| Notes |
Griffin, Spalding Co., GA Civil War History:
"The following is a copy of a letter received by Benj. W. Doe with reference
to his attitude toward the South. This communication was found among his
personal papers and marked 'To be preserved to show to my grandchildren':
'Captain Benjamin Doe: The Undersigned Acting under Authority from citizens of
this City respectfully invite you to an interview with us a Four O'clock on
the subject of your relations to the Confederate States of America, and your
avowed sentiments with reference thereto. At which meeting we will present to
you more fully our reason for requesting this interview.'
//s// Respectfully Your Friends- P. Eason, E.P. Daniels, E.J. Green, A.K.
Moore, J. H. Campbell
Dated Griffin, Ga., Saturday, March 16, 1861."
This is an intriguing item which Benjamin obviously thought important.
Unfortunately he did not leave any further information about his "sentiments,"
the complaints, his response or the outcome. It could be that Benjamin was not
in favor of the war and wanted that fact to be remembered by his descendants.
It could be he felt that as war passions became inflamed his integrity was
being unjustly called into question, possibly because of his links to his
birthplace and family in the North. In any case, it appears from Benjamin's
later history and the way he was remembered after his death that all questions
were laid to rest. The two youngest sons of Benjamin and Rhoda, Charles Rice
Doe and Edward Winslow Doe, were too young to have joined the army, but the
third and eldest son, Benjamin Franklin Doe, did fight in the Confederate
Army. And, indeed, scores of Benjamin's Northern relatives also fought, and
some died, as soldiers on the opposite side. Through it all, Benjamin, in his
capacity of City Sexton, spent the War of Brother Against Brother burying over
1,300 of the war's dead.
Griffin historian Mr. Jennings says that, in fact, several Civil War soldiers
were buried on Benjamin's property. And Benjamin's granddaughter Mildred Doe
Scogin wrote that a Civil War soldier named H. H. Smith was buried in the back
yard of the neighboring Bryant Skipper house. According to Mr. Jennings, a
woman living several houses away from the Doe's home had turned her house into
a hospital during the war. Although no Civil War battle was fought in Griffin,
the town was a major troop mobilization point and a hospital town. Trainloads
of sick and wounded soldiers overflowed the hospitals, so soldiers were nursed
in private residences as well as in the Courthouse, stores, colleges and other
public buildings.
It is uncertain whether Benjamin's cotton warehouse and merchandising business
survived after the war. The South in general was financially devastated.
Griffin was hit particularly hard, because the railroad that had made it a
market and shipping center had been destroyed in the war. Even as late as
1870, over one-third of Spalding County was formally counted as destitute, and
bankruptcies after the war were numerous. Although never a wealthy man,
Benjamin did not seem to suffer as harshly as many others, perhaps because of
his previous property holdings. He continued as City Sexton and, from some
point, County Coroner until his death on August 25, 1881. Seven years later in
his wife Rhoda's death notice in the Griffin News, Benjamin was still
remembered as the one whom "everybody knew as one of the cleverest and most
accommodating men Griffin ever had."
Property for the new town of Griffin was sold at auction
by General L. L. Griffin on June 8, 1840.
The opportunities opening up in this sparsely populated area made newly
accessible and commercially strategic by a railroad. With the new railroad
connection from Griffin to Macon in 1842, Griffin became a center for the
buying, selling, storing and shipping of cotton and other goods.
U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865
Name: Francis M Crenshaw
Birth Date: abt 1840
Age: 22
Enlistment Date: 1862
Military Unit: 2d Battalion, Infantry
Georgia, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865
Name: Francis M Crenshaw
Event Type: Military Service
Side: Confederate
Event Date: 1862
Age (Original): 22
Military Unit Note: 2d Battalion, Georgia Infantry
Affiliate Publication Title: Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Georgia
Affiliate Publication Number: M266 Roll 14
Affiliate Film Number: 159
U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865
Name: Francis M Crenshaw
Residence: Georgia
Enlistment Date: 20 Apr 1861
Rank at enlistment: Private
State Served: Georgia
Survived the War?: Yes
Service Record: Enlisted in Company D, Georgia 2nd Infantry Battalion on 20 Apr 1861.
