Jonathan Roach was the son of Joel and Mary "Polly" Roach. He served as a Union soldier with Company M, 1st Alabama Cavalry. He enlisted in his mid 40's in November 1863; was captured at LaGrange, Tennessee December 5th 1864 (website is incorrect, he had not yet been mustered in as of December 5th 1863 so capture would not have happened prior to that); we believe he was first imprisoned at Cahaba (Castle Morgan) Alabama after his capture and eventually transferred to the notorious Andersonville prison (Camp Sumter) but the record does not give the date. There are records to show he was at Cahaba, but none for Andersonville. (I've heard from my husband's family that he was a "Union spy" for many years; in the South I guess it's not popular to have to admit you have Blue ancestors.....my side of the family is the same, about 50-50).
After his release from the Confederate prison he was sent to Vicksburg MS along with several thousand other former Union captives to be paroled and sent home. Since he was from Georgia, we can only speculate why he was going to get on a boat on the Mississippi River to travel NORTH, away from his home. Once researcher, Kevin Frye, thinks it is possible he was sick or injured and was going to go to a Union hospital to receive care before being sent home. Another possibility is he was being transported to Camp Chase, Ohio to be mustered out or exchanged for Confederate prisoners being held there. This idea comes from the May 31, 1865 edition of the Brownlow's Knoxville Whig newspaper, where an account of what had happened on the Sultana was given by members of the Third Tennessee Calvary.
Other packets and steamers had picked up passengers a few days beforehand. Thousands crowded on board the SULTANA in an effort to get home........
NOTE: From Sultana Author and researcher Gene Eric Salecker - Jonathan was NOT on the Sultana. The POW Memorandum clearly states that he "reported at Benton Barracks, MO, [near St. Louis, MO,] on April 27/28, 1865." The steamboat taking POWs to Benton Barracks, arriving at St. Louis on April 27, 1865, was the Olive Branch, which was carrying men from the eastern states, Kansas, Alabama, and Mississippi. The men were sent to Benton Barracks to await exchange for Confederate prisoners held in the North. When that did not happen, and with the war effectively over, the men were sent to Camp Chase, OH to be mustered out. On the same date that Jonathan arrived in St. Louis, April 27, 1865, the Sultana was 440 river miles away, having blown up at 2:00 a.m. near Memphis, TN. (Thank you to the contributor who sent this information as an edit to his bio in August 2024).
So it appears Jonathan was not on the Sultana.
Why has information traveled through time that Jonathan boarded the Sultana at Vicksburg in April 1865? I cannot answer that question. Did he tell his family he was on board? Did family members make up the story and pass it along as time and memories faded? There's no one alive any longer to ask.
(Thank you to the 1st Alabama website and its contributors, Kevin Frye (Andersonville researcher and historian), William Bryant's "Cahaba Prison and the Sultana Disaster" book, and my husband's aunt, Ellen Garvin Harris for the information I have here so far. Thank you also to Marilyn Houser for contributing the photo for Jonathan's grave).
Jonathan was married five times and fathered MANY children. He is my husband's great grandfather through his fourth wife, Nancy Ellen Tipton Roach.
He met his death at the age of 87 in a wagon accident. His wife was pregnant with their daughter Clara at the time.
Spouses:
Sarah Frances Guy
Sarah married Jonathan Roach on June 28, 1847
Their known children:
Joseph Sylvester Roach (Jan. 24, 1848- )
John Henry Roach (1859-1929)
Matilda Roach
Lucinda Roach
Wilbanks
Mary "Polly" O'Rear
Her first husband was a Vance
Nancy Ellen Tipton
Daughter of Caswell & Millicent Lowery Tipton
Her first husband was Thomas Camp
Nancy married Jonathan Roach on April 4, 1892
Their known children:
Lillie Mae Roach (Aug 12, 1896- )- my husband's grandmother.
