1. DAVID "HENRY"1 FAULKNER, SR1,2,3,4 was born Abt. 1815 in Knox Co, TN, and died July 10, 1871 in Raccoon Valley,Union Co, TN. He married (1) ANNA JANE (VICKERY) VICTORY5,6 Bef. 1842 in TN. He married (2) LOUISA JANE FOY7 January 31, 1867 in Knox Co, Tn7.
Notes for DAVID "HENRY" FAULKNER, SR:
It has been said that this family is of Irish and Black Dutch descent. I have a few facts that confirms this family belief. However, nothing to contradict it. Therefore, it must be so.
The Faulkner name has been interperated and spelled several different ways: Fortner, Folkner and Falkner. David Henry Faulkner, Sr.’s divorce decree and marriage license states the name as Fortner. However, Fortner does not appear on the Muster Roll. The names David H. Folkner, Jr. and David H. Folkner or Falkner, Sr. appear on the roll. I have used the spelling in this document that was used in the document from which the information was taken.
David "Henry" Faulkner, Sr.’s birth date is questionable. There were several instances where his age did not coincide with previous dates from other documents. The best that I can assume is that he was born about 1815, in Tennessee. He was most frequently referred to as D. H. or Henry. In this document, I will refer to him as Henry, unless quoting from another document.
According to Henry's bill for divorce, he married Anna Jane Victory (Vickery or Dickery) about Oct. 20,1861 in Union County, Tennessee. They lived together until about Mar. 15, 1962. Henry charged that Anna Jane committed several acts of adultery in Knoxville and Greene County with Hiram Woods and others unknown to him. Anna Jane ran off with Hiram Woods, a rebel soldier, during the second year (1862) of the Civil War, while Henry was serving in the Union Army. Hiram was a friend of Henry's more than two years.
"He (Henry) was always a healthy man until he went into the army. He never drank. He worked in a cooper shop and made wood work for wagons. (A cooper makes or repairs vessels made of staves and hoops, such as casks, barrels, tubs, etc.) He was regular at his work. He worked every day and had no sickness," according to David.
Henry (about age 47), David (age 20), Enoch J. Fitzgerald Falkner (about age 22), Henry’s step son, enlisted in Company F 3rd Tennessee Infantry Volunteers as Privates at the same time on February 14, 1862 at Flat Lick, KY. Isaac Fitzgerald Fortner, Henry’s cousin and brother in law, served in Company G 2nd Tennessee Cavalry as a blacksmith.
For six months after they left home (till Aug. 1862), they laid over at Flat Lick without blankets or tents. An acquaintance, J. C. Chiles* recalled, they had only a plank to sleep on. Henry told Louisa, "We were greatly exposed to the elements, especially the time I stood picket in knee deep water. This exposure plus carrying my knapsack on hard marches produced my disease of bronchitis." Henry and David were on picket, "ring guard" and marches together.
August 1862, at Cumberland Gap, KY, J.C. Chiles* recalled that Henry was sick.
Late December or January 1863, about the time of the Battle of Murfreesboro (Dec. 31, 1862-Jan. 2, 1863), while on the march from Nashville to Murfreesboro, David said, "He (Henry) complained of a cough and said that his legs and breast hurt him. He looked bad; pale, poor and lean. He had always been a fleshy man. His hair had begun to turn whiter. He was excused from duty for about two weeks before he was discharged, a good while after the battle."
January or February 1863, at Murfreesboro, W. A. Rodgers, M. D., examined and treated Henry for bronchitis. He had him mustered out of service on this account. They were from the same county and section. The doctor later made two affidavits for Henry’s pension claim. After his death, the doctor was guaranteed payment by Col. J. C. Chiles* for another affidavit for Louisa Fortner.
March 1, 1863, Henry’s Certificate of Disability for Discharge describes him as being 55 years of age (DOB 1808?), five feet-six inches tall, fair complexion, black eyes and dark hair and listed his occupation as mechanic. The discharging officer wrote, "He was a good soldier until in August 1862 at which time he had at Cumberland Gap a severe spell of sickness and has not been able for duty since."
David said, "After his (Henry’s) discharge, he went back to Kentucky and had a spell of sickness; got so bad he could not travel. He got to Knoxville and was there during the siege (Nov. 1863-Dec. 4, 1863) with the soldiers." David recalled, "I saw him the second day after the rebels left Knoxville (Dec. 6, 1863). I got there with my regiment from Sale Creek. We were marching there to the relief of Burnside’s army. He came to the regiment at Love's Creek above Knoxville to see me. And I saw him every week or so until we went to Georgia in 1864."
David said, "We parted at Strawberry Plains, he to go home (the upper edge of Knox County) and I to go on (the) Georgia (Atlanta) Campaign with (my) regiment. Then I saw him no more till after I was mustered out."
Hiram Williams said, "I met ... D. H. Fortner in the latter part of 1863 after he was discharged and came to my house remaining a month or so and up to the time he married was here (Bull Run) every month to see his daughter in law." (David married Louisa Jane Curlee in 1859 in Lafayette, Pulaski Co., TN). He described him as a very narrow chested man. Hiram Williams recalled, "During 1864 we made two trips to Kentucky together which both took 10 or 15 days on each trip and he stood the trip well. We rode horse back all the trip. (What troubled him the most while living near me was) family troubles principally."
According to M. T. Burkhart, "Henry’s occupation was farmer after he came out of the service. His earnings from his labor would not amount to seventy-five dollars per year from that time until he died. He was not employed by anyone, but made what little he could on rented land." He collected $6.00 a month from his pension benefits.
