A TAR HEEL CONFEDERATE SOLDIER:

PVT. WILLIAM JOHN McGRAW, CO C "CABARRUS HORNETS", 33RD NC

WOUNDED 3 JUL 1863 AT GETTYSBURG IN THE PETTIGREW - TRIMBLE CHARGE "AKA PICKETT'S CHARGE" AGAINST CEMETERY RIDGE.

Enlisted at age 18 on 6 Sep 1861 in Co C "Cabarrus Hornets", 33rd NC, Concord, Cabarrus County, NC. He served in Co C with two cousins: Capt. David M. Corzine and Pvt. James C. Corzine.

With his two cousins, Capt. David M. Corzine and Pvt. James C. Corzine he participated in the Pettigrew - Trimble Charge better known as "Pickett's Charge" at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. Wounded 5 May 1864 in Battle of the Wilderness. Slightly wounded and captured 25 Mar 1865 at Petersburg, Va. He was a POW for 48 days and was confined at Point Lookout, Maryland on 31 Mar 1865. Paroled on 14 May 1865 after taking Oath of Allegiance. Returned to Concord, NC then later left for Texas along with many others, including Bost family members. They left Cabarrus County for a better life in Texas and to escape the hardships of Union occupation and Reconstruction.

Pvt. McGraw was a member of Cold Water Baptist Church, Concord, Cabarrus County, NC where his parents are buried. He is the son of Alfred McGraw and Elizabeth Bost McGraw, the daughter of Frederick Bost and Caroline Faggart Bost. He is the grandson of Valentine Faggart and Elizabeth Smith Faggart who are buried at St. John's Lutheran Church, near Mt. Pleasant, NC in Cabarrus County. His grandmother Elizabeth Smith Faggart is the daughter of Maj. Henry Smith (Heinrich Schmidt) and Mary Barbara Loesch Smith. Both Maj. Smith and Mary Barbara Smith are also buried at St. John's Lutheran Church. Maj. Smith was a Revolutionary War Soldier and fought in numerous battles in the Carolinas one of which was the Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina.


Married Leah Albertine LITTLE on 17 MAY 1866 in Cabarrus Co., North Carolina
Children
Edward W. McGraw (27 Mar 1871, Cabarrus Co, NC - 1928 Dallas, Texas, Find A Grave #61835503).
Thomas Preston MCGRAW (24 Oct 1873, Cabarrus Co., NC - 21 Oct 1956, Dallas, TX)
Mattie Leah MCGRAW (23 Aug 1884, Rockwall Co., TX - 30 Apr 1945, Rockwall Co., TX)
Leven Jackson MCGRAW (5 Apr 1891, Rockwall Co., TX - 25 Dec 1941, Dallas, TX)∼Served as a Private in Co. C 33rd Regt. NC Inf.