The following information was taken from the book " The Early Settlers of Gradyville and Adair County, Ky." written by: Mrs Ann Elliott Odell, Phil Moss and Jerry Moss. It was written in 1961 and printed by Duraset composing Company Los Angeles,Ca.
The information has been put here with permission of Co-author Jerry Moss, and may not be used for or on any commercial site.
If you copy and use this information in your own research, please give credit where credit is due. I am sure the authors worked long and hard hours for this information, and it is only right they receive credit for their work.
As a researcher/genealogist/historian, you should always Cite Your Sources!and double check the information for accuracy.
The information from the book has not been altered. If there was a mistake in spelling or dates in the book it will still be a mistake.
Thanks so much
Cathy
This book is filled with information about the people that lived in Gradyville and surrounding areas, and is still available to order from
$20.00. It is divided into two sections the first has 269 pages
with a 16 page surname index. The second part is 62 pages with a three page
index.
I am not trying to sell a book. Only giving information that may help in your research.
If you would like a surname looked up before you decide if you would like to order the book. Email: Cathy
Gradyville and Adair County -shared alike with all other communities of neutral states during the war between the states. They never knew one day whom they would have with them the next. It might be Union soldiers or Confederates, or neither, or sometimes, both. The latter happened in Columbia when three thousand Confederate troops, under General John Hunt Morgan entering from the West, encountered about two hundred Union troops of Colonel Adams command. The skirmish that ensued lasted only a few minutes, but several lives were lost, including Captain Jessie Carter of Cumberland County, U. S. A. officer. On July 4, 1863, Morgan's Raiders left Columbia on the way to Ohio. A short distance from the Adair County and Taylor County line, at a bridge across the Green River, they encountered 200 U. S. A. troops of the Michigan infantry. They were approaching the bridge over a small rise in the road and as the heads of the men rose above the horizon, they were fired upon. Morgan lost 36 killed, 45 wounded. All were shot in the head or chest. Morgan finally by-passed the bridge after trying for 3 hours to take it and crossed the river several miles downstream. One of those killed was a young man from the Gradyville community, Private D. Nelson, who had joined the Raiders in Columbia, only a few hours before he was killed. The dead and wounded were taken to the home of Mrs. Lyman Baker's great grandparents. Mrs. Baker's grandmother, who was a young girl at the time, told my husband of this incident many times.
Another battle fought not too far from Adair County was the battle of Mills Springs or Fishing Creek. Here General Felix K. Zollicoffer and two of his lieutenants, along with 150 soldiers under his command were lost. Also lost were 1,000 horses and mules, and a number of small arms and cannons. It has been called by historians, the most important battle fought in Kentucky in the War between the States, as it opened a route to Tennessee and the deep south.
There are two residents of Gradyville and community still living whose fathers fought in this war. Mrs. Daisey Keltner, whose father was Robert 0. Keltner. He enlisted in the U. S. A. in Missouri. The other is William Froedge, whose father enlisted in Metcalfe County. Others from Gradyville and surrounding communities with the U. S. A. were: Junis Acre, William J. Atkins, Thomas J. Baker, my great grandfather; John Bell, Thomas Bohannon, J. E. Campbell, Thomas Coffee, Fords Compton, Peter Compton, grandfather of Marvin Keltner; Killis Coomer, Charles Coom6r , Mack Coomer, great grandfather of J. T. Coomer, my son-in-law; John S. England, Henry Farlee, William Garrison, Henry Grady, J. A. Gill, R. H. Hamlett, grandfather of Mrs. Corrine Kemp; H. P. Harper, Stephan A. Harper,Dr. Harrison 0. Hughes, Wyatt Janes, Joseph Jessie, grandfather of Mrs. Clinton R. Moss; John W. Keltner, Marvin Keltner's grandfather; John R. Keltner, George A. Keltner, William Kemp, Judge Linch, Jacob Miller, Thomas Moss, Lewis Moore, Nathan Moore, Jerome B. Napier, James K. Nell, John Reynolds, Archibald Scaggs, Isham D. Scott, John H. Slinker, C. W. Sneed, Charles Weeden Sparks, grandfather of John Wess Sparks; Josiah Sparks, G. W. Tarter, Henry Thompson, W. L. Walker, William Wilson, Matthew Wooten, and Wilson Yarburry.
Two Gradyville natives in the S. C. A., besides D. Nelson, were John Bell and Daniel Moneyham. Thomas Moss, John R. Keltner, and John W. Keltner were brothers-in-law and great uncles of Marvin Keltner and my husband, J. P. Moss.
The following information was taken from an original copy of the Co. D. 13th Kentucky volunteers and was furnished by Mrs. Doris Moss Breeding and owned by Irvin Sneed, to whom we are deeply grateful.
This company was recruited by Captain B. P. Estes in the counties of Metcalfe and Adair, state of Kentucky. This company was -organized the 14th day of Nov., 1861, by F. Gorin, State mustering officer, and was mustered into the United States Service Dec. 30, 1861, by Captain Kellog U. S. A. during the winter of 1861 and 1862. It suffered much measles, fever, etc. and doing constant duty, enduring the same at Campbellsville, Greensburg and Green River bridge.
On the 14th day of Feb. 1862, it left Greensburg, Ky. to go south. After marching 300 miles with occasional haltings, it arrived at Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., in time to take part in the battle of Shiloh, on the 7th day of April, 1862; during that time two of its members were killed, one mortally wounded, three severely wounded and one slightly wounded. Several of its members died from exposure on the memorable field, after having lain in the mud and rain, surrounded by dead men and horses, without tents for more than a week.
Leaving Shiloh, it was at the seige of Corinth and was on duty in that place the lst of June, 1862. From Corinth, it marched to Booneville, Miss., thence to Battle Creek, Tenn., thence to Kentucky in pursuit of the Confederate Army under Gen. Bragg; pursued him thru Kentucky, to within fifty miles of Cumberland Gap, skirmishing with his forces at Mt. Washington, Perryville and Crab Orchard, Kentucky. From Crab Orchard, the company marched to Silver Springs, near Nashville, Tenn.; from thence to Munfordville, Kentucky, where it arrived on the 30th day of December, 1862, having suffered the greatest privations for want of food, water, shelter and rest. From Munfordville, we pursued the famous guerilla, John Morgan, and attacked him at Rolling Fork, Ky. on the 28th of December, 1862. We were then in company with the 2nd brigade under command of John M. B. The company is under excellent discipline. Every man seems to strive to be a perfect gentleman and the most dutiful soldier. They never fail to receive the highest praise for their conduct on duty. Munsford, Ky., April 22, 1862.
