Tombstone Tuesday: What a Carolina Coward in the Civil War

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the first shots being fired at Fort Sumter and the true fighting of the Civil War.  With all eyes on Charleston as the single beam over Fort Sumter split into two this morning, I find myself thinking of Lt Colonel Asbury COWARD, the man my grandfather called "Uncle Asbury".

This man who fought with Robert E Lee; the man who lost everything during the Civil War; the man who was a military man and educator;  his story is fascinating.  His memoirs of the Civil War bring tears to my eyes when I read it.  The pain, the suffering, the glories and the final defeat.  It's all there in his words.

I know Asbury was at the battle of Chickamauga.  I wonder if he was there when his cousin, my 2g grandpa was gravely wounded. 

In the book of his memoirs,  he tells how he sat with his brother as he died after being wounded.  He tells of the loss of his children.  As he rides back into South Carolina after being with Lee at the surrender, he felt his spirits rise.  He had come from nothing.  He made something.  He lost it all.  He would have it again.

Yes, indeed, Asbury.  You did.


Coward by name, not by nature
October 18, 2006

I was on another manhunt.

This time, I was furiously searching for those elusive Cowards on my maternal side. I had just returned home from a trip to Charleston, where I spent a full day digging and sneezing my way through their main library files. A kind older employee named Henry in the South Carolina Room took pity on my wide-eyed look of confusion as I asked where to find any information I could. He pitied me so much that he took me by the elbow and spent several hours at my side and explained some of the databases to me. By the way, I strongly encourage you to find such a kind soul the first time you really dig deep in a large library. With his assistance, I was able to locate the units of several of my kinsmen from the Civil War as well as several birth and death records from the area. This in itself is rather amazing as South Carolina was rather late in joining everyone else in requiring vital statistics. Henry was amazed when he found out that I was kin to Lt. Col. Asbury Coward.

Lt. Col. Asbury Coward lost so much during the War of Northern Aggression. He lost most of his family, several children, and all of his money. Not so uncommon for the time. What he did after the war deserves remembering. Lt. Col. Asbury Coward was born in 1834 on Quenby Plantation outside of Charleston, SC. His parents were Jesse Coward and Keziah Anne Dubois. Asbury graduated from the Citadel at the age of 19 in 1854 and was a professor by 1860. He was a cofounder along with Brigadier General Micah Jenkins of the King's Mountain Military School in the poverty stricken area of York Co, SC. General Jenkins was subsequently killed in the Civil War.

On Christmas Day in 1856, he married Eliza Corbet Larimore Blum, the youngest daughter of John A Blum. Together they had several children who died either as infants or as children.

When the disagreement between the North and South raged into war, he joined the 5th Regiment, SCV, and served under General Robert E Lee at Bull's Run. Asbury witnessed the shot that mortally wounded his younger brother, Jesse James Coward, as he was helping another fallen soldier. Asbury sat with his brother and prayed earnestly. After Jesse's death at age 25, Asbury arranged for a coffin and sent his slave, Charles, to accompany his brother's body home. Col. Coward was at Appomattox during Lee's surrender to Grant. His last commendation by General Longstreet, which is found in the book The South Carolinians, had a handwritten postscript by General Lee of "I concur in the commendation bestowed on Colonel Coward by General Longstreet. I have always considered him one of the best officers of this Army."

After the war was over, Asbury made his way back home to South Carolina. His memoirs tell us that as he crossed over into South Carolina amid all of the destruction and utter ruin, his spirits soared. He was back home, back to a new beginning, and had the faith he would triumph again. And he did. Asbury returned to his school and ran it for 20 years after the war. His former slave, Charles, elected to remain with Asbury as a cook for the school. Asbury served as SC State Superintendent for Education from 1884-1886, before becoming the Superintendent of the Citadel in 1890. His portrait hangs at the Citadel and the dining hall is named in his memory. Lt. Colonel Asbury Coward died in 1925 and is buried at Rock Hill, SC, next to his brother.Keep digging up those roots. You never know where the next clue will take you.

Lt. Colonel Asbury Coward, the man my mother called "Old Uncle", a true American giant. Asbury Coward, my cousin. The man who exemplifies the family motto- Coward by name, not by nature. Indeed.


