Hi-I happened upon this website and I want to share this letter that my gg grandfather wrote to clear his name after being called a deserter. Newton L. Lipsey was 68 years old when he applied to the state of Texas for a pension based on his service to the Confederate States of America. He was deeply grieved to discover that the official records listed him as a deserter. In the letter that follows, he defends his fidelity to the Southern cause and presents a record of remarkable service which began when he was only 18 years of age.
________________________________________
Greenville, Texas
August 13th 1913
Hon. Keizer [Geo. W. Kyser],
Commissioner of Pensions,
Austin, Texas
Dear Sir:
I beg to hand you my application for a pension filed by me many months ago and which was returned to me. I also hand you the report from Washington which shows that I was marked "deserter."
I have suffered no little since I learned that this word was placed after my name. Without boasting I want to say that no man ever served a cause more faithfully than did I--for I did my best. The facts are that I entered the service from South Carolina going into the Fifth South Carolina for one year and afterwards were organized into Palmeto Sharp Shooters and I was in Co A. I entered the service in April 1861 and helped take General Anderson out of Fort Sumpter. I remained in the service during all of the war. I was in First and Second battles of Manasas, the seven days fight at Richmond, the seven Pines Fight, Fredericksburg fight, Sharpsburg, Maryland, Chicamauga, I was at the Wilderness and the campaign from there until the end. In fact I was at all times with the army of Viginia, Longstreets Corps and Anderson's Division, Jenkins Brigade, Walkers Regiment. The only way I can account for this detested word to have been connected with my name is that on the retreat from Richmond our forces got divided and we were seperated from the main body. Perhaps there were as many as 1000 who got seperated and we tried to work our way around to Lynchberg and get to the main army. We never surrendered but when General Lee surrendered we were told to go home which we did. I carried my gun and was in the service until the last gun was fired. These are the facts and I beg of you to advise me as to what I can do to wipe out this stain some person has wrongfully placed there. I am growing old and I know no man ever served a cause more faithfully than I did and it is hard to learn that somewhere there was a record such as is shown on the slip of paper here inclosed from Washington. I will appreciate any advise. It is not so much for a pension now but to remove the stain placed against me. With kind regards, I am,
Yours truly.
N. L. Lipsey
Greenville, Texas
4121 Pickett St.
________________________________________
Mr. Lipsey made his original claim on August 28, 1911. It was rejected.
In 1913, he wrote the letter, above, which was accompanied by several testimonies by community leaders and other veterans.
He was subsequently granted a pension from the State of Texas effective December 1913.
Mr. Lipsey died May 18, 1933, in Greenville.
Can you help us make a connection to this old soldier?
We feel certain that Newton L. Lipsey is part of one of the Southern Lipsey lines that we're tracing:
• Newton was born February 10, 1842, in South Carolina (the date is from his death certificate; however, the 1900 census gives a birthdate of February 1844). According to his death certificate, his father was Charles Lipsey, born in South Carolina, and his mother's name is unknown, although she was also born in SC. Information on the death certificate was provided by Newton's son, Edward.
• In 1860 (U.S. Census) Newton (age 15) is living with Huldah Lipsey (his mother?), and siblings (?) Jefferson (4) and Acy [Asa?] (3/12) in Unionville, Union County, South Carolina. (In 1870, following the war, Huldy Fowler is still living in Union County, SC, with Jefferson.)
• In 1880 (U.S. Census, Kaufman County, Texas) Newton is 35 and living with his wife, Bettie (age 33, born in Louisiana), and children Mary A.(age 7, born in Texas) and Marshall (age 2, born in Texas). According to an IGI Record from the LDS FamilySearch(r) site, his wife's maiden name was Bettie Greene, and they were married June 5, 1870, in Red River, Texas. (The 1900 census gives Elizabeth's birthdate as September 1845.)
• In 1900 (U.S. Census, Hunt County, Texas), Newton is 56 and living with his wife, Elizabeth, who is 54.
• In 1920 (U.S. Census, Hunt County, Texas)), he is 78 and living in the home of his son, Edward Marshall Lipsey. (Edward is married to Nannie, and they have children Dewey S., Alberta J., Grady L., Eddie C., Alice Ruth, and Edward M.)
• He died May 18, 1933. He was buried in the East Mount Cemetery in Hunt County, Texas.

I am very proud of this and my father, before he died, remembers him working the farm in Texas when he was a little boy. I have the high-chair that my gg grandfather Newton made that all Lipsey babies have sat in. It has been passed to me as the oldest granddaughter of Grady Lipsey, his grandson. I treasure it. If anyone has any info about him it would be appreciated or let me know where I can look in South Carolina. Are the pictures of any of these regimens? Would like to know if his mother was indeed Huldah too. Birth certs at county building in South Carolina?