Bridges, George Terry

GEORGE TERRY BRIDGES was born on 29 March 1847 in Wayne County, Tennessee. He was the son of Joseph B. Bridges and Malinda (----?------) . He lived with his parents in Wayne County up until the time of the War Between the States.

In 1864, he enlisted in the war and became part of Biffle’s Regiment, 9^th Tennessee Calvary (also referred to as the 19^th) under Lieutenant Colonel Albert Cooper and Company F under Captain Robert Anderson. He fought in the battles of Nashville and Franklin and smaller engagements until paroled.

George filed for a pension on June 14, 1910. The War Department at the time could not corroborate his service because they only had rolls for his unit through 31 August 1863 and George did not enlist until 1864. However, in the prisoner of war records, they did find a George Bridges, private, of said company and regiment who surrendered 04 May 1865 at Citronelle Alabama and was paroled 10 May 1865 at Gainesville, Alabama . On this basis, his pension was approved on 12 July 1910. In 1916, the War Department deeded that he owned too much land and took away his pension, saying he had enough to making a living on.

There has been a story printed in “The Hufstedler Book” by Lena Jo Glaser, that speculates that George’s cavalry unit was the escort that fled with President Jefferson Davis out of Richmond . The writer of that article claims that since George had his horse at the end of the war and collected his pay, that must mean that he was part of that cavalry unit because only the cavalry unit that escorted President Davis and the Confederate Treasury got paid. There is no substantiation for this story that I have been able to locate yet.

George returned home from the war. We believe he went back to Wayne County , but I have no records to substantiate that. We have been unable to find him in the 1870 federal census.

I believe that George first married in 1871 to an unknown wife. No record of this marriage has yet been found, however I believe it is supported by 3 pieces of evidence: 1) in the 1900 census, George is listed has being married 29 years, which would make a marriage date of 1871. 2) In the 1910 census, it indicates that George was married 4 times (We currently only have documentation for 3 marriages). There is also a family story that says he was married and the wife died in childbirth.

George married again on 25 August 1873 in Wayne County Tennessee to MARY ANN MCDONALD, daughter of Daniel Henderson McDonald and Elizabeth (----?------). They had 5 children, 3 of whom survived to adulthood.

(1)	BETTIE or BILLIE A.	b ca 1874	d unknown
(2)	JOSEPH HENDERSON	b 21 Nov 1876	d 09 March 1963
(3)	MAI/LIDDY MAY	b ca 1882	d unknown
(4)	SALLIE	b. unknown	d infant
(5)	UNKNOWN BOY	b unknown	d infant

George and Mary Ann’s family first show up on the 1880 federal census. They are living in the 3^rd district, Wayne County, Tennessee with 2 of their children. George can read and write, but Mary Ann cannot write.

According to tax records, they lived in Wayne County Tennessee through 1882 and in 1883 they were found in District 5 in Perry County Tennessee. There are many land transactions in Perry County involving George T. Bridges, both as purchaser and seller.

On 24 October 1898, Mary Ann died in Perry County . The cause is unknown. The date is known from the tombstone. At the time of her death, 2 of her children were probably still living at home, although they were older.

On 16 Oct 1899, George married for a third time to Josephine Hufstedler Whitwell, widow of Egbert Med Whitwell. Josephine was the daughter of Pinckney Hufstedler and Louisa Jane Randel.

The census taker visited their household in district 5, Perry County Tennessee on 21 June 1900. Living with them by this time was only 2 of Josephine’s sons by her former marriage. Josephine and George were married for only a short time, less than 2 years. Josephine died on 15 July 1901. The cause of death reported was tuberculosis as reported in the local newspaper.

George remarried for a fourth time to Rachel Horner Bunch on 02 November 1902. Rachel was the widow of Howard Bunch. There’s an interesting story about their marriage, as written up in The Hufstedler Book by Lena Jo Glaser. Rachel and Howard ran the general store in Flatwoods, Tennessee . Howard suddenly died of appendicitis and after his death, Howard’s cousin who owned half of the store, stole from Rachel’s share of profits from the store until she was ruined and had to sell out to him. At that point, George Terry Bridges walked up to her porch one day and announced that he intended to court her because he needed a wife and she obviously very much needed a man to take care of her and her belongings. He proposed marriage on the spot.

(1)	BROWN	b 25 August 1903	d 23 Nov 1910
(2)	LEONA	b 27 December 1904	d 31 July 1993
(3)	DELLA CHRISTINA	b 21 February 1907	d 10 June 1987
(4)	RICHARD MARVIN	b 21 February 1907	d April 1982
(5)	BUNA VISTA	b 21 May 1909	d March 1986
(6)	BEULAH	b 1912	d probably between 1920 – 1924

This family was listed on the 1910 federal census in district 3, Perry County, Tennessee. Living in the household were George, Rachel, 2 of Rachel’s children from her previous marriage, Brown, Lonia, Richard M, Della and Bunavista. George wrote his will up on 22 January 1924 and he died on 09 March 1924. He is buried in the Mount Olive Cemetery, which is on Old State Route 13 just north of Flatwoods. After George’s death, Rachel moved with 2 of her sons to Gibson County. She is found on the 1930 federal census living in District 7 in Gibson County, Tennessee. Living in the household is Rachel, Marvin, Buena V. and a daughter in law Opal.