State of Tennessee Interview with John Norris Epps 1841 – 1929

The following is an interview with John Norris Epps in 1922 at age 81 about his civil war memories. The interview was part of a Tennessee state project to record some of their old veteran’s before they were all gone. The words are in the style, spelling, and grammar in which he was recorded by the interviewer:

1. STATE YOUR FULL NAME AND PRESENT POST OFFICE ADDRESS
Ans: John Norris Epps, Fayetteville Tennessee, Rt 5
2. STATE YOUR AGE NOW
Ans 81
3. IN WHAT STATE AND COUNTY WHERE YOU BORN?
Ans: Tennessee, Lincoln County.
4. IN WHAT STATE AND COUNTY WHERE YOU LIVING WHEN YOU
ENLISTED IN THE SERVICE OF THE CONFEDERACY OR THE FED GOVT
Ans: Tennessee, Lincoln County.
5. WHAT WAS YOUR OCCUPATION IN THE WAR?
Ans: Farming
6. WHAT WAS THE OCCUPATION OF YOUR FATHER?
Ans: Farming
7. IF YOU OWNED LAND OR OTHER PROPERTY AT THE OPENING OF THE
WAR, STATE WHAT KIND OF PROPERTY AND THE VALUE OF YOUR
PROPERTY AS NEAR AS YOU CAN.
Ans: Nothing
8. DID YOU OR YOUR PARENTS OWN SLAVES? IF SO, HOW MANY?
Ans: I owned a boy 13 he was about 18 when he enlisted. My mother owned 13, including 5
children under age 12.
9. IF YOUR PARENTS OWNED LAND, HOW MANY ACRES?
Ans: None
10. STATE AS NEAR AS YOU CAN THE VALUE OF ALL PROPERTY OWNED
BY YOUR PARENTS, INCLUDING LAND, WHEN THE WAR OPENED.
Ans: About ten thousand dollars slaves and other personal property
11. WHAT KIND OF HOUSE DID YOUR PARENTS OCCUPY? STATE WHETHER
IT WAS A LOG HOUSE OR BUILT OF OTHER MATERIALS, AND STATE
THE NUMBER OF ROOMS.
Ans: Seven room house ordinary comfortable for that day
12. AS A BOY AND YOUNG MAN, STATE WHAT KIND OF WORK YOU DID. IF
YOU WORKED ON A FARM, STATE TO WHAT EXTENT YOU PLOWED,
WORKED WITH A HOE, AND DID OTHER KINDS OF SIMILAR WORK.
Ans: All kinds of farm work.
13. STATE CLEARLY WHAT KIND OF WORK YOUR FATHER DID AND WHAT
THE DUTIES OF YOUR MOTHER WERE. STATE ALL THE KINDS OF WORK
DONE IN THE HOUSE AS WELL AS YOU CAN REMEMBER- THAT IS,
COOKING, SPINNING, WEAVING, ETC.
Ans: My father did farm work. Mother did house work, cooking, spinning, weaving, making clothes for black and white.
14. DID YOUR PARENTS KEEP ANY SERVANTS? IF SO, HOW MANY?
Ans: Very few
15. HOW WAS HONEST TOIL – AS PLOWING HAULING AND OTHER SORTS OF
HONEST WORK OF THIS CLASS REGARDED IN YOUR COMMUNITY? WAS SUCH
WORK CONSIDERED RESPECTABLE AND HONORABLE?
Ans: Honorable
16. DID THE WHITE MEN IN YOUR COMMUNITY GENERALLY ENGAGE IN SUCH
WORK?
Ans: Yes they did unless they owned a number of slaves
17. TO WHAT EXTENT WERE THERE WHITE MEN IN YOUR COMMUNITY LEADING
LIVES OF IDLENESS AND HAVING OTHERS DO THEIR WORK FOR THEM?
Ans: Very few
18. DID THE MEN WHO OWNED SLAVES MINGLE FREELY WITH THOSE WHO DID
NOT OWN SLAVES OR DID SLAVE HOLDERS IN ANY WAY SHOW BY THEIR
ACTIONS THAT THEY FELT THEMSELVES BETTER THAN RESPECTABLE
HONORABLE MEN WHO DID NOT OWN SLAVES?
Ans: Yes they did
19. AT THE CHURCHES, AT THE SCHOOLS, AT PUBLIC GATHERINGS IN GENERAL,
DID SLAVEHOLDERS AND NON SLAVEHOLDERS MINGLE ON FOOTING OF
EQUALITY?
Ans: no
20. WAS THERE A FRIENDLY FEELING BETWEEN SLAVEHOLDERS AND NON
SLAVEHOLDERS IN YOUR COMMUNITY, OR WERE THEY ANTAGONISTIC TO
EACH OTHER?
Ans: Not very much friendship
21. IN A POLITICAL CONTEST IN WHICH ONE CANDIDATE OWNED SLAVES AND
ANOTHER DID NOT, DID THE FACT THAT ONE CANDIDATE OWNED SLAVES
HELP HIM TO WIN THE CONTEST?
