First Of The Family At Poplar Grove Farm

by W. D. Moore, Jr., April 1980

(revised August 1999)

This a history of James French and his wife, Sarah (Sallie) A. Curtis French. It is these two who start the French family relationship with Poplar Grove Farm in Stafford County, Virginia that has lasted almost 170 years. It is they who started the graveyard at the farm with their young son's death in 1862 during the Civil War. It is they to whom this history is directed and hopefully accurately related after all these years. It is their history that in some ways effects the family still. This history is an attempt to reveal what they did, and what kind of people they were. I must admit that I find myself admiring the family as I find out about them. Indeed, I hope to meet them someday and perhaps this history will make them more familiar.

Sallie writes in 1867 to her sister-in-law Margaret French Deming who is also now buried at Poplar Grove as follows:

"Oh it makes me so sad to revert to the past- particularly the last six years. The ravages of war are horrible. Our dear, dear son languished and died of that awful fever Typhoid in the summer of '62. Two brothers and other kind friends attended and nursed him as tenderly as possible through his illness, but that was not like being at his own quiet home with parents to anticipate his wants. The subject is too painful to dwell upon. Tears already steal down my cheek." (1)

Her son was the first family member buried at Poplar Grove, and how that came to be and how the family came to be at the farm is now explained, beginning with the biographical data for James French.

• A daughter ?(7),
• Lydia Isemonger French born July 2, 1799, married Walter Nelson Bradshaw 1822(8)
• Daniel Isemonger French born March 29, 1801, married Caroline F. Brawner October 30, 1827(9)
• James French born April 1, 1803, married Sarah A. Curtis September 23, 183010
• Ann Lewis French ? born March 23, 1805(11)
• Courtney Wood Isemonger Mankin French born February 20, 1807 married Howard C. Freeman October 15, 1837(12)
• Margaret Ann Fields French born May 24, 1809, married William Horace Deming December 17, 1851(13)
• Hugh Uriah French born July 21, 1811(14) never married
• Mary Ellender French born March 7, 1813(15)

Loudoun County is now the second most northern county in Virginia, Northwest of Washington D.C. and next to Maryland. As a young man, James traveled one day from Loudoun County to visit an uncle (probably Captain Hugh French) in Powhatan County, located just West of Richmond, Virginia. This was a trip of about 100 miles. The only way to travel was by horse back and there was no public road like now. After traveling all day, he arrived at the George Curtis home in Stafford County where he spent the night. This was about half way between Loudoun and Powhatan counties. George Curtis had two sons and more importantly for James, four daughters, three of which were younger than he.(16) This is where James French met his wife-to-be, (and distant cousin?)(17) Sarah (Sallie) A. Curtis, the youngest of the girls. The Curtis' were well off, while James French's older brother had gone through most of the French property. (Note: This may be incorrect because James' daddy died in 1839, after his marriage, or perhaps mismanagement occurred after James' marriage, but Daniel's mismanagement of money is also alluded to in the will of Anna Guy French and in the will of Hugh Uriah French.)

James French (age 27) and Sallie (age 18) got a marriage license in Washington, D.C. on August 26, 1830 and married Sept. 23, 1830(18) in Stafford Co. When they were married, George Curtis gave his daughter a private slave (Betty) as he did for each of his daughters at their marriage. George Curtis had also acquired the Poplar Grove farm in Stafford County about 12 miles Northwest of Fredericksburg, Virginia some twelve years after Quakers (who had originally settled it in about 1780(19), left. This farm, consisting of about 1,000 acres, was given to Sallie as a wedding present also.

Arial Photo of Poplar Grove in the 1980s

Poplar Grove in the 1800s

After spending a short time elsewhere (perhaps in Loudoun County), the newly married couple moved onto the farm at Poplar Grove. The original old stone house built in the 1700s was their home.

James French was a life long Democrat and was a farmer all his life.

Sarah A. Curtis was born April 1, 1812(20) at "Green Meadows", Stafford County, Virginia, the daughter of George and Jemima (Payne) Curtis. "Green Meadows" was adjacent to and Southeast of the then 1000 acre "Poplar Grove" Farm and was in the location of what is now the Seven Lakes Subdivision in Stafford County. James French and Sarah (Sallie) A. Curtis French had seven children:

All these children were born in Stafford County, Virginia.(21)

James French died on August 2, 1865 at Poplar Grove and Sallie Curtis died on May 28, 1872 in Washington, DC.(22) Both are buried at Poplar Grove.

Note: This part of the history was derived from a tape recorded conversation with Sallie V. French Fitzhugh (age 94) at Poplar Grove Farm in about 1980 (except the genealogy of William and Anna French).

James French's home at Poplar Grove was occupied in the Civil War by Yankees.

