Old Bay's Civil War Ancestry

Old Bay

Sergeant
Joined
Jun 1, 2010
Location
Culpeper, VA
Research into my family tree on both sides has revealed fourteen (possibly) ancestors who fought in the Civil War. All but one are on my father's side which is predominately a Virginia family. My mother's side mainly hails from Kentucky. There is one member that I've asked about on here that is still up in the air as to his service. I'll update the post as I can. It will be in order in which I discovered.

Phillip Skees
1/12/1833 or 1834 - 2/15/1901 (Born and died in Hardin County, Kentucky)
  • Private, 18th Kentucky Infantry, Co. K (Union)
    • His name is listed on the Hardin County, KY draft registration list of February (I believe) 1863.
    • No other information known.
  • Phillip is my 3rd Great Grandfather (maternal line)


Minor Glascock
4/11/1820 - 11/22/1863 (Born and died in Salem (now Marshall), Virginia)
  • Private, 8th Virginia Infantry, Co. K
    • Service Date: 7/30/1861- 10/25/1861
    • Family legend states he was wounded at Ball's Bluff, 10/21/1861
    • Absent from roll on 10/25/1861 (2 sources say AWOL, 1 says mustered out/discharged)
  • Minor is my 3rd Great Grandfather (paternal line)
Samuel Alfice Robinson
SAR_zps33a1c999.jpg


11/8/1829 - 7/23/1910 (Born and died in Marion, Virginia)
(Post War photo, unknown date)
  • Private, 20th Heavy Artillery Battalion, Co. E
    • Enlisted 4/23/1862
    • Detailed 10/6/1862 (probably Drewry's Bluff, As wagon driver)
    • Hospitalized 10/14/1863 Chimborazo Hospital, Richmond, VA (With "intermit fever")
    • Returned 10/28/1863 (probably Drewry's Bluff, to duty as wagon driver)
    • Returned 12/4/1863 (place not stated) (From detail)
    • On rolls as Present, 12/31/1864 (probably Petersburg)
    • No further record - I believe he may have deserted sometime in 1865 as there is no record of him as a POW
    • See unit history in post #9 below
  • Samuel is my 3rd Great Grandfather (paternal line)

Nelson Jackson Robinson
1846-1908 (Born and died in Smyth County, VA)
  • Samuel Alfice Robinson's brother
  • Private, 25th Virginia Cavalry, Co. I
    • Enlisted April 4/18/1863 (later deserted)
  • Nelson is my 3rd Great Uncle
Thomas Cockrell
TC_zps4ec7ee1b.jpg

3/22/1822 - 1/1/1885 (Born and died in Fauquier County, VA)
(Post war photo 1866-1870 with his son John Thomas)
  • Thomas was described as having red hair, blue eyes and a florid complexion. He was 5'7" tall and illiterate.
  • Private, 7th Virginia Cavalry, Co. A
    • Enlisted 6/21/1861 in Charles Town, WV
  • Private, 12th Virginia Cavalry, Co. A
    • Transferred 6/1862
    • Wounded at Brandy Station (6/9/1863)
    • Prisoner of War (possibly taken at Brandy Station) and exchanged in January or February of 1864
    • Paroled at Harper's Ferry on 4/21/1865
  • Thomas is my 3rd Great Grandfather (paternal line)

Robert Crow Williams
9/10/1828 - 5/4/1907 (Born and died in Smyth County, VA)
  • Lieutenant, 8th Virginia Cavalry, Co. A (Smyth Dragoons)
    • Enlisted 5/27/1861
    • Promoted to Full Command Sergeant on 7/21/1861
    • Promoted to Lieutenant
    • Wife's pension application in 1916 states Robert was a Captain
    • 8th Virginia Cavalry broke through Federal lines at Appomattox and disbanded instead of surrendering
  • Robert is my 3rd Great Uncle (paternal line)
Joseph Smith Weaver
JSW_zps21a20f85.jpg

