Any more info? Arthur.

I did, however, come across what I believe is a potential error on your website, and I think I can provide sufficient proof that it is, indeed, an error. However, if you believe otherwise, I would certainly like to know if perhaps my “assumptions” are incorrect.

Here in your Civil War section http://myfamilytreeisfullofnuts.com/category/civil-war-epps/ you list James C. Epps, who was a private in the 1st Tennessee and died at Chancellorsville.

Now, I also research the Epps’s from Lincoln County, TN, but I guess the “other” Epps family haha. I am descended from Francis Dewitt Epps, son of Frederick Epps, of District 11, Lincoln County, Tennessee. I have not found any connection between my Frederick Epps and your Epps’s, but perhaps there is one somewhere. Anyway, what we know is that my Francis, or “F.D.” as he was usually referenced, enlisted in the 1st Tennessee, in the “Boon’s Creek Minutemen”, as did the James C. Epps you listed. My Francis is listed as “Frederick” and his records are under “Frederick W.” on Fold3.com, but if you look at each service record, many have him listed as F.D. or Francis, so it appears the records have some errors and discrepancies. We know this Francis/’Frederick’ is “our” Epps because of handwritten accounts by his wife and daughter talking about his service in the 1st Tennessee, how he was shot in both legs, and became a bitter, angry man as a result of his hard Civil War experiences. His daughter wouldn’t even speak of him, just said that he was a “bad man”. Anyway, the service records reflect Francis/’Frederick’ was shot in both legs at Chancellorsville, so it matches up with our family accounts.

Anyway, our Francis enlisted on 29 Apr 1861 in Lincoln County by Captain Davis. That is the same date, place, and person who enlisted James C. Epps.

Now you’ve asserted on your site that this James C. is the son of Pleasant Epps, and simply lied about his age upon enlistment. However, my Francis has an older brother named James who is 2 years older than him, as shown in the 1850 Census of Lincoln County in the household of Frederick Epps. This James does not appear in the 1860 for some reason. However, the service records for Francis and James reflect the same 2-year age difference that my Francis and James had. Add to that they enlisted on the same day, in the same place, by the same Captain, and then were both shot at Chancellorsville, where James died, makes me believe that the James C. Epps in the 1st Tennessee is my James C. Epps, son of Frederick, and brother of F.D.

I could easily be wrong; there is actually even another James Epps who is in the 1860 Census who is 22 years old and is the son of an elder James C. Epps, born about 1810. He does not appear in the 1870 Census, and neither does my James, but he does marry in 1875 and appears in the 1880 Census. This believes me to believe further that the James of the 1st Tennessee is my James, not the one who is the son of James C (1810), because clearly his James did not die.

I think it is less of a stretch to think that my James is the one who enlisted in the 1st Tennessee even though he does not appear in the 1860 Census than thinking that your James, son of Pleasant, lied about his age as 23 when he was only 14 or 15. Most boys who were that young who wanted to enlist but had to lie about their age would say 17 or 18; it would be quite a stretch indeed to think he could lie about being 8 years older than he was and get away with it. Plus he would have had to come allllllll the way from southern Arkansas to mid-southern Tennessee while his family remained in Lafayette County, AR. That just seems rather unlikely, though not necessarily implausible, of course.

I’m open to being wrong, but I believe the circumstantial evidence in this case is more in favor of James being the brother of my F.D. and son of Frederick than being the son of your Pleasant. His age is appropriate to mine, as his close proximity to my F.D.

Please let me know what you think, especially if you have further evidence indicating that the James in question is your James and not mine. Thanks

It’s interesting to hear from relatives of the two men who were murdered. I avoided using their real names in my story in the event that they had living children or grandchildren, but of course the names are readily available on the Internet. It’s too bad that we can’t hear their version of events leading up to their deaths. I imagine there was plenty of “blame” on both sides.

Elton

Two things that I remember…the bright red lipstick (too much), was just as you wrote it. And the the places on the “trailer” where the shotgun marred the surface. She very quickly slipped inside, telling me to wait outside, because it was a “big mess” in the “trailer.” The structure, as I recall it, looked more like a shed than a trailer.

I wish you multiples times multiples of readers. Not only are older folks interested in Viola, but so are the younger ones who have heard parents and friends talk about her.