Forrest Final disposition of Forrest's personal papers and correspondence?

Thanks a lot! I know a large portion of his property was confiscated, including the pieces he put in his mother's name, but I'd thought he retained the Adams street property. I think he did manage to keep the undeveloped property in Arkansas.

His mother's plantation was confiscated but she recovered it before she died. This was located on the old Memphis & Ohio RR and is now part of a neighborhood called Nutbush. It reverted to NBF on her death and he sold it to Jesse who sold it to a guy named Trezevant who was collecting property for the US gov't for one of the national cemeteries. Forrest retained his Mississippi plantations (Green Grove and Roderick) as well as extensive but undeveloped holding in MS, TN and AK.

He continued to pay taxes on the Adams property but the US gov't rented it out. It came back to the family after NBF's death.

Mary Ann was pretty much homeless during most of the war but the upside was it kept her near her husband and son. She got as close to them as he would let her. Sure can't say Forrest didn't put his blood and treasure into the fight!


Yes. Mary Ann traveled with NBF throughout the war. She was sometimes a guest in various homes but she shared a tent during the winter of 1862 with NBF and Willie in Sacramento, KY.

Was the first fire the same place, President's Island? When he was a kid there was also a fire in the family home - can't recall this moment but think it was the home in Selmer.

Both fires that I referred to were on President's Island. I am not familiar with the fire from his youth...but don't you mean Salem, MS? Selmer is near the Hurst Nation in McNairy County, TN.

 
Thanks a lot! I know a large portion of his property was confiscated, including the pieces he put in his mother's name, but I'd thought he retained the Adams street property. I think he did manage to keep the undeveloped property in Arkansas.

His mother's plantation was confiscated but she recovered it before she died. This was located on the old Memphis & Ohio RR and is now part of a neighborhood called Nutbush. It reverted to NBF on her death and he sold it to Jesse who sold it to a guy named Trezevant who was collecting property for the US gov't for one of the national cemeteries. Forrest retained his Mississippi plantations (Green Grove and Roderick) as well as extensive but undeveloped holding in MS, TN and AK.

He continued to pay taxes on the Adams property but the US gov't rented it out. It came back to the family after NBF's death.

Mary Ann was pretty much homeless during most of the war but the upside was it kept her near her husband and son. She got as close to them as he would let her. Sure can't say Forrest didn't put his blood and treasure into the fight!


Yes. Mary Ann traveled with NBF throughout the war. She was sometimes a guest in various homes but she shared a tent during the winter of 1862 with NBF and Willie in Sacramento, KY.

Was the first fire the same place, President's Island? When he was a kid there was also a fire in the family home - can't recall this moment but think it was the home in Selmer.

Both fires that I referred to were on President's Island. I am not familiar with the fire from his youth...but don't you mean Salem, MS? Selmer is near the Hurst Nation in McNairy County, TN.

That's really good information - thanks a lot. Yes, I did mean Salem! (But I got the 's' right! :D) That's very interesting indeed about Trezevant. Edward Trezevant was Forrest's Lt-Colonel at Spring Hill, where he died in the cavalry charge. I think Salem is where the chimney in the house they bought took fire and dad William rebuilt it right. Don't know how much damage was done but at least the house was repairable.

I had thought Mary Ann was near Sacramento but couldn't confirm it - she was not at all happy about Willie going into the service with his father. With the Forrests, though, the whole lot of them went to war, even a couple of the Luxton siblings! That was something I think was a little unique to the western part of the Confederacy. At Sacramento, Forrest had the misfortune to mortally wound a friend of the family who had chosen the other side - he took the man home to his wife and there was a very emotional meeting, since the man died shortly after being brought to his house. Later in the war, though, Forrest started putting Mary Ann further and further away from the battles. He kept touch with her, though, and never put a smiley face on a wound - he told her for real if it was just a scratch or he was crawling off death's door step.
 
Jordan and Pryor had access to all the papers Forrest had - he was very generous about it, too - and when they returned them they remained in Forrest's possession. Which, unfortunately for us, was where they were when his house burned down.

Thanks for that. I never knew about the fires. I was just hoping they could still be reviewed.
 
The Jordan & Pryor work is the closest thing to a memoir of Forrest that we have. Jordan was a Confederate general who after the war returned to Memphis as a newspaper editor. This book was unusual as to timing in that it was published so quickly after the war. The published OR would not be available for many years. Forrest partnered with Jordan and felt it was important to tell his war experiences from his POV. Forrest advertised in newspapers throughout the South seeking documents, reports and first hand descriptions of the war from the men with whom he served. Jordan interviewed a number of Forrest staff as well. Forrest reviewed and edited the work and approved of the final product.

NBF's cabin on President's Island did indeed burn in 1877 and a great deal was lost. I know that the family (ggrand daughter - Mary Bradley) stated that they lost a trove of photographs as well as the family bible. Forrest files on his RR deals were lost as well. I don't know if all of his war papers were at the cabin. His sword and pistols survived as well as other household items.

Maybe the papers are waiting to be found :hungry:
Thanks for the info!
As I recall, I read that book in my youth, but had forgotten, and I failed to realize that the Original Post was making reference to it. :smile:
 
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