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Descendants of William Washington Weldon

Generation No. 1

1. WILLIAM WASHINGTON¹ WELDON¹ was born 1833 in Alabama ², and died November 18, 1873 ³. He married (1) PARMELIA⁴. She was born February 02, 1836 ⁵, and died September 03, 1860 in Washington, Hempstead Co. Ark.⁵. He married (2) MARY CATHERINE SHULE^6,⁷ December 18, 1863 in Presbyterian Church, Jackson La.⁸, daughter of JAMES SHULE and CLARISSA GLOVER. She was born September 16, 1837 in Bowie County, Texas ^9,¹⁰, and died February 19, 1916 in Plaquemine La..

Notes for WILLIAM WASHINGTON WELDON:
We have managed to put a pretty good picture together of William Weldon and how his life probably progressed. He was married twice, His first wife's name was Parmelia and he had a daughter by her (Nannie) in 1858 in Arkansas. They were living in the town of Washington in Hempstead Co. Arkansas. William enlisted in the Confederate Army (Griffith's 17th Arkansas Infantry) on April 13, 1862 in Little Rock Arkansas. (Possible brother Henry Weldon was also in this unit) Parmelia's grave stone says she was born Feb 2nd,1836 and died Sept 3rd,1860--she died before W.W. left for war. First, he left with the "Hempstead Rifles" on May 4, 1861-----and then was in Co. H, 17th Ark Inf. So, Parmelia died and he had a young daughter to care for. We do not know who the daughter (Nannie) stayed with during his time in the war.

Prior to joining Griffith's 17th William fought with the Hempstead Rifles.
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“The Hempstead Rifles”
Arkansas State Troops

The Hempstead Rifles was raised in Hempstead county, and completed its organization on May 4, 1861, at Washington, Arkansas, with the election of John R. Gratiot, captain; Daniel W. Jones, first lieutenant; Benjamin P. Jett, Jr., second lieutenant; and George Taylor, third lieutenant. The Rifles carried 102 men on the rolls. The company marched to northwest Arkansas, where they were assigned to a regiment on July 15, 1861, at Camp Walker, near Harmony Springs, Benton county, Arkansas.

According to the regimental numbering plan of the State Military Board, the regiment was officially designated as the Second Regiment, Arkansas State Troops (Infantry). However, Brigadier-General Nicholas Bartlett Pearce, commanding the Arkansas State Brigade, generally did things his own way, and assigned his regiments sequential numbers based upon date of enlistment. Therefore, the regiment is usually referred to in most contemporary records as the Third Regiment, Arkansas State Troops.

The Hempstead Rifles were assigned as Company B. Captain Gratiot was appointed colonel and regimental commander, William P. Hart succeeding him as captain. Other members of the Hempstead Rifles appointed to regimental duties included Joseph M. Simms, quartermaster; Cadsman Pope, chaplain; and William C. Smith, surgeon.

The Arkansas State Brigade, along with Brigadier-General Ben McCulloch’s Confederate brigade, marched north into Missouri, where they linked up with Major-General Sterling Price’s Missouri State Guard. The combined force then moved towards Springfield, Missouri. On the morning of August 10, 1861, while encamped along Wilson’s Creek, just south of Springfield, the Southern army was attacked by a Union force under Brigadier-General Nathaniel Lyon. The ensuing battle was one of the largest and most desperately-fought engagements in the western theater. Gratiot’s regiment had been held in reserve during the early part of the battle; however, a renewed Union assault on the Confederate right flank prompted calls for its immediate deployment. Forming in a long battle line, Gratiot’s regiment charged up Oak Hill toward the Union lines. The regiment had reached a point about 40 yards from the enemy when the Federals unleashed a massive volley directly into the charging Arkansans. The regiment wavered momentarily, as scores of men fell dead or wounded, then charged forward with a roar and smashed into the Federals. After a vicious, face-to-face fight, using bayonets and clubbed muskets, the Southerners broke the Federal line. The Yankees fled in disorder back to
Springfield, leaving their commanding general dead on the field.

The gallant charge of Gratiot’s regiment secured the Southern victory, but at an appalling cost—out of approximately 500 men who had mustered that morning, over 100 were casualties. The Hempstead Rifles suffered four killed and thirteen wounded. Confederate General McCulloch addressed the heroes of Oak Hill, remarking, “You saved me and the battle.”

Following the engagement at Wilson’s Creek, with their three-month State enlistements expiring, the Arkansas State Brigade returned to Arkansas, where they were all mustered out of service by September 19, 1861. The Hempstead Rifles was disbanded, and most of its members immediately enlisted in regular Confederate regiments.

An extraordinary number of the Hempstead Rifles went on to become officers in the Confederate army. At least three of them, besides Colonel Gratiot, went on to become field-grade officers: Daniel W. Jones, colonel in the 20th Arkansas Regiment; Benjamin P. Jett, Jr., major in the 17th Arkansas Regiment; and Jesse A. Ross, major in the 4th Arkansas Battalion. Two went on to command artillery batteries: Chambers B. Etter, captain of the Washington Artillery; and William P. Hart, captain of the Dallas Artillery. Another twenty or so went on to become lieutenants and captains of infantry companies and cavalry troops.

[...]
Weldon, William W—Private.
[...]
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A cousin, Claude Slaton, did much research on him and he was able to place him in the Jackson La. area, and the service record notes that he attained the rank of Sgt. which supports two family claims. 1. That he enlisted in Arkansas and 2. that he attained the rank of Sgt. Here is the excerpt from Claude's research:

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CATHERINE "KATE" SHULES, born 16 September 1837 in Bowie County, Texas. She was married by JAMES STRATTON, the pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Jackson, La., to WILLIAM WASHINGTON WELDON on 9 December 1863. William Weldon was born ca. 1840 in North Carolina, or more likely Alabama, and emigrated to Washington, in Hempstead County, Arkansas. On the 1860 Census, he has a wife with the first name of PAMILIA, age 21, born in Georgia. They had one child, NANNIE, who was born in 1858 in Arkansas. During the war, William enlisted in the 17th (Griffith's) Ark. Regiment, Co. H, which was sent to Port Hudson in early 1863. In the spring of that year Weldon's regiment was given horses and acted as cavalry operating in the east Louisiana area until the end of the war. However, William was captured near Jackson, La., in May or June of 1863 and was sent to City Point, Virginia, to be exchanged 6 July 1863. Apparently, during his service in East Feliciana Parish he met Kate Shules, and after the death of his wife in Arkansas, he returned to Louisiana with his daughter by his previous wife and married Kate. Kate's mother, Clarissa, sold two town lots in Jackson to William Weldon on 2 January 1868. This couple had the following children:

(i) WILLIAM WASHINGTON WELDON, JR., born 1865 in Jackson.
(ii) JOSEPH WELDON, in 1894 was a resident of West Baton Rouge Parish.
(iii)CLARA WELDON, born 3 June 1868 in East Feliciana. Married 24 February 1900 in Plaquemine, Iberville Parish, La., to HENRY CLEMENS. She died 11 January 1948 in Crowley, La.
(iv)KATE WELDON, born 1870 in East Feliciana. Married FRED HOTARD and resided in Iberville Parish.
(v)PENN J. WELDON, born 1873 in East Feliciana. Resided in 1894 in Iberville Parish.
(vi)MAUD J. WELDON, born 1875 in East Feliciana.
------------------------------------

IGI Record
William Washington WELDON
Sex: M
Event(s):
Born: 1833 ', 'Alabama
Parents:
Source Information:
Film Number: 1760755

Documentation on William W. Weldon starts with his confederate service records and census records for the 1860 census in Arkansas. Here is the Census Record:

1860 Census, Arkansas, Hempstead Co.,Washington Township

W.W. Weldon 29 M Cabinet Maker b. North Carolina
Pamelia 21 F b. Georgia
Nannie 2 F b. Ark.
N.F.Little 22 M Tailor b. Texas
G.W. Cook 20 M Clerk b. Texas
R.G. Gains 36 M Tailor b. South Carolina

William has ties back to Halifax County North Carolina to a woman named Nancy Weldon. I managed to come up with a power of attorney dated 1856. A couple of years before the Census above. The Power of Attorney record reads:

