William Honeycutt

William Riley Honeycutt was a Union soldier from Scott County who died during the Civil War.

See Also: Scott Countians killed in war

Biography

According to the 1860 census, William R. Honeycutt was born about 1848. He was the son of Mary “Polly” Honeycutt (1823-1906). His mother later wrote in an affidavit that William Riley was 17 in 1863.

Polly was not married. She was the daughter of John Honeycutt (1786-1865) and Mary Jane Bradford (1796-1860). Her father was a War of 1812 veteran.

It’s not clear who William Riley’s father was. He had a brother, Ambrose Honeycutt, who also served in the Civil War. He also had a younger brother, John Marrion Honeycutt, who was about 2 in 1863.

Polly’s brothers, William Honeycutt and Thomas Honeycutt, served in the Civil War as well.

Civil War

William R. Honeycutt enlisted in the Union army at Chitwood (Winfield) on June 15, 1862, when he was around 16 years old. He was assigned to Co. G, 8th Tennessee Infantry. He was later transferred to Co. F, 8th Tennessee Infantry while serving at Lexington, Ky.

On April 11, 1864, William died at Asylum General Hospital in Knoxville of smallpox. He was apparently buried at Knoxville National Cemetery, though his stone states that he served in Co. G, 8th Tennessee Cavalry, and died on Feb. 21, 1864.

Aftermath

Ambrose Honeycutt, William Riley’s brother, enlisted in the Union army at Cumberland Ford, Ky. (Pineville). He was assigned to the 1st Tennessee Infantry. He received a medical disability on Feb. 5, 1863 and was discharged at Gallopolis, Oh. He died six months later. It’s not clear where he was buried.

Polly Honeycutt, the mother of Ambrose and William, lived in Huntsville until 1869, when she moved to Winfield. The next year, 1870, she married Calvin Leach (1850-1902). They later moved to Stanley Creek near Buffalo. They’re buried in a remote cemetery there, the Calvin Leach Cemetery. Calvin died in 1902 and Polly died in 1906.

Polly received a pension as a dependent mother from William’s service from 1865 until her marriage to Calvin in 1870. She reapplied for a pension in 1889, stating that her husband “fails to give her comfortable support.” At that time, she owned 50 acres of land, two cows and a calf, and a herd of hogs.