Hugh Braly

His life in brief …

Hugh B. Bigham was born in 1798 in Mecklenburg, North Carolina and moved to Rutherford County, and then to Bedford County, Tennessee before 1820. He married his first wife, Elizabeth Ramsey, in Bedford County, Tenn., about 1821. They had the following children:

• Samuel Brawley (Braly) Bigham (1822 – 1902)
• William M. Bigham (1823 – 1898)
• John Bigham (1825 – 1877)
• David Bigham (1828 – ?)
• Mary Bigham (1830 – before 1854)
• Hugh Alexander Bigham (1833 – 1912)
• Infant son (1834)

Elizabeth died in 1834, and Hugh married Catherine Turner in late 1834 – early 1835 in Marshall County, Tennessee. Their children were:

• Malinda M. Bigham (1837 – ?)
• Leonidas S. Bigham (1839 – 1863)
• Francis M. (Finis) M Bigham (1840 – 1902)
• Rufus C. Bigham (1843 – ?)
• Felix E. Bigham (1845 – ?)
• Enoch E. Bigham (1847 – ?)
• Sara A. K. Bigham (1848 – ?)
• James T. (1850 – ?)
• Lucius Rush (1852 – ?)
• Mary* (1854 – ?)
• Nancy (1856 – ?)
• Sarah* (1858 – ?)

* Several long-time Bigham family historians have slight differences in names and dates of birth for the children, especially the girls. The list here is based on the most widely agreed upon information as well as on census records. The most obvious problem was the fact that there were two girls named Mary and two named Sarah. However, it very well may be that the two daughters were given the same Christian names as siblings who died in childhood. According to an article by Donna Przecha on “The Importance of Given Names,” published on Genealogy.com, this wasn’t an uncommon practice. “Up until this century, parents could usually count on one third of their children not surviving,” Przecha explains. “If a child died, the name was often used again. If a baby died, the next child of the same sex would often be given the same name. … If an older child died, a younger one would often be named for him or her. If you see George in the 1850 census as a six year old and then in the 1860 census as an eight year old, it may mean the first one died shortly after the 1850 census was taken.” If the list — with its duplicate Marys and Sarahs — is correct, this would be the logical explanation.

A surveyor and farmer by profession, Hugh moved his family to Pontotoc, Mississippi in or about 1839. In 1850, he was again living in Tennessee but by 1860 was listed in the census as living in Arkansas. He died in Arkansas in 1862. Catherine died in Arkansas in 1887.

Keeping — and breaking — traditions

In several important ways, Hugh Braly was a typical Bigham, sharing many of the strengths and weaknesses of his Scots-Irish heritage and his parent’s pioneering American spirit.

Of particular note to his ancestors, trying two centuries later to follow the course of his life, were his wanderlust… and his fecundity.

The wanderlust wasn’t always of his choosing, for the first big move, from his birthplace in Mecklenburg County, N.C. to Rutherford (and then Bedford County) Tenn., was as a young man traveling with his family.

Yet, even as an adult, he continued moving around with the restlessness that had, generations before, spurred his forebears to journey from Scotland to Ireland and then to America. From Bedford County, he moved to Marshall County, Tenn., then to Mississippi, back to Tennessee and finally to Arkansas.

His prodigious “productivity” was likewise a typical Scots-Irish trait. In his 2009 article, “Calvin and the Scots-Irish in America,” historian Bill Potter states: “The Scots-Irish fertility rate was 40% higher than most other groups; they increased their numbers exponentially. Modern DNA studies have proven that, for whatever reason, people of Scottish origin are still the most fecund race in the world.”

Within the space of 26 years, Hugh Braly fathered at least 14 children (some say as many as 19) by two wives. He is single-handedly responsible for hundreds (maybe thousands?) of Bigham cousins in this country. We have a lot to thank him for!

But in other ways, he broke new ground and was among that generation of Bighams who were definitely more American than Scots-Irish. The changes we saw hints of in his father’s generation flowered in Hugh’s, and although extended families often moved together and lived close by, never abandoning their abiding ties to the “clan” (more properly a Highlander term), they also struck out on their own.

Hugh Braly not only set down roots (albeit often temporary and shallow ones) in new areas of the country, but he blazed a professional trail by being a surveyor as well as a land owner and farmer.

1818 – 1839: Tennessee

Because most of our knowledge of the early generations of the American Bighams relies greatly on legal documents, very little is known of the lives of the Bigham children. Even family Bibles tended to record dates and names rather than the type of anecdotes family historians yearn for. Unless we’re lucky enough to have an ancestor who kept a diary, wrote letters, or in some way chronicled family members’ lives, we’re left with birth, marriage, census and death records and whatever legal or military accounts have been kept by the government.

