Individual Details
James H. FURR
(December, 1842 - April 7, 1911)
James H. Furr, the oldest child of William McGuffin Furr and Frances H. "Fannie" Sly, was born in December 1842 in Augusta County, Virginia. Sometime before 1850, the family moved to the Brownsburg area of Rockbridge County, where William operated the lumber mill that would later become known as "Furr's Mill." By 1852, there were five children: James, William McGuffin, Jr., Emily, Annie, and John. That year, William purchased a share in the mill with Thomas and William Paxtor. Brownsburg was, in those days, a busy commercial center situated on the stagecoach line between Staunton and Lexington. The mill thrived, and son James learned the millwright trade from his father.
There was a longstanding friendship between the Furr and McGuffin families of Rockbridge County. William's sister Martha married William McGuffin and had two sons by him--Charles and John, who were a little older than James. When the War for Southern Independence started, William and his family were still living near the mill in Rockbridge County. There were eight children by then. In May 1861, James's cousins Charles and John McGuffin, "joined up" with the 5th Regiment Virginia Infantry (later to become part of the famous "Stonewall Brigade" and known as the "Bloody Fifth") when it was organized. It wasn't long before James, who was now eighteen years old would join them.
On March 31, 1862, James H. Furr enlisted in Company D, 5th Virginia Infantry at Meem's Bottom, Augusta County, Virginia. If he had not enlisted, he would have been drafted soon, anyway. His father, William, was very ill with what was, apparently, tuberculosis, and died in May. Another child was born to Fannie in August--Margaret Elvira, who would never know her father or see her oldest brother until the war was over. It seems that by the time he died, William had lost the mill. It last operated in 1862. Fannie was left a widow with seven children and another on the way, and was forced to sell all of the family possessions to make ends meet. She must have left Rockbridge County to stay with friends or relatives, but there is no record of her again until 1881, when her youngest daughter Margaret married William James Desmond in Shenandoah County. She never remarried and died in 1902.
Meanwhile, James was fighting his way with the 5th Virginia through the "Valley Campaign" and the battles of "Seven Days," "Second Manassas," "Sharpsburg," "Fredericksburg," and "Antietam." He was at "Chancellorsville" when "Stonewall" Jackson was accidentally shot by his own men." No diary or letters survive to describe the horrors and hardships he must have suffered through during this time. They have, however, been been well-documented by his compatriots.
He was with the 5th at Gettysburg on the morning of July 3rd, 1863, when, along with other Confederate infantry units, they were called upon to storm the Union position atop Culp's Hill. Three times they tried and three times they were driven back. The Union troops were well dug-in behind breastworks and had been reinforced during the night. The fighting was among the most fierce in the entire war. In the third attempt, which took place about 10:00 a.m., the 5th Virginia, under General James Walker, went against the 60th New York and the 56th Pennsylvania at about the middle of the Union position. James's cousin Corporal Charles McGuffin was cut down, severly wounded in the back. At some point, in the charge up the hill, James was hit twice--once in the left leg and again in the left foot. He, apparently, went down and lost consciousness, perhaps, from loss of blood--for he did not make it back down the hill. He may have been left for dead. When he was able, he seems to have managed to hide. The following morning he was captured by Union troops. His unit, the 5th Virginia, was gone from the field and in retreat along with the rest of Lee's army. Gettysburg had been lost.
After he was captured, James was kept in a hospital near Gettysburg, most likely a Union field hospital. The wound to his left leg was not serious, just a "flesh wound," but the wound to his left foot was "severe," and, no doubt, required surgery. Sometime during the week of July 17 to July 24, 1863, he was transferred to De Camp General Hospital on David's Island in Long Island Sound, off the coast of New Rochelle, New York. De Camp had originally been a hospital for wounded Union soldiers, but there were so many wounded Confederate prisoners after the Battle of Gettysburg that the War Department began utilizing it to treat them. Eventually, it housed more than 2,500 Confederate wounded. James spent the remainder of the war there and was paroled along with the other prisoners when it ended.
When he returned home to Virginia, nothing was left of his former life. For awhile, he stayed with his Aunt Martha and her husband. After the death of her husband William McGuffin, Martha had remarried, and her second husband, Abram Roadcap hired James to help out on their farm, near Goshen in Rockbridge County. Sometime before 1870, James married Elizabeth A. Harris, the daughter of Thomas Harris, a farmer from Walker's Creek in Rockbridge County. He and Elizabeth lived with the Harrises on their farm, but for how long it is not clear. In the 1870 Federal Census, James's occupation is listed as "millwright," but it is uncertain whether he was actually working as a millwright at that point. The Furr mill was no longer operating by then.
