This letter was written by Edwin Bevers, I deduce. It is a most poignant account of the death of his younger brother, Woodley Beavers, who was near 24 years of age at his death near Petersburg, Virginia. (See PDF at this link: 1616686932-file-38-Bevers-letter)
This letter was transcribed from the original by my mother, Jane Taylor Henderson, in 1959. The original letter was then in the possession of Esther Eunice Stone Cahn, who apparently lived near Raleigh, where our family lived. Esther is the granddaughter of Findal Bevers (or Beavers), a younger brother of Edwin. Esther is the daughter of Geneva Anne Beavers who married Joshua Levi Stone. Edwin Bevers was married to Lucy May Bevers. I have posted this letter on FamilySearch as a memory under Edwin Beavers, and I sincerely hope that a family member will discover it in case the original was lost.
In the prefatory notes, I traced the named Sallie and Luki as daughters of Edwin and Lucy May Bevers, making them aunts to Lillian Stone and Esther Stone Cahn, granddaughters of Findal and Mary Bevers. I thought it best to identify some relationships of the family members mentioned.
Editor’s Notes: The following information pertains to those who were mentioned in this letter:
Woodley Bevers: Woodley Bevers was a twenty-one-year-old Wake County farmer when he enlisted in the Confederate Army on March 7, 1862. He served in Company I, 47th Infantry, N.C. Troops. On Sept. 1, 1862, Woodley was promoted Corporal. Woodley was wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of Gettysburg, then hospitalized at David’s Island, New York Harbor, on July 20, 1863. Woodley was exchanged on Aug. 28th at City Point, Virginia. On April 8, 1864, he was promoted Sergeant. Then, a little over four months later, according to this letter written by his brother, he was mortally wounded and died on August 21st.
Edwin Bevers: Edwin Bevers, Woodley’s older brother, enlisted at Raleigh, N.C. as a Private and served in Company I, 47th Infantry, N.C. Troops, too. He died of “chronic dysentery” during the war (sometime after August 1864).
Sidney Medlin: Sidney A. Medlin was a twenty-two-year-old resident of Wake County N.C. when he enlisted as a Private on May 16, 1862 at Raleigh. Like Edwin and Woodley, he served in Company I, N.C. 47th Infantry. He was shot in the head at Petersburg, Virginia, and died of his wounds on Aug. 22, 1864.
Henderson Jackson: According to his military records, Henderson C. Jackson enlisted as a Private and served in Company A, N.C. Mallett’s Battalion. On May 15, 1864, he transferred into Company I, 47th Infantry, N.C. Troops. At Petersburg, Virginia, he was wounded in his right leg, which was later amputated. He died of his wounds on Sept. 2, 1864.
Hinton Freeman [J H. Freeman]: After serving in Company E of Mallett’s Battalion, N.C. Troops, Hinton Freeman transferred into Company I, 47th Infantry on May 15, 1864. Five months later, Freeman was taken prisoner at Burgess’ Mill, Virginia, and was confined on Oct. 31, 1864 at Point Lookout, Maryland. On March 12, 1865, Freeman died of “chronic diarrhea” while still a prisoner at Point Lookout.
Calvin Cope [Calvin E. Cope]: Cope (spelled Copi in the transcription) was eighteen years old when he enlisted as a Private in the Confederate Army at Wake County, North Carolina. On Oct. 4, 1862, he mustered into Company I of the 47th Infantry. Cope was wounded and taken prisoner on July 3, 1863 at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. On July 21st, he was hospitalized at Chester, Pennsylvania, and exchanged at City Point, Virginia, one month later. Cope was wounded again on Oct. 1, 1864, at Petersburg, Virginia. On April 2, 1865, he was taken prisoner at Petersburg, then confined at Hart’s Island, New York. From there, Cope took the Oath of Allegiance on June 17, 1865.
William Massey: William Massey was a forty-one-year-old Orange County farmer who enlisted as a Private in the Confederate Army on Feb. 24, 1862. Like the other men listed above, he served in Company I, 47th Infantry, N.C. Troops. On Oct. 27, 1864, Massey was captured at Burgess’ Mill, Virginia, and confined at Point Lookout, Maryland, a few days later. On Jan. 21, 1865, he was exchanged and returned to serve with his company for the remainder of the war.
Emily Jones Brown: (spelled Emley Brown in transcription) Emily Jones married William C. “Buck” Brown on Nov. 10, 1854 in Johnston County, North Carolina. As of 1870, Emily and Buck had six children: five sons and one daughter.
Buck Brown [William C. Brown]: According to his military records, Buck Brown, Emily’s husband, was a twenty-eight-year-old Wake County farmer who enlisted as a Private in the Confederate Army on March 4, 1862. On April 29, 1862, Brown mustered into Company I, 47th Infantry, N.C. Troops. Brown was wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of Gettysburg, then confined on July 20, 1863 at David’s Island, New York Harbor. Almost two months later, he was exchanged at City Point, Virginia. On Aug. 25, 1864, Brown was wounded at Reams’ Station, Virginia.