That’s why Hugh was “invisible” for the first 30 years of his life. The 1800 and 1810 censuses recorded the number of people in a household, but except for the head of the household, no names. The census records for his father, William, in those years did not, therefore, make any specific note about Hugh.

By 1818, Hugh’s family had moved to Tennessee, a fact confirmed by a deed dated that year conveying land from John Haywood of Davidson Co., TN, to William Bigham of Bedford Co., TN. It reads:

“On Sept 8, 1818, John Haywood of Davidson Co, TN, conveyed to William Bigham, of Bedford Co, TN, 145 acres on West Rock Creek, Bedford Co, TN, for the sum of $1255.00: beginning on the east bank of said creek at an elm in the south boundary line of said Haywood which elm is the beginning corner of William Davis, thence west 205 poles to a beech poplar and ash, thence north with the patent line 150 poles to a beech and dogwood, thence east 118 poles to a small dogwood, thence south 32 poles to a sugartree, thence east 88 poles to a stake, thence with Davis’ line to the beginning.” (A transcription of this deed was sent to me by Knox Bigham, a long time family historian. No original source noted.)

The move, however, makes it even harder to trace the family, since the 1820 Tenn. census is incomplete (although it at least fared better than the 1800 Tenn. census records, which were all burned by the British during the war of 1812).

It’s only thanks to later census records that we can bring together some of the pieces to Hugh Braly’s puzzle. For instance, we know from an 1850 census that a son, Samuel, was born in 1822. It can be assumed, therefore, that Hugh married in or around 1821.

Family tradition indicates her name was Elizabeth Ramsey, a fact also noted in the WPA History of Pontotoc County. I can find no other official marriage record for the couple, which isn’t surprising since the state of Tennessee was only slightly more than two decades old and still quite a wilderness area. Nothing else is known of Ramsey other than her name. I’ve seen one reference to parents named Thomas Ramsey and Esther Dunwoody but have come across absolutely no information linking them to Hugh’s wife.

By 1830, when Hugh finally appears by name in the federal census from Bedford County, he has nine people in his household: six “free white persons” and three slaves. No names, other than Hugh’s as head of household, are included in the actual census. The names in parentheses below are my guesses as to which members of the household are referenced.

• Free White Persons – Males – Under 5: 2 (sons John and David)
• Free White Persons – Males – 5 thru 9: 2 (sons Samuel and William)
• Free White Persons – Males – 20 thru 29: 1 (Hugh Braly, head of household)
• Free White Persons – Females – 15 thru 19: 1 (Elizabeth Ramsey, his wife)
• Slaves – Males – Under 10: 1
• Slaves – Females – Under 10: 1
• Slaves – Females – 10 thru 23: 1
• Free White Persons – Under 20: 5
• Free White Persons – 20 thru 49: 1
• Total Free White Persons: 6
• Total Slaves: 3
• Total – All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored): 9

Since his father, William, is listed right above him in the census, Hugh was probably at that time living on the 18-1/2 acres of land on West Rock Creek given to him “for love and affection” (as the deed transfer record puts it) on May 21, 1830 by his father. (Deed book BB, pl 115-21, May 1830, as transcribed in the book “Land Deed Genealogy of Bedford County 1807-1852″ by Helen C. and Timothy R. Marsh).

It wasn’t much later — in1834 — that his wife Elizabeth died. We’re able to date this sad event by a mundane but poignant entry in the ledger of a cabinet maker by the name of Levi Cochran (who appears on the same 1830 Marshall County census sheet).

His daybook contains a number of entries for Hugh B. Bigham, including a large chest ($7), a folding table ($6), a bench ($1.12-1/2) and, on April 29, 1834, “one coffin for wife” ($4.50).

A month later, Hugh and all his siblings transferred 13 acres of land to a Daniel Putnam of Bedford County. Recorded on May 16, 1834 (and transcribed in the “Land Deed Genealogy” book mentioned above), the deed lists:

• Samuel Bigham
• Hugh B. Bigham
• Nancy Bigham
• Margaret S. Bigham
• Maria C. Bigham
• James Bigham
• Sarah Bigham
• James Clark of Rutherford Co., TN (Virginia Jane Bigham’s husband)
• William Bigham of Mecklenburg Co., NC, and
• Heirs of John Bigham, deceased

The document was witnessed by Thomas McKnight and Robert McCrory.