Sarah "Sallie" Malinda Godfrey
Daughter of Ansel C. & Mary C. Prather Godfrey
Sarah married Jonathan Roach about 1898
Their known children:
Jessie Lee Roach (Aug. 28, 1900- )
Sherman William Roach (Jan 31, 1902- )
Walter LaFayette Roach (Sep 28, 1904- )
Clara Elgin Roach (Mar 25, 1906- )
Jonathan Roach was the son of Joel and Mary "Polly" Roach. He served as a Union soldier with Company M, 1st Alabama Cavalry. He enlisted in his mid 40's in November 1863; was captured at LaGrange, Tennessee December 5th 1864 (website is incorrect, he had not yet been mustered in as of December 5th 1863 so capture would not have happened prior to that); we believe he was first imprisoned at Cahaba (Castle Morgan) Alabama after his capture and eventually transferred to the notorious Andersonville prison (Camp Sumter) but the record does not give the date. There are records to show he was at Cahaba, but none for Andersonville. (I've heard from my husband's family that he was a "Union spy" for many years; in the South I guess it's not popular to have to admit you have Blue ancestors.....my side of the family is the same, about 50-50).
After his release from the Confederate prison he was sent to Vicksburg MS along with several thousand other former Union captives to be paroled and sent home. Since he was from Georgia, we can only speculate why he was going to get on a boat on the Mississippi River to travel NORTH, away from his home. Once researcher, Kevin Frye, thinks it is possible he was sick or injured and was going to go to a Union hospital to receive care before being sent home. Another possibility is he was being transported to Camp Chase, Ohio to be mustered out or exchanged for Confederate prisoners being held there. This idea comes from the May 31, 1865 edition of the Brownlow's Knoxville Whig newspaper, where an account of what had happened on the Sultana was given by members of the Third Tennessee Calvary.
Other packets and steamers had picked up passengers a few days beforehand. Thousands crowded on board the SULTANA in an effort to get home........
NOTE: From Sultana Author and researcher Gene Eric Salecker - Jonathan was NOT on the Sultana. The POW Memorandum clearly states that he "reported at Benton Barracks, MO, [near St. Louis, MO,] on April 27/28, 1865." The steamboat taking POWs to Benton Barracks, arriving at St. Louis on April 27, 1865, was the Olive Branch, which was carrying men from the eastern states, Kansas, Alabama, and Mississippi. The men were sent to Benton Barracks to await exchange for Confederate prisoners held in the North. When that did not happen, and with the war effectively over, the men were sent to Camp Chase, OH to be mustered out. On the same date that Jonathan arrived in St. Louis, April 27, 1865, the Sultana was 440 river miles away, having blown up at 2:00 a.m. near Memphis, TN. (Thank you to the contributor who sent this information as an edit to his bio in August 2024).
So it appears Jonathan was not on the Sultana.
Why has information traveled through time that Jonathan boarded the Sultana at Vicksburg in April 1865? I cannot answer that question. Did he tell his family he was on board? Did family members make up the story and pass it along as time and memories faded? There's no one alive any longer to ask.
(Thank you to the 1st Alabama website and its contributors, Kevin Frye (Andersonville researcher and historian), William Bryant's "Cahaba Prison and the Sultana Disaster" book, and my husband's aunt, Ellen Garvin Harris for the information I have here so far. Thank you also to Marilyn Houser for contributing the photo for Jonathan's grave).
Jonathan was married five times and fathered MANY children. He is my husband's great grandfather through his fourth wife, Nancy Ellen Tipton Roach.
He met his death at the age of 87 in a wagon accident. His wife was pregnant with their daughter Clara at the time.
Spouses:
Sarah Frances Guy
Sarah married Jonathan Roach on June 28, 1847
Their known children:
Joseph Sylvester Roach (Jan. 24, 1848- )
John Henry Roach (1859-1929)
Matilda Roach
Lucinda Roach
Wilbanks
Mary "Polly" O'Rear
Her first husband was a Vance
Nancy Ellen Tipton
Daughter of Caswell & Millicent Lowery Tipton
Her first husband was Thomas Camp
Nancy married Jonathan Roach on April 4, 1892
Their known children:
Lillie Mae Roach (Aug 12, 1896- )- my husband's grandmother.
Sarah "Sallie" Malinda Godfrey
Daughter of Ansel C. & Mary C. Prather Godfrey
Sarah married Jonathan Roach about 1898
Their known children:
Jessie Lee Roach (Aug. 28, 1900- )
Sherman William Roach (Jan 31, 1902- )
Walter LaFayette Roach (Sep 28, 1904- )
Clara Elgin Roach (Mar 25, 1906- )
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