John Wesley Franks (abt. 1830 - 1862)

Born about 1830 in South Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Jane R (Wilhite) Franks — married 27 Nov 1854 in Abbeville, South Carolina, United States

Descendants

Died 18 Sep 1862 at about age 32 in Sharpsburg, Washington, Maryland, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Joe Baker [send private message]

Biography

John was born about 1830 in South Carolina.

By 1850, he was living in Abbeville SC, employed as a coachmaker.^[1]

He married Jane Wilhite on 27 November 1854 in Abbeville County, SC.

In 1860 he was living with his two children in the household of his father-in-law, John Boyd Wilhite, in Edgefield, SC.^[2]

He enlisted in Co K, 7th Regt, SC Infantry on 15 Apr 1861 as a corporal for twelve months in Edgefield, S.C.^[3] He was promoted to 5th Sgt early in 1862. He died on 18 Sep 1862 as a result of wounds received at the Battle of Sharpsburg (Antietam).^[3][4]

Steve McLeod of Tallahassee, Florida discovered the following detail about John Wesley Franks in the "Franks Family Newsletter." Steve had been fascinated with the stories that were told to him by three daughters of Alice Franks, daughter of John W. Franks and his wife, Jane Wilhite Franks --one of these ladies lived to be 104 years old!

John W. Franks was the son of Nehemiah Franks (b. 1784-d. 1859) who was the son of Robert Franks, son of Nehemiah Franks, Sr. who was born in Virginia, the son of Robert Frank, who was the son of Robert Frank. The name changed from Frank to Franks, remember, with Nehemiah and his move to South Carolina.

Jane Wilhite's family came from Elbert County, Georgia. This explains why their children later ended up in Georgia.

John evidently had some kind of argument with his father which resulted in him being nearly disowned. He left Laurens County and went to the Abbeville/Edgefield County area. He and Jane married and lived in Cedar Hill, S.C. They had two children named Alice Mable Franks, born May 6, 1858, and Louis Marion Franks. Jane apparently died before 1860 during childbirth.

John joined the 7th South Carolina Infantry which was sometimes called the Enfield Rifles as a private in Co. K. He was wounded at Sharpsburg (called Antietam by the Yankees) on Sept. 17, 1862. Family stories say that it was a bursting bombshell that wounded John and his brother-in-law (Jane's brother) remained with him holding him in his arms until he died the next day. The brother-in-law buried him in an unmarked grave on the battlefield and, after the war, returned John's pistol and bullet mold to the family. (These treasures along with a picture of John in uniform and a daguerreotype of Jane are in Steve's possession.)

His children were taken to live with their uncle, Thomas Turner Wilhite in Lincolnton, Georgia.

Notes

Most of the following is taken from Antietam on the Web, ^[3] except where other refs are noted.

Before Sharpsburg. In 1860 he was a 25 year old mechanic living on his father-in-law's farm in Longmires in the Edgefield District. He enlisted as First Corporal, Company K, 7th South Carolina Infantry on 15 April 1861 and was promoted to Sergeant on 25 March 1862. He was reduced to Private on 13 May 1862 at the reorganization of the regiment.

On the Campaign. During the Maryland Campaign, the 7th South Carolina was a Regiment under Kershaw's Brigade, McLaws' Division, Longstreet's Corps, of the Army of Northern Virginia. McLaws' Division was deployed between 0900-0930 in the West Woods at Sharpsburg (near the Dunker Church) to help blunt the attack of Gen John Sedgwick's II Corps on the left flank of the Confederate line.^[5] It was most likely during this particular skirmish on 17 September 1862 that PVT Franks was mortally wounded by artillery fire and died the next day. He was promoted again to Corporal to date from 18 September.

The rest of the War. He was originally buried on the field by his brother-in-law John Lewis Wilhite (1830-1912) and probably relocated to Hagerstown in about 1874.

He married Jane R. Wilhite (c. 1828-c. 1860) in 1854 and they had 2 children, Lewis and Alice, who were 7 and 4, respectively, in 1862. Jane does not appear with the family in the 1860 Census and may have died by then or in 1862, soon after her husband. Her orphaned children were probably raised by an uncle in Georgia.

J.L. Wilhite had war service in Company E of the 9th Georgia Infantry Battalion (3/62 - 5/63), then Company H of the 37th Georgia Infantry. It's not clear what his role was at Sharpsburg. Another brother-in-law, Thomas Turner Wilhite (1826-1885), had been in Company K of the 7th SC Infantry earlier in 1862, but was probably not with them in Maryland.

Death. 09/18/1862; Sharpsburg, MD; burial in Washington Confederate Cemetery, Hagerstown, MD. ^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1850", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8Q8-C7G : Tue Jul 18 01:53:02 UTC 2023), Entry for Foster A Deal and Mary J Deal, 1850.
2. ↑ 1860 U.S. Federal Census.; Census Place: Edgefield, Edgefield, South Carolina; Roll: ; Page: 74; Image: 151.Online at:http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1860usfedcenancestry&h=18729089&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} (https://antietam.aotw.org/officers.php?officer_id=4367). Accessed 3/10/2024.
4. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 07 December 2020), memorial page for Sgt John W. Franks (unknown–18 Sep 1862), Find a Grave Memorial no. 122051556, ; Maintained by JFJN (contributor 46976255) Body lost or destroyed.
5. ↑ "Antietam Staff Ride - Briefing Book," U.S. Army Center of Military History, U.S. Government Printing Office: 2005 (310-091/17496), pp. 5, 13, 31.

See also:

• Ancestry.com. South Carolina, Compiled Marriage Index, 1641-1965 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005. Original data: Hunting For Bears, comp.. South Carolina Marriage Index, 1641-1965. South Carolina marriage information taken from various sources. Many of these records were extracted from copies of the original records in microfilm, microfiche, or book format, located at the Family History Library.

• Birth & Death: Source Information. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 07 December 2020), memorial page for Sgt John W. Franks (unknown–18 Sep 1862), Find a Grave Memorial no. 122051556, ; Maintained by JFJN (contributor 46976255) Body lost or destroyed.

• Letters of Administration, Guardianship, and Testamentary, 1839-1888, of Edgefield County [South Carolina]; Author: South Carolina. Court of Ordinary (Edgefield District); Probate Place: Edgefield, South Carolina. Description-Notes: Letters of Administration and Bonds, 1861-1882. Source Information-Ancestry.com. South Carolina, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1670-1980 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.-Original data: South Carolina County, District and Probate Courts. Online at: https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/5388178?mark=7b22746f6b656e223a22697a6c4a5a48744e4270445443314575667a76414d6a584c763875744b624c4150356d4f6b476a534c75383d222c22746f6b656e5f76657273696f6e223a225632227d