Father: Elijah ALVIS Mother: Mary Ann |
_David ALVIS (OLVIS) I_+ | (1714 - 1787) m 1739 _Ashley ALVIS Sr.____| | (1751 - 1811) m 1789| | |_Elizabeth STANLEY? ___+ | (1718 - 1789) m 1739 _Elijah ALVIS _______| | (1801 - 1860) m 1833| | | _______________________ | | | | |_Martha NOWLIN ______| | (1760 - 1816) m 1789| | |_______________________ | | |--Mary Ann ALVIS | (1842 - ....) | _______________________ | | | _____________________| | | | | | |_______________________ | | |_Mary Ann____________| (1815 - 1870) m 1833| | _______________________ | | |_____________________| | |_______________________
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Father: WALTER de BIRMINGHAM Mother: ELIZABETH de MULTON |
_______________________________________________ | ______________________________________| | | | |_______________________________________________ | _WALTER de BIRMINGHAM _| | (1302 - ....) | | | _______________________________________________ | | | | |______________________________________| | | | |_______________________________________________ | | |--JOAN de BIRMINGHAM | (1335 - ....) | _THOMAS de MULTON of Hyrland___________________+ | | (.... - 1287) | _THOMAS de MULTON Baron of Gillesland_| | | (1275 - 1321) m 1297 | | | |_EMOINE (Edmunda) BOTILLER ____________________ | | |_ELIZABETH de MULTON __| | | _RICHARD "the Red" de BURGH 2nd Earl of Ulster_+ | | (1259 - 1326) m 1280 |_ELEANOR de BURGH ____________________| (1280 - ....) m 1297 | |_MARGARET de GUINES of Ulster__________________+ (1260 - 1304) m 1280
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Father: Caroll Fielding CARNEY Sr. C.S.A. Mother: Georgia Ann DUNAWAY |
_John CARNEY II____________+ | (1775 - 1855) _Elijah CARNEY _____________| | (1803 - 1860) m 1825 | | |___________________________ | _Caroll Fielding CARNEY Sr. C.S.A._| | (1831 - 1862) | | | _Temple TULLOS ____________+ | | | (1755 - 1840) | |_Mahalia TULLOS ____________| | (1802 - 1858) m 1825 | | |_Thankful MILLS ___________+ | (1765 - 1840) | |--Caroll Fielding CARNEY Jr. | (1862 - ....) | _(RESEARCH QUERY) DUNAWAY _ | | | _Fielding Harrison DUNAWAY _| | | (1811 - 1885) | | | |___________________________ | | |_Georgia Ann DUNAWAY ______________| (1839 - 1900) | | _Jesse GREER ______________+ | | (1788 - 1867) m 1813 |_Annis Teuline GREER _______| (1817 - 1885) | |_Polly PUCKETT ____________+ (1787 - 1824) m 1813
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Mother: Zilphia HUFF |
Champ Ferguson
His last statement to the press
on the morning of his execution
October 20, 1865
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Fort/2754/index1.html
History of Ferguson's Independent Cavalry
Roster of Ferguson's Independent Kentucky and Tennessee Cavalry,
CSA
Union Guerrillas of the Upper Cumberland
Maps of the Upper Cumberland Region
"Major General L. H. Rousseau, at Nashville, issued an order:
"Champ Ferguson and his gang of cutthroats, having refused to
surrender, are denounced as outlaws, and the military forces of
the district will deal with them and treat them accordingly."
Ferguson had by this time returned to his home in White County,
and finally surrendered to Lieutenant Colonel Joseph H.
Blackburn in the last half of May. He was charged with murder,
tried, convicted and executed by the Federal authorities. Major
General Joseph Wheeler, Confederate States of America,
testifying in his defense, stated that Ferguson's company was
attached to his command in August, 1864, marched with him to
Georgia and South Carolina, was transferred in the fall to Major
General John C. Breckinridge's command until after the Battle of
Saltville, Virginia on October 2, 1864; was returned to his
command until February 1, 1865, when he was ordered back to
Virginia; and that he considered Ferguson to be a member of the
regular armed forces of the Confederacy, and entitled to
treatment as a prisoner of war."
http://www.tngennet.org/civilwar/csacav/csachamp.html.
