CSA Veterans

Capt. Amos Blanch Jones

Capt. Amos Blanch Jones, Confederate Veteran & Methodist preacher. He was born in Virginia on December 2, 1841. He enlisted on May 15, 1861 in Jackson, Tennessee and was elected Captain of the 6th Tennessee Regiment, Company H. Rev. A.B. Jones was president of Memphis Conference Female Institute (later Lambuth) in Jackson, Tennessee, from 1878-1880, and 1897-1911. He died on July 17, 1924 and is buried in Riverside Cemetery in Jackson, TN.

Joseph Rembert Blankenship

J.R. Blankenship was born in September 1838 near Ripley, TN to Josiah and Matida Blankenship. He was a Confederate Veteran serving under Capt. Matheny in Company F, 21st Arkansas Regiment until surrender at Vicksburg in July 1862. He then returned home and enlisted in Company H of the 7th Tennessee at Brownsville, serving under Captain McCutchen. He was a member of the Methodist Church, with local membership in Oak Grove Methodist Church which is located just outside of Humboldt. He first married Susan Grammer on October 17, 1871 and they had 2 sons. Susan died on November 11, 1877. He then married Virginia Cassandra Bledsoe (Cassie) on Jan. 15, 1879. They had 6 children. He was actively involved in the local United Confederate Veterans camp, serving as Adjutant for a few years. He attended many of the Confederate reunions across the South, such as the one in Nashville in 1897 and Memphis in 1909. J.R. Blankenship died in June of 1910 and is buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in southern Gibson County, TN.

Captain N. A. Senter

Capt. N. A. Senter was born Nov. 1, 1838, in Cumberland County, N. C., the son of J. M. and Flora McNeill Senter. Captain Senter’s father was a farmer and about 1855 moved to Gibson County, TN. N.A. Senter grew up on a farm in North Carolina and in Gibson County.
During the War between the States, he served two years in the infantry and then two years in the cavalry. He enlisted in Company B, 27th Tennessee Infantry at Trenton. He served as first lieutenant and then after Shiloh was elected captain, but was forced to resign due to poor health. He recuperated and then enlisted in Company B, 14th Tennessee Cavalry at South Gibson and served under General Forrest. At Shiloh and Columbia he received gun shot wounds, but was not taken from duty. At Shiloh, five bullets holes were made through his hat.
After the war he began a grocery business at Humboldt. In about 1880 he opened a Livery stable. He also served as a deputy sheriff in Gibson County. Captain Senter was a lifelong democrat and was a member of the Humboldt Masonic Lodge, where he served as worshipful master several times. Captain Senter served as mayor and recorder for Humboldt multiple times.
He married Elizabeth Baird on December 18, 1867. There were five children born to this union: John, Lilly, James, Grace, N.A. Jr. Captain and Mrs. Senter were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
N.A. Senter died on June 9, 1929 and is buried at Rose Hill Cemetery in Humboldt, Tennessee.

Col. Robert Zachery Taylor

R.Z. Taylor was born on February 24, 1846 on the farm of his parents, Mr. & Mrs. Basil M. Taylor, in Madison County, Tennessee. Col. Taylor was a delicate but ambitious youth. His education, prior to the War Between the States, came from Andrew College in Trenton. When the South called, he answered by leaving his college studies to enlist as a soldier in the Confederate Army. He enlisted in Russell’s 20th Tennessee Cavalry, serving under General Forrest. Returning home at the end of the war, nothing injured in health but rather bettered by the hardships of a soldier’s life, he courageously took of the duties of a civil life.
Col. Taylor married Miss Mettie Ivie on October 6, 1869 in Gibson County. Several sons and daughters were born to the Taylors’. The famed author, Peter Taylor, was his grandson.
He chose law as a field of profession. The Chancery Court at Trenton had the benefit of his efficient services as Clerk and Master of that Court for two terms from 1886 - 1898. For many years he was part of law firm of Taylor and Taylor, his son, Hillsman Taylor, being his partner. According to his obituary, it would have been difficult to find a better land lawyer in Tennessee.
The Taylors spent a few years in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, where his father owned many acres of land. He remained there for a few years before returning to Trenton in 1872.
Out of his profession, as in it, R. Z. Taylor was distinguished for his sound judgment and efficiency in public affairs. In his association and dealings with men, he was just, astute and foresighted, and ready always to begin at the beginning to accomplish a worthy object and it is well shown in the matter of building a new Court House at Trenton. The old one was in terrible shape and not suited to the needs of the county, but the County Court alone could have it replaced, and about that time it was not interested in the idea. This goal had to come from within, Col Taylor was willing to give of this time, labor and influence to make this happen. At this point, he was elected as a Magistrate and made a member of the County Court. He formed a committee, with himself as Chairman, saw the erection of the beautiful Courthouse we have today. This building was completed in 1901.
According to his obituary: “Friendships with R.Z. Taylor were very strong. No one ever had a better earthly friend. He never forgot to be courageous in danger.” One example of this is the 1908 story of the Night Riders of Reelfoot Lake. Capt. Quentin Rankin and himself (land owners in that area) were taken from their beds at hotel near Reelfoot Lake by about 30 men armed with guns and ropes. They were taken to a place near the lake to be murdered. Before Rankin was hanged and his body riddled with bullets, R.Z. Taylor stepped to the front of the mob and said, “Men, kill me, and let Capt Rankin go. I have only a few years to live, anyway; he is a young man with a promising and useful life before him." The mob did not accept Taylor’s offer. Captain Rankin was cruelly hanged and shot to pieces. At this point, R.Z. Taylor, saved himself from like death, by a desperate plunge into and under water, so far and for so long a time, that the multitude of bullets fired at him from guns did not reach his body as he swiftly moved along on the ground below the water. The furious mob finally retired, assuming they had killed Taylor. After another day and night of hiding in the lake region, he escaped to find a group of friends searching for him.
In politics, R. Z. Taylor was a democrat. He rendered his party service for many years as chairman of the State Democratic Executive Committee.
R.Z. Taylor was an earnest and faithful Christian gentleman. He was a student of the Bible and a firm believer in its doctrines. For several years before his last sickness he had been a teacher of a large class of men in the Baptist Sunday School at Trenton.
Col. Taylor was always proud of his service in the Confederate Army and actively involved in forming bivouacs, UCV camps, and reunions in the Gibson County area. In fond memory of it all, when the time came, he went to his last resting place in Oakland Cemetery, clad, by his own request, in Confederate Uniform. Col. R.Z. Taylor passed away on June 3, 1922.

William Houston Harris

1st Lt. William Houston Harris, Co. I, 7th Tenn. Inf. Regt., CSA Originally from Wilson County, Tenn. He wore a Richmond Depot coat. He served under Brig. Gen. Robert Hatton and fought the entire war in Virginia.. He came to Humboldt about 1867. He built many local houses and buildings. He was a member of the Humboldt Methodist Church at 12th Avenue & Crenshaw. He was born May 6, 1830 in Gladeville, Wilson County, and died Aug. 2, 1918 in Humboldt, TN

