BIRTH-DEATH:Cemetery records of Washington County, Arkansas;Fayetteville,
Ark.;Washington Co. Historical Soc.;Call# US/CAN 976.714 V22w.Listed in the 1880 Washington County, Arkansas census along with his immediate family is J P Carnahan's niece, Clem Tilley, age 17.
J P Carnahan was listed as Worshipful Master of Cane Hill Lodge No. 57 in 1871, 1877-79, 1880 and 1887 according to History of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Crawford, Franklin, and Sebastian Counties, Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1889.
"J. P. Carnahan possessed a strong constitution, a good mind and was apt in his studies, especially in mathematics. His early education was obtained the the private schools of the country. One of his teachers was Major William Quesenbury, the Arkansas poet. Another was Cephas Washburn. Later on he was a student in Cane Hill College, from which he was graduated with the degree of Civil Engineer in 1856. After graduation he obtained employment on the M. P. Road between St. Louis and Jefferson City. As the company required its employees to work on Sunday, he abandoned the work of civil engineer and retired to his farm in Washington County, Ark. At his time he married Miss Susan Amelia Crawford, a daughter of Hay and Susan Crawford, who were also pioneer settlers on Cane Hill. To this union, five children, two sons and three daughters, were born.
"In the excitement attending the presidential election in 1860, he adhered to the cause of the South and made many speeches in favor of secession. When the war was going on, he assisted in raising troops for service in the Confederate cause. He organized one company (Co. G, 16th Arkansas Infantry). Of this company he became captain. At the head of this company, he participated in the battle of Pea Ridge, and after this, with his regiment, was transferred to the East Mississippi Department and joined the main Confederate army at Farmington, Tennessee, after the battle of Shiloh. He was in the battles of Corinth, Iuka; and, in the engagement on Hatchie River, he was wounded in the knee while engaged in sharpshooting.
"He was carried from the field and conveyed to a hospital at Oxford, Mississippi, where he remained until he had recovered from his wound. While in the hospital the surgeons made preparations to amputate the wounded limb, but he would not allow them to do this. After recovering from his wound, he rejoined his company and was sent with Gen. Frank Gardner's command to garrison Port Hudson, Louisiana. This place was besieged by General Banks and the place surrendered on the 9th of July, 1863.
"Captain Carnahan, with many other officers, was sent north as a prisoner of war. He was imprisoned on Johnson's Island in Lake Erie; then at Point Lookout, Maryland; he was then placed in close confinement in old "Capitol Prison" in Washington, DC; he was then placed in "Old Carroll," a hospital prison. From this place he was removed to a prison in Philadelphia, and finally imprisoned at Fort Delaware. From this place he was exchanged in March 1865. When exchanged, he was placed in a vessel known as the "Cassandra" and sent to the Virginia shore, having been a prisoner 20 months. After landing in Virginia, he went to Richmond and drew pay in Confederate money for the full time of service and imprisonment.
"Leaving Richmond, he traveled south, partly on foot and partly by rail, going around Sherman's army through the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and reached the east bank of the Mississippi River when the overflow of that river was at its height. On this trip he was joined by five other straggling Confederate soldiers. The six men wanted to cross the river. The plantation on which they stopped was in charge of an Englishman who refused all accommodations and made rough answers to all questions when they enquired for a boat in which to cross the river. The six men thereupon took forcible possession of the premises, seized a box of tools, tore down an outhouse, out of the material of which they constructed a boat. After a perilous voyage of three days and two nights, they reached the land on the west side of the river. Their pilot on this voyage was a negro boy. The men in this company, besides Captain Carnahan, were two Adams, two Allens, and one other, name forgotten.
"After resting awhile at Monroe, Louisiana, the men then went on to Texas and joined the Confederate army then being formed at Marshall. But the war soon closed and Captain Carnahan, like thousands of other Southern men, returned to his home and began life anew. He surrendered at Fort Smith, Arkansas, and in one day walked from that place to Cane Hill. He found his farm laid waste and his property all gone.
"In 1868 he and Mr. J. A. L. McColloch rebuilt Cane Hill College on the site of the building which had been destroyed in the war. In the following year, the trustees of Cane Hill College offered him the chair of mathematics, which he accepted and filled with success until his retirement from the college 16 years later. In 1885 the building in which he had taught was destroyed by fire, and in 1886 he contracted with the trustees for the erection of the present building on a different site and built of brick.
"After retiring from Cane Hill College, Capt. Carnahan took an active part in all questions of public interest. Reform movements enlisted his earnest efforts. He was the first man in the state to make a public canvass in favor of temperance by abolishing the licensed saloon. He was the original Prohibitionist of the state of Arkansas. When he began the agitation of this question, saloons were numerous all over the state, in many small villages and often on the public highways. He lived long enough to see the licensed saloon banished from his own county and from all his state, except in the large cities.
