William Franklin McElyea

William Franklin McElyea was born February 19, 1843 in Jackson County, Alabama, the oldest child of William Carroll McElyea and Lavina Neal McElyea. He died July 9, 1924 in Hunt County and is buried in East Mount Cemetery in Greenville, Hunt, Texas. His pension application states that he was in Company K, 18th Texas Infantry, Walkers division 1861-1865.

 

He came to Texas from Alabama between 1850 and 1860. He told his children about how he walked all the way from Mississippi to Texas beside the wagons drawn by oxen. In his application for membership in U.C.V. Joseph E. Johnson Camp, shows he enlisted in Jacksonville at the age of 18. His daughter said she remembers him telling of walking back to Mississippi, starting the day after his birthday. He served in Co. K, 18th Texas Infantry, Young's Brigade, Walker's Division, Trans-Mississippi. He was honorably discharged after Lee's surrender. From 1862-1865 - Battle Young's Point and Milliken's Bend, Louisiana,  Jenkin's Ferry and Saline River, Arkansas, Pleasant Hill, Mansfield and Yellow Bayou, Louisiana

 

His obituary states he was an original member of the Ku Klux Klan which was organized for protection soon after the end of the Civil War, and was a member of the Joseph E. Johnson Camp UCV of Greenville, Texas.. He was a member of Grace Presbyterian church.

 

He married Catherine Marzie Sides September 20, 1866 in Cherokee County. He had eight children by Catherine. She died in 1891 and he married Mrs. Catherine Pickrell and had one child by her.

William Franklin, Charles Monroe, Albert A. and John Edgar McElyea

 

Submitted by Vicki Sinderson