I’ve often seen inclusion of “infant son” on lists of Hugh’s children, with a birth date of 1834, leading to the assumption that, like many women of her time, Elizabeth died in childbirth. This, however, remains only conjecture at this point.

A second marriage (and more kids!)

Within a year, the 37-year-old Hugh Braly remarried, this time to 22-year-old Catherine Turner. Again, I can find no official record of this union but her first name appears in the 1850 census and her full name is included in the WPA History of Pontotoc County. Family historians all agree on this identification.

Catherine was just as fertile as her predecessor, and although there is some disagreement as to names and dates and places of birth, she gave him at least 10 children. It’s no wonder he had to work as a surveyor as well as a farmer.

Information sent to me by several Bigham family historians, including Knox Bigham, Joe Bigham, Bill Bigham, and Howard Bigham add some rich detail to Hugh’s story during these years… the kind of glimpses into lives that make our ancestors “real” instead of names on an old document. (THANK YOU!)

According to references in the Marshall Co. Court Minutes, Book A, p 129, Private Acts of Tennessee 1835-1836, chapter 35, Hugh surveyed and marked the boundary line for the newly created Marshall County. The change in boundaries account for him living in Bedford County in 1835 and Marshall County in 1838. He didn’t move; the county lines did.

On January 5, 1832, a Samuel Bigham, postmaster of Rock Creek (Knox Bigham believes to this to be Hugh Braly’s older brother) wrote to James K. Polk to apply for government surveyor work. Polk was a fellow Ulster Scot who was born in Mecklenburg, N.C. and moved to Tennessee in 1806, a decade before the Bighams did. In 1826, he became a member of the U.S. Congress, representing Tennessee. After a stint as governor of that state, he went on to win the Presidential election of 1844 and sit in the White House until 1849.

Apparently, Polk came through for the brothers, for Hugh eventually had to submit a claim to the Marshall County Court for $156 for the work he did “for services rendered in running out and marking said county in order to the establishment of the same.” The account was submitted on April 2, 1838 and it was nearly a year later that the court found in his favor. Twelve justices voted Aye and two, Adam Miller and John Chandler, voted Nay.

The court directed the clerk to “issue his order for the same to the Commissioners for laying off and selling the lots in the town of Lewisburg and [paying] (whenever the public buildings are completed and paid for) out of any money that may be in, or come into their hands from the sale of lots over and above paying for said public buildings that is not otherwise appropriated.”

The clerk’s order appears to have been issued Jan. 29, 1839. Source: Marshall County Court Minute Book A, p. 129.

Hugh also entered into several land transactions while in Marshall County, including:

To indenture & bargain & Sale of 93 acres & 148 Polls of Land was this day Proven before me by the oath of Hugh B. BIGHAM & Basel BROWN & by me as Such certified for registration Sept 4th 1837
M.W. OAKLEY (Clerk)
[Tennessee State Library and Archives Roll # A-2188 - Marshall Co. TN Probate Deeds 1836-1840, Page 68]

Hugh B. BIGHAM to Josiah DUNCAN to Indenture, bargain & Sale of 10 Acres of Land in Marshall County was this day acknowledged before me by the Said Hugh B. BIGHAM and certified for registration. February 5. 1838
M.W. OAKLEY ClerkBy D. McGAHEY DC[
TSLA Roll # A-2188 - Marshall Co. TN Probate Deeds 1836-1840, Page 68]

Squire LARUE Deed for 52 1/2 acres of Land executed to him by Joel L HART and James HART was proven by H B BIGHAM and Wm D LAWHON the Subscribing witnesses and was by me certified for Registration on March 5. 1838
M W OAKLEY Clk
By Wm WILLIAMS DC
[TSLA Roll # A-2188 - Marshall Co. TN Probate Deeds 1836-1840, Page 75]

Hugh B. BIGHAM to Levi COCHRAN to indenture and bargain and Sale of 70 acres of land in Marshall County was this day acknowledged before me by the Said BIGHAM and by me certified for registration December 22nd 1838
M.W. OAKLEY clk
[TSLA Roll # A-2188 - Marshall Co. TN Probate Deeds 1836-1840, Page 124]

Note: These records were all transcribed from Marshall County TN Probate Deeds by Dana K. Hill and published on the USGENWEB site (page for Oct 1836-1837 records; page for 1838 records; click here to read copyright notice).

