Deposition P
20 June 1890
Patsy Cleage

            I will be 44 years old in October, I am the wife of Amos Jackson and my post office is Athens, Tenn. I was a slave of Alex and Jemima Cleage from the time I was born until Sherman went through here during the war. I was a servant in the house. I was nurse girl. Katie Cleage was a house servant. She was a seamstress. I knew Philip Cleage.  He was my brother.

My brother Philip and Katie were never married. They never lived together as husband and wife. Philip worked on the farm. Sometimes they had him drive the carriage. Katie and Adeline Sherman slept in the dining room together. I slept upstairs with my young mistress in her room. Katie never had but the one room in the quarters. That was when she was shut out. Yes sir, I remember about their putting her in a room and locking her up an did not allow any of the children to go down there. I was small but I remember that, I do not remember about her having any children, only what I have heard the old people talk over since I have been grown.

When my brother Philip went in the army he took us with him to Knoxville and I washed in the hospital. Philip was all my protection after my mother and father died. I did not go to Chattanooga with Philip, he died shortly after he went there. Katie never was in Knoxville with my brother Philip during the war. I do not know whether she went to Chattanooga or not. I never knew Preacher McCaury. I understand that Katie and Philip never married or that they ever lived together. About nineteen years ago Katie and a man came to Athens from Chattanooga. She introduced him to us as her husband. His name was Moses Evans of Chattanooga. She just came on a visit and did not stay long.

I am positive Katie never staid with Philip when we lived on the farm. Philip when he came in used to stay at Aunt Sallie Cleage’s, my mother when she died left Philip to Aunt Sallie’s care and left us in my young mistress’s charge.

I am interested in my brother, I am not interested in this claim. I have fully understood all your questions and my answers have been correctly recorded.

Patsy (her mark X) Cleage Jackson
20 June 1890

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Patsy says that she was much younger than Katie, but they were actually about the same age, in fact, going by the ages they give on their depositions, Katie is a year or so younger. Patsy was Philip’s sister.

I found the information for this post in Katie Cleage’s Civil War Pension file and Ancestry.com.

For links to the other posts in this series, click this link – Katie Cleage’s Pension Hearing

Deposition O

18 June 1890
James F. Bradford

I am 51 years of age, a farmer and my post office address is Athens, Tenn.

I never knew the claimant that I now recall. I never knew Philip Cleage. I owned a servant named Nelson McCaury and his wife and family. They went by the name of Bradford until after the war and then they took the name of McCaury. Lucy McCaury was the wife of Nelson and she now lives in Chattanooga. She is a very truthful, strictly truthful and strictly honest, I would take her word as quick as I would anybody, black or white, she was strictly reliable all her life.

Nelson was morally a good negro and a religious negro but if ever he preached any I don’t know it. I never knew that he performed the marriage ceremony for any one.  He died sometime during the latter part of the war. He must have died somewhere from 1862 or 3, probably later than that, but it was certainly during the war. I was away from home when he died. I was away from home all the time from 1863 in 1864 and until the surrender in April 1865 and he died during that time.

I have no interest in this claim. My answers have been correctly recorded.

James F. Bradford
18 June 1890

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James F. Bradford is the former and final slave holder of the Bradford/McCauly family. Above is a list of the enslaved owned by his father, (also named James F. Bradford) at his death. Apparently they then passed on to the son.

I found the information for this post in Katie Cleage’s Civil War Pension file and on ancestry.com

For links to the other posts in this series, click this link – Katie Cleage’s Pension Hearing

Deposition M
18 June, 1890
Thomas Bradford

I am about 52 years of age, a gardener and my post office address is, Athens, Tenn.

            I remember Katie Cleage. I knew her here at Athens when Cleage used to live here before the war. I was pretty well acquainted with her, she was a young girl then. I knew Philip Cleage well. They were kin to me by marriage. Philip was in the same regiment and company with me. I was in Co. A. 1^st U.S.C.H. Arty. No sir, Philip was not married at all, he was a single man. Katie was not married up to the war, after the war I do not know what became of her, I never seen her any after the war. Katie and Philip never lived together as man and wife before the war and I know they did not after the war because he died before the war ended.

I was with the company at Chattanooga the biggest part of the time. I was there when Philip took the smallpox and was sent to the hospital and just before we were mustered out my brother was taken and we left him there and after he got better he made Chattanooga his home. He died five or six years ago. When we were in Chattanooga Katie was not there at all, if she was I never heard of it. Her master took her off south during the war and I don’t know whether she had got back or not. I do not know whether Katie had any children, I think that she did have a white child.  That was very customary here in the south though. I am positive she was not in camp at Chattanooga with Philip.

I know Nelson McCaury, he kind of prayed at marriages. I don’t know as he was a preacher, he might have been too, the way darkies preached three days. His wife was named Lucy McCaury. Nelson McCaury raised me. I was a boy and was kept under his care. He died. I know it must have been between five and six years before the war. The war began in 1861 and it was five or six years before that. I am a little related to the claimant by marriage. I have not seen her since the war. I have fully understood all your questions and my answers have been correctly recorded.

Thomas Bradford
18 June 1890

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All I could find on Thomas Bradford was his military file, his name on a Will as a member of the enslaved household of Nelson and Lucy and his gravestone.

Sgt. Co. A, 1st USCHA, USA Burial Cedar Grove Cemetery, Athens, McMinn County, TN
Enlisted Jan. 26, 1864 in Knoxville, promoted to Corporal Sept. 21, 1865, and mustered out Mar. 31, 1866

Deposition K

Lucy McCaury
16 June 1890

I am 86 years of age, will be on the 4^th day of July and my post office address is, D at Peabody’s Row, Chattanooga, Tenn. I have lived in Athens, Tenn. ever since 1888. I lived at James Bradford’s, near the plantation of Alex Cleage and Jemima Cleage.

            I knew Katie Cleage the claimant from the time she was a little girl until near, about the wind up of the war. I have only seen her once since the surrender and just spoke to her, that was about two years after the surrender. I met her at a meeting. Yes sir, Katie was married during the time I knew her, I knew when she was married. I was there the same evening that they were married. My husband was a preacher and I knew he married Katie to Philip Cleage. It was the first of the war when they were married I don’t think I can be mistaken, I know I was in the room when they were married, it seems as natural to us now as it did then. I do not know of but one Katie Cleage.  The Katie Cleage that I know was not a hand out anywhere. She worked in the house for Mrs. Cleage. Philip was a laborer on the farm.

The night they were married they had a frolic on the Cleage farm. I do not know where Katie slept after she was married, but before that she slept in the main house on the farm.  I frequently visited Philip and Katie and they had their own room in the quarters. They had two children, I don’t know whether they lived or not. Philip went in the army. I can’t tell how long after they were married. If Katie had any children before she was married to Philip I don’t know it, I think it was a short time after they were married she had one and then again after that I heard there was a birth. I never saw Philip after he went in the army. Katie never had any other husband besides Philip, if she had I never heard of it. She was quite young when she married Philip.

I am not related. I have no interest in this claim for a pension. I am sure I am not mistaken about my husband marrying Katie and Philip. It was in the Cleage house, in the cabin, in those days they did not marry as they do now. They just came in from the yard to the house. There were a good many present when they were married. I don’t recall now particularly who was there, but the room was full. Yes sir, there were white people there. I did not see, I never noticed particularly about whether any of the white members of the Cleage family were there.

Q. Katie says she was married on the steps of the mansion and by her master Aleck Cleage?
A. I think she is very much mistaken, I don’t mean to say only what is right and I think I am right in what I have stated.

