Notes |
- King.GEDCOM. Electronic. Date of Import: December13, 2001.
[1760681.ged]
James was a Private los E. 6th Regiment, West Virginia Volunteer
Cavalry. On July 14, 1890 he received an $8.00 per month pension for
"Brinchitre, rhemma trsim, and desease of rectrum".
Grave marker reads" Cop'l J. M. Ashcraft, Co. B, 4th ??? Cav." He is
buried at Low Gap Cemetery, Wetzel County, West Virginia., West Virginia .
The 1860 census for Monogalio Co., VA shows his age as 18 so he was born
i n 1842 but someone said it was in 1847. The Census also lists him as a
farm h and born in VA.
He fathered nine children by both wives.
From my dialogue wit h JH Ashcraft, Tim Ashcraft July 1998
Of course, I don't know too much about J ames Madison, my Grandfather, but
from the census, he was born in 1842 and th e story in the family was that
he went in to the Civil War at 16. I can't th ink that that's right
because in two or three places in the census in Morgant own, it gives his
birth date as 1842 so if he went in at the start of the Civ il War, he
would have had to have been 19 instead of 16, and I'd rather think that's
what he was; although the picture we have of him looks like he might be
16 years old, doesn't it? He's very, very young. He was in the Civil
W ar until it ended. The story that I hear about him was that he was
captured and was in Andersonville Prison when the war ended. It's
amazing that he got out of there alive because there were 7,000 and some
that didn't. He was am ong the first to have gotten, when the War ended,
turned loose and and told t o go home. That's right outside Atlanta,
Georgia. To walk to Wetzel County, West Virginiaunty or Marion County or Monongalia County,
West Virginia, it would be at least 1, 000 miles and it would seem to me
like that would take a little while to walk there. One story that George
Clark told me and don't know where he got this one unless Dad had told
him sometime, was when he was turned loose at Anders onville, he was
walking up the road with several other soldiers that were dis charged at
the same time and he happened to spot a beef head over at the side of the
road, and he didn't say anything to anybody about it, but he just fel l
out and pretended that he had to stop to rest. They walked on, and he
wa lked back and got that beef head and I guess it had maggots in it, but
he cle aned them out the best he could and cooked it the best he could and
ate it. I guess if you're hungry enough, you'll eat darn near anything.
Those guys o ut of Andersonville I'm sure were pretty hungry. He came
back into Morgantow n and married a woman by the name of Lydia
Stansberry. They had several chil dren which you have a record of. She
died, I don't know what year--I don't r emember what year. You probably
have it down there, but then he married my G randmother who was Robison.
They had three children--Uncle George, my Dad an d Aunt Minnie and I was
told that he was a school teacher, and I wondered abo ut that. Gladyth
told me that when he had gotten out of the Army, he had gon e to, I think
it was West Liberty, and taken a test there at the college for a
teacher's examination, which you could do at that time. He passed it and
was a school teacher. It's hard to believe that anybody with no more
educat ion that he likely had could be a school teacher, but I guess they
did. He d ied at (Knob Forge), and I've wondered why he wasn't buried
with one of his w ives, but I guess if he died at (Knob Forge), taking him
to Bealer Station up where my Grandmother is buried would have been, by
horse and buggy, at least a 2-day trip going up, so probably it was a
matter of convenience to bury hi m at (Little Gap). That's all I know
about the Gentleman.
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