2/27/1827 - 1/14/1912 (Born and Died in Fauquier County, VA)
(Post War photograph, ca. 1905)
  • Private, 9th Virginia Infantry, Co. G
  • Joseph is my 3rd Great Grandfather (paternal line)

Johnson Richard Furr
12/27/1846 - 1/17/1916
  • Private, 23rd Virginia Cavalry, Co. D
  • Enlisted 4/1/1864
  • Johnson is my 2nd Great Grandfather (paternal line)
Dallas Furr
4/18/1845 - 8/6/1903
  • Private, 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry (Mosby's Rangers), Co. A
  • Paroled on 4/22/65 at Winchester, VA
  • Dallas is Johnson's brother
  • Dallas is my 2nd Great Uncle (paternal line)

Absalom Biller
9/5/1829 - 10/19/1861
  • Private, 136th Virginia Militia, Co. G
  • Died of Typhoid Fever
  • Absalom is my 3rd Great Uncle (paternal line)
Ambrose Biller
12/14/1839 - 7/2/1903
  • Private, 136th Virginia Militia, Co. G
  • Ambrose is Absalom's brother
  • Ambrose is my 3rd Great Uncle (paternal line)
Christian Biller
CCB_zps99c6d7fa.jpg

11/13/1837 - 4/29/1907 (Born in Shenandoah, VA died in Wisconsin)
(Unknown date of photograph)
  • Private, 7th Virginia Cavalry, Co. H
    • Enlisted 6/20/1861
  • Private, 17th Battalion Virginia Cavalry, Co. C
  • Private, 11th Cavalry, Co. C
  • Christian is Ambrose and Absalom's brother
  • Christian is my 3rd Great Uncle (paternal line)
William Soaper
1826 - 1905
  • Private, 12th Virginia Light Artillery Battalion, Co. A (1st) (Brooke's Battery)
    • Enlisted 3/10/1862 in Warrenton, VA
    • 9/63 - Sick in Hospital in Richmond
    • 10/63 - Return to Duty
    • 4/64 - Detailed as wagoner
    • Present through 2/65, no further record
  • William is my 3rd Great Grandfather (paternal line)
William Furr
4/16/1805 - 1/11/1873 (Born and died in Loudon County, VA)
  • Private, 11th Virginia Cavalry, Co. K
  • William is Johnson Richard and Dallas' father
  • William is my 3rd Great Grandfather (paternal line)
 
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Research into my family tree on both sides has revealed fourteen (possibly) ancestors who fought in the Civil War. All but one are on my father's side which is predominately a Virginia family. My mother's side mainly hails from Kentucky. There is one member that I've asked about on here that is still up in the air as to his service. I'll update the post as I can. It will be in order in which I discovered.

Phillip Skees
1/12/1833 or 1834 - 2/15/1901 (Born and died in Hardin County, Kentucky)
  • Private, 18th Kentucky Infantry, Co. K (Union)
    • His name is listed on the Hardin County, KY draft registration list of February (I believe) 1863.
    • No other information known.
  • Phillip is my 3rd Great Grandfather (maternal line)


Minor Glascock
4/11/1820 - 11/22/1863 (Born and died in Salem (now Marshall), Virginia)
  • Private, 8th Virginia Infantry, Co. K
    • Service Date: 7/30/1861- 10/25/1861
    • Family legend states he was wounded at Ball's Bluff, 10/21/1861
    • Absent from roll on 10/25/1861 (2 sources say AWOL, 1 says mustered out/discharged)
  • Minor is my 3rd Great Grandfather (paternal line)
SAR_zps33a1c999.jpg

Samuel Alfice Robinson
11/8/1829 - 7/23/1910 (Born and died in Marion, Virginia)
(Post War photo, unknown date)
  • Private, 20th Heavy Artillery Battalion, Co. E
    • Enlisted 4/23/1862
    • His service record outside of enlistment is unknown. However, this unit served in the department of Richmond and was converted to infantry in 1865, participating in the Appomattox Campaign.
  • Samuel is my 3rd Great Grandfather (paternal line)

Marion is close to my home in east Tennessee.

