Thomas King Prevatt

Thomas King Prevatt

Thomas King Prevatt was Richard White's great-great-great uncle.

Thomas K. (King) Prevatt was the brother of my great great grandmother, Clarissa Prevatt, who was the wife of Jonas B. Davis. He was enrolled as a private in Company B, 8th Florida Infantry at Quincy, Florida, on 10 May 1862, the same day that his nephew, Thomas Prevatt Davis, was enrolled in the same unit. His enlistment record shows that he was 30 years of age at the time he was enrolled.

He was slightly wounded at Fredericksburg, Virginia, on 11 December 1862, and was "sent to the hospital" in Richmond, Virginia, on 24 December 1862. The muster roll for January & February 1863 shows him present. A register of the Medical Director's Office, Richmond, Virginia reported that he was admitted to General Hospital No. 1 in Lynchburg, Virginia, on 13 April 1863. He was reported as killed in battle at Chancellorsville¹, Virginia, on 3 May 1863. The register that recorded his death at Chancellorsville also recorded that he was born in North Carolina. Another register showed that he died at General Hospital No. 1, Lynchburg, Virginia, of "Dairhrea chronic" A certificate of disability for discharge was drawn up for him on 18 April, 1863 (and it was later defaced by the U.S. War Department with its "Rebel Archives" rubber stamp). It states that he was born in Roberson County, North Carolina; that he was 32 years old, 5 feet seven inches in height, with a sallow complexion, blue eyes and light hair; and by occupation at the time of enlistment, a farmer. He was certified to be incapable of performing the duties of a soldier because of "Phthisis Pulmonalis" (apparently a wound affected his lungs). Unfortunately, it appears that the disability discharge did not actually happen, and that instead Thomas King Prevatt died in the hospital on 3 May 1863. (Both copies of the discharge document are still in the official record. If the discharge had actually been "issued" one copy would have gone to Thomas King Prevatt and only one copy would remain on record. It can be told that this is not one copy microfilmed twice, because the "Rebel Archives" stamp came out slightly differently as to location, orientation and clarity on the two copies.)

In Decatur County, Georgia, his wife, Sarah Jane Prevatt, in an affidavit dated 1 December 1863 (and also witnessed to by "Black man Dollar"²), applied for any pay and allowances due to her deceased husband. The amount of $57.85 appears to have been paid on her behalf to William A. Walton of Richmond, Virginia, on 11 March 1864. The detailed breakdown of the payment is mostly illegible, and the total amount is subject to interpretation, due to discoloration and deterioration of the documents.

Census records indicate that some of their children were raised by Jonas B. and Clarrissa Prevatt Davis.

NOTES:

^1. The American Civil War Virginia 1863 Map of Battles indicates that an action occurred at Suffolk/Norfleet House Battery on 13-15 April 1863. The Battle of Chancellorsville did not occur until 30 April - 6 May 1863.

² Three privates in Company B, 8th Florida Infantry, bore the surname Dollar. I initially supposed that "Black man Dollar" was a retainer of their family. However, I have since learned that "Black man" Dollar was actually Blackmon Dollar, Blackmon being a surname used as a first name in this instance. Blackmon Dollar was, in fact, the Justice of the Peace who had married Thomas King Prevatt and Sarah Jane Lodge in Decatur County, Georgia, on 4 January 1855.