There is little information on the rest of James's life. The wound to his foot seems to have continued to trouble him, and he applied for a pension from the State of Virginia in 1905. At some point, he began working as a carpenter and moved to Staunton, Virginia in Augusta County. He and Elizabeth do not seem to have had any children, and sometime before about 1890, Elizabeth may have died--for, about that time James married for the second time. His second wife was Mary E. Harris, Elisabeth's younger sister. He and Mary were living in Staunton in 1910, and her brother John R. Harris and his daughter were residing with them.
In April of 1904, James joined the United Confederate Veterans and was admitted to Camp 469 "Stonewall Jackson Camp in Staunton, Virginia. He died on April 7, 1911 and was buried in the Old Providence Churchyard with his father.
William Desmond
Sources: U.S. Federal Censuses 1850-1920; Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers from Virginia Units, Washington, D.C.: The National Archives, NARA M324; "Augusta County, Virginia, Soldiers Records," Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War, Virginia Center for Digital History, University of Virginia (http://valley.lib.virginia.edu); Library of Congress, American Memory Collection (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amhome.html); Karl Furr, Furr Family Ancestors from William M. Furr and Frances 'Fannie' H. Sly to Elmer C. Furr, Karl D. Furr, 2011; Furr Surname Resource Center, http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~Furr/
There was a longstanding friendship between the Furr and McGuffin families of Rockbridge County. William's sister Martha married William McGuffin and had two sons by him--Charles and John, who were a little older than James. When the War for Southern Independence started, William and his family were still living near the mill in Rockbridge County. There were eight children by then. In May 1861, James's cousins Charles and John McGuffin, "joined up" with the 5th Regiment Virginia Infantry (later to become part of the famous "Stonewall Brigade" and known as the "Bloody Fifth") when it was organized. It wasn't long before James, who was now eighteen years old would join them.
On March 31, 1862, James H. Furr enlisted in Company D, 5th Virginia Infantry at Meem's Bottom, Augusta County, Virginia. If he had not enlisted, he would have been drafted soon, anyway. His father, William, was very ill with what was, apparently, tuberculosis, and died in May. Another child was born to Fannie in August--Margaret Elvira, who would never know her father or see her oldest brother until the war was over. It seems that by the time he died, William had lost the mill. It last operated in 1862. Fannie was left a widow with seven children and another on the way, and was forced to sell all of the family possessions to make ends meet. She must have left Rockbridge County to stay with friends or relatives, but there is no record of her again until 1881, when her youngest daughter Margaret married William James Desmond in Shenandoah County. She never remarried and died in 1902.
Meanwhile, James was fighting his way with the 5th Virginia through the "Valley Campaign" and the battles of "Seven Days," "Second Manassas," "Sharpsburg," "Fredericksburg," and "Antietam." He was at "Chancellorsville" when "Stonewall" Jackson was accidentally shot by his own men." No diary or letters survive to describe the horrors and hardships he must have suffered through during this time. They have, however, been been well-documented by his compatriots.
He was with the 5th at Gettysburg on the morning of July 3rd, 1863, when, along with other Confederate infantry units, they were called upon to storm the Union position atop Culp's Hill. Three times they tried and three times they were driven back. The Union troops were well dug-in behind breastworks and had been reinforced during the night. The fighting was among the most fierce in the entire war. In the third attempt, which took place about 10:00 a.m., the 5th Virginia, under General James Walker, went against the 60th New York and the 56th Pennsylvania at about the middle of the Union position. James's cousin Corporal Charles McGuffin was cut down, severly wounded in the back. At some point, in the charge up the hill, James was hit twice--once in the left leg and again in the left foot. He, apparently, went down and lost consciousness, perhaps, from loss of blood--for he did not make it back down the hill. He may have been left for dead. When he was able, he seems to have managed to hide. The following morning he was captured by Union troops. His unit, the 5th Virginia, was gone from the field and in retreat along with the rest of Lee's army. Gettysburg had been lost.
After he was captured, James was kept in a hospital near Gettysburg, most likely a Union field hospital. The wound to his left leg was not serious, just a "flesh wound," but the wound to his left foot was "severe," and, no doubt, required surgery. Sometime during the week of July 17 to July 24, 1863, he was transferred to De Camp General Hospital on David's Island in Long Island Sound, off the coast of New Rochelle, New York. De Camp had originally been a hospital for wounded Union soldiers, but there were so many wounded Confederate prisoners after the Battle of Gettysburg that the War Department began utilizing it to treat them. Eventually, it housed more than 2,500 Confederate wounded. James spent the remainder of the war there and was paroled along with the other prisoners when it ended.
