Southern Claims Commission

[samgrant]

I went to a Peace Corps group reunion in Connecticut, some years ago and visited this quaint library.

It is a gem, so I thought I would share it with you.


more pics here;

http://www.granby-ct.gov/Public_Docu...ibrary/cossitt

Not to be confused with the other Cossitt Library in Memphis:




"Frederick H. Cossitt, a native of Connecticut, opened a wholesale dry goods business in Memphis. He was very successful and moved on to New York. He kept friends in Memphis and visited often."

This was another first cousin of my GGGF who I mentioned in previous posts.

I have recently found info about 2 other first cousins who were soldiers in the war.

Still waiting for some answers to inquiries about them, but some of it is astounding! Hope to share it soon.

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[samgrant]

A small update on my GGGF which I found in a letter included in a later (1925) version of the family history:

"Frank D. Cossitt, son of Rene of Granby and my cousin, was also raised by George G. Cossitt at LaGrange, Tenn.
He is a smart and worthy man. He became wealthy, lost a million by the war, his 200 slaves, of course. He got out of the Confederacy in 1863 with $75,000 in gold, and is doing well in Chicago, Ill., as a wholesale grocer."

From the previously posted Southern Claims Commission testimony, it might be suggested that at least some of this fortune in gold was money entrusted by friends to him to carry away from the conflict, and subsequently repaid. At any rate, it seems to me that it must have been quite a feat, if true, for a civilian to make his way out of southeast Tennessee with so much gold without being discovered and robbed of it by one faction or another!

This man is my GGGF. He testified that he had 2 cousins on each side during the war. As first cousins, I have found only two. One, a Union soldier, Henry Clay Cossitt, I have documented in the post "A Story of a Search", the other, Charles Edward Cossitt, a rebel, I am still working on. He has a pretty good story and I expect to post that in the near future.

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