The
Trivettes of
This website is copyrighted 2004
||||| Introduction |||||
The Earliest Trivettes ||||| North
Carolina Political Boundaries ||||| Whose Child Is Whose?
|||||
||||| How Do You Spell Trivette? ||||| Sorting Out
the William Trivettes ||||| Trivettes
in the Civil War |||||
||||| Descendants of John and Richard Trivette ||||| What Was It Like
As An Early Trivette? |||||
|||| What
Happened To Nathaniel C. Tribet? ||||
Works Cited ||||
Trivettes in the
Civil War
The grandsons of John and Richard Trivette
bore the heaviest burden of the Civil War among the Trivettes
since they were in their physical prime at the time and eligible for
conscription. I have found records for
17 grandsons who fought on one side or the other: 13 for the Confederacy, two
for the
A discussion of the Trivettes in
the Civil War has to include a recounting of the story told in the diary of
Francis Marion Wilcox, which was written about 30 years after most of the
events took place. Personal journals can
fall victim to the effect of the ravages of time on a person’s recollections,
but they are unique in their ability to present the human aspect to an
historical figure. This document is a
wonderful example of that quality, and much of it uses the looming War Between
the States as a backdrop for the often elegant prose it contains. In the following passage,
“After the
election of Abraham Lincoln for president of the United States ‘twas then the
seeds of secession began to germinate, a spirit of disunion began to find lodgement in the breasts of Southern fire eaters, dark
clouds began to overshadow the political horizon, blind lights began to play
the heavens, mutterings of the distant drums had begun to roll and to
reverberate as they announced in unmistakable tones the fearful solemnity of
the hour. What sentinel, in view of all these unmistakable evidences of the
dreadful storm ahead would have dared to proclaim a calm. He was not to be
found. Soon secession was ripe and its fruits were scattered all over the land
and as its seeds steeped in ignorance gave quicker and more swift growth, the
poor toiling, ignorant white men at the south causing the poor and tiling
ignorant white man to desert their workshops, farms and daily vocations and to
meet and hear disloyal speeches made by those who had long been desirous of
dividing the Government in order that they might attain power.”
I am not a student of the Civil War, but from what evidence I’ve seen, including this diary, many people of western North Carolina had mixed feelings about the war and enlisted out of a desire to survive rather than conviction.
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Francis Marion Wilcox, or simply Marion, states he was born in Ashe County, North Carolina in 1842. He came with his family to Pike County, Kentucky in 1850. The 1860 Pike County Census shows his father Samuel, mother Barbara, Marion, age 18, and siblings Elizabeth, Isaiah, H.H., Wm., Boon, and Samuel. Next door is the household of Nathan Tribett and his wife Hannah and newborn son Levi. On the other side of Nathan was Nathan’s brother Isaiah, wife Susan and children Ellen and Martha. Nathan and Isaiah were sons of Owen Trivette of Ashe County, North Carolina, and first cousins of Marion Wilcox. Marion’s father Samuel was the brother of Dicy Wilcox Trivette, wife of Owen Trivette.
He begins by discussing his relatives in some detail. Prominently included is his aunt Dicy, whom he says married a respectable young man from Ashe County named Owen Trivett, a farmer. He states they had 12 children [the total number was at least 14], five of whom died in a diphtheria outbreak in 1862. Next he mentions the following children of Owen and Dicy.
He says Squire is a lawyer and
ordained minister in the
In another part of the journal,
Marion refers to Nathan as “Nathan Crankfield Trivett”, and that after the war he was exhumed and reburied in the state capitol in the
“National Lot or Cemetery” [There is no national cemetery in Frankfort,
Kentucky. There is one, however, in
He is the third son of Owen [he was
the fifth son] and lives in
He died in 1862 in Jacksborough [Jacksboro],
He immigrated to
Dicy
began living with her son Solomon in
In the last third of the journal
After an unspecified amount of time, they arrived in
This small group of deserters had several interesting
encounters on their journey to
On October 1, 1862 [it was 1863], Marion and his father,
Samuel, enlisted in the “Union Army Volunteers” in Company D [40th
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The historical record has interesting additional information
to augment the journal. While
In several places the town Big Creek Gap,
Enlisted July 8,
1862, age 18. Transferred
to Company D on November 1, 1862.
August 31, 1863 muster roll has comment, “deserted July 24, 1863, at Big
Creek Gap, Tenn.” Transferred to Company
B, 65th Regiment (6th Regiment, North Carolina Cavalry) on August 3, 1863 (30)
[apparently transferred while AWOL]. He
subsequently enlisted and mustered into the Union army’s
Enlisted July 8,
1862, age 25. Noted as “foragemaster for company.”
Transferred to Company B, 65th Regiment (6th Regiment,
Enlisted July 8,
1862, age 22. Deserted
February 10, 1863 at Big Creek Gap,
It should be noted here that William H. Trivitt is listed in the Kentucky Adjutant General’s Report as “Truitt, William F.”. However, this is William H. Trivitt. A cross-check at the National Parks Service website (43) shows “Trivitt, William H. Union Infantry 48th Regiment, Kentucky Infantry.” The detail of the entry shows “Truitt” as an alternate spelling.
