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Biographies, Photos and
Anecdotes
Company B
Pvt. Francis M. Carter
 Francis M. Carter was born
about 1839 in Louisiana the son of William P. Carter & Harriet Carter.
The Carter family was well established in Amite County by 1850 and are
listed in census records with two other sons — Calvin and Augustus.
On January 29, 1858 Francis M. Carter married Martha A. Newman, the
daughter of Jonathan Newman and Elizabeth Jane Dixon. On October 4, 1858
(Election Day) a Josephus Jones was stabbed in front of Wall's store in
Gillsburg, Mississippi. Francis M. Carter was accused of this stabbing
and the subsequent death of the victim on the following day. The
Liberty Advocate published a report on the 14th of October, 1858 about
this event. It was said that Mary Spurlock Jones spent $3,000 dollars
trying to have him hanged. He was instead given a jail sentence, though
it would appear to be a short one, from looking at the birth date of his
second child — William Monroe Carter on September 7, 1860.
Francis M. Carter served in the 33rd, Company B with his elder brother
Calvin Carter and his brother-in-law John Tisdale Newman. At the time of his
enlistment he was the father of three small children. He would survive
the war, and several more children were born after his service though
not all
lived until adulthood. Francis M. Carter lived a long life, dying on
October 8, 1916 and was buried in Newman-Phillips cemetery with a
Confederate marker on his grave.
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Courtesy of William G.
Barron and Mary Pallon
Corp. James "Ellison" Cockerham Jr.
James "Ellison" Cockerham
Jr. was born December 12, 1834 in Amite County, Mississippi, to
James Ellison Cockerham and Malinda Rice. James Jr. married Francis
Angeline Page, daughter of John W. and Talitha Page, on February 16,
1854. James Ellison died on December 29, 1901 at the age of 67 in Amite
County. He and Malinda are buried in Bethlehem Baptist Cemetery, Amite
County, Mississippi.
James Ellison Cockerham Jr., known as "Ellison" enlisted in Co. B, 33rd
Mississippi Infantry Regiment, Amite County Guards, of the Confederate
Army. He was wounded at Peachtree Creek, Georgia in July 1863.
The following stories emerged from the men who served with James Ellison
Cockerham, Jr. in the 33rd Mississippi Infantry Regiment. The lives and
honor of the men of the 33rd Inf. Regt. were more intricately interwoven
than their military duties on the battlefield. A touching story between
the Morgan and Cockerham family occurred when on March 29, 1863,
Captain Hiram Morgan died in his service to the Confederacy. His
body was taken in the night by wagon to his beloved wife, Augusta
Hamilton Morgan, a distance of some 90 miles by "Ellison" Cockerham with
the simple words, "I brought Hiram home." Ellison then silently returned
to camp by daylight. Some years later the daughter of "Ellison", Martha
Elizabeth Cockerham, married the son of Captain Hiram Morgan, Michael
Iverson "Ive" Morgan.
Another family who became part of the Cockerham family was the family of
Iverson Green "IG" Lea. "IG" served in Company K. of the Amite
County Defenders in the 33rd Infantry Regiment. Iverson served with
Napoleon B. Cockerham, grandson of John and Sarah Cockerham,
relatives of James Ellison Cokerham, Jr. "IG" was killed on April 16,
1864 at the age of 41 in service to the Confederate Army. Iverson's
daughter, Sarah "Sallie" Lea, would later marry the eldest son of James
Ellison Cockerham Jr., Whitfield Green Cockerham.
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Courtesy of Kathy Casey
1st Corp. C.C.
Felder
 1st
Corporal Christopher Columbus Felder (C.C. Felder as he was
known) was born August 20, 1840 in Amite County, Mississippi. He was the
son of Charles F. Felder M.D. and Ann O'Neal. About 1860 he married
Talitha Angeline Varnado born October 3, 1840 in Pike County,
Mississippi. She was the daughter of Isham Ellis Varnado and Margaret
Peggy Hope. He enlisted in the Amite Guards, Co. B of the 33rd
Mississippi Infantry. (Many of his wife’s Varnado cousins served in the
33rd as well.)
An interesting story about C.C. Felder was told by his
granddaughter, Jessie Felder Myers. She said C.C. Felder returned from
the war with two bags of U.S. silver dollars which he used to buy land
below the Mississippi and Louisiana State line below Osyka, Mississippi.
