I29008: Elizabeth BATTAILE (1695

Notes

Exact relationship has not been determined to My David d. 1759 Craven Co. SC, the Cant/McCants data was researched by a cousin some 40 years ago. NOT PROVEN ANCESTORS - These are Cant records found in SCT who could be related to ANDREW (1590-1663). The late Miss Marion McCants of Washington DC & Sussex Eng spent many years trying to sort out the early history in America, Scotland and Ireland. She had a journal that had been kept by an aunt who lived in the early 1800's. Her records have not been found. 1/28/97.

Scotch-Irish for more than two thousand years have one continuous story of hardihood made splendid by heroism. Some students think they were descendants of the Gog of Magog, of whom Ezekiel writes and connected with the Scythians whom Alexander fought and failed to conquer. Others believe they were the backbone of the warlike tribe of Sahi that so disturbed the Assyrian King Asurbanipal (668-626 B.C.) It is generally accepted that these Scot-Irish were the same nomad tribes (Celts) that worked their way eastward along the shores of the Black Sea, by the Danube through Switzerland and France and Spain, from whence they went into Ireland before the days of St. Patrick. After spending six centuries in Ireland, some of them crossed over the Irish Sea into North Britain. Here they fought the Picts continuously for hundreds of years. After remaining in Scotland for almost a thousand years, during which time they gave this land a name and made it a "thing of the soul", in the 17th century, they turned again home into Ireland, and settled in Counties DOWN and ANTRIM, along the northern shores.

Cant records in Scotland are found as early as 1376 when William and Sithow Cant were tenants under the Douglases in Telny in the barony of Aberdoure, Fife.

One version of the origin of this family name is that it is derived from the Norman-French Cant, which earlier took forms of De Gand and the Dutch Gant.
A variety of spellings have evolved; McCant, McCanse, McCantt, McCance, McCantz, Mackanze, McKanse & McKants.

In the 15th century the family members were dealers in cloth and supplied the King's household and are mentioned in connection with Flanders. In the 15th century records show the family obtained land at Masterson near Dumferline, SCT.

The Cant family were members of the Clan Donal or Donnell of Dundee, SCT.

The name, Cant, according to sources was originally Holland Dutch.

Date: Wed, 16 Jul 1997 To: josephine bass
From: Paul Cant
Subject: Re: CANT

Various Notes on People with the Surname "Cant"
George Paul Cant August, 1995

There are probably about 2000 people alive today with the name Cant, most of them being in Australia. I have not attempted to find connections among them or to seek out my own close relatives, although I do know that my grandfather, Joseph Cant was the seventh son of a seventh son, and while he came to Canada from Berwick at the young age of 17, some of his brothers went to Australia, and so I have lost touch with that side of the family

My father was William Roddam Corson Cant, born in 1906 in Toronto. I understand that one of Joseph's brothers, Roddam, went to Chicago.

Joseph would have been born a bit before 1860 and his father before him was Andrew Cant, a minister of the church at Berwick-on-Tweed. He descended from a line of ministers named Andrew Cant who were prominent at the time of the struggles concerning the Scottish National Covenant in 1638. One Andrew Cant was a commissioner playing a very important role for the Covenanters in his travels to the various towns from his base in Pitsligo. Undoubtedly to his great annoyance, his son, Andrew, was an episcopalian and he became principal of the College of Edinburgh in 1675. He had a second son, Rev. Alexander Cant, and his son Andrew, grandson of the famous Covenanter, even became a bishop in 1722, serving thusly until his death in 1730.

From a large number of publications I have collected excerpts that mention Cant family members, and these are mentioned herein. The order of presentation is random, and the connections between the people are not known.

