Southern Claims Commission

William Sircy

 
Submitted by Jan Plemmons

 
This claim was filed twice, as were most of the claims in Madison County. The first claim was filed 1/1/1874 by Rollins, Nichols, and Gudger, attorneys in Marshall. The claim stated that William H. Sircy had a horse, valued at $100, was taken around Feb. 1, 1865 by Col. George Kirk, commander of the 3rd NC Mt'd Inf.. The horse was taken at Bulls Gap, TN. and taken to Knoxville by the cavalry. Testimony was to be taken from the following:

Elias Gentry
James Treadway
D.F. Davis
Lewis W. Ramsey,
Jacob Colbridge of Cosby, TN,
John Rhinehart of Brevard, NC.

This claim was resubmitted 2/9/1878 by Geo. Roundtree and Co.

The quality of writing and copies made this a very hard record to read. After spending much time with this short report I have summarized it with the following information:

The testimony was taken 3/28/1874 by George McDowell, special agent for the Southern Claims Commission. I find it very interesting that Geo. McDowell served as a special agent, as well as filing a claim himself for which he collect $505.

William H. Sircy was a resident of Buncombe County during the war but now lived in Madison. He joined the 2nd NC Mt'd Inf. September, 1863 and served for 2 years. He was captured but managed to escape before any of the Confederate soldiers recognized him. He feared fro his life if he had been identified. He stated his horse was taken at Bulls Gap and then taken to Knoxville by Col. Kirk's cavalry. He was not given any compensation at the time the horse was taken.

Elias Gentry and James Treadway were questioned together and it appeared only one set of answers were recorded but both men signed the testimony. They were both soldiers with Wm. H. Sircy in the 2nd NC Mt'd Inf. They agreed with Sircy's story of the loss of the horse.

D.F. Davis stated he was present when the horse was taken. He verified Sircy's story.

Lewis W. Ramsey stated he was 35 at the time of testimony, making his birthyear 1839. He was present when the horse was taken at Bulls Gap. He testified that he overheard Col. Kirk state that he had taken Wm. Sircy's horse. Kirk had the horse branded and put into his calvary.

There was no testimony from the out of Madison County residents.

 

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