Let’s have a little fun. In this post, I’ll introduce newlyweds who are a Confederate from Iowa and his wife. I’ll describe challenges in their early marriage. I invite you to think like Dr. Phil. What advice would you give? In the next post (on February 2), I’ll tell you what happened to the couple.
Hopes and dreams
On their wedding day, Nancy and John Shipley had great hopes and dreams. They married amidst the gloomy financial Panic of 1857. Twenty-five-year-old John and 19-year-old Nancy thought the best was yet to come.
But hard times became harder. Some men lost fortunes, others lost land. A history of neighboring Scott County notes, “Work became very scarce.”
Heading to Memphis
John and Nancy headed to Memphis, Tennessee, a town that was fairly booming. Companies were engaged in construction, and steamboat manufacturing, repair, and reconditioning.
And baby makes three
Nancy conceived and came back to Muscatine to deliver their son, William Everett Shipley, born in June 1860. Nancy and the baby rejoined John in Memphis. Nancy felt their marriage was “happy and contented.”
Back to Muscatine
After Lincoln was elected president, South Carolina threatened to secede in mid-November 1860. John sent Nancy and five-month-old William back to her parents’ home in Muscatine. She supposed it was “because of the political troubles.” Nancy’s parents supported her and the infant.
Missing her husband
Nancy missed her husband, so she returned to Memphis five months later, in April 1861, around the time of the firing upon Fort Sumter. John immediately sent her back to Muscatine, saying she “might find it difficult to get back.” A few weeks later, John enlisted in the Tennessee Infantry. He stopped sending letters, and he didn’t send any child support.
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It’s your turn. What advice would you give to Nancy and John? I’ll share what happened to them in the next post, on Feb. 2.
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I’m scheduled to speak at the Ames Public Library tomorrow, Wed., Jan. 20, from 10 a.m. to noon. I’ll address Genealogy Plus! I’ll share stories of three Confederates from Iowa. I’ll also tell how I conduct research and help attendees brainstorm about conducting their own research.
Caroline Lehman
19 Jan 2016Another great article! I copied the last one to add to our Civil War file at the Dover Museum since it dealt with a New London man.
Thanks
David Connon
19 Jan 2016Hi, Caroline. Thank you for your kind comments!
venvs70
19 Jan 2016Sorry, John sounds like a bum. He isn’t interested in keeping his family around (although he keeps proclaiming it’s for safety.) He quits corresponding and at no point does it ever say he helps support them while they aren’t with him.
I am sure there were plenty of other families that stuck it out together. Either that or we don’t have enough personal information yet about what their lives were like outside of Iowa.
David Connon
19 Jan 2016Hi, venvs70. Thanks for your pithy advice!
Arla
20 Jan 2016John was either a bum who didn’t want to work or a young man doing the best he could under trying circumstances. I have a tendency to think the latter. They were so young and the times were far from the best. Perhaps he kept sending her back home because he knew or suspected war was coming and wanted his family to be safe.
David Connon
20 Jan 2016Hi, Arla. Thanks for your thoughtful comments. And thanks for reading my blog!
Jackie
21 Jan 2016Enlisted in what TN regiment? That might answer the question!
David Connon
16 Feb 2016Hi, Jackie.
Thanks for reading my blog! Private John C. Shipley enlisted in Captain J.H. Edmondson’s Company, 1st Tennessee Regiment Infantry (later known as the 154 Senior Regiment Tennessee Infantry).