SUBMITTED BY: Geri Irwin (written by Cheri Todd Molter)
The attachment is the scan of a page from The Mangums of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, Utah, and Adjoining States, by John T. Palmer, PhD (Santa Rosa, Ca). Click the image to enlarge.
Born on April 1, 1834, Adolphus Williamson Mangum was the youngest child of Ellison Goodloe and Elizabeth Harris Mangum, a couple who raised their family near Rougemont in Orange County (now Durham County), North Carolina. He graduated with honors in 1854 at Randolph-Macon College.
In 1856, Mangum became a junior preacher. On Dec. 8, 1860, Mangum was ordained by Bishop Robert Paine of the Methodist Episcopal Church, then appointed pastor of the Roanoke Circuit. In 1861, he was transferred to Salisbury, North Carolina.
Late in 1861, Adolphus W. Mangum enlisted in the Confederate Army, serving as chaplain in the 6th Infantry (North Carolina). At the time, he was twenty-seven years old. On July 21, 1861, at the Battle of First Manassas, Adolphus Mangum’s cousin, Lt. William Preston Mangum, was mortally wounded, and Adolphus attended him at the hospital until William died on July 30th. William was the son of congressman and 1836 presidential candidate Willie P. Mangum, and after his death, Adolphus returned home to Salisbury, North Carolina, and never returned to the battlefield. Instead, Mangum served as chaplain—and a record-keeper—at the Confederacy’s Salisbury prison. He ministered to the imprisoned soldiers and was appalled at the conditions there. Mangum recorded the names of the deceased and wrote of his experiences, all of which was beneficial in providing information about the prison. [See attachment for more information about Adolphus’ role as the Salisbury Prison’s Chaplain.]
On 24 Feb. 1864, Mangum married Laura Jane Overman, and they had five children: Ernest Preston, Mary Elizabeth (Mrs. N. H. D. Wilson), Juliet LeRoy, Charles Staples, and Adolphus Williamson, Jr.
Sources: North Carolina Troops 1861-65, A Roster; https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/mangum-adolphus
