Samuel Williams (Sam) Usry, son of Susanna LeMay and Joel Usry, was born May 14, 1839, in Granville County, North Carolina and died February 18, 1876.
On December 22, 1870, Sam married Sarah Adeline Suitt, the daughter of Pheraba (Tempie) Swinney and William Riley Suit. Sarah was born in Granville County on June 30, 1839, and died March 15, 1926.
The War for Southern Independence began with an attack by Confederate troops on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina on April 12, 1961.
On July 15, 1862, Sam Usry turned his responsibilities for the farm over to others and enlisted in the Confederate Army as a Private. According to Volume 3 of North Carolina Troops 1861 - 1865, compiled by Louis H. Manarin in 1978, Sam was 24 years old when he enlisted in Wake County, North Carolina.
On April 30, 1863, General Joseph Hooker had nearly 120,000 Federal troops in a defensive position at Chancellorsville, Virginia. On the next morning, General Robert E. Lee, with a force of about 60,000 men attacked Hooker's positions. The battle lasted for several days. When it was over, General Hooker retreated. There were 11,000 Northern and 10,000 Southern casualties. Among the southern casualties was General Stonewall Jackson, who died after having his arm amputated. Although the confederacy had won; the victory had been costly.
According to Mr. Manarin, Sam Usry was also one of the casualties. He was wounded and captured at Chancellorsville, on May 3 and was confined to the hospital at Washington, D.C., until he was transferred to the old Capitol Prison in Washington on May 27, 1863.
Mr. Manarin states further that Sam was paroled on June 10, 1863, and sent to City Point, Virginia, for exchange. The records show that he was exchanged on June 12th. He was reported as absent and wounded until detailed in the hospital at Richmond, on February 22, 1864. Company muster rolls report him as absent on detail through October, 1864.
Although Sam was an invalid for the rest of his life, he married Sarah and fathered four children. He was able to do a limited amount of work in the blacksmith shop which belonged to his father-in-law.
In 1876, while Sam lay dying in one part of the house, Sarah was giving birth to their last child in another part. Miss Martha Usry (a maiden aunt of the children) helped to provide for the family after Sam's death.
Sarah and Sam are buried in the church yard of Banks Methodist Church.
Issue:
1. Martha Ann (Nannie) Usry was born January 3, 1872, in Granville County and died September 22, 1941. She married Remus R. Strother (1869-1922). They are buried at Banks Methodist Church.
2. The Rev. William Thomas Usry was born on July 30, 1873 at Wilton, North Carolina and died August 30, 1919, at Rutherford College, Burke County, North Carolina. He married Maude Vivian Merrimon on March 1, 1905. They are buried at Banks Methodist Church.
3. The Rev. Eugene Grisshom Usry was born December 31, 1874 and died January 5, 1959, at Oxford, North Carolina. He married first Emma Montague on November 8, 1899, and second Sallie Montague in 1927.
Eugene attended Oak Ridge Military Institute. He was ordained on the third Sunday in June of 1906 at Knott's Grove Baptist Church near Oxford, North Carolina. He organized the West Oxford Baptist Church in 1906. In 1922, he and his son, Jack, entered Wake Forest College. He retired as Pastor of West Oxford Baptist Church at the end of February 1951 at the age of 76 because of failing eyesight. Eugene is buried in Elmwood Cemetery, Oxford, North Carolina.
4. Susan Usry was born in 1876 in Granville County and died by 1880.
This text was prepared by Mr. John B. Tindal, Jr. of Sumter, S.C.
It was great to find Sam Usry and Sarah Suit. I am researching Charles Washington Bennett whom married Sarah Suits sister Lucinda Clay Suit. Have not been able to locate their graves. Charles Bennett also an orderly sargent in the confederacy and was wounded and taken prisoner at the battle of Antietam . Was paroled after spending time in a Union Hospital. Was demoted and sent to the rears . Right before the war ended he married Lucinda Clay Suit. 1865 Charles Bennett died in Durham in 1899. There were two different write ups in the Durham paper and the Raleigh paper at that time.
Would like to locate graves if possible. this had been a long time goal of my mother whom had done a lot of detective work 25 years ago. He was suppose to have been buried in a community called "Hesters" at a Methodist church. I would assume beside his wife. Hesters is located just north of Creedmoore in Granville County.
Thanks for the great work on your web page the tid bit of information about Sam Usry helps fill in a few more gaps.
If anyone has any info on the Suit-Ussery-Bennett families, please contact: Erin P. Wall
William Riley Suit and Pheraba "Tempie" Swinney had the following children:
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