1839 – 1849 (or so): Mississippi

Whether they simply got bored with Tennessee once their surveying work was finished, and wanted a change, or (more likely) hoped to find a more prosperous and wilder area to live in, the two brothers set off in 1839 for Pontotoc County, Mississippi, a quickly growing area that had been carved out of land the Chickasaw Indians had ceded to the U.S. under the Treaty of Pontotoc of 1832.

According to My Mississippi Genealogy: “In the year 1834, T.C. McMackin, who had kept a hotel at the original location of the Pontotoc land office, came into possession of the present site of Pontotoc town. He laid off the town and was of sufficient influence to move the old town of Pontotoc to the present site. Emigrants from Virginia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, north Alabama and Georgia, as well as from the older parts of Mississippi, rapidly settled the region, attracted by the cheap and fertile lands of the new cession. It was long regarded as the ‘garden spot’ of the South by the pioneers seeking homes in the new Southwest. Pontotoc is the county seat, was incorporated in 1837. The United States land office was located in that place and the town was fairly established at an early day.”

For more information on the area’s early years, read the WPA History of Pontotoc County, especially the interviews with several “old timers.” The WPA — Works Progress Administration — county histories were part of the Federal Writer’s project, which gave writers jobs during the Great Depression, and helped document American social history. They were written between 1935 and 1939.

The 1840 U.S. Federal census shows Hugh living there with an even larger household. Again the names in parentheses are my assumptions as to which of the Bigham children are included, based on their ages.

• Free White Persons – Males – Under 5: 1 (Leonidas)
• Free White Persons – Males – 5 thru 9: 1 (Hugh A.)
• Free White Persons – Males – 10 thru 14: 1 (David)
• Free White Persons – Males – 15 thru 19: 3 (William, John and Samuel)
• Free White Persons – Males – 40 thru 49: 1 (Hugh B, head of household)
• Free White Persons – Females – Under 5: 1 (Malinda)
• Free White Persons – Females – 5 thru 9: 1 (Mary)
• Free White Persons – Females – 20 thru 29: 1 (Catherine, Hugh’s wife, 27)
• Slaves – Males – Under 10: 2
• Slaves – Females – 10 thru 23: 1
• Total – All Persons (Free White, Free Colored, Slaves): 13
• Persons Employed in Agriculture: 4
• Free White Persons – Under 20: 8
• Free White Persons – 20 thru 49: 2
• Total Free White Persons: 10
• Total Slaves: 3
• Total All Persons – Free White, Free Colored, Slaves: 13

According to family historian Howard Bigham, “Hugh Bigham and many of his family came to Pontotoc County and settled. A family story tells of their coming in wagons and crossing the Tennessee River on rafts. Hugh continued to farm, survey and take part in the community affairs and was active in promoting the Methodist Church and in establishing schools for the education of their children.” He adds that one of the treasures they brought with them on the arduous journey was a square Rosewood piano!

It surprised me at first to see that Hugh Braly Bigham had apparently converted to Methodism from the Presbyterian Church which had long been a defining characteristic of the Ulster Scots, but when I researched more about the religious fervor of the day, I see that it was not an uncommon situation in the frontier.

An excellent article about the Presbyterian Church in America on the family history site Boyd Roots explores what happened during the 1730s and ’40s in the area of the country where Hugh Braly lived:

“During this period, the Methodists, Baptists and Presbyterians sent ministers to the frontier areas of Tennessee and Kentucky, as well as other states, to conduct revivals. There were many conversions and the church membership grew significantly. The Baptist and Methodists were much more successful than the Presbyterians, in large part because they were able to provide more ministers.

“W. M. Gewehr, historian of the first Great Awakening described the reason for the lack of appeal of the Presbyterians was: Presbyterianism, ‘with its intellectual demands of an elaborate creed’ and its high standards of education for its ministry, was at best restricted in its appeal. It was never able to reach and to stir the common folk as the Baptists did. The Presbyterians required that their ministers be college educated and therefore had great difficulty in the frontier areas in recruiting suitably qualified candidates. In 1802, the Cumberland Presbytery in Tennessee (of the Presbyterian Church in the USA) began licensing as pastors, men with little or no education in order to meet the demand for ministers. As a result, the Cumberland Presbytery was ousted in 1809 and in 1810 formed the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Dickson County, Tennessee.

“The Presbyterians were also less popular because they were outspoken critics of slavery, whereas the Methodists and Baptists were much more compromising on this issue. The conflict over the issue of slavery resulted in splits between the North and South in all of the major protestant sects that had large congregations in the South.”

