Vala's Grandfather & Ray, Sr's Grandfather Fought Together at the Battle of Chattanooga

   
 
     James Young Davis, the father of Vala's mother, Edith Davis, was part of the 22nd Illinois Voluntary Infantry. As part of that he was at Missionary Ridge on November 25, 1863. Hiram Ellingwood, the father of Ray, Sr's mother, Emma Ellingwood, was a member of the 79th Indiana. And as a member of that he was also part of the taking of the rifle pits in front of Missionary Ridge on November 25, 1863.



 Recently I came across this postcard dated -

Edith  Eda Davis
circa 1878

Friend Eda    -    March 10, 1884

To knit and spin was once a girls employment

 but now to dress and have a beau is all the girls' enjoyment.

Reno, Bond County, Illinois

March 10, 1884 or possibly 1887 or 1889

and on the back -

I wish you a long and happy life

That you may make some young man a loving wife

Your friend, Ella - Nevada, Mo, Walnut St

Postcard

Other side of postcard

      I did what we all do now and Googled the front of the postcard. It turns up in a book about grammar that came out in 1882. I'm assuming it may have floated around before that; thus its appearance in a book.

      That is all prelude as to why I am writing this today. The discovery of the postcard sent me to look for evidence as to whether Vala's mother, Edith Davis, ever went by Eda. Today I found it in the census record from 1880 - there she is listed as Eda L. She had a sister, Ida, and a sister, Sarah, who went by Sada. So the three sisters were Eda, Ida and Sada. There were two brothers, James and Clyde, but I don't know if they had nicknames, too.

James, Sada, Edith, Clyde - back row
Helen Harned Davis & Ida circa 1897
(James Young Davis died in 1884)

     In my earlier search on Ancestry.com for information about the Davises, I ran across information that Edith's father, James Young Davis, had fought in the Civil War.  If you click on this, it lists James as being 5' 9" with  fair complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. Not only had he fought in the War, but he had participated in the Battle of Chattanooga which I've been reading about lately. This past summer I read Grant's memoir and also a Grant biography and was transcribing from the Internet, a history of the 79th Indiana in which Ray, Sr's, grandfather, Hiram Ellingwood, took part. Chris and I have discussed Grant and this battle specifically because, as Chris pointed out, nearly all the Union generals participated. While Davis was part of the 22nd Illinois Infantry which at this point in the war was under General Sheridan, Ellingwood was under General Thomas. The Union and Confederate forces had sparred with each other through out the fall and then in late November, the Battle for Missionary Ridge in the Battle of Chattanooga took place. General Thomas' forces including the 79th Indiana stormed the rifle pits of the confederates at the bottom of the ridge, but then kept on going, routing the Confederate forces. Some have written it was the most decisive charge of the war as it pushed the Confederates out of there and opened the way for Sherman's march.

     James Davis survived the war and was mustered out in the summer of 1864. In the spring of 1865, he married his first cousin, Helen Harned. Edith was born the following summer. Edith was born and grew up in Illinois, but she had a connection with the McClennys in Valley Falls and clearly spent enough time there to meet John McClenny. After she and John were married in 1890, they lived in Valley Falls, but their two middle children, Otis and Vala, were born back in her home area. Edith's father, James, had died in 1884.

     Hiram Ellingwood survived the Battle of Chattanooga, but died the following September and is buried in the Chattanooga National Cemetery.  His daughter, Emma, who was three years old when he died, grew up in Hamilton, Indiana and married Elias Morgan there in 1881. The Morgans eventually moved to Valley Falls where Ray would meet Vala, the grandchildren of two grandfathers who fought in the same battle and both of whom didn't live to see their grandchildren.