Ans: I think not as there was so much more of non-slave house holders
22. WERE THE OPPORTUNITIES GOOD IN YOUR COMMUNITY FOR A POOR
YOUNGMAN-HONEST AND AMBITIOUS- TO SAVE UP ENOUGH TO BUY A
SMALL FARM OR TO GO INTO BUSINESS FOR HIMSELF?
Ans: No
23. WERE POOR HONEST INDUSTRIOUS YOUNG MEN WHO WERE AMBITIOUS TO
MAKE SOMETHING OF THEMSELVES ENCOURAGED OR DISCOURAGED BY
SLAVEHOLDERS?
Ans: Discouraged
24. WHAT KIND OF SCHOOLS DID YOU ATTEND?
Ans: Subscription in late winter and early spring. Free school in late summer and early fall
25. ABOUT HOW LONG DID YOU GO TO SCHOOL ALTOGETHER?
Ans: 3 or 4 months in the year
26. HOW FAR WAS THE NEAREST SCHOOL?
Ans: 2 ½ to 3 miles
27. WHAT SCHOOL OR SCHOOLS WERE IN OPERATION IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD?
Ans: just neighborhood schools with an academy now and then 6 to 10 miles apart
28. WAS THE SCHOOL IN YOUR COMMUNITY PRIVATE OR PUBLIC?
Ans: some public some private
29. ABOUT HOW MANY MONTHS DID IT RUN?
Ans: 3 to 5 months
30. DID THE BOYS AND GIRLS IN YOUR COMMUNITY ATTEND SCHOOL PRETTY
REGULARY?
Ans: Some did others did not
31. WAS THE TEACHER OF THE SCHOOL YOU ATTENDED A MAN OR A WOMAN?
Ans: sometimes one and then the other
32. IN WHAT YEAR AND MONTH AND AT WHAT PLACE DID YOU ENLIST IN THE
CONFEDERATE OR FED GOVT?
Ans: May 1861 in Confederate service at Norris Creek
33. STATE THE NAME OF YOUR REGIMENT AND STATE THE NAMES OF AS MANY
MEMBERS OF YOUR COMPANY AS YOU REMEMBER?
Ans: Company D 8th Tennessee: Captian G. W. Higgins, First Leut. E. S. N. Bobo, 2nd Leut.
W.C. Growell, 3rd Dvid Sulivan, Privates Jack Corigan, Rice Corigan, Tom Crenshaw,
______Curtis, Harvey Dobs, Jim Bell, P. G. Epps, Milton Dollins, Jackson Dollins, Bob
Small, Gorge Small, Wison Smith, Tom Smith, Ben Thomas, Tobe Ashby, Elisha Ashby, Jim
Sulivan, John Cunningham, Billy and Ben Thompson, P. O. Groce, John D. Yant, and others.
34. AFTER ENLISTMENT, WHERE WAS YOUR COMPANY FIRST SENT?
Ans: To Alisona and sworn into service.
35. HOW LONG AFTER YOUR ENLISTMENT BEFORE YOUR COMPANY ENGAGED IN
BATTLE?
Ans: About six months
36. WHAT WAS THE FIRST BATTLE YOU ENGAGED IN?
Ans: Near __?___eutersville West, Virginia
37. STATE IN YOUR OWN WAY YOUR EXPERIENCE IN THE WAR FROM THIS TIME
ON UNTIL THE CLOSE. STATE WHERE YOU WET AFTER THE FIRST BATTLE
WHAT YOU DID AND WHAT OTHER BATTLES YOU ENGAGED IN, HOW LONG
THEY LASTED, WHAT THE RESULTS WERE: STATE HOW YOU LIVED IN CAMP
HOW YOU WERE CLOTHED, AND HOW YOU SLEPT, WHAT YOU HAD TO EAT
AND HOW YOU WERE EXPOSED TO THE COLD HUNGERAND DISEASE. IF YOU
WERE IN THE HOSPITAL OR IN PRISON, STATE YOUR EXPERIENCE.
Ans: About this time we were cut off in the mountains of West Virginia, and wandered
around hardly knowing where we went for seven days with food finally cut out and came to
Valley Mountain we were ordered to Dublin Depot thence to South Carolina on the seacoast
for the winter fought one small engagement at Buford’s Island … There went to Corinth
thence to Chatanooga lieving there went to Kentucky fought a battle at Perryville. Afte
leaving Perryville got slightly wounded came through Cumberland Gap to Knoxville thence
back to Murfreesboro Tennessee and fought the battle of Murfreesboro was shot through the
foot after recovery went back to the Army at Chatanooga fought a battle their on at
Chicamauga went Rockyface Mountain also at Resaca Ga. thence to Atlanta Ga. where on
the 28th day of July 1864 was shot through the right hip and was unable for service anymore
I was finally sent to hospital Macon Ga. staying there until I was able to walk on crutches at
this time they gave me a furlough to Iuka Mississippi and from there I hopped home on
crutches one hundred mile to Fayetteville about the best I could do was 6 or 7 miles a day my
right foot never touched the ground.