Gwaltney Anecdotals

Gwaltney Anecdotals

Brief Glimpses into the lives of Gwaltneys

##My great-great-grandfather Leonidas Gwaltney Sr., though from Tennessee, actually fought for the north during the Civil War apparently because he thought they had a better pension plan. When he went off to fight he left at home his pregnant wife and three small children. He was killed by Bedford Forrest's army at the FT. PILLOW, TN massacre two days before his son was born. He was stationed less than 60 miles from his house when he was shot, and like so many soldiers left behind a widow, small children, and a newborn. His son was my great-grandfather, Leonidas Gwaltney, Jr. who grew up without a father. Almost ironically, when Leonidas Jr. married, his wife died shortly after giving birth to my grandfather, Easton Justice "Spay" Gwaltney. So just as my great-grandfather grew up without a father, my grandfather grew up without a mother. When I consider my grandfather's life, I think he definitely needed a mother's love, discipline, and guidance.

##Lynn Gwaltney Stallings of Smithfield, Virginia tells an interesting story of how her grandfather, Nonnie Reuben Gwaltney, received his name. Apparently as a small child, he had always been called "Baby". So when he finally went to his first day of school, the teacher asked his name and he answered "Baby".
The teacher said that couldn't be his name. So "Baby" went home and announced he didn't have a name. His mother exclaimed to the father, Willis Reuben Gwaltney, "My dear, we forgot to name the child!" Baby was asked what he would like to be called and he responded "Nonnie". Thus the name Nonnie Reuben (Reuben for his father's middle name) Gwaltney. [It sort of reminds me of how Blondie and Dagwood Bumstead from the famed cartoon strips and movies called their boy "Baby Dumplings"---j.k.]

##HOW"S THIS FOR A FRONT ROW SEAT!! Bob Gwaltney of Arkansas (his line of Gwaltneys moved from Smith Co. TN into Logan Co. AR) relates an incident about his great grandfather Fielding Gwaltney. When Fielding was an 11 year old and still living in Tennessee, he actually got to watch the Battle of Chickamauga---while sitting on a rail fence!! I'm sure that was a spectacle he never forgot.

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