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A Casey Family History

The Ancestors of Taylor "Joe" Wesley Casey
...Page 2

Many changes occur at a rapid pace for the Casey clan during the years between 1850 and 1866. During this time, Augustus Casey marries Talitha Caroline Trail who was born in South Carolina on 14 August 1836. They were probably married in Cass or Bartow County, Georgia, sometime after 1850.

On 6 Sep 1858 at age 31, Augustus Casey acquires 40 acres in Winston County, Alabama . According to early Alabama records, the following transactions occurred: (Note the misspellings of Augustus' brother's names, Oliver and Pertilla)

NAME ACRES DATE 4 5
Casey, Augustus W. 40 9/6/1858 29009 SW of SE S27 T10S R7W
Casey, Olivia 40 4/11/1859 30253 SW of SE S19 T10S R7W
Casey, Olivia 40 4/11/1859 30253 NW of NE S30 T10S R7W
Casey, Potilla? 40 12/7/1855 25969 SE of SW S19 T10S R7W

This record seems to indicate that Pertilla either came to Alabama before the rest of the family or was at least able to purchase land before the other brothers.

In 1860, the Alabama Census for Winston County indicates that the now widowed, 62-year-old James Casey, is living with his grown children Oliver and Sarah who are both still unmarried. Pertilla is living with his wife, Mary and their two small children, Wiley and Pertilla Morris. Augustus and Talitha are now found in neighboring Lawrence County, Alabama with their 3-year-old son, Walter F. Casey. According to an unconfirmed post on Genealogy.com, Augustus and Talitha also had a daughter who died in infancy before Walter was born, named Georgia Anne Clarabee Casey . This has never been verified.

The known children of Augustus W. Casey and Talitha Caroline Trail were:

  1. Walter F. Casey, b. 1857
  2. Oliver Virgel Casey, b. 1860
  3. Albert Sidney Casey, b. 1864
  4. Lawrence West Casey, b. 1869
  5. Arthur Warren Casey, b. 1872

In January 1861, seven southern states, including Alabama feeling threatened by the inauguration of anti-slavery President Abraham Lincoln, seceded from the union. The next month a southern confederate government was formed and July saw the first Battle of Bull Run. In August 1861, 34 year old Augustus Casey and his little brother, 23 year-old Oliver Casey joined men from six northern Alabama counties and enlisted with the 16th Infantry Regiment on the Confederate side. For years, this data eluded me, as there is another Augustus Casey from Kentucky who also fought in the Civil War for the Union. This man was listed as "colored", so I was not sure, but believed he was probably not our ancestor (Augustus was a fairly common name at the time). However, Oliver Casey of Alabama was listed frequently in different documents and once I was able to establish for certain that Oliver was indeed a brother of Augustus , I began to search for more "Casey’s" enlisted in the Confederacy. Just this year, I found the online records confirming both brothers as soldiers in the 16th Alabama Infantry.

This regiment played a significant role in many battles of the Civil War. The following information is from the government website, "Soldiers and Sailors of the Civil War", which can be found at: http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/.

"16th Infantry Regiment, assembled at Courtland, Alabama, in August, 1861, contained men from Russell, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Franklin, Cherokee, and Marion counties. The unit was ordered to Tennessee, then Kentucky where it fought at Fishing Creek under General Zollicoffer. Later it was assigned to General Wood's, Lowrey's, and Shelley's Brigade. After taking part in the Battle of Shiloh and Perryville, the 16th participated in the campaigns of the Army of Tennessee from Murfreesboro to Atlanta, moved with Hood to Tennessee, then saw action in North Carolina. In September, 1861, the regiment totalled 867 effectives. It sustained 168 casualties at Murfreesboro, and lost fifty-nine percent of the 414 engaged at Chickamauga. During December, 1863, there were 302 present for duty and 202 arms. It lost 150 killed and wounded at Jonesboro and half of its remaining force were disabled at Franklin and Nashville. On April 26, 1865, about 50 officers and men surrendered. Its commanding officers were Colonels Frederick A. Ashford, A.H. Helvenston, and William B. Wood; and Lieutenant Colonels John W. Harris, Joseph J. May, and John H. McGaughy."

Oliver Casey was killed at The Battle of Shiloh on 7 April 1862, only 8 months after his enlistment . The regiment at Shiloh was under the command of Generals Albert Sidney Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard. General Johnston was also killed in this battle. An excellent source for a timeline description of this battle can be found at http://www.civilwarhome.com/timelineshiloh.htm.

The circumstance of Augustus' separation from the regiment is not known. Although there are many stories of desertion in the confederacy, it is not likely that Augustus deserted, for in 1864 his fifth son, Albert Sidney, was born and given the first and middle names of the general who had died with his brother at Shiloh. It is also known that many soldiers from Lawrence County were furloughed from time to time. It is more likely that Augustus suffered injuries and was sent home. In fact, one online source incorrectly lists him among deceased confederate soldiers in Tennessee. He may actually have been seriously wounded at one of several battles in that state.

When Alabama took an out of cycle census in 1866, in part to learn how many heads of households had returned home after the war, Augustus, Talitha and their children were present in Lawrence County. In August of 1867, Lawrence West Casey was born to the family. It is a traditional family story, told by Lawrence's son, Taylor, that Talitha named her fourth son because, "We were living in Lawrence County and we were going west." It was a good idea. Alabama was suffering mightily during the post-war reconstruction.

At this point, our James Casey no longer appears on the Alabama census rolls nor does a Sarah Casey, the sister of Augustus and Oliver. Chances are that sometime during the war, James died and Sarah married, thereby changing her last name. Also it should be noted that while it is assumed that James' wife, Anne, died before the family migrated to Alabama, there was also one other sister, Jane, who also does not appear to have accompanied the rest of the family to Alabama. She may also have died near the time of her mother or it is possible she married in Georgia. These searches continue hampered by the lack of recoverable records from Civil War era Georgia.

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