Jerome Furman 2nd Lieutenant Murdered

ARW

Sergeant
Joined
Nov 12, 2018
Location
Lebanon Pa
Jerome Furman.jpg


Jerome Ticknor Furman, my 1st cousin 3 generations back, first served as a Sergeant on Co. B of the 52nd Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry from October 1861 until August 1863, when he was granted his discharge to accept a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the first negro regiment, Co. D of the 1st South Carolina Volunteers, later the 33rd Regiment of United State Colored Troops. 2nd Lt. Jerome Ticknor Furman served in this regiment for the remainder of the war and was murdered , shot in the back by Manson Sherrill "Manse" Jolly, on the front porch or near the steps of the principal hotel of Wall Hollow/Walhalla, South Carolina in August of 1865, four months after the end of the Civil War. He was 25 years old.

As night came on and the evening meal was over, Lieut. Furman stepped out on the front porch when a tall, villainous looking ex-Confederate came up, bade him good-evening, and said: "We are glad to have you come into our town for we are absolutely without any kind of government. The town is full of desperate characters; we are living in constant fear of our lives and the presence of United States troops will no doubt soon restore order and be a blessing to us." His mode of speech and cordial manner threw the officer completely off his guard and he foolishly accepted an invitation to take a walk with his newly made acquaintance. They had only walked a few steps before the villain drew his revolver, shot the officer in the back, and as he fell, put the muzzle of his pistol to the head of the dying man and discharged two more bullets into his brain, and then disappeared into the darkness.
 
Sorry to hear about, RIP.

On a side note, anyone ever find what the number of Federal servicemen who died or were killed during reconstruction was?
 
The same photo of Lt Furman appears in Susie King Taylor's Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33rd United States Colored Troops Late 1st S.C. Volunteers (1902). She mentions Furman's murder only in passing, but speaks of the general situation:

The regiment remained in Augusta for thirty days, when it was ordered to Hamburg, S. C., and then on to Charleston. It was while on their march through the country, to the latter city, that they came in contact with the bushwhackers (as the rebels were called), who hid in the bushes and would shoot the Union boys every chance they got. Other times they would conceal themselves in the cars used to transfer our soldiers, and when our boys, worn out and tired, would fall asleep, these men would come out from their hiding places and cut their throats. Several of our men were killed in this way, but it could not be found out who was committing these murders until one night one of the rebels was caught in the act, trying to cut the throat of a sleeping soldier. He was put under guard, court-martialed, and shot at Wall Hollow.

First Lieutenant Jerome T. Furman and a number of soldiers were killed by these South Carolina bushwhackers at Wall Hollow. After this man was shot, however, the regiment marched through unmolested to Charleston.
 
Lt.Col Trowbridge, in Six Months in the Freedmen's Bureau with a Colored Regiment (1904), tells of the aftermath:

Upon my arrival in the town I sent for the mayor, took him into the room where the body of the
Lieutenant lay and said to him: "As this officer has been murdered I shall hold you responsible for his
death, giving you ten hours to produce the murderer, or I will burn the town." I instructed him to go to
the town hall, ring the bell, call the people together and state to them what I had told him. This he
rather reluctantly complied with and in a few hours returned, saying that the people knew the man, but he was such a desperado that it was worth more than the value of any man's life to reveal it. I
persisted until he gave me the name of the man. I then offered a reward of $2000 for his body dead
or alive. I got the citizens to post the notice of the reward in all parts of the town. This action
compelled the people to rely on me for protection from this notorious outlaw. They were from that
moment, whether willingly or not, very friendly to me. At the funeral of my dead comrade, which was
held the next day, the entire community turned out and I have never seen more flowers or more
genuine expressions of sorrow than I witnessed at the burial of this gallant young officer who was laid
in his last resting place at the foot of the mountain where he sleeps in an unmarked grave and is the
only Union soldier that I know of in that faraway southern village. ... Being satisfied in my own mind from what I had gathered during the (lay that the man I was looking for was not in that town, and finding the people willing to assist me in any way in their power to capture the perpetrator of this foul deed, I took a locomotive and returned to my headquarters at Anderson, leaving instructions that any information that might come in should be forwarded to me at once.
 
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This was under comments/flowers at find a grave


a local Robin Hood during the aftermath of the war in Anderson County SC.He was born in the Lebanon area of Anderson County some years before the war, the exact date is unknown. He was 6' 4", had red hair and could read and write. Jolly served as a Confederate Cavalry scout in the 1st S.C. Calvary, Company F. He was an expert horseman and well skilled in fighting with knif...e, pistol, and rifle.A native of South Carolina, he enlisted in the Confederate army with six brothers. Five of them were left dead on the field of battle while “Manse” Jolly kept his promise to kill five Yankees for each brother lost.Only one younger brother accompanied him back to the old home where an old mother awaited them with open arms, the father having died shortly before the war. On his arrival home, Manse was greeted by the Yankee garrison, then stationed in Anderson. This angered him and he took an oath to kill five Yankees for every brother lost on the battle fields. He more than made good.He lost no time in beginning his hide and seek game with the garrison stationed here. The commander soon learned that one of his men had been killed by Jolly. In a day or two another was reported killed by Jolly. Then squads were sent out to search for the desperado. They often encountered the daring Jolly and as often lost one or two of their numbers for when Jolly's rifle spoke, death claimed another victim.Finally more soldiers were sent here to help hunt down Jolly and times got so warm he left for Texas and was crossing Red River in the Lone Star State. When Jolly left Anderson, he had 23 notches on his gun, and it was said that he killed at least a dozen Yankees on his way to Texas. He more than made good five times five.