- The Virginia Regimental Histories Series:

Samuel Robinson

Residence was not listed;
Enlisted on 4/23/1862 at Richmond, VA as a Private.

On 4/23/1862 he mustered into "E" Co. VA 20th Battn Heavy Artillery
(date and method of discharge not given)


He was listed as:
* Detailed 10/6/1862 (place not stated) (As wagon driver)
* Hospitalized 10/14/1863 Chimborazo Hospl, Richmond, VA (With "intermit fever")
* Returned 10/28/1863 (place not stated) (To duty as wagon driver)
* Returned 12/4/1863 (place not stated) (From detail)
* On rolls 12/31/1864 (place not stated) (Present, no further record)
.........................................................................................................................................
Minor Glascock

Residence was not listed;
Enlisted on 7/30/1861 at Salem, Roanoke County, VA as a Private.

On 7/30/1861 he mustered into "K" Co. VA 8th Infantry
He was Absent without leave on 10/25/1862


Other Information:
born in 1820
died in 1863
Buried: Marshall, VA
.....................................................................................................................................
 
How are you accessing the VA Regimantal Histories? I've only been able to get my hands on the one for the 8th VA (that was one of the two sources of Minor's AWOL).

The info on Minor's enlistment is wrong for the county, but I think that's a database issue. Marshall, VA used to be called Salem and there's also a Salem down in Roanoke County. Marshall/Salem is in Fauquier.

Thanks for the help!
 
How are you accessing the VA Regimantal Histories? I've only been able to get my hands on the one for the 8th VA (that was one of the two sources of Minor's AWOL).

The info on Minor's enlistment is wrong for the county, but I think that's a database issue. Marshall, VA used to be called Salem and there's also a Salem down in Roanoke County. Marshall/Salem is in Fauquier.

Thanks for the help!

http://civilwardata.com/ The Virginia Regimental Series is one of their resources. Would there be another spelling of SKEES ? Couldn't find him at all in the Kentucky Union troops.
 
Skeens, Skeers or Skears, potentially. I've found his name on some places where rosters are found but not on others. I don't really know why that is? Thanks again!
 
Added a few more. That's about half. I haven't been able to get info for a few of them. I was able to see a bit of the 12th Virginia Cavalry history and records but that one is probably the most thorough I've been able to work on my own. Research is definitely ongoing.
 
Recently talked to a distant cousin via ancestry.com and she believes this is a picture of Thomas Cockrell with his son (her 2x grandfather John Thomas Cockrell). John Thomas is my 2x great uncle and his sister Nannie is my 2x great grandmother.

TC_zps4ec7ee1b.jpg
 
Put up the information that I have for the rest. Some things I find interesting are that a lot of my ancestors were a bit older when they served. In the case of William Furr, quite a bit older.

My observations for Minor Glascock is that whether wounded or not, the action at Ball's Bluff was enough for him it seems.
For Samuel Alfice Robinson, I don't know if he really wanted to serve. He enlisted a few days after the first Conscription Act and I think it was possible that he joined the Heavy Artillery in Richmond so he wouldn't see much action. Just some guesses, and I don't mean to slight either one of them at all as it's no where near my place to judge any of them. I just like to know the stories and the people who have had a hand in bringing me into this world.

Still have research to do. I've sent out requests via inter library loan for books on all of the units my ancestors were in (outside of Philip Skees and Joseph Keith Williams). I intend to visit the Fauquier County Historical and Preservation Society in my hometown of Marshall, VA at some point in the next couple of months to do some more digging. There's a local historian named Eric Buckland who has written a lot on Mosby and his men. One of his books has information on Dallas Furr. Mr. Buckland does a lot of stuff locally and I've seen him speak on several occasions (of course it had to be before I knew I had an ancestor that rode with Mosby). I may be able to meet face to face with Mr. Buckland at some point, hopefully. For Philip Skees I think the Kentucky Archives might be the place to go. For Joseph Keith Williams (I didn't put him in here because I don't know for sure if he even fought though it looks like he may have for the 16th West Virginia) an inquiry with Smyth County and then possibly Virginia's archives are my next steps there. Maybe even some more poking about on Ancestry.com to see if some of my distant cousins out there have some helpful information.

