Chapter 13: Williams Charles Coleman.

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The Robert Coleman from Virginia to Texas, 1652-1965

Chapter 13:  Williams Charles Coleman.


     CHAPTER 13

     WILLIAMS CHARLES COLEMAN
     by J. P. COLEMAN

     Williams Charles Coleman was the son of Allen Coleman, and was the
     first of the Colemans in Mississippi. He was born Sept. 13, 1801
     and died February 4, 1877.

     The lands in Winston County, Mississippi, to which the Colemans
     first moved from South Carolina, were opened to white settlement by
     the Choctaw Indian Treaty of 1830 at Dancing Rabbit. The territory
     here relinquished was divided into seventeen counties by the Act of
     December 23, 1833. Choctaw and Winston were two of the seventeen.
     Mississippi had become a State only sixteen years previously,
     December 10, 1817, although there had been settlements at Biloxi
     and Natehez for over a hundred years.
        Winston County. situated a little east of the geographical
     center of the State, lay to the South of Choctaw County, named for
     the Indian tribe.  At the close of the Confederate War, during
     Reconstruction, the County of Choctaw was greatly reduced in size
     by the formation of Montgomery and Webster Counties on its West and
     North sides. Three townships; 108 square miles, were taken from
     northwestern Winston and attached to Choctaw. This explains why
     the lands first owned by Williams Charles Coleman and William
     Ragsdale Coleman, later owned by Isaiah Daniel Coleman, were in
     Winston County when settled but are now altogether in 
     Choctaw County.
        The public records in Winston County are all intact. Those of
     Choctaw County were burned at least three times previous to 1881.
     The Winston County records are a veritable storehouse of ante-bellum
     history; Choctaw records for the same period are wholly
     non-existent.
        Louisville was originally laid out as the county seat of 
     Winston County and remains so until this day. When 
     William Ragsdale Coleman completed the purchase of the plantation
     from Williams Charles Coleman, on January 23, 1839, part of which
     (the homesite) was in Winston and the remainder in Choctaw, he had
     to record his deed in both counties. He no doubt saddled up and
     rode to Greensboro to record the deed for Choctaw County purposes.  
     Greensboro was situated north of the Big Black river in what is now
     Webster County. lt was about two miles north of the present post
     office located on U. S. Highway 82 known

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     as Tomnolen. Greensboro, noted for its bloody and turbulent
     history, remained the county seat of Choctaw until after the
     Confederate War, when the courthouse was burned by unknown
     arsonists. Nothing remains of Greensboro today but two ancient
     cemeteries. The county seat of Choctaw County was then successively
     moved from Greensboro to LaGrange to Chester, and finally to
     Ackerman. Ackerman was not laid out as a town until 1884 (when the
     present Illinois Central Railroad came through). This was after
     Williams Charles, William Ragsdale and Sophia, were all dead, but
     it was five years before Isaiah Daniel, son of Allen, passed on.
     Chester was named for Chester, South Carolina, and until 1959 was
     in existence as a post office in central Choctaw County, about six
     miles Northwest of Ackerman.
        Williams Charles Coleman was the son of Allen Coleman and his
     wife, Sarah Coleman. In all the family records he is listed as
     William Charles, but his name in Winston County land deeds and on
     his tombstone is listed as Williams Charles, hence we shall use
     that spelling in this history. He was born in Fairfield County, SC,
     on Beaver Creek and near the Broad River, on September 13, 1801. 
     On January 9, 1827, he married his first cousin, Sophia Coleman, 
     daughter of Wiley and Sarah Ragsdale Coleman. She was born
     January 16, 1805.
        According to the land deed records, Williams Charles Coleman was
     the first of the Colemans to come to Mississippi. On July 23, 1835,
     he purchased land from Baley C. Waters and Andrew C. Waters,
     in Winston County (now Choctaw). The deed is of record at page 60
     of Book A of the Winston County land deed records. Only 59 pages of
     recorded deeds had been registered when Williams Charles bought
     this land. This was the East l/2 Southwest 1/4, Section 1, Township
     16, Range 10, owned since 1934 by J. P. Coleman. This was first the
     homesite of William Ragsdale (Buck) Coleman, and then of 
     Isaiah Daniel Coleman. It is two miles South Of the present village
     of Fentress in present-day Choctaw County.
        The large plantation which was accumulated was located both
     north and south of Yockanookany River and was situated in both
     Winston and Choctaw counties.  Since the time of the
     post-Confederate War boundary shift, it has all been in Choctaw.
     The original boundary between the two counties in this territory
     was the boundary between Townships 16 and 17, which bi-sected the
     Coleman plantation.
        As stated, Williams Charles Coleman sold this property to
     William Ragsdale Coleman sometime before 1839 (Sophia executed a
     deed as to dower in that year, Deed Book D, Page 288). Evidently,
     William Ragsdale Coleman