The 1840s: A decade of change

Despite Hugh’s involvement in the Pontotoc community, he didn’t stay there long. Within a few years, he was back in Tennessee. But the move was only one of many changes the decade of the 1840s brought to the Bigham household.

In fairly quick succession, Hugh Braly’s four oldest children married and set up their own households in Pontotoc. In what sounds like the plot for a 1940s musical comedy, the four brothers married four sisters (or, possibly three sisters and a cousin … I haven’t quite figured it out yet, but they were all Phifers).

Samuel married Rachel Jane Phifer in 1844. In 1845, William took Margaret Amanda Phifer for his wife, and, a year later, John wedded Julia Ann Phifer. It would take Hugh Alexander a few more years to complete the set, but in 1852, he married a fourth Phifer girl, Sarah Paralee.

It really isn’t as incredible as it sounds. The Phifers and Bighams had been friends and neighbors for at least two generations, having lived in Mecklenburg County, N.C. and then moved first to Tennessee, and then to Pontotoc at about the same time. In an era before long-distance romances were feasible, marrying neighbors was about the only option young people had.

Not to be left out, David Bigham followed his brothers down the aisle in 1848, marrying Violet Cochran, who was likely related to Levi Cochran, the cabinet maker who lived nearby and supplied the coffin for David’s mother, Elizabeth Ramsey. (I’m assuming all the Phifer girls had been taken.)

As quickly as one child married and moved out, Hugh Braly fathered another. In the 1840s, the household grew to include Finis (1840), Rufus (1843), Felix (1845), Enoch (1847), Sarah (1848) and James (1850). Poor Catherine!

But the decade held sorrow as well as joy for the Bighams. In 1842, Hugh’s father, William, died, followed four years later by Sarah Braly, William’s wife of half a century and Hugh’s mother. Although no one knows for sure, it seems likely that Sarah’s death was the impetus for Hugh to move back to Marshall County in 1847. The date can be fixed fairly accurately since he appears on the Miss. State census in 1845 but later census records show his son Enoch was born in Tennessee in 1847.

The 1850 U.S. Federal census was the first to list names for all persons living in the household, as well as their ages and places of birth. This is a real treasure trove of genealogical information, although these records are rife with mistakes, misspellings, and illegible handwriting.

The 1850 census for Hugh is a joy, however: the census taker at least had fine, neat penmanship! From this one document, we learn the names, age and state of birth for eight of his children:

• Hugh B                    51 / NC
• Catherine (wife)     37 / TN
• Hugh A                    17 / TN
• Molinda M             13 / TN
• Leonadas S.*         11 / TN
• Finis M                   9 / MS
• Rufus C.                  8 / MS
• Felix E                     5 / MS
• Enoch E.                  3 / TN
• Sarah A.K.              2 / TN

* Spelled Leonidas on other records

Also listed as part of the household on the 1850 census are two females: 33-year old Julia A. Hubard and the delightfully named 9-year-old Tennysee (sic) Talley. I haven’t had time to do research into these individuals, although the Talley family shows up as neighbors on that same census. I’d love to know who they were. Does anyone know?

The 1850 slave schedule shows that Hugh owned only a single female slave. He apparently sold (or freed?) the slave “Big Ben” and Ben’s children — Joe Rufus, Lila, Samuel, and Anderson — who were left to Hugh by his mother. Her will specifically enjoined him “not to part the negroes.” I wonder if he fulfilled her dying wish.

1850s: On to Arkansas

We know very little about Hugh’s life in the 1850s, other than the fact that he added five more children to this family: James T. (1850), Lucius Rush (1852), Mary (1854), Nancy (1856), and Sarah (1858). As noted above, the repetition of the names Mary and Sarah appear to confirm the theory that the first girls to be given those names both died in childhood.

We know that, during the 1850s, Hugh moved with his family to a place called Bayou Cache in Arkansas, since that’s where the 1860 census takers caught up with him, but why or exactly when remain mysteries. At least three other people with the surname Bigham (Robert C., Samuel, and Levisa) had been living in Arkansas since the 1830s, but I haven’t determined their relationship to Hugh, if any.

I wonder if Hugh moved because he felt out of step with Tennessee politics. Much of the state was surprisingly pro-Union before the war and, in fact, on Feb. 9, 1861, a general election was held and voters chose not to secede from the Union. Only when Lincoln called up more volunteers did the Tennessee State Convention override the statewide election and vote for secession. The state was the last to leave the Union, doing so only after the fighting had begun. The theory is a little far-fetched, perhaps, but still possible.

