Tom and George - thanks for the replies - and apologies to William for hijacking his post.

Tom, I have Glenda McWhirter Todd's book. At one point she was planning a sequel based on information sent to her by descendants of many of the men of the 1st Alabama. I don't know what happened to those plans. I suspect that most of their stories are interesting due to the political tensions that existed in those Alabama counties with strong Unionists feelings.

One error in her book and in George's information (probably gleaned from the same source): Obediah Stover was not discharged from the Union Army. Hospitalized for the majority of his enlistment, he died in June 1865, in a Union army hospital in Nashville, and is buried in the Nashville National Cemetery: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSsr=161&GSmid=47139465&GRid=3202692&

Abraham was his son. Several family trees list this man as Obediah's brother. Although he did have a brother named Abraham, this is his son as shown by the fact that he signed, as the father, a form entitled "Consent in the Case of a Minor". Although census records indicate that Abraham was likely only 16 years old, Obediah stated on the form that he was 18, and that he had permission to enlist in the Union army for 3 years.

All three men lived in the same household in Lawrence County, Alabama, in 1860, and were farmers working their own land. One of Obediah's brothers, on the other hand, was a wealthy planter in the county, owning large tracts of land as well as numerous slaves. Two of Elijah Stover's sons, Riley and Wesley, rode with Captain Nelson Fennell in his partisan ranger company at about the same time that the Stovers and Pell made their way to Huntsville to enlist. I have often tried to imagine the family tensions that existed and suspect that Riley and Wesley were active in trying to stop their uncle, their cousin, and another cousin's husband from reaching Union lines.

All three of these men died either during the war, or, in Obediah's case, after the cessation of hostilities. My gg grandmother, Martha Stover Blizzard, thus lost her father, her brother, and her brother- in-law in service to the Union. On the other hand, her husband, Frank Blizzard, rode with Phillip Roddy's 4th Alabama Cavalry. He either died during or immediately after the war, adding to the casualties the family suffered. She drew a Confederate pension from the State of Alabama for his service, while her step-mother drew a Union pension based on the service of her father.