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                                                THE ROBERT COLEMAN FAMILY

     lived on it as early as 1837 for both he and his wife were
     charter members in that year of Concord Baptist Church, about four
     miles from the property.
        Williams Charles Coleman then settled about seven miles
     northeast of Louisville, the homesite being located in Section 23,
     Township 15, Range 13, which would be approximately eleven miles
     south and seventeen miles east of his first home. The writer first
     visited the old Williams Charles Coleman homesite on July 22, 1951.
     It is an exact replica of the Wiley Coleman home in South Carolina,
     of which there is a kodak picture in this volume. In 1951, the
     writer noticed that the hewn logs across the front of the house,
     which was not then occupied, measured 46 feet in length, and only
     one log in the entire house was decayed. As of that time, Mr.
     Tommie Reed, the present owner of the property, was beginning the
     restoration of the house, leaving the log frame work and pegged
     rafters intact. The writer visited the property-again on July 11,
     1960, at which time the restoration had been completed, the house
     painted white on the outside, a carport added to one end of the
     house, and the Reed family is occupying it as a home.
        The land, on the very upper reaches of Pearl River, surrounding
     this home is nearly level and closely resembles that first entered
     and then sold to William Ragsdale. Apparently the old Colemans were
     good judges of land.
        In a cemetery on the highest knoll in the neighborhood, in sight
     of the house, and about one-fourth of a mile north of the old
     Louisville and Macon road (about 7 miles northeast of Louisville)
     are found the graves of Williams Charles Coleman and his wife,
     Sophia, and that of their son Mortimer Allen (Mott) Coleman and his
     wife, Ann. These are the only marked graves in the cemetery (except
     that of William D. Welsh) and the inscriptions are as follows:

        (1) Williams Charles Coleman, born September 13, 1801, died 
            February 4, 1877, aged 75 years, 4 months, and 21 days.
            "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright
             For the end of that man is peace."
        (2) Sophia, wife of Williams Charles Coleman, born January 16,
            1805, died January 23, 1857.
        (3) M. A. Coleman, November 8, 1830-April 6, 1917. Gravestone
            carried same epitaph as that of his father.
        (4) Ann J., wife of M. A. Coleman, born November 1833, died
            August 25, 1912. Aged 78 years, 8 months, 21 days.

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        (5) William D. Welsh, b. January 9, 1828, d. September 25, 1859.
            Member Webster Lodge 205, F. & A.M.

