William & James Mckelvy

Munn/Moore/‘McKelvy’ Family

CONFEDERATE WAR

There is a descendent of the Moore/Munn family whose family were in the Confederate War. Jabez McKelvy was a son of Andrew Jackson Moore Jr., FS# LCQ2-7TF, son of Andrew Jackson Moore whom you will read about in this book. He fought in the Confederate War dying while suffering from diarrhea as a prisoner. This brief story takes place in Camden, Arkansas.
Jabez McKelvey and his wife, Rebecca Parram Wright McKelvy, moved to Camden, Arkansas. They had 11 children. In the winter of 1862, only about two years after the family arrived in Arkansas, the unexpected happened. Jabez died on January 14, 1862 at the age of 59.
Rebecca was now left with the task of raising the younger children still at home and continuing on with managing the farm. Her oldest son, William, was away fighting in the war. Two months after Jabez had died, she got word that WILLIAM had died in the war. This news added to the family’s grief. JAMES WESLEY, the second oldest son, enlisted in the 33rd Arkansas infantry at Camden in June of 1862.
The war Jabez and Rebecca thought would never reach Arkansas had now claimed one of their sons and another was in the service.
It was ironic that these sons of Jabez were fighting for the Confederacy while some of the sons of William McKelvy, his brother, who had settled in Franklin County, Tennessee, and had now ended up in Missouri, were fighting for the Union. This was truly a “civil war” in that family members sometimes ended up fighting on opposite sides.
Major battles were being fought with thousands of men being killed or injured. Word was received of huge battles at Gettysburg and Vicksburg and about General Sherman’s march through Georgia destroying almost everything in his path. Battles were even being fought here in Arkansas. Soldiers passed near the McKelvy farm in 1864 on their way to Camden and had camped at Dr. Rook’s plantation less than a mile from the McKelvy farm. A few days later, these soldiers were involved in the Battle of Poison Springs a few miles further east resulting in hundreds being killed.
Finally, in 1865 the war ended after four long years. Soldiers who survived gradually made their way back home, many suffering from the scars of war both physically and mentally. James Wesley McKelvy was one of the survivors and returned to his home and became the head of the family since he was the oldest male. He did all he could to help his mother manage the farm while getting on with his life following the war.