In the spring of 1865, James heard of the surrender of General Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. This was devastating news to James. He had lost one son at age 20, Hugh Uriah, in the war (due to disease) and had the sad duty of burying the young man at the farm. One son had been captured (Charles) and spent bitter years in Yankee prisons in Delaware and Maryland. The oldest son, George, had also served in the military and John I., the youngest son at age 17, was preparing to join the Confederate Army as the war ended. Now both the war and his third son were lost and his finances were ruined and his Confederate money and bonds were worthless. The day he heard news of the surrender, the 62 year old James dejectedly rode over his farm and then returned to the stone house, tied his horse to a large tree in front of the house onto a horseshoe embedded in the trunk and went inside his home. James' health was never the same after that day and he was rarely able to leave the house at Poplar Grove thereafter, and less than four months later he died of what the family described as a broken heart. Sarah described James' death in her 1867 letter as follows:

Scarcely had the booming cannon and the roaring musket subsided when my dear husband was taken suddenly ill with disease of the heart; sometimes he seemed improving and for a week or two was able to ride out several miles at a time, but finally it came in the most fatal form and his sufferings were heart rending; no rest day or night, but one continual moaning. He never seemed to sleep but a few minutes at a time for weeks before he died- sat in his chair all the time until the last few days. It seemed to increase his agony to lie down. He talked a great deal-expressing great reluctance to give up the ties to this world. We all miss him sadly. Take away the head of a family and it leaves a vacancy no one else can ever fill. Soon after his death I was taken sick with disease of kidneys and other internal organs which occasioned much suffering. (23)

The family has no surviving picture of James French, but surprisingly, there are pictures of James' sister "Liddie" and of his two brothers, Daniel Isemonger French and Hugh Uriah French. Perhaps these pictures of James's sister and two brothers will provide clues as to what James looked like and reveal family resemblances.

Brother Hugh Uriah French settled near Vicksburg, Mississippi by 1840 owning/overseeing 46 slaves.(24) He seemed to have a "colorful" personality.... once falling out of a 2 story window from uncertain cause (pushed or fell), and a niece once wrote that he "wouldn't live long if he kept drinking like that" written when he was in his 60's, and another statement about hurriedly leaving Virginia so a Virginia Court judgment of several thousand dollars against him could not be collected, and in 1878, he was involved in and lost a case before the Louisiana Supreme Court concerning 16 rented mules. He was involved in a Warren County, Mississippi lawsuit in 1884 as a bondsman in a criminal case (Jack Flanigan evidently skipped bond). Going on someone's bond is an indication of wealth and to be approved by the Sheriff on a bond is an indication of community respect. He was also involved in a second Mississippi lawsuit in 1885. The 1878 and 1885 civil cases were against same fellow, Thomas Rigby, who may have been an enemy of Hugh Uriah French. (Rigby was involved in bank fraud in Vicksburg in 1885, so is not a completely honest man.) I wonder if these lawsuits added stress to Hugh Uriah French's life and contributed to his death?

On the other hand, there are several complimentary aspects of his personality. For instance, there is a letter written by a very young girl saying she wanted to live with him and how he was not like other grownups and that he would play with her and how nice he was to her. Hugh Uriah was relied on by family members for help and there is a letter written during the Civil War (probably April 1863) by his sister Margaret Deming asking Hugh Uriah to come soon and comfort her after her husband's death. After the Civil War he was acting sheriff in Warren County for a time, and he was the administrator of a Vicksburg woman's estate (Mrs Caroline Keep), indicating honesty and business management skill. Hugh Uriah was an officer in the Mississippi militia in 1846 and he was a successful business man in Vicksburg for 30 years or more, and he was always an honored and welcomed visitor to the home of his brother, James in Virginia. Additionally, James thought so highly of his brother that he named his third son after Hugh Uriah.

He also supposedly had a reputation for cock fighting. (He was indicted for card gambling for Confederate money of the value of $5.00 in 1862 in Vicksburg by the Warren County grand jury, but the case was dismissed, in a legal form called NOLLE PROSEQUI, in 1865 upon his payment of Court costs of $1.50-- seems like a strange indictment, perhaps political and I bet there's more to the story, forgive the pun.) Hugh Uriah found "steamboating" unprofitable by 1847(25) however and returned to his former employment at Belle Isle, Warren County, Mississippi. In 1848 he had borrowed $400.00 and purchased a $75.00 horse. It is assumed that $75 was a lot to pay for a horse at that time and almost certainly, this horse was used by Hugh Uriah to travel the dangerous Natchez Trace to visit his Virginia family in the late 1840s. In the early 1850s Hugh Uriah French was an overseer for William H. Johnson at Belle Isle, an island which was located in the Mississippi River 22 miles North of Vicksburg (near Eagle Lake now, the river has changed course) and later according to family tradition for Jefferson Davis' brother on an island in the Mississippi River owned by the Confederate President's brother.(26)

By 1860 Hugh Uriah French was a plantation owner in Northwest Warren County, Mississippi near Vicksburg. His land was valued at $12,000 and he owned $20,000 in personal property,(27) some of that value is assumed to be slaves. He owned 30 slaves in 1861(28). Hugh Uriah French had made several trips up and down the Natchez Trace on horseback visiting his Virginia family, and later by train (probably at least 3 trips between 1845 and 1860 and in 1869, 1878, 1879, 1882). Hugh Uriah clearly loved his family in Virginia and wrote to them consistently through the years. He once responded to an inquiry about how he kept his hair so neat with the facetious reply "I use snake oil madam."

Hugh Uriah wrote a great many letters during the Civil War but most were lost before arriving in Virginia. In fact, the Virginia family worried that he might have died because they did not hear from him. He was in "very bad health for three years", beginning in 1863 and was "confined to bed the greater part of the time". After the war, he wrote to his Virginia family that he was "a poor man, lost everything" and was even "robbed of his clothes."(29)

Though he lost all his property in the Civil War(30), Hugh Uriah recovered and later he owned at least three lots and a house in Vicksburg, Mississippi across the street from the Courthouse with a view of the Mississippi River and property in Loudoun County, Virginia.