There he built a house, the “Old Felder Home.” The vacant house still
exists in a state of decay.
He died at East Fork, Tangipahoa Parish, LA November
20, 1924. He is buried in a small remote cemetery alongside the
Osyka-Progress Road east of the railroad tracks about 200 yards to the
south of the road.
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Courtesy of
Mike
Freyder
Pvt. John French Hamilton
John French Hamilton
was born January 07, 1830* in Alabama the son of Robert Reid Hamilton
and Mary French. After his mother's death, it appears to be in the mid
1830's, his father migrated with his children to Amite County,
Mississippi. The Hamilton's were slave holders that attended Ebenezer
Baptist and Liberty Baptist with some members, including Robert Reid
Hamilton, being buried at Ebenezer.
On January 20, 1859 Mary Ann Morgan married John French Hamilton in
Amite County. She was the daughter of Wiley Morgan and Margaret Wilson
who also were slaveholders. Her uncle was Captain Hiram Morgan of
the 33rd Mississippi Infantry, Company B.
When John French Hamilton enlisted in Company B of the 33rd, his family
connections were tight. In addition to being married to Hiram Morgan's
niece, he was also Captain Hiram Morgan's brother-in-law, as his sister
was Augusta Elna Hamilton wife of Hiram Morgan.
John French Hamilton survived the war and died August 04, 1901* in Amite
Co., Mississippi.
*Census records back up birth and
death years. Exact dates are from Hamilton researcher and I have not
confirmed.
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Courtesy of Mary Pallon
Pvt. Abner J.
Mixon
Abner J. Mixon was born about 1844 in Amite Co., Mississippi the
son of Obed Mixon* & Mary Falby Barksdale**. The family appears in the
1850 St. Helena Parish, Louisiana census with their children including
their son Abner and their Barksdale family members. Abner's parents
appear in Line Creek Baptist Church notes in September of 1845 which
would put the family close to the boundary with St. Helena Parish and
Amite. Others serving in Co. B attended this church as well. The 1860
Amite census records the Obed Mixon family as having grown by several
more children.
On May 16, 1863***, Abner J. Mixon, the young farmer from Amite was
taken prisoner following the Battle of Champion Hill. He did survive the
war and marriage records record an A.J. Mixon married Elizabeth K.
Easley on Oct 25, 1865 in Amite Co., Mississippi. They also show A. J.
Mixon married Margaret Crawford on Dec 19, 1879 in Amite Co.,
Mississippi. Mixon researchers list Abner J. Mixon as having several
children — William V. "Bill" Mixon, Obed F. Mixon, and Eva Mixon with
his first wife and Corrine, Joseph, Albert, Mary, Herbert, and James
Mixon with his second wife. The last son was born about 1897.
Notes:
*This is not the Obed Z. Mixon family that also appears in Amite records
though they are no doubt connected to each other.
** Her name is spelled differently among researchers from Falby, Falba,
to Falby Coffee Barksdale.
***Amite County, Mississippi, 1699-1890, Volume 3, by Albert
Casey has a transcription error related to Abner J. Mixon. He is listed
incorrectly as being on the Confederate Monument that was placed in
Liberty following the war. The correct name on the monument is A.J.
Wilson of Co. B that died at the Battle of Franklin.
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Courtesy of Mary Pallon
Captain
Hiram Morgan
Captain Hiram
Morgan was born March 1, 1824 in Amite Co., Mississippi the youngest
son of William Morgan, Sr., and Elizabeth Gayden. He was the grandson of
George Gayden and Lois Collins. The Gayden family, one of the very
earliest settlers of this region, traveled with other slaveholding
families from Virginia and the Carolinas led by the adventurous Agrippa
Gayden and Thomas Batchelor (the first clerk of Amite). On February 8,
1849 Hiram Morgan married Augusta Elna Hamilton the daughter of Robert
Reid Hamilton and Mary French. Hiram and Augusta were members of Unity
Presbyterian church where the most prominent slave holders of the area
attended and they had at least one child (Prentiss Adelaide Morgan)
baptized in the church.
