U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Gawthrop, Thomas (b. 1827) ------------------------------------------------------------------- The History of Upshur County West Virginia From its Earliest Exploration and Settlement to the Present Time by W. B. Cutright Buckhannon, W. Va., July 1, 1907 Pages 453-456, LIFE AND RECOLLECTIONS OF THOMAS GAWTHROP. On March 7, 1907, one month and nine days before the closing of his eightieth year, Mr. Gawthrop, after great insistence and with much reluctance, sat down in the home of his daughter, Mrs. A. W. Tenney of Ten Mile, W. Va., and described in strong unpolished language, memories of the past, instances of his life and history of the Upshur Militia. I was born and raised in Harrison now Taylor County, two miles west of the Reform School at Prunytown. The date of my birth is fixed at March 16, 1827, and I married Catherine A. Whiting near Fetterman, October 4, 1848. My grandfather, Thomas, came from Hampshire County in 1800, and settled on Lost Run, then entirely in the woods. He married Elizabeth Hiet, of Hampshire County and my father, James, was born there October 16, 1798. My grandfather was born 1772, was a native of Hampshire County and was the son of James, who was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1743, and James' father, Allen, was born in Nottingham, 1709. My grandfather died at the age of 58, my grandmother died in her 95th year. My father died in his 85th year and my mother, a daughter of Dr. John Waldo, of Vermont, lived until she was in her 90th year. When my grandparents came to Harrison County, they brought with them two good rifles and each of them could use them with precision, and on one occasion, when my grandfather was away several miles at a log rolling, my grandmother was putting out her washing at a creek some distance from her home. She heard a noise across in the field, which had been cleared the previous year, and on looking up saw a monster panther seize a lamb, one of the few they had secured as a start for a flock of sheep. She took her child and ran with all possible speed to the house, shut the child indoors, got down the gun, ran up to the creek, took as steady an aim as possible and fired at the panther, wounding him so seriously that he was unable to get up from his crouched position over the dead lamb. She hurriedly reloaded her gun and at this instant saw a man coming up the creek to whom she called and told what she had done, and where the panther lay in agony. She told the man to take a handspike and finish the animal, which he did. The panther measured ten feet from nose to end of the tail. After my marriage I rented the old Whiting place for the year 1849. I found it impossible to make more than a bare living. John W. Blue had a good tavern, which had been vacated by his brother William Blue, who had married my wife's oldest sister, and he desired a tenant. He offered us $100 to move in and do the house work and other chores for a year. We accepted. This $100 I invested in land on the Kanawha river, for a home and to it we moved after our years contract with Mr. Blue. During the month of January, 1851, with the aid of three others, who had settled here one or two years previous, I built a cabin, on this land and on the 1st day of February, my wife and I began housekeeping at home. A Baptist church had been organized by J. W. Alvis at a log school house, near where Rock Cave now is and the same house had been used by the Methodist with Robert Curry as leader. With 13 other persons, we organized a Baptist Church at Rock Cave in 1850, in April, 1851, I joined, and soon we united in a Union Sabbath school during the summer time. After Brother Alvis left, Rev. Brown, of Buckhannon, and Charles Parker supplied the Church for a time. Then we secured services of Elder Aaron Barnet, who remained with us until the breaking out of the war. I well remember one of his meetings, in which 30 persons made profession and only three proved false. After Rev. Barnet came J. W. Carter, who remained with us until the first two years of the Civil War. In August, 1862, an order was published for the Upshur Militia to meet at Buckhannon, on a date I cannot remember. Colonel A. C. Moore, I think it was, drilled us there and some government officers, whose names I cannot recall made us a speech or two, after which we were dismissed with orders to go into camp at Rock Cave for daily drill. Our rations were sent to us for a while at Rock Cave daily and then we were required to break camp and board at home and meet for drill at regular stated times and thus kept under some authority till that Saturday, the 12th day of September, 1863, one of the stated drill times, when we were in line ready for drill and officers were designating pickets for the various roads and we found ourselves surrounded by a few hundred confederates, under Major Kesler. Militia suddenly began to break rank and ran for a gap, where no one was in sight. Confederate signal was given for charge and the first volley fired, shivered the knee of Mr. Samples my right hand man. Three more volleys were fired as they approached and our men hearing bullets whistling over head fell and thus only three men were wounded, the other two being John Vincent and George Armstrong, the former on the back of the shoulder and the other on the neck under his coat collar, both by spent minnie balls. My wife having gone with me to do some trading at the store on that drill day and seeing the men all excited her so that it caused epilepsy, which resulted in her death six years later. Mine and my wife's horses were captured, but by the