1. I had a copy of a rose enthusiast's book called The Rose Annual for the year 1954. On page 103 it mentions Benjamin R. Cant and Sons of Colchester, England and Frank Cant and Co., Ltd., also of Colchester. The same book also says that in the National Rose Society of Great Britain, one F.S. Harvey-Cant was the Dean Hole medallist for the year 1950. It also mentions that Mrs. M.G. Cant was an honorary vice-president of the Society in 1954. The 1955 edition mentions William Cant on page 119.
2. The Times of London on Dec. 11, 1967 had a small item about a Mr. Cant, representing the Labour Party for Stoke-on-Trent central riding, and he spoke about the problem of local government expenditure levels.
3. Noel W. Cant and L.H. Little (University of Western Australia, Nedlands) published a paper in Nature 211:5044, 1966. The title is "Lewis and Broensted acid sites on silica-alumina." Also see papers in Canadian J. of Chem. 42:802 and 43:1252
4. I have seen a reference to Fegan, Ethel Sophia, 1877- and Cant, Monica "Cheltenham Classification; a library classification for schools [2nd edition, revised by E.S. Fegan and V.M. Hounsfield] 91 pages, 12s6d 1958 Heffer $2.75 Burns and MacEachern
5. In 1970 I photographed a tombstone in St. Nicholas Churchyard in Nottingham, England. It says:
.....e Lieth the Body of MARY
..ANT who Departed this Life
February the 22d Anno Dom 1732
in the 46th Year of her Age
here also Lieth the Body of ANN
the Second Wife of JOHN CANT
who Departed this Life October ye
14th Anno Dom MDCCXXXVII in ye
54th Year of her Age
Here Likewise Lieth the Body of
JOHN CANT who Departed
this Life March the 2. 1744 in
the 59th Year of his Age.
6. In a book called the Return of Members of Parliament, which lists the elected representatives over the years, there is an entry on page 523 that shows that Henry Cant (also spelled Caunt) of Edinburgh was a member from 1476 until 1492.
7. A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen has entries on the Andrew Cant line. Volume 1 (published in 1875) has a portrait of the Covenanter.
8. Notes and Queries Series 2, vol. 7, page 157 mentions an item in the Transactions of the Liverpool Literary and Philosophical Society for 1848, on page 58. That in turn is quoting the Mercurius Publicus, probably an Edinburgh paper. It refers to Oliver and Ezekiel Cant, who were two Scotch clergymen.
9. Notes and Queries Series 8, vol. 2, page 47 has an item on the Kent and Cant surnames.
"In Scotland these two names appear occasionally to be identical; e.g. William Kent is a tenant at Dunfermline in 1561; James Kent is at Cartscherrie in 1618; Andrew Hart, printer, is husband of Janet Kent in 1620; W. Kent is burgess of Dunfermline in 1641; John Kent is Commissioner of Customs at Edinburgh in 1710. In English Parliamentary lists Kents appear from 1380, without the territorial 'de'. Even earlier there is Caunt in 1320, Kaunt in 1332 and 1375. All these mostly represented boroughs in which clothiers flourished. In Scottish Parliaments, Henry Cant (afterwards written Caunt) first appears in 1473. Amongst Somerset incumbents are Tho. Kent, 1352, and Hen. Caunt in 1455. In 1576 a Walloon or Dutch master dyer at Norwich is indifferently named Kynte or Kent. In 1281 the surname or designation 'Le Kent' has been found in a list of several traders in a Shrewsbury gild roll. In 1327 Adam Cante is named in a Somerset list of Exchequer lay subsidies....."
10. Crockford's Clerical Dictionary has an entry on Reginald Edward Cant who obtained his M.A. from Cambridge in 1939. He was vice-principal of Edinburgh Theological College from 1941-46.
11. In 1947, Oliver and Boyd published a book entitled "Old Glasgow" by Ronald Cant.
12. In the book "Traditions of Edinburgh", by Robert Chalmers, there is mention of a part of the city called Cant's Close. It says it was named after John Cant, a pious citizen of the 16th century who with his wife, Agnes Kerkettle, was a contributor to the foundation of the convent of St. Catherine of Siena on the south side of the Meadows. The district is now known as Siennes.
13. In the book "Edinburgh and its Story" by Olive Smeaton, J.M. Dent, 1904 there is mention of Cant's close on page 205.
"In Cant's Close, named, according to some, after Adam Cant, who was Dean of Guild in 1450, but according to others and more probably, after Andrew Cant, principal of the University of Edinburgh from 1675-85 and the ancestor of the great Koenigsberg metaphysician, the buildings were mainly ecclesiastical...."
14. In the book "The Scottish Philosophy" by James McCosh, New York, Scribner's, 1890, we read on page 94:-
"In the university library of Aberdeen we have theses occupying 121 pages by Andrew Cant, the younger, of date 1658: in these he shows that he knew the Copernican theory of the heavens and Harvey's discovery of the circulation of the blood...."
15. In the "Biographical History of Great Britain" we learn that Andrew Cant lived from about 1590 to 1663. He was chaplain with the covenanting army from 1640. By his wife, Margaret Irvine, he left two sons and two daughters. One son, Andrew, was Princiapl of the University from 1675-85.

