Obituaries of Garfield Post Members

The following obituaries were transcribed from newspaper clipping pasted on random  pages of the Garfield Post No. 25  ledger.

W. C. Adair. After an illness lasting several weeks W. c. Adair Esq., died at his home in Englewood Tuesday night last, leaving a wife and four children.

  Mr. Adair was in his 80th year of his age and was one of the oldest, and a highly esteemed citizen of McMinn county. He was a member of the Garfield Post, G. A. R., having been a member of the 7th Tennessee Infantry during latter part of the Civil War.

  Mr. Adair was at one time a member of the county court of McMinn County and leaves many friends to mourn his departure. Athens Apr 20, 1911. Died Apr. 18, 1911.

Andrew Andrews.  The following information was combined from two articles: “Death of Another Veteran” and “Obituary of A. Andrews” in order to avoid duplication of data.

Andrew Andrews, 72 Years of Age - Esteemed Citizen Dies in Athens.

  Andrew Andrews, an esteemed citizen of Athens died at 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon at his residence on Madison Avenue in this city Thursday, November 13, and was buried the following day in the city cemetery.

  Andrew Andrews was born August 6, 1841 in Richland county, Ohio, and enlisted October 20, 1861, as a private in Co. A, 64th Ohio Infantry, and was honorably discharged as a Sergeant of his company Dec. 3, 1865, having served in the army continuously four years and one month. He was a member in good standing of Miller Moody Post No. 314, Department of Ohio, G. A. R., from which organization he was given a transfer seven years ago. Soon after which he moved to Athens and was admitted to Garfield Post, No. 25, Department of Tennessee, G. A. R., at Athens, and at his death was filling the position of Senior Vice-Commander.

  Mr. Andrews some time after the war was married to Miss Sarah Belle Fulton of Ohio, who died about thirteen years ago, and 1909 was married to Miss Sarah E. Patterson of this county who survives him.

  Mr. Andrews leaves no children, and the only member of his immediate family in Ohio survives him is a sister, Mrs. Catherine Riggle, and a nephew, Mr. Andrew Clever, both of  Belleville, Richland county Ohio, though there are other relatives in Ohio, and a wide circle of neighbors and friends in whom the deceased was held in high esteem. Mrs. Riggle and Mr. Clever arrived in Athens pending the serious sickness of Mr. Andrews and were here to attend at his bedside and the funeral.

  The deceased was a devout member of the Presbyterian Church, being a member of Mars Hill, under whose auspices his funeral was conducted by his church on Friday, 2:00 o’clock p.m. November 14, 1913 by the pastor, Rev. A. E. Wallace, assisted by the J. M Emert of the M. C. Church, and Rev. J. B. Ely of the M. E. Church, South and his body was laid to rest in the Cedar Grove Cemetery, Athens, Tenn. A neighbor said of him: “I admire him for his distinct Scotch-Irish Presbyterian traits.”

  There were about twelve of the veterans of the G. A. R., who were mustered for the funeral of their devoted comrade in charge of Post Commander W. W. Lowry, the following serving as pall bearers: W. W. Lowry, J. I Pyatt, Alfred Hacker, J. H. Moore, G. D. Corbin and Wm. G. Eberman, assisted as honorary pall bearers, W. F. McCarron, J. D. Redding, J. L. Crow, G. G. Gilbert, Geo. W. Foster, M. L. Kyker and J. H. Hornsby.

  Under the direction of these veterans the services at the grave were concluded by an impressive ceremony.

  Andrew Andrews was every inch a Christian gentleman, and thus was he gathered into his fathers at the ripe age of 72 years, 3 months and 7 days.

Capt. Julius Aytes. Was Captain of Famous Company E of Col. Byrd’s First Tennessee Regiment. Well Know In Roane County. By S. C. Brown.

