Schley County GaArchives Obituaries.....DeVane, Frank M. December 26, 1939
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The Ellaville Sun  Friday, December 29, 1939  No. 26
FRANK DEVANE, SCHLEY'S LAST VET, EXPIRES AT 95
Shook Hands With Lee After Surrender In '65
Frank M. DeVane, Schley county's last serving Confederate veteran, shook hands 
with General Robert E. Lee after the surrender at Appomattox, has gone on to 
join his comrades.

The enfeebled man, blind and deaf, died Tuesday in his 96th year at the home 
of his only daughter, Mrs. Jesse Clonts, at Chattanooga, Tenn.

The aged warrior who escaped injury in many major battles of the War Between 
the States, including the Battle of Gettysburg--bloodiest of the conflict--was 
laid to rest Wednesday morning at Hopewell cemetery in Schley county after 
funeral services at the church there.  The Rev. W.S. Johnson officiated.

Volunteering for service in 1861, when he was 18, Mr. DeVane was assigned to 
Company B of the 17th Georgia regiment.  Among the engagements in which he 
took part besides Gettysburg was the Battle of the Wilderness.

One of his fondest recollections was shaking hands with General Lee after the 
Southern chieftain made his historic farewell to his men immediately after the 
surrender.  He liked to recall the frenzy with which the ragged soldiers 
literally dug up an apple tree by the roots for souvenirs of the farewell 
scene.

Born June 15, 1844, in which is now Schley county, he was a son of Liza 
Sellars DeVane and J.T. DeVane.  Of eight brothers and three sisters, only one 
sister, Mrs. J.M. Chapman of Schley county, is living.  He married Miss Polly 
Wall.  They reared 11 children, four of whom survive him.  Besides his 
daughter, Mrs. Clonts, are three sons,  Fletcher DeVane, Ellaville; P.H. 
DeVane, Aiken, S.C., and J.A. DeVane, Milledgeville.  Thirty-three 
grandchildren also survive.

Mr. DeVane attended his last Confederate reunion in Chattanooga five years ago.

Pallbearers were Dr. M.C. Gettys, H.W. Hogg, Will Williams, Noble Whitson. 
John R. Wall and C.W. Tondee.



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