Ahh, genealogy. April 12, a day when so many families were torn apart 150 years ago. May we honor all our heroes, past, present and future.

Photo Source:  http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11093714

©2011 AS Eldredge

Southern American Revolution Patriots Pension Online Transcriptions

While reading the daily EOGN which is delivered to my inbox every day, I stumbled across a post on Revolutionary War Southern Campaign Pension Application Transcriptions Online.  How cool is this?


After reading the posted American Revolution pension application for one Dan Alexander, I thought I'd wander over to the site, http://southerncampaign.org/pen/ , and see if I could locate a pension file from my maternal side.

Bingo!  There it was!  And, I'm excited to report this one pension contains the death date and the marriage date!  So here 'tis just in case you share my maternal blood.

Southern Campaign American Revolution Pension Statements & Rosters
Pension application of John Poston W26923    Rebecca    fn30NC
Transcribed by Will Graves    9/17/09

[Methodology: Spelling, punctuation and/or grammar have been corrected in some instances for ease of reading and to facilitate searches of the database. Also, the handwriting of the original scribes often lends itself to varying interpretations. Users of this database are urged to view the original and to make their own decision as to how to decipher what the original scribe actually wrote. Blanks appearing in the transcripts reflect blanks in the original. Folks are free to make non-commercial use this transcript in any manner they may see fit, but please extend the courtesy of acknowledging the transcriber—besides, if it turns out the transcript contains mistakes, the resulting embarrassment will fall on the transcriber.]

[fn p. 3 family record]
Peggy was Born the 9th day of February in the year 1782
Rebekah was born the 31st day May in the year 1783
Jenny was born the 17th day of October in the year 1785
Elizabeth was born the 30th day of January in the year 1786
Salley was born the 15 day of January in the year 1888 [sic]
Robert Postion [sic] was born the 28th of December in the year 1889 [sic]
Polley was born the 30th day of August in the year 1890 [sic]
Jno A. B. Poston was born the 7th day of November in the year 1894 [sic]
Nancy Poston was born the 9th day of April in the year 1897 [sic]
Send the Poston was born the 6th day of March in the year 1801
John Poston Senior departed this life August 22nd Day 1819
William Poston was born in the year of our Lord August 14th Day 1809

[fn p. 8] State of North Carolina Buncombe County
On this 4th day of July 1845 Personally appeared before the Court of Pleas and quarter Sessions in and for the County aforesaid Rebecca Poston a Resident of North Carolina in the County of Buncombe aged seventy-nine years, Who being first duly sworn according to law doth on her oath make the following Declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the provision made by the acts of Congress passed July 7th 1838, entitled an act granting half pay and pensions to certain Widows -- That she is the widow of John Poston who was a Private in the Army of the Revolution And who entered the service of the United States as a Drafted Soldier sometime in the year 1779 or 80 in the County of Roan [sic, Rowan], North Carolina and served out 13 months tour: soon after which he again volunteered or was drafted & entered the service of the United States in which he remained as she has often heard him say, until after the surrender of Cornwallis at which time he was present and saw Cornwallis surrender his sword to (she thinks) General Lincoln, the names of the Captains under which he mustered she does not Recollect: She however recollects to have heard him say that he was commanded by Generals McDowell and Davidson. She further Recollects that he was in the Battle at the Cowpens. She further declares that she was married to the said John Poston on the 25th day of April in the year 1782. That her said Husband the aforesaid John Poston Died on the 22nd day of August 1819, that she was not married to him prior to his leaving the service but the marriage took place previous to the first day of January 1794 (viz.) at the time above stated.
She further states that she has no Record proof of her said marriage, but that she has a Record of the ages of her children and of the Death of her Husband the aforesaid John Poston. That she was married to him the said John Poston at the time aforesaid in the County of Lincoln in the State of North Carolina. That she never has since been Death of her said husband again married. But that she still remains the widow of the said John Poston -- the Record of the ages of her children & of the death of her said Husband are here with remitted.
S/ Rebecca Poston, X her mark Sworn to and subscribed in Open Court on the day and date above written.
S/ N. Harrison, Clerk of the Buncombe County Court
[fn p. 11: On December 30, 1851 in Buncombe County North Carolina, Charles McFee, the administrator of the estate of Rebecca Poston filed a claim for pension due her as the widow of John Poston; in this application the affiant states that John Poston served in a company commanded by Captain John Work; that John Poston married Rebecca Balldridge in Iredell County, date unknown but prior to January one, 1794; that John Poston died August 22nd, 1819 survived by Rebecca Poston, his widow and the following children now living: Mary Davis, Jane Bryson, Rebeco [Rebecca] Bryson, Nancy Nicholas, Lusindia [Lucinda] Stines, Ruthy Smith & Robert Poston.]
[fn p.15: bond taken out by John Poston, Junior and John Poston, Senior, of Rowan County North Carolina dated April 24, 1782 to secure the marriage of John Poston to Rebecca Baldridge of Lincoln County.]
[fn p. 20: certificate dated September 30th 1851 issued by the North Carolina Comptroller's Office showing payments made to John Poston for services in the revolution including service under Captain John Work in January 1776 for 32 days in an expedition to Moore's Creek.]

