Helping Restore the Memory of a Local USCT

As I visited my grandparents last weekend, I found this nice story in the Falmouth Outlook, a small local weekly newspaper.I had hoped to come home, dig through various sites for more information on the soldier and write a nice, long entry, but that has not worked out.

Unfortunately, that link requires a subscription or registration in order to read it, so I will paraphrase it below, trying to avoid violating any copyright laws or committing any plagarism.

Basically, local resident Brandon Wilson helped restore a family cemetery this summer and that included a large stone for his ancestors John Wilson and his wife, who is not named in the article. John was a Civil War veteran, but both he and his wife had been slaves in both Virginia and Kentucky. (This article describes him as a "decorated Civil War veteran" and I am accepting this story at face value, though I hope to do more research on it.)

Brandon Wilson, with help from family friends and local business Peoples Funeral Home, cleaned the area and raised the stone, which the article says weighed a full ton. The article also includes a nice picture of the stone with Mr.Wilson and a representative from the funeral home next to it.

It is a neat story that Mr. Wilson is taking such an interest in preserving his family's history after the cemetery and stone had been neglected for so long. It also certainly caught my attention to see a story of a local African-American who had gone from bondage to warrior.

Unfortunately, John Wilson is a common name and the article included no other clues about his service, so I have very little additional information. I do have the newspaper clipping (yes, a real piece of paper from a real newspaper, not an online story) on my desk as a reminder of this research project. Hopefully I'll be able to dig into this a bit more in the upcoming weeks and try to illustrate John Wilson's story more than I can do now, but I thought this story as is deserved attention and recognition.

The cemetery is just south of Falmouth, a town in the northern part of Kentucky, connected to Campbell County where I live. See the map below.

Good job, Brandon Wilson and friends on this project.

Col. Stevenson at Falmouth

This is from the Covington Journal of April 6, 1861. It is not nationally significant, but I find it interesting from a local perspective, as Pendleton County is a neighbor to my home county, and a county I've visited quite frequently,  so I thought I'd post it here. It does show another example of support for the South from the northernmost areas of Kentucky, but that is to be expected in the Journal. 

I also have tried to find out more information about who exactly "Colonel" John W Stevenson was, but to no avail so far.

On Monday last, Hon. Jno. W. Stevenson addressed the people at Falmouth, Pendleton county. In reviewing the action of the late Congress he gave a history of the various attempts to effect an adjustment of our national troubles and presented in its true light the concerted and unyielding opposition of the Republicans to every plan suggested outside of their own organization. If we are not misinformed, Col. Stevenson endorsed the action of the Southern Rights Convention at Frankfort and said he would exhaust all honorable efforts to secure the adoption of the Crittenden Compromise. 


In reference to the approaching Congressional election, he said he was in the hands of his friends. 


The speech produced a marked effect upon the meeting, which was the largest ever held in Falmouth. Our informant says "Pendleton County is good for 400 majority for Stevenson."

An Incident and Aftermath in Falmouth, Kentucky during the Civil War

I found this description, almost a "lost and found" like article in the April 1897 edition of Confederate Veteran magazine and the local aspect of it quickly caught my attention.

C. H. Lee, Jr., Adjutant Camp 682, United Confederate Veterans, Falmouth, Ky.: "In August or September, 1862, a company of Confederate cavalry came to Falmouth for the purpose of burning the K. C.  railroad bridge, and while here engaged in a fight (editor note: KC railroad bridge refers to the Kentucky Central Railroad ) with a company of Federal soldiers. In the fight several of the Confederates were killed and wounded. Among them was the orderly sergeant of the company, Dr. Jennings, who was wounded, and died in a few days at the residence of Mrs. L. E. Rule, the mother of the commander of our camp.


Capt. Ratcliffe's company belonged to the command of Gen. E. Kirby Smith, who was at that time in Kentucky threatening Cincinnati. (editor note: see info here about the Siege of Cincinnati ) It is not likely that the family of Dr. Jennings ever knew when and where he was killed. He was cared for while he lived by Miss Annie L. Rule (who has been dead a number of years), and to her he gave a ring, with the expressed wish that it be the means of making known his fate to his friends. There is engraved in the ring the initials 'J. K. C. to S. S. J.' 

Mrs. Flora Seaman, a sister of Miss Rule, living here, says that Dr. Jennings's name was Samuel, and that the ring was given to him by his wife before their marriage. Moreover, that Dr. Jennings said that his home was in Mobile, Ala.


Capt. Ratcliffe's company was made up principally of the crew of a gunboat, either the 'Merrimac' or 'Virginia,' and was an independent company, and at some time may have been Gen. Heth's bodyguard. I wrote some time ago to the commander of a camp at Mobile, asking his assistance in the matter, to which he promptly assented. I have not heard from him since, and conclude that he failed to find any trace of Dr. Jennings's friends, and I know of no better way now to proceed than to ask the cooperation of the VETERAN in the matter.


Will you kindly insert a short notice in the next issue, stating so much of these facts as will enable any friends of Dr. Jennings, should they see it, to recognize the subject of this sketch? The ring has been deposited with our camp. If any of his relatives or friends should see the notice, I would be much pleased to hear from them, and will be glad to give them any additional facts in reference to the Doctor's death and burial place that I can. Dr. Jennings was first buried here, but after the war his remains were removed to Cynthiana, Ky., and buried in ' Battle Grove Cemetery' with other Confederate dead."

Records from Battle Grove Cemetery in Cynthiana, a town south of Falmouth, on US-27, do list an S.S. Jennings as buried in the Confederate plot of the graveyard. This link shows that this cemetery was not dedicated until 1868 and that a Confederate Memorial was dedicated in 1869. This sounds like a great excuse for a field trip, to take some pictures of more graves of Civil War veterans, including Dr. Jennings.

I admit I do wonder if Dr. Jennings' friends ever saw this story and what became of the ring. Hopefully it survives somewhere and is in the care of someone who knows its history.