TENNESSEE CONFEDERATE QUESTIONNAIRES
NOW DELIVERED ELECTRONICALLY
Brenda Kellow
October 30, 2011
Genealogists love to process information. How many of us find letters or other documents that impart personal data from a long departed ancestor in his or her own handwriting? One such record giving a personal account of their lives and introducing a profile on parents and community are the Tennessee Confederate Questionnaires, Tennessee Library and Archives (TSLA) microfilm number 484.
The process of collecting a three/four generation family history prompted me to examine every extant record available from the states in which the targeted families lived. A three/four generation genealogy is a family history of a specific couple carried through their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and identifies all events and the history of each person in the first three generations, but lists only the birth and death information for the fourth generation. The hunt for the grandchildren of the original couple, in this case John Burns whose life spanned the 17th and 18th centuries and culminated in Tennessee, led me to examine the military records for the grandson, John Hardiman Bruce.
John H. Bruce filled out his questionnaire in his own handwriting, probably using a pencil. The wording and expressions reflected his educational background and southern roots. The questionnaire was extensive and filled with extraordinary information not available anywhere else. On the first page John listed the names of everyone he could remember who served with him and who enlisted with him from Chapel Hill, in Marshall County, Tennessee.
On the second page, John gave his full name including his middle name, the county in which he currently resided, and his age. I can easily calculate his month and year of birth because that page was stamped with a “date received” imprint. Other information gives his occupation; parents’ full name, place of birth; their parents’ full name; the value and amount of his real estate and personal holdings at the beginning of the war and that of his parents; and, the name of the female slave owned by his parents. He went on to write that his parents lived in a four room long cabin, certainly ample for that time. He states that he plowed much of the time; worked with a hoe, cut grain with a scythe; mowed hay with a mowing blade and picked up the hay with a wood fork. The reasoning for the previous question appears in parenthesis: “Certain historians claim that white men would not do work of this sort before the war.” He went on to disprove the theories of these “certain historians” on the following three pages.
The following pages explain his parents’ occupations and daily chores they performed for the welfare and support of the family. John Bruce also indicated that honest toil in the fields was considered by the community to be “respectable and honorable,” regardless of race. He acknowledges the congenial and encouraging social environment existing between the rich and the poor. John says he went to a free public school located 1.5 miles away. He explained his military enlistment information and all battles fought, including the first one. John’s experiences while in a Union prison in Louisville, Kentucky were heart rendering, including the terrible disease and medical treatment as a prisoner of the opposition.
The extraordinary questionnaires are the brainchild of Dr. Gus Dyer, Tennessee State Archivist, who developed the form and contacted every living Confederate Veteran in 1914. The questions are specific and relate to the soldier’s experiences before, during, and after the war. From these one can learn valuable personal and family information, class and race distinctions, as well as education and occupations during the soldier’s life. If your aging ancestors lived in Tennessee, fought in the War from Tennessee, and lived to contribute a questionnaire, these records are invaluable toward collecting pertinent and personal information on your family’s history. Your success is boundless if you investigate everything!
If you have Tennessee soldiers, check for his name on the Tennessee State Library and Archives’ online index at www.tn.gov/tsla/history/military/quest.htm and have them deliver the documents electronically to one specified email address or placed on a CD. A paper copy mailed to your home is another option. There is a $20 charge for these documents in any format. You may also write to the Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312.
Brenda Kellow has a bachelor's degree in history, teaches, and lectures on genealogy. Before retiring to publish her family’s histories in 2007, Brenda held certification as a Certified Genealogist and as a Certified Genealogical Instructor. Send reunion announcements, books to review, and genealogy queries to: [email protected].
The process of collecting a three/four generation family history prompted me to examine every extant record available from the states in which the targeted families lived. A three/four generation genealogy is a family history of a specific couple carried through their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and identifies all events and the history of each person in the first three generations, but lists only the birth and death information for the fourth generation. The hunt for the grandchildren of the original couple, in this case John Burns whose life spanned the 17th and 18th centuries and culminated in Tennessee, led me to examine the military records for the grandson, John Hardiman Bruce.
John H. Bruce filled out his questionnaire in his own handwriting, probably using a pencil. The wording and expressions reflected his educational background and southern roots. The questionnaire was extensive and filled with extraordinary information not available anywhere else. On the first page John listed the names of everyone he could remember who served with him and who enlisted with him from Chapel Hill, in Marshall County, Tennessee.
On the second page, John gave his full name including his middle name, the county in which he currently resided, and his age. I can easily calculate his month and year of birth because that page was stamped with a “date received” imprint. Other information gives his occupation; parents’ full name, place of birth; their parents’ full name; the value and amount of his real estate and personal holdings at the beginning of the war and that of his parents; and, the name of the female slave owned by his parents. He went on to write that his parents lived in a four room long cabin, certainly ample for that time. He states that he plowed much of the time; worked with a hoe, cut grain with a scythe; mowed hay with a mowing blade and picked up the hay with a wood fork. The reasoning for the previous question appears in parenthesis: “Certain historians claim that white men would not do work of this sort before the war.” He went on to disprove the theories of these “certain historians” on the following three pages.
The following pages explain his parents’ occupations and daily chores they performed for the welfare and support of the family. John Bruce also indicated that honest toil in the fields was considered by the community to be “respectable and honorable,” regardless of race. He acknowledges the congenial and encouraging social environment existing between the rich and the poor. John says he went to a free public school located 1.5 miles away. He explained his military enlistment information and all battles fought, including the first one. John’s experiences while in a Union prison in Louisville, Kentucky were heart rendering, including the terrible disease and medical treatment as a prisoner of the opposition.
The extraordinary questionnaires are the brainchild of Dr. Gus Dyer, Tennessee State Archivist, who developed the form and contacted every living Confederate Veteran in 1914. The questions are specific and relate to the soldier’s experiences before, during, and after the war. From these one can learn valuable personal and family information, class and race distinctions, as well as education and occupations during the soldier’s life. If your aging ancestors lived in Tennessee, fought in the War from Tennessee, and lived to contribute a questionnaire, these records are invaluable toward collecting pertinent and personal information on your family’s history. Your success is boundless if you investigate everything!
If you have Tennessee soldiers, check for his name on the Tennessee State Library and Archives’ online index at www.tn.gov/tsla/history/military/quest.htm and have them deliver the documents electronically to one specified email address or placed on a CD. A paper copy mailed to your home is another option. There is a $20 charge for these documents in any format. You may also write to the Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312.
Brenda Kellow has a bachelor's degree in history, teaches, and lectures on genealogy. Before retiring to publish her family’s histories in 2007, Brenda held certification as a Certified Genealogist and as a Certified Genealogical Instructor. Send reunion announcements, books to review, and genealogy queries to: [email protected].