed at Brandenburg. Family tradition passed down through the descendants of his daughter, Martha Luellen Newton Ritchie, claims his body was hurriedly buried in the night to keep his body from being desecrated further by any returning Confederate nightrider.
Biography compiled by James' 3rd-great-grandson, Todd Whitesides.
In his youth he studied under his cousin Martin John Spalding. He was married on October 26, 1840 at Holy Mary Catholic Church, in Calvary, Marion County, Kentucky to Elender Rhodes. A blacksmith, he enlisted on March 3, 1864 in Co. C, 12th Regt., of the Kentucky Cavalry. He was later transfered to the 74th Co., 2nd Battalion, of the Veterans Reserve Corps, and was discharged with a surgeon's certificate of disability on May 29, 1865 at Camp Nelson. The original copy of his Civil War discharge is in my possession. In it, his personal description is given as height 5'8", his hair dark, eyes hazel, and dark complexion. I have photocopies of affidavits from the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Pensions, detailing his murder on the porch of his home in Meadeville by an unknown assailant, and the subsequent scouring of the countryside by Union troops stationed at Brandenburg. Family tradition passed down through the descendants of his daughter, Martha Luellen Newton Ritchie, claims his body was hurriedly buried in the night to keep his body from being desecrated further by any returning Confederate nightrider.
Biography compiled by James' 3rd-great-grandson, Todd Whitesides.