The estate assets totaled approximately $12,000 in 1885. A partial disbursement was made in 1887 to the heirs. John I. French, who inherited slightly more than 1/5th of the estate for instance, then received $465. The executor, Dr. T.G. Birchett, by 1887 had received $1,119.89 ($741.00 for his medical bill as doctor--charging $3.00 per visit and visiting Hugh Uriah French as much as three times per day until death--high for the time?). In 1890 there was a balance of $5,703.26, but there is no record of how that was disbursed. Most likely the executor received at least 7% of that too. Thus, it may be that John I. French inherited about $1500 from his uncle's estate in total, plus slightly more than 1/5th of that Loudoun Co. Virginia land owned by Hugh Uriah. It would seem that almost 1/2 of Hugh Uriah's estate was consumed in probate expenses.

"I was shocked to hear of poor dear Hannah's death and suffering, it seems that her attack was so sudden, she seemed to be well and lively when I came away. It seems to me if she had been my own child it could not have grieved me much more and every time I think about her it brings tears to my eyes and sadness.....Please write to me as soon as you receive this and let me know every particular; what she complained of and what the Doctor thought threw her into lockjaw. It is very gratifying to know that she had every attention paid to her, and the Doctor was with the poor child, and I know she has gone from the evil to come, and I know the Blessed Lord does all things well, and I know that we aught to be resigned to His Blessed Will.....Tell Milly that we all sympathize with her in her bereavement.....Tell Milly she must take care of her children and not grieve after her but try to prepare to meet her in heaven where there is not sorrow nor pain nor death there.........O my dear children be kind to her and her dear children, for without her, I could not have kept house to this time, and more than that she has done that for us that no other would of done and free of expense and we should appreciate her and children. You must not let her become dissatisfied if you can help it."

There is also a family tradition that describes Sallie Curtis French as the person who was responsible for the foodstuffs on the farm, and that she always carried a chain of keys around her waist, which would lock and unlock the smokehouse and food storage buildings. It was her job to make sure that such food items were used appropriately and that the food items were not consumed without permission. It is supposed that the slaves would have eaten the hams etc. without permission, if they had not been locked up and secured. It was Sallie's duty to make sure that the people at the farm, including slaves, were properly fed.

The fixed ration for an adult Negro slave was one peck of meal and three to three and one half pounds of bacon per week. Any vegetables raised on the place were available for the Negroes. If molasses was produced on the plantation, it was regularly provided. Luxuries included sugar, coffee, and other imported foods. These were distributed on special holidays or as rewards for good work. The food was usually prepared in the slave's own kitchen. Sick Negroes and the house Negroes were fed from the master's kitchen. The clothing given to the Negro was of good quality. The usual distribution was in the spring and the fall. On each occasion two suits or dresses were given. In the fall, shoes and blankets were distributed. The sick Negroes received special attention. Some Negroes were more lazy than sick, but real cases of illness received careful attention. The mistress of the plantation was usually responsible for the care of the sick and she took her responsibilities seriously. The most important home medicines were whisky and castor oil. In case of continued illness the best medical service available was secured. The value of a slave was determined by age, sex and training, and sometimes the price of cotton or corn, and $1,000.00 for a good field hand was regarded as a very high price, but in certain cases prices were even higher. Typically, when a group of slaves was built up by a plantation owner, it was usually held together. In this way, a close relationship between the whites and blacks came into existence. A Negro who had served for a long period of time was sure to be cared for in his old age by his master. (This paragraph is from a 1949 Mississippi History textbook.....times have changed.)

The slave cabins were located in a row West of the big house, and there is a slave graveyard further westward now covered with tall trees and rocks haphazardly marking the graves on the farm now.

Note: This second part of the history was derived from information from Sally Lou Fitzhugh at Poplar Grove Farm in 1998.

Also note: James's young son (Hugh Uriah French) who died in the Civil War was named for his uncle. This young man's Civil War sword is still at Poplar Grove Farm.

Also note: James' brother's (Hugh Uriah French) traveling cane, a three foot long cane with hidden stiletto is still at Poplar Grove Farm.

Sallie Curtis French OBITUARY

Mrs. Sallie French died at the residence of her daughter, in Washington City, of typhoid pneumonia, at three o'clock p.m., in the 60th year of her age. Mrs. French left her home in Stafford County, Virginia, on the last day of April 1872, to pay a visit to her children. She spent eleven days with one of her daughters in Brentsville, Prince William County, Virginia; from there she went to Washington to visit another daughter, where she died on the date above mentioned, just four weeks from the time she left home. Mrs. French made a profession of religion very early in life, when she was about fifteen years old. Some time afterwards she was baptized into the fellowship of the Rock Hill Baptist Church by Elder Warren Owens, who was then pastor, of which church she was a consistent and faithful member until her death.

Mrs. French was not only a professor of religion, but she made manifest by her humility and devotion to the cause of her Master, and her sweet submission to His will, that she really enjoyed its comforts, and realized its power. Let me say just here, that she seemed always to look at her afflictions and trials in this life as ever working for her soul's eternal good. So much did she realize this truth that she selected, many years before her death, a text from which she desired her funeral sermon preached, which may be found in 2d Corinthians, 4th chapter, 17th and 18th verses, which request was observed; her funeral being preached by Elder T.W. Newman, her former pastor.

But she has gone from the sorrows and trials of earth, to her reward in heaven.

None knew her but to love her. In her death, the church has lost a shining light, and her children, an affectionate and devoted mother.

