Bios: Marcus Obediah Cheatham, Claiborne Par, LA Submitted for the LAGenWeb Archives by: Cher Haile , Jul. 2002 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** MARCUS OBEDIAH CHEATHAM was born 2/17/1829 in Butts County, Georgia. His Georgia family were in the wood milling business, and they moved throughout Georgia securing land for timber harvest for their many lumber mills. They had come to Georgia from Virginia in 1801, following their fortunate drawing of land shares in the Georgia Land Lotteries, which parcelled out ancestral Cherokee lands to Colonial lottery participants. The first Cheatham immigrant was Thomas Cheatham, born in 1644 in Deanne, Lancashire, England, the latter born son of an ancient and successful Lancashire family, and who immigrated with his bride Margaret Hulme Cheatham in the mid 17th century to Henrico County, Virginia, and later relocated to Chesterfield County, Va., where they built the indigo and tobacco plantation, The Trellises, on the south side of the James River, on Proctor's Creek, near present day Richmond. Thomas was father to several children, including Thomas II, who fathered Thomas III, who fathered Obediah, who fathered Arthur T. Cheatham who first left Virginia and immigrated to Georgia, and who built the plantation Cheatwicke, in Jefferson, County, Ga. in 1805. Arthur's son, Obediah Pride Cheatham, was the father of Marcus Obediah Cheatham of our biography. Marcus was the third born child of eight born to their mother Charity Loverd Bryan Cheatham before her death in 1841. Marcus's father remarried to Mary Ann Nicholson, and two more Cheatham were later born. Marcus arrived in Louisiana from Georgia in the mid-1840's, by then being orphaned by both parents. Marcus invested his inherited money in a pine milliing enterprise, became a carpenter, and later owned a merchantile business in Homer, Louisiana. In 1854 he was asked to join the Patrol Company (police department) in Minden, La., and there he met close neighbor, and fellow officer, Willis G. Gillcoat, who would subsequently become his father-in-law. They had a lot in common, as they had both arrived from Georgia and both yearned to be gentleman farmers and craftsmen. Willis's brother, John, had also won a land lottery in Muscogee Co., Georgia in 1827, and he and first wife Sarah Williamson, then relocated from the Jasper County home to Muscogee County. The Gillcoats, like the Cheathams, had also had an illustrious Revolutionary War career, ancestor Umhra Gillcoat having fought in the Chatham County, N. C. militia from 1772-76, and Marcus's ancestor, Obediah, was also a Revolutionary War veteran, and died as a result of injuries incurred there. In 1857 Marcus took charge of younger brother Charles Henry Cheatham, who along with youngest sister Laura Lincoln Cheatham, had been staying in Terrell County, Georgia with family members, since being orphaned. Charles had been awarded bounty land in December of 1827 from the government, in honor of his father's military service in the Creek and Seminole Indian Wars in Florida, but Charles, 17 turned his holdings over to youngest sister, Laura, 12, and left for Louisiana to live with his older brother, Marcus. In 1851 Marcus began to seriously pursue Willis Gillcoat's daughter, the beautiful Emily Jane Gillcoat. They were shortly married and produced the following children: Willis Henry Cheatham, Clara B. (Bubenzer), Sarah W., Julia B., George E. and Loretta. After living in Minden for many years, they relocated to Homer, and later to Trenton, Louisiana. In 1860, Marcus and Emily lived in the center of town in Homer, Louisiana. Marcus had a thriving merchantile business, and they lived amidst many other newly arrived immigrants and transplants to the area. Next door was the local grocery store owner, a German immigrant among several other German immigrants, and the many neighboring boarding houses were home to skilled craftsmen, artisans and others including confectioners, brick masons, shoemakers, attorneys, an artist, several tavern keepers, several dry good merchants, and butchers and blacksmiths. Other neighbors included J. F. Brooks, who besides being a tavernkeeper, boarded a millright, a "Gentleman", a dry goods clerk, an artist named S. S. Thomas, and a farmer named