The 1860 census is another mystery. It’s so full of discrepancies that it throws family historians into near total confusion! Compare the information in the two census forms for Hugh B, Catherine, and children Rufus, Enoch, and Sarah:

	1850 census age/place of birth	1860 census age/place of birth
Hugh B	51 / NC	75 / NC
Catherine	37 / TN	37 / NC
Rufus C.	8 / MS	17/ Ark
Enoch E.	3 / TN	20 / Ark
Sarah A.K.	2 / TN	4 / Ark

It’s possible, of course, that the Sarah who shows up on the 1860 census was the second daughter to receive that name (assuming the first, born in 1848 in Tennessee, died) but that still leaves too many other discrepancies. In addition, all of the children listed on the 1860 census are down as being born in Arkansas, including those we knew had been born when Hugh lived in either Tennessee or Mississippi. In short, it’s a mess and I agree with other family historians who feel the 1850 census is the correct one.

I can come up with two good reasons for the mistakes on the 1860 census. First, Hugh Braly was 62-years-old at the time and had fathered some 19 children in three different states by two different wives. Any parent could be forgiven for mixing up the dates, places, and names.

But more significantly, the census was taken in August, 1860 — when the entire nation was caught up in the political turmoil that would, in less than a year, break out in war. Just months earlier, in Feb. 1859, the Arkansas legislature had passed a bill banning all free blacks or mulattos from living in the state. News that radical abolitionist John Brown had raided Harpers Ferry would have reached Arkansas by then, the prospect of Abraham Lincoln as president loomed on the horizon, and people were already talking about seceding from the Union.

The Civil War. The War Between the States. The War of Northern Aggression. Call it what you will, Hugh, his family and his neighbors were standing on the precipice and they knew it. Hugh had eight sons and even a grandson old enough to take up arms and go to battle. His family, his land, his entire way of life was being threatened. Is it any surprise that he didn’t take time to provide accurate answers to a bunch of questions posed by the U.S. Federal census taker?

In fact, I wonder if some Southern families might have deliberately inflated the number of adult children in their families to make it appear that the southern states had more potential military strength than they actually had. One day, I’ll look to see if such “rapid aging” appears on other families at that time.

1861-1862: The war … and death

Hugh Braly had every reason to be worried. The war quickly became a very real presence in his life. His sons Samuel, Leonidas, and Finis, as well as grandson David C., all would eventually join the Confederate Army, and one would not return (although Hugh wouldn’t live long enough to know that).

Until 1862, the war seemed to avoid Arkansas, which was primarily rural and held little strategic value. But in February, that changed. Union General Samuel R. Curtis’s Army of the Southwest invaded Arkansas and skirmishes such as Bushy Creek, Knight’s Cove, the battles of St. Charles, Waddell’s Farm, Pea Ridge, Bentonville, Leetown, and Elkhorn Tavern brought the war to Hugh’s doorstep.

Then, on July 6, 1862, the two opposing armies engaged in battle at Bayou Cache — where Hugh was counted in the 1860 census. The July 21, 1862 issue of The New York Times covered the battle, from the Northern perspective, and that historic edition has been archived online.

Of particular interest is this passage:

“The houses along the road were filled with rebel wounded, and the porches and door steps were besmeared with blood, from those which they carried away… The enemy’s killed has been placed at 110, and by the Arkansas people, in sympathy with the rebels, still higher. They think 200 were killed. We buried 97 of their dead, and I think this will be the number that Col. HOVEY will adopt in his report. The number of rebel wounded will not probably amount to the usual proportion with the killed, as our Minie balls hit to kill.”

Family tradition says Hugh Braly Bigham died in 1862, in Cherry Valley, Arkansas, but none gives a cause of death. There’s little doubt in my mind that he was, directly or indirectly, a casualty of war. He may not have been felled by a “Minie ball” during the Bayou Cache battle, but I can’t imagine the anguish he — and Catherine — must have endured and the toll it took on their health to see their children either gone or planning to go to war.

For her part, Catherine personified the strength and endurance of all pioneer women, of wives who followed their husbands into the wilderness and worked side by side with them; of mothers who gave birth to children year after year, raised them and, too often, buried them.

She survived the heartbreak of having one son die in battle and two others come home wounded. But she also lived to see her grandchildren and great grandchildren before she died, at the age of 74, in Arkansas. Like her husband, Catherine’s final resting place is unknown.

The next person on my family tree — my great-great-grandfather — was the young son who died on the battlefield: Leonidas Bigham.