        From this it will be noted that Sophia was only 52 when she
     died. She died three years before her brother,
     William Ragsdale Coleman, moved to Texas and three years after
     her first cousin (and brother-in-law), Isaiah Daniel Coleman moved to
     Mississippi. lt is reasonable to presume that these men were
     present when she was the first to be laid away, in sight of her
     home, in the little cemetery. It also reminds us that, in 
     South Carolina, Williams Charles Coleman's father, Allen Coleman,
     in 1839, buried his wife, Sallie, in sight of his house "so he could
     sit at the window and see her grave."
        No doubt Sophia's brother, Griffin Roe Coleman, who had moved near
     Liberty Church in 1844, only a few miles away, and her sister, Mrs.
     John W.  Robinson, who lived on the adjoining plantation to W. R.
     (moved there in 1855), were also at the burial.
        This reminds us that Williams Charles Coleman was the first to come
     to Mississippi; that William Ragsdale Coleman, his first cousin and
     brother-in-law followed almost immediately; that Griffin Roe Coleman
     (of Liberty) arrived in 1844; that Rebecca Coleman (Mrs.
     John W. Robinson) came in 1855; and Isaiah Daniel Coleman, brother
     of Williams Charles Coleman and first cousin to the others, arrived in 
     1854. Four of these were children of Wylie Coleman and two were sons
     of Allen Coleman. We shall present them in this book in the order in
     which they came to Mississippi.
        We are further reminded from the inscriptions on the gravestones
     that Williams Charles Coleman lived a widower for twenty years after
     his wife died.
        Mortimer A.len Coleman (M. A., also known as Mott) was their
     son. His story is told from the gravestones and from his obituary
     in the Winston County Journal, issue of April 13, 1917, which
     follows.
        M. A. Coleman's wife was Ann Bostick, of South Carolina, and
     they had no children. They had a foster daughter, who married
     J. D. Doss, and who passed away at Louisville in 1951. She was the
     mother of Dan W. Doss, business man, of Louisville, also deceased.
        Mrs. Jennie I. Coleman in the diary of her trip to Mississippi
     and Alabama in 1919 (accompanied by her sister, Mrs. Mary
     Faucette, by the courtesy of whose family the diary was made
     available) said that

        "Mott Coleman's sister Emily married a Welsh."

     (This no doubt accounts for the Welsh grave. Since William D.
     Welsh, buried in the family burying ground, is two years older
     than Mott, he probably is the brother-in-law.)

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        She also said, "Her daughter (meaning Emily's daughter)
     Sallie Welsh married John Hull."
        M. A. Coleman was quite well to do for his day and time. The
     writer noticed that his grave appeared to be about one-third
     excavated when visited on July 22, 1951. One of the neighbors said
     that the rumor got out in the community that "Mott's money was
     buried with him" and that immediately thereafter unknown vandals
     attempted to excavate the grave in the night time.

                            OBITUARY OF M. A. COLEMAN
                (WINSTON COUNTY JOURNAL, issue of April 13, 1917)

     "A GOOD MAN IS GONE
     Captain M. A. Coleman died Friday Night.
        After a lingering illness of months, Captain M. A. Coleman died
     at the home of his son-in-law, Honorable J. D. Doss on East Main
     Street (Louisville) last Friday night, April 6, 1917 and his
     remains were laid to rest in Liberty Universalist Cemetery (error)
     the following day in the presence of a large congregation of
     friends, Rev. J. H. White conducting services. Mr. Coleman passed
     his 86th year last November, which placed him among our oldest
     citizens. There was perhaps no man in the county better known than
     Mr. Coleman. He had been a citizen of the county for many years,
     had served his county in the State Legislature, and as sheriff and
     tax collector. He was for many years one of our largest
     agriculturalists, owning large numbers of acres east of town where
     he resided until recently and where he was a benefactor to many
     people. He was of a jovial nature and big hearted, always ready to
     help his friends when in need, having many kindly acts to his
     credit.  He was a lover if the foxchase in his earlier days and was
     known throughout our county as a famous foxhunter, keeping a large
     pack of dogs for his and his friends pleasure for many years.
        Mr. Coleman lived to a ripe old age, always active in all that
     pertained to the welfare of his country. and in his death one of
     our county's best and most patriotic citizens has passed to his
     reward. Peace to his ashes."

        Note: The newspaper report is in error in stating that Mr.
     Coleman was buried at Liberty. He was buried in the family
     cemetery already described.