My mom used to tell me that her kin had fought under General Francis Marion, and I've been itching to document that tidbit.  

I looked around at some of the other surnames from my maternal side and checked them out as well. While it is possible a couple of them could be related somehow, there are others I could immediately rule out.  Guess I'll keep searching for the name Marion used in conjunction with my blood kin who had migrated to that little area of South Carolina.


Ahh, genealogy.  Another day, another unexpected find.


©2011 AS Eldredge

Wisdom Wednesday: In the News Again?

Grandaddy's thoughts on being in the news:

"You should only be mentioned in the newspaper three times in your life:  when you are born, married and dead."

Guess he felt that way since his family kept showing up in the newspaper of the times--  allegedly as killing or being killed.  Way too much action going on in Berkeley Co, SC, during Prohibition and the making of "Berkeley Bourban."  Shootouts as the train passed, shootouts over who controlled the home style business of the time, shootouts on fence borders  ------ and on and on........

Now, if I could only find the recipe for the alleged family business!  Tis said that Al Capone liked "Berkeley Bourban" and had it shipped by train in barrels labeled "potatoes."

Ahhh, genealogy.  Gotta take the more flavorful elements along with the good.  Besides, they are more fun to talk about!

©2010 AS Eldredge

Oh, Those Glorious High Cheek Bones Live

Several months ago, I found a living, breathing first cousin of my mom's. This was a feat as the cousin is the only one of that generation to still be among us. Click here to read about Henrietta.

My mom's aunt died really young leaving a small child behind. Her husband took the small child out of Charleston and to his aunts' house where she was raised. He visited her often and took her back to Charleston every summer to see her mama's kin.

Well, I recently stumbled across her and so I did what every excited family seeker of genealogy would do. I called her.

At first, she was skeptic until I told her who I was. She spent the next hour on the phone with me telling stories about my grandparents, whom she loved dearly, and of her grandmother. She laughed out loud when I told her a story that my mom had told me.

I almost dropped the phone. Her laugh was the laugh of my mother. With tears in my eyes, I wanted to keep this delightful old cousin on the phone. After we hung up, I made copies of some pictures for her (including one of her grandmother) and sent them to her.

She called back and thanked me. She said the picture had captured the essence of her grandmother exactly.

Time passed. Today, the postman delivered a card to me from this cousin. Inside was a picture of her. Once again, I had to sit down in a hurry as the tears formed in my eyes.

For this delightful first cousin of my mom has her look. Yep, those wonderful high cheek bones and smile were there.

I miss my mom and have been spending a lot of time looking at a picture of her taken at Christmas time a couple of years before she died. I've been needing her, and today, I saw a little hint of her still alive in a picture.

I must go and call this cousin and hear my mom's laughter once again. What a wonderful kiss from heaven this was.

Sometimes Letting the Fingers do the Walking Works Wonders

No web site? How can that be? In this age and time, how can a small town historical society not be online? It seems, well, it seems so quaint.