But why should we mourn? She is not lost but gone before. Though all will miss her, our loss is her infinite and eternal gain. She lived a Christian, and died a Christian, and no doubt ere now wears a Christian's crown in glory.

May all her children follow her as she followed Christ, that they may all meet her in that better land, where parting will be no more, and where the sad sound of farewell will forever die away amid the sweet melodies of glory.

A Brother in Christ(35)

Time Line:

March 4, 1861 - Abraham Lincoln inaugurated

April 12, 1861 - Fort Sumter, S. Carolina (war starts)

April 15, 1861 - Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers for 90days.

April 17, 1861 - Virginia secedes

June 1, 1861 - French boys have joined Confederate Cavalry

July 21, 1861 - 1st Battle of Manassas (This Confederate victory was only about 25 miles from Poplar Grove.)

July 25, 1861 - Lincoln calls for 500,000 volunteers for 3 years, and the war begins its 4 year horror, much of it near Poplar Grove.

History of the Times

This meant that six young men in (or soon to be in) the French family fought in the Confederate Cavalry.... George Lee French (age 29), Charles James French (age 25), Hugh Uriah French (age 18), John G. Helm (age 29), Peter T. Weedon (age @24) and Richard Montgomery Jones (age 17).

The cavalry was the most prestigious service in the Confederate Army and there were years of many exciting raids, skirmishes and battles. The Cavalry experienced much more of this than the regular infantry. Of course, these battles were constantly taking place all around James French's farm. One can only imagine the excitement he had hearing of the nearby fighting and knowing his three sons and two sons-in-law were in the thick of it all. (For instance, one military record for John G. Helm states that he was "left sick across enemy lines on the 18th April 1862." One may imagine the war stories the French family heard from all six family cavalrymen.) The boys' service would have effected the farm because that meant, not only were four healthy young male workers gone, but also four horses and supplies. The Confederate Cavalry (unlike the Yankees) were expected to supply their own mounts, and this meant perhaps four of the best animals from the farm were gone for four years. Even worse, the marauding Yankees eventually stole the remaining horses from the farm. The young slave Sam spent many weeks alone hiding the French horses in nearby swamps, with the French family sneaking out food to him. The family remembers his heroic effort even to this day, but despite his efforts the horses were found by the Yankees. Also realize that in this era farming could not be done without horses, as they were no motor powered farm machines yet invented and the loss or deprivation of horses was very serious.

However, the Civil War adventure became tragic in 1862 when James' third son, Hugh Uriah French, died of disease, just eight days past his twentieth birthday. The family tradition is that James' two youngest girls Louisa and Mary Ellen (then aged 22 and 17) went by wagon more than 50 miles to near Richmond to pick up the body. It is assumed that by 1862 Yankees made it unsafe for older men to travel. For whatever reason the girls went, it is a glowing testimony of the love these two sisters must have had for their brother to brave such travels in the middle of a war zone, and to carry their brother's (unembalmed?) corpse back home by wagon.

These two girls had unusual pluck in other ways as well.....like how they snuck through Yankee lines at night and into Baltimore, Maryland to get buttons and uniform material for their youngest brother, 17 year old John I. French, so he could join the Confederate Army when he turned eighteen. The girls hid the buttons in their clothes and made the uniform material into petticoats to sneak them back across enemy lines. On their return, they were searched but these girls were ladies and no gentleman would dare search their clothes. Also, on several occasions at the farm, these girls were sent out of the house toward the approaching marauding Yankee soldiers to distract them (using their feminine charms in modest ways--they must have been quite pretty) as Southern belles, enabling the family time to hide food, horses and other valuables. Another family story remembers one of the French girls' defiant and sarcastic comment to Yankees as they were conducting one of the frequent searches of the stone house. A Yankee soldier was in one of the bedrooms, and even looked under the bed for anyone hiding there, perhaps hoping to catch one of the French family soldiers visiting at home. The soldier reached under the bed and pulled out the "chamber pot". At that moment the French girl defiantly blurted to the Yankee searcher, "Do you see a 'seeshesh' (meaning secessionist) in there?" Of course from the Yankee's perspective, a "chamber pot" may have been a good place to hide valuables and the Yankee may have been looking for family valuables to steal, and only using the pretext of searching for Confederate soldiers to find valuables. Whatever was happening, the brave contempt this French girl had for those Yankees was evident and is fondly remembered by the family even now. Details of more stories like this are included in a history of John I. French.

We have no detailed records of the French boys' individual experiences during the war or much of the Yankee occupation of James' farm. We do know that for a time the Yankees camped and cooked in the yard of the stone house. It may be assumed that James French was well known for his Confederate sympathies and that five of the young men of the family were fighting the Yankees, and that therefore James' farm was high on a list to frequently search and later occupy.

However, we can add some details gleaned from history books as to what was happening around Poplar Grove and to the French boys. For instance, the year 1863 was the critical year for the Confederacy. That previous fall and early spring, the Confederates had won two great victories, first at the Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia and then more spectacularly at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia, both within twenty miles of Poplar Grove. The surviving French boys participated in the Battle of Fredericksburg but may not have been in the Battle of Chancellorsville. (Most of the 9th Virginia wasn't but rest of Stuart's Cavalry was.) The French boys may have been instead fighting Yankee Cavalry near Richmond. After the Chancellorsville victory, General Robert E. Lee was able to invade the dispirited North that following summer. This had the real possibility of winning the war for the South. Excitement in May and June 1863 had to have been extraordinarily high, because both sides knew what was at stake. However, like for the South in general, July 1863 was devastating to James French. On June 30, 1863 his second son, Charles French, was captured by Yankees, and was imprisoned first in Ft. Delaware, Delaware and then Point Lookout, Maryland until March 14, 1865.