Thanks for taking the time to look at my heritage. It is appreciated. Any comments or suggestions are appreciated.

Oh, and special thanks to East Tennessee Roots for all the help he has provided for me already!
 
After doing some research I was able to come across the 18th and 20th Battalions of Heavy Artillery by Tracy Chernault and Jeffrey C. Weaver. This is a book in the Virginia Regimental Histories Series. If anyone ever has any relatives that served in Virginia these books are well worth the look. They can be hard to get hold of at times, unfortunately.

My theory of Samuel Robinson not wanting to be an active part of the fight seems to be correct. For in the book it states:

“Knowledge of the conscription act was widespread before it was actually enacted. Many thousands of men enlisted in units from their towns and counties in order to be with friends, relatives and neighbors. Thousands more joined newly formed units and the20th Battalion of Virginia Heavy Artillery was such an organization.

Artillery units were popular among prospective soldiers. Mortality was generally lower than in other arms of service. Artillery duty, while difficult enough, was more acceptable to the intellectual elite than service in the infantry or cavalry. Heavy artillery duty was less hazardous than field or light artillery duty. Due to the nature of the weapons used, the battery or command tended to remain stationary. Comfortable cabins might be constructed and a general feeling of well-being was possible. As the war progressed, however, some heavy artillery battalions were also armed with infantry weapons and trained as infantrymen. Still, their primary mission was to man the large guns.”​

The following is a short history of the Battalion, with a focus on Company E where possible, which my ancestor, Samuel Alfice Robinson, served in.


20th Battalion Virginia Heavy Artillery

Formation

The 20th Battalion Virginia Heavy Artillery was organized by Special Orders Number 143, Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office, dated 6/21/1862. The battalion was formed with four companies, A through D. A fifth company (E), the Game Point Battery, was assigned after October 1863 but before April 1864. LTCOL Arthur Sinclair Cunningham served as temporary commander of the battalion in 1862. The first proposed permanent commander, MAJ Johnston DeLagnel, was not confirmed (rejected by the Confederate Congress, he immediately left the Battalion). MAJ James Ewen Robertson was finally confirmed as commander on May 23, 1863, and served until the end of the war. The 20th Battalions officers were:

Arthur Sinclair Cunningham, LTCOL

Johnston DeLagnel, MAJ

James E. Robertson, MAJ

W.O. Hill, Assistant Commissary of Supply

Henry Fisher, Adjutant

A. Austin Smith, Adjutant

L.A. Harris, Surgeon

W.W. Old, Assistant Quartermaster

Thomas Smith, Assistant Commissary of Supply

D.J. Evans, Assistant Quartermaster​

Company E, CAPT William J. Dabney’s Company Virginia Heavy Artillery was unofficially known as the Game Point Battery, and was organized in March 1862. This company was intended to become part of LTCOL N.C. Harris’ Battalion of Virginia Heavy Artillery. Dabney’s Battery served as an independent battery from June 10, 1862 until it’s assignment to the 20th Battalion (sometime between October 1863 and April 1864). During the interim time they served with Moseley’s Battalion until. No order of assignment has been found. This makes it easier to track the activities of the Battery for a good portion of the war.

Officers who served this battery while assigned to the Harris’ Battalion were:

William J. Dabney, CAPT

F.W. Doggett, 1st LT

Peter F. Vaden, 2nd LT

John T. Ferneyhough, 2nd LT​

Those who served after assignment to the 20th Battalion were:

William J. Dabney, CAPT

F.W. Doggett, 1st LT

Peter F. Vaden, 2nd LT

John T. Ferneyhough, 2nd LT

Charles Hunt, 1st LT

Stephen C. Curry, 2nd LT​

1862

During 1862, the Game Point Battery was in the same general area as the 20th Battalion (around Richmond). During this time, from April to June, there were 16 desertions in the Company as a whole (though no specific numbers for the Battery), the second highest total during the war. This is most likely due to conscripts who did not want to be enlisted in the first place.

In June 1862, Dabney’s company was located on Friend’s Farm and Mrs. Price’s Farm (don’t know the exact location of these places at this time). During the June timeframe the company had at least one 3-inch ordnance rifle as CAPT Dabney requisitioned ammunition for the gun. Requisition records place the battery at Drewry’s Bluff during September - November 1862. Ammunition requisitions prepared by 1st LT Charles Hunt on November 21, 1862, suggest that the battery was armed with 30-pounder Parrot Rifles and 18-pounder Rifles.

1863

In 1863, the activities of the Battery were more varied than those of the rest of the Battalion. The 20th spent time on guard detail for Richmond’s prisons and other government facilities as well as continuing construction on Richmond’s defensive lines. The Game Point Battery does not appear to have done the same types of duties. From April 7 to April 12, 1863, Dabney’s Battery was located at Ivor Station (near Suffolk), while the rest of the Battalion was located at Redoubt 9 on the Brooke Road outside of Richmond (where they remained for most of the year). On the 12th of April, the Battery marched to Fort Powhatan (located 75 miles up the James River, 60 feet above the river at a point only 300 some yards wide) , where they remained just four days. In May, the Battery was at Franklin, Virginia, supporting GEN Longstreet’s Suffolk campaign. By July, however, the battery had returned to Drewry’s Bluff and Camp Pickett. It apparently remained there, or in the general area, until it was assigned to the 20th Battalion. It is noted that during this time that other companies in the 20th were having supply problems and there is no reason to believe that the Game Point Battery had it any better.

It is more difficult (pretty much near impossible from what I can tell) to pin down the exact movements of Company E from this moment on. Once Dabney’s command was attached to the 20th there’s not much mention of the Game Point Battery by itself.

1864

The 20th Battalion would see more activity during 1864. The artillerists’ supply situation remained precarious at best, with a note from Captain Hargrove of Company D of lack of overcoats and blankets. Discipline was a problem. Many men felt that they were unfairly kept from visiting their families at home. There were issues with men deserting, some with the intention of returning but some had no such notion. This was largely due to the letters from home which spoke of hardships whilst the men mostly sat in their camps bored. Despite this, however, the men of the 20th mainly kept to their duty (from July 1862 – December 1864 there were a total of twenty-two desertions). There were a few scares in the early part of the year, but most of the time was spent on dull garrison duties around Richmond. But that soon turned into chaotic despair as the siege of Petersburg commenced.

There was some shifting by the 20th during the Petersburg siege, mostly to cover movements of other units as these men were located on the inner lines.

1865

On January 9, 1865, Special Orders No. 8 from Headquarters, Army of Northern Virginia directed: “The First, Second, Third, and Fourth Battalions Virginia Reserves and the Tenth, Nineteenth, Eighteenth, and Twentieth Virginia Battalions of Heavy Artillery and the battalion of five companies serving at Chaffin’s Bluff are organized into one brigade.” The 18th Battalion Georgia Heavy Artillery was also attached to this brigade (only supposed to be temporary until they could be attached to a Georgia unit). LTCOL John Pemberton took command, despite his recent assignment as staff inspector general of artillery and ordnance for the entirety of the CSA. By the end of February, COL Stapleton Crutchfield took command of Chaffin’s Bluff Artillery Brigade or the “Artillery Brigade”.

The 20th Battalion maintained its position in the defensive lines until Richmond was evacuated on April 2. At this time these men were immediately converted to infantry, ordered to cook two days rations, pack their haversacks and fill canteens. As you will later see, there wasn’t much to pack. They were issued 40 musket cartridges.

