GEORGE P. MUSE, farmer, was born in Bedford County, Tenn., January 29, 1844, and is the son of Orville and Malinda M. (Ross) Muse. His father was born in Virginia November 13, 1806, and his mother was born in South Carolina April 26, 1809. The Muse family are among the early settlers of the State, coming here when Tennessee was but a wilderness.
Our subject lives on a farm adjoining the one his grandfather settled on after immigrating to this State. Our subject is the sixth in a family of ten children born to his parents. He was reared on the farm and received a fair practical education. He enlisted in the Second Regiment Tennessee Infantry, Confederate States Army, under Col. (now Gov.) Bate, at the youthful age of sixteen, and served throughout the entire war. He participated in the battles of first Manassas, Shiloh and Richmond, Ky. He was severely wounded in the latter engagement, captured and paroled within the Federal lines. After recovering sufficiently he was taken to Camp Douglas, where he was held three months and then exchanged. He then joined his regiment in Tennessee. After this he was clerk in Cleburne’s commissary department, and was again captured while retreating from Dalton. He was held in Rock Island, Ill., until near the close of the war.
Since the war our subject has served the public fourteen years; six years in the capacity of constable, four years as sheriff and four years as deputy-sheriff. November 8, 1866, he wedded Miss Mary J. Wright, of Bedford County, Tenn., and the daughter of Whitfield Wright. Their children are seven in number — four sons and three daughters. Mr. Muse has a fine farm of 110 acres, and he is a Democrat, an Odd Fellow, a Knight of Honor and a Royal Arcanum. Mrs. Muse and one son are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.
Transcribed by Kathryn Hopkins
Goodspeed Publishing Co. History of Tennessee from the Earliest Time to the Present: Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford & Marshall Counties, Besides a Valuable Fund of Notes, Reminescences [Sic], Observations, Etc., Etc. Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1988.