It was in this general movement and series of small skirmishes as the Confederate Army moved Northward that Charles was captured in Hanover, Pennsylvania about ten miles North of the Maryland state line (abt 40 miles Northwest of Baltimore). Charles was one of twenty captured that day during a battle for that town. Hanover, Pennsylvania was about fifteen miles from Gettysburg. The Battle of Gettysburg began on July 1, 1863, the day after Charles was captured. On July 4, 1863, the bright prospects for the South had changed. Lee was defeated at Gettysburg, in part because Gen. Jeb Stuart's cavalry was not in contact with Gen. Lee providing military intelligence on Yankee troop strength and location at the start of the battle, and not only was the South defeated at Gettysburg, but on the same day, July 4, 1863, the last Confederate fortress at Vicksburg, Mississippi fell, and the South was divided and separated now by the Mississippi River. So James French received terrible news in July 1863.....two crucial defeats for the South and on a personal level, his son captured near Gettysburg, and his brother's home captured near or in Vicksburg.

As an example of how grueling and exhausting it was for Charles just before he was captured, one of his fellow cavalrymen fell asleep and tumbled from his mount and continued to sleep sprawled across the split rail fence that broke his fall. Gen. Stuart himself barely escaped capture at Hanover and then only by jumping his horse over a fifteen foot ditch.

There are history books describing the fighting at Hanover, Pennsylvania if interested. It may also be of interest to know that when captured, Charles was fighting the then Yankee Colonel George Armstrong Custer--later known in history for his "Last Stand" against Sioux Indians.

Charles French was captured at Hanover, Pennsylvania on June 30, 1863, and was first confined at Ft. McHenry, Maryland on July 5, and was then sent to Ft. Delaware, Delaware on July 6. Charles was next sent to Point Lookout, Maryland on October 26, 1863. I do not have records of New York confinement, but "SIS" says Charles was confined in New York too. Charles was paroled at Point Lookout, Maryland and transferred to Aiken's Landing, Virginia on March 14, 1865 for exchange. The roll is indorsed "Received at Boulware's Wharf, March 16, 1865, on the within rolls Nine hundred and three (903) paroled Confederate prisoners of War, including Ninety-Six Citizens." 40

(Three of the four are buried at Poplar Grove Farm)

John G. Helm (James French's son-in-law) was a sergeant in the 9th Virginia Cavalry Co. A for a time as was Charles French. John G. Helm enlisted at age 29 on 5/23/1861 listing his civilian employment as farmer. On the same day, 5/23/1861, Charles French enlisted at age 25 listing his civilian employment as school teacher. The oldest brother, George Lee French had already joined a month earlier, enlisting at age 29 on 4/21/1861 listing his civilian employment as farmer. George joined on the very first day Company A was formed, and only four days after Virginia seceded. On June 1, 1861 (just 6 weeks after his oldest brother), Hugh Uriah French enlisted at age 18, listing his civilian employment as student.

The 9th Virginia Cavalry Co. A., was known as the "Stafford Rangers" and by early 1862 was under the command Gen. William Henry Fitzhugh Lee (Gen. Robert E. Lee's son--named for our Fitzhugh family, and nicknamed "Rooney") and James's son George Lee French served on detached service as a scout under his individual command from April 21, 1863 (or November 1863) to May 1, 1864 and continued as a scout until the 10/6/1864 final roll. It is assumed that service as a scout for General Lee meant that George French displayed a high degree of competence as a cavalryman and individual bravery as well.

Company A was originally stationed in the Spring of 1861 around Fredericksburg, but Company A spent much of the Fall and Winter of 1861 around Evanport and Aquia Creek. The members of Company A saw gun flashes and bursting shells almost every day and night, but were not themselves engaged. The men were constantly scouting or on picket or serving as camp guards. Much of their duty was in courier service between Generals Whiting, Trimble and French. The latter officer was apparently not as egalitarian as he might have been, for a 9th Cavalry boy noted in his diary at the end of a cold ride, "Asked a little refreshment of Old Gen. French but was refused." (I wonder if General French was a relative too?)

Company A was organized into the 9th Virginia Cavalry Regiment in December 1861, and began operating as a cohesive unit in April 1862. At this time Company A along with the rest of the 9th Virginia Cavalry Regiment was moved to Richmond to fight in the Peninsular Campaign.

The 9th Virginia Cavalry, consisting of eight companies, varied in size throughout the war, but in the Spring of 1863 was one of the largest regiments in the Confederate Army, consisting of 37 officers and 984 men. In May 1863 there were 713 men ready for duty in the Regiment, but by the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg (July 3, 1863) there were 80 men of the Regiment left in the ranks available for duty, as a result of casualties, prisoners and broken down horses. (From 713 able bodied men to only 80 available men for action in six weeks shows how rough the war was.)

The year 1864 was the most violent for the 9th Virginia and the unit was in minor and major engagements almost all the time. They were incredibly active. For instance, in March the unit rode 60 miles in just 26 hours to engage the enemy.

In May, the unit heard that Gen. Jeb Stuart had been killed, but the 9th Virginia was not discouraged despite the fact on that day, the unit's horses had been saddled for two full weeks and the individual horses had gotten only three ears of corn during a period of four days.