From Anne Ferguson; I would like to add a few things to your
article about Confederate Guerilla, Champ Ferguson. Something
this article doesn't mention is that the Sandusky's and the
Ferguson's were related by marriage. Mr. Pinkowski mentions the
comments of descendants of Anthony Sadowski (Sandusky). They
said that Champ was the most desperate and fiendish guerilla
chief in the Confederate Army. What they failed to mention is
that they are related to Champ by the marriage of Anthony
Sandusky's first daughter, Susan, to Champ's uncle Benjamin. He
also failed to mention that it is well believed among those who
hold Champ in esteem that he was defending the honor of his wife
and daughter.
Champ lived among Union sympathizers who, while he was away from
home scouting for the Confederates, caused his wife and daughter
to march down the road naked and cook a meal for them in that
state of undress. When Champ found out about this, he swore to
get his revenge on these 10 or 12 men. In those days in
Kentucky, if someone offended your family, you sought revenge on
that man's whole family. That was the law of the mountains.
Hatfield's and McCoy's come to mind. So Champ killed the men who
abused his family and some of their family members as well. I
cannot defend him, as I don't believe murder is right, of
course, but he did have reason to want those men's hides.
Capt. Champ Ferguson is now considered a hero by some militia
groups because he was a large, fierce frightening man who was an
expert at scouting, deceiving the Union army and an excellent
weaponsman. Even the soldiers of Morgan's raiders waited in
anticipation to meet the
infamous Champ Ferguson. He knew the land of the
Kentucky/Tennessee border like no one else. He could recapture
rebel prisoners who had been taken by the Union army before the
yankees knew what hit them. He was an excellent marksman and was
fearless when faced with hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.
In the book "Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come", by John Fox, Jr.,
Champ is called by the name Rebel Jerry Dillon. While the book
is a work of fiction, Mr. Fox researched the work very well. He
describes the horror of the Civil War and the way in which both
armies went about recruiting soldiers. The Union army
conscripted any man who owned a slave. According to some of my
families papers and Civil War letters, the Confederates simply
came to people's homes and "stole" the men of the household. It
was nothing for a woman to stand in her kitchen and watch her
family members gunned down before her eyes. The atrocities were
on both sides, not just the Confederate side. It was the order
of the day to steal anything the army could use from anyone who
had food, horses, cows, guns. Mr. Fox also shows the tender side
of Champ Ferguson when he tells how Champ took to one of the
young Rebel soldiers, protecting him like he was his own son. He
recaptured the young boy when the boy was taken prisoner by the
Union army.
Champ's own son had died as a child of one of the plagues of the
time. His wife also was taken by the disease. He remarried after
that and had a daughter. Champ's home was burned because of his
involvement with the rebels. He had much to be angry about. So
you see, to me Mr. Pinkowski didn't tell the whole story about
Capt. Champ and one must know the whole story to stand in
judgment of him. By the way, I am not a descendant of Champ
Ferguson's family but I believe (but so far have not proven)
that I am Champ's 1st cousin 6 times removed. I believe that my
ggg-grandfather, William Ferguson was Champ's grandfather's
brother. My family and Champ's lived in the same area of Clinton
Co. KY and both my grandfather's and gg-grandfather's names were
Champion Ferguson. Guerilla Champ's daughter's name was Anne
Ferguson. And so is mine.
Keep on Rootin" Anne Ferguson (aka SweetShrub)
AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY
By Edward Pinkowski
The legend of Champ Ferguson will not die.
The notorious, unscrupulous leader of a small band of
Confederate guerillas was nearly 44 years old when he was found
guilty for a bloody reign of terror in Kentucky and Tennessee
and hung October 24, 1865, at Nashville, Tennessee.
In a military trial, he was charged with fifty counts of murder
and other war crimes. The wounded, the sick, the aged, and even
helpless children, were not spared from his brutal murders, said
Harper's Weekly .
Now, 134 years after his family drove away from the gallows and
buried his body where even the devil wouldn't find it, there is
a campaign in Tennessee to revive this cold-blooded murderer
and robber, for whom the governor of Tennessee gave a reward of
$500 for his capture and delivery to the authorities for trial
and punishment, and to worship him as a Confederate martyr.
If Major John A. Brents, an officer of the First Kentucky
Cavalry of the Union Army which chased the wild butcher of the
Cumberlands, were alive today, he would be the first to condemn
the worship of Champ Ferguson. He is a thief, robber,
counterfeiter, and murderer, he wrote. His record does not stop
with two or three offences, but is one continual wave of blood
and plunder.
LOG HOUSE
To the descendants of Anthony Sadowski in Kentucky, or Sandusky
as most of them called themselves in the third generation and
further on, Ferguson was the most desperate and fiendish
guerilla chief in the Confederate Army.
When the North and the South went to war, Emanuel Sandusky,
named after his Pennsylvania-born father, had the most children,
grandchildren and slaves in Wayne County, Kentucky, a salt
works, a water mill, and a plantation that covered half of Mount
Pisgah. At 76, he was too old to join the army, but he had more
sons, sons-in-law, and grandsons than any other person in the
country who fought in the Civil War. Some of them shouldered
guns on the Confederate side and others in the Union Army and
still others moved to states where they didn't have to take
sides.
Looking back on the past, the two-story log house, which Emanuel
Sandusky built about 1808 and where he raised 21 children, was
the most patriotic house in America. This isn't generally known.
The children who came out of that house were the fifth
generation in America that took up arms to defend their land.
In one case, Rosannah, who was born in that log house in 1813,
had five sons in the first battle of the Civil War on Kentucky
soil. The general who commanded them and won the battle was
Polish-born Albin Schoepf.
Rosannah, married to James S. Bruton in 1830, was a Gold Star
mother as were her mother and grandmother. I could find no other
family in the United States to match this record of patriotism.
ATROCITIES
Just before the Southern campaign in Kentucky fell apart, and
while the male flowers of the Sandusky kin were away, Captain
Ferguson led his guerillas into Clinton and Wayne counties,
stealing horses, mules, cattle, hogs, and all kinds of property,
and then crossing the Cumberland mountains into Tennessee, which
was the depot for his stolen goods. Ferguson and his gang
ransacked Sandusky's plantation several times. Each time they
had horses shot from under them. Ferguson paid a heavy price for
his atrocities. Six guerillas were killed in Wayne County on
Jan. 21, 1863, and one on Feb. 12, 1863.
The stories of atrocities in the most gigantic rebellion known
in modern times would fill a book. Certainly none had a more
bitter memory of Champ Ferguson than the other children and
grandchildren of Emanuel Sandusky who in turn told the stories
of pillage and blood to the generations that followed.
It was worse than the 1780s when Indians stole cattle and horses
from the family plantation in the foothills of the Great Smoky
Mountains, where Emanuel Sandusky was born, and returned to
North Carolina.
Jo Ann Reynolds of Illinois still tells stories to her
grandchildren and her contacts on the Internet of the time that
Ferguson kipnapped two of her kin in Wayne County. One of them
was killed and the other escaped.
In another story, Gabriel Sandusky, accustomed to plenty of food
in the historic log house in Kentucky, was a prisoner of war who
starved to death at Andersonville and his grandfather didn't
know about it for two years. It was the last straw. The old man
died when he heard the story from one of Gabriel's prison
buddies. Thus the story of Champ
you can view Ed's work at Anthony Sadowski - Polish Pioneer by
Edward Pinkowski (Copyright 1966) EMail: [email protected]
http://www.poles.org/Sadowski.html
http://members.aol.com/anderson73/sandusky.html
Champ Ferguson, a legendary Confederate partisan ranger and
guerilla fighter, was easily the most notorious among the many
such men who fought to control the Upper Cumberland Plateau
region along the Tennessee and Kentucky borders. Nominally
holding the rank of Captain in the Confederate Army, Ferguson
led his own company of independent cavalry. When not making the
most of every opportunity to harass and intimidate Unionists in
the area, Ferguson acted as a scout for Genl. John Hunt Morgan,
and was for a time attached to the command of Genl. Joseph
Wheeler. His company was under Wheeler's command when they took
part in the Battle of Saltville (Virginia).
At war's end, Ferguson and his men returned to their homes and,
on 23 May, 1865, they were induced by promise of the same parole
given to the officers and men of Lee's and Johnston's
Confederate Armies to surrender themselves to federal military
authorities. All except Ferguson were indeed released on Oath.
