Interesting Ancestor

[Chattahooch33]

I present to you Jourdan Whelchel, my GGGG Uncle.

According to family story, Jourdan was an actual "Forty-niner" who traveled from his home in Hall County, Georgia west to California. He stayed out there several years and upon his return trip, lodged with his cousins the Pinson family in Smith County, Texas where he was listed with the family in the 1860 census. When the war broke out, he and two of his cousins, Aaron and Moses Pinson, joined the 14th Texas Cavalry.
According to the April-Aug '62 muster roll, he was elected Captain of Co E. but as you can see below he did not pass the "board of examiners" and remained a private:

As part of Ector's Texas Brigade, the unit fought at Richmond, Kentucky but experienced their first major engagement at Murfreesboro, Tn. It was here that Jourdan was wounded in the arm:

Apparently upon his recovery, Jourdan went home. He returns to record shortly thereafter as enlisting in the 4th Georgia Cavalry (State Guards), a militia unit. I do not know if this unit saw action in the Atlanta Campaign or with Wheeler or Iverson's in their exploits:

This guy must have had some interesting stories in his later years.

 

[Custers Luck]

cool so what else do you know about him? what did he do after the war? if you do,. tell I want to hear the story

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

He's a very interesting man . It's neat to discover our ancestor's records. Personally, I prefer the pension applications. That's where the juicy stuff sometimes comes out.

 

[gary]

A regimental history, reunion books and anything written by a member of the unit may provide more insights. Also check local historical societies.

 

[TinCan]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing.

 

[Henry Whitworth]

You're so fortunate to find this info. On the Southern side of our family, even though they probably go back pre-Revolution, there is little but vague recollection. "Pretty sure they came from somewhere around Louisiana and then into Texas," type of stuff. grrr. Get a generation or two who doesn't care about family history and so much can be lost. There's probably a reb or two back there but we just don't know.

This uncle of yours, on the other hand, would make a good book or movie.

 

[Chattahooch33]

You're so fortunate to find this info. On the Southern side of our family, even though they probably go back pre-Revolution, there is little but vague recollection. "Pretty sure they came from somewhere around Louisiana and then into Texas," type of stuff. grrr. Get a generation or two who doesn't care about family history and so much can be lost. There's probably a reb or two back there but we just don't know.

This uncle of yours, on the other hand, would make a good book or movie.

I am fortunate to have an Uncle who has been interested in Genealogy his whole life (he's 65) on my father's side and my mom's father (he's 95) who is the exact same way and is sharp as a tack. They have helped enormously. My focus has been connecting the Civil War facts to the people.

 

[ErnieMac]

I assume you're aware that the symbol at the top of his headstone is Masonic.

 

[Seduzal]

An very interesting post.

 

[Chattahooch33]

I assume you're aware that the symbol at the top of his headstone is Masonic.

Yes I do. Is there a way to find out more about him from a Masonic lodge?

 

[ErnieMac]

Yes I do. Is there a way to find out more about him from a Masonic lodge?

It will be a hit or miss proposition - records are the responsibilty of the Lodge and how well they were kept depended on the individuals involved. Two routes to follow. The first is knowing to which Lodge he belonged and, if it still exists, appyling to it directly. If his Lodge no longer exists to go to the Grand Lodge of the state where he was entered. As lodge memberships fall too low to be viable they are usually merged with another nearby lodge. The Grand Lodge should be able to provide a 'trail' identifying the current name and location of his Lodge.

 

[DixieRifles]

Regarding the Georgia Cavalry unit, it seems this unit was raised in summer of 1863 for a 6-month service or possibly longer. Georgia had hundreds of units and if they are like units from other states, their names and identities can be confusing. For example, I found reference to Avery's 4th Georgia Cavalry. This unit is a State Guards or a militia. Wiki-pedia has a list of regiments from Georgia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Georgia_Confederate_Civil_War_regiments

Check out this website. Scroll down to "4th Regiment Georgia Cavalry, State Guards"
http://freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pudig/GACav.htm

4th Regiment Georgia Cavalry, State Guards
Blue Ridge Tiger Regiment Col. Robert White

Robertson's Co. [Hall] Chattahoochee Cavalry Peter Robinson Hall

This regiment was organized in August 1863 to serve for six months as local defense in the 6th and 9th Congressional districts and in the counties of Wilkes, Lincoln, Columbus, Warren, and Hancock.

I found one site that stated:
"Blue Ridge Tiger Regiment; also called Banks Troopers and Brown Mounted Riflemen (4th Georgia State Guards.)"

This is a link to Google Books that has a photo of a member of this unit on page 57.
http://books.google.com/books?id=ht...v=onepage&q=Blue Ridge Tiger Regiment&f=false

This link has a photo with a little more info in the caption. Not sure if it saying one unit was re-formed into the 4th GA Cavalry State Guards.
http://books.google.com/books?id=dy...v=onepage&q=Blue Ridge Tiger Regiment&f=false