Joe Farrington:
A Servant of the Confederate Cause
By Chip Pate [1]
Joe Farrington is one of the forgotten.
A slave from northern Chatham County before the war, Joe is just one of many who left to serve when the call was issued to defend homes and families across the South. But, unlike many others whose accomplishments were recorded for posterity, Joe returned not even to become a footnote in some contemporary history books.
For whatever reason -- racism of the past, volumes of missing records or even political expediency -- Joe and other men like him have been erased from many contemporary accounts of the Late Unpleasantness. More likely, the reason black Confederates have been ignored -- even denied -- is they do not fit the account of history promoted by scholars trying to defend an indefensible attack on the South.
The Civil War, they try to claim, was nothing other than Northern liberators trying to free black men from the evil clutch of white Southerners. The complex web of historical events and thousands of black men opposing Federal troops simply do not fit their agenda.
The exact number of black Confederates is up for debate, only because records that remain are so sketchy. Figures range widely, and those who know best now estimate that about 65,000 served across the South [2] and 5,000 to 10,000 from North Carolina alone. [3] Though these brave men, slave and free, are often forgotten by those still trying to redefine and defeat the Confederate cause, they are not some hypothesis to be debated. Instead, they are flesh and blood, real men who provided real service, in a difficult situation and in defense of their homes.
Joe Farrington is one who served. Even after his master's son left the field of battle, Joe remained. Only once soldiers in gray laid down their arms in a field near Appomattox Court House, did Joe return by horse to Chatham County and begin an odyssey across the South that ended along the meandering Mississippi, where he rests today.
Joe Farrington goes to war
Born in March 1835, Joe Farrington was a servant for Edward P. Ferrington, a successful farmer in north central Chatham County. About the time Joe turned 15 years old, Edward and his wife, Permelia, lived with their three sons and three craftsmen on a substantial family estate. The oldest of the couple's three sons, John E. Ferrington, was nine years old, and eventually would spend several years with Joe at war; Thomas was seven and Dewit, three. [4]
As tensions between North and South began to peak in the spring of 1861, Joe was 26 years old and John just 19, but both left home for war. John enrolled on April 6 as a private in the Orange Light Infantry. [5] After about a week, the unit including both men from Chatham County reported to Chapel Hill for active service and, one day later, was ordered to Raleigh, not knowing they were soon to make history on the sandy plains of Tidewater Virginia.
Late in the afternoon on May 13, the Orange Light Infantry was mustered into state service as Co. D of what would become the famous "Bethel Regiment," the 1st Regiment, North Carolina Infantry (6 Months, 1861) [6], a unit that would include the first Confederate soldier killed in war. [7]
Though the regiment remained in the state capital for several days, it eventually was ordered to Richmond and then Yorktown, Va., where the young, new soldiers spent their days drilling and constructing entrenchments. On June 6, just two months after John enrolled, the regiment marched toward destiny at Bethel Church. At 9 a.m. on the morning of June 10, a column of Federal forces flowed into the area, and after fire from Confederate artillery broke the peace, the battle of Big Bethel was on. [8]
Later, the pair left the infantry, and on July 22, 1863, joined with Co. E, 5th North Carolina Cavalry (63rd Regiment, North Carolina Troops), an existing company filled primarily by Chatham County recruits and led by Capt. Thomas W. Harris. When the two joined up with their new company, it was detached from the rest of the cavalry regiment and based at Huggins Farm in Onslow County. Known as the "Vance Troop," Co. E of the 5th North Carolina Cavalry later was ordered to Kenansville, where it set up camp. Briefly, the company became part of a force that attacked and captured Shepherdsville, before returning to Kenansville. In early April 1864, the "Vance Troop" rejoined the rest of the regiment and moved to Richmond. [9]
While in Virginia, the 5th Cavalry was engaged several times, fighting near White Hall, Spotsylvania Court House, Wilson's Landing, Hanovertown, Haw's Shop, Hanover Court House and Ashland, all within weeks of their arrival in the Old Dominion. The regiment remained active, eventually moving to Petersburg, where it became part of the Confederacy's last stand. [10]
As Southern hopes began to fade, John Ferrington deserted the Confederate army, being received by the Provost Marshal General of the Army of the Potomac on March 14, 1865. After taking an oath of allegiance to the United States, he was transported to New Bern, a Federal stronghold in eastern North Carolina. [11] But, Joe Farrington continued his service to the Confederate States Army, remaining with his unit for another month, through the decisive Battle of Five Forks, a confused retreat and the surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9. With no more army to serve, Joe Farrington began his four-day journey on horseback to Chatham County, stopping briefly at the Chapel Hill home of Edward Ferrington's father along the way.
Odyssey through the South
With so few postwar records kept in a South leveled by war, little is known about Joe Farrington's life during years immediately after the conflict. Because he is not listed in the 1870 or 1880 North Carolina census, it appears that Joe set out for Mississippi, where his son, King, was born about 1884, though he also does not appear in census records there. [12] Otherwise, nothing is known about Joe's family in Mississippi or why he moved north. [13] But, by 1900, the farm laborer from central North Carolina, who moved halfway across the country despite not being able to read or write, was living in Lake County, Tennessee, a small county tucked in the far northwestern corner of the Volunteer State, along the banks of the Mississippi River.
It appears that Joe was married, possibly for a second time in 1888, to a woman who does not appear in any records discovered to date, and later to Josie, a Tennessee native and farm laborer, ironically about the age of Joe's own son. [14]
Records provide little definitive information about Joe Farrington and his family. Joe apparently served as a farm laborer in Tennessee, until some time between 1910 and 1920, when he was in his mid 80s and became too old to work. Neither Joe's wife nor son could read or write, and both served as farm laborers.
