Andrew Marcus Trawick; Van Buren County, Arkansas

 

This wonderful account of his ancestor,  was given to us by Harold Gunn

Dr. Andrew Marcus Trawick is remembered by his niece, Carmen Trawick Gunn(b.1907) as the younger brother of George Washington Trawick, her grandfather, who came from Tennessee to visit his Cleburne County, Arkansas relatives on several occasions when she was a little girl. Carmen called him "Uncle Andree". She says that he was smaller than George, always wore his suit and was a gentleman with good manners.

There are pictures of Andrew, dressed in a dark suit and celluloid collar, somewhere in family boxes. Pictures of one of his daughters' weddings also exist.

The following article contains some errors about the Trawick family origins(they were English and came to Virginia before 1700), but it describes Andrew and his war record:

Andrew Marcus TRAYWICK, b. Oct.8,1845/6 m. 1867, Martha B. MCSWAIN (1849-     The Goodspeed Histories;  Columbia, Tenn., 1872 Reprinted from  Goodspeed's History of  Tennessee, originally, the following information:

  "Andrew M. TRAWICK,  M.D., was born in Carroll County, Tenn., October 8, 1844, son of John and Diana (COOK) TRAWICK, and of Scotch-Irish lineage, The TRAWICK family is traced to the  great-grandparents of our subject, who came to America from Belfast, Ireland, in 1765. The great-grandfather was one of nine brothers who were all said to be soldiers in the Revolutionary war. The grandfather was Robert TRAWICK, a native of North Carolina. Our subject's father was also a North Carolinian and was born in 1792. His mother was born in 1803. The father died in Tennessee in 1848 and the mother in 1860.

 Andrew M. TRAWICK was the youngest of nine children and was reared on a farm. In 1860 he went to Arkansas and there, contrary to the wishes of an elder brother, attended school, having a thirst for knowledge.

 In 1861 he enlisted in Company F. Sixteenth Arkansas Volunteer Infantry as a private and was afterward promoted to second lieutenant. He was in the battle of Elkhorn, in 1862, Corinth and Port Hudson, where he was  made a prisoner of war. He was taken to Johnson's Island, Ohio, where he remained until the close of the war. During his imprisonment he made good use of his time and continued his studies.

 In 1865 he returned to his home in Tennessee, and a year later began the study of medicine in the office of Dr. A.J. WELDON, who was a benefactor to him. He attended lectures at the university of Louisville and subsequently located near Davis, Tenn., and there continued the practice fourteen years. He was appointed president of the Stewart County Medical Society in 18_8, and in 1881 he attended the Vanderbilt University, and in March of that year graduated from the institution.

 In 1881, he  came to Clarksville where he since continued, doing an extensive business. He was married, in 1867, to Mattie B. MCSWAIN, a native of Henry Co., Tenn., born in 1849. Of their eleven  children ten survive: Archibald, Arcadius M., Ada, John D., Cora M., Lulu B., George C., Clara B., Mary E.,  189(1904) and Thorpe B.  Our subject is an ardent Prohibitionist, a Mason and K. of H. In 1863, while in prison, he joined the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and he and his wife and five children are earnest members of the denomination. He is a prominent and self-made man and excellent citizen."

 Confederate Veteran XIX: 436 (1911) contains the following: "A.M. TRAWICK was born in Carroll County Tenn., Oct. 8, 1846. His death occurred at Nashville, Tenn.  In a reminiscence of his service in the army he wrote that he was residing at Clinton, Ark., when the war began and that he sought to join his brothers George and John, who had enlisted in the 10th Arkansas Regiment; but as he was under fifteen years, he was not allowed to go. In Oct 1861, when another company was organized, he left school to go with it, and was sworn into the 16th Arkansas on October 29, 1861. He gives in his diary a history of the movements of the regiment and their severe experiences in Arkansas.

 In March 16, 1862, they started on a forced march for Corinth, Miss., arriving there on April 12, a few days after the battle of Shiloh. When the army fell back, BRAGG started into Kentucky, and the 16th Arkansas went under PRICE to Tupelo, Miss., remaining there until September 15, when it moved back to Iuka, where they had a hard fight on the 19th. They fell back again after that battle to Baldwin, Miss.

 About October 1, General PRICE and VAN DORN joined forces, and on the 3rd and 4th a terrific and disastrous charge was made on the Federal fortifications at Corinth. The 16th Arkansas was ordered about November 1 to Port Hudson, where they went into winter quarters.

  On February 18, 1863 young TRAWICK was promoted to lieutenancy. On March 14 the Federal fleet under FARRAGUT advanced up the Mississippi with gunboats and motors. Two ships, the Harvard and the Monongahela, passed by the forts; but the famous old warship, the Mississippi, was set on fire and destroyed. This is a memorable event to all survivors of the  forces there. Admiral DEWEY was one of those captured upon leaving the burning ship. The motor shells, thrown with great diligence during the engagement, created consternation, as they  could be observed by burning fuse going very high in the air and exploding with well-ordered fire as they fell.
 During that siege Lieutenant TRAWICK was a volunteer with some men to occupy a most perilous position. In his written record he does not refer to it, yet he gave a thrilling account of it at a meeting of the Frank Cheatham Camp, U.C.V.

 After the surrender of Port Hudson, Lieutenant TRAWICK, was one of those sent to Johnson's Island prison. He carried with him three books that he took from his home: a Bible, Davie's Arithmetic, and Smith's Grammar. As soon as practicable he added to his books a list of useful ones, and became quite a close student. He read the Bible through twice and the Testament seven times. He was baptized in Lake Erie on March 27, wading through ice to  proper depth. His diary tells briefly of hardships in prison, and that they were kept on  Johnson's Island until March 21, 1865 and thence sent to Fort Delaware, and kept there until June 13, 1865, when they were released."