Staggs Family History

My ancestors in the United States

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    Edward Pinkney Gregory (1827-1909)

    BIRTH: 20 Jun 1827, Pendleton District, South Carolina, USA
    DEATH: 3 Jan 1909, Hill County, Texas, USA
    FATHER: Griffin Gregory (1798–1860)
    MOTHER: Cynthia Haynes (1800–1860)
    SPOUSE: Edna Catherine Martin (1833–1914)

    When Edward Pinkney Gregory was born on June 20, 1827, in South Carolina, his father, Griffin, was 29 and his mother, Cynthia, was 27. He married Edna Catherine Martin in 1852 in Georgia. They had nine children in 18 years. He died on January 3, 1909, in Hill, Texas, having lived a long life of 81 years, and was buried in Aquilla, Texas.

    The Life of Edward Pinkney Gregory

    A Life Shaped by War, Migration, and the Hard Geography of the American South

    Edward Pinkney Gregory was born in 1827, likely in South Carolina, during a period when families were pushing westward into the newly opened lands of Alabama. By the time he reached adulthood, the Gregorys had settled in Calhoun and Etowah Counties, a region of rolling hills, red clay, and small farms carved out of the forest. Edward grew up in a world where a man’s worth was measured in land cleared, crops raised, and the steadiness of his hand in times of hardship.

    In the early 1850s, Edward married Edna Catherine Martin, a Georgia‑born woman whose family had also migrated into Alabama. Their marriage joined two frontier families and began a household that would eventually include twelve children, all born in Alabama between 1852 and 1877. Their first child, John Marion Gregory, arrived in 1852, followed by Dialtha, Loven, William, Asa, Jane, Fanny, Hiram Harrison, Charles, Hudy, James, and Hattie. The Gregory home was full, noisy, and industrious — a typical Southern farm family on the eve of the nation’s greatest crisis.

    When the Civil War erupted in 1861, Edward was 34 years old, a married farmer with several young children. