BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MOODY
The above Confederate Veteran is the most honored ancestor of Dewey Gary Worthan, a member of Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp # 469 in Rome, GA. Private Benjamin Franklin Moody enlisted in Co E, 35th GA Inf in Campbell County (now Douglas), Georgia on August 12, 1861 and was killed from a gunshot wound through the head on June 26, 1862 in Hanover, VA in the Seven Days Battle and is buried on the battlefield.
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The above photo, taken in the Spring of 1892 and furnished by Compatriot Worthan, is of his following relatives:
1 - Great Uncle "Bud" McCoy North
2 - Great-Great-Grandfather, William O. North, husband of # 5
3 - (baby) Francis, daughter of Nancy Camella Moody North
4 - (1st woman in rear) Great Aunt Allie North
5 - Great-Great-Grandmother, Nancy Camella (Moody) North
6 - Great Grandmother Minnie North Milam, b 1876, d 1958
7 - Great-Great-Great-Grandmother Martha Jane Moody, widow of Private Benjamin Franklin Moody, b 1830, d 1912
8 - Great Uncle Arthur North
The following story was related to Compatriot Worthan by his great-grandmother Minnie who had it related to her by her great-grandmother Moody:
"When Sherman's troops came through her community the Yankees were taking anything that wasn't nailed down, and burning the rest. When one of the neighbors rode up to Grandma Moody's farm and shouted that the Yankees were just up the road, she put a rope around the milk cow's neck, leading her to a small cave on the Dog River about a mile away. The Yankees stayed in the area for some time and she would go to the cave and milk the cow after dark. The cow was used to being milked earlier than that and would start bellowing. The Yankees could hear a cow off in the distance, but could never figure out where the noise was coming from."
Compatriot Worthan also states that "...in the photo you can see that Uncle Bud and my Great grandmother are holding little photos. I was told that these are of B.F Moody and Martha Jane Moody. I have never been able to find out for sure and never found out what happened to the photos. The log cabin that my Grandma Moody lived in burned in 1900 and I think that she lost a lot of things in the fire."
Many letters were exchanged between Private Benjamin Franklin Moody and his wife, family and friends. These letters dealt with everything from how much he was missed by his family, to concern for how his family was 'bearing up' under the experience of war, to mundane camp life. After much deliberation, it was decided to feature each letter on its own page. When the letters are translated, they will be archived here.
SCV Camp 469 owes a debt of gratitude to Jackie Dolby of The Dolby's Confederacy in Churchville, NY for spending a great amount of time digitally enhancing the photograph of compatriot Worthan's family this website was originally using.