William Riley Edmonds and Sarah Catherine Edmonds

William Riley Edmonds and Sarah Catherine Edmonds were my 3x great-grandparents through my great-grandfather Jacob Fulton Garrison.

William Riley Edmonds was born on 7 January 1839. He was the second of nine children born to Robert William Edmonds and Cynthia P Hyatt. Sarah Catherine Edmonds was born on 14 May 1844. Her father was William Edmonds, Jr, the brother of Robert William Edmonds, and her mother was Nancy Reese. William and Sarah were first cousins, both raised in Buncombe County, NC. They married on 3 February 1861, and, like most of the Edmonds family, they were farmers.

Two months after their wedding the Civil War began. On 15 July 1862, at the age of 23, William enlisted in the Confederate Army along with his younger brother, Robert Chrisley, at Marshall, NC. Their enlistment was for a term of three years or the entirety of the war, and it appears they did not officially report for duty until around November 1862. They were assigned to the 64th Regiment North Carolina Infantry, Company D. The unit was part of the 11th Battalion NC Infantry, also known as Allen's Regiment. Both men were part of a group of Confederate soldiers that surrendered at Cumberland Gap on 9 September 1863. They spent the rest of the war as prisoners at Camp Douglas (Fort Douglas) near Chicago. This camp was notorious for its horrendous living conditions and high prisoner mortality rate. Four letters William wrote to Sarah were found in a trunk and have been transcribed as fully as possible; they were not in good condition.*

William Riley Edmonds*

  

Clinton Ten  on the -----4   1863

dear Wife it is with pleasure that i seat my self to let you now that i am well at this time  hopeing those few lines may find you enjoying the same blesings  i hav nothing of importance to write at this time  i want you to take good care of your self  i dont now when i will get to come to home  i am going to try to get a furlough to come to home but i dont now whether i will get it or not and if i dont i dont now what i will do for it dont seem to me like i Can stay her and think of you having to get ------ of your wood your self  Cris is tolerble bad off with his leg  it is some thing like the rheu nitids but it has swelled a bout as tite as it can and dis-grter of to purple Color  it has been So-- ever sense Sunday

page 2

i Can tell you that i have got close  penty  i have got four shirt and three par of drawers and three par of  pants  i think they will do me for as long as i will hav to stay in this ----- for i think A g----t they ---are out i will be --------------------------- i want you to write to me every week i hav not ---- this makes -----  letters and i now ------ more has got be -------- that you sent --------- --------- Well i Can tell you i begin to want to here from you  i want you to write to me as often as you Can  tell W.E. Eller that i have wrote him two letter  tel him that i hav ----- his close yet  i must close for this ------ of time so now more at ------- ------- i remain yours till deth   W. R. Edmonds

Camp Douglas Ill 

June 12th 1864

Dear wife it is with treate plesure that I am a gain permit to write you I am well at this time hoping this time will finde you all well I wold like to see you very much I have not heard from you since the tenth of april I wold like to heair from you again sone I am doing very well I have anuff to Eat a plenty of close Crisley is well the boys is jinerley well the wilds boys is well W.M. Davis is well  So I will Close Write Sone and as ofton as you can I remain your Husband til Death.

W.R. Edmonds

to S.C. Edmonds

Camp Douglas Ill 

June 12th 1864

Dear wife it is with treate plesure that I am a gain permit to write you I am well at this time hoping this time will finde you all well I wold like to see you very much I have not heard from you since the tenth of april I wold like to heair from you again sone I am doing very well I have anuff to Eat a plenty of close Crisley is well the boys is jinerley well the wilds boys is well W.M. Davis is well  So I will Close Write Sone and as ofton as you can I remain your Husband til Death.

W.R. Edmonds

to S.C. Edmonds

Camp Douglas Illinois

Feb. The 4th, 1865

Dear Catherine I seat my self to answer your verry kind letter receive a few days ago  I am glad to hear that all the folks are well  Kiss our little babe for me I think I will get out of prison when the war ends  I will have to tell you very sad news  brother Crisley is dead  died the 3rd of January I am fairing verry well I hope and trust to god it will not be long till peace is made. So we can enjoy the society of our friends  write often as you can short letters come best  I have had my health well ever since we came here I will close giving you all my best wishes my love all  your true husband

William R Edmonds

Com D.  4th N.C.  Regtm

Barracks No 25

William was released after the war, came home, and regained his health. The 1900 Census lists them as the parents of ten children, but only three were still living. The identity of only four children is known: James Wesley, Hester Priscilla, Asker Fulton, and Eura Lala.

