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Descendants of Thomas & Dorcas Patton May More photos of their descendants Album for Henry May [1824-1903] Charter member of Thomas C.Cecil Masonic Lodge No. 375 in Pikeville, KY. Photos of the children of Henry & Rhoda Harman May
Ray
Vaughn Cassell & Ginger May Sanders
Henry May b: 2 Mar 1824 Robinson Creek, Pike Co., KY d: 18 Dec 1903 North Tazewell, VA, and buried there in the family cemetery Age at death: 79 .... +Rhoda Harman b: 21 Nov 1825 m: 20 Oct 1847 Tazewell County, VA d: 7 Sep 1897 North Tazewell, VA, and buried there in the family cemetery Age at death: 71 During the Civil War, Henry served in the Confederate Army. Family records say he enlisted December 20, 1862 at Buchanan, Va. in the 10th KY Cavalry, the regiment of his first cousin, Col. Andrew Jackson May. Also in this company was his brother, David May, and his nephew Solomon. These two May men were killed near Mt. Sterling, KY, during the Battle of Cynthiana in June 1864. Family tradition tells us that after the death of Solomon, Henry took his nephew's horse, rode it through the remainder of the war, and then returned it to his brother, Solomon's father Samuel May, in Prestonsburg. Following the Civil War, Henry and his family moved to Vernon Co., WI and are listed there in the U.S. Cenus for 1870 and 1880.
Vaughn. Cassell, a descendant of Henry, gives us a logical explanation of his exodus from his home county about 1866: "In August 1862 the Virginia State Line [a military organization] entered Eastern Kentucky. Henry served as a civilian scout for the commander, Col. Menifee. They went to Piketon [Pikeville] and looted a general merchandise store belonging to John Dils, Jr. and Dils fled Pike County to Louisville, KY. In September of 1862 Dills was authorized to organize the 39th Mounted Infantry [Unior Army] and became its commanding Colonel. In 1866, in an effort to recover his losses from the 1862 raid on his store, Dils brought a civil law suit against Henry May in Pike Co. Court. He alleged that, as a civilian at the time of the raid, May was legally liable for Dils' losses in the 1862 raid." A record of the outcome of the suit was not cited by Mr. Cassell, but he suspects that Henry lost the suit and soon moved to Vernon Co., WI. Henry and his family lived in the Viroqua area for about sixteen years, near the farm of his oldest brother, Reuben May, a former Col. in the Union Army. In 1882 Henry, Rhoda and some of their children returned to Virginia and remained there the remainder of their lives.
Some letters from Henry's family during their years in Wisconsin have been preserved and were used as source material on a recent book written about the life of his brother Reuben:
Photos of the children of Henry & Rhoda Harman May
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