Champ Ferguson himself was summarily arrested, and charged with
over 50 counts of murder. Some of his purported victims remained
nameless, and many of the other charges were wholly unsupported
by either witnesses or documentation. In a trial at Nashville,
lasting from 11 July through 26 September, 1865, a military
tribunal called witness after unreliable witness against
Ferguson, all the while denying his counsel every opportunity to
present a competent case in his defense. On 10 October, General
Orders affirming his conviction and sentencing him to death by
hanging were issued. On Friday, 20 October, 1865, the Order of
Execution was carried out while Ferguson's wife Martha and
sixteen year old daughter Ann watched. Thus it came to be that
Champ Ferguson joined Henry Wirz, Commandant of the Confederate
prison at Camp Sumter (Andersonville) as the only two former
Confederate's of any rank or position to be executed for
supposed "war crimes."
The following text is from an "Afterword" to the Ferguson
biography mentioned below, and was writen by the son of the
author:
"I thought I'd found Champ back in 1941 when my father and I
went looking for him in that old graveyard on the Calfkiller
River. Maybe I was wrong. According to a story I read in the
Cookeville Herald-Citizen, there was a conspiracy between Champ
and the military. The theory is that the military felt that
Champ should not be hanged because many others as guilty as he
had been paroled. The story is that the military enclosed the
undersection of the scaffold and that a ring of soldiers
completely encircled it. When the hangman cut the rope and Champ
dropped through the trap door, they quickly untied the loose
knot and placed Champ in the casket alive. The casket was then
placed on a waiting wagon which Champ's wife and daughter drove
out of town. When they were out of Nashville, Champ climbed out
of the casket and the three rode all the way to Indian Territory
in Oklahoma, where they took new names and took up farming and
ranching for a living."
"It's an interesting story. But if it's true, who is buried in
the grave I found marked "Capt. C. Furguson"? Are we to assume
that his wife Martha didn't know how to spell his name? Or that
someone else in on the conspiracy misspelled it and put up a
stab of limestone at a fake grave so that everybody would think
Champ had really been hanged? What did Colonel Shafter whisper
to Champ in a low undertone that made Champ's face light up
noticeably? Did he tell him about the conspiracy and that he
would be saved by the military?"
We'll never know, and the legend lives on...
The photographs reproduced above, both believed to be previously
unpublished, were taken at the same sitting by Nashville
photographer C. C. Hughes, whose studios were on Church Street.
It is unknown whether these images were taken there, or whether
Hughes came to the prison where Ferguson was held. At least four
images from this session have survived in the form of Cartes de
Vistes (CDVs). One of the three was reproduced in the book Champ
Ferguson, Confederate Guerilla by Thurman Sensing, originally
published in 1942 and currently in print from Vanderbilt
University Press, to which reference is here made for a complete
biography of Ferguson and accounts of war time activities and
subsequent trial. Of the remaining three, two appear on this
page and the third (scanned from a 67 year old newspaper
article) appears on the Muster Roll of Capt. Champ Ferguson's
Independent Cavalry Company page.
The Yankee Propaganda Machine
Even though the war had been essentially over for five months,
the Yankee press still felt the need to propagandize, and to
slander the defeated Confederacy and the men who fought for her.
This was especially true when it came to Confederate partisan
fighters. The following quotes, full of distortions, half
truths, and outright lies about Champ Ferguson, are taken from
Harper's Weekly.
September 23, 1865: "Among the guerillas who infested Kentucky
during the war Champ Ferguson and his men were the most
notorious. Their outrages were chiefly confined to Wayne and
Clinton Counties. Champ Ferguson himself is quite a character,
though the bloodiest of rascals and murderers. His religious
notions are, to say the least, rather queer. Whether he takes
a hint from Theodore Parker, who used to call God "Our Father
and Mother" is uncertain, but Champ is in the habit of speaking
of the Father of All as "the Old Man." He, in a recent
interview with the editor of a Western paper, expressed his
opinion that "the Old Man" had been on his side thus far in
life, and he believed he would stay with him and bring him out
of his present trouble all right. He thought the Campbellites
were about as good as any of the religious denominations, and a
little better."
"Champ Ferguson is now being tried at Nashville by a
court-martial on the charge of committing murders and other acts
in violation of the laws of war. The verdict has not yet been
given, but there is no doubt that he will be punished with death
for his many atrocities. Before the war he was arrested for
the murder of Read, the constable, and confined in jail. At
the outbreak of the rebellion he was released on his pledge to
join the rebels. He claims that he had been previously a Union
man. He then commenced his career of murder and robbery which
made his name a terror in Kentucky. He acted under the orders of
John Morgan in most of his raids in Kentucky and Tennessee. He
surrendered at the close of the war, supposing that he would be
let off with the oath of allegiance. Champ owns a considerable
amount of land in Clinton County, Kentucky, estimated by the
hundreds of acres. He has good reason for the wish, which he now
expresses, "that there had never been any war."