James Wesley Edmonds was born 15 May 1863 while his father was away at war. He spent his whole life as a farmer in Buncombe County, NC. On 21 February 1885 he married Mary Dorcus Barnes. They had six children: 

• Vinnie, b. 25 October 1886, d. 15 October 1996; married William Alonzo Jones
• L.H., b. 20 December 1888, d. 10 April 1891
• William Edgar, b. 7 September 1891, d. 19 November 1932; married Leketh Rachel Eller
• Esley Elmer, b. 3 March 1892, d. 12 December 1950; married Minerva Ford
• Jessie May, b. 19 November 1897, d. 17 April 1898
• Hezron Holloway, b. 7 April 1899, d. 7 May 1964; married Jo Diora Gentry

James and Mary were married for 22 years. Mary died on 1 January 1907 at the age of 40. James lived as a widower until a stroke caused his death on 28 October 1931. He is buried in Weaverville, NC at Clarks Chapel Cemetery.

Children of James Wesley Edmonds, Left to Right: Hezron Holloway, Esley Elmer, William Edgar, Vinnie*

Hester Priscilla Edmonds. Click here for information about Hester.

Asker Fulton "Fult" Edmonds was born on 9 January 1870, and, expectedly, was a Buncombe County, NC farmer. He married Minnie Sue Rice on 4 November 1900. They had twelve children, many of whom died in infancy:

• Sadie, b. 5 November 1901, d. 9 July 1933; married James Herman Riddle (d. 1929) and Lee Sams
• Unnamed Infant Son, b. 25 August 1903, d. 25 August 1903
• Eva (“Evie”), b. 15 July 1904, d. 15 January 2007; married Cecil Alonzo Kent
• Unnamed Infant Daughter, b. 13 July 1907; d. 13 July 1907
• Cordia May, b. 29 May 1909, d. 9 October 1909
• Minnie Belle, b. 9 December 1912, d. 8 December 1988; married Oliver Alonzo Hensley
• James Fulton (“Big Jim”), b. 11 June 1915, d. 20 August 1993; married Meece Iola Sprinkle
• William Henry, b. 25 Dec 1918, d. 8 Jun 1945 (World War II casualty; Pacific Theater); married Blanche Chambers
• Nabula (twin of Vistula), b. 17 August 1921, d. 17 August 1921
• Vistula (twin of Nabula), b. 17 August 1921, d. 23 July 2015; married Carl Marcus Robinson
• Unnamed Infant Son, b. 2 May 1923, d. 2 May 1923   
• John Riley, b. 22 February 1926, d. 19 February 1997; never married

Asker died of a stroke on 9 October 1959. He is buried in Weaverville, NC at Clarks Chapel Cemetery.

Asker Fulton Edmonds and Minnie Sue Rice Edmonds*

Asker Fulton Edmonds Family, Left to Right: (kneeling) Vistula, Minnie Belle; (standing) Asker Fulton, James Fulton, William Henry, Minnie Sue, John Riley, Eva*

William Henry Edmonds*

Eva Edmonds and Cecil Kent*

Eura Lala Edmonds was born on 9 March 1872 and died on 19 September 1872 in Buncombe County, NC. She is buried in Weaverville, NC at Clarks Chapel Cemetery.

William and Sarah Edmonds spent the rest of their lives after the Civil War farming in Buncombe County, NC. Sarah passed away on 14 January 1923 at the age of 78. One year later William died of pneumonia on 2 January 1924. They are both buried in Weaverville, NC at Clarks Chapel Cemetery.

Shortly after William’s death a family friend, Gallatin Roberts, wrote the following letter to the editor of the local paper, The Citizen:

Editor the Citizen.

I have just learned of the death of my friend, Mr. William R. Edmonds, who lived in Flat Creek Township, Buncombe County, North Carolina.

Since I was a little boy, forty years ago, he was my friend  --  a real friend.  I shall ever remember him and his good wife.  When I was a little boy, he would sit for hours in the evenings and tell me thrilling experiences he had during the War Between the States.

He was a Confederate soldier, was captured at Cumberland Gap, and marched weary and foot sore through Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois to Fort Douglas where he was kept in prison for many months.  His description of his capture at Cumberland Gap, long march to Fort Douglas, and imprisonment, was intensely interesting to me as a boy, and would be to any one now.  Wish that I might write it out just as he related it to me then.  His description of the burning of the mill at Cumberland Gap by the advance guard of the Federal forces a few hours before his company was captured, was truly dramatic.  He suffered greatly during the long Winter at Fort Douglas, and in a measure lost his health, but after the war was over, he came home and his shattered health was restored.  Since 1865, Mr. Edmonds lived quietly on his farm three miles north of the Town of Weaverville.  I never knew anyone who would go farther to serve his fellow man in times of sickness and bereavement than Mr. Edmonds and his good wife who died only a few months ago.

They were substantial people, and this is my simple tribute to them.

GALLATIN ROBERTS

William Riley and Sarah Catherine Edmonds*

*Source of letters and photographs is Gwen Edmonds and various other Ancestry.com users.