Camp 1783 memorial Service

Sons of the Confederacy,
Pvt. E. F. Athur Camp # 1783
Memorial Service


The Pvt, E. F. Athur Camp #1783 [Sons of the Confederacy] and Lois Feltner Oliver cordially invites you to a Memorial Service for Conrad H. "Coonrod" Messer to be held at London, Greenmount, Laurel County, Kentucky on June 28, 2003.
The service will take place at 12:00 Noon at the Feltner Family Cemetery with Luncheon following.
The meal will be provided by Lois Feltner Oliver for those attending.
An RSVP is requested so that she will know how many people to prepare for. Please if you plan on attending, send me a note telling me how many will be coming from your family so I can transmit the information to Lois so she can plan appropriately. I need to know how many people will be attending no later June 15.
Here is an excerpt from the initial letter that I received from Jennings Krahenbuhl, a member of the Sons of the Confederacy; the Pvt, E. F. Athur Camp #1783, asking for information about Coonrod Messer:

"Conrad Messer died on the march on October 18, 1862 in Laurel County Kentucky. The county site is London which is located half way between Knoxville, Tn. and Lexington, Ky. on Interstate 75. Most likely he was wounded in a skirmish at the Battle of Wildcat Mountain in Laurel County. This took place on October 18, 1862. Conrad's unit was chased by a group of Union soldiers. They attempted to evade these troops by taking to the back roads in Laurel County. By the time that they had gotten to the community of Greenmount on Boone's Trace, they saw that Coonrod was dyeing and was unable to continue with them. They left him with a family of women. The soldiers told them that his name was Conrad Messer and that he was from the Carolinas. Shortly after, this Conrad died and the women afraid of reprisals by the Union soldiers buried him in a shallow grave across the road from the house. At that time his grave was in a fence corner and they covered it with leaves. Shortly thereafter the Union troops did come through that area searching for the Confederates. While we do not know the exact location of Conrad's grave, today he lies in a woods approximately 200 to 300 feet from The Feltner Family Cemetery. The story of Conrad's death and burial has been passed down by the Feltner Family since they bought the land in the late 1890's. They had also attempted to trace him in order to get him a tombstone. They had found a Coonrod Messer but did not realize that this was Conrod's nickname. I was doing research on Boone's Trace in Laurel County and called Lois Feltner Oliver and learned of Conrad. She had promised her father at his death to do two things. Fence in an old cemetery on their farm and get Conrad a stone if they could confirm his name. Our sons of Confederate Veterans unit will order Conrad a tombstone. The stone will be placed at the entrance to the Feltner Cemetery. We will also place a marker by the edge of the woods close to the spot where he was buried. It is our desire to have a ceremony in his honor sometime this next spring. We wish to invite his descendants and the Haywood County SCV Unit, if one exists."

For further information, please contact: Brenda Messer


Music playing is "Lorena" sequenced by
a talented Haywood County donor who wishes to remain anonymous.


Back to Index


� Copyright 2003 Brenda Messer