As a companion to above quoted text, this issue of Harper's also
reproduced and engraving taken after the Hughes photograph of
Ferguson and his guards (which appears at the top of this page).
This illustration is every bit as distorted as the text it
accompanies, and between the two the hapless reader of Harper's
was certainly convinced that Champ Ferguson was evil incarnate.
November 11, 1865: Champ Ferguson, the notorious guerilla,
suffered the death penalty on the 20th of October. The emotions
excited by the career and final fate of this man are those of
mingled pity and horror -- pity for the brutal wretch himself,
and horror on account of the revelation which his life affords
as to the possibilites of human cruelty. The wounded, the sick,
the aged, and even helpless childhood, were not spared from his
brutal murders.
Up to within a short period before his execution he was as
profane and reckless as ever before. "He appeared," says a
Western paper, "as braced against every feeling of humanity, as
when, with his own hand, he murdered the venerable old man who
had cradled him on his knee, and to whom he was indebted for a
thousand favors."
Efforts were made, and with some success, to extract from
Ferguson the details of his career. He claims to have been a
Union man up to the battle of Bull Run. His brother James then
joined the Federals, and he the Confederates. The former was
killed in battle. He thought, he says, that he was engaged in
legitimate warfare. "We were having a sort of miscellaneous war
up there, through Fentress County, Tennessee, and Clinton
County, Kentucky, and all through that region. Every man was in
danger of his life; if I hadn't killed my neighbor he would have
killed me. Each of us had from twnety to fifty proscribed
enemies, and it was regarded as legitimate to kill them at any
time, at any place, under any circumstances, even if they were
wounded or on a sick-bed."
Ferguson admitted the truth of nearly all the specific charges
made against him. In most cases he claimed that those murdered
would have killed him at sight if he had not disposed of them.
He looked upon his approaching and violent end with great
coolness. He was nearly fourty-four years old. His wife and
daughter were with him the day before his execution. They were
very much affected at parting with him, but he preserved his
usual coolness up to the last moment.
Champ was very anxious that his body should not be given to the
doctors to be cut up; in fact, this was the burden of his speech
on the scaffold."
The Hanging of Champ Ferguson, as sketched for Harper's Weekly
http://www.tennessee-scv.org/champ.html
Muster Roll of Capt. Champ Ferguson's Independent Cavalry
Company
Capt. Champ Ferguson, C.S.A Contributed by John German
A muster roll of Champ Ferguson's company was "captured" near
Ferguson's White County home in August of 1864 by a Union force
commanded by Captain Rufus Dowdy. After the war, at Ferguson's
trial, Dowdy testified, "I got hold of some blanks in form of a
muster roll and payroll with some names written on it. I got it
out there in the woods near Ferguson's house... It was in a box
packed up in the hollow of a chestnut tree. The box was held up
by some poles punched up the hollow of the tree, and when the
boys pulled the poles out the box fell down... I found three
sheets or I and some others did." Dowdy did not know who got
the other two sheets, but now having made his own peace with
Ferguson, Dowdy gave his sheet to Ferguson's lawyers.
This muster roll, labeled "Document 'P' ", is attached to the
trial case file at the National Archives. According to the
roll, all members of the company were enlisted on Nov. 19th '62
in Overton Co. for a period of 3 years. Ferguson was enlisted
by John H. Morgan and all others by Ferguson. The handwritting,
which is not Ferguson's, is difficult to decipher, and some of
the names have been obliterated by folding and deterioration.
Champ Fergerson, Capt.
H. W. Sublet, 1st Lt.
A. H. Foster, 2d Lt.
W. R. Latham, 3d Lt.
G. W. Twiford, Ordly. Sgt.
R. H. Philpott, 2d Sgt.
- F--t--- , 3d Sgt.
F. Burchet, 4th Sgt.
E. Crabtree, 1st Cpl.
W. W. Parker, 2d Cpl.
J. Holsopple, 3d Cpl.
A. Heldreth, 4th Cpl.
Ard, R. S.
Aberson, John
Braswell, H. D.
Burchett, R. A.
Barnes, W.
Barnes, J. M.
Barnes, Francis
Barton, B. P.
Berry, B. W.
Boston, G. W.
Barnes, James M.
