Photo expedition

It's Saturday morning and we're gathering our photo stuff to go to the dedication of a military marker at the grave of a Confederate soldier up east of Paragould.

Here's the info from the press release:

Thomas Jefferson Shaw born 1846 in Dyersberg, TN to James Garlin and Martha G (Lasley) Shaw. He was born on his father's plantation. At the conclusion of the war they lost all of their possessions. Shaw fought with General Nathan Bedford Forrest's Army in the Civil War. Capt. Thomas Jefferson Shaw was a scout in Forrest’s Cavalry Shaw served with the 5th Regiment, Missouri Infantry State Guard (8th Division) C.S.A. Captain Shaw was wounded at the battle of Shiloh and recovered from his wounds at a plantation in Corinth, Mississippi

He married America Ophelia Baldridge on Feb. 17, 1869. They had the following children: William Jefferson, Eula (married a DeMent) Ella, May, Thomas Bernie and my grandmother, Mattie Maude Shaw French. He moved to Weatherford, TX and raised horses. In 1884 he drove 100 head of horses back to Clarkton, Missouri when they reached Paragould, Arkansas Maddie Maude Shaw French, was born. He was a justice of the peace and Sheriff in Clarkton, Missouri.

In 1921, He came down to his daughter's house, Eula Mae DeMent, and while there he became ill and passed away. He was buried on an island in the St. Francis River in what was then the DeMent Cemetery but is now named the Bertig Cemetery. Capt. Shaw was buried in his confederate uniform. The island no longer exists because a levee was built and the cemetery is on the edge of the St. Francis river and a soy bean field.

The Arkansas Division SCV memorial services are presented to remember their Confederate ancestors. The SCV, UDC, and C of C, and are historical organizations and their charge is to preserve the history of the South and it soldiers. Many descendants of Capt. Shaw will be present at the service including his great grandsons Clovis DeMent of Rector, Larry Dungan of Sand Destin, Fla, and Tommy French Baton Rouge, Louisiana.