Letcher County Ancestors Pictorial 1842 1960

18 years a miner, 9 years on the railroad, 6 years a soldier, and 5 years a politician. This is the life of Corporal Fess Whitaker. Whitaker spent most of his life in the Kentucky Mountains, with stints in Virginia as a coal miner, in Texas with the Fort Worth & Denver Railroad, and abroad as a soldier. He includes a good deal of pioneer history and reminiscences of old timers, including those of Uncle Wesley Banks, the "Bugger Man" schoolmaster.

" ... provides updated county and town listings within the same overall state-by-state organization ... information on records and holdings for every county in the United States, as well as excellent maps from renowned mapmaker William Dollarhide ... The availability of census records such as federal, state, and territorial census reports is covered in detail ... Vital records are also discussed, including when and where they were kept and how"--Publisher decription.

The men of the 5th Kentucky Mounted Infantry called him "Captain" and later, his subordinates in the 10th Kentucky Mounted Infantry called him "Colonel". Some of his enemies called him a "dangerous guerilla chieftain". Very late in the war, his regiment was re-designated as the 13th Kentucky Cavalry. When his Confederacy no longer existed, and there was no longer a need for his sword, he picked up his Bible and returned to his former life as a country preacher and community leader. This book contains specific details regarding Confederate Colonel Ben E. Caudill's 13th Kentucky Cavalry. It includes a complete roster of the men who rode with Caudill, historical accounts of their engagements with their enemy, and a collection of period and post-war photographs.