16. Five Cant minsisters are mentioned in the "Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature" by McClintock and Strong. Harper and Bros., New York, 1885.

Andrew, 1590-1663. He was a Commissioner of the Assembly from 1642-49.
Alexander, son of the above, graduated from King's College, Aberdeen in 1636 and died before 1681.
Andrew, also a son of the above Andrew, became Principal of the University.
Andrew, graduated from King's College, Aberdeen in 1688. He became a bishop in 1722 and died in 1730 at age 80.
John Cant became the minister at Kells in 1659. He died before May 29, 1706.
17. The book "Covenanters in the North" says quite a bit about the covenanter, Andrew Cant on page 205. It quotes Pinkerton's History of British Families and says that "Sir Thomas Burnet, the first baronet of Leys, had a daughter married to Andrew Cant of Glendye, and of this family was Mr. Cant, the Covenanting clergyman of Aberdeen."
18. In 1578 Mr. William Cant had a hostelry in Leith, Scotland.
19. In 1774 James Cant was an antiquary in Perth, Scotland.
20. In September, 1247, Sir Thomas de Cant died at Melrose Abbey.
21. "The Colonial Office List, 1959" published by H.M.S.O. has an entry on p. 307 for C.H.S. Cant who was born in 1912, was schooled in Edinburgh, and served in the R.A.F.
22. In Herringshaw's American Biography of the Nineteenth Century, American Publishers Association, Chicago, 1898, there is an entry on p. 191 for William A. Cant born Dec. 23, 1863 in Westfield, Wisconsin. He became a lawyer and a judge.
23. I heard that there was a minister named Rev. Cant on the Faeroe Islands back in the 1970's.
24. Douglas J. Cant was a faculty member in the Department of Geology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Later he was at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
25. Monica Cant lives in Newfoundland. I believe that she is a medical doctor.
26. One John Cant has a Ferrari dealership somewhere in Australia. My son, John
Cant was given a photograph of the place.
27. In the 1940's there was a William Cant living in Stoney Creek, Ontario, near Hamilton.
28. The Rev. Frank S. Cant graduated from Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, in 1953.
29. In a book about Toronto history there is a drawing of shops on King Street around 1860, and one of the shops has a sign over it that says "Geo. Cant". My grandfather, Joseph, never mentioned anything about a Cant being in Toronto at the time that he settled there.
30. In the November 27, 1967 copy of Electronics Magazine there is an article on p. 76 by A.W. Rich, B.M. Vaughan, and C.J. Cant from Christchurch, New Zealand. It is about computer aided design for data transmission systems.