Soon after the 1920 census, Josie died and Joe Farrington was alone again. [15] Destitute and living on charity provided by friends and citizens of Lake County, Joe must have been relieved when the Tennessee Legislature passed an act offering a small pension for its black citizens who served in the Confederate States Army. The state's pension law granted payment for "actual bona fide residents of this State [for] three years if they served with a Tennessee command, and ten years if they served with a command from any other State. They must have remained with the army until the close of the war, unless legally relieved from service. [16] With the help of R.W. Griffin [17], who championed the application, Joe received a pension in the summer of 1921, being recognized for his service in the army.
Having nothing more than good neighbors and money provided by the pension, Joe lived in Tiptonville for just three years more. On September 28, 1924, the 89-year-old widower died from infirmities of old age and was buried somewhere in Tiptonville. [18]
The Legacy of Joe Farrington
In one sense, Joe Farrington lived a life like every other man, taking care of a wife and son, experiencing joys and trials common to all. But, his odyssey through one of the more turbulent times in American history took Joe on a journey he probably could never imagine during his childhood in Chatham County. His travels began on red clay in the North Carolina piedmont and ended along the banks of the mighty Mississippi. He saw the beginning of a new country and assisted her cause, only to see his nation crumble outside a small community named Appomattox Court House. He started his journey as a slave, and finished a free man.
For history, Joe Farrington was a real man who went with his master's son to war and served until the end. His life stands as it was lived, regardless of what historians of any persuasion try to do with his legacy. And, he is remembered and honored, as all others are honored, for his accomplishments and service.
Notes
1. This article was prepared with significant assistance from Willie L. Robinson, a resident of Nashville, Tenn., and specialist in African-American genealogy. It is through his Tennessee Colored Applications for C.S.A. Service web site (http://www.angelfire.com/wi/Carver/csaaa.html) that the author discovered Joe Farrington's Confederate service.
2. Participation estimate cited in Black Confederates Heritage.
3. Participation estimate cited in Guide to Confederate Issues in North Carolina and provided by Weymouth T. Jordan, editor of North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865: A Roster, in correspondence to the author of this article.
4. 1850 Census of Chatham County, N.C.
5. North Carolina Troops, Vol. 3, p. 21.
6. North Carolina Troops, Vol. 2/Addenda, p. 802, notes that John E. Ferrington may have served in the Bethel Regiment. This earlier service is supported by the Roster of Confederate Veterans from Chatham County, North Carolina, and the pension application of Joe Farrington, which states he went to the army with John Ferrington "at first of war" in 1861.
7. North Carolina Troops, Vol. 3.
8. North Carolina Troops, Vol. 3, p. 1-2.
9. North Carolina Troops, Vol. 2, p. 405.
10. North Carolina Troops, Vol. 2, p. 367-72.
11. North Carolina Troops, Vol. 2, p. 408.
12. The 1920 Census for Lake County, Tenn., lists King's birth place as Mississippi, though another census record lists King's state of birth as North Carolina. While it is possible that King was born in the Tar Heel state, it appears that Joe Farrington was no longer in North Carolina when his son was born. It also is clear from records that Joe was in Mississippi before eventually moving to Tennessee.
13. One interesting entry in the 1870 Mississippi census shows a Joshua Farrington, age 71, living with his wife; both were born in North Carolina. There is no evidence of a connection between Joshua and Joe, though it might suggest one hypothesis for why Joe ended up in Mississippi.
14. Records on Joe Farrington's marriage are difficult to reconcile. The 1900 census, the first in which he appears in Tennessee, lists him as married for two years, but records no wife in the household; only 56-year-old Joe and 19-year-old son, King, are listed. The 1910 census records Joe as widowed and living with 30-year-old Josie, recorded as a concubine; King, now about 30 years old, is not shown in the household. The 1920 census lists Joe as living with wife Josie and son King.
15. Though Joe's pension application did not state why he was no longer married, whether by divorce or his wife's death, a death certificate issued three years later lists Joe Farrington as divorced.
16. Description of pension law, as listed on the State of Tennessee Colored Man's Application for Pension.
17. According to a family descendant who read this article online, R.W. Griffin is Dr. Richard Watson Griffin (1871-1953).
18. Death certificate for Joe Farrington.
References
1850 Census of Chatham County, North Carolina.
Farrington, Joe. (1921, June 15). Colored Man's Application for Pension. Filed in Tiptonville, Tenn. Available from the Tennessee State Archives, Nashville, Tenn.
Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920--Population. District No. 2, Lake County, Tennessee.
Jordan, Weymouth T. (1988). North Carolina Troops: 1861-1865: A Roster (Vol. 2/Addenda). Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Division of Archives and History
Manarin, Louis H. (1968). North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865: A Roster (Vol. 2/Cavalry). Raleigh, NC: State Department of Archives and History.
Manarin, Louis H. (1971). North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865: A Roster (Vol. 3/Infantry). Raleigh, NC: State Department of Archives and History.
North Carolina Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans. (2000). Guide to Confederate Issues in North Carolina. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans.
Sailey, Richard, Ed. (1996). Roster of Confederate Troops from Chatham County, North Carolina (2nd Edition). Siler City, NC: Col. John Randolph Lane Camp 1570, Sons of Confederate Veterans.
State of Tennessee. (1924, October 24). Certificate of Death No. 398 for Joe Farrington. Civil District No. 2, Tiptonville, Lake County, Tennessee. (The certificate was filed on October 24, 1924, but records a death date of September 28, 1924.)
Thirteenth Census of the United States: 1910--Population. Civil District No. 2, Lake County, Tennessee.
Twelfth Census of the United States--Population. Civil District No. 7, Lake County, Tennessee.
Williams, Scott K. (1998). Black Confederates Heritage. (Research Report) St. Louis, Mo.: Author. (Available at several Internet sites.)
