Henry Harrison Church, (CSA)

HENRY HARRISON CHURCH, C.S.A. North Carolina Homeguard

Abstracted From Wilkes Heritage Book article 186.

In the spring of 1862, the faint rumblings of the war were beginning to be heard deep in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC. The Homeguard was a unit formed to hunt slackers and deserters.

Aaron Beshears was the commander in the area. Eager to please his father-in-law, Harrison Joined. The Homeguard had been pursuing James Calvin Phillips and was watching a cabin in which he was believed to be hiding. They knocked on the door and called "Open up in the name of the Homeguard". Nineteen-year-old Phillips managed to squeeze through a small window in the back of the log cabin and made a run for it. The Homeguard raised their rifles, there was a loud report and Phillips fell mortally wounded. Phillips agony ended with his death, but the agony of Harrison Church, the young Homeguard who shot him was just beginning. Instead of backing him up as they should have, the rest of the group claimed that their guns were not loaded, leaving Harrison to suffer alone. He spent the rest of his life seeking restitution for this mistake that haunted him to the grave.

A Granddaughter who lived in the Harrison Church family said that he told her: every time he closed his eyes he could see Phillips face and as he grew older he had hoped he might get some relief, but it only got worse.

He went on to become a Justice of the Peace, a Sunday school Superintendent, Mason and a well-respected man in the community that had forgiven him the act of a very young man. However, He never forgave himself and the intermarrying between the Phillips and Church Families reminded him of the tragedy almost daily. He died, still tormented mentally, by Phillips image in an insane asylum on 5 March 1917.

sources:

1. 1870 United States Federal Census; Name: Harrison Church; Age in 1870: 25; Birth Year: abt 1845; Birthplace: North Carolina; Home in 1870: Jobs Cabin, Wilkes, North Carolina; Race: White; Gender: Male; Post Office: Wilkesboro.
2. 1880 United States Federal Census; Name: Harrison H. Church; Age: 35; Birth Year: abt 1845; Birthplace: North Carolina; Home in 1880: Jobs Cabin, Wilkes, North Carolina; Race: White; Gender: Male; Relation to Head of House: Self (Head); Marital Status: Married; Spouse's Name: Claricy C. Church; Father's Birthplace: North Carolina; Mother's Birthplace: North Carolina; Occupation: Farmer.
3. North Carolina Death Certificates, 1909-1975; Name: Harrison H Church; Gender: Male; Race: White; Age: 73; Birth Date: abt 1844; Birth Place: Wilkes, North Carolina, United States; Death Date: 5 Mar 1917; Death Location: Morganton #2; Morganton, Burke.

links

• Jacquelyn J Sorby Family Page