Thanks to you-all for the info. I am trying really hard to get some info on my great grandfather, Thomas Whittom, because cannot find a birth record.I was told by my grandmother he was a stow-away on a ship coming to America when he was 12 years old possibly at Mobile or New Orleans. Nothing shows up for him until later when he was living in Columbia with a John and Mary V Pittman, then the CSA records. He was married twice, for a short time in l866 before he married my grandmother. I do know he was Irish, red headed, freckled, a trait that has been carried down to me from my mother. He must have been pretty tough, surviving two WIA and Pow camps. Also, I found in previous conversations, that I am some kin to George Purvis think through the Pittman side of my family. Keep me posted if you find anything else on the 7th MS Drummers. Thanks.