  The death of Capt. Julius Aytes at his home near Athens, in McMinn County, from Pneumonia, at the age of seventy-seven years, is heard with peculiar sadness, not only by the surviving comrades of old “Company E,” but by all the citizens in general of Roane, McMinn, Cumberland and Morgan counties.

  When a small boy the parents of Capt. Aytes moved from Missouri and settled in the old Antioch section of what is now Cumberland county, where he grew to manhood. When the civil war came on he and his brother Alfred, who also became a captain in the Federal army, were among the first to make ready for the internecine conflict that followed. The famous company “E” of Col. R. K. Byrds’ First Tennessee Regiment, was mustered into service at Camp Dick Robinson, in Kentucky, August 20, 1861. This company was made up principally in Roane county, but the Antioch section of Cumberland and the Snow settlement of Morgan county were valuable contributions to the company. Col. John Ellis of Webster was made captain of the company at Camp Dick Robinson and Julius Aytes second lieutenant. Col. Ellis was afterwards promoted and made major of the regiment and afterwards lieutenant colonel. After the battle of Stone River at Murfreesboro, Lieutenant Aytes was made captain of the company and remained at the head of this company until mustered out of service at the close of the war, commanding the confidence and esteem of his comrades in arms at all times.

  The First Tennessee Regiment saw much service. It has a record of sixty-four actual engagements and of being under fire one hundred and thirty-five days during the war. besides, numerous campaigns were engaged in, notably among them being an expedition up the Kanawha River in, now, West Virginia and the Atlanta campaign which began at Chattanooga. This regiment first routed the famous Confederate General Zollicoffer at Wild Cat in the mountains of Kentucky and afterwards participated in the battle of Mill Springs in Kentucky, where Gen. Zollicoffer was killed early in the war.

  In 1870 Capt. Aytes moved to McMinn county, where he has since resided on his farm until his death.

  I have know Capt. Aytes since my early manhood. He was one of the best men I ever knew. He was an ideal citizen. I had heard of him since I was a small boy, but it was while attending college at Athens that I first knew him personally and shared his hospitality. Time will never be able to efface from my memory the kindness and gentleness of this beloved courageous and yet so discreet, unaffected, kind, obliging, genteel, upright, faithful, hospitable.

  It is said of him that he went into the army Julius Aytes and came out Julius Aytes. He went in a ?Christian and came out a Christian; that he never vacillated in his religious duties throughout the war, and while he came out as captain and with many honors, he was still Julius Aytes as at the beginning of the war- the same quiet Christian citizen.

  Capt. Aytes as married in 1858 to Letitia Kindred in the 10th district of Cumberland county. She was a daughter of Tornton Kndred and still survives her honored husband, although she has been an invalid four years. He leaves four doughtier, all married. One daughter died some years ago. He was ready to go and so expressed himself.

  A patriotic citizen, brave soldier, and devoted Christian has gone to his reward.

  I am indebted to Maj. W. F. McCarron of Athens and Capt. I. A. Hill of Harriman, for data as to Capt. Aytes war record, but as to his exemplary life and the influence that he at all times exerted for good, I am pleased to bear testimony from personal acquaintance and experience. Peace will ever be to his memory. (Article from the Harriman Record)

Alex J. Cochran, a veteran of the union army died at his home in the old second district on the 18th inst. and was buried the following day in  Rogers Creek Cemetery.

  Mr. Cochran was about 80 years of age and leaves an aged wife and one daughter. He was  a private in the First Kentucky Cavalry having been one among the loyalists of East Tennessee, who in order to escape conscription by the confederate authorities, escaped in the darkness of night through the mountains to Kentucky where many of them joined the first Federal regiment they could reach.

  Mr. Cochran was a nephew of the late Capt. Robert R. Cochran of the 9th Tenn. Cavalry. He was a charter member of Garfield Post No. 25, G. A. R. Athens July 28, 1910.

Mr. Geo. W. Kelly, whose illness for a year past had been watched with deep concern by his friends, died at his home in this city, at 6:30 p. m. Sept. 17, 1909.

