Iuka, Mississippi

@16thAL Where is that marker for the highest point in Mississippi? I have heard it was in the NE part of the state.
Not far from Mathiston—my wife’s hometown— there is a park off of the Natchez Trace Parkway that has the 2d highest point. I forgot the name— Little Mountain? maybe.
 
In anticipation of arriving at this point of the thread, I started researching Joseph Mason Bishop, Co. D, 26th Mississippi Regt. 3 days ago. I looked at every "Bishop" from Mississippi in fold3 and he is not there. The only ones that were close was a J. Marion Bishop aka J.M. Bishop aka Marion Bishop in Co. D, 26th Mississippi Infantry who enlisted on 8/20/1861 and was killed in action at Richmond,VA on 7/29/1862. Another was John M. Bishop aka J.M. Bishop aka John Bishop in Co. E, 26th Mississippi Infantry. One muster roll says he enlisted on 9/5/1861 at 21 years old. Another says he enlisted in 10/1861 at age 17, "Deserted a number of times", "forged discharge" and "left his colors December 1862". An NPS database search led to the same 2 soldiers.

Joseph Mason Bishop's FindAGrave page says he was in the "26th Mississippi Vol." I searched "26th Mississippi Volunteers" in the NPS database and it has no record of that unit.
 
Drawing a blank in fold3 and NPS, I did what I always do. I went to Ancestry and I thought I hit paydirt right away. Found a Headstone Application submitted in 1939 by Marion Bishop who I determined to be Joseph's nephew...a son of one of Joseph's brothers. Joseph, being killed in action at age 17 in 1864, obviously never knew Marion.

40050_649063_0362-00805.jpg
 
Not sure how well this is gonna copy-n-paste, but I also found this at Ancestry:

Name:Joseph Mason Bishop
Enlistment Age:14
Birth Date:25 Jan 1847
Birth Place:Iuka, Mississippi
Enlistment Date:24 Aug 1861
Enlistment Place:Iuka, Mississippi
Enlistment Rank:Private
Muster Date:24 Aug 1861
Muster Place:Mississippi
Muster Company:E
Muster Regiment:26th Infantry
Muster Regiment Type:Infantry
Muster Information:Enlisted
Muster Out Date:10 Jun 1864
Muster Out Place:Brice's Cross Roads, Mississippi
Muster Out Information:Killed
Side of War:Confederacy
Survived War?:No
Residence Place:Iuka, Mississippi
Burial Place:Iuka, Mississippi
Cemetery:Bishop Cemetery
Title:Index to Compiled Confederate Military Service Records; Mississippi Confederate Grave Registry
 
As you can see, there are some inconsistencies in those 2 records from Ancestry. The first is the date of enlistment...one says "Feb. 1864", the other says "24 Aug 1861". The second inconsistency is that one says "Co. D" and the other says "Company E". The other possible inconsistency is the place of death... "Brice's Cross Roads, Mississippi". I have been to Brice's Crossroads now and have seen the Confederate Order of Battle and battle maps. I have seen no reference to the 26th Mississippi Infantry being at Brice's Crossroads. What was he doing there? Next project is the Casualty Reports for Brice's Crossroads.
 
@16thAL Where is that marker for the highest point in Mississippi? I have heard it was in the NE part of the state.
Not far from Mathiston—my wife’s hometown— there is a park off of the Natchez Trace Parkway that has the 2d highest point. I forgot the name— Little Mountain? maybe.
Wood all mountain is about four miles from the McDonald's in iuka
 
I agree. I have seen headstones before where the soldier served in 2 units and they put his first unit on his marker.
Don't know that I'll ever know the answer. There is a complete absence of wartime records in fold3. No Company Muster Rolls, Regimental Returns, Receipt Rolls, Hospital Rolls etc... nothing. The Headstone Application is the only handwritten record I've seen. His kin probably didn't make up the enlistment date. That came from somewhere. The person who reviewed that Application checked all the pertinent information with a red pen/pencil.