In June the Regiment was attacked by a superior Yankee force, but despite very long odds, the 9th Virginia held its ground, firing an incredible 31,000 rounds of small arms fire in one afternoon. On June 30, the 9th Virginia captured 806 Federal soldiers and two battle flags. This is impressive when one realizes that the 9th Virginia in 1864 had only about 600 men on duty. The unit lost only 22 men in that battle.

On August 25 the 9th Virginia with less than 350 men, attacked a heavily fortified Union line, capturing more than 700 prisoners and 3 regimental flags.

This epitaph for the regiment is quoted from the book, 9th Virginia Cavalry, by Robert K. Krick, paraphrasing the deeply and appropriately hated Federal Cavalryman, H.J. Kilpatrick: "When he knew the 9th Virginia was in front he always put three regiments to fight it, that they were the best Cavalry regiment in the Confederate service."

Overall Civil War Statistics may also be enlightening:

U.S. Confederate

Total number in military 2,200,000 800,000

Total numbers killed 360,222 258,000

Total numbers wounded 275,175 125,000

Of the Yankee deaths 200,000 died of disease, 135,000 of battle wounds and 25,000 died in prison camps. The proportion of death by disease was slightly higher in the Confederate Army, and thus both armies suffered almost 60% of their casualties from disease, not battlefield wounds.

In 1864, General Grant lost almost 1/2 of his army, either killed or wounded, losing more than 60,000 men during that year. This was more men than General Lee had in his whole army, but Grant's men were replaceable while Lee's men could not be replaced.

Less than 1/2 of Northern men of military age fought in the Civil War, while more than 3/4 ths of Southern men of military age fought in the war.

One out of seven Yankee soldiers deserted during the war.

General U. S. Grant was a slave owner before the Civil War.

Note: The Civil War was not a family affair for only the French family. James' son-in-law, Peter T. Weedon served as a sergeant in the 4th VA Cavalry Regiment Company A. The following men also served in the 4th Virginia Cavalry Regiment Company A: 2nd Lt. Robert Weedon, Charles H.A. Weedon, George M. Weedon, Marshall B. Weedon and William Weedon. It is assumed they were all related, but actual proof of such is left to another time and person.

Note: The Confederate Cavalry by 1864 were fighting against increasing numerical odds, weakening horses and Yankee Cavalry repeating carbines that fired 7 times faster than their muzzle loading carbine/rifles. The Confederacy could not manufacture the brass ammunition for the repeating carbines, so even capturing these Yankee arms did not help much.

ON JULY 26, 1862 NEAR RICHMOND

born July 18, 1842 died July 26, 1862

The beginning of June 1862 looked bleak for the Confederates. Union General McClellan had his army of 115,000 men just a few miles East of Richmond on the Peninsula from the Atlantic Ocean. Facing McClellan was the Confederate Army of just 42,000 men. It looked like the Yankees would capture Richmond in just a few days or weeks.

Almost certainly Hugh Uriah was there in the Confederate Army around Richmond in June 1862 as a member of the 9th Virginia Cavalry Company A. But good things began to happen for the Confederates in June. On June 1, 1862, Robert E. Lee was appointed commander of the Army of Northern Virginia. On June 12, 1862, Gen. J.E.B. Stuart and his cavalry (including the 9th Virginia Calvary Regiment) made a daring raid around the rear of McClellan's army, bringing back valuable information for Gen. Lee. Hugh Uriah was probably on that daring and dangerous raid along with 1700 other Confederate cavalrymen. On June 25, 1862 Lee's smaller army (now increased to 88,000 by the addition of Gen. Stonewall Jackson's army which had been in the Shenandoah Valley) attacked McClellan. This battle came to be known as the SEVEN DAYS CAMPAIGN. From June 25 until July 2, the Confederates attacked again and again eventually suffering 20,000 casualties, but they drove the Yankees backward toward the ocean, and McClellan became so disconcerted that he thought he was outnumbered and about to be captured and by July 30 began withdrawing his army to Washington. Richmond was saved. On August 29, 1862 Lee's Army had moved northward and fought the Second Battle of Manassas and won that too.

So the tide of war had completely turned around from June 1862....from the outskirts of Richmond to the outskirts of Washington in three months. In some ways, this was the most impressive military campaign Gen. Lee conducted in the Civil War. And Hugh Uriah French was there with the cavalry, helping to save Richmond.

Probably because of the physical strain of such fighting, and the hot, muggy, bloody, and contaminated area of the battlefield, Hugh Uriah French contracted typhoid fever. He died on July 26, 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia east of Richmond, just eight days after his twentieth birthday and about three weeks after the SEVEN DAYS CAMPAIGN. His two older brothers and perhaps his brother-in-law were with him and nursing him when he died and no doubt did their best under battlefield conditions. The mortality rate for the intestinal bacteria caused acute feverish typhoid fever was 10% at the time, and as his mother lamented, if only Hugh Uriah had been cared for at home, he might have lived.

Young Hugh Uriah French thus became the first family member to be buried there in the family graveyard at Poplar Grove... the first of four generations now.

One can only imagine the heartache James and Sallie French felt at that time......and the terrible vision they had when seeing their two daughters come into view with the wagon carrying Hugh Uriah French's body slowly approaching the old stone house. Then, imagine the additional pain they felt in choosing his burial spot and probably knowing that it was the beginning of a family graveyard for them all. Within ten years of this time, both James and Sallie French will have died.

