Private Andrew Jackson (A. J.) Elkins, Co. B

Andrew Jackson Elkins (A. J.), Private, Company B, 39th Kentucky Mounted Infantry, [enrolled on Dec. 18, 1863, and mustered-into his company on Mar. 29, 1864, at Greenupsburg, KY. He deserted on Jan. 28, 1864, but was back the next month (maybe he went home to take care of a family emergency)]. He is buried in Section 18 of the Ashland Cemetery, Ashland, KY. He died March 22, 1919. A Civil War stone marker was erected on his grave in 1997. A military ceremony was conducted on Memorial Day in 1997 by re-enactors. He was my great grandfather.

Andrew Jackson Elkins was born the 11th of Sept. 1835 in Floyd County (probably on Left Beaver). He lived at Myra on Beefhyde Creek in Pike County with his mother Nancy in 1840 and then with his older brother Harvey in 1850. He married Sarah Mary McCarty on Dec. 24, 1856, in Pike Co. They had two children: James and Louisa D.; A third child, Sarah, died of "dropsy" in 1859. A. J. married Catherine McCarty on Sept. 10, 1859, in Pike Co. Their children were: Francis Josephine "Josie", b. 1861; Henry, b. 1866; Sarah Lou, b. 1867; John Booker, b. 1869; Hesekiah "Carlos", b. 1873; Greenville, b. 1874. The family moved to Blaine, Lawrence County, KY, about 1863. Catherine died in 1898. A. J. then married Mary Holland in 1899, in Lawrence County, KY. One child was born to this pair: Julia "Junie", b. 1904.

A. J. Elkins enlisted in the 39th Kentucky Mounted Infantry on Dec. 18, 1863. He deserted on Jan. 28, 1864. He returned on Feb. 28, 1864. He was on detached duty in May of 1864 in Lexington, KY. He was injured in Sept. of 1864 when his horse fell on him while in Versailles, KY. He was hospitalized for 15 days in a hotel in Versailles. He soon returned to active duty, but later received a pension due to a back injury from this fall.

Jan. 28, 1885: "Charges of desertion against this man removed under the provision of the Act of Congress approved July 5, 1884." He moved to Ashland, KY, after 1910 to live with his son John Booker Elkins. He died on March 19, 1919. He is buried in the Ashland Cemetery, Ashland, KY.

Bill Kersey of Ashland, KY.

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