At the time of the organization of Company B, Captain Morgan was the
father of five surviving children (he lost his first born son in
infancy). His youngest daughter Augusta Rosina was born in 1863 either
shortly before or after her father’s death. Captain Hiram Morgan was
killed March 29, 1863 near Deer Creek Mississippi in an early phase of
the Vicksburg campaign. The oral story passed down relating to Hiram
takes place after his death. It was reported that one of his close
friends stole a military wagon in order to take Hiram’s body home. Upon
seeing the wagon Augusta Hamilton Morgan ran out of her home. She was
greeted with the simple words that said it all, “I’ve brought Hiram
home.”
Captain Hiram Morgan was buried at Morgan-Gordon Cemetery located off of
Hwy 568 just north of Gillsburg, Mississippi. Regretfully, there is just
a simple marker with no mention of his Confederate service marking his
grave. I’ve been told but have not verified that his name is on the
Mississippi monument at Vicksburg.
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of Mary Pallon
Pvt. Levi Jack Netherland
 Levi Jack Netherland was
born May 15, 1831 in Lawrence County, MS. He married Nancy Luvisa
Roberts. His death occurred March 20, 1903 in Catahoula Parish, LA.
Webmaster: He served with the 33rd
Mississippi Infantry in January & February of 1863, then joined
Hoskins' Battery, Mississippi Light Artillery (Brookhaven Light
Artillery).
[RETURN TO
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Katrina
Marcotte
Pvt. John Tisdale Newman
 John
Tisdale Newman was born September 11, 1842 in Amite County,
Mississippi. He was the son of Johnathan Newman and Elizabeth Jane Mixon.
He married Sappina Jane Haley on March 6, 1862, the daughter of Albert
Haley and Mary Day.
He joined Company B, Amite County Guards, 33rd MS Infantry, and was
mustered into service April 1, 1862 in Grenada, Mississippi. On May 17,
1863, at the Battle of Champion Hill on Baker's Creek, he received a
saber cut across the head and a wound from a shell fragment. He was
captured by the Army of the Tennessee, and sent to Memphis, Tennessee,
May 25, 1863. He was then sent to Camp Morton, Indiana. He was then sent
to Fort Delaware, Delaware, June 15, 1863. He was sent to City Point,
VA, for exchange in July 1863. The exchange did not take place and he
was sent to Point Lookout, MD, September 20, 1863. He was then sent to
Elmira, NY, August 18, 1864. Paroled at Elmira, NY March 10, 1865, and
sent to James Riviera for exchange.
He came back home to Amite County, MS and raised a family of 6 boys and
4 girls. He was a member of United Confederate Veterans Camp No. 226,
Amite County, Mississippi.
He died May 3, 1923 and is buried in the Newman Family Cemetery in
Gillsburg, Mississippi.
Photo and item from The
Southern Herald, Liberty, MS
Compiled by Joey Wall
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of Mary Pallon
Captain John Powell
John Powell was born December 16, 1824.
When the Amite Guards were formed and became Company B of the 33rd
Mississippi Infantry Regiment, Powell, at the age of 37, was elected 1st
Lieutenant in April 1862. Following the death of Captain Hiram Morgan,
he was promoted to Captain of Company B on April 7, 1863.
He was killed in action at the battle of Franklin, TN on November 30,
1864. Several sources cite his rank as "acting Major" as early as July
of 1864. It is supposed that he is buried at McGavock Cemetery,
Franklin, Tennessee as one of the many "Unknowns."
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Photo: H. Grady Howell, Jr. For Dixieland I'll Take My Stand.
Chickasaw Bayou Press. 1998.
Pvt. George Washington Roberts
George Washington
Roberts was born in Pike County, Mississippi on November 14, 1842,
to Barzilla Monroe Roberts and Elceba Wall Roberts. He was their oldest
child and only son with seven younger sisters. He married Frances Jane
Guy on April 7, 1870, in Amite County, Mississippi. Their union was
blessed with eight children with my grandfather, Claude Jefferson
Roberts, being their youngest child. They lived in Amite County at his
wife Jane's family homestead. He and Jane along with his mother are all
buried there at the Old Place that is still in my family.
This confederate
soldier belonged to Company B, 33rd Mississippi Infantry, Amite Guards.
He received a leg wound during the Civil War that caused him to limp
when walking. My grandfather recalled him many times walking across the
yard with his hands behind his back, head down, as if he were pondering
some problem. He would be humming or singing low, "Am I a Soldier of the
Cross?" to the tune of Arlington, which seemed to be his favorite hymn.
He was a cotton farmer
and an excellent chair maker. He even made the shoes he wore on his
wedding day. Always a religious man, he died on April 3, 1910, stricken
while attending church services at the Muddy Springs Methodist Church.
