"Lost" Chatham Veteran
Robert W. Waddell
of LeCompte, Louisiana
by L. Norman Waddell, Jr.
There was rumor of North Carolina ancestry in my father's family, but he never talked about his family. He, Lester Norman Waddell (Sr.), was born in 1907 in LeCompte, a very small town near the center of Louisiana, in Rapides Parish (county). His father, DeWitt Clinton Waddell, apparently managed some businesses there, possibly including a liquor store and a movie theater. His mother, Minnie Furlow Waddell, played piano at silent movies.
DeWitt Clinton was born in 1874, in Louisiana, the fourth of five children of Robert W. Waddell and his wife, the former Elizabeth Ann Dorsett, both from Chatham County, N.C.
We do not know what the "W" stood for; he had a grandson named Wilbur, so that is a possibility.
Robert W. Waddell was born in 1836 (or 1840) in Chatham County, and was married there by the Rev. S.D. Adams on August 29, 1861, four months after the start of the Civil War. His wife was a member of the large Dorsett family of Chatham County. She was named Elizabeth Ann, and may have been called "Amy."
In November 1863, in Raleigh, Robert joined the Confederate Army as a private in Fitzhugh Lee's calvary, and served until the end of the war, when he was paroled at St. Lawrence, N.C. This was a small crossroads town, about two miles east of the present-day Siler City, on U.S. Highway 64.
Census records show Robert W. and Elizabeth Ann living in LeCompte, La., in 1870, and having a child born in Louisiana in 1865. Elizabeth Ann was, therefore, pregnant at the end of the Civil War.
Her husband was at home with her at the time. The couple moved soon after the war, and she made the journey while pregnant. Census records show that, in Rapides Parish, the Waddells lived near Oran Dorsett, and that a Taylor Dorsett lived with the Waddells.
Apparently the Waddells and some of the Dorsetts moved together to Louisiana. The Waddells are shown as "planters," not owning land, and Dorsetts as "planters," owning land.
The Taylor Dorsett living with the Waddells was Mary Taylor Dorsett, Elizabeth Ann's sister. The Spring 2001 issue of "Cartersville Crossroads" contains the first part of James T. Rogers' Civil War. He mentions camping at Mary Taylor's spring near Pittsboro. We wonder if the sister was named after this Mary Taylor.
In 1911, when she was 67 years old, Elizabeth Ann Dorsett Waddell applied for a Confederate widow's pension, in Rapides Parish.
Her husband had died in LeCompte, in 1902. The end paper in a book entitled "LeCompte" shows a printing bill related to his death, mentioning the Masonic Lodge. A notarized document supporting the pension claim certified that Robert W. had been a Confederate soldier. The statement was prepared in Chatham County and signed by C.R. Beal and H.H. Palmer. The notary was J.M. Stinson and is dated 1911.
Robert W. Waddell's ancestry has been traced no further. He and his wife are buried in LeCompte, La., in an unknown location. The only known descendants are some Melders in the Baton Rouge area, Lester Norman Waddell Jr. of Pascagoula, Miss., and Lester Norman's children -- Wayne Norman, Camille Carol, and Glenn Gerald.
More is known about Elizabeth Ann Dorsett, whose ancestry is shown below:
Father, Hezekiah Dorsett II, born 2 March 1816, died 23 February 1877.
Mother, Julia Ann Perry.
Paternal grandfather, Hezekiah Dorsett, born about 1782.
Paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Moak, born about 1784.
Paternal great-grandfather, William Marsh.
Paternal great-grandmother, Sarah Stewart.
Paternal great-great-grandfather, James Marsh.
Paternal great-great-grandmother, Martha Head.
Maternal grandfather, William Perry Jr. born 16 February 1775, died 1869.
Maternal grandmother, Anna Baldwin.
Maternal great-grandfather, William Perry, born about 1750.
Maternal great-grandmother, Sarah Johnson
A Dorsett cemetery is located near LeCompte. Directions to this cemetery can be found on the Internet under "Cemeteries, Rapides Parish."
The grave markers include:
Dorsett, Oran, 2 March 1847 to 24 March 1913, marked with a Masonic emblem.
Dorsett, Alexina P., 12 March 1850 to 16 March 1913, marked with an Eastern Star.
There are also markers for many children, and for Dorsett, Oran, 10 March 1808/2 to August 1878, "Father."
It appears that nobody ever visits this cemetery, so it is likely that the Dorsetts have no descendants in the area.
About the Author. L. Norman Waddell Jr. is a native of Monroe, La., though he has lived for 40 years in Pascagoula, Miss., where he is now retired as director of plant engineering for Ingalls Shipbuilding. Mr. Waddell is a graduate of the University of Alabama, and would appreciate any further information about his Chatham County ancestors, which can be mailed to 703 Washington Avenue, Pascagoula, MS, 39567, or sent by e-mail to a003648@attglobal.net.