Brooks, John
Bellen[w?], A.
Burk, John
Bradley, S. I.
Cogher, W. H.
Cowain, J. T.
Denton, John
Elder, John
Franklin, Jeff
Frost, F.
Franklin, I. M.
Franklin, Sheby
Gregry, John
Grayham, Durham
Grisham, O. H.
Guinn, S. T.
Horsup, John
Hickey, B[enson?]
Haynes, John
Holsopple, W.
Johnson, H.
Jones, John
Jones, T. S.
Kelly, Thomas
McGinas, J. H.
Moles, Hansel
Marchbanks, C.
McGee, J. M.
Orness[?], Silvers
Owens, J. B.
Pruet, Henry
Pagett, S. M.
Potter, M. A.
Petage, W. W.
Ritchinson, R. H.
Rumen[?], I.
Rigney, G. W.
Russel, Fount
Shelton, T. A
Smith, J. T.
Singleton, J. S.
Sharp, D. E.
Talent, I.
Taylor, John
Taylor, C. N.
Taylor, A. J.
Turpin[?], E-------
Troxdale, Granvill
Vaughn, G. B.
Vann, T. C.
Wheeler, Silas
Wade, John
At the trial, Captain Dowdy offered these additional comments
about this roster: "Here is Sublett, one who was represented
as First Lieutenant.
Abner Hildreth, 4th Corporal, was one of my neighbors; I
understand him to be one of Ferguson's men.
Richard Burchett is represented on the roll as being killed in
June, 1863, in Wayne County, Kentucky, when in fact he was
killed in October, 1862, in Clinton County, Kentucky. I was
along when he was killed. Burchett was killed before Ferguson
appears in the roll as having been mustered, and such is my
recollection.
I knew J. T. Smith who is represented on this roll as having
been killed about July 12, 1863; I understood him to be one of
Ferguson's men.
I know A. H. Foster; he was regarded as Second Lieutenant in
Ferguson's company.
I also know W. R. Latham who is put down as Third Lieutenant; he
was regarded as a Lieutenant in Ferguson's company.
G. W. Twifford told me he was Orderly Sergeant.
I knew Philpot; he belonged to Ferguson's company.
Some few of the men I didn't know. Most of them I do know and
they were reported belonging to Ferguson's company."
http://www.tennessee-scv.org/champroll.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Fort/2754/
"Champ Ferguson was born November 29, 1821 on a branch of Spring
Creek about one and a half miles from Elliott's Cross Roads. He
was named after his grandfather, Champion Ferguson, the pioneer
Spring Creek settler. His father, William R. Ferguson, married
Zilphia Huff and raised a family of ten children, of which Champ
was the oldest.
On May 12, 1844, Champ married Eliza Smith, daughter of Jesse
Bowen Smith, who bore him one child, a boy. Both his wife and
child died about three years after the marriage.
On July 23, 1848, he married Martha Owen, daughter of Samuel
Owen, who lived about a half mile from where Spring Creek
emptied into Wolf River. To this union, one child, a girl, Ann
Elizabeth, was born.
Champ's education was extremely limited. He said, "I never had
much schooling, but I recollect of going to school about three
months, during which time I learned to read, write, and cipher
right smart." He grew up on a farm, and this was his vocation
before the war. He was apparently an enterprising trader because
at the beginning of the war he owned several small tracts of
land in Clinton County, KY.
He liked to hunt; hunting not only enabled him to get out into
the mountains that he loved, but it was also a means of putting
food on the table for his family. He made long hunting trips
through the Cumberlands, in the process gaining an intimate
knowledge of the foothills and mountains, a knowledge that was
to prove invaluable during the war years in enabling him to
elude the Union Guerillas and Federal soldiers who hunted him
relentlessly. He was an expert shot, according to his own
statement the only thing he ever shot at and missed was "Tinker
Dave" Beatty!
At least four different contemporaries have left us with
physical descriptions of Champ Ferguson during the War of
Northern Aggression. The first was by Major John A. Brents, who
fought with the Federal Army against him. According to Brents,
he "is between thirty five and forty years old, about six feet
high, and weighs one hundred and eighty pounds without any
surplus flesh. He has a large foot, and gives his legs a loose
sling in walking, with his toes turned out -- is a little
stooped, with his head down. He has long arms and large hands,
broad round shoulders, skin rather dark, black hair a little
curled, a broad face, a large mouth, and a tremendous voice,
which can be heard at a long distance when in a rage."
