The Old Etchison Homestead

I love this photo for so many reasons. But first, who are these people? From left to right, they are Daniel M. Etchison (1846-1917) and Sarah Pierce Etchison (1861 - ?) with two of their children, Harvey and Shade, in front of their Indiana Cabin. I don't know when or exactly where this photo was taken.

Daniel was a Civil War veteran, fighting for North Carolina and the Confederacy in the final year of the war. While I favor the Etchisons, my sister must favor the Pierces since she and Sarah could be twins. I love the clarity of the photographs taken with the old large-format cameras. I also love the fact that Shade seems to have been unwilling to join the rest of the family - typical teenager! - while Harvey poses as the "good son" between his parents.

The following note was written by my mother: "My mother [this would have been Mary Ann Etichison Price] told me her father was a soldier in the Civil War. He lived in North Carolina during that time and several of his brothers and cousins served in the war with him. My mother's sister disagreed with the story. She claimed he was not old enough to serve. When the South started to call all men, both young and old, his family hid him in a cave in the mountains near their home. My grandfather was born 30 September 1846 in Davies county, North Carolina. He would have been 14 years old when the civil war began. I do not know which person told the correct story. A search in the records needs to be done to prove which story is correct."

Thanks to resources available to us researchers now, the question has been answered. Daniel Etchison enlisted in Company B, 6th Infantry, North Carolina, at Camp Vance on 16 Oct. 1864. He served until the end of the war. Official records say that his unit mustered out on 9 Apr. 1865. If you look at a list of the 6th Infantry's battles you'll see that they continued to fight into June, 1865.