Sources: Roster of Confederate Soldiers of Georgia 1861-1865
United States Civil War Soldiers Index
Name: Marion F. Crenshaw
Name Note:
Also Known As Name: Francis M. Crenshaw (Francis Marion Crenshaw)
Also Known As Note:
Event Type: Military Service
Military Beginning Rank: Private
Military Beginning Rank Note:
Military Final Rank: Private
Military Final Rank Note:
Military Side: Confederate
Military Side Note:
State or Military Term: Georgia
Military Unit: 2nd Battalion, Georgia Infantry
Military Unit Note:
Military Company: D
Military Company Note:
Note: Original filed under Francis M./Crenshaw
Affiliate Publication Title: Index to Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations From the State of Georgia.
Affiliate Publication Number: M226
Affiliate Film Number: 14
GS Film number: 821713
Georgia, Marriage Records From Select Counties, 1828-1978 (?)
Name: F M Crenshaw
Gender: Male
Marriage Date: 27 Oct 1865
Marriage Place: Spalding, Georgia, USA
Spouse: E C Mitchell (E. Casandra ?)
Spouse Gender: Female
Georgia, Returns of Qualified Voters and Reconstruction Oath Books, 1867-1869
Name: Francis M Crenshaw
Registry Date: 9 Jul 1867
Location: Spalding
Record Type: Oath Book
Election District: 26
Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892
Name: F M Crenshaw
Year: 1872
District: Akins
District Number: 1065
Place: Spalding, Georgia, USA
Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892
Name: Francis M Crenshaw
Year: 1874-1878
District: Griffin
District Number: 1001
Place: Spalding, Georgia, USA
1870 United States Federal Census
Name: F M Crenshaw
Age in 1870: 30
Birth Year: abt 1840
Birthplace: Georgia
Home in 1870: Akins, Spalding, Georgia
Race: White
Gender: Male
Post Office: Griffin
Household Members:
Name Age
F M Crenshaw 30
Cassander Crenshaw 22 (Alexa Casandra?) (E. Cassander?)
Ella F Crenshaw 2 (Elizabeth ?) (b. 1867-1868)
1880 United States Federal Census
Name: Francis M. Crenshaw
Age: 40
Birth Year: abt 1840
Birthplace: Georgia
Home in 1880: Griffin, Spalding, Georgia
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Self (Head)
Marital Status: Married
Spouse's Name: Alexa C. Crenshaw (Casander)
Father's Birthplace: South Carolina
Mother's Birthplace: Georgia
Occupation: Works In Shoe Shop
Household Members:
Name Age
Francis M. Crenshaw 40
Alexa C. Crenshaw 33 (Alexa Casandra)
Elizabeth Crenshaw 10 (same as Ella F. b. 1868 ?)
Nancy S. Crenshaw 8 (b. 1872)
Julia A. Crenshaw 6 (b. 1874)
May V. Crenshaw 2 (b. May 1877)
Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892
Name: Francis M Crenshaw
Year: 1884-1887
Post Office: Griffin
District: Griffin
District Number: 1001
Place: Spalding, Georgia, USA
Georgia, Marriage Records From Select Counties, 1828-1978 (?)
Name: Mary C Hewett
Gender: Female
Marriage Date: 15 Mar 1885
Marriage Place: Spalding, Georgia, USA
Spouse: Francis M Crenshaw
Spouse Gender: Male
_______________________________________________________________________________________
The information below may be regarding a relative to my Francis M. Crenshaw, (a cousin perhaps) but is definitely an order individual b. abt. 1819 and died 1867. (May be lead for research. - MCM 2013)
The Weekly News - Griffin, Spalding Co., GA:
Issue: April 29, 1867...
Wednesday morning to the the surprize of everyone, it was learned that F. Marion Crenshaw, the well known employee of Mr. H. W. Hasselkus, in his boot and shoe business was found dead. Mr. Crenshaw was known to be, at times, a hard drinking man. He was about 48 years old, having lived in Griffin for most of his life and early childhood. At the beginning of the war in 1861, he volunteered with the Spalding Grey's under the command of Col. L. T. Doyl, their place of assignment for duty being Norfolk, VA. The Coroner's jury found the cause of death to be heart disease immediately brought on by alcoholic stimulants.
This F. Marion fought under Col. L.T. Doyl:
U.S. Veterans Gravesites, ca.1775-2006
Name: Leonard T Doyal
Service Info.: CAPT ASST QTR MR CONFEDERATE STATES ARMY
Cemetery: Oak Hill Cemetery
Cemetery Address: 797 Memorial Drive Griffin, GA 30223
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Abt 1840 - Yes, date unknown