Items from the Reports of the Historical Manuscripts Commission
1. Vol. 6, the 7th Report, Appendix, page 736
It deals with the manuscripts of William Oliver Rutherford of County Roxburgh.
He has a copy of a grant dated July 13, 1464 signed "befor thir witnese dene Philip Walese, sub-prior of our closter, dene Walter Mol, dene Walter Pyll, dene Johne Cant, dene Alexander Geddes, dene Hendry of Glasgow..." and others.
2. The First Report, dated 1874, on page 116 of the appendix mentions that the papers of the Marquis of Lothian at Newbattle have been arranged in 15 folio volumes. Volume IX contains letters to the Earl of Lothian in the years 1637-49 from men of some position, including the Rev. Andrew Cant.
3. See Vol. 78(vol.1) page 55, London, 1928.
It deals with the Hastings manuscripts kept at the Manor House at Ashby de la Zouche. Some ancient deeds are mentioned including one at Aylestone around the years 1220-1237. "Grant by Ralph Marescallus of Aylestone to Adam, son of Ivo of Braunteston, for his homage and service..." One of the witnesses was Andrew Cant.
4. Vol 60 deals with manuscripts of the Earl of Mar and Kellie, preserved at Alloa House in Clackmannanshire. Page 1 mentions some charters, including these two:-
Around 1356 "Donald, Earl of Mar, gave and granted to John of Garwyche, in feu farm, all and whole his lands of Wester Foulis; witnesses: Gartney and Duncan, his sons: Sir Adam Cant, vicar of Mygvecht; Roger...." Among other witnesses was Sir Thomas Cant, vicar of Afferd.
"Thomas, Earl of Mar, gave and granted to John Cambroun with his cousin in free marriage, all and whole his lands of Barkis and Wester Drummalachie...."
Among the witnesses to this undated document was Sir Andrew Cant, prior of Moneymusk.
5. Vol 57 (vol.1) deals with the Home manuscripts around 1902. Col.David Home of Wedderburn in Berwickshire was in possession of them. On page 81, item 180 is a summons by David Home and his spouse against John Home, Andro Home, James Home,..........., William Cant, et cetera. It is dated Edinburgh, June 8, 1610.
6. Vol 34, the 14th report of the Commission, Appendix, part III has information on the Duke of Roxburghe manuscripts, kept at Floors Castle in Roxburgh. On page 43 it lists the sisters in the Convent of the Sciennes near Edinburgh in 1556.
Cristian Bellenden, priores
Elizabeth Naper, suppriores
Katherine Seytoun
Marione Craufurd
Elizabeth Naper
Jane Douglas
Margaret Dunber
Margaret Naper
Agnes Naper
Isabell Cant <------
Katherine Neisbet
Beatrix Blacater
7. Vol. 34, page 66 deals with the Marchmont papers, possessed by Sir Hume Campbell of Marchmont House in Berwickshire. Item 9 is Letters of Obligation by John Murray and Elizabeth Sinclair dated at Edinburgh on January 24th 1479 or 1480. The witnesses are Thomas Lowis, George Cant, Henry Cant, and others.
8. Vol. 29 deals with the Portland manuscripts preserved at Welbeck Abbey. Vol. I, p. 396 mentions the "Depositions of Robert Cant, George Reeve, and John Cant. 1646, August 6.- describing the circumstances of the death of John Halford"
================================================================= ==== =
Some Cants on the Net
1. Andy Cant in Arkansas AndyCant@5016232286 (I haven't tried this address yet.)
2. Helen Cant has her page at http://freenet.actein.edu.au/GiraPS/staff/staffpages/helen.html
3. Kelly Cant is a grad student in a biology lab at Yale http://info.med.yale.edu/cooley/members.html
Also try http://info.med.yale.edu/cooley/publications/cant1994ab.html
She is no longer with the Cooley lab.
See http://info.med.yale.edu/cooley/k_cant/index.html
4. An address I have not tried is [email protected] (Mitch Cant)
5. Nell Cant has a page at http://www.neuro.duke.edu/faculty/cant.html
6. Noel W. Cant has a page on the web. http://www.chem.mq.edu.au/academics\cant.htm
7. Richard Cant is at http://www.doc.ntu.ac.uk/People/Staff_biogs/rcc.html
I sent an Email to Richard, but did not get a reply. Maybe you should try him, and if he's not swamped with university work you might get an answer.
8. A writeup about Ruth Cant is at http://www.brad.ac.uk/university/ugpros/z2-slife.htm
9. I have not looked at http://hector.insted.unimelb.edu.au/B4/Reading/CantSue.html
10. I have not tried [email protected] (Tony Cant)
11. An Altavista search on "Andrew Cant" yielded one item, concerning the link between Cant and McCants, which reads in part " David McCants of Williamsburgh seems to have been a grandson of Andrew Cant of Aberdeen. Some accounts by family historians say David arrived in South Carolina about 1720-30, but we have found no records of the family before 1734. On July 5, 1740 David McCants was granted 250 acres in Williamsburgh Township. Mc was added in the 1700's when they moved to Ireland.
(old web site)http://www.uokhsc.edu/~rbonner/myff/D0012/I202.html
now on rootsweb as My Southern Family.
12. Ross Cant has some material at http://http1.brunel.ac.uk:8080/~empgdca/engd/biogs/bio94can.htm
13. Look at http://metro.turnpike.net/R/rhodesia/oz_wa/b3_tcant.html
14. You can find me by starting at http://aci.mta.ca/PEG/
15. I looked up the name Cant in the New Zealand phone directories online and made up a file containing over forty entries. It would probably take weeks to put together a tidy list of Cants in Australia. Maybe I'll try it some day. ^[S18] ^[S18] ^[S11] ^[S11] ^[S446]

