Thursday, November 12, 2015

Frank S. Loyd Looking Toward 100 Years

He hoped to live to be 100 years old, but he missed the milestone by slightly more than a month. Frank S. Loyd, born in 1839, passed away at the age of 99 years, 10 months and 20 days on 30 November 1938 in Fredonia, Caldwell County, Kentucky.[1]

Loyd was born to Isaac and Polly Loyd  in the part of Livingston County that later became Crittenden  County.  He later moved just over the county line to Fredonia. Loyd outlived three wives, sisters Sarah Bell and Cornelia Ann Hillyard, and Kittie Mayes. Kittie Mayes  is buried with Loyd at Fredonia Cemetery. The other two wives are buried at Livingston Cemetery in Fredonia.

In an interview with an Evansville newspaper,[2] Loyd told of enlisting in the army during the Civil War and being told he was physically unfit to withstand the rigors of the war. His pleas for reconsideration were accepted and he began his career in Co. K, 20th KY Infantry (USA). He seemed pleased that he had proved the physician wrong.  In the article, Loyd says he helped build the fort at Smithland. He also tells of organizing and training a company of men by teaching tactics learned from a military book.  He only suffered one wound and that was when a shell exploded and nicked him in the head.

Loyd was sent from Smithland to Louisville and then to Shiloh and Lookout Mountain and was with Sherman on his march to the sea.  He experienced several major Civil War engagements and says the fighting wasn't over when he got out of the military. "There were bands of guerrillas coming through Fredonia all the time," he said. "A man had to turn out with a rifle to protect his own home and family."[3]

At the time this article was written, Loyd was looking forward to a reunion of Civil War soldiers in Pennsylvania in 1938.





[1] Kentucky death certificate #26433 (1938), Frank S. Loyd.
[2] "Escapes Death Sentence for 76 Years," The Evansville Press, Sunday, 3 January 1937, Section D, page 1.
[3] Ibid.

Published 12 November 2015, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

No comments: