With respect, M.G. Herrin ...'

Several months ago, I published a letter written during the Civil War. The four-page letter was handwritten by a man named M.G. Herrin, a fellow Confederate soldier of Lewis Dudley Groce, one of my relatives. M.G. was assigned the task of taking care of the soldiers who were sick or wounded near Tupelo, Mississippi in the spring of 1862 and, from his letter, it appears he spared no effort in executing his duties. M.G. went into great detail in the letter, describing the conditions the men were facing, just exactly what Lewis Dudley was suffering from (he referred to Lewis Dudley as "L.D."), and offered prayers of consolation for L.D.'s wife (and soon to be widow) Melinda Boyd Groce. His letter was signed, "with respect, M.G. Herrin."

The letter fascinated me, not only because it had historical interest and was about a member of my family, but because I had never seen such compassion expressed by a member of the male sex.

Since the letter was published, I have been contacted by three people who had interest; one who was related to L.D. Groce, and two who were related to M.G. Herrin, who, it turns out, was a certain Moses Gresham Herrin of Henry, Coweta, and Meriwether counties in Georgia, and Cleburne County in Alabama.

My main contact has been Clarke Rogers of Atlanta who graciously shared with me the information he has garnered on Moses. And there are many questions about Moses' life which remain unanswered. The most looming question involves his parents. As of this date, their identities remain a mystery.

Clarke believes Moses' grandparents were Moses Herrin and Agnes Gresham who moved from Orange County, N.C. to Oglethorpe County, Ga. about 1780. The will of a Mary Gresham in Oglethorpe County dated 16 Nov. 1803 and recorded 3 Sept. 1806, bequeaths property to her "beloved daughters, Agnes Herring ... and Mildred Gresham ..." and her "beloved sons ... Little Berry Gresham ... Benonia Gresham ... and Harris Gresham ..."

Clarke says that the only other clue to Moses' parents is in the name of his mother, Elizabeth Herrin, who was listed in the 1850 Meriwether County census as being 60 years old.

Moses was born about 1819 in Henry County, according to information obtained from his wife's pension application filed in 1901. In January of 1846, he married Sophronia Anne Williams in Meriwether County and they are found there in the 1850 census. Moses and Sophronia began their family there and had Mary Elizabeth Herrin, b. 1848; Francis Milford Herrin, b. 1854; and Julia H. Herrin b. 1857. Sometime before 1860, Moses moved to Coweta County and, when war with the northern states was imminent, enlisted with Co. A of the 41st Ga. Regiment. Records show he was discharged at Tupelo, Miss. on 16 July 1863, because of bad health (is it any wonder?)

Other children came along: Moses. G. Herrin Jr., b. 1863; William C. Herrin, b. 1864; Sophronia C. Herrin, b. 1868; Frances J. Herrin, b. 1869; and Emily J. Herrin, b. 1873.

Moses' oldest son, Francis Milford Herrin, married Susan V. Walborn on 7 Dec 1876. They had one daughter, Sallie Lee, b. 26 Nov 1877. Susan died less than a year later (21 July 1878), and Francis remarried Rebecca Catherine Elmore, the daughter of the Rev. Elijah Elmore and Celia Ralls Elmore of Mt. Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Haralson. (Mt. Pilgrim records give the name as Rawls.) The marriage is recorded in Coweta County Marriage books as having taken place in April of 1879.

Francis and Rebecca had six known children: Mamie Belle Herrin, b. 4 May 1880; William Elmore Herrin, b. 17 Oct. 1882; Walter Thomas Herrin, b. 14 May 1884; Annie Lizzie Herrin, b. 16 March 1886; Loyd Dewitt Herrin, b. 13 Oct 1890; and Fannie Kate Herrin, b. 4 April 1895.

Moses and his wife moved to Cleburne County, Ala., sometime before the 1880 census and are recorded there as living in Arbacoochee, Chulafinnee District. As he grew older, Moses developed rheumatism and his health declined until his death on 12 Dec. 1885.

On his widow's pension application, Moses' son, Moses G. Herrin Jr., stated:

"We did not find out until today (15 Sept. 1903, Carroll Co., Ga.) that it was necessary to prove the soldier's - my father's - death, and it is too late to get proof from Cleburn Co., Ala, and this is the reason I am making the affidavit to prove his death. He died near Arbacoochee, Ala the 12 Dec. 1885 about 18 years ago. I didn't get there until he was dead and buried, but I found his grave fresh where they had buried him. I know that he has never been heard of since, and that claimant has been his widow ever since, and still is, and that she has made her home with me and brothers and the other children ever since, She is very old and badly diseased and has nothing at all in the last 10 years ..."

Sophronia Herrin, shown living with her son in the 1900 Carroll County census, received her pension until about 1904. Her place of death and burial are unknown. On her pension application, she said that Moses died of rheumatism, old age and general debility.

One can only hope there were happy times for this family whose father so willingly gave of his time to help his fellow soldiers.

If you can give Clarke any clues as to Moses' parents, please contact him at hclarker@bellsouth.net. He has done exhaustive research of Herrin(g)s in Georgia ... land records, wills, censuses and such, but no definite proof of Moses' parents has been found. I appreciate his sharing Moses' life story with me.

Do you have ancestors who lived on the south side of Atlanta? Send their stories to The Citizen, Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214; E-mail jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com.

Until next week, happy hunting!

Judy regrets that time does not permit her to do personal research for others. She will willingly share research information on her own family lines, including collateral and allied lines.