Captain Thomas Blake Ballard of Company E, 10th Virginia Heavy Artillery wrote an article for the Richmond Dispatch that appeared in May 2, 1897. He specifically mentions the 20th and records the activity of the Brigade:

“The 18th and 20th Virginia Battalions, commanded by LTCOL James Howard of Baltimore, and the 18th Georgia Battalion… [with the rest of the units combined] formed what was known as the “Artillery Brigade”…On the afternoon of Sunday, April 2d, 1865, rumors reached our lines of important movements pending. That night we received our marching orders, and were underway by midnight. As our supplies of every description were exceedingly scant we were strictly in “light marching order.” Our daily ration for some time past had been one pound of corn-meal and a quarter of a pound of bacon. The bacon was alternated with a pound of fresh beef. Both the bacon and the beef were occasionally substituted by gill or sorghum. So we started on the march with empty haversacks. We moved towards James river, crossing on a pontoon bridge above Drewry’s Bluff. The explosions of the magazines at Chaffin’s and Drewry’s Bluff and at Richmond could be plainly heard.

Early Monday morning we learned that Richmond was burned. We were then moving in the direction of Burkeville Junction. It was a forced march, halting only to rest our arms. To add to other discomforts, a cold rain set in. Footsore, almost starved, and well-nigh exhausted, we continued to march. There being no commissary stores from which to draw, no rations had been issued since leaving the lines, and, as before stated, we started with empty haversacks. The resources of the country through which we were passing had been almost exhausted, and we had to gather up and eat the grains of corn left on the ground where the horses had fed, whenever we could find any. We were, moreover, constantly annoyed by the enemy’s cavalry, which hung on our rear. Thus the retreat continued until the afternoon of Thursday, April 6th. More than half of our men had straggled or fallen by the wayside from sheer exhaustion, but those whose endurance and grit had brought them thus far were ready to face any foe. Between 2 and 3 o’clock in the afternoon of the 6th we arrived at Sailor’s Creek.”​

The Artillery Brigade took up the left flank of the Confederate position. Captain Ballard continued:

“…The stream had been swollen by the rains of the past few days and the waters overflowed the banks. We waded across this stream and took position on the rising ground about 100 yards beyond. The ground was covered with a growth of broom straw and a few small bushes, mostly pine. Our line of battle was long drawn out—exceedingly thin.”​

The battle commenced with the brigade being shelled by artillery and they of course had no such accoutrements any longer as they had been abandoned in the Richmond defenses. CAPT Ballard stated the brigade took most of its damage from the artillery on its right (unknown where Company E of the 20th was located in the line of battle). Union infantry then appeared and marched across the field but were met with a charge by the Artillery Brigade. Most of the Union infantry fled but there was some resistance that led to hand to hand fighting. COL Crutchfield was killed in this action and Adjutant Wilson shot through the leg, which was later amputated. Shortly thereafter the Union infantry reformed and advanced again and this time most of the Artillery Brigade surrendered. Sailor’s Creek was the defacto end of the 20th, as 11 men were wounded and 187 captured the highest casualties they sustained during the war. Only twenty-five men of the 20th Battalion was at the surrender at Appomattox three days later.

Conclusion

Few men in the 20th Battalion had far to go and most were home by April 10th, though when Samuel Robinson made it home, is unknown. Wartime rosters show strength of 111 men in Company E, which was the smallest Company in the 20th Battalion. During the last months of the war, desertions in the Battalion went up to their highest total as many could foresee the fate of the Confederacy. From January to April, thirty-three men left their posts (again, no exact records for the Battery). I believe that Samuel Robinson was probably in this group as there is no record of him being paroled.

Deaths in the Battalion probably occurred mostly from disease. A look at the 18th Battalion (which was closely linked with the 20th) shows that 61 men died via sickness where as only three died of any sort of violence (one in battle, one shot in prison by a guard and another murdered). Total casualties in combat for the 20th Battalion in six battles (Drewry's Bluff - 5/15/62, Richmond - 3/1/64, Richmond - 4/3/65, Sailer's Creek - 4/6/65, Appomattox C.H. - 4/8/65 and Salisbury (NC) - 4/12/65), was 3 KIA, 16 WIA and 194 POW (most at Sailer’s Creek). Another eight died at Point Lookout prisoner of War Camp.

