Vikki

Harlen

Vikki

Vikki

To help substantiate that the men I’m researching resided in the Mississippi Piney Woods prior to the war, I’ve done census crosschecks. The James Grantham who enlisted in the 1st New Orleans, as noted, was from Perry Co and died during his term of serve. He seems to have been the James Grantham found on the 1850 & 1860 census, a son of Daniel and Charity Grantham. (Ancestry.com has the 1850 surname mis-transcribed as “Jonathan” but I submitted a correction.)

The key point is that Daniel Grantham of Perry Co (1810~1859, born NC) appears to have been a brother of William Grantham of Jones Co (1808~1895, born NC). And William was the father of John, Daniel, and Alexander. If so, Union enlistee James was a first cousin of 7th Battn enlistees John, Daniel, and Alexander.

Ed P.

Vikki

Thanks for the information!

I checked my records (the Governors Papers) and found John Grantham’s name on a petition to Gov. Wm. Sharkey dated 29 July 1865. That petition was in opposition to the state’s appointment, in the wake of Confederate defeat, of V.A. Collins as judge and T. J. Huff as sheriff. Vinson A. Collins was a staunch Unionist above the age of conscription during the war. All but one of his brothers fought against the Confederacy, three in the Knight company, and three in the Big Thicket, TX, band led by Warren J. Collins. T. J. Huff deserted the Confederate Army and for a time joined the Knight band. So John Grantham did take a stand against the Knight Company here.

On the other hand, Ed Payne, in his ongoing research into Piney Woods, Ms, men who joined the Union Army, lists a James Grantham from neighboring Perry County as having been mustered into the New Orleans 1st Infantry (Union Army) on 6/29/1864. That Grantham died on March 11, 1865.

Interesting. Like so many families in this region, including my Bynum ancestors, the Granthams may have included both Confederate and Unionist branches.

Vikki