WYLEY FRAZIER CARROLL
The above Confederate Veteran is the most honored ancestor of Clarence Moody George, a member of Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 469 in Rome, GA.
Born April 14, 1837 in Alabama, Wiley Frazier Carroll was the youngest son of Richmond and Mary Carroll of North Carolina. Sometime after 1825 Richmond and Mary left North Carolina, moved to Tennessee, then on to Alabama. The family later moved to the Livingston area of Floyd Co., GA. It was here where he met Mary, the daughter of Levi and Nancy Leming. Wyley and Mary were married on May 12, 1859.
As Wyley and Mary were celebrating the birth of their first child, the Civil War broke out. Pvt. Carroll then enlisted in the CSA in August of 1862 and was sent to Savannah with the Co D, 29th Regiment of the Georgia Infantry that had been organized at Big Shanty, just north of Atlanta, during the summer of 1861. During 1863 he served in Mississippi during the siege of Vicksburg and Jackson while serving under General J.E. Johnson. In September of 1863 his unit was then sent to Chattanooga to participate in the campaigns with the Army of Tennessee from Chickamauga to Atlanta.
Pvt. Carroll was wounded in the fighting around Chattanooga during the winter of 1863, but was soon back with his unit and saw fighting near Kennesaw Mountain and Atlanta. He was captured in the battle of Peach Tree Creek on July 22, 1864 by forces under the command of Major General W.T. Sherman, sent up the line to be imprisoned at Camp Chase, Ohio.
While in prison he contracted smallpox and was hospitalized for ten days. He was held at Camp Chase until March 4, 1865 when he was then transferred to Richmond, VA. Here he was held until his release on March 11, 1865 when he promptly returned home to North Georgia and his family.
After the war, Pvt. Carroll resumed farming. His family continued to grow as well until there were eventually nine children. They were:
Melissa Jane, born on July 27, 1861, married W.P. George, and died on Jan. 15, 1947. W.P. and Melissa Jane were the Grandparents of Clarence Moody George.
Mary Elizabeth, born on Dec. 2, 1863, married Laurence Cooper, and died at McGregor, Texas
Harvey Jackson, born on Feb. 14, 1866, married Maggie Suits, and died in Feb. 1949
Nancy Octavia, born on May 12, 1868, and died on Nov. 6, 1963
Francis Victoria, born on May, 28, 1870, married J. Pullen Couey, and died on May 25, 1948
Thomas Wiley, born on Dec. 28, 1871, and died on Dec. 28, 1949
Annie Haseltine, born on Nov. 29, 1873, married Gilyard Busby, and died in 1920
Vinie Belzora, born on Mar. 7, 1875, married Minton Weldon, and died in 1911
Jesse Decater, born on Dec. 8, 1876, married Cordie Garrison, and died on June 5, 1949
Sadly, Mary C. Leming Carroll died in 1876 shortly after the birth of their last child and was buried in the Bush Arbor Cemetery which is located southwest of Rome, GA off the Blacks Bluff Road. The Bush Arbor Church had been very important to this family from its beginning as Wyley had helped haul rock for the foundation of the church and was an active member. After the death of Mary, Wyley joined some of his children who moved to Polk Co., GA. On July 30, 1910, Pvt. Wyley Frazier Carroll died in Polk Co., and was buried in Bush Arbor Cemetery next to Mary. A Confederate gravestone marks his final resting place.