By Client’s Atty

Q. Did the Cleage’s keep a family carriage?
A. Yes sir.

Q. You don’t remember who drove the carriage, whether they had a coachman or not?
A. Yes sir, Jerry was the real old driver from the start and then they had a smaller man come in to drive.

Q. Did you know anyone else on the plantation who performed the marriages besides your husband?
A. The master or missus sometimes said some sort of foolish ceremony and then they would go off to live.

Lucy (her mark) McCaury

Q. Each couple considered themselves married after ceremony and felt obligated not to marry anybody else?
A. Yes sir.

Re-direct

Q. Have you fully understood all the questions and have I set down your answers correctly?
A. Yes sir, I have understood it all

Lucy (her mark) McCaury

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After writing this blog post, I realized that Lucy McCaury was the mother of Malinda Allen who was deposed yesterday. More on this and on Lucy McCaury’s family and life in the records later.

I found the information for this post in Katie Cleage’s Civil War Pension file, and any links above.

For links to the other posts in this series, click this link – Katie Cleage’s Pension Hearing

There were 2 brothers (Charles A. and Lewis) and a sister (Patsy). Lewis has since died. In 1872 they testified, under oath, that their brother Philip never married and that they were the next of kin and eligible to collect the money that the government owed him, as a soldier, at his death. If the siblings admit Philip was married, it would mean they lied, under oath, to receive the money. Perhaps they would have to give it back. They probably believed they would anyway. The money they collected, about $40 then, would be worth about $823 today. The siblings do not stand to gain anything else. They would not qualify for the pension Katie is applying for as they were not his dependents.

This letter was written in 1883, eleven years after Philip’s siblings collected his bounty and arrears pay and one year after Katie began the application process to receive a pension. At that time, her first lawyer was doing nothing to advance her case. She talked about that in this post -> Claimant’s Statement. The depositions we are reading now were taken in 1889 and 1890.

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Treasury Department, Second Auditor’s Office
Washington, February 23, 1883
Respectfully returned to the Hon. Commissioner of Pensions

            In the case of Phillip Cleage late Corp’l Co. A: of “U.S.C.H.A. Vols. $40.50 arrears of pay to include Feb.’ 18 1866, ware allowed Chas, Lewis and Patsy Cleage, brothers and sister of said soldier, by Certificate, 589287, March 29, 1872.

            In their application executed Sept. 5, 1871, the brothers and sister state that soldier has never married and leaves no widow nor children.

            Alexander Cleage and David Cleage, the identifying witnesses, swear to soldier’s celibacy, from acquaintance of twenty-three years; they also swear that claimants and the soldier and their parents belonged to them and that they, (claimants and soldier) were children of the same mother.

            June 5, 1882 Katie Cleage files her application in which she states that she is the widow of the said soldier and was married to him June 1863 near Athens Tenn. by one Alexander Cleage, their former owner, who pronounced them man and wife, after the manner of slaves.

            John Rowland and Benj. A. Cobb identified claimant as the widow of soldier and testify that they lived and cohabited together as man and wife; that they served in the same regiment with soldiers and know that he obtained a furlough to visit claimant and that when he was sick with smallpox claimant visited him as his wife; they swear to acquaintance from childhood.

           It appears through correspondence of this office with the P.M. at Athens Tenn. that Germina (Jemima) Cleage, widow of Alex. Cleage, denies that her husband performed the marriage ceremony between soldier and claimant and states that soldier was never married; that they lived together as many slaves did prior to the war, that Lewis and Patsy are the only surviving heirs; that a short time before her husband’s death, soldier called to see his old master and told him that he had never married; and that she never heard of soldier living with Kittie or any other woman and thinks it is a made up case.

            Dennis, Auditor, L.W.L 77

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I found the information for this post in Katie Cleage’s Civil War Pension file, and papers from the Freedman’s Bureau, (who dispersed the money) found on FamilySearch.org .

For links to the other posts in this series, click this link – Katie Cleage’s Pension Hearing

This is Isaac Charlton’s third deposition.