Notes

BIO: Meriwether "Jeff" Thompson, born Jan 22, 1826 at Harpers Ferry, VA. Son of Capt. Meriwether Thompson and Nancy Slaughter Broadus. Reportably his mother was kin to George Washington. In 1847, Jeff Thompson moved to Missouri, settling in St. Joseph. There he worked as a grocer, real estate agent, surveyor, R.R. President and Mayor.

In 1861, Thompson was commissioned a Brigadier General in the Missouri State
Guard (1st Division). During the war he earned the reputation of being the "Swamp Fox" for operations in and out of the cypress swamps of southeast Missouri. This included a sortie resulting in the destruction of a major railroad bridge within fifty miles of St. Louis.

On Oct. 21 1861 Thompson's Missouri State Guard, outnumbered four to one, defeated Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's forces at Fredricktown, Missouri. While Grant declared victory, documented history as told by Jerry Ponder in his book, "The Civil War Battle of Fredricktown, Mo" published in 1996 tells a different story.

"On a march towards Fredericktown, with a force of 1,200, Gen. Thompson encountered 10,000 [Federals], which he engaged with such skill and courage as to check the enemy's pursuit and enabled him to move his little force out of danger. The feat showed extraordinary military skill, when we consider that the smaller command was extricated with only 20 killed, while the loss of the enemy was counted by hundreds..." (R.S. Bevier)

On Aug 22, 1863, after inflicting numerous raids on the Federals, Thompson was captured near Pocahontas, Arkansas. Exchanged in August 1864, Thompson was immediately assigned by Sterling Price to command a cavalry brigade (Shelby's "Iron Brigade") on Price's 1864 Missouri raid. Thompson proved to be a very competent cavalry commander, winning the confidence of Gen. J.O. Shelby, who at times placed his entire division under Thompson's direction.

After the war, Thompson temporarily settled in Memphis, Tennessee before accepting a position as "Chief Engineer" of New Orleans' Board of Public Works. In 1876, Thompson, in poor health, returned to St. Joseph, Mo. where he died on Sept. 5, 1876. He was interred at Mt. Mora Cemetery in St. Joseph.

Interesting quotes by or about Jeff Thompson:
----------------------------------------------
Fredericktown, Mo.
Oct. 17th 1861

I occupy this town with two thousand men--one hundred miles from support in
the face of a strong force of the enemy and have them frightened out of their wits.

M. Jeff Thompson
Brig. Gen. Comdg.
1st Mil. Dist. M.S.G.
-----------------------------
"Jeff Thompson, the nightmare of every post commander on the Mississippi, is the commander of the rebel fleet just' below us, yet the commandant at New Madrid this night lies in an unquiet bed, assured that the immortal Jeff is after him with those naked and starved swamp rats. "
--Lt. S. L. PHELPS, U.S. Navy (U. S. GUNBOAT BENTON, Near Fort Pillow, May
22, 1862)
-----------------------
Adjutant General's Office, Missouri
Jefferson City
May 29th 1861
I propose a plan to the Council of War. To make a speedy and bloodless peace
--it is to burn all the breweries and declare Lager Beer to be contraband of war. By this means the Dutch will all die in a week and the Yankees will then run from this State.

