CRAWFORD COUNTY, GA - BIOS  Lessel and Joyner Families

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This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by:
LINDA MEADOWS lmeadows@surfsouth.com


The Lessel and Joyner Families' Contributions to the War Effort

Many GA families made great sacrifices during the
War for Southern Independence. Such was the case
for the Lessel and Joyner families of Crawford
County. Rachel Lessel Joyner was the daughter of
Edom and Mary Lessel.  Her  husband, Ebenezer C.
Joyner, and she both grew up in Orangeburg
District, S.C.  Ebenezer was born Sunday, 8 Apr
1792, and  Rachel was born in 1793.

The Lessels and Joyners moved to GA in the early
1800s, finally settling in what became Crawford
County, GA. Rachel's father, Edom Lessel,
received a passport from the Governor of GA
signed Saturday, 8 Dec 1810, to travel into the
Creek Nation from Sumpter District, S.C. 

Edom Lessell had a large family by today's
standards, but average-sized for his time. There
were 8 Lessel children. Edom Lessel's children
included Mary, Aaron, Lenora, John Louis,
Elizabeth, Rachel, and 2 others whose names are
unknown. Lenora and her husband, Thomas Watson,
settled in Houston County, GA.   John Louis, had
a son named David Jamison Lessel, who served with
Co B 1st Miss Light Artillery and another son,
John Edom, who died at Charlottesville, VA 20 Aug
1861.

Edom Lessell and his wife never lived to see that
war that tore this country apart and ended the
Southern States' rights movement, as well as
slavery.  Edom died Thursday, 8 Mar 1832 in
Crawford County, and his wife died Thursday, 2
Oct 1855.  They never knew the anguish of seeing
their sons and grandsons fighting and dying
during the War Between the States. 

On the other hand, Rachel Lessel Joyner and her
husband Ebenezer would see sons, grandsons, and
nephews involved in combat during the 1860s.
Ebenezer and Rachel married on Thursday, 9 Apr
1812.  Their  first son, James Richard Joyner,
was born early the next year on Tuesday, 12
January 1813.  Those were tough times for the
United States, because of involvement in the
Second War for American Independence from
Britain.  The Joyners' four boys and one girl
were a great help on the family farm. And, even
though none fought in the War of 1812, such was
not the case during the War Between the States.

Ebenezer and Rachel Joyner's  two youngest sons,
John H. and Osborn R., both served. John H. had
already married Elizabeth Rushing and moved to
Mississippi.  When the Crawford County group with
Co. F, Regt. 57, GA Volunteers got to Jackson,
Mississippi, he joined them.  Like so many others
from Crawford Co., John H. was captured at
Vicksburg, Mississippi on Saturday, July 4, 1863
and was paroled on Tuesday, July 7.  He was
furloughed at Enterprise, Mississippi on
Wednesday, 22 July 1863.  On 25 October 1863,
John H. was hospitalized at Savannah, GA, but was
back with his unit by 31 Dec 1863.  John  was
near High Pt., N.C. at the war's end and received
his final parole at Greensboro, N.C. 1 May 1865. 
He was a Confederate survivor who lived to tell
his tales of fighting Yankee invaders. According
to his tombstone inscription in Line Co., Miss.,
John H. Joyner died 25 Oct 1916.

Rachel and Ebenezer Joyner's son, Osborn R., was
not so lucky.  He was part of the Confederate
defense during the  Vicksburg Campaign, which
began in January 1863.  Osborn R. was captured at
Champion's Hill, Mississippi 16 May 1863, and was
held as a Prisoner of War  at Ft. Delaware from 9
June 1863, until he was exchanged on 4 July 1863.
He died from diarrhea in North Carolina Hospital
at Petersburg, VA Tuesday, 21 July 1863, and,
like so many others, Osborn R. was buried in an
unmarked grave.  He had made the rank of 5th Sgt.

It seemed as if only a short time had passed
since Rachel and Ebenezer had rocked their new-
born son Osborne in his cradle at their home in
Crawford County at the time of his birth in 1831.
Thirty-two years old was too young to be dying,
but Osborne left behind the legacy of his
children. He had been 24 years old when he
married Lenora "Linnett" Sullivan on 6 May 1855.
Linnett and her five young children went to  live
with Ebenezer and Rachel for a while after Osborn
died.  It was some consolation for the Joyners to
have 4 granddaughters and a grandson close at
hand when Osborn died in VA.

The Joyners' two oldest sons did not fight in
that dreadful war.  James Richard "Jimmy" and
Ebenezer Wesley were too old to serve in the
Confederate  Army. Jimmy married Jane Renfro
Thursday, 19 Feb 1835. Jane was the daughter of
Enoch Renfroe, a veteran of the War of 1812, and
Mary Mannard. Ebenezer Joyner performed the
marriage ceremony as a Crawford County Justice of
the Peace. In fact, Ebenezer performed the
marriages of Jimmy, John H., and Osborn R.,
giving his sons his blessings in more ways than
one.

Rachel Joyner's brother, Aaron Lessel, performed
the marriage ceremony when her son, Ebenezer
Wesley, married Mary Ann Sullivan(t) 21 Feb 1836.
Ebenezer Wesley and Mary had six children.
Although both Jimmy and Ebenezer Wesley Joyner
were too old to serve the Confederacy, their sons
fought for the South.  Jimmy had three sons to
serve: John Randolph was born in 1836, and
married Annis Scoffil 5 Feb 1857 in Crawford
County; Aaron R. was born 14 Oct 1837, in
Crawford County; and, James Harrison was born
Saturday, 24 Aug 1839, in Crawford County.  

