AUTHOR: Wanda Morrison Tillotson; Edited and vetted by Cheri Todd Molter
Basically, this is my story: I grew up just down the road alongside all my maternal relatives. Several ancestors in my Jackson line, including my 3rd-Great-Grandfather, Lewis/Louis Jackson, and his first three sons—John Calvin, Edmund Coleman and William “Wiley” Bass Jackson—enlisted in the Confederate Army and served in Company H, 20th Infantry, North Carolina Troops. My 3rd-Great-Grandfather, Lewis Jackson, was born in 1819 and enlisted on Mar 6, 1862 at Sampson County, North Carolina, as a Private. At the time, he was married to my 3rd-Great-Grandmother, Sarah Eugenia Bass Jackson, whose name was recorded numerous ways–Sarah Eugenia, Sallie Gene/Jean, Jane, and Gennie, to name a few. She was born in 1820 and died before 1880.
According to his military records, Lewis was wounded on May 2, 1863 at Chancellorsville, Virginia. His records also reveal that he deserted from the 20th Infantry about a month later. on June 9, 1863. Prior to 1900, Lewis died in Newton Grove, Sampson County (not Duplin County, as there’s a town named the same). He was buried at Sampson Jackson Graveyard by Kill Peacock Swamp.
Lewis and Sarah’s first (1st) son was Pvt. John Calvin Jackson, who was born in 1838 and enlisted on May 10, 1861. He was unmarried when he joined the Confederate Army. He was captured on Sept. 17, 1862 at Sharpsburg, Maryland. John died of dysentery on Oct 26, 1862 at Old Capitol Prison in Washington, DC (North Carolina Troops 1861-65, A Roster, (1993)). He’s buried at the Congressional Cemetery there.
Lewis and Sarah’s second son, named Edmond Coleman Jackson, was born in 1839 in Sampson County. His first wife was named Plessie Nancy Keen (born Nov. 13, 1837), and his second wife was Pleasant R. Best (Aug. 18, 1843 – April 8, 1930). Edmond Jackson was about twenty-one years old when he enlisted on May 10, 1861. His Military records state that he was: “[w]ounded on Jul 1, 1862 at Malvern Hill, Virginia.” Edmond taken prisoner on May 3, 1863 at Chancellorsville, Virginia, after suffering an injury to his left foot). He was confined on Dec 24, 1863 at Old Capitol Prison in Washington, DC, and was transferred on Feb 3, 1864 to Point Lookout, Maryland. He was paroled and exchanged on Feb 25, 1865, but was hospitalized at Richmond soon afterward. Edmond was granted a 30-day furlough that started on Mar 13, 1865. (North Carolina Troops 1861-65, A Roster (1993) He returned home to his family after the war and, many years later, died during the summer of 1918.
Lewis and Sarah’s third son, Pvt. William “Wiley” Bass Jackson, was born in 1843 at Westbrooks Township, Sampson County. Wiley was about nineteen years old when he enlisted on March 6, 1862. He was taken prisoner at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on July 1, 1863 and confined at Point Lookout, Maryland. He remained there at Point Lookout until, on February 18, 1865, he was paroled; he was back on Confederate rolls at Camp Lee, Virginia on February 28, 1865 (North Carolina Troops 1861-65, A Roster, (1993). After the war, Wiley returned home. He married Pearcy Catherine Raynor (born on May 14, 1843) on Nov. 11, 1866 at Sampson Co. Wiley died in 1872, and Pearcy died on May 7, 1908.
Over next door in Wayne Co (area known as tri-county), we think that my 3rd-Great-Grandfather, Jacob Davis, was laid to rest at Bentonville Battleground, and I think his son James was also a Confederate soldier.
Returning back to my Sampson County kin, there’s my Granny Davis’ line—the Raynors. W.D. Raynor, my 3rd-Great-Grandfather, served in the Mexican War (NC 1st). William David “Rayner” is found in the Ol’ Mans Pension book fought Mexican War for 1st NC and also in Confederate rolls for 20th North Carolina. His beloved Susan C. Thornton Raynor/Rayner/Rainer drew a pension and had named him as her spouse: App for Confederate Pension after 1901, Vol 3 M-R, also microfilm page 749. (He has records in Raleigh) His brother Frank was also a conscripted Confederate.