It was noted in the 18th and 20th Battalions of Heavy Artillery that these men “did not have entertaining war tales to tell their grandchildren, or have too many lies to swap with old comrades. Several became involved with the United Confederate Veterans. Some moved away, some faded away, a few enjoyed local prominence.”
 
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Captain Blake wrote a more detailed account of the final days in Richmond, the retreat and the Battle of Sailer's Creek in the Confederate Veteran in 1920 (Volume 28, pages 213 - 216: See link). Blake continues his account through his captivity and return to Richmond, but the account he gives as an officer would not pertain to the non-coms and privates.
https://archive.org/details/confederateveter28conf
 
Link to my post on the Brooke Battery, pertaining to William Soaper:

http://civilwartalk.com/threads/brooke-battery.102358/

Updated info of William Soaper:

William Soaper
1826 - 1905
  • Private, 12th Virginia Light Artillery Battalion, Co. A (1st) (Brooke's Battery)
    • Enlisted 3/10/1862 in Warrenton, VA
    • 9/63 - Sick in Hospital in Richmond
    • 10/63 - Return to Duty
    • 4/64 - Detailed as wagoner
    • Present through 2/65, no further record
  • William is my 3rd Great Grandfather (paternal line)
 
An update on Dallas Furr.

I attended a talk this past weekend in Warrenton by three authors/historians (Donald Hakenson, Charles Mauro and Dave Goetz) that have studied John Mosby and I was able to speak to Mr. Hakenson about my ancestor, Dallas Furr. He was excited to meet a descendant (even if not a direct) and asked if I had a picture, which I do not. I did get some details, but if I want to go any further I'll have to some how work familial ties; I'm not sure how much more I'll be able to obtain about Dallas. Eric Buckland was supposed to be present but he was ill, but I did get his book Mosby Men III which has a little about Dallas Furr:

There's no real record of Dallas' activities in Mosby's Rangers outside of his parole at Winchester on 4/22/65 at the age of 20. He was 5'11, dark complexion, dark hair, hazel eyes. He married Susan R. Sullivan in 1868 and they had 4 children (2 boys, 2 girls) and settled down in Aldie, VA. He became a Justice of the Peace after the war. He died of a 'stroke of paralysis' at the age of 58 on 8/6/1903 and is buried in Middleburg, VA at Sharon Cemetery.

Dallas donated a bit of land in Aldie to the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry so they could erect a monument to commemorate their losses at the Battle of Aldie which occurred on June 17, 1863. For his generosity, Dallas was given a gold mounted Morris chair by the 1st Mass. Cavalry Association.
 
Did you ever find out more on your ancestor, Philip Skees? Is his middle name Samuel.? There is a Philip Samuel Skees on Find A Grave. He is buried in St. Ignatius Cemetery in Hardin County, Ky. There are many Skees buried there. The memorial has his dates from 1834 to 1901.
 
I haven't actually looked much more into him. My long term goal (if that's what you call it) was to contact the Kentucky archives.

I will say that it is probably him. St. Ignatius is the church my family in that area still goes to. I attended when we went on vacation as a child, I haven't been in probably 15 years or so. Since I haven't had real contact with that neck of the woods in that amount of time I hadn't dug into anything at the church or local courthouse (probably in Elizabethtown, I think?) or anything to that effect.

Thank you very much for the lead, @donna! I will get back to you after I take a look.
 
I found some information about Moore Robinson, who was the father of Samuel Robinson, listed here on this thread.

He lived in Johnson County Tennesee, near Mountain City, on the border with Virginia and Kentucky. He was apparently killed by bushwackers after he refused to tell them where he had hidden some gold. He died on October 6 1864.
 
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