Deposition H

Isaac Charlton
14 June 189

I am 49 years of age about, I have no occupation because disabled and my post office address is Harrison Ave (No. 140) Chattanooga, Tenn.

            I knew Philip Cleage before the late war, I did not know the claimant though. Philip was in my company and was a good soldier, was promoted a sergeant just before he died. I have made a statement in this case before special examiner Getchell. I know the fact that claimant came to camp at Chattanooga and staid with Philip. I know for this reason, I was made Patrol sergeant to keep the women out of camp, only those who had husbands. I was ordered to allow the claimant in to be with her husband Philip and I did do so and she was with him until he was taken out and carried up the hill and she followed him and when they found he had the small pox they sent her back and I lost track of her. I was a sgt. In Co. A, 1^st U.S.C.H. Arty.

Question: Are you acquainted with Philip’s brothers and sister?
Answer: I was with his brothers and have seen his sister Patsy often.

 Question: have you ever been approached by any of Philip’s family or Atty. since the war for the purpose of securing your testimony in their claim for a bounty?
Answer: It must be about fifteen years ago, Charles and Lewis and Patsy came here to see a claim against named – Snyder and Mr. Snyder said I might make a good affidavit for them and I said Philip had a wife. The brothers said that Philip had no wife. I refused to testify because I knew he had. Our Capt. Elliott gave Philip and myself a pass to go home to see our wives. Capt., said there was no use in any of the boys asking for a pass unless they were married. I went as far as Sweetwater, Tenn., and went through the country home and Philip went in down to Athens. This was before I ever saw Philip’s wife. I do not know as to whether or not Philip’s brothers got the back pay and bounty, but they went on to Washington to get it. I do not know what informants they had, but I saw the names of one of the Cleage family, but I didn’t remember which one it was.

I lost sight of the claimant for eight or ten years after the war and since then I have seen her frequently except about two and one half years I was sick. I have never known and never have heard that she has remarried. I know very little about her children. She told me the child my wife took care of was a little boy she was raising. I am not related. I have no interest in this claim for a pension.

I have fully understood all your questions and my answers have been correctly recorded.

Isaac Charlton

14 June 1890

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Tomorrow will be a flashback about the siblings and Philip’s bounty. The two surving siblings, Charles A. and Patsy will soon be giving testimony and, not surprisingly, casting aspersions on Katie’s character and marriage.

I found the information for this post in Katie Cleage’s Civil War Pension files .

For links to the other posts in this series, click this link – Katie Cleage’s Pension Hearing

Deposition G

Edmonia Charlton

14 June 1890

I don’t know my age exactly. I never did know. I must have been about 10 years old at the beginning of the war. I am the wife of Isaac Charlton and my post office address is East 2^nd of Harrison Ave., Chattanooga, Tenn. I have known the claimant for twelve or more years, I have lived near her and known her well. She has been a hard working woman ever since I have been acquainted with her. She had one child when I first got acquainted with her. I don’t know how many she has now for I have not lived near her for about seven years. I took care of the child I know about, when she, the claimant, was working out. She has never lived with any husband when I was taking care of the child, I don’t know whether he died, or they were separated or what because I never asked her any questions. I never saw her husband.

No sir, I do not know that she had a husband, I just knew her as Katie when she worked at Mrs. Sherwood’s and when she got me to take care of this child. I never have seen her with any man. She never has lived with any man since I have known her. I never heard a thing against her character, she has always been steady and a hard working woman.

I am not related. I have no interest, not a bit in this claim for a pension. I have fully understood all your questions and my answers have been correctly recorded.  

Edmonia (her mark X) Charlton.  Isaac Charlton interprets the mark.

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Read about the Charltons at this link -> Edmonia and her husband Isaac Charlton

Resources I used for this post include: Katie Cleage’s Pension file and Ancestry.com

For links to the other posts in this series, click this link –> Katie Cleage’s Pension Hearing