Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Wednesday's Wonderful Collection: Josiah H. Demby Papers

Josiah H. Demby was born in Georgia around 1840 and moved to Arkansas prior to 1860. He served in the Civil War as First Lieutenant in Company G, 4th Regiment, Arkansas Cavalary, United States Army. He was discharged June 13, 1865. After the war, he served in General R.F. Catterson's militia that helped to maintain order against the Ku Klux Klan active in southern Arkansas.

He served as a State Representative in 1868 for Scott, Polk, Montgomery, and Hot Spring counties and in 1879 for Montgomery County. He died February 13, 1918, in Hot Springs.

Finding aid:
  • Military discharge (Reel MG00202)
    • 1865 June 13: Josiah H. Demby
  • Catterson's Militia History
    • Undated: "History of Catterson's Militia" by Major J.H. Demby
    • 189[?] November 11: Letter, J.H. Demby, Hot Springs, to General Powell Clayton
    • 1957: "Major Josiah H. Demby's History of Catterson's Militia" edited by Ted R. Worley, Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Volume 16, Summer 1957
  • Witness affidavits
    • 1913 January 8: Sarah Ann Meeks
    • 1913 January 13: Clemont W. Cearley
    • 1913 January 15: M.O. Campbell
    • 1913 January 20: Thomas J. Rawles
    • 1913 January 21: J.L. Wacaster
    • 1913 January 23: A.C. Ussery