During the winter of 1862-1863, at least 100 men deserted the 58th North Carolina Regiment, including Marion. So many men were lost from Company M that it was folded into Company G. Several Trivett’s were also part of this unit: Elisha, Joel, Lazarus, Riley, Lewis W., and Jesse. All but Jesse are shown as having deserted at one time or another. Jesse died in February, 1863, the date and place were not recorded at that time.
Desertion during the Civil War, particularly for the mountain people of Western North Carolina, had a broader context. Today, military desertion carries a very negative opinion for most people, and there certainly were deserters then deserving of that judgment. But for others the circumstances were very different. The Trivettes were, more or less, subsistence farmers. So for the male head of household to leave for an extended period, it was a tremendous hardship. Also, many Confederate units experienced serious shortages of provisions, sometimes with little to eat. Leadership qualities were understandably lacking in many officers of both armies since screening and training were virtually absent. Further, the issue of slavery was not prominent in the minds of most of these people since small farms had little need for them. I have found only two Trivettes who actually owned slaves. In the mountains there’s no place to put a large plantation requiring a great number of manual agricultural laborers.
The information for Francis Marion Wilcox states he was born
As a side note, the Trivett
brother and next-door neighbor of
In addition to the above-mentioned Morgan, Isaiah, William H., and Nathaniel, all sons of Owen, numerous other Trivettes served, all but one for the Confederacy:
He enlisted in Company D, 58th Regiment, in Watauga County at age 27 on July 7, 1862. He was listed absent without leave in January and February, 1863. He returned to duty for March and April, 1863 but deserted on May 16, 1863 (21).
He was born in Ashe County on
November 16, 1840. He lived in Watauga
County as a farmer before enlisting in Company D, 58th Regiment, on July 15,
1862 at age 21. He was present January
and February, 1863. He deserted on
He was born on November 10, 1835 and lived in Watauga County as a farmer before enlisting on July 7, 1862, age 26 in Company I, 58th Regiment. He transferred to Company D, 58th Regiment, prior to March 1, 1863. He was reported present in January and February, 1863. He was reported present but on detail as a teamster or wagoner in March through June, 1863. He deserted on September 29, 1863, the same day as his brother Joel (21).
He enlisted on July 7, 1862 for Company D, 58th Regiment. He was reported absent without leave September through December, 1863. He returned to duty in January and February, 1864. He was present but under arrest on April 7, 1864. He was transferred to Chattanooga, Tennessee where he took the Oath of Allegiance about June 11, 1864. He then was transferred to Louisville, Kentucky where he was released about June 14, 1864 (21).
He enlisted at age 29 on September
26, 1862 in Watauga County. He deserted
from camp at Big Creek Gap, Tennessee on February 14, 1863. He transferred to Company G, 58th Regiment in
May, 1863, while listed as a deserter.
He was sent to a hospital from camp near
He enlisted in Watauga County on August 5, 1862 in Company I, 58th Regiment. He died in February, 1863, cause and place not reported (21).
He enlisted at Petersburg, Virginia
on October 16, 1862 in Company B, 42nd Regiment. He deserted on August 30, 1863 and returned
to duty on August 26, 1864. He was
reported in confinement at Petersburg through October, 1864. He was court-martialed about December 7, 1864
and sentenced to death for unspecified offenses. He died in a hospital in
He enlisted at Petersburg, Virginia at age 23 on November 17, 1862 in Company F, 42nd Regiment. He was present until he deserted on May 5, 1863 (20).
He enlisted at age 32 on August 15, 1862 as a resident of Ashe County in Company A of the 37th Regiment. He mustered in as a Private. He was wounded in the hand at Fredericksburg, Virginia on December 13, 1862, and subsequently returned to duty for March through August, 1863. He was promoted to Corporal on October 1, 1863, and reduced to ranks in March-April, 1864. He was killed by a stray shot on June 24, 1864, place of death not reported (19).
He was born in Ashe County and lived in Alexander County where he was a carpenter before enlisting in Company E of the 37th Regiment in Watauga County at age 28 on September 18, 1861. He mustered in as a Private, and was promoted to Corporal on April 14, 1862. He was captured at Hanover Court House, Virginia May 27-28, 1862. He was confined at Fort Columbus, New York and subsequently released via exchange on an unspecified date. He returned to duty sometime prior to November 1, 1862. A thumb was shot off at Fredericksburg, Virginia on December 13, 1862, and he subsequently died in a Lynchburg, Virginia hospital on January 15, 1863 of phlegm erysipelas (19) [a kind of blood infection, most likely a complication of the wound].
He enlisted in the 14th Arkansas Confederate Infantry on July 16, 1861 at Yellville, Arkansas. His unit surrendered at Port Hudson, Louisiana after it became known General Grant had taken Vicksburg. He and many of his fellow soldiers were released four days later.
He enlisted in the 14th Arkansas Confederate Infantry on July 16, 1861 at Yellville, Arkansas. He died at Camp Priceville in Priceville, Mississippi on June 20, 1862 of unspecified causes.