--------------
Hempstead County. Know all men by these presents, that I William W. Weldon of this Country and State aforesaid, have constituted (Bart or Bert I think) F. Moore of the city of Raleigh, State of North Carolina as my true and lawful attorney, and do hereby empower him to collect for me all such monies as may be coming to me from the estate of the late Mrs. Nancy Weldon, and from any other source whatever, and now in the hand or possession of any person whatever or in the possession or keeping of any office of the Court of Halifax County or elsewhere in the State of North Carolina. And to make such collection I do authorize my said attorney to institute in my name all necessary suits and execute all necessary and proper instruments of writing and hereby instruction my said attorney, if any property in said State belonging to me may remain unsold then to sell the same, and all the monies which he may collect from me from any person or source to transmit to me, after deducting reasonable costs and charges attending the business. In witness when of I have hereunto subscribed my hand and said this the 1st day of April A.D. 1856.
                  W. W. Weldon
---------------------

Nancy Weldon could have been his mother or grandmother. We are not yet sure.

The Civil War of course interrupted everyones lives and he enlisted and was sent to the Jackson La area in early 1863. By May or June of that year he was captured in Jackson and sent to City Point Va. and was exchanged on 6 July 1863. He probably returned to Arkansas to get his daughter and it would seem likely that he left Arkansas and went back down to Jackson and married Kate. We don't know if he was still on active duty or not after this, but by 1870 he and Kate are well established in Jackson. Clarissa Shules sold him property in 1868 and then he shows up on the 1870 Census records. Here is the 1870 record for Jackson La.

1870 Census, East Feliciana Pa., Jackson Township
Weldon, William W M 30 Undertaker $2000 $200 b. Alabama
Kate W F 25 Keeping House b. Texas
Nannie W F 12 Attending School b. Ark
Wm W M 5 b. La.
Joe W M 4 b. La.
Clara W F 2 b. La.
Betsey W F 2/12 b. La.
Shules, C. W F 50 b. Miss.

C. Shules is Kate's Mother, Clarissa Michele Shules. She is the one who sold William property in Jackson a couple of years before this. As can be seen from the record Nannie is the right age, born in Arkansas, and too old to be Kate's daughter. Couple this with the fact that William was stationed in Jackson La. during the civil war and it all adds up. The child Betsey is unknown by the family and probably died as an infant.

1880 Census, East Feliciana Pa., Jackson Township
Weldon, Kate W F 35 Keeping House Widowed
Wm W. W M 15 Son Attending School
Joseph W M 13 Son Attending School
Clara W F 12 Dau Attending School
Kate W F 10 Dau Attending School
Penn W M 7 Son Attending School
Maud W F 5 Dau Attending School
Shules, C.M. W F 60 Mother Widowed

Finally, this is all we have on William Weldon other than family story and some circumstantial evidence. The story has it that he was killed by Commanche Indians close to Fort Concho Texas. There is now a town on the site called Knickerbocker. Charles Louis Weldon, his grandson, relayed this story to me:

Date: Sat, 07 Feb 1998 09:35:25 +0700
From: "Charles L. Weldon"

Rick,

Your gggrandfather was killed a few miles southwest of what is now San
Angelo in Tom Green county. At the time of his death San Angelo was the
cavalry base known as Fort Concho. It was one of a small arc of military
bases in west Texas running north-south protecting central Texas from large
hostile incursions from the west and to stabilize what was then the
frontier. Presently, there is a small town at the site of gggpaw's demise
called Knickerbocker, a very prosperous German farm-ranch community.

My father had five siblings; Willie, Penn, Maude, Clara and Kate. All six of
this cohort were in west Texas and returned to Clinton, Louisiana with their
mother. I was named after two of my older brother-in-laws, Charles McCormick
and Louis Anderman married to my oldest sisters Estelle and Coralee.

I submit the above in clarification of points which seem ambiguous in your
correspondence with Ms Leslie. If there are specific points I may possibly
clarify, let me know.

Best Regards,
Charles L. Weldon; M.D., M.P.H.
---------------------------

In contrast to this Sharon Martin of Houston Texas (A desendent of William Weldon) through her research found a conflicting answer to the question of what happened to William. Excerpted from e-mail....