Brig Gen. Alexander W. Campbell

Alexander William Campbell was born on June 4, 1828 in Nashville. After graduating from West Tennessee College, he studied law at Lebanon Law School. He was admitted to the bar of Tennessee and became a partner of Howell E. Jackson. He was elected mayor of Jackson in 1856.
A.W. Campbell enlisted in the Confederate States Army as a private. On or about May 9, 1861, he was appointed major and assigned to duty as assistant inspector general of the Provisional Army of Tennessee. He was promoted to colonel of the 33rd Tennessee Volunteer Infantry Regiment on October 18, 1861.Campbell's regiment was in reserve at the Battle of Belmont. Campbell led his regiment at the Battle of Shiloh. He was severely wounded during the battle. After several months convalescence, he returned to find that he had not been re-elected colonel of the regiment on its reorganization on May 8, 1862.
Upon his return to active duty, just before the Battle of Stones River, Campbell was appointed assistant adjutant and inspector general for Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk. After this assignment, he served with the Tennessee volunteer and conscription bureau under Brigadier General Gideon Pillow.
Sent on a mission for Tennessee Governor Isham G. Harris to supervise elections and to recruit new soldiers in the western part of Tennessee, Campbell was taken prisoner by Union forces at Lexington, Tennessee in July 1863. He was not exchanged until February 1865. On February 18, 1865, Campbell was appointed acting inspector general for Lt General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Later in the month, March 1, 1865, according to Eicher, Campbell was given command of a brigade in Brigadier General William H. Jackson's division of Forrest's cavalry corps, with which he served until the end of the war. On March 1, 1865, Campbell was commissioned as a brigadier general in the Confederate Army. He was paroled at Gainesville on May 11, 1865.
After the war, Gen. Campbell returned to Jackson and resumed his law practice. In 1880, he unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Party nomination for governor of Tennessee. He died on June 13, 1893 at Jackson. General Campbell is buried in Riverside Cemetery, Jackson, Tennessee.
(Source on Bio: Wikipedia & Ancestry.com)

Calvin H. Ferrell

Calvin Ferrell was born December 25, 1837 in Dyer County. He was left an orphan when his parents died in 1849. At the age of twenty, he farmed and kept house for himself, and in 1859 he began operating a steam saw and grist-mill. In 1861 he enlisted in the Newbern "Blues" Twelfth Infantry Regiment, of the Confederate Army. He was at Belmont and Shiloh, and was wounded and captured at the latter engagement. He was confined to Alton, Ill., for several months and was exchanged. He rejoined and served under General Forrest.
He was married April 7, 1864, to Lavinia K. Scales, of Gibson County.
In 1866 he came to Humboldt and engaged in the mercantile business for some time. In 1874 he began keeping a large nursery in Gibson County. In the late 1880's he was doing a large business, and employed sixty salesmen. He closed out this business in 1888. In July, 1885, the Humboldt Weekly Messenger newspaper was established. Mr. Ferrell was also an organizer of the Farmers & Merchants Bank (later Merchant's State Bank). He served as President of both Banks. He was also an organizer of the Humboldt Cotton Mills (on Avondale St) and served as Vice President in 1901.
Col. Ferrell was also an active participant in the Spiritual & Educational interests of Humboldt. He was the largest contributor to the building and furnishing of the Methodist Church on 12th Avenue, in which he was a member and trustee. His home stood on the property at which the old Jr High and High School stand. He donated this land to the city school system in 1916/17 for a new high school to be built. The street was named in his honor. (Ferrell Street).
Col. C.H. Ferrell was one of Humboldt's most prominent and upright citizens, always setting a moral and Christian example.
He died April 10, 1923 and is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery. He and his wife had no children.

Col. Munson Rufus Hill

Col. M.R. Hill was born in Churchville, New York on May 4, 1821. He would make his way to Dyersburg by 1839. While in Dyersburg, he would study law and would begin a practice. He also joined the Masonic Lodge before moving to Trenton in 1849. He would reopen his law practice in Trenton and would marry Miss Elizabeth Hale. He served in the Tennessee State Legislature for a few years as well. He was not for secession at first, but later his viewpoint would change. He was elected to serve as Colonel of 47th Tennessee Infantry. He and his men arrived at the Battle of Shiloh on April 7, 1862, the only reinforcements the Confederates received. He resigned his colonelship on January 5, 1863 due to remittent fever and gastroenteritis. Later that year, he made a failed attempt at running for the Confederate Congress. Col. Hill would spend the next few years practicing law in Memphis and Trenton. After the war ended, against his family and friends recommendation, moved to Memphis to continue practicing law there. Shortly thereafter, he contracted yellow fever and died on October 25, 1867. His body was returned to Trenton and laid to rest in Oakland Cemetery.