East Tennessee Roots. I have found conflicting records on Fold3 regarding Andrew. The Confederate records say that he joined at the age of 18 in a Garysburg, Northhampton North Carolina. That is way up at the northern part of the state. I have him on an 1850 census in Duplin County with his age listed at 19, living with what remains of his family: mother Rachel, brother Owen (my GGGreat Grandfather) and sister Susan (3 months old). I can then find him on an 1860 census for Beaver Creek, Trenton North Carolina with wife Elizabeth, son Mason, and daughter Cordelia. I have traveled to the courthouse in Trenton and searched all of their archives but couldn't find any record at all of Andrew or his family. Odds are, they were sharecroppers and were simply too poor to have any records of them left behind. I would really like to figure out for sure if the man that joined in Northhampton is indeed the correct Andrew J Britton. It seems like it would have to be even though the age is way off. Those records claim that he was injured at a battle in Fredricksburg and sent to a hospital in Richmond. Would there have been records for that? Something that would state what his injuries were maybe? The only info that I can find says that he was sent to General Hospital #10, that he was injured slightly and that he was furloughed for 60 days. That seems excessive for someone who was only "slightly" injured. One of the Confederate Records on Fold3 also state that Andrew sent a substitute named James Martin. I am not sure I understand what that means. Would that substitute just have been for the duration of his stay in the hospital? Would he have had to pay that substitute? That is where the records stop.
One of the last pages of Confederate Records on Fold3 also state that Andrew J Britton was discharged on March 15,1863. If he was discharged in 1863, how could he be a deserter in 1864?
Mike Serpa - You said you did a word search and his name came up many times... was that a simple google search? I have found a lot of info for him that way, one of which includes the Murder of Union Soldiers that you have quoted above. I found it a few nights ago and just haven't had time to read through it all just yet. I had not read what you have listed above. I find it interesting that whoever that testimony is from claims that Andrew was the ringleader.
From what I have read, the area between Kinston and New Bern was considered "No man's land" as the Confederacy held Kinston and the Union held New Bern. Trenton, where Andrew's wife and children were living, is located directly between the two. I know that Elizabeth traveled to Kinston at some point. I don't know if she was able to retrieve Andrew's body or where he may be buried. I know some of the men were thrown in a pit at the base of the gallows. I have read conflicting stories about where the gallows were located. Some say directly behind the courthouse, others say in a big field. The area behind the courthouse (where a sign stands with the names of the 22 men) is nothing but a big parking lot now. I have also read that there were some reports of bodies being dissected or experimented on. I do not know how accurate those reports are. If Andrew does have a grave out there, I would very much like to locate it. The same goes for his children. I know they had an infant at the time of his hanging which died within a month of Andrew's death. The older children, Mason age 9 and Cordelia age 4 both died a week apart just 3 months later. There is no record for them in Trenton. I am going to try the archives in Kinston next.
Bringing the