George Marcum
George W. Marcum (born about 1836) was an Oneida man who fought in the Union army and was murdered by Confederate soldiers at Buffalo Creek during the Civil War.
See Also: Scott Countians killed in war
Biography
George W. Marcum was the son of John Marcum (1812-1905) and Rachel West (1813-1905) of Oneida.
There is some confusion because another George W. Marcum (1816-1891) also lived in the same area at Marcum Creek during the Civil War era; he married Mary Ann Hanks in 1843 and is buried at Marcum Cemetery at Marcum Creek. This George Marcum was the younger brother of Hiram Marcum. They were the sons of Arthur Markham (1757-1832) and Anna Bransgrove (1778-1851). He is believed to have helped hide the horses of outlaws Jesse and Frank James when they visited Marcum Creek after the war.
When the 1850 census was taken, G.W. Marcum was 14 years old, which would place his birth sometime around 1836. His siblings in the home at that time included Ruben (age 18), William (age 15) and Arlena (age 12). Other siblings included John, Reason, Lurany, Lovaney, Helen, Tabitha and Pheriba. There may have been more.
There are conflicting records identifying George’s paternal grandparents. Ancestry.com lists John A. Marcum’s parents as Beverly Marcum and Elizabeth Ward, who were originally from Virginia and died in Ohio. There was, in fact, a John Marcum among their 13 children. However, other sources list John A. Marcum’s parents as Arthur Marcum (or Markham) and Anna Bransgrove, which would make John A. Marcum a brother to Hiram Marcum and George Washington Marcum of Marcum Creek. This latter identification is likely correct, as Julia Marcum — daughter of Hiram Marcum — identified George Marcum in her writings as her cousin.
John A. Marcum and his family lived in the Pine Creek area west of Oneida. He and his son, John Marcum Jr., donated the land for Pine Creek United Baptist Church, which was established in the early 1870s as an offshoot of Bethlehem Baptist Church. For more than 70 years, Pine Creek has been pastored by the late James E. Marcum and his son, Keith Marcum, owners of Marcum’s Furniture & Appliances in Oneida. John A. Marcum Sr. was James E. Marcum’s second-great-grandfather and Keith Marcum’s third-great-grandfather. They are descended from John A. Marcum Jr., George W. Marcum’s brother.
Civil War
George W. Marcum enlisted in the Union army and was assigned to Co. D, 3rd Tennessee Infantry.
Little information is known about Marcum’s wartime service. However, he was killed by Confederate soldiers at the home of his uncle, Hiram Marcum, on Marcum Creek near Buffalo on Dec. 27, 1862. What we know about his death was written by his cousin, Julia Marcum.
Trouble had been brewing at the Marcum farm on Marcum Creek since September 1861. Hiram Marcum had been a slave-owner prior to the war, but he was fiercely loyal to the Union, and served as a scout to lead loyalists from East Tennessee north into Kentucky to join the Union army. For this reason, he was a marked man in the eyes of the Confederacy.
Confederate soldiers first visited the Marcum farm on Sept. 7, 1861, bursting through the door with bayonets on their guns. There were around 36 soldiers, Julia Marcum later wrote, and announced their intent to kill her father. However, Hiram Marcum had suspected trouble and was hiding away from the home.
Julia, then 16, lost an eye and a finger in the fight that ensued as she fought to protect her mother and sister from the Confederate soldiers. She severely injured the Rebel who gouged her with his bayonet, using an axe to mortally wound him. Her father returned to the home and shot the soldier as the fight was ending.
Months later, George Marcum — who was home on furlough — was hiding in the family’s barn as he attempted to slip north through the Confederate lines to rejoin his unit. When she spotted Confederate soldiers nearing the home, Julia Marcum ran from the home in an attempt to warn George. A soldier fired at her, the bullet cutting a lock of hair from her head. George ran from the barn but was gunned down. He died a few hours later.
Aftermath
George Marcum was buried at Lloyd Cemetery on Smith Creek. According to an application for a military headstone, his death was on Dec. 27, 1862. However, this is likely incorrect. Based on Julia’s writings, his death probably occurred on or about Dec. 27, 1861. Based census records, he would have been about 25 at the time.
Following George’s death, Hiram enlisted in the Union army. He would later die of sickness in Nashville in 1864; he never saw his family again. The rest of the family moved north into Kentucky, and the farm was auctioned off after the war to satisfy an unpaid tax bill. Julia’s sister, Didema, later returned to Scott County for a period of time, and her husband, Lafayette Sproule served as an early superintendent of the Scott County School System.