General Basil W. Duke first encountered Champ Ferguson when he
reported at Sparta, Tennessee, in July of 1862, as a guide for
Morgan's Cavalry, on its first raid into Kentucky. In his
"Reminiscences", General Duke described Ferguson;" He was a
rough-looking man but of striking and rather prepossessing
appearance, more than six feet in height and powerfully built.
His complexion was florid, and his hair jet black, crowning his
head with thick curls. He had one peculiarity of feature which I
remember to have seen in only two or three other men, and each
of these was, like himself, a man of despotic will and fearless,
ferocious temper. The pupil and iris of the eye was of nearly
the same color and, except to the closest inspection, seemed
perfectly blended. His personal adventures, combats, and
encounters were innumerable. Some of his escapes, when assailed
by great odds, were almost incredible and could be explained
only by his great bodily strength, activities, adroitness in the
use of his weapons, and savage energy."
Orange Sells, of the 12th Ohio Cavalry, present at the Battle of
Saltville, saw Ferguson on October 07, 1864. He testified at
Ferguson's post-war trial that Champ Ferguson," had on a dark
lindsey frock coat, buttoned up in front, and tolerably short
waisted. He had on a black plug hat. His hair and beard were
both longer than now. His beard was full and made his face look
full. He also had a moustache. I cant say how long his hair was,
but it was much longer than now and was straight around the back
of his neck. I dont think it came down to his shoulders.... He
was a large man, a great deal fleshier than he is now. I know
him by his mouth and by his features generally."
Also at Champ's post-war trial, and a witness to the Battle of
Saltville, was Harry Shocker, also of the 12th Ohio Cavalry,
described Champ Ferguson thusly; "the man I saw on the hill and
who shot my partner, had on a butternut suit. I had never seen
him before that time. His beard was long and dark. I didnt
notice whether his moustache was trimmed. He had the appearance
of not shaving at all."
Champ Ferguson enlisted after the "Camp Meeting Fight" and just
prior to the Battle of Mill Springs (exact date unknown) in
1861. Around the time of the Battle of Mill Springs, Ferguson
was a private in the independent cavalry command of Captain
Scott Bledsoe. According to testimony by A.J. Capps, of Capt.
J.W. McHenry's command, Ferguson was raising an independent
company in April of 1862, and was commissioned by the Secretary
of War as Captain (some sources give Champ being commissioned by
then East Tennessee commander, General Kirby-Smith).
In June of 1862, Ferguson & some of his command attached
themselves to John Hunt Morgan's cavalry command as scouts, and
acted in that capacity on Morgan's KY raids. Ferguson was also
attached at times to the commands of General's John C.
Breckenridge & Joseph Wheeler in late 1864 & 1865. Most times,
however, Champ Ferguson operated as an independent cavalry
command. Champ Ferguson surrendered under verbal promise of
parole on May 23, 1865; whereby Federal cavalry captured him at
home on May 26, 1865; and Ferguson was taken to Nashville, TN
for trial.
Denied the opportunity to mount an adequate defense on his
behalf, Champ Ferguson was found guilty of "war crimes", and was
hung on October 20, 1865 (his wife, Martha Owen Ferguson,
telling her husband to "Die like a man, Champ". By all accounts
he did just that).
Martha Owen Ferguson buried Champ on the Calfkiller, near
Sparta, in White County TN, as per his request. Ann Elizabeth
Ferguson married George Metcalf in Sparta, TN on May 08, 1867.
All three of them left around 1872 and eventually settled near
Independence, Kansas. All three are buried in Oak Hill Cemetery.
Martha never remarried. Ann Elizabeth had children, and it is
reported that somewhere near Chicago, gg grandchildren exist."
~ Special thanks to Jack Ferguson of Albany, KY for providing
much of the information above about his great-uncle, Champ
Ferguson.
Also, special mention to Allen Sullivant of TN, who sent
information provided by Anne Ferguson, a cousin of Champ's 4x
removed...
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Fort/2754/Ferguson.html.
CHAMP FERGUSON's SCOUTS The book lists his men and gives brief
biographies. Pictures of some of the men or their tombstones are
included. Champ's victims are pictured as well as his foes. Lots
of photos include the site of Champ's hanging as well as his
land in Clinton County. Cost $30.00 + $5.00 SH
SKETCH OF CHAMP FERGUSON by Ricky Wright 11" x 14" and on
acid-free paper Cost $5.00 + $3.00 SH
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~tnoverto/books.htm
[389378]
one and a half miles from Elliott's Cross Roads
[389379]
10 miles out of Sparta toward Monterey.
