Randolph Marshall, from Indiana, came to Franklin County, Tennessee during the Civil War in July of 1863. He very much admired the countryside. More than 100 years later, his descendants also admired the countryside and bought some land, built a home and a farm. They never knew that their ancestor had previously found this country and admired it deeply..
Tomorrow is the celebration of Lincoln's Birthday - his 200th birthday - and I spent some time this week reading Civil War letters written by my great-great grandfather, Randolph Marshall. Randolph served in the Union Army with the 22nd Indiana Volunteers. He served for over 3 years and wrote his wife 149 letters which my family kept. My Mom spent many years working with these letters and I now have a notebook with 319 typed pages of her transcriptions of these letters.
Randolph was an eloquent learned man, a lawyer and teacher who also served as the County Clerk of Brown County, Indiana, prior to volunteering to fight in the war. After the war, he served as the school superintendent.
During the war, he walked, rode horseback, or train with his company throughout Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, and Georgia. His letters reveal his character, his principled nature, his keen eye, and his desire to reassure his wife of his well-being. Though he details harrowing personal close calls in battle, the gore of war, and the grief of the loss of friends, comrades, and family, he also provides almost a travelogue description of the countryside as he travelled.
In July of 1863, his company arrived in Winchester, Tennessee, which he describes as follows:
"The Army is still resting here at and in the neighborhood of old Winchester. The longer we remain here the better I like the place - it is clean, nice and healthy - churches are numerous, society is improving and religious privileges accessible to all... The climate must certainly be fine - the soil is of that peculiar reddish cast which we have often seen in the upland regions of the South - it however seems fertile and productive. The grain of the wheat and rye which I have examined is of the best quality. Fruit is abundant and does well. The rich coats of grass, clover and other verdure indicate a good stock growing region..... This is a pretty Tennessee town - standing on a branch of Elk River in a beautiful, extensive and fertile valley, the Cumberland mountains rising in the distance, their blue summits being clearly visible about 8 miles in our advance..."
He describes bathing in the cold river and enjoying the abundance of fruits and vegetables, "Gardens containing onions, potatoes, peas, beans - thousands of acres of corn, wheat and oats... Our boys are well and buoyant in spirits. They are feasting on the fat of the land.."
Sorta makes you want to go there - huh? Well, funny, we went there last summer. My cousin lives there now, teaches school, and farms there. Randolph never returned as far as we know, but the irony of his descendants settling there is great. These are pictures we took last summer frolicking in their corn fields. The little boy is Whit, he's Randolph's great-great-great-great grandson. He's kicking up that red dirt and feasting on the magnificent Winchester corn that Randolph described 145 years ago. According to Google maps, it's 363 miles from Randolph's hometown in Indiana to Winchester, 6 hours by car.
Happy Lincoln Bicentennial Birthday!