Yours,
Jeff [Thompson]
_______________
This account is by Capt. Israel Gibbons writing from Columbus, Kentucky during the war: "The great Missouri swamp fox, the Marion of this revolution--you must know I mean General M. Jeff. Thompson--was in town yesterday. I cannot say he is in town; like the Hibernian's flea, he seems to be here, there, and everywhere all at once. As he stepped leisurely over some barrels on the landing, I would not have known him but for the inevitable white handled Bowie knife, which he carries as no other man carries a knife, stuck perpendicularly in his belt on the middle of his back; for he now wears a genteel regulation uniform, befitting a general. His old slouch white hat and feather, bobtailed coat, short pants and rough boots, which made him look more like a cattle drover than a gentleman, and in which he did his earliest deeds of daring, have been laid aside, and now he has really a military look. Let me picture this man to you. Imagine a tall, lean, lank, wiry looking customer, at least six feet high, and as slender as a pair of tongs; a thin, long head, with a very long nose; what you would call a hatchet face; thick yellow hair, combed behind his ears and bobbed off short, displaying a very long and thin neck; face healthy and ruddy, without a vestige of beard or mustache; some thirty to thirty-five years of age; light blue eyes with friendly and benevolent expression; a placid, well-shaped mouth, with a half-smile always playing about the corners; a little stoop shouldered; slightly bandy-legged from much riding on horse-back; easy and graceful in his movements, as well on foot as in the saddle; mild voiced and unassuming in a crowd; full of rough soldier language in his talk; his manner and tone of voice the same to all, from major-general down to a Negro; imagine such a person as this, I say, and you will have a pretty correct idea of the famous Jeff. Thompson. He is about the last person you would take for Jeff. Thompson, after forming your idea from what you had heard of him.

He is perpetually full of fun and never gets to talking without setting all around him to laughing; it is believed indeed, that he fights chiefly for the fun of it. The camp is full of Jeff. Thompson's jokes, or rather the odd dialogues he has hand with friends and enemies." ------------- In another account Gen. Basil W. Duke describes his attempts to recruit men of Thompson's command to transfer from the State Guard to the regular Confederate Army. One must remember that during the early days of the Civil War, the spirit of State's rights was very high in Missouri, and service for one's State was considered of highest honor. In some circles, including Thompson's command, this independent spirit while being very anti-Federal government, extending to some degree against the national Confederate bureaucracy.

Basil Duke at this time was a Captain directed by Gen. Hardee to recruit some of Thompson's men. He writes: "After a day or two I formally declared my wishes to General Thompson and asked his permission to recruit such men as he might be willing to have go. He answered very cordially that he had no objection at all, and that I had his full leave to take all the men I could persuade to enlist. But he said that it would be not only a difficult task but a dangerous one.

"Now there was a fellow her the other day," he said, "from Arkansas, on the same mission. He also was ignorant of the prejudice the men feel against quitting the service of the State and entering that of the Confederacy, and he wasn't as prudent as you have been. He didn't first come and consult me, but went to work his own way. The result was that he hadn't been talking more than half an hour when the whole camp rose on him and ran him into the swamp. He got away by the skin of his teeth, but they fired at him by platoons, and chased him God know how far. I don't know what's become of him. I haven't heard from him for two days, but from the report of the rate at which he was then going I'm inclined to think that if he hasn't been killed he must be somewhere in Texas by this time."

"However, I wouldn't discourage you for the world. I like your patriotic spirit and want to help you if I can. Let me beg you, however, to be discreet. When you get ready to talk to these fellows have you horse where you can reach him handy."

