Jeremiah Weldon South, Jr.

Born: March 23, 1840 in Breathitt Co, Kentucky

Died:  February 7, 1864 in Breathitt Co, Kentucky

Buried:  Cope Cemetery, Breathitt Co, Kentucky

Married- Caroline Cope in 1859 in Breathitt County, Kentucky.  Daughter of- James D. and Elizabeth (Crawford) Cope

Military Service- Company I of the 5th Kentucky Infantry, CSA
Enlisted- 1861 at Salyersville, Magoffin County, Kentucky
Highest Rank- Private
Military Service- Company B of the 5th Kentucky Infantry, CSA
Enlisted- Re-enlisted on January 8, 1862. Served as Lt in Co. of the Reg. of the Orphan Brigade of the Confederate Army.
Highest Rank- 1st Lieutenant

Jeremiah Weldon South served in the original 1 year organization of the 5th Kentucky, which was in existence from Oct. 1861 to Oct. 1862. William Tyler Barry South (a brother to Jeremiah) was a corporal and Jeremiah a private. Both were in Company E. They would have fought at the battles of Middle Creek, Ivy Mountain, and Princeton, the first two being along the Kentucky/Virginia border and Princeton was in what is now West Virginia. When the regiment was re-organized in Sept - Oct. 1862, William Tyler Barry  was elected captain of Company A, which became the new Company B, and Jeremiah was elected 2nd Lt.  Richard L. South (a cousin of William and Jerry) was elected 1st Sgt. He was 50 yrs old at the time!

Children by Caroline Cope:
1. Addie South (February 23, 1860-April 20, 1876)
2. Jeremiah Weldon South, III (October 3, 1863-May 16, 1896) m. Lula Belle Hargis
 
Children by Melissa (Strong) Back.  Jeremiah and Melissa were not married:

3. Samantha South (September 9, 1864) married James Robertson and had six children

4. Jeremiah Weldon South (July 1865) married Elizabeth A Taulbee and had seven children

 

The death of Jeremiah Weldon South:

Captain Bill's January Raid
By Herbert W. Spencer, Jackson, Kentucky
February 11, 1961
as told by his grandfather, an eyewitness

During the Civil War, Jackson, Kentucky, County seat of Breathitt, in many instances, became the rendezvous of guerrilla bands whose depredations became forerunners of the County feuds, and thus Jackson became the capital of that inherited cognomen, "Bloody Breathitt." Law and order was usually that imposed by the strongest, most unscrupulous faction in the County.

Many prominent landowners (for the most part Confederate sympathizers) were owners of much live stock and fertile bottoms of corn and other grain. Since there was no active organization of those who were in sympathy with the South, at that particular time, they became the target and easy prey of the organized Union raiders, who invariably cried out "Rebel Scout" as they charged upon a defenseless home. Noble wives have from time immemorial pleaded for the lives of their men, at the time of approaching death, however, not one man whose name appears in the following story ever asked for quarter or denied his allegiance or sympathy to the South, when aroused by the blood curdling cry of "Rebel," be it night or day, emanating from the band of Union Raiders, headed by the notorious Captain Bill Strong (2).

In the following incidents I will try to show how the Civil War and the feuds of Breathitt were inseparable.

The eve of January 20,1864 was one on which burned in the minds of many Breathitt County people and became a dark page in the history of Breathitt during the Civil War. On this day, the Union Raiders set out on a "Ride of Death and Destruction." Their first stop was at the home of a very prominent Breathitt County man by the name of Hiram Miller who lived in the upper region of the County. There, under the direction of Captain Bill Strong, they quickly and without ceremony killed Hiram Miller.

There was much work yet to be done by the "Union Raiders". The night waned by long. The chilled January air and some snow would no doubt keep the "Rebels" close to their firesides and families.

The Union forces under the leadership of Captain "Bill" Strong set out that night for the home of Hiram Miller. They killed Mr. Miller and then mounted their horses and started for the home of Sarah Haddix on Cane Creek on the North Fork of the Kentucky River about three miles from Jackson. Here they planned the raiding of three other Confederate homes in Breathitt County. Sarah Haddix hearing the plot slipped away from her house and managed to find a small boat which she used to carry her across the river to the home of Jesse Spencer and his wife, Elizabeth (my great grandfather and great grandmother). (3)

William Spencer (5), then about the age of 33, fled for his life into the hills but Jesse, then over 65 years of age, preferred to stay with his wife, rather than leave her alone, she thought the "Raiders" would not kill an old man of 65. When Captain Bill and his men came riding up to the Spencer home they shouted for the Spencers' to come out. Jesse and Elizabeth came to the door and the Union Raiders searched their home looking for William. Then they told Jesse they would kill the "Rebel scout."

