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Subject: [MORRIS] part one of calvin t. morris and family from franklincounty tennessee
Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2007 21:13:50 EST

calvin t. (cal) morris
and
elizabeth emaline (aunt bessie emaline) wilkinson
in 1891 tennessee established the board of pension examiners to determine
if confederate veterans applying for pensions were eligible. eligibility
requirements included an inability to support oneself, honorable separation from
the service, and residence in the state for one year prior to application.
widow's pensions were first issued in 1905. these applications show place of
birth for widow and soldier, and information about their children. proof of
marriage was required.
much of what i know about calvin t. (cal) morris was taken from his
application (in 1905/1906) for a third class pension. the request ($100/year) was
based on his service as a confederate soldier during the civil war. there is
additional information on an application (in 1914) for a widow's pension
($60/year) by elizabeth emaline (aunt bessie emaline) wilkinson.
cal was born in west tennessee on april 26, 1845. both his parents were born
in tennessee. cal was sixteen when he enlisted in the confederate army at
bowling green, kentucky on november 26, 1861. he was placed in the 41st
tennessee infantry regiment, company i, colonel w.e. baldwin's brigade,
brigadier general simon b. buckner's division of the central army of kentucky.
company i was made up primarily of men from bedford and franklin counties in
tennessee. the brigade was ordered to fort donelson in northwest tennessee in
february 1862. the federal assault on buckner's position came on february 15,
1862. the 41st regiment surrendered with the rest of buckner's forces the next
day.
private calvin t. morris and the rest of the enlisted men were sent to the
federal prisoner of war camp morton in indianapolis, indiana.
a first person account of conditions endured by fort donelson confederates
prior to and during their stay at camp morton can be found in Camp Morton
1861-1865 - Indianapolis Prison Camp. the book was written by Hattie Lou
Winslow and Joseph R. H. Moore. Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis, IN,
1995:
" ...On arriving at Fort Donelson they were (thinly clad as they were) put
at work immediately upon the fortifications, and were compelled to labor
upon the trenches constantly. During the siege of the Fort, they lay in the
ditches and rifle pits, day and night. Such exposure would
produce disease in the ranks of the most able-bodied soldiers, but when
incurred by men of feeble constitutions, the seeds of disease are so firmly
planted that no medical skill can remove them. Of the latter class are those now
in hospitals. Many are under eighteen years of age, and the large majority are
persons of feeble constitution. They receive the best medical treatment, and
the nursing care of female attendants; but in many cases, the best of
attention cannot save them from the grasp of death...."
this account is from the indiana state archives:
" When the prisoners arrived, many Indianapolis citizens crowded not only
the depot and the camp, but the road to the camp. Local papers advocated a
compassionate attitude toward the prisoners and reported good-natured conversing
between citizens and prisoners. Many of these early prisoners arrived very
ill and inadequately clothed and private citizens and organizations, such as
the Sanitary Commission, donated food and clothing to help the prisoners."
in august, 1862, the union and confederacy agreed to a prisoner exchange.
cal's regiment was released on parole at vicksburg, mississippi in september
1862. cal was a corporal when he was discharged at port hudson, louisiana
in march 1863. he arrived in franklin county in poor health.
cal described his own condition in his pension application:
"... was not wounded but have suffered from rheumatism ever since the
war...rheumatism caused as i believe from exposure to the weather and during my
imprisonment at camp morton, indiana having been captured at fort donelson
and kept there 7 months. was exchanged at vicksburg, mississippi."
when asked why he was discharged from the army, cal wrote:
"i was under age and was discharged on that account and my increasing
disability."
when asked if he took an oath of allegiance to the united states, cal
wrote:
" i did in january or february 1865. i did this to save my life. colonel
stober, a yanky made a raid through my country threatening to kill all who did
not take the oath."
cal states that he lived all his life in tennessee despite the fact that
two of his sons were born in stoddard county missouri in 1872 and 1874 and
that he is listed in the Stoddard county federal census for 1870..
when asked if some of his children were able to support him, cal wrote:
" no, they live on the mountain and in the coves. have no lands of their own
and have all they can do to support themselves."
cal and his wife owned 200 acres of land in cowan that was assessed at $200.
he said he made $150 from selling crops the previous year. at this time, cal
was also a justice of the peace in district 16.
cal's doctor stated that the disabilities were "catarrh condition of throat,
nose, and bronchial tubes. tracardia and a sufferer of rheumatism".
p. b. keith, wrote "mr. morris is one of the men who lived back in the
mountains and hardly knew when the war close. i know of my own knowledge that the
tories had control of his country from the time he came home (or very soon
thereafter) until the close of the war. he is a deserving man and needs help
very bad". mr. keith was apparently a county employee and an elder in the first
cumberland presbyterian church in winchester, franklin county.

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