Biography of Marcus Obediah Cheatham, Ouachita Parish, Louisiana Submitted by: Cher Haile Source: ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** MARCUS OBEDIAH CHEATHAM (born 2/17/1829 in Butts Co., Ga.) arrived from Georgia, and shortly afterwards, also his young brother CHARLES HENRY CHEATHAM, and they settled in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana in 1848. Marcus, legal tutor and ward to Charles since the death of both their parents, became a farmer and carpenter, and in 1854, a Captain with the Patrol Company (police) in Minden, La. working beside close neighbor, fellow officer, and father-in-law, Captain Willis G. Gillcoat. MARCUS was the third born of 8 children of Obediah Pride Cheatham (b. Pittsylvannia Co., Va. 9/25/1798, d. 4/15/1850 Stewart Co., Ga.) and and Charity Loverd Bryan (b. 4/20/1798 in Johnston Co., NC, d. 10/25/1841 in Stewart Co., Ga.). Charles Henry was the last child born of the 8 children born to their mother, Charity before her death in 1841, following complications a few months after Charles's birth, and his father's remarriage two years later, in 1843 to Mary Ann Nicholson, in which two more C! heatham children were born. The Thomas Cheathams arrived in Virginia from Lancastershire, England, in the 1650's and had not left Virginia until Cherokee Land Lotteries opened up new possibilities in Georgia in 1800. Then, Marcus and Charles' s grandfather, Arthur and grandmother, Nancy Anne Hancock Cheatham, won the drawing, left Virginia, took possession of their new Georgia land and built a plantation known as Cheatwicke, in Jefferson County, Ga. Later the family moved to several other counties ending up in Terrell County, always harvesting timber for their thriving mill businesses. On December 12, 1857, Charles, then an orphan and just seventeen, was awarded bounty land because of his father's service in the Creek and Seminole Indian Wars in Florida. This land was in his and 12 year-old sister Laura Lincoln's names. But Charles soon left Laura with older brother, Dr. Clement Arthur Cheatham, to go to live with his brother Marcus in Louisiana. In 1851, not long after arriving in Louisiana, Marcus met and married the beautiful daughter of Patrol Officer, Willis G. and wife Sarah Gillcoat , Miss Emily Jane Gillcoat. The Gillcoats had also arrived in Louisiana from Georgia. Willis's brother, John, had won a land lottery in Muscogee Co., Ga., in 1827, and he and first wife, Sarah Williamson (married 1/7/1825) then relocated from their Jasper Co., Ga. home to Muscogee Co. The Gillcoats had originally come from N. C., where ancestor Umhra Gillcoat had fought in the Chatham County NC Militia in the American Revolution under Captain Joab Brooks from 1772-1776. After the death of Sarah, he moved to Union Parish, Louisiana, married 16 year-old Mahala, and they had children George W. Gillcoat (b. 1841) and John P. (b. 1846) who became carpenters, left Georgia and later relocated to Arkansas. Another brother, Hananniah Gillcoat married Lucinda Parsons 1/16/1823 in Jasper Co., Ga. (She was the grandaughter of Samuel D! . Parsons and Ann, both born in Va. in 1762. Upon the death of Hannaniah, Lucinda married William Boatright in Fayette Co., Ga. on 7/19/1825). Another brother, Azariah Gillcoat married Levinity Bond in Pike County, Ga. Azariah also acquired land in a lottery, and took posession of his 308 acre Creek Treaty Land at St. Stephens, in Tallapoosa Co., Ala., and relocated from Ga. to Alabama. Willis Gillcoat and Marcus Obediah Cheatham were both F. and A.M. Masons. Willis was tyler of Lodge #51 in 1857. Marcus was a member of Western Star Lodge #24 of Monroe, La. When the Civil War broke out, Willis Gillcoat became a Private in the La. 8th Infantry, Co. G. He was an early enlistee at Camp Moore on June 23, 1861. Trained as a machinist, during the war, he suffered from several illnesses, and was wounded in 1862 and sent to Camp Carondelet in Virginia, to recover. He was also found to have suffered a hernia. He was honorably discharged February 4,1862. Three months later, son-in-law Marcus Obediah Cheatham enlisted, and because of his law enforcement background, was made a Captain of Gray's La. 28th, Company D. He was mustered at Monroe, La., in May of 1862. His assignment took him to 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 wound! ed. Little brother Charles Henry enlisted in New Orleans as a Private, was sent to Virginia, and after serving bravely was promoted to Sargent, in Co. I, La. Infantry, under W. E. Starke, a division of Stonewall Jackson's Corps. After munitions were totally spent, hand to hand combat began and he was killed at the Second Battle of Manassas on August 30, 1862 during the bloody climax of the battle. He was only 22 years old. It is thought that he is buried in the "big cut", a mass grave, on the Manassas battlefield. Nephews John and George W. Gillcoat, had relocated from Louisiana to Arkansas, enlisted there, and fought for the Union side. After the war, John and George relocated to Dallas Texas, and continued their occupation as carpenters and houserights. Following the war, Willis, continued in his profession as machinist, and Marcus, still devastated at the loss of brother Charles, continued as a law enforcement officer. Marcus and Emily Jane had the following children: Willis Henry, Clara B., Sarah W., Julia B., George E., and Loretta. After living in Claiborne Parish for many years, they relocated to Trenton. Marcus was suddenly taken ill with a kidney infection, and after suffering terribly he died in his bed at home, on Sunday, March 28, 1868, surrounded by his wife, family, and many friends. After a large Masonic service and funeral he was buried there. He was only 39 years old. Many obituaries ran in the Ouachita Telegraph, the Thibodaux Sentinel, and the La. Intelligencer for Marcus, as he was a most loved and respected man of his community. Marcus and Emily's son, Willis Henry Cheatham, was born in 1861,and was orphaned as a young man. He married beautiful Allena Rebecca Allen in 1885 at Monroe, Louisiana. She was the daughter of an early north Louisiana pioneering family, the William Allens. Willis and Allena had the following children: William Cheatham, born in Avoyelles Parish in 1896, and Albert Carroll Cheatham, born in Bunkie, Avoyelles, Parish, 10/21/1898. After the death of Allena, Willis worked for the railroads, as a laborer, and later moved to Detroit, where he died in 1932. Marcus and Emily's daughter, Clara, married a wealthy German-descended sugancane planter named Christian Bubenzer, and lived out her life in Bunkie, and became an invalid in 1890, and died in 1896. As of this date, nothing is known of the other children's lives. Marcus and Emily's son, Willis, had two sons, Albert Carroll Cheatham and Bill Cheatham that moved to Arkansas, for a time. Albert met and married Albertha Williams Martin of Ripley, Tennessee, at a Methodist Church social while she was staying with her sister, Beulah Zebulon Martin Blythe, of Blytheville, Arkansas. Bill eventually moved to North Carolina. He had a grandaughter named Joy, who married a physician from Asheville, N. C. and Cocoa Beach, Florida, named Dr. Norton. Albert Carroll Cheatham and Albertha Williams Martin married at sister Beulah Blythe's home in Blytheville, on 9/27/1916. Albert was a graduate of the University of Arkansas, and owned a tobacco shop and billiards parlor there, until he was offered a position with United Gas Company in Shreveport, where they relocated following the birth of their first son, Albert Carroll Cheatham, Jr. They built a house at 315 Columbia Street, near Centenary College. Albert, an avid Methodist, and member of the Chamber of Commerce, stayed with United Gas Company until his retirement at age 65. They had three children: Albert Carroll Cheatham, Jr. who married Lucy Rosemary Robertson 7/31/1940, Captain Gordon Martin Cheatham (1926-1961), who joined the Army, served in the Pacific and Germany and in the Korean War and married a woman named Barbara, and had a child named Ann, before being diagnosed with cancer, and dying at the age of 33 at Walter Reed Hospital, and Verlie Louise Cheatham (1933-1995) who married a career Air Force Colonel named Richard Francis, retired to Apple Valley, California, and never had any children. Albert Carroll Cheatham, Jr. (9/17/1919 - 3/12/1993) served as Captain in the U. S. Army Air Corps in WWII in the Pacific, moved to New Orleans, became a salesman and later a refrigeration engineer, and died in a suburb there on March 12, 1993. He was 72 years old. His wife, Lucy, retired from the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture after 25 years of service.They had two children: Cheryll Anne Cheatham (Haile) and Pamela Jean Cheatham (Estezvez). Each of these children married and have living children. # # #