Moore. G. W. Martin, a butcher by trade, boarded his brother, George who was a barkeeper, and "Mr. M", an attorney, his mother, 3 daughters, and a blacksmith named James Whiteman. The Lovejoys, also neighbors and confectioners by trade, also boarded confectioner-brother John Lovejoy, James Reilly, a ditch-digger, and a brick mason. The Quiters, blacksmiths by trade, also boarded a mill striker, a brick mason, a ditcher, a shoemaker from the unlikely home country of Newfoundland, and other boarders from Hanover, Germany. Other neighbors included a harness-maker, a carriage maker, a steam mill operator, a bookkeeper, and many other clerks, merchants and shop-keepers. Marcus, himself, boarded a clerk named Campbell from Tennessee, and J. S. Blythe, a bartender from Alabama. When the Civil War broke out, Willis was among the first to enlist for the CSA army, and was first a Private, but later was promoted to Sargent in the Louisiana 8th Infantry, Co. G. He enlisted June 23, 1861, was trained as a machinist and during the war, suffered many grave illnesses, was wounded and in 1862 sent to Camp Carondelet in Virginia to recover. He was later discovered to have suffered a hernia. He was discharged February 4, 1862. Three months later, son-in-law Marcus Obediah Cheatham enlisted in the CSA army, and because of his law enforcement background and community standing, he was made Captain of Gray's Louisiana 28th, Company D. He was mustered at Monroe, Louisiana in May of 1862. His assignment took him to the defense of Vienna, the Mississippi River bottomlands, and into Teche at Franklin and Yellow Bayou. Several of his officers were killed there, and he, himself was wounded. Little brother, Charles Henry Cheatham, also enlisted as a Private in the CSA at New Orleans, and was sent to Virginia to fight alongside Stonewall Jackson's troops. Besides many other battles, he fought at the Second Battle of Manassas, was promoted to Sargent, and in the final days of the conflict, when the battle had become a hand to hand conflict, on August 30, 1862, he was mortally wounded. He was only 22. He was buried in a mass grave in the "big cut" on the Manassas battlefield. Nephews of Willis Gillcoat, John and George W. Gillcoat, had moved from Louisiana to Arkansas, and enlisted and fought for the Union side. Willis never forgave them. After the war, the nephews relocated from Arkansas to Dallas, Texas, where they continued their trades as carpenters, and the family never reconnected. Willis went back to his career as machinist, and Marcus went back to his merchantile business, and parttime law enforcement work, and eventually he and Emily relocated to Trenton, Louisiana, from Homer. Their daughter, Clara married a wealthy sugar cane planter named Bubenzer and relocated to Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana. Their son, Willis Henry Cheatham, married Allena Rebecca Allen, daughter of William Allen, moved to Bunkie and Evergreen, Louisiana, and began work for the railroads during reconstruction. They had three children, including William Cheatham, and Albert Carroll Cheatham who moved to Arkansas, and married Albertha Williams Martin in Blytheville in 1916 before settling permanently in Shreveport. Bill Cheatham married and relocated to North Carolina, where his grandaughter, Joy Norton, still lives in Asheville. Willis Henry Cheatham eventually died in Detroit, Michigan around 1932. Nothing is known of the others at this time. Marcus Cheatham and Willis Gillcoat were both F. and A. M. Masons. Willis was tyler of Minden Lodge #51 in 1857. Marcus was a member of Western Star Lodge #24 of Monroe, Louisiana. In March of 1868 Marcus suddenly suffered a severe kidney infection, and became gravely ill. He died in his bed Sunday, March 28, 1868, surrounded by many friends, his family, and his Methodist preacher. A very large Masonic funeral was held for him, and he was buried there. He was only 39 years old. Many obituaries ran in the Ouachita Telegraph, the Thibodaux Sentinel, and the Louisiana Intelligencer for Marcus, as he was a most loved and respected member of his community. As of this date, it is not known which cemetery he is buried in, or the fate or whereabouts of the grave of his wife, Emily Jane Gillcoat, nor any of their children. # # #