__ | _Champion FERGUSON __| | (1777 - ....) | | |__ | _William R. FERGUSON _| | (1800 - ....) | | | __ | | | | |_____________________| | | | |__ | | |--Champ FERGUSON C.S.A. | (1821 - 1865) | __ | | | _William HUFF _______| | | | | | |__ | | |_Zilphia HUFF ________| (1802 - 1883) | | __ | | |_Lydia MILLER _______| | |__
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Mother: Elizabeth Margaret WITHERINGTON |
_Theophilus NORWOOD II____+ | (1725 - 1792) m 1749 _Samuel NORWOOD Sr._______| | (1753 - 1817) m 1785 | | |_Margaret DAWSON _________+ | (1725 - 1765) m 1749 _Ezekiel NORWOOD Sr.______________| | (1796 - 1834) m 1818 | | | _Abel WADDELL ____________+ | | | (1737 - 1798) m 1762 | |_Martha "Patti" WADDELL __| | (1768 - 1838) m 1785 | | |_Rachel STANDARD _________+ | (1744 - 1826) m 1762 | |--Rufus King NORWOOD | (1828 - 1883) | _William WITHERINGTON Sr._+ | | (1740 - 1819) m 1766 | _William WITHERINGTON Jr._| | | (1773 - 1837) m 1794 | | | |_Elizabeth LEWIS _________+ | | (1745 - 1773) m 1766 |_Elizabeth Margaret WITHERINGTON _| (1797 - 1865) m 1818 | | _Sands STANLEY ___________+ | | (1742 - 1799) |_Sarah "Sally" STANLEY ___| (1777 - 1845) m 1794 | |_Zilphia EDWARDS _________ (1750 - 1808)
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Mother: Salendia "Aunt Sadie" HODGE |
_Alfred A. SLOAN ___________+ | (1810 - 1888) m 1837 _James Samuel SLOAN _| | (1843 - 1926) | | |_Margaret Jane C. HARRISON _+ | (1820 - 1890) m 1837 _James W. SLOAN Sr.___________| | (1869 - 1914) | | | _James H. STANLEY __________ | | | (1811 - 1877) m 1834 | |_Sarah Jane STANLEY _| | (1850 - 1916) | | |_Sarah "Sallie" NEWNAM _____ | (1816 - 1870) m 1834 | |--Samuel S. SLOAN | (1899 - 1925) | ____________________________ | | | _____________________| | | | | | |____________________________ | | |_Salendia "Aunt Sadie" HODGE _| (1872 - 1974) | | ____________________________ | | |_____________________| | |____________________________
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Mother: Mary MARTIN |
_John WHITE Sr._____________+ | (1630 - 1678) _John WHITE _________________________| | (1662 - 1743) m 1690 | | |____________________________ | _Jeremiah WHITE _____| | (1695 - 1776) m 1726| | | _Thomas ELLIOT _____________ | | | (1633 - ....) | |_Mary ELLIOT ________________________| | (1663 - 1734) m 1690 | | |____________________________ | | |--Lettice "Lettie" WHITE | (1736 - 1785) | _Abraham MARTIN ____________+ | | (1640 - 1711) m 1674 | _John MARTIN ________________________| | | (1683 - 1756) m 1702 | | | |_Rebecca or Elizabeth BELL _ | | (1660 - ....) m 1674 |_Mary MARTIN ________| (1709 - 1796) m 1726| | ____________________________ | | |_Letitia (Letitia Elizabeth) LEWIS? _| (1685 - 1716) m 1702 | |____________________________
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Mother: Jane SALE |
_Philemon YANCEY ____+ | (1735 - 1787) _Richard Henry YANCEY I_| | (1780 - ....) | | |_____________________ | _Richard Henry YANCEY II_| | (1800 - ....) m 1824 | | | _____________________ | | | | |________________________| | | | |_____________________ | | |--Richard Henry YANCEY III | (1835 - ....) | _____________________ | | | ________________________| | | | | | |_____________________ | | |_Jane SALE ______________| (1805 - 1859) m 1824 | | _____________________ | | |________________________| | |_____________________
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