The West Family Line - More on the Children of Peter West

Thomas West

My 3 times great grandfather

Thomas West was the son of Peter and Susannah Edwards. He was born in Granville County, North Carolina around 1818. The year of his birth comes from what he said his age was on census records. Thomas died sometime after 1850, the last time he appeared in the census records. In 1860 his wife and family were in the census but Thomas was not to be found.

On 18 Dec 1838 Thomas married Mildred Currin the daughter of Wyatt Currin and Jemima Crews. Mildred was the sister of Nancy Currin that married Thomas’ brother James Peter West and settled in Kentucky. 

Going through records for Thomas we find the 1840 Federal Census. Although this census is just tally marks in columns we still can learn about Thomas.

The line in the Census looks like this:

What do these tally marks mean?

 In 1840 Thomas and Mildred had two children under 5, a boy and a girl.

Thomas and Mildred were between 20 and 29.

They were farming and lived in the Tar River District in Granville County.
Farr was an error by the census taker.

Only one of them could read and write.

A total of 4 people in the household.

On later census records we will have names to put with these children.

The Federal Census done in 1850 has names and the census records begin to include more information.

From the 1850 Census we learn that Thomas was a blacksmith and he was 32 years old. Mildred goes by the name Milla and she is 30 years old. Sadly from this census we can determine that they have lost their daughter. The only child old enough to have been on the earlier census is Fleming. The next child listed is another son. Their children in 1850 were:

Fleming age 12

Robert age 9

Panthea age 7

Thomas age 5

David age 2

The next published census was in 1860:

The first obvious difference, Thomas is missing. Since the youngest child is 4 years old he probably passed away between 1855 and 1856. I have searched will and probate records, newspapers and other sources and cannot find out what happened to Thomas. Comparing family trees on various sites it appears that no one has been successful in determining what happened.

The children listed were:

Fleming age 20 – judging from the last census he should be 22

Frances age 16 – she is now listed as Frances not Panthea

Thomas age 12 – judging from the last census he should be 15

David age 11 – pretty close to last census age

Frank age 8 – born since the last census

Wyatt age 4 – born since the last census

But where is Robert???

Robert has moved in with Brodie and R.E. Meadows and is working as a farm laborer. The Meadows family lives next to F.B. Currin, who could be related to Mildred.

The country was unsettled as the Civil War was on the horizon. The grandsons of Peter West were going to enlist, four would be killed or die of disease, one would be wounded and discharged due to disability and at least one would be taken prisoner by the Union. How would Thomas’ sons fair during this war?

Fleming and Robert would both enlist. I have included just a sampling of their records that can be found on Fold3. Thankfully they both survived the war.

Fleming West

Fleming enlisted on March 1, 1862 at Waterloo at the age of 27 according to records. He was wounded in September of 1862. By October of that year he was in the hospital in Richmond, Virginia. On the 28^th of October he received a 30 day furlough to go home and get well. He was back in the war by November of that year.

Fleming West

At the battle of Gettysburg, Fleming was taken prisoner. (July 1 1863) He was sent to Fort McHenry, then to Fort Delaware and finally to Lookout Point in Maryland. He was exchanged on March 3, 1864 and immediately was in Jackson Hospital in Richmond, Virginia with typhoid. He received another 30 day furlough to go home and recuperate. Later that year he was in the hospital in Staunton, Virginia. Finally, the end of the war and Fleming was paroled at Appomattox Court House, Virginia on April 9, 1865.

Robert West

Robert enlisted on July 8, 1862 in Oxford, Granville County, North Carolina. He was 23 years old, fair complexion, brown hair, grey eyes, and 5 foot 5 ½ inches tall. Robert seemed to do better than Fleming the first few years of the war

On May 12, 1864 Robert was taken prisoner at Spotsylvania, Virginia. He was sent to Point Lookout, Maryland then transferred to Elmira, New York. He was exchanged on the 29^th of October 1864. He was captured again on March 25, 1865 near Petersburg, Virginia. His records stop at that point. We do know that he made it home after the war. 

Tomorrow I will pick up the story of Thomas' children after the war. 

Thanks for stopping by!
Pattie