Information for my fellow Alabama researchers. > From: Robin Sterling <bobwonda@hiwaay.net> > Date: June 3, 2012 1:24:10 PM CDT > To: alblount@rootsweb.com > Subject: [ALBLOUNT] Blount County Confederate Soldiers Books are Complete > Reply-To: alblount@rootsweb.com > > Hello Fellow Blount County Researchers, > > Many of you following this board are familiar with my efforts. For > the last ten years, I have been working on a project to identify all > the Confederate Soldiers in a three county area: Blount, Cullman and > Winston. That work is now complete. > > The first step in the project was to completely review each cemetery > of each county. I personally visited and recorded each of them. > Those nine volumes of cemetery information are represented in most > major libraries across the state including the Alabama State Archives. > > The second step in the project was to review and abstract service > records of all the soldiers who enlisted in Confederate organizations > generally considered to be made up primarily of men from the same > geographical location, especially in Blount County, with enlistments > at Summit, Blountsville, Murphree's Valley, etc. > > The third step in the project was to review 276 reels of Alabama > Confederate pension application microfilm for applications of men from > Blount, Cullman, and Winston. At the time the film was unindexed. > Many of the reels were examined frame by frame two and three times > each. Personal letters, affidavits, and other letters were completely > typed up and included. > > The fourth step in the project was to examine as many of the old area > newspapers as possible. Every issue of the Blount County newspapers > were purchased from the State Archives on microfilm and personally > reviewed through the mid 1940s. Some issues not microfilmed were > transcribed from original copies in Montgomery. Compilations of > information from that effort I have already produced in book form and > have been distributed across the state and country similar to that of > the cemetery books, e.g., the People and Things series of books. > There are about a dozen of those books in all (from Blount, Cullman, > and Winston). Other papers examined include some in Walker, Lawrence, > and other surrounding counties. (I've bought a lot of microfilm from > the Archives!) > > The fifth step in the project was visits to the State Archives in > Montgomery to spot check other rare records such as the only existing > original issues of newspapers, pension ledger books, and associated > materials. I have spent many hours there. > > Other work included purchasing records from the Tennessee and Texas > Archives, hiring researchers to send me obits from western states, and > searching the internet in areas such as Google Books. Surprisingly, > little nuggets of information can be found in this manner. > > The result of all this work is a four volume set of information on > Confederate Soldiers from Blount County representing over 1400 pages > of material, not including the full name index in each volume, plus an > encompassing full name index in Volume 4, which identifies which > soldier appears in which volume. > > Volume 1 contains most of the Cavalry units from Blount County, plus > one unit of Infantry. Volume 2 continues the Infantry units. Volume > 3 completes the Infantry units and begins the Miscellaneous Section > which includes all the soldiers from Blount who enlisted in other > units, plus those soldiers who moved to the area after the war. This > picks up the large number of Georgia Confederates who migrated to > Blount County after the conflict. Volume 4 completes the > Miscellaneous Section and includes the soldier index across all four > volumes. > > Cavalry includes: > 12th Ala Cav, Company B (Captain Ingram) > 12th Ala Cav, Company C (Captain Musgrove) > 2nd Kentucky Cav, Company G (Captain McFarland, Morgan's Cav) > Lewis' Battalion Alabama Cav, Companies B and E > Graves, Barbiere's and Stewart's Cav (Blount Soldiers) > Holloway's Escort (Bragg's, Hood's, Johnston's Escort) > 3rd Confederate Cav, Company D (Captain McCaskill) > > Infantry includes: > 19th Ala Inf, Company B (Captain McKenzie) > 19th Ala Inf, Company K (Captain Skinner) > 28th Ala Inf, Company B (Captain Turpin) > 28th Ala inf, Company C (Captain Tidmore) > 29th Ala Inf, Company B (Captain Dew) > 29th Ala Inf, Company C (Captain Musgrove) > 29th Ala Inf, Company F (Captain Sapp) > 48th Ala inf, Company A (Captain Alldredge) > 48th Ala Inf, Company F (Captain Ellis) > 49th Ala inf, Company I (Captain Crump) > 50th Ala Inf, Company D (Captain Arnold) > 54th Ala inf, Company I (Captain Bibb) > > Each soldier identified is accompanied with (if it could be located) > abstracted service record, location in Federal Census, marriage > information, transcribed pension papers (some abstracted, most totally > transcribed), information from death certificates, newspaper reports, > and transcribed obits. It was discovered many of the old soldiers do > not have monuments, but death certificates and obits have identified > the cemetery where they were buried. Rare photographs of dozens of > the old soldiers are also included. Confederate widows are liberally > represented throughout the pages. > > The books are geared toward the serious researcher and represent the > first comprehensive review of Confederates from Blount County. > > Winston County is complete. It is contained in a single 400 page > volume. Cullman County is practically finished. I have to make one > more trip to Cullman to review a single issue of a newspaper which was > omitted from the microfilm. Cullman contains two volumes. It should > be ready in about a month. Blount is just now available. Altogether > the three counties generated seven volumes averaging about 375 pages > each. > > Many of you have been following my progress and making inquiries for > years. I appreciate the encouragement. I think the wait will be > worth it. It was difficult to know when to stop. Just when you think > you have covered everything, another obscure source will turn up with > information which sheds light on our Confederate ancestors. I felt I > had reached a point of diminishing returns, and in this year of the > 150th anniversary of many of the events reported in the volumes, I > thought now would be the best time to squeeze them out of my computer > for the rest of you to see. > > The books are not cheap. You can get an idea of the expense if you > call your local paper duplication source and ask them how much they > charge per page to print something. Having said that, I didn't want > to produce a shoddy product which does not properly represent the > sacrifices of our ancestors. > > The books are $160 for each set of four volumes or $40 each. For > those who can't afford the books, area libraries are some of my best > patrons and you will be able to find my books on the shelves of most > by the end of the year. In particular, you will be able to see them > at the museum in Blountsville and at Wallace College in Hanceville. > They have copies of all my books and will soon have a set of the > Confederate books. If you are interested in your own set, I made a > first print run of 20 copies of each volume. Email me directly for my > home mailing address. > > Thanks to my "fans" and for your patience in the years it has taken > for me to complete this project. > > Robin Sterling > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ALBLOUNT-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message