aid of some of her good lady friends, Major Kesler consented to give up her beast. That evening and night we were marched out to where Cleveland postoffice now is, with guards holding to our coats, and there we encamped, and on Sunday our captors killed a beef and got roasting ears from a field of late corn and each of us had to prepare our meat and corn by our own camp fire, this was our a, b, c, of a prisoner's life. I have no recollection of any bread till Robert McCray met us, I think, near a Mr. Boffman's with a few cakes of wheat bread for a few old fellow hunters of whom Jesse B. Nixon was one, and he got a good chunk for me. The next bread we got was at Big Springs, where a squad of W. L. Jackson's men came to our camp with a supply of rations. We were encamped here in a church and guarded for a few hours and then marched to the Court House at Warm Springs to spend the night. From here we were taken to the Milborough depot and put on a train for Staunton and next day landed at Old Castle Thunder. There we were put up in the walls of a large brick pen with no cover over it. I with many others had thin summer clothing on and got terribly chilled, took a very severe cold and I soon got such a dreadful cough I got but little sleep day or night. Our food was the customery soups, bean and pea soup, occasionally some cabbage and bread, and once in a while a little piece of meat. We had a sawdust bed to lay on and it often contained inhabitants familiar to all soldier life. A few days after our arrival in prison we found in the Richmond Enquirer an account of so many prisoners captured and brought out of Upshur County and a sorry set of fellows they were, which we bore as best we could. Three friends of mine seeing my name in the list came and had me called out to the reception room to get a reliable history of our captivity. They all pledged themselves to help us and to secure our release on parole if possible. These men were Hon. E. J. Armstrong, C. W. Newlon and Lawyer James Neson, all good men. Owing to the fact that some of our company had been bushwackers and as such had killed some of the confederate soldiers our good friends petition for a parole was denied. I then asked them to try for an exchange, but this failed, meanwhile I was growing weaker and had concluded I could not live ten days longer. I would not consent to go to the hospital. Finally my friend advised me as a friend to allow him to get me out to be conscripted. I told him plainly I could not fight for slavery. I hated it from a boy. Nothing better I relented of this decision and acted upon his advice, in order to save my life and to return to the endearments of home. This friend gave me considerable money with which to supply the needs of myself and my suffering companions. A part of this money was returned to me and a part was never returned, as the great number died and their friends and relatives were never asked to make good. Well, 20 of the company were taken out on the recommendation of friends for conscript, but when Major Berkley issued guns ten refused, and they were put in the guard house for a week. After a week we were all brought into line again and told that those who refused guns were to be sent back to prison and we were given our preference of giving up our guns or going back to prison. We decided to go back to prison, and then Major told us that four were exempt from military duties, two tanners, one blacksmith and one shoemaker. I asked to remain and work as a shoemaker and offered my boots as a testimonial of my work. When Meade was crowding Lee at Fredericksburg, we were marched to Richmond, November 29, 1863, and there took train for Hanover Junction, 25 miles distant, where we waited for further orders. After getting three hours sleep I awoke with a strong impression that God had opened the way for us to go home. My plans were matured for the escape by daylight. The following day we would draw three days' rations. I was cook for six men. On Tuesday, December 1st, we drew and cooked three days' rations, and at the moon rise, myself and four companions gave the camp a silent farewell. We put in the night faithfully traveling in the direction from whence we came. Guided by the stars, which were ever visible, except one cloudy night, we fared reasonably well. During this dark night we wandered from our course several degrees. One of our men gave way through exhaustion and we had to help him until we reached Cow Pasture River, where his uncle took him in and gave him prompt medical treatment. We reached home December 19, 1863, on Saturday night, rested Sunday and went to Buckhannon Monday to report the condition of our fellow prisoners. Out of 69 sent to prison, but 23 lived to get home. From the loss of horses, etc., it took me seven years to recover. My wife was raising six out of seven children, three boys, one A. Judson, now in California, the other two J. A. and S. B. are well known, one daughter married Albert Clarkson of Preston County, one died, single, at 26 years of age, and one is the wife of A. W. Tenney and the mother of eight children. In 1871 I married for my second wife Mrs. Mary C. Wright, of Cleveland, Webster County, and to this union were born two children, a son and daughter. The son died of spinal fever in his tenth year. The daughter, Elizabeth Trythena, is the wife of Ithiel Neeley and lives at Carter, the mother of five children. ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other biographies for Upshur County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/upshur/bios.html -------------------------------------------------------------------