David said, "I mustered out in March 1865. I went home to Heiskell's Station in three days. I went to visit him (Henry). He was living with one of his cousins near House Mountain, 18 miles from Heiskell's Station."
October 1865, Henry met Louisa Jane Foy. They had only known each other a month or two before they got married on Dec. 12, 1865. I believe she lived on Joseph Bishops farm, in Bull Run, at the time. Joseph Bishop said, "(I) knew the said David H. Fortner a short while before the War of the Rebellion up to (the) date of his death. The fact is I made the match or had a hand in making it the said Louisa J. Fortner."
According to David, "She was a lewd woman." Louisa Jane Foy had four illegitimate children. Two were living, about ages 10 & 14, when she married Henry. She said, "(He knew about the children) but never reproached me about it anyway. I have never been guilty of any lewdness since I married." Several witnesses testified that she was of good character after her marriage. David said that the general report was that her son, J. B. or Jim Foy (DOB Abt 1858) was the son of *Lt. Col. J. C. Chiles (witness in the pension case and acquaintance of Henry). The other, a daughter, Obedience Jane (DOB Abt 1854), was the child of a merchant in Knoxville by the name of Nelson.
When it was reported that the first wife, Anna Jane Vickery, was still alive, Louisa told Henry that she would not live with him unless he got a divorce. They separated and he filed for divorce. She lived on Skagg's farm in Skaggston during this time.
George Williams recalled, "I saw him (Henry) several times a year while he was living in Bull Run. Then he moved up the upper end of Knox Co., 10 miles distant and saw him a few times until he died. He was divorced from his wife a year and _____ _____ _____ his kinfolk’s. Then he remarried (Louisa)."
Henry and Anna Jane's divorce was granted on Jan. 18, 1867. He (age 51) and Louisa (age 38) were married for the second time on Jan. 31, 1867 in Knox County.
Henry and Louisa Jane lived in Union County, TN. At the time of his death in 1871, they lived on Racoon Valley Road at the farm of M.T Burkhart about seven miles from Maynardville.
James Ledgewood said, "I never labored with or employed him, but he lived in my neighborhood (Raccoon Valley) close by me on a small piece of rented land. He nor his wife Louisa owned any land."
George W. Majors testified, "(About 1869), ... they first began to reside on my land and between ¼ and ½ of a mile distant. When he first came here, he put in 5 acres of corn...he was laid up for two weeks. ...(He) made two crops on my place in a little over two years. Not over half a good hand. I often employed him to do for me a days work and he never put in to exceed .40 cents with when (I) usually paid .50 cents. He frequently came and stayed all night with me and attend church one or two times a month while on my place. He would spit up a good deal of matter especially when confined with his bad spells and his wife would keep a small piece of old carpet on the floor for him to spit on. I helped nurse him for two weeks prior to his death."
David Henry Faulkner, Sr. died July 10, 1871 while residing on M. T. Burkhart's Farm, Raccoon Valley, Union County, Tennessee.
David recalled, "I was present the night he died. He had been bed-fact for near two week. I was there off and on all the two weeks attending him. The last two days I never left him except a couple of hours to go to my own house and back. It was said to be bronchitis that he died of. He was 56 years old (DOB 1815)."
In 1884, Louisa Jane Fortner filed for a Widow's Pension. She testified that her two illegitimate children were living in Denton Co., Texas. Her daughter, Obedience Jane Athan, was living at Little Elm and a widow. Her son, J. B. (Jim) Foy's P.O. address was Story, Texas. She said that David had moved over into Kentucky 8 or 9 years ago and had only seen him once since. In 1885, she stated that Isaac Falkner was dead.
David was also a witness in 1885. Speaking of Louisa Fortner, he described her, "Now near sixty. She looks right smart and gray. She is crippled from a white _____, but is a smart active woman yet."
In 1885, the deposer asked David, "Are you sure you never did (make an affidavit in the case or for your father when he applied for a pension)?" "I am. I was never asked to make one," he replied. He was asked, "The affidavit in the case signed David H. Fortner or David Falkner is not yours?" "No. It must be my uncle or it is forged," he answered.
Another witness in 1885, Lt. Col. Chiles*, stated that he had known and been personally aquainted with Louisa for forty years. He was Lt. Col. of Company F 3rd Tenn from Sept. 1862-Dec. 1862 and knew Henry as a casual acquaintance only. He said, "When ... Louisa J. Fortner lived in Union County, Tenn, (after her husband's death), she occasionally visited at my house and she thereafter returned to Knox County aforesaid about the fall of 1873 and has since lived in Knox County. ...(She) is an old acquaintance of mine ... ."
In 1885, George Williams, witness, said that David lived at Jenks, Roan Co. Tenn and that Isaac Fortner alias Fitzgerald was dead.
Louisa Fortner collected a Widow's Pension of $8.00 per month until her death about 1898.
Descendants are in New York, according to Lillian Morton.
More About DAVID "HENRY" FAULKNER, SR:
Burial Place: Tn
Cause of Death: Bronchitus
Military Service: Civil War-February 12, 1862-March 1, 1863
Occupation: Farmer/Mechanic
More About ANNA JANE (VICKERY) VICTORY:
Misc: She ran off with a rebel soldier during the 2nd year of the Civil War, possibly Hiram Woods.8
Child of DAVID FAULKNER and ANNA VICTORY is:
