Cocke County TNGenWeb
William H. McGaha
William H.
McGaha, my
great-great-grandfather, was born in Cocke County about 1818, according
to his service record [NARA M395 #114] and the 1850 Cocke County census
[Family #972]. He served in the 1st Battalion, Tennessee
Light Artillery, Battery E, Union Army. He died on 06/25/1864
in a hospital in Nashville of smallpox and was buried in the hospital
cemetery. His body was later moved to the Nashville National
Cemetery in Madison.
His widow, Catherine, received a widow's pension [on file in the
National Archives in Washington, DC]. This file reveals that
William McGaha and Catherine
Tittle were married on 04/15/1841 in Cocke
County by Jacob Shults, a Justice of the Peace. It also gives
the dates
of birth of her five youngest children: Isaac Allen born
11/15/1849, Robert Smith
born 02/16/1850, William
Elias born
10/24/1851, Jackson
born 11/06/1855, and Houston
born 02/07/1859 or
1857 or 02/17/1858 (the date appears all three ways; he also appears as
Martin McGaha born 02/17/1859!).
William was the son of Samuel
and Anna McGaha< [1850 Cocke County #973]
as proven by the case of John Ramsey vs Sam'l McGaha on page 53 of
Chancery Court records volume 1. Samuel died before the case
was resolved, and John Ramsey continued the case against Samuel's
heirs. These included the "children of W. McGaha":
Allen McGaha,
William McGaha,
Christina and John Price,
Anna and Royal
Ball, Jack
McGaha, and Houston
McGaha. Note that Robert Smith
McGaha was not mentioned; this indicates that he died without issue.
This case concerned 12 acres in the Old 12th Civil District deeded to
Samuel McGaha by his mother, Elizabeth
Miller, on 08/14/1865.
She had earlier deeded 50 acres to John
Ramsey (whose wife was Mary
McGaha) to care for her during her lifetime.
Apparently, the
12 acres deeded to Samuel McGaha were part of the 50 acres.
Christina and John Price
were my great-great grandparents.
Christina was first married to a Townsell
or Townsend. She
married John Price on 03/18/1865, according to family
tradition. John Price was from Haywood County, NC, and served
in the Confederate army. After John died, Christina married
Joseph Wilson Costner
07/18/1891 [Cocke County marriages volume 5 page
75]. Joseph was also a Confederate veteran. He was
a widower, having been married to Jemima
Campbell, Christina's first
cousin. Jemima's mother was Rhoda McGaha,
William's
sister. Jemima's first husband was Israel P. Carver, a
Union
soldier who also died during the war.
Through my great-grandmother Christina, I connect directly or
indirectly to numerous Cocke County Civil War soldiers.
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