  The funeral occurred at 2 p. m. Sunday and was largely attended including a representative delegation of veterans of Garfield Post, G. A. R., in charge of Adjutant and Post Commander W. F. McCarron, Commander Lowry not being able to attend on account of sickness.

  The services at the family residence were in charge of Rev. A. M. Tomlinson, who spoke in appropriate terms of the life of the deceased, stating that during his long siege of sickness he had often given assurance of his faith in god, and that he was ready to answer when the summon came. Prof. M. R. M. Burke, as a neighbor and friend, also spoke feelingly of the deceased and the devotion of his wife to whom he had been married when a soldier in the union army.

  Adjutant W. F. McCarron, read the record which will be placed upon the books of G. A. R. The pall bearers were as follows: John D. Long, Elijah Dyer, M. M. Carpenter, J. W. Sharits, W. C. Adair, J. D. Redding.

  At the cemetery the beautiful and impressive ritualistic service of the G. A. R. was rendered, and under the folds of the dear old flag the deceased had bravely defended in many hard campaigns of bloody strife, the remains were laid to rest.

Biographical  Sketch

  (Geo. W. Kelley) Was born in Hawkins County, Tennessee, April 9, 1838, and died Sept. 17, 1909, having lived 71 years 5 months and 8 days.

  He was the son of Samuel J. and Lydia Duncan Kelley, and the second child of six children. His father was of that Celtic stock who immigrated from Ireland in the early settlements of Virginia.

  There is now but one of these six children, three boys and three girls, living, his sister, Mrs. Rosana Thomas, of Soddy, Tenn., who was the last of his immediate family to stand guard at his bedside when the message came.

  The parents of this family came with their children to McMinn Co., but later settled in Rhea county where the mother died in 1866 and the father in 1874.

  Geo. W. Kelley while a soldier in the civil war, and miss Isabella Jane Worley were united in marriage in Bledsoe county, Tenn., on Nov. 28, 1863. They came from Rhea county and settled in 1887. They were blessed with no children but for 45 years 10 months and 19 days they had lived together as devoted lovers, and from the hour when surrounded by the roar of artillery and smoke of battle this woman took upon herself the marriage vow, she faithfully stood by her soldier lover, and no heroine of prose or poetry ever proved more constant or faithful until the last expiring breath came from the lips of him whom she had vowed to love.

  Geo. W. Kelley enlisted Feb. 25, 1862, in Bledsoe county, in Company C, Fifth Tennessee Federal Infantry, and was discharged April 10, 1865, having served three years, one months and fifteen days.

  He was a gallant and faithful soldier. He had been a member of the G. A. R. over twenty-five years, and was at one time commander of  Garfield Post no. 25, at Athens, and has been senior vice commander for many years.

  Out of an army numbering over 2,500,000 there are now living about 620,000.

From the Athenian, Sept. 23, 1909.

John D. Long. Athenian, Thursday, August 24, 1911. Death of John D. Long, By W. F. McCarron. Prominent and Useful Citizen--Veteran on the Civil War--Impressive and Large Funeral.

  John Daniel Long, born February 19, 1845, died August 22, 1911, aged 66 years, 6 months and 3 days.

  The above announcement is another painful reminder of the frailty of life and the certainty of death.

  A strong man has fallen.

  Another member of the great, Grand Army of the Republic, who, in the eighteenth year of his age responding to the call of the President of the United States, marched with 30,000 of his comrades from East Tennessee to the defense of the flag of the American Union, and joining the great host who were rallying to its defense from the north, fought with them for four long, weary years, and then returning to his East Tennessee home, grew in strength of character among his neighbors of both armies, and having married the girl whose heart had waited with anxious  rapture for his return from war, raised a happy and prosperous family.