John Randolph Joyner volunteered 3 May 1862,
serving as a private  with Co F, 57th Regt, GA
Volunteers. He was captured at Vicksburg 4 July
1863 and was paroled 3 days later.  He was
furloughed at Enterprise, Miss 22 July 1863, and
died at home in Crawford County on Monday, 20
Sept 1863.  Jimmy Joyner died the following year
on Tuesday, 13 Sept 1864. One can only speculate
how much effect the death of Jimmy's oldest son,
John Randolph Joyner, had in bringing on his own
death at the age of 52. 

Ebenezer and Rachel Joyner's grandson, Aaron R.
Joyner, did things a little differently than the
other boys.  He was born in Crawford County on 14
Oct 1837. In 1860, he married Nancy M. Hartley,
who was born in 1842.  Aaron enlisted as Pvt.
with Co. F, 2nd Regt, 1st Brigade GA State Troops
14 Oct 1861, but mustered out in 1862.  He went
back into the service and was appointed 4th  Sgt.
of Co. F, 57th Regt., GA Infantry 3 May 1862.  He
was likewise captured at Vicksburg on 4th July
that awful summer of 1863, and was exchanged
shortly thereafter. Pension records show that
Aaron R. Joyner's final discharge came at Macon,
GA in April 1865. James Harrison Joyner also
served with Co. F, 57th GA Volunteers, enlisting
May 1862, at Savannah, GA. He was captured and
paroled at Vicksburg in July 1863. His final
parole was at Greensboro, N.C. 1 May 1865.  In
1860, he married Elizabeth Aultman, daughter of
William and Mary "Polly" Rowland Aultman.  Seven
of James Harrison Joyner's eight children were
born after the war was over. William Roy, Anna
Cora, Charles, Osborne, John, and Lula were all
post-war babies. Only James Randolph, his 11 1/2
months-old son, was left behind with Elizabeth
when Harrison enlisted with 1st Lt. John
Blackstone Fowler's 57th GA Volunteers, Bragg
Rifles, in 1862.

One might agree that Jimmy Joyner's sons did
their share to help the South.  Such was also the
case with Ebenezer Wesley Joyner's children,
William Thomas and Ebenezer Charles Joyner.
Ebenezer Charles guarded prisoners at
Andersonville Prison in GA. William Thomas Joyner
enlisted as a private on 3 May 1862, and was
captured  and paroled in at Vicksburg.  He was in
the hospital at Augusta, GA at the close of the
war.  He was born in Crawford County 26 Sept
1837. William Thomas received a Confederate
Soldiers Pension. He died at Ft. Valley, GA 12
Mar 1912. It takes no giant brain power for the
observer to understand why Vicksburg, Miss. and
the Fourth of July brought no fond memories for
the Joyner family. They had no cause to celebrate
as Union forces secured control of the
Mississippi River that summer of 1863, laying
siege and starving the Confederates into
surrender. 

It was probably Rachel Lessel Joyner's deep faith
in the Lord that enabled her to endure the
agonies that women at home face while their men
fight battles.  Rachel was a member of the Shiloh
Society Church in the Ft. Valley Methodist Church
Conference.  Her mother, Mary Lessel, had also
been a member, and her son Jimmy was the Charge
Leader, appointed by the pastor and nominating
committee to serve in absence of the pastor.
Jimmy did everything but the regular preaching
for the church.  Many of Ebenezer and Rachel
Joyner's grandsons and great grandsons became
ministers. 

The Lessels and Joyners grew up during a time of
great change in this country.  The abolitionist
movement was in full swing in the early 1800s.
While Ebenezer  Joyner did not own any slaves,
Rachel's father, Edom Lessel, did own 4 slaves, 2
of whom were brought with the Lessel family to GA
from S.C. in 1810. Ebenezer Joyner would have
been proud to know that many of his descendants
gatehred to celebrate the 200th anniversary of
his birth in 1992. His descendants told stories
of the man who was the patriarch of their family.
"Mr. Eb" died in 1874 and is  buried at Society
Hill Church Cemetery in Crawford County.
Ebenezer Joyner was a shoemaker, farmer, justice
of the peace, and a postmaster at Pine Level in
Crawford County during the mid-1830s.  He was
proud of the land that he owned. He was always
buying and selling land. In fact, records
indicate that in 1818, he paid $.38 tax on
property that he owned in Twiggs County, GA.
Rachel proudly called him husband during the 62
years the couple lived together as man and wife.

Ebenezer Joyner died in 1874 and Rachel followed
three years later. Times were about to change for
the South with Rutherford B. Hayes chosen
President by an Electoral Commission.  Some
people said that Hayes cheated Samuel J. Tilden
out of the presidency after the disputed election
of 1876, but Hayes promised to end
Reconstruction. The slow process of binding the
wounds of war was about to begin. The Lessels and
Joyners returned to their various methods of
livelihood among the rolling hills of Middle GA,
ever remembering the price their families paid
during the dark days of war.

Sources consulted: Crawford County, GA Census
records; Compiled Military Records, GA Archives;
Crawford County GA Marriage records; Crawford
County GA tombstone inscriptions and church
records; and Joyner family records.

*Linda Ward Meadows is a 4th great Grand-Daughter
of Ebenezer Joyner and Rachel Lessel and Great
Great Grand-Daughter of James Harrison Joyner and
Elizabeth Aultman. lmeadows@surfsouth.com