Wounded Warrier

We have no photograph of John J. Lemaster (the father of our Grandma Stout - the lady in the white blouse in the center of the back row). This picture is the adult children of Sarah Jane Barker and John J. Lemaster, taken in 1907. Quite a good looking group, I think!

But we do have a fairly good 'picture' of what John went through while fighting in the Civil War. John was a Private in the 5th Kentucky Mounted Infantry, fighting for the Confederate States. He enlisted at Licking Station, Kentucky for a period of 3 years, on Sept 30, 1862. He is found on several muster role cards, then is listed as "Absent, wounded at Dallas [Georgia], May 28, has not returned from the hospital".

He did return to this unit, but found it impossible to continue and requested to be discharged. This is the letter he wrote to his commanding officer on March 10, 1865, from Graniteville, South Carolina:

Col George Wm Brent, A.A.G.
Col, I respectfully ask to be ordered before a medical examining board for retirement for the following reasons. I received two gunshot wounds in the engagement near Dallas, GA on the 28th May 1864 - One shot entering the left breast, passing through the left lung, and out below the left shoulder blade. The other entering just below the left shoulder blade, passing around and lodging in the left side. Said wounds are yet painful and hinder me unable to perform the duties of a soldier. I wish to avail myself of an opportunity of going to school that is now afforded me if I were retired. I have the honor to respectfully subscribe myself:
Your Servant
John J Lemaster
Co D 5th Ky regt
Mnted Infty

The 'Certificate of Disability' was issued on March 28, 1865. This was 12 days before Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia - the end of the Civil War.

John J. Lemaster went on to live 21 more years, but died at the relatively young age of 43. Family lore says that he died of pneumonia that was caused by the wounds. He and his wife, Sarah Jane Barker had the large family pictured above, but both died in the mid 1880s, before all of the children were grown.

Andrew Boyd Foster

Andrew was the grandfather of our Grandma Bagley:

Thomas Boyd Foster married Eleanor Cowan in 1837. Their first 5 children were sons: William, Samuel, Thomas, Andrew, and Hugh. All 5 of these boys fought in the Civil War. Our Andrew Boyd Foster is #4 on this list. The family's sacrifices for the Confederacy cannot be overstated. The two oldest sons died in the war. The third son was shot in the ankle, resulting in his foot being amputated, and living with a wooden extension for many years. Andrew and Hugh were both captured and in prisoner of war camps, and it certainly appears that these imprisonments were very tough on them.

As was a common custom, Andrew's middle name came from his Grandmother Sarah "Sally" Ann Boyd (could she have been the original 'Grandma Sally'?)

Here are the summarized Civil War records of Andrew Boyd Foster:

He enlisted at Caperton's Ferry, Alabama under Capt. George Cowan, probably his uncle, on June 12, 1862, just about a month before his 21st birthday. After this he is listed on the role cards until Feb 21, 1864 when he was able to take a short furlough. On his return to service he re-enlisted "for the war". In July of that year, he is "missing and presumed to have been captured", which in fact, he was. Later records show that he was captured near Marietta, Georgia on July 15, 1864. He then was held at Louisville, Kentucky and Camp Chase, Ohio before being transfered to City Point, Virginia in March of 1865 where he was held until the end of the war.

After the war he married Nancy Brewer in Jackson County Alabama, where they had three daughters before moving to Texas. The third of these was our Sally Pauline Foster, mentioned in the last post.[there is a published book which says that her name was Sally 'Brown' Foster, and unfortunately it has been widely quoted, but in the census records her middle initial is consistently listed as "P", so this matches our family memories]

The couple settled in Comanche County in west-cental Texas, near the town of Sipe Springs. Here they aquired land and livestock, and had 6 more children. The Comanche Newspaper had a section that told of "Sipe Springs Doings", and on June 10, 1882 it said:

"The sheep interest is getting to be quite an important one...Mr A.B.Foster and Bro own about a thousand..."

It is a mystery as to which brother this could be, although it seems most likely that is was Hugh, who did move to Sipe Springs in the early 1880s.

Andrew worked as Deputy Sheriff for two years and was then elected Sheriff in 1891 and 1893, for two years each time. Although we cannot know much about him at this distant time, we do know he had enough respect in the community to be elected Sheriff after serving as Deputy, and then re-elected for a second term - the office of Sheriff being one of the most important public positions in the late 19th century West. (just watch any 'Gunsmoke' episode if you don't believe me) For religion, he was raised in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and this denomination was very active in his home in Texas, to which he seems to have remained faithful.