Michael O. Raysor Obituary
Obituary of Michael Oliver Raysor
son of George Raysor, Sr.
 
          DIED, at the residence of his uncle, A. Raysor Esq., on the morning of the 27th January 1864 in Jefferson County, Florida, Mr. Michael O. Raysor, in
the 27th year of his age.

          The deceased was born in Colleton District, South Carolina, the 18th april, 1837, where he remained until he attained his 21st year, when he emigrated to Florida, in 1858.  He was one among the first to volunteer in the defence of his country; took up arms at the first outbreak of our revolution.  He attache [sic] himself to the Jefferson Rifes [sic], Company H. 3d Florida Regiment, in June 1861., and shared with them the toils and hardships of camp life.  

          His sufferings were very great on the march through Kentucky in the fall of 1862.  At the battle of Perryville, he was captured and fell into the hands of the enemy, where he suffered many hardships.  He participated in the battle of Jackson Miss. and from thence to the memorable battle of Chickamauga where he received a wound in his left hand. 

          He received a furlough, and returned home the 29th September last whre he received all the nursing and attention that physicians and relatives and kind friends cold bestow.  But,. alas! his frail constitution was so broken and shattered by disease that there was no hope of recovery, and after four months of suffering and agony from chronic Diahoea [sic] and Rheumatism, it terminated his short career upon earth, in the morning of life, in the bloom of youth... He had been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for serveral years... His last words were: "I am going home: I am going home to Heaven."

Dearest Mike, thou has left us
Here thy loss we deeply feel
But 'tis God who has bereft us,
He can all our sorrows heal.

Yet again we hope to meet thee,
When the day of life is fled;
Then in Heaven with Joy to greet thee,
Where no farewell tear is shed.

Sarah Jane Raysor 


The nature of the obituary indicates that it was a newspaper obit, probably
contributed by Sarah Jane Raysor.  It's most unfortunate that whoever transcribed the obit failed to note the name and date of the newspaper it was taken from.
 

Paul Eugen Camp
Special Collections
University of South Florida
  Library
Tampa, FL  33620
 

Raysor Family Gathering