| Original Members Bios |
| Richard May October 1, 1830 - November 30, 1909 |
| Richard May, son of Major Washington May and Rebecca Hunt May, was born on October 1,1830 in Greene County,Georgia, died November 30,1909 in Lee County, AL. Richard and Lucinda Lawerence were married on November 24, 1853 in Russell County, AL,(present day Lee County). Lucinda was born August 3, 1834 in Morgan County, GA, died January 19, 1918. Durning their lifetime, they lived in Russell, Lee, and Macon Counties. Richard served in the War Between the States with Co. F 45th Alabama Inf. Reg't as a Private. He was one of the rare ones who made it from the beginning with the regiment in May,1862 until surrender at Greensboro, NC in May,1865. He was on the muster roll of what became Co. F and enlisted April 15,1862 at Opelika, Alabama. Opelika was in Russell County, present day Lee County. He was enlisted by Capt.T F. Flournoy. He was a patient at St.Mary's Hospital, which may have been in Columbus, GA, with neuralgia, March 16,1863. He was issued clothing in April,1864. He is listed in the 1907 Confederate Veterans Census as been born in Greene County, Georgia, October 1,1830. He was living in rural Auburn, Alabama in 1907. He was in the Army of Tennessee and his first engagement would have been Perryville, KY in October, 1862. He probably was in the battles of Murpheesboro, TN and Missionary Ridge and then Chickamauga and the Atlanta Campaign and on into Tennessee. The regiment was almost wiped out by then and there were the battles of Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville to come. Then the Army went to Greensboro, NC and surrendered two weeks after Lee surrendered at Appomattox. At age 70, Richard May filed for pension on June 4, 1900 because of disability. Lucinda May filed for widow's pension on May 28, 1910. Richard and Lucinda had three daughters and seven sons: Sultana May, Nunn (Lucy) May, Hallie May, Park May, Lucious W. May married Julia Riddle, Eugene (Jinks) May married Lelia Walton, J.T. (Jim)(Babe) May married Nannie E.Reeder, Lee Lawerence May married Walton, Samuel A. May married Julia Martin and George Thomas May married Minnie Whatley. Richard May is buried in the Union Grove Baptist Church on the old Columbus Highway in Lee County, AL Submitted by Joyce May White,Great granddaughter |
| Allen Washington Watts October 3, 1827 - April 26, 1863 |
| Allen Washington Watts was born October 3, 1827 in Fairfield County, South Carolina (near Camden). He was the son of Daniel and Sara Watts of Fairfield County, SC and married Nancy Rose around 1850. Sometime between the late 1850's and the beginning of the war, Allen and Nancy moved to Russell County, Alabama with their sons. He enlisted as a private in the 45th Regiment in Alabama. He was most likely wounded during the Battle of Murfreesboro. He died at Buchner Hospital in Ringgold, Georgia on April 26, 1863. He is buried in an unmarked grave in the Old Anderson Cemetery in Ringgold. His wife and four sons returned to South Carolina after the war. The Watts family is still trying to learn more about Allen's life. Up until a year ago, our family had assumed that Allen fought for South Carolina, but we were never able to find any records of his service. We were suprised to learn that he had lived in Alabama before the war and fought for an Alabama regiment. We are grateful for the information we have been able to find, including this lost long picture. Submitted by Mary Adair Watts and her daughters Beth Watts DeLorne and Susan Watts Smith |
| James Jasper Bruce August 9th, 1825 or 1826 - May 15th, 1917 |
| James Jasper Bruce was born on August 9th, in Greene County, Georgia, to James Jasper Bruce Sr. and Delila Richards. Records disagree as to whether he was born in 1825 or 1826. His father, J. J. Bruce Sr., fought in the War of 1812, as a private in the 2nd Regiment, Col. Jett Thomas' Georgia Militia. His grandfather, Aziel Bruce, fought in the Indian Wars. James Jasper Bruce was married to Mary Ann Lewis on December 12, 1844. In 1849, James and Mary moved from Greene County, Georgia to Russell County, Alabama. James and Mary had six children, James Henry, Eli Pinkney, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Mary, and Louvenia. In 1862, James Jasper enlisted in the Confederate Army as a Private in Company F. of the 45th Regiment, Alabama Volunteers. He fought in the battle of Atlanta, where less than 10 men out of his company survived. His wife Mary died in 1864 while he was still at war. James was in Lee Hospital in Columbus, Georgia at the time of the Confederate surrender. He had erysipelas in his left leg below the knee, and lost a portion of the bone, almost destroying the use of the leg, and compelling him to walk with a cane for the rest of his life. He was discharged while at the hospital, and remained there for five months after the War was over. My great grandmother recalled him telling her mother (who was his daughter) about how he left the hospital. He said that he told the doctors he was going to leave. The doctors told him he couldn't leave, but he replied that he had to leave or he would starve to death. One can imagine how scant the hospital rations must have been in Georgia after Sherman had ravaged the countryside. James did leave the hospital, and never signed the oath of allegiance to the U.S. government. In 1866 he married Sarah Roaten, and they had two children, William Alfred, and Sarah (called Sallie). James Jasper and his family moved to Rapides Parish, Louisiana around 1871. His second wife Sarah died in 1877. In 1899 he filed for a soldier's pension because of disability due to his leg, and received it. He often visited his daughter Sallie, who had eleven children, among them my great grandmother Alma, who used to ride on his cane and called it her stick horse. James Jasper died on May 15, 1917, at the home of his daughter Mary. He is buried in the Pine Ridge Church Cemetary, in Rapides Parish, Louisiana. Submitted by Carissa Hall, GGGreat granddaughter |