Hugh Uriah French must have been a very special and nice young man and was long remembered by those who loved him. His cousin, Courtney Ann Bradshaw Hutchinson wrote on April 10, 1866, almost four years after his death, the following:

"The death of Bro Uriah (who died at Richmond) threw a sadness over this family that will take considerable time to obliterate. I hardly think Ma will ever get over it and it is a very heavy burden for myself. He was everything a brother could be to me after the death of (my husband) Mr. Hutchinson.....he was a very dutiful child and a kind affectionate brother...."

James and Sallie end their history at Poplar Grove Cemetery, but their many descendants continue to multiply, and Poplar Grove Farm is still owned by one of their descendants and the French family history continues into the twenty-first century. Perhaps Sallie is not so sad of her history now.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Notes

1. September 29, 1867 original letter in possession of Betty Brown, preserved by Edna Pilcher.

2. Tombstone at Poplar Grove and other family records.

3. Deduced from family records, will of Anna Guy French, census records of William Lewis French family of 1810 (roll 69 page 286) and 1820 (roll 135 page 137), Jamestown Ancestry by Rev Steadman, and letter in possession of Betty Brown by Mr. Frank.

4. Jamestown Ancestry by Rev. Steadman

5. Jamestown Ancestry by Rev. Steadman

6. Jamestown Ancestry by Rev. Steadman

7. Unnamed female in 1810 and 1820 census of William Lewis French family (Roll 69 page 286 and Roll 135 page 137 respectively) Not mentioned in 1830 census... married or dead.

8. Will of Anna French recorded in Loudoun County Will Book 2G at page 126, birth date from Lois Grubb Ward and tombstone, and other family records.

9. Will of Anna French, picture in possession of Betty Brown with dates on back preserved by Edna Pilcher, Will of Hugh Uriah French (Warren Co., Mississippi Will Book 2G at page 126), other family records.

10. Will of Anna French, tombstone at Poplar Grove, Will of Hugh Uriah French, other family records, Jamestown Ancestry by Rev. Steadman.

11. Letter in possession of Betty Brown from Mr. Frank giving dates and stating person daughter of Lewis and Anna French preserved by Edna Pilcher, and also consistent with 1810, 1820, and 1830 (Loudoun County, Virginia page 8) census records of William Lewis French family.

12. Jamestown Ancestry by Rev. Steadman, letters in possession of Betty Brown preserved by Edna Pilcher, Marriages of Loudoun County, Virginia 1757-1853 page 51, and Will of Anna French etc.

13. Jamestown Ancestry by Rev. Steadman, letters in possession of Betty Brown preserved by Edna Pilcher, Marriages of Loudoun County, Virginia 1757-1853 page 38, tombstone at Poplar Grove and Will of Anna French etc.

14. Will of Anna French, letters in possession of Betty Brown preserved by Edna Pilcher, Will of Hugh Uriah French, birth date from letter in possession of Betty Brown, death date from estate records in Warren County, Mississippi.

15. Jamestown Ancestry by Rev. Steadman, consistent with 1820 and 1830 census records. It is assumed she died before 1839 as she did not receive a division of William Lewis French property and is not mentioned in Anna French will of 1851. Birth date from paper contained in Julie E. French's old bible.

16. Typed page from Curtis Family Reunion in June 1981, and Will of George Curtis dated November 2, 1844 in Stafford County, Virginia.

17. Typed page from Curtis Reunion in June 1981 and Jamestown Ancestry by Rev. Steadman.

18. Jamestown Ancestry by Rev. Steadman

19. "Poplar Farm Mills" draft paper by Mary Rothweel-Zellmer,1993

20. Tombstone at Poplar Grove

21. Family Bible and records

22. Tombstones at Poplar Grove and Sallie's obituary (probably visiting her daughter Martha Helm)

23. Letter in possession of Betty Brown dated September 1867 preserved by Edna Pilcher

24. 1840 Census Warren County, MS page 275

25. Letter in possession of Betty Brown preserved by Edna Pilcher

26. 1850 Census Warren County, MS page 239

27. 1860 Census record Warren County, MS page 37

28. Warren County Personal Property Tax Roll and 1860 slave census page 7

29. Letter in possession Betty Brown dated Feb 9, 1868 from Joycie B. French to Margaret Deming

30. Letter in possession of Betty Brown where it is also stated he was acting sheriff of Warren County.

31. Will of Hugh Uriah French dated July 15, 1885, probated in Warren County, MS in Will Book B at page 158, file number 3418.

32. Stafford County family 802 page 923

33. Stafford County Slave schedule page 32

34. Letter in possession of Betty Brown preserved by Edna Pilcher

35. Obtained from Linda R. French

36. 9th Virginia Cavalry by Robert K. Krick and military records

37. 1860 Stafford County Census, John G. Helm family 540 at page 889

38. Military records

39. Military records

40. Military records in possession of John I. French

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

IT SHOULD ALSO BE NOTED THAT A GREAT DEAL OF THIS INFORMATION PRESERVED BY EDNA FRENCH PILCHER WAS FROM AN OLD FAMILY TRUNK SAVED BY 17 YEAR OLD JOHN FRENCH FITZHUGH DURING A FIRE IN 1934

IN WHICH THE HOME AT POPLAR GROVE BURNED.

