| Sources |
- [S104] Cocke County, Tennessee, and its People, Cocke County Heritage Book Committee, (Walsworth Publishing, 1992), 158, 226, 239.
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 15B, 31 Jan 2012.
Lauderdale among Civil War casualties in Georgia
The death of James Atkins Lauderdale in Georgia left his young wife and baby daughter to fend for themselves in a community ripped apart by the Civil war.
Born May 7, 1840 in the bright Hope community of neighboring Greene County, Lauderdale was the son of James and Elizabeth (Reaves) Lauderdale. Through both his mother and father, James descended from pioneers who moved into what would become Greene County shortly after the revolutionary war. When war broke out, initially James remained at home, but eventually cast his lot with the union. On august 26, 1862, he married Martha Anna Ottinger, a daugher of Peter and Anna (Maloy) Ottinger of the St. James community of Greene County. Martha, too, descended from some of the area’s earliest settlers. In fact, she was a granddaughter of revolutionary war veteran John Ottinger and his wife, the former Margaret Detterman.
John ottinger is remembered for his gift of land for the frst St. James Lutheran Church.
Martha quickly became pregnant, and James left for service shortly thereafter.
The couple’s only child, a daughter, was born in 1863, and christened ellen.
Meanwhile, James, who served with Company B, 8th Tennessee Infantry. Eventually the group found themselves outside Atlanta, where he was killed in a skirmish prior to the battle of Atlanta at lost Mountain. He was frst buried at new Hope Church. After the war, his body was moved to Marietta National Cemetery.
To the family’s knowledge, James never saw his baby daughter. A study of his military records has shown him present at all musters. If he did indeed return home long enough to meet his child, his visit would have been very brief.
Left a widow in her early 20s, Martha never remarried.
Ellen grew to maturity and married George Arthur Scott, a son of Confederate veteran Marcus Lafayette Scott and his wife, the former Martha Minerva Griffn, Cocke County residents, who are buried in Fowlers Grove Methodist Church Cemetery.
George proved to be an unfaithful husband. the couple became the parents of six children: Clarence, Zollie, lawrence, elzey, ora, and Markes (spelling taken from tombstone). In 1893, George and ellen divorced, and he remarried and fathered several more children.
Ellen and her children lived with Martha. ellen died two years later in 1895, quite possibly in childbirth, and was buried in salem lutheran Church Cemetery. Next to her tombstone is a tiny marker inscribed “Infant daughter of ellen lauderdale.” The identify of the father of ellen’s last child remains a mystery.
Martha (ottinger) lauderdale spent the last years of her life in the salem community, where she died in 1907. she was buried in salem lutheran Church Cemetery next to her only child ellen.
Perhaps because of the ugly divorce and subsequent harsh feelings between the two sets of children, few personal effects have been passed down in the family. However, treasured are a photograph of james, wearing his military uniform and holding his pistol, and a pair of gold-washed earrings he gave Martha when he left for service.
Smoky Mountain Homeplace
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1840 - 1864 (24 years)
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