"Find the grave of a veteran."
Who more fitting to talk about than my 3x Great-Grandfather, Philo Hilyer Sandefur.
Philo's military career began at twenty-two years old on September 7th, 1862, when he enlisted and was placed into Johnson's KY Cavalry, also known as the 10th KY Partisan Rangers (Cavalry) under Adam Rankin "Stovepipe" Johnson.
Philo would have sadly missed, by just a few months, Stovepipe's infamous taking of Newburgh, IN (although being a native Hendersonian, I'm sure he knew all about it)... but he would have definitely been in Morgan's Raid on the Ohio which took place in June & July of 1863. This is where Philo likely got his thumb shot off, and the deep scar he bears on his cheek.
Philo was taken as P.O.W. at this battle - and I believe he was released sometime in early 1864. I say this because his daughter, Josephine, was born October 1st, 1864, and because of DNA - I know she was definitely Philo's biological daughter.
According to historical notes - the men were not sent to a P.O.W. camp, but rather to the Ohio Penitentiary. Afterward, a lot of them were sent northwest to Camp Douglas in Chicago. I'm unsure if Philo was one of those men or not.
A little more about Philo besides just his military career --
Philo was born on February 20th, 1840, in Henderson County, Kentucky, to Tandy Sandefur and Shilo Watson (Shilo was his 2nd wife.) Sometime prior to the 1850 census, Tandy moved his family to Hoodsville, Jefferson Co, Arkansas. Reportedly in around 1852 - the family decided to make the journey back to Henderson and the parents, Tandy & Shilo, died on the journey back home.
On February 3rd, 1860, Philo married Miss Susan Rebecca Jarrett, daughter of the late Joshua Jarrett and Martha Washburn. Through her father - Susan had a rather famous half-brother... the outlaw, John Jarrett, who ran with the James-Younger Gang and even married Josephine "Josie" Younger... the namesake of Philo & Susan's daughter, Josephine (Sandefur) Carroll.
The next notable life event for Philo happened to be on June 8th, 1890, when he was admitted to the membership of Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church. To my knowledge - that's in Louisville and not Henderson, but, this information is in my Grandma's notes about Philo. It's possible she got the name of the church wrong or perhaps at one point in Henderson's history, we had a Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church. Someone more versed in Henderson history might be able to answer that.
As for jobs - Philo did a bit of this and that. In the 1860 census and at the time of his marriage, he was a merchant tailor in a store, also listed as a 'clerk in a store.' In the 1870 census, he's simply a farm laborer.
By 1880 - he's a retail grocer. I believe he might have ran his own grocery at his house or very near there. In the 1880 census, the address is given as "240 Green Street." (Or dwelling number, 240, at least.) I kind of did some sleuthing and wondered if it was a house that had previously sat on Green St. across from the old Save-a-Lot. Probably torn down ages and ages and ages ago.
In 1900, he is listed as a house painter, same in 1910. On his death certificate, it also lists his usual occupation as painter.
In the 1900 census -- Philo and his family live at 1419 Clay St. Today, there is no such address. The reason for that is the old Audubon School. A few years later, the city would likely buy Philo's property to knock it down to make way for the school. Philo moved his family across the street and they lived at 1421 Clay St for many, many decades afterward. (My 2x Grandparents, Eugene Henry Sandefur & Ollie Lee Moss lived there after Philo's passing.)
Philo unfortunately passed away on January 16th, 1915, at Western State Hospital in Hopkinsville. His death certificate says he died of "Exhaustion, a psychosis period, and involutive." Now, when one googles about "Involutive," you find "involutive cerebral disorders," and I believe that might have been an old name for such things we call today as Alzheimer's. In Grandma's notes, she had written down that he was "of an old age, feeble minded, and he'd wander off and get lost."
I actually found mention of his passing in the Evansville newspaper and it said:
Philo H. Sandefur, aged 75, one of the best known citizens of this city, died at Hopkinsville early this morning.
I'm proud to know that Philo was one of the 'best known citizens' of the town. Proud to be his 3x Great-Granddaughter.
As always, I'll give a little information of Philo and Susan's children - I've posted about them each before, but it doesn't hurt to do it again.
1) Joshua Jarrett Sandefur, named for his late maternal Grandfather. 11-20-1860 / 3-24-1861 (His tombstone in Fernwood has sadly toppled over.)
2) Nora Ella Sandefur, 2-6-1862 / 7-23-1915 (She died just a few months after her father.) Nora married Thomas W. Hicks. They're buried in Fernwood.
3) Josephine Lee "Josie" Sandefur, (named after Josephine "Josie" Younger Jarrett), 10-1-1864 / 12-21-1953. Married William Walker Carroll and moved to Colorado. They're buried in Riverside Cemetery in Denver, CO.
4) John Washburn Finley Sandefur, (His middle names come from his maternal Great-Grandparents James Washburn and Susan Finley), 10-23-1867 / 8-25-1910. Married Mary Elizabeth "Lizzie" Blandford. They're buried in Fernwood. (They lived in the 1900 census at 1438 Clay St. That house would have been sold and torn down to make way, a few years later, for the Audubon School. His father, too, owned a house at 1419 Clay St. that would be torn down to make room for the school. By the 1910 census, John has moved to 1431 Clay St. So he was living just a few houses down from Philo, who resided at 1421 at this point.)
5) Belle Sandefur, born in May of 1870 (she's two months old in the 1870 census).. and she had to have died between that census and 1880. I've found nothing else on her. She's likely buried in Fernwood Cemetery near family.
6) Nathaniel Philo Sandefur (obviously got Philo from his Dad's name), 1-1-1872 / 4-14-1962. Married Winifred "Winnie" Neaphen. They're buried in Fernwood Cemetery.
7) Annye Mae Sandefur, 12-8-1874 / 8-16-1941. She married Jesse Thomas Shuttleworth. They eventually moved to Clark Co, OH.. and she died in Cincinnati, OH. She's buried in Glen Haven Memorial Gardens, New Carlisle (Clark Co) OH.
8 ) Lastly, but not certainly least, my 2x Grandfather - Eugene Henry Sandefur, 3-16-1878 / 1-14-1951. He married Ollie Lee Moss. They lived at 1421 Clay St. until his death. He was a retired mailman. They, too, are buried in Fernwood.
Well, I hope y'all enjoyed getting to know Philo. Some of y'all have previously met him as I've posted about he and his wife, Susan, a few times in the past. Hopefully I told y'all something new about him this time around!
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