"He was also an influential member of the Farmers Alliance, and continued with that organization after its development into the "People's Party," then the Populist Party. In 1892, he was the Populist candidate for the office of Governor. His Democratic opponent was the Hon. W. M. Fishback of Fort Smith. This man Fishback was a member of the legislature when the state seceded from the Union. He also wrote the Ordinance of Secession and moved for its adoption. He afterward deserted the cause of the Confederacy and became a violent abuser of Southern people. Capt. Carnahan and Mr. Fishback had many joint debates. In these discussions, Capt. Carnahan never failed to expose Fishback's "turncoat" politics. Fishback had a set speech which consisted largely of quotations from Mill's and Vest's tariff speeches which they had made in New York. On one occasion when Capt. Carnahan led the discussions, he made Fishback's speech almost verbatim. When Fishback rose to reply, he was almost speechless. After this, he abandoned the joint canvass. When defeated at the polls, Capt. Carnahan took it in all good nature. He continued to take an active interest in all public questions.
"His wide range of information, readiness of speech, and earnestness of purpose made a constant demand for his services as public speaker. He loved the Bible, and but few had a better knowledge of that book than he. He was as interesting in discussing questions of religious import as he was in questions of State.
"His health began to fail about a year before his death. On the advice of his physician, he was taken to Kansas City in June 1912, where he underwent an operation. He survived the operation and was brought home. But the infirmities of age prevented his recovery, and he died on the 16th day of July, 1912. Funeral services were held in the chapel of Cane Hill College, conducted by Rev. J. K. P. Crozier, after which his remains were laid to rest beside those of his wife, who preceded him to the better land in 1879. When quite young he made a profession of religion and united with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, in which he filled the office of Ruling Elder. He went with his church when it united with the mother church in 1906." -- The Pyeatts and the Carnahans of Old Cane Hill, by Reverand Alfred E. Carnahan, pages 23-25.LETTER from War Department, the Adjutant General's Office:
The records show that J. P. Carnahan was enrolled Nov. 5, 1861, at Fayetteville, Ark., as Captain of Company G, 16th Arkansas Infantry, C.S.A., to serve for one year, and that he was re-elected May 8, 1862. The company muster roll for July and August 1862, the latest roll on file, shows him present, a Captain. The regiment served under Colonel John F. Hill.
The Union prisoner of war records show that he was captured at Port Hudson, La., July 7, 1863; that he was sent to Washington, D.C., from Point Lookout, June 16, 1864; to Fort Delaware, July 22, 1864; that he arrived at Fort Delaware July 23, 1864, and that he was paroled at that place and forwarded to City Point, Virginia, for exchange March 7 1865. No later record of him has been found.PERMIT from Headquarters, 3d Division, 7th Army Corps, Fort Smith, Ark., June 9th, 1865
Capt. J. P. Carnahan of G company, 16th regiment, Ark. Inftry C.S.A., residing in Washington County, Ark., having been paroled with the approval of the proper authority, is permitted to return to his home, not to be disturbed by the United States authorities, so long as he observes his parole and the laws in force, where he may reside.
By command of Brig. Gen. CYRUS BUSSEY
Thomas A. Pollok, Lt. & Provost MarshalAMNESTY OATH
I, Jacob P. Carnahan, of Washington County, State of Arkansas, do solemnly swear, in the presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the Union of States thereunder; and that I will in like manner, abide by and faithfully support all laws and proclamations which have been made during the existing rebellion with reference to the emancipation of slaves - so help me, God.
Sworn and subscribed before me this 21st day of December 1865.
G. W. M. Reed, Clerk of Circuit Court, Washington County
BIRTH-DEATH:Cemetery records of Washington County, Arkansas;Fayetteville,
Ark.;Washington Co. Historical Soc.;Call# US/CAN 976.714 V22w.She was the daughter of Col. Hay CRAWFORD.
He married & lived in Washington.
1850 Census: Sumner Co. Tn. Age 7
1860 Census: Sumner Co. Tn. Age 15
1850 Census: Sumner Co. Tn. Age 1
1860 Census: Sumner Co. Tn. Age 8
1860 Census: Sumner Co. Tn. Age 4
Also shown as died in 1900.
Listed also as 'Gurette', 'Etta'.
1850 Census: Sumner Co. Tn. Age 5
1860 Census: Sumner Co. Tn. Age 13
1870 Census: Sumner Co. Tn. Age 22
1880 Census: Sumner Co. Tn. Age 32
1900 Census: Sumner Co. Tn. Age 53 (Mar 1847) Mother of 8 - 5 Living)
Death: Byrd Ellis Graves Bible