Webmaster note:
George Washington Roberts was captured at Nashville, TN December 16,
1864 and was a POW at Camp Chase, OH.
[RETURN TO
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of
Jean Lucile Roberts
Pvt. Jordan W. Taylor
Jordan W. Taylor was born about 1824 in St.
Helena Parish, Louisiana the son of David Taylor and Nancy Jordan. He
had several siblings and two younger half brothers, one being Nimrod
A. Taylor that he served beside in the 33rd.
In the 1850 Mississippi census Jordan W. Taylor is listed with his wife
S. Taylor* and two sons, D.C. Taylor age 7 and W.H.M. Taylor age 5.
Jordan purchased almost 150 acres of land in 1859. In the 1860 census
Jordan W. Taylor can be found with only his two sons listed — David 16
and Wesley age 14. The family attended Jerusalem Church situated near
the present town of Gillsburg, as they appear in the church notes for
1842 and again in a list of deaths of members that goes to about 1865.
Jordan W. Taylor is listed as deceased with no date given and his wife
as deceased in 1862.
Prior to the war he was a carpenter and a farmer.
Jordan W. Taylor died November 4, 1862 either of disease or perhaps in a
battle or skirmish while serving in Company B.
* Listed as Sapherina Jordan
in Amite County, Mississippi, 1699-1865, Volume #3, The Environs,
by Albert E. Casey. The author of this book was also a TAYLOR
descendant.
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of Mary Pallon
NOTE: When he enlisted in
Company B, his age was listed as 40.
Nimrod A. Taylor
Nimrod A. Taylor was born
about 1835 the son of David Taylor and Elizabeth Westmoreland. He was
named for his grandfather Nimrod Taylor a Revolutionary War Veteran that
arrived from the Carolina's in the early 1800's to Southwestern
Mississippi and the adjoining parishes of Louisiana. Nimrod A. Taylor
had one brother and several older half-siblings including his one older
half brother Jordan W. Taylor that he would serve with in Co. B.
In the 1850 St. Helena Parish census Nimrod is found with his parents
and brother; and close by are his Westmoreland and Taylor extended
family. On March 16, 1854 Nimrod A. Taylor married Martha Brown in Amite
Co., Mississippi. Nimrod A. Taylor appears in Line Creek Baptist church
notes for the years 1852 & 1857. This church was on the dividing line of
St. Helena Parish and Amite County in what later would become the
Gillsburg community.
[RETURN TO
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of Mary Pallon
Pvt. Elijah B. Wall
Elijah B. Wall was
born February 18, 1824* in Amite Co., Mississippi the son of Elijah Byrd
Wall and Sarah "Sally" Welch. The family attended Jerusalem Baptist
church located near Gillsburg, Mississippi. Jerusalem Baptist was
established on February 29, 1812 with the first pastor being a W.B.
Wall.
Mary Elizabeth Gordon married Elijah B. Wall July 31, 1845** in Amite
Co., Mississippi. In the 1850 Amite census the young farming couple
appear with three children.
Elijah B. Wall survived the war & the family appears in the 1870 Amite
census as E.B. Wall age 43, M.E. Wall age 40, and four children.
* Census records give conflicting
approximate dates for his birth year but it would appear to have been
around 1826-1827.
** Wall researchers record the marriage year as 1845. Mississippi,
Amite County Marriages by Oma Jones Gordon records it as 1846.
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of Mary Pallon
1st
Lieut. Hampton Wall
 Hampton
Wall was born August 17, 1830.
At the age of 31 he enlisted in the Amite Guards which became Company B
of the 33rd Mississippi Infantry Regiment and was elected 2nd
Lieutenant. On April 7, 1863 he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. Wall was
commanding the Company when he was wounded at the battle of Peachtree
Creek (GA) on July 20, 1864.
He died September 14, 1907 and is buried in the Hampton Wall cemetery,
Amite County, Mississippi.
Note: Some sources cite his rank as
captain, but official records indicate 1st Lieut., as the highest rank.
After Captain Powell's death, he would have assumed the command of the
company. In addition, the Amite Co., Confederate Veteran Association
list has his rank as Lieut.
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Photo: H. Grady Howell, Jr. For Dixieland I'll Take My Stand.
Chickasaw Bayou Press. 1998.
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