Sounds like a SC version of Sam Hildebrand who became a local legend/folk hero here
 
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Trowbridge's Six Months in the Freedmen's Bureau with a Colored Regiment, has quite a bit more to say about Manse Jolly's activities, and his own failure to capture him. He was a bold and fearless reiver.

Terrible times will breed the occasional "Robin Hood," and the bloodthirsty outlaw as well. But, a true "Robin Hood" breaks the law to try to accomplish something positive (protect the poor, combat injustice, etc), not just for blind hatred and revenge.

One man's "Robin Hood" is another man's psycopath-serial killer, I guess.
 
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The Furman family sent 7 men off to war. Jerome had a brother Granville S. Furman. He enlisted at Mehoopany, PA in the 143rd Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers in Company K under Captain Isaac S. Little on August 27, 1862. . On the morning of the 1st of July it moved forward and soon the sound of artillery was heard, the cavalry under Buford engaging the enemy's advance. At a little before noon the brigade went into position upon a ridge beyond that on which the Theological Seminary stands, under a heavy fire, the One Hundred and Forty-third forming on the line of railroad. This was the McPherson farm and the railroad cut. Somewhere early in the fighting, Granville Furman was shot in the left foot. He told of sitting under a cherry tree eating the cherries and watching the battle go back and forth. Granville was in Satterlee General Hospital in Philadelphia from about July 10, 1863 until February 1, 1864 when he rejoined the regiment.
His uncle Dr. John Furman enlisted in the 17th Pa Calvary Co. D, Oct 3, 1862 and was promoted to Hospital Stewert,Nov 20, 1862. He was discharged on Surgeon Cert on 4/10/1863 . Another Uncle William Harrison Furman was in the 109 NY from 1862 to 1865.
He also had two cousins Corporal Francis Furman 143 PVI 9/62-6/65 and Corporal Alonzo Furman 92 Ill. 8/62-4/64
 
I appreciate your story of you great ancestor, but I will not put a LIKE on it. I do not like what happened to him or the thousands of others on both sides who paid for the war after the war. You have an ancestor to be proud of.
you don't 'like' the facts with a like you 'like' the information put forward
Valid point. Perhaps we should have a "Thanks for sharing this" tab.
why? it's about information - convenience shouldn't play a role whatsoever
 
View attachment 211039

Jerome Ticknor Furman, my 1st cousin 3 generations back, first served as a Sergeant on Co. B of the 52nd Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry from October 1861 until August 1863, when he was granted his discharge to accept a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the first negro regiment, Co. D of the 1st South Carolina Volunteers, later the 33rd Regiment of United State Colored Troops. 2nd Lt. Jerome Ticknor Furman served in this regiment for the remainder of the war and was murdered , shot in the back by Manson Sherrill "Manse" Jolly, on the front porch or near the steps of the principal hotel of Wall Hollow/Walhalla, South Carolina in August of 1865, four months after the end of the Civil War. He was 25 years old.

As night came on and the evening meal was over, Lieut. Furman stepped out on the front porch when a tall, villainous looking ex-Confederate came up, bade him good-evening, and said: "We are glad to have you come into our town for we are absolutely without any kind of government. The town is full of desperate characters; we are living in constant fear of our lives and the presence of United States troops will no doubt soon restore order and be a blessing to us." His mode of speech and cordial manner threw the officer completely off his guard and he foolishly accepted an invitation to take a walk with his newly made acquaintance. They had only walked a few steps before the villain drew his revolver, shot the officer in the back, and as he fell, put the muzzle of his pistol to the head of the dying man and discharged two more bullets into his brain, and then disappeared into the darkness.

any chance those furmans are of german origin? that probably made their original name fuhrmann aka guys running their own team of horses; probably more than one. a guy employed to run a team would be called a fuhrmann but it most likely wouldn't stick as a name.
 
Trowbridge's Six Months in the Freedmen's Bureau with a Colored Regiment, has quite a bit more to say about Manse Jolly's activities, and his own failure to capture him. He was a bold and fearless reiver.

Terrible times will breed the occasional "Robin Hood," and the bloodthirsty outlaw as well. But, a true "Robin Hood" breaks the law to try to accomplish something positive (protect the poor, combat injustice, etc), not just for blind hatred and revenge.

One man's "Robin Hood" is another man's psycopath-serial killer, I guess.

Will note I didn't write it, merely copied it as it offered more on Jolly then had been included.

Don't disagree with "But, a true "Robin Hood" breaks the law to try to accomplish something positive (protect the poor, combat injustice, etc), not just for blind hatred and revenge." But would seem then to be elevated to a local Robin Hood the locals did indeed assign some positive good to him or he wouldn't have been elevated to that status...……

I suspect it would depend on how the "authorities" were viewed by the locals, if viewed as corrupt or not representative, he very well may have been viewed as combatting injustice locally, why guerrillas were viewed favorably here by many, both during and into the postwar

Since found this on him http://ducknotes.blogspot.com/2008/12/legend-of-manse-jolly.html

He indeed seems to have been viewed favorably locally, as there's songs written about him and road named after him.

Trowbridge was a New Yorker both before and after the war......not sure how in tune he would have been with the locals to gauge how Jolly was received locally, though his lack of success in apprehending him probably should have indicated Jolly had support.
 
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any chance those furmans are of german origin? that probably made their original name fuhrmann aka guys running their own team of horses; probably more than one. a guy employed to run a team would be called a fuhrmann but it most likely wouldn't stick as a name.

Yes his Grandfather Ezra was born in Germany. I have not found where or when he immigrated but have found documents listing his birthplace as Germany. He is first found in Greenwich NY in 1810 and moves to PA in 1832.
 
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