I looked again at the Order of Battle for Brice's Crossroads. The 8th Mississippi Cavalry Regiment and 18th Mississippi Cavalry Battalion were there. No Mississippi infantry.
 
Did you search those cavalry regiments for this soldier?
I looked them up in the NPS database. It has a description of both but not a roster. To find their soldiers, you have to do individual soldier searches and I have already done that with Pvt. Bishop.
 
Did you search those cavalry regiments for this soldier?
The Chief Surgeon of Forrest's Cavalry submitted a 19 page casualty report after Brice's Crossroads. No "Bishop" on it.
 
I looked again at the Order of Battle for Brice's Crossroads. The 8th Mississippi Cavalry Regiment and 18th Mississippi Cavalry Battalion were there. No Mississippi infantry.
I dont have my order of battle handy.

I found a "J. Bishop" in 11th Mississippi. There is only 1 record that says he was Absent around July 1864.
BishpJ__11Miss.JPG
 
In anticipation of arriving at this point of the thread, I started researching Joseph Mason Bishop, Co. D, 26th Mississippi Regt. 3 days ago. I looked at every "Bishop" from Mississippi in fold3 and he is not there. The only ones that were close was a J. Marion Bishop aka J.M. Bishop aka Marion Bishop in Co. D, 26th Mississippi Infantry who enlisted on 8/20/1861 and was killed in action at Richmond,VA on 7/29/1862. Another was John M. Bishop aka J.M. Bishop aka John Bishop in Co. E, 26th Mississippi Infantry. One muster roll says he enlisted on 9/5/1861 at 21 years old. Another says he enlisted in 10/1861 at age 17, "Deserted a number of times", "forged discharge" and "left his colors December 1862". An NPS database search led to the same 2 soldiers.

Joseph Mason Bishop's FindAGrave page says he was in the "26th Mississippi Vol." I searched "26th Mississippi Volunteers" in the NPS database and it has no record of that unit.
I'm going to throw this out there. I think it was his nephew's attempt to cleanup his name. The Bishop's in the 26th Miss Inf was also listed as Marion and if you look at the ship to part its Marion.
 
I'm going to throw this out there. I think it was his nephew's attempt to cleanup his name. The Bishop's in the 26th Miss Inf was also listed as Marion and if you look at the ship to part its Marion.
I did see the fold3 records for Marion Bishop aka J. Marion Bishop aka J.M. Bishop. Those records say he enlisted on Aug. 20,1861 at the age of 22 and was killed in action at Richmond,Va on July 29,1862. Lotta inconsistencies with the Headstone Application.
 
The one thing that stands out is the marker did go up till 1940, How old was his nephew? There should have been another marker on his grave. (UDC)
 
How old was his nephew?
In 1939, when he submitted the application, he would have been 54-55. His daddy was born 10+ years after Joseph was killed in the War. I have to wonder where he got the info for the application. To me, it all goes back to whether that is accurate or not.
 
The Chief Surgeon of Forrest's Cavalry submitted a 19 page casualty report after Brice's Crossroads. No "Bishop" on it.
There is a Casualty List for the State of Mississippi and the battle of Guntown.
It contains one Jas Bishop in Moreland's Alabama Cavalry. I searched for service records but the names start at Letter "H".

Bishop_Guntown.JPG


Either this is the same person or someone researching their family history erroneously concluded that this was the same person.
 
There is a Casualty List for the State of Mississippi and the battle of Guntown.
It contains one Jas Bishop in Moreland's Alabama Cavalry. I searched for service records but the names start at Letter "H".

View attachment 377276

Either this is the same person or someone researching their family history erroneously concluded that this was the same person.
I don't know the answer. Bound to be some family records that nobody else has access to. We know lots of CW gravestones have errors too. I'm convinced he's a veteran, but name and unit I'm just not sure of. As Ole Miss says, Confederate records are a mess.
 
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