Introduction

A friend of mine suggested I start a blog about my Civil War Ancestors.  As you can tell by the title of this blog, I'm represented by men from both sides of the conflict.   The numbers are a bit staggering.   Almost 350 known Confederate Ancestors and over 70 known Yankee Ancestors. 

I'll give you a little run down on where my family comes from and that will shed a little light on the above numbers.  My Dad was born in Elizabeth City, NC.  Both his parents were from the Pasquotank/Perquimans County area.  Most of their ancestors had immigrated  in the 1600's.  My Mom was born in Raleigh, NC.   Her Mom's family was from Granville County, NC and had been there since the 1700's.  Her Dad's family was from Richmond, VA.  From what I've been able to find, they were in Virginia by the mid 1600's as well.   I was born and raised in Raleigh, NC. 

Ever since I was a little kid, I've always been fascinated with the Civil War.   If you had told me ten years ago that I would have nearly 350 known Ancestors who fought in the Civil War, I would probably have laughed in your face.  I started doing genealogy research in 2011.  My 93 year old Grandmother had just had a stroke.  Her communication skills were affected.  I decided to go to Belvidere, NC and take some pictures of where she grew up to see if she still retained any of those memories.  In Belvidere, the family cemetery has 3 generations of White's and 3 generations of Nowell's. My Grandmother's Mother was a White, her Father was a Nowell.   I took pictures of the house my Great Grandfather Nowell built in 1911 where Grandma grew up, the cemetery, and the house my 5th great granduncle, Jonathan White, built in 1798 that is still in our family.  To my delight, my Grandmother remembered all of these places.   

With so much information available on my Dad's side of the family, I decided to see what I could find on Mom's family as well.  Granville County is only a county to the north of Wake.   I decided to go out there and see what I could find.  I found the family cemetery and old home place of my Great Great Grandfather Christopher Columbus Wheeler.   He was my maternal Grandmother's Grandfather and served in the C.S.A. Army in the Civil War.  Buried near C.C. was his brother, Benjamin Franklin Wheeler.  I noticed on the tombstone that he was also in the Civil War.   Benjamin had died at home from disease in November of 1861.  Without having to look to hard, I already had 2 Civil War Ancestors, one of whom didn't survive the conflict.

My research since has nearly spiraled out of control.  At any given time in my house you'll find tables strewn with papers, notebooks full of research, composition books full of notes, etc.   My book collection has probably  quadrupled.  I've fully embraced my inner history nerd and hope to entertain you with stories and pictures regarding my Civil War Ancestors.