                                 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

        I must acknowledge my gratitude to Honorable R. W. Boydstun,
     of the Louisville Bar, and to Mr. E. B. Clark, Deputy Chancery
     Clerk, of

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     THE ROBERT COLEMAN FAMILY

     Louisville, Mississippi, for information which located the Coleman
     graves. Also, I thank Mr. W. H. Hight, Editor of the 
     Winston County Journal, for making available the obituary of
     M. A. Coleman from the 1917 files of his paper.










     CHARLES WASHINGTON FAUCETTE and his wife, 
     MRS. MARY FEASTER COLEMAN FAUCETTE, sister of
     Mrs. Jennie I. Coleman.

        Mr. Boydstun guided me to the Coleman graves on July 22, 1951,
     and offered to do so in 1960. It worked out, however, that Mr. 
     R. B.  Yarbrough, of Louisville, accompanied me in 1960. While at
     the scene we were given much valuable information by Mr. 
     Connie Mack Lloyd, who lives nearby, and who is a brother of Mrs.
     Tommie Reed.

        DIRECTIONS TO REACH THE OLD HOME OF WILLIAMS CHARLES COLEMAN,
     approximately 7 miles Northeast of Louisville, Mississippi.
     Re-visited on July 11, 1960.

        From Louisville
        Go East on the Macon Road (State Highway 14) 1.8 miles.
        Turn left on Bond Road, go Northeast 2.6 miles.
        Turn left and go 2.8 miles.

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                                                 THE ROBERT COLEMAN FAMILY

        Turn left and go .2 miles to Tommie Reed house, which is the old
     Williams Charles Coleman home, restored.

        The graves of Williams Charles Coleman and Mortimer A. Coleman
     and wives are in sight of this house on top of hill. This is
     beautiful, rolling, red soiled country. Very productive.

                     CHILDREN OF WILLIAMS AND SOPHIA COLEMAN

     Mortimer A. Coleman, (Mott), died 1917.
     Wiley Allen Coleman, drowned in mill pond.
     Dan G. Coleman, died in Civil War.
     Mrs. Emeline Coleman Welch.
     Mrs. Sallie E. Coleman Higgins.

        As already stated, William B. Welch and Mrs. Emmaline Welch had
     four children. The sons were Alexander W. and Robert. The daugh-
     ters were Elizabeth and Sallie. Sallie married John N. Hull.
        The writer is very sorry that he at this time knows nothing
     about Mrs. Sallie Higgins.

                                      NOTES

        Winston County Personal Assessment Roll, 1847. On file in
     Mississippi State Department of Archives and History.

        WILLIAMS C. COLEMAN, assessed for 17 slaves under 60 years of
     age; 60 head of cattle, and 1 clock valued at twenty dollars.

                                       -2-
        Land Deed Book Q, Page 24, Winston County. February, 1859,
     Williams Charles Coleman, conveyed "In consideration of the love
     and affection I have for my daughter, Emeline Welch, 560 acres of
     land."

                                       -3-
        C.htm#N005903">United States Census, Winston County, 1860. Wm. C.  Coleman,
     age 58, born in South Carolina.
       Personal property valued at $30,000; Real Estate valued at $10,000.


                                       -4-

        Winston County Personal Assessment Roll, 1863. W. C. COLEMAN

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     assessed for 32 slaves under 60 years of age, 1 pleasure carriage
     valued at $ 150; 1 watch valued at $ 174; 1 clock valued at $ 18.

        M. A. COLEMAN (Mott) assessed for 6 slaves under 60 years of
     age; 1 pleasure carriage valued at $70; I watch valued at $30.

                                       -5-
        Drawer 70, Case 216, Supreme Court of Mississippi. In re: Estate
     of Williams C. Coleman. Shows Wms. C. Coleman to be the father of
     Emmeline Welsh, wife of William B. Welsh, who died September 25,
     1859. Shows her children to be: Alexander William Welsh,
     Sallie Welsh, Robert Edward Welsh, and Elizabeth Welsh.

                                       -6-
        Mortimer A. Coleman served as Sheriff of Winston County during
     Reconstruction years. Was a member of the Mississippi Legislature
     at the 1880 session from Winston County.

        In the Mississippi State Department of Archives and History is a
     handwritten manuscript of William T. Lewis' History of 
     Winston County, written in 1876. In this manuscript we find the
     following, p. 17:

        "Wm. C. Coleman had a son by the name of Wiley Allen, who was a
     noctambulist. One night while at Sam Welch's Mill, it is sup-
     posed, he commenced wandering about in his sleep and stepped out of
     the mill house into the pond and was drowned."

        It will be noted that this young man was named for both his
     grandfathers, Wiley and Allen Coleman. It might be further noted
     that Williams Charles Coleman was the son of first cousins and
     married his first cousin.
        Williams Charles also had a son named Daniel. The Winston County
     Census of 1850 lists him in the Williams Coleman family group as
     eleven years old. In 1860 the Census listed him as D. G., age 21,
     and residing with Mott Coleman. He enlisted in the Barksdale Greys,
     later Company G., 20th Mississippi, June, 1861, along with his
     brother, Mortimer A.  (Mott). He died at Vicksburg,
     September 10, 1863.
       Continuing from Lewis' History, at Page 60:

       "Williams C. Coleman once lost a very fine young horse and after
     making diligent search and careful inquiry of every person he saw
     until his efforts proved fruitless he then offered a reward of

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                                              THE ROBERT COLEMAN FAMILY

     fifty dollars to any person who would bring him the horse or put
     him on his track so he could get him. Jack Bass struck a bee line
     in the direction of Mobile and after the elapse of a few days he
     brought Coleman's horse to him and received the reward."

        At Page 122 of the Lewis Manuscript is listed the contributors
     to the Wiliston Guards, organized at Louisville on May 13, 1861.
     Among the contributors were, I. D. Coleman, $25, Wiley W. Coleman,
     $20, Williams C. Coleman, $ 15, Griffin Roe Coleman, $ 10, and 
     W. A. Coleman is listed as contributing $50 to his son, 
     T. Fisk Coleman. T. Fisk Coleman was killed at Gettysburg. The
     Winston Guards fought at Antietam, Gettysburg, and Fredericksburg.
        At Page 136 of the Manuscript begins the history of the
     Barksdale Greys. This was the third company from Winston County to
     enter the Confederate War. It was named in honor of 
     William Barksdale of Columbus, Mississippi. This company was
     organized at Webster in the northeastern part of Winston County, in
     June 1861.  They volunteered for three years or the duration of the
     war. They were mustered into the Confederate service as Company G,
     20th Mississippi Regiment. John S. Reed was captain.
        The following are listed:

        No. 32, Dan G. Coleman, died Vicksburg, September 10, 1863.
        No. 33, Mort A. Coleman, discharged Bowling Green, Kentucky,
     June 10, 1862. (Son of Williams C. Coleman).
        No. 35, William J. Cooper, died Island No. 10, near Fort Pillow,
     July, 1862.
        No. 36, Wm. Coleman(served for the duration) son of 
     Isaiah Daniel Coleman.
        No. 37, W. W. (Burry) Coleman, son of Griffin Coleman.
        No. 38. Moses W. Coleman (brother of Burry), discharged 
     Grenada, Mississippi, July 4, 1862.
        No. 39, Adam M. Cooper.
        No. 40, John L. Cooper, died Franklin, Tennessee.

        There were 135 in this company as originally constituted.
        From luka the Barksdale Greys went to Lynchburg, Virginia, where
     they received orders to join General Floyd's command in West Virginia,
     at Big Sewell Mountain. From there they marched to Cotton Hill, WV. 
     Thence they marched and countermarched through West Virginia
     until January, 1862, when they left Virginia for Bowling Green,
    

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     Kentucky. In February 1862, they were ordered to Fort Donalson, TN.
     where on the 14th of that month they were engaged in
     the hard fought battle at that place, which resulted in the capture
     of nearly the entire Confederate forces. The Barksdale Greys,
     commanded by Lt. W. R.  Nelson, was the second company that opened
     fire on the Federals at Fort Donalson. The weather was cold and the
     ground covered with snow during that memorable battle;
     notwithstanding, at the surrender of the Confederate forces, 
     John C. Doss, Charles Lenon, Lt. E. J. Kizar, William J. Scruggs,
     and Mike A. Lynch, after stacking arms, made good their escape from
     capture and wended their way up a Bayou until they procured an old
     dugout from a citizen and crossed over the murky water; but not
     without a mishap, for Doss, Lenon, and Scruggs while crossing over
     capsized the dugout and received a copious ducking. They made their
     way through the snow and over the frozen ground about one hundred
     miles to Franklin, where they boarded the train and soon arrived
     safely at home, bringing tidings of the sad disaster and surrender
     of Fort Donalson.
        Capt. Reid (here spelled Reid in the Manuscript) next
     rendezvoused the remnant of the Company at Corinth, at which
     place they were detailed to guard the commisary stores. In a few
     weeks the booming of cannon was heard at Shiloh which gave
     unmistakable evidence that a battle was furiously raging there. The
     Barksdale Grays applied to their Capt. for permission to go to
     Shiloh, and upon permission being positively refused, M. A. Lynch,
     C. C. Ivy, Henry Spear, Thos. Futree, Walter Coleman, and
     Pink Marlin secretly through the night, cooked some rations and left
     their post before daylight the next morning and hied away to the
     battle field, which was reached about the time the battle ended.
        In the fall of 1862, the members of the Barksdale Grays who
     had been confined in prison at Camp Douglas 
     (William Charles Coleman, son of Isaiah Daniel Coleman was in this
     number) were exchanged and again rendezvoused at Holly Springs, MS.
     The Company marched and countermarched through
     western Mississippi for some time, camping a while at Clinton.
     While at the latter place Seabe McElvany went into the country and
     during a conversation with a young lady she asked him, "Are you
     fond of novels?" Seabe replied, "I.htm#N006087">I don't know, I never eat any; but
     I am extremely fond of ingions (onions) and Lieut. Nelson sent me
     out here to try and get a mess of them."

        The company was ordered from Clinton to Jackson to be mounted as
     cavalry, and if possible to capture Col. Grierson, who was then making a

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                                                THE ROBERT COLEMAN FAMILY

     raid through the State. On the 16th of May, 1863, the company was
     engaged in the battle of Baker's Creek. When it was discovered that
     the Confederate Army could not cope with the Federal Army, whose
     numerical strength so greatly exceeded their own, and that they
     would be compelled to fall back; the Barksdale Grays and three
     other companies of the regiment were ordered to hold the Federal
     Army at bay until the Confederates could retreat. They took their
     stand on Champion Hill and successfully held at bay, for several
     hours, the whole Federal Army until the desired retreat was made.
     And when the three companies were ordered to retreat they done
     (sic) so under such a galling and terrific fire from the Federal
     Army that it seemed almost impossible for a single soldier to have
     escaped sudden death. After they had retreated a short distance
     Lieut. W. J. Scruggs discovered that he had left his pistol and
     fearlessly ran back in view of the Federal Army, amidst a shower
     of lead and found his pistol. While hunting for his pistol he
     discovered Theodore Lawrence snugly ensconced in a hole in the
     ground, praying to God for protection.

        After many advances and retreats in western Mississippi, the
     company finally made an unsuccessful stand at Jackson, Mississippi,
     retreating from there to Demopolis, Alabama, and thence to
     Tennessee. They fought and sustained a heavy loss in Hood's
     memorable slaughter pen at Franklin, Tennessee in 1864, where
     Lieut. Col. Rover, commander of the regiment; Lieut. E. J. Kizar,
     commander of the company, Lieut.  William J. Scruggs and others
     fell in the fruitless attempt to storm the enemy's impregnable
     breastworks. When the strill bugle notes of Lieut.  Col. Rover was
     heard above the din of battle "To Storm the Fort" the company
     rushed forward with impetuosity to obey his orders. Seaborn
     McElvany was the first man to mount the breastworks and plant upon
     it the Confederate flag, which, like the dauntless Jasper of the
     revolution, or the fearless Hyacinths of the French revolution of
     1848, came near costing him his life; for he fell, desperately,
     but not mortally, wounded upon the enemy's breastworks. When
     Seaborn McElvany mounted the Federal Breastworks, Lieut. Col. Rover,
     the bravest of the brave, stood by his side, where he fell
     with his face to the foe and his body pierced by a dozen minnie
     balls. Lieut. Kizar, who was killed in the battle at Franklin,
     Tenn., was a college graduate-an accomplished gentleman--a good
     officer and as brave a man as ever unsheathed a sword. Winston County
     mourns the loss of such men. Lieut. W. J. Scruggs, who was killed
     in the same battle, was man of excellent morals and fine mental
     attainments. The effect of his lofty and noble bearing was
     indelibly

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     THE ROBERT COLEMAN FAMILY

     impressed upon the hearts of his comrades. By whom this loss will
     ever be deplored, and his memory cherished as a lost jewel from
     the casket of life.
        A short time before the surrender the companies had been
     reorganized and new officers elected, when Lieut. W. R. Nelson was
     elected captain of the Barksdale Grays. During the war he acted in
     the capacity of private, corporal, lieutenant, captain and
     physician of the company.
        The Barksdale Grays did their duty fearlessly throughout the
     war.  Their bones were left to mingle with the dust on the
     battlefields of Fort Donalson, Baker's Creek, Atlanta, Franklin,
     Nashville, and many other battle fields of minor importance.
        The remains of some of the Barksdale Grays repose in each of the
     following States: Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee,
     North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi.
        The following are the names of the Eleven officers and privates
     of the company who were present at the Surrender on the 26th of
     May, 1865, at Greensboro, North Carolina: Capt. W. R. Nelson, Sgt.
     Eph Richardson, Sgt. James A. White, Sgt. Adam M. Cooper, Corp.
     Thomas Harper, Corp. James Finkley, Jack Bigham, Wm. Coleman (son
     of Isaiah Daniel), Sam Bateman, Fred Richardson, and Wiley Wingo.
        All of the foregoing is copied from the Lewis Manuscript,
     ending on Page 145 thereof. Then follows a list of contributors to
     the Company when it was organized, including a. B. Cooper, $50;
     Wms. C. Coleman, $25; Wiley W. Coleman, $20; Grif R. Coleman, $10;
     Nimrod Triplett, $5;

        Note by J. P. Coleman, March 13, 1956. Wm. Coleman was my great
     uncle. l have the cherished recollections of his many visits to our
     home when I.htm#N006201">I was a small boy. I have listened to him by the hour
     telling his stories of his military ventures.

        He was 12 years old when his father moved to Winston County, MS.
     I wonder if he visited his old home and his relatives
     in Fairfield County, SC, either when he was retreating before
     Sherman (the route lay through Winnsboro and Blackstock) or when he
     started his long trip homeward from Greensboro after the surrender.
     It is now too late for me ever to find out.

        On Page 148 of the Manuscript is found a list of women who
     contributed to the purchase of a flag for the company when it was
     organized. In the list are Sarah Cooper, Mary Metts, S. R. Coleman
     (sister of William Charles) and Mary Coleman.

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                              [PICTURE]





                     WILLIAM RAGSDALE COLEMAN

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     THE ROBERT COLEMAN FAMILY



                                    [PICTURE]



                         MRS. SARAH NEWPORT HEAD COLEMAN

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                                                THE ROBERT COLEMAN FAMILY





                   [PICTURE]                    [PICTURE]




          THOMAS BLEWETT COLEMAN.          His wife, MRS.
          Photo taken at Granberry,        MARTHA JANE SIMPSON COLEMAN.
          Texas, 1915.                     Photo taken at same time.




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