Jethro: An Appalachian Legacy

Jethro was born from parents George and Scarlette McHenry September 11, 1845; he was given the christian name of Jefferson Andrew McHenry, but all he had ever been called is Jethro. His father and mother were the son and daughter of wealthy plantation owners. George, having three older brothers and having no chance of inheriting the plantation, went deep into the hills of the Appalachian Mountains somewhere in South Carolina, where his grandfather had made his living making corn whiskey, and took his bride with him. They retreated to a holler in a hill facing the South East with clear mountain springs that provided them cool clean water, which his grandfather had used for his ‘shine and so would George. There in the gully, they lived for a

He started Private McHenry but quickly gained rank to Corporal. He spent his first year of service mainly carrying letters from Ft. Sumter to their destinations at battlefields and outposts. He saw action at times while traveling with messages and fought small groups of Yanks. Yet, he had never been in a large battle, but this was about to change. While stationed at Secessionville as a Corporal Jethro got his first taste of real action. Early on June 14, 1862 before dawn the fort was attacked. Jethro fought beside his countrymen to defend the fort until the very end of the battle. He did not kill his first man here for he had already done this but the Battle of Secessionville was the boy’s first major battle.
Throughout the next four years of the war Jethro had similar experiences. He never was in a large catastrophic battle; though he did see many men and good friends die beside him in several conflicts. He did see the aftermath of huge battles though; he went through with crews of men to retrieve, identify, and properly bury the deceased soldiers who had died in action. At the war’s end in 1865 Jethro was 20 years old, and years 16 through 20 had been the longest of his

It only took me five years.”, the two chuckled getting up of the ground and hugged. The brothers walked back to the station a mile East of the camps, talking about what they’ve been doing and what’s brought them to where they are. While walking by the tracks they came upon some men who were working on an engine. The engine was shooting steam from all escape holes and they ran up to see what they could do to help. Just as they got there a man yelled, “go pull the whistle or she’s fixing to blow!”. Leo ran into the cab of the engine and just as he reached for the whistle chain the engine exploded from the pressure killing the five men near