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Still feel strange about the conflicting date of death....The ages of the kids are a bit off, but briefly here's what pointed me to the 1873
- First, Verna Sewell conveyed the thought that he had died in Jackson and was buried in the Old City Cemetery.
- Kept pestering my mother's family about what they remembered....Robert (Bob) Dunn, youngest son of Sadie and Verna's nephew, told me he
remembered that someone told him that Weldon " was in Jackson in the barber shop when there was a commotion out on the street.....he stepped out to see what was going on and a black man ' who was liquered up' stabbed him with a knife"-- now I know that each time a story is told, it may change but I did write to the Mason's Lodge in Jackson to see if they had anything at all. They did reply, briefly and said " Mr.
W. W. Weldon, who was a member in good standing from the time he became a mason in 1870 until his death in 1873. During that time he held
several stations in the lodge and was an asset to St.Albans".
----------------------

By the 1880 Census William is not listed, only Kate is and she is noted as being a "widow". Based on the ages of the children he would have to have been around until at least 1873 or 1874. Early family dates put his death in November 1873. There are several stories on file at the Library of Congress that were part of the WPA interviews. These interviews are stories told by old timers of what it was like in the old west. Their stories were recorded in the 1930's. In these stories there are at least two accounts of Weldon's getting tangled up with Commanche Indians. The indians had stolen their horses and they chased them down to recover their horses.

The rest of the family can be accounted for after 1880, but alas William is gone between 1875 and 1880 and we don't have documented proof of what happened to him. Just family stories and conflicting ones at that.

Notes for MARY CATHERINE SHULE:
Kate's maiden name was most likely Mary Katherine Shules. However she used Kate Shules throughout her life. She is listed as Mary in the 1850 Census for East Feliciana La. and Kate in the 1860 and as Kate through the 1900 Census for Iberville Parish, Plaquemine La.

By 1880 she is listed as the head of household. Here is the Census record:

1880 US Census, East Feliciana Parish, Jackson Township,
Dwelling 60/64
Kate Weldon      W. F. 39 Head Widow Keeping House b. Texas
Wm. W            W. M. 15 Son
Joseph            W. M. 13 Son
Clara            W. F. 12 Dau
Kate            W. F. 10 Dau
Penn            W. M. 7 Son
Maud            W. F. 5 Dau
C.M. Shules      W. F. 60 Mother Widow

Kate also shows up living in Plaqumine, La. in Iberville Parish in the 1900 Census:

1900 US Census, Iberville Parish, Plaquemine Parish, Plaquemine Township, Dwelling 82/88
Kate Weldon Head W F Sept. 1840 59 Widow
Penn      Son W M May. 1878 22 Single
Maud      Dau W F Jan. 1880 19 Single School Teacher

We're not really sure when Kate was born. If we go by the Census ages then she was born in 1840, but we have some records that put it as early as 1836.

I believe that she died in Plaquemine La. Here mother Clarissa obviously died between 1880 and 1900.

Mary Catherine (Kate) SCHULE
Sex: F
Event(s):
Born: 16 Sep 1837
', 'Texas
Parents:
Father: James C. SCHULE
Mother: Clarissa Michele GLOVER
Source Information:
Film Number: 1760779

Child of WILLIAM WELDON and PARMELIA is:

NANNIE² WELDON^11,¹², b. 1858¹²; d. Unknown.

Children of WILLIAM WELDON and MARY SHULE are:

ii.

WILLIAM WASHINGTON² WELDON, JR.¹³, b. 1865 ¹⁴; d. Unknown; m. EMMA MCCLELLAND¹⁵; d. Unknown.

Notes for WILLIAM WASHINGTON WELDON, JR.:
William Weldon Jr. Worked for Bowie Lumber Company like his brother Joe Weldon. Claude Slaton's article provided us with his wifes name and I have a single letter provided to me by Kitty Lou Weldon Haralson that was mixed in with Joe Weldon's papers. A digital image of the letter is in the scrap book.

2.	iii.	JOSEPH EUGENE WELDON, b. August 24, 1866, Jackson, La.; d. May 05, 1961, Gross Tete, La..
3.	iv.	CLARA WELDON, b. June 03, 1868, Jackson, East Feliciana Parish, La.; d. January 11, 1948, Crowley, La..
4.	v.	KATE WELDON, b. April 1872, East Feliciana Parish, Jackson La.; d. Unknown.
	vi.	PENN WELDON¹⁶, b. 1873¹⁶; d. Unknown.
	vii.	MAUD J. WELDON¹⁷, b. July 1874, Jackson, East Feliciana Parish, La.^18,¹⁹; d. August 03, 1935, New Orleans, La.¹⁹.

More About MAUD J. WELDON:
Burial: August 03, 1935, St. Louis Cemetery New Orleans La..

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