I've been digging around in Sweden with the help of some online friends to try and find more documentation from the 1874-1877 time frame in Stockholm. We've made some progress and I hope more is to follow.

In the meantime, I took the time to go back and look at what I really have in the way of documentation from the state of South Carolina. There's work to be done.

After letting my fingers do the typing, the search in the probate court of Charleston left me with no more information than I had. Early family lore says my great grandparents were married there. If so, Charleston doesn't know it.

I checked the 1880 census in the place they moved and found them there. Of course, Orangeburg County searches had me pulling out my hair in vain. You just can't do a lot of online research there.

I found the birthdate of the couple's oldest child which is in 1880. So, logic tells me the marriage had to happen sometime between September 1879, which is when she got off the boat in New York, and the birth of the child. Logic says it, but there's no proof.

Time to let my fingers do the walking. I called the church at which the family were members in the 1880s. A very sweet older lady answered the phone. We chatted and then she asked for the surname. When I told her, I found out that my great uncle had worked for her brother in law and that her husband is kin to the wife of this same great uncle. Coincidence?

She didn't know of any records as she is only a sometimes volunteer, but I hope she found the common names of our blood lines sufficient that she will dig some in the past.

I also asked her about the local historical society and she tells me they just aren't real active. How can that be? Oh, I shudder at the thought.

Then, she pops up and tells me that my great uncle and his wife were very active members of the historical society. Perhaps there is more information to be found there!

The historical society is only open for a few hours a week and, of course, they are not open today.

So, while I haven't really found any evidence for my genealogy bug, perhaps, letting my fingers do the walking today will unearth a new treasure.

Tip of the day. Be sure to contact those old small churches. Their older members may dredge up some memories of some of your kin. Just another reason to smile as their memories get added to my memory bank.

Treasures Await Your Online Pleasure in South Carolina

Many public libraries across South Carolina have given us all a great big gift in the form of an online index to obituaries. While not complete, it can make a huge difference as you search for your genealogy treasure in South Carolina.

I spent a few minutes in the Florence Library site and found the index was decent for recent years, but way too scant for the early years in the 1900s. Both Greenville and York County searches were also not to my satisfaction due to either the time contstraints of the obituaries listed or due to having to know more details. Richland and Newberry Counties have some obits as well, but I didn't search those as my family is not known to have deep roots there.

I'll keep checking off and on to see how much progress is being made on the index Please note that if you find your treasure, you will have to contact the library to have a copy made.

But, as we know in genealogy, you have to keep on the hunt for those treasures. Sometimes, they show up years later. When they do, the feeling, well, the feeling is like finding the proverbial pot of gold under the rainbow.

Here are the sites I checked for an index:

South Carolina United Methodist Advocate
York County History
South Carolina Death Index 1915-1958 - appears to require Windows only
Florence Library
Greenville County Library

Back in Time Today- with South Carolina Archives

We genealogy buffs are always looking for more to satisfy our seemingly unquenchable thirst for knowledge of the past. Let's all remember that our country will be celebrating the 222nd anniversary of the framing of the Constitution later this week. So, take a moment and step back into that time. Right now, my quest for my roots is on hold as I am starting my county wide tour of speaking on the Constitution to my local schools. With that said, I say the following article this morning and thought some of my readers would enjoy knowing more about some early South Carolina records.

It's good to see that not all records were destroyed during the "Recent Unpleasantness". I haven't had the time to go digging around for my roots at these online archives yet, but I shall.


The following article is from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at http://www.eogn.com.

South Carolina Archive Documents Online


The South Carolina Department of Archives and History has a rather simple, but impressive, web site. The site includes images of many orignal documents as well as indexes that allow the documents to be found quickly.

The documents available include:

Title Number of Items
Confederate Pension Applications 1919 - 1938 10,242 items
Criminal Journals 1769 - 1776 2,087 items
Index to Multiple Record Series ca. 1675 -1929 173,042 items
Legislative Papers 1782 - 1866 53,489 items
National Register of Historic Places 1,415 items
Plats for State Land Grants 1784 - 1868 51,809 items
School Insurance Photographs 1935 - 1952 2,662 items
Will Transcripts 1782 - 1855 11,059 items
TOTAL: 305,803 items

You can search the on-line index for documents by entering a personal name, geographic location, topic or a combination of these search factors. You may also specify a time span.

Images of records available are made possible by the support of an IMLS/LSTA grant administered by the South Carolina State Library.

You can access the South Carolina Archive Documents at http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov.

Old South Carolina News to Become New Again

GT Note: This is just so neat for genealogy buffs and for those who are interested in history. Read the story below to see how newspapers from 1860 to 1922 will come new again-- only this time, it's online!

Project putting old news online
S.C. newspapers from 1860 to 1922 going in database

BY DIANE KNICH
The Post and Courier
Wednesday, September 9, 2009

South Carolinians will soon find it easier to read newspaper accounts about the start of the Civil War, discriminatory Jim Crow laws and Gov. Benjamin Tillman's South Carolina Dispensary, which was once the only entity legally authorized to sell alcohol in the state.

The University of South Carolina's S.C. Digital Newspaper Project.....http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/sep/09/project-putting-old-news-online/

Are You Wise Yet? GenealogyWise, That is

There's a new social networking site just for genealogy that is being unveiled. I've heard the official date is later this week, but you can check it out now.

I decided to look at GenealogyWise to see what all the chatter is about. It is free and it is simple to use. There are tons of groups available to join, so I joined a few to see if it works for my style of digging into my family's past.

I've already sent a comment to one gent and have heard back from him. Both of our COX families were in the Marion District, SC, before 1800, so there is a good chance we could share some long ago relatives. I don't know too much about my COX family other than George COX b. c.1755 in VA, d. near Pee Dee River in Marion District, SC 7 Sept 1843. I know nothing of his wife. He is reported to have had six children: Jacob b. 1802, Jane b. abt 1785, Margaret, Mary b. 1792, Catherine b.1795 and Elizabeth b. 1800.

I have already decided not to be contacted when people leave generic comments for the groups. Already, my inbox is way too full as more and more genealogists are jumping on the bandwagon. I have now changed the email notifications to only those who are responding to me or are interested in talking with me about possible family connections.

You may want to check it out yourself at http://www.genealogywise.com .

Have a great day chock full of wise genealogy news!

Searching for Low Country Graves

Thanks to the Colonial Dames over in Georgetown, South Carolina, for reading the cemeteries in Georgetown County and getting the cemetery census online.

I found the story through the Eastman Newsletter and immediately set about trying to see if I could dig up any family members in Georgetown. Before I could do that, I had to refresh my memory on some of the surnames from that side of the family.

So, if you don't see me for a day or two, just look around the Low Country for me. You'll recognize me. I'm the one who will be digging for gold.

Lost in Death in South Carolina

South Carolina research has always been difficult. I don't know if it resulted from Sherman's March to the Sea or the numerous fires which seem to have taken toll of old records.

Today, I found a notice from a couple of months ago for a database which has scanned copies of death certificates from the 1821-1955 online! So, I happily spent a couple of hours getting some old documents to help flush out my family files.

There were even some "aha" moments in my finds. I can't wait to share my latest finds with some of my dear Low Country kinfolk.

If you're interested in this site, just check out Ancestry.com. The database is one of their recent ones.

It pays to continue to search for documents. Just like family, they sometimes will show up when least expected!

Enjoy your hunt.

Her Laugh Lives On

In my last post, we were chatting about how some researchers take census info and people with same initials and just kind of "make it work." Well, I contacted the gent to ask him some questions about what I knew to be true. To my delight, my mom's first cousin is still alive and well at the ripe old age of 87.

I got her phone number and just called. I spent time listening to her tell me stories of my great grandmother Poston nee Coward, my Poston grandparents and other family members. These beloved family members are all gone- or so I thought.

You see, Henrietta laughed and I started to tear up. Her laugh is the laugh of my mother and my aunt. What joy for me to hear that familiar laugh again.

Henrietta told me of her mother who died of tuberculosis at the age of 34. She only has one memory of her mother standing. So, today, Henrietta has not only given me more of a sense of family, she has given me back my mom - if only in her laugh.

Family. Ain't it just grand!