DETAILS OF "UNCLE" HUGH URIAH FRENCH ARE INCLUDED IN THIS HISTORY BECAUSE HE LEFT NO DESCENDANTS AND WE ARE HIS CLOSEST FAMILY TO REMEMBER HIM, AND ALSO BECAUSE HE LEFT THE BULK OF HIS ESTATE TO OUR GRANDPARENTS. IRONICALLY, "UNCLE" HUGH URIAH FRENCH, PROBABLY A GAMBLER, OWNED PROPERTY IN VICKSBURG ON WHICH A MONUMENT WAS PLACED AND STILL EXISTS INSCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: "ERECTED BY A GRATEFUL COMMUNITY TO THE MEMORY OF DR. HUGH BODLEY, MURDERED BY GAMBLERS JULY 5, 1835, WHILE DEFENDING THE MORALS OF VICKSBURG."

Frustratingly, we know that "Uncle" Hugh Uriah French died on August 3, 1885 at 15 minutes past 6, and that he was buried on August 5, 1885 at 9 o'clock, but we do not know where for certain.

We do know that his funeral was handled by Fisher Funeral Home in Vicksburg and that he had a fancy funeral for the time, costing $147.00 listed as follows in the funeral home records:

• French, Uriah, August 3, 1885; 74 yrs.; Paralysis;
• To No. K.W. Wright Metal Case & Box, Grave, Head Board; Use of Ambulance, Use of Hearse & Services $125.00;
• Use of Wheeler 2 Hacks $8.00; Ran Alexander 1 $4.00;
• Morris $4.00; Jim Woodson $4.00; 8 Pare Gloves &
• Use of Badges $2.00--$147.00; By order of Dr. T.G.
• Birchett, M.D.; Paid

We know that Hugh Uriah was stricken with severe paralysis on April 11, 1885, but by May 24 was able to sit up in bed. His nephew, Charles French was planning on visiting his sick uncle in Vicksburg in May after hearing the news of the stroke, but Charles got sick from a "debility and cough" himself, and when he recovered in August and was ready to start he received news of Hugh Uriah's death. What things would have been different had Charles gone there?

Hugh Uriah's last grocery bill included the regular purchase of candles at 20 cents about every other day, even though Vicksburg had electricity by 1870 and telephones by 1880.

Hugh Uriah French at age 40 wrote on September 27, 1851 from

Belle Isle to his sister Margaret French (Deming):

"Dear Sister, speaking candidly, I do not think at this time I shall ever marry. I have seen too much of this world. I know too much of its sorrows and discontents. I have thought that matter over and over again several times and some times I think married people see more trouble than single ones, even those that we suppose to live the most happy. There is none that know of the discontent of many a married life. I do not positive say I never will marry though the mere idea of living so discontented as I have seen so many live makes me shutter at the idea. My time is easy and I have plenty-and numerous friends around me."

A description written by Jefferson Davis' wife of a trip on the steamboat "Magnolia" in 1843 to Vicksburg may give some insight of what Hugh Uriah French experienced on his "steamboating" experiences of 1846 and 1847 on the Mississippi River. She writes:

"The steamboats at that time were literally floating palaces of ease and luxury. They were much larger then than now, and I have never seen any hotel where the food was so exquisitely prepared or the provision of dainties so great. Fresh fruits and the most beautiful flowers were sent to the captain at almost every stopping place by the planters and their families, to whom "the boat" meant ice, new books, and every luxury New Orleans could furnish or their purses could command. A journey on one of those packets was an ideal mode of travel."

To those who follow: while I have tried to collect all available information, I am sure there is more that can be found...... perhaps you will find more.

James and Sallie French's Children and Their Spouses

• George Lee French Martha Margaret Payne 1831 - 1903 1832 - 1905
• Martha Ann French John G. Helm 1833 - 1912 1831 - 1902
• Charles James French 1835 - 1920
• Louisa May French Peter Trone Weedon 1840 - ? Abt 1836 - 1890
• Hugh Uriah French 1842 - 1862
• Mary Ellen French Richard Montgomery Jones 1845 - 1917 1844 - 1922
• John Isemonger French Lula May Shelkett 1847 - 1906 1859 - 1925

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

HISTORY OF HUGH URIAH'S PROBABLE REPLACEMENT AS SHERIFF OF WARREN COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI AFTER CIVIL WAR.

CARPETBAGGER SHERIFF OF WARREN COUNTY

Charles E. Furlong of New Jersey, a former Union Army Officer, was a carpetbagger who organized the Union League in Vicksburg. While in office, he and other carpetbagger officials raised the taxes 13 times over what they had been in 1860. He later switched sides when the political winds began to change.

Following the War Between the States, President Andrew Johnson appointed a Warren County resident, William Sharkey, provisional governor, and the citizens organized a new, loyal government as Lincoln and Johnson had both planned. The state government abolished slavery and elected officials. In Washington however, the Radicals had gained control; they rejected Southern efforts at reconciliation and established military dictatorships in the South. The new state constitution was ruled valid though the voters had rejected it overwhelmingly. Governor Benjamin Humphreys was bodily removed from office by Union troops, most of whom were ex-slaves, and a vindictive New Englander, Adelbert Ames, became governor.

Peter Crosby, an ex-slave was elected sheriff of Warren County but was removed from office when he was indicted by the grand jury for embezzlement. Ames urged him to reclaim the office though violence, and a race riot erupted. Also indicted was Cordoza, a Northern black who was state Superintendent of Education. Cordoza, Ames and the Lieutenant Governor, Alexander Davis, were impeached by the legislature which was again controlled by the people.

Mississippi was readmitted to the Union of February 23, 1870, but reconstruction didn't end until 1877 after President Rutherford Hayes took office.

Last Update: Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2002