wc

ANCESTOR PROFILES

Lieutenant William C. Humphreys

My Grandmother, born Mabel Humphreys, and my Aunt Margie, were the daughters of William C. Humphreys of Greenville. According to South Carolina Troops in Confederate Service by A.S. Salley (there's a good South Carolina name) William C. Humphreys commenced Confederate service as a Third Sergeant in William H. Campbell's company in August of 1861. Campbell's company was, at that time, attached to Gregg's Regiment, which as we know later became McGowan's brigade.

I went down to Columbia, to the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, and found some records relating to W.C.Humphreys. Among the records were Muster Roll records which show that W.C.Humphreys spent most of the war attached to Col. E.B. White's Battalion, South Carolina Light Artillery, part of the Palmetto Battalion. These records show that by May of 1862 W.C. Humphreys was a Lieutenant.

Included in the records from the State Archives are some Special Requisition forms written out by Lt. Humphreys, most of which I cannot read. One, however, is readable, and I'd like to mention it here: it is a November 1863 requisition for "thirty-five pairs of shoes". On the requisition form my Great Grandfather wrote "There are one hundred men in my company in need of shoes, and a great many almost entirely destitute". I don't know where these men were in November of 1863 (do any of you?), but I like to imagine that they were fighting Yankees - barefooted!

Another record, from 1864, indicates that the Confederacy was unable to pay Lt. Humphreys, and he was given a voucher that covered four months. The voucher indicates that he made $100.00 a month as a Lieutenant in the Confederate Army. There's a record that suggests that Lt. Humphreys might have been at James Island in October of 1863. If any of y'all know more about where the Palmetto Battalion was during various parts of the war, I'd love to hear from you.

My Grandmother and my Aunt Margie were still alive when I was a little boy. My Aunt Margie was notoriously unreconstructed. When she worked in D.C. during W.W.II, it is said that she wouldn't walk down the same side of the street that the Lincoln Memorial is on. I still have several mementos passed down from Aunt Margie, including some fine books and this picture:

I don't know positively that this picture is W.C. Humphreys, but I feel pretty sure it is. He was 21 years old in 1861. Once a man from the Confederate Relic Room was the speaker at our camp. He said that a whole lot could be determined from a picture like this, so I hope to show it to him or some other knowledgeable people soon. Maybe I'm showing it to some knowledgeable people right now!

Submitted by McGowan Camp Compatriot Mike Marshall

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