Elizabeth pleaded with Strong and his men for her husband's life. She said that he was an old man and was not active with either side in the war. Strong insisted that Jesse Spencer was a "Rebel Scout" so he was taken out to the fence gate, stood up against the fence, and shot to death in the presence of his wife.

They then drove away most of Spencer's livestock, went into the house, split open the featherbeds with their knives, and poured jugs of "sorghum" molasses into the "Feather ticks." Hams, middlings, and shoulders were taken from the smokehouse. They also destroyed what other property they could not take with them and carried away one of Jesse Spencer's slaves.

Jesse and Elizabeth (she died four years later in 1867) were buried on a point about 300 yards from the spot where Jesse was killed. About 10 of his slaves are buried about 30 yards from the Spencer graves on the same point. It is across the North Fork of the Kentucky River at a place now known as Wolverine in Breathitt County.

From there Captain Bill and his raiders went to "Holly" on the Frozen Creek section of Breathitt County. Here they shot Nathan Day (4) but he was younger than Jesse Spencer, and he escaped into the darkness. He didn't die but lived to a ripe old age.

The last home on the list was that of Jerry "Old Jerry" South (1). Jerry, seeing the raiders in the distance, started to run into the woods nearby, but a member of Captain Bill's band shot Jerry in the leg above the knee. The shot broke his leg but South managed to hide from the raiders in the darkness. South was taken to the woods by some of his friends and hidden. They also informed his wife, Caroline South (6), and she went to her husband and nursed him to a partial recovery. South's friends then decided to take him home. This was done some two weeks later.

A sled was made ready for the trip, filled with hay for the wounded man's bed. The creeks were the only roads then and it was rough going. The small band planned to leave for home at daybreak for Jerry's home.

However, the night before the intended journey home someone informed Captain Bill and his men, and they also appeared on the scene. They shot "Old Jerry" to death as he lay in the sled, there with a broken leg and in the presence of his wife, Caroline, with several balls from the raiders striking his chest, legs, and face and head. [Family history says that Jerry South asked only that he not be shot in the face, so as not to upset his wife ... if true, this last request was obviously ignored.]

Several bee gums were destroyed and the South home was savagely ransacked before the "Union Raiders" mounted their horses and rode away.

Many other citizens of Breathitt County were to be killed as a result of being Confederate sympathizers, or because they belonged to the band of raiders. So began the feuds in which Captain "Bill" strong played a great role.

 

Footnotes:

(1)  Jeremiah was referred to as "Old Jerry" as his one year old son was named Jeremiah Weldon South, III.  Ironically, "Old Jerry" was 24 years old and Caroline Cope, his wife was 25 years old.

(2) Capt. William Strong was well known in the mountains as the leader of the "Red String,".  The "Red Strings" were a rival body to the Ku Klux, and the unpleasantness between the two had caused the loss of several lives.   He was a 1st cousin to the wife of Andrew Jackson South, Jeremiah's brother.  Several articles have been written that describe several of the incidents involving William Strong.

(3) From what I can determine, Jesse Spencer was born 1799 in Lee Co, VA.  He married Elizabeth Spicer in 1828 (dau of Samuel Spicer and Sarah Jane Turner).  Elizabeth was born about 1811.  William Spencer, their son was born abt. 1831

(4) I suspect this was Nathan Boone Day born January 27, 1845, died in 1899 and married Elizabeth Emaline Cope in 1870.  She was born November 28, 1851 the daughter of Archibald Calloway Cope and Sabina Hargis.

(5) William Spencer b. January 8, 1830 married Louisa Marie Brittain June 23, 1853.  She was the daughter of Chadwell Brittain and Sarah Brittain.  She was born June 27, 1840.

(6) Caroline Cope born August 22, 1839 daughter of James D Cope and Elizabeth Crawford married Jeremiah Weldon South abt. 1859.