When he returned home to Virginia, nothing was left of his former life. For awhile, he stayed with his Aunt Martha and her husband. After the death of her husband William McGuffin, Martha had remarried, and her second husband, Abram Roadcap hired James to help out on their farm, near Goshen in Rockbridge County. Sometime before 1870, James married Elizabeth A. Harris, the daughter of Thomas Harris, a farmer from Walker's Creek in Rockbridge County. He and Elizabeth lived with the Harrises on their farm, but for how long it is not clear. In the 1870 Federal Census, James's occupation is listed as "millwright," but it is uncertain whether he was actually working as a millwright at that point. The Furr mill was no longer operating by then.
There is little information on the rest of James's life. The wound to his foot seems to have continued to trouble him, and he applied for a pension from the State of Virginia in 1905. At some point, he began working as a carpenter and moved to Staunton, Virginia in Augusta County. He and Elizabeth do not seem to have had any children, and sometime before about 1890, Elizabeth may have died--for, about that time James married for the second time. His second wife was Mary E. Harris, Elisabeth's younger sister. He and Mary were living in Staunton in 1910, and her brother John R. Harris and his daughter were residing with them.
In April of 1904, James joined the United Confederate Veterans and was admitted to Camp 469 "Stonewall Jackson Camp in Staunton, Virginia. He died on April 7, 1911 and was buried in the Old Providence Churchyard with his father.
William Desmond
Sources: U.S. Federal Censuses 1850-1920; Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers from Virginia Units, Washington, D.C.: The National Archives, NARA M324; "Augusta County, Virginia, Soldiers Records," Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War, Virginia Center for Digital History, University of Virginia (http://valley.lib.virginia.edu); Library of Congress, American Memory Collection (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amhome.html); Karl Furr, Furr Family Ancestors from William M. Furr and Frances 'Fannie' H. Sly to Elmer C. Furr, Karl D. Furr, 2011; Furr Surname Resource Center, http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~Furr/
Events
| Birth | December, 1842 | Augusta County, VA | |||
| Marriage | April 26, 1892 | Augusta County, VA - Mollie Ellen HARRIS |  | ||
| Death | April 7, 1911 | Staunton, Augusta County, VA |  | | |
| Marriage | Elizabeth A. "Lizzie" | ||||
| Burial | Old Providence ARP Church Cemetery - New, Spottswood, Augusta County, VA | |
Families
| Spouse | Mollie Ellen HARRIS (1846 - ) |
| Spouse | Elizabeth A. "Lizzie" (1837 - 1890) |
| Father | William Milton FURR (1817 - 1862) |
| Mother | Frances Henrietta "Fannie" SLY (1824 - 1902) |
| Sibling | William Milton FURR Jr. (1845 - 1896) |
| Sibling | Emma Aguste "Emma" FURR (1846 - 1923) |
| Sibling | Annie Lutitia FURR (1850 - 1928) |
| Sibling | John Howard FURR (1852 - 1917) |
| Sibling | Stuart James FURR (1855 - 1931) |
| Sibling | Mary Rachel "Molly" FURR (1857 - 1901) |
| Sibling | Frances L. "Fannie" FURR (1858 - 1860) |
| Sibling | Frances L. FURR (1860 - 1927) |
| Sibling | Margaret Elvira "Mattie" FURR (1862 - 1942) |
Notes
Death
Mr. James H. Furr died this morning about ten o’clock at his home on Hamrick street, aged sixty-seven years. He had been ill for several months and his death was not unexpected. Mr. Furr was a gallant Confederate soldier, having enlisted in March 1862 in Company D., 5th Va. Infantry. He was wounded at the battle of Gettysburg. Mr. Furr is survived by his wife, wife who was a Miss Harris of Staunton, and two brothers and three sisters. The funeral will be held from Old Providence church, but the time has not been definitely decided upon. The following detail from Stonewall Jackson Camp, Confederate Veterans, of which Mr. Furr was a member, will attend the funeral; C. D. Stoneburner, J. A. Fauver, J. F. Brooke, Jas. W. Blackburn, Jerry M. Fuller, S. F. Pilson, J. N. McFarland, J. A. Huppman, W. S. Kerr and W. D. Waller.Staunton Daily Leader, Staunton, Virginia, April 7, 1911
Endnotes
1. "Virginia, Vital Records, 1715-1901", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6N7L-2MMS : 4 April 2023).
2. Staunton Daily Leader, Staunton, Virginia.
3. findagrave.com.