  John D. Long’s parents, Tandy and Sarah Long, were natives of South Carolina, but moved to Bradley county Tennessee where the subject of this sketch was born. In May 1863 he joined Company A, 4th Tennessee Federal Cavalry with which command he served as a gallant and faithful soldier to the close of the war. This regiment was one of the best in the service from Tennessee and has a record to its credit of constant service of the most strenuous kind.

  On August 30, 1868 John D. Long, then 23 years of age, and Miss Phoebe E. Cassada, were married. To this union were born three boys and three girls, all of whom survive and are prosperous and highly respected citizens, viz: Mrs. Cordie Baker; Charley Long; Mrs. Minnie K. Slack; Mrs. Kittie Brewer; Edgar and Horace Long, all residents of this community.

  Mrs. Long the devoted wife, after a lingering illness of several months, died Nov. 22, 1908, mourned by a wide circle of friends. The children all having homes of their own, and yearning for companionship, Mr. Long later on married Miss Hennie Bivins, who, with his children, and a wide circle of friends mourn his loss.

  John D. Long was a member of the M. E. Church, and for many years in the earlier re-establishment of that denomination in East Tennessee, his home was headquarters for the ministers and an army of visiting members on all public occasions.

  He was a member of the Masonic order and a Royal Arch Mason. But there was no order he cherished more than the Grand Army of the Republic, in which he had served as Commander of Garfield post, at Athens, and other positions of honor given him by the state department.

  As a republican in politics John D. Long was a valued member and a liberal contributor to the success of his party. He was almost uniformly for many years, one of the delegated to all conventions, and in 1896 was elected trustee of McMinn county, and re-elected in 1898, serving two terms.

  His occupation was farming, and he ranked among the progressive class in this occupation. From nothing as a young man when he came out of the army he had accumulated by dint of industry and good management, a handsome competence.

  Mr. Long had been in declining health for a year past, but nothing serious was apprehended until within the last few months. The seat of his trouble seemed to be about the breast or stomach, but it baffled the skill of our best physicians, and before the end came he had become delirious and unconscious, though there seemed to be no intense suffering and death came with a smile upon his venerable lips.

  The funeral was conducted Wednesday at the family residence near the cemetery, where a large congregation assembled. The religious services in charge of Rev. Dr. R. J. Cook, of this city, book editor of the M. E. Church, and a life long friend of the deceased, assisted by Rev. A. B. Dennis, of the Athens circuit, of the M. E. Church.

  Dr. Cooke’s sermon was a masterly effort, original in conception, fervent in delivery and comforting in the assurances the deceased had given him only a few days before his prostration of his confidence in a blissful immortality.

  From the residence to the cemetery, a procession from Meridian Sun Lodge of F. & A. M., was formed followed by members of Garfield Post, G. A. R., carrying flowers. After the religious services at the grave, the Masonic order took charge and concluded the exercises with the impressive ceremony of that ancient organization, led by prof. M. R. M. Burke, acting master.

  The floral tributes were numerous and very handsome.

  To the bereaved family his comrades and friends join in condolence with the assurance that “Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in sure and certain hope of the resurrection.”

W. H. H. Sims. By an over sight The Athenian failed to mention the death of W. H. H. Sims, which occurred at his home on the Cleage place three miles north of Athens on the night of April 1. The deceased was a veteran of the civil war having served as a private in Company M. 4th, Tenn., Cavalry. He was a member of Garfield Post G. A. R. and highly esteemed as a citizen and neighbor.

  Mr. Sims had been in poor health for a year past with stomach trouble growing out of exposure while in the army. He leaves a wife and seven children.

  The funeral occurred at the family residence the following Monday, conducted by Rev. A. M. Tomlinson, and interment,  was made in Cedar Grove Cemetery. April 13, 1911.

W. C. Woods.  W. C. Woods died at his home on White street yesterday morning after a lingering illness from bronchial trouble. Funeral services will be laid to rest at Cedar Grove cemetery under the auspices of the G. A. R. Further notice next week. May 24, 1901.