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September 2, 2008


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NEWS

Re-Enactors Memorialize Last Tennessee Daughter of Confederacy

By Joel Washburn
washburn@mckenziebanner.com

Civil War re-enactors, led by Ricky Revel of Henry, participated in the memorial service of Shellie Anderson. They fired a final gun salute to Mrs. Anderson.

MCKENZIE - Civil War re-enactors assisted in the memorial ceremony for Tennessee’s last first-generation daughter of the Civil War. Shellie Anderson, 100, was buried Wednesday, August 27 in the cemetery of Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church near McKenzie. She died Monday, August 25 at Oak Manor Nursing Home.

Reverend James McGuire provided the eulogy and reminded the congregation, who packed into the rural church, of her love for her church and for mankind. She outlived her contemporaries and many of her family members. He said her dad fought in the Civil War and her grandfather fought in the War of 1812. The three generations almost encompassed the entire history of the United States.

At the graveside, re-enactors gave a three-gun salute with their Civil War-era rifles.

McGuire said Shellie celebrated her 100th birthday in January at Shiloh Church. Family and friends filled the dining hall to honor a century of life.

Mrs. Anderson was the daughter of James Medlin, who fought for the Confederacy at Shiloh. He enlisted in October 1861 in McKenzie.

Anderson had the documentation to prove what seemed impossible. She was born January 28, 1908 in Carroll County to Mary Elizabeth (Pruett) and James Medlin. Shellie was one of three children born to that marriage. Her dad was 65 years old when Shellie was born.

The only other remaining daughter of the Confederacy, Mary Kathleen (Walsh) Hatcher, from McEwen, died earlier this year, according to a member of Anderson's family. Mrs. Anderson and Ms. Hatcher were among only six or seven first-generation descendents of the War Between the States in the world, as of information received in January on Shellie's 100th birthday.

James Medlin, born November 12, 1843, fought for the Confederacy, according to public information available at the Gordon Browning Museum in McKenzie. He was first sent to Oklahoma, Mississippi. His first skirmish was at Pillowville, between McKenzie and Greenfield. His regiment was Forkner's. He fought under Nathan Bedford Forrest at Shiloh, where he served two days and was injured. He was taken to a Corinth Mississippi hospital and later to Jackson Mississippi to complete his healing. He walked from Jackson Mississippi to Spring Creek near Jackson Tennessee and joined his family. He was discharged in 1863 at Jackson, Miss. A book of Civil War veterans at the Gordon Browning Museum in McKenzie, indicates Medlin was a cavalry soldier and unable to ride after his injury. In the book, Medlin completed a questionnaire, which indicated he was the son of John Joseph Medlin, who served as a captain in the War of 1812. James attended public school just three days. He worked at a grocery store as a child and was the owner of a store valued at $1000 when Union soldiers destroyed it. His parents had a log house and owned one slave, when he was a child. James' father was a shoemaker. After the war, James was a farmer and Baptist preacher. Medlin died August 15, 1930 and is buried at Crossroad Cemetery in Camden.

The Sons of the Confederacy honored Shellie as one of the few surviving daughters of a Confederate veteran during an October 14, 2000 ceremony at her father's gravesite.

As part of the 2000 ceremony, re-enactors, dressed in period costume, gave a three-gun salute in memory of James Thomas Medlin. Five generations of Medlins attended the ceremony.

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September 2, 2008