"And, by the way, I'll tell you what I'll do. On some pretext or another I'll get the men down to one end of the camp, so that after you have made your proposition they'll have to go back some distance for their guns, and you can get a good start. Keep close watch out for the camp guards, however, and steer clear of the pickets. Then, if your horse don't fail you, it's possible you may get away. When would you like to make your speech ? Will to-marrow be soon enough ?"

Duke told General Thompson that upon reflection it seemed to him that he had better let the matter drop. Duke stated, "It was really wrong to deprive him and the State of Missouri of such soldiers. I thanked him for his hospitable reception." "But, general," Duke continued, I hope you won't mention this conversation to anyone while I'm in your camp. I'm a modest man and dislike to attract any particular or pointed attention to myself. Moreover, I've become satisfied that I couldn't make a success as a recruiting officer. So, instead of making a speech to your men tomarrow, I'll take leave as soon after an early breakfast as possible."

Duke in his "Reminiscences" published in 1911 writes the following: "For some months before the evacuation of Memphis, Gen. Thompson, although his bailiwick was yet in south-eastern Missouri, made his personal headquarters in that city, and shone with even more than the usual effulgence of the State Guard brigadier, who, amenable to no particular authority, demeaned himself as if he were clad with it all. His brigade was encamped some twenty-five or thirty miles above Memphis, on the western side of the river, and while passing the night in the city he punctually visited his camp every day. He had organized what he called a "canoe fleet", and by some means had gotten possession of a small tug boat, which he termed his "flag-ship." He would steam up the river every morning, drill his troops and attend to the policing and care of his camp all day-- for he was a careful and efficient officer--and return to Memphis in the evening in time to patronize the theatres and other places of amusement. Attended by a numerous and very "gay" staff, riding a spotted stallion which he called Sardanapalus, with a gigantic and truculent-looking Canadian Indian who answered to the name of Ajax, for his orderly. Gen. Thompson and his train were always in evidence and the objects of ever-curious observation. Ajax habitually wore a gorgeous suit of black velvet, a headdress of eagle feathers, and a belt with imitation scalp locks dangling from it. It was a favorite trick of the general to have Ajax enter the theatre, when it happened to be especially crowded and, with hurried mien, hand him a dispatch. Then the general would spring to his feet and dash for the door, followed by his staff. On two or three such occasions the audience became greatly excited, thinking that General Thompson had received stirring news from "the front" and expecting to learn of immediate battle. After frequent repetition, however, people placed another construction upon this conduct, and actually came to the conclusion that it was a device by which the general and staff could conveniently get out for "another drink"; and quite often irreverent voices would shout: "General, take one for me."

Whatever truth there was in this last conclusion, that's the way Gen. Thompson's contemporaries construed it..

My Southern Family

Elizabeth BATTAILE

1695 - ____

ID Number: I29008

Sources

(RESEARCH QUERY) CANT of Scotland

____ - ____

ID Number: I16404

Notes

Sources

Lavinia P. CHEATWOOD

ABT 1800 - ____

ID Number: I47299

Sources

Charles COPELAND

1693 - ABT 1786

ID Number: I82674

Notes

Sources

Edmund Pendleton Randolph DUVAL

4 Dec 1871 - ____

ID Number: I41608

Sources

William GRIZZELL "the Immigrant"

ABT 1600 - ____

ID Number: I43978

Sources

Joyce LANGLEY

1672 - ____

ID Number: I101944

Notes

Sources

John Taliaferro LEWIS Sr.

1751 - ____

ID Number: I91957

Notes

Sources

Charles Tecumseh LODGE

15 Nov 1869 - 1870

ID Number: I95278

Notes

Sources

Sir JOHN de MERIET

____ - ____

ID Number: I66753

Sources

Gen. Meriwether "Jeff" THOMPSON

22 Jan 1826 - 5 Sep 1876

ID Number: I34695

Notes

Sources

Capt. T. M. TRICE

ABT 1800 - ____

ID Number: I57470

Sources

John VARNADORE

ABT 1890 - ____

ID Number: I9110

Sources

Rev. Richmond Lee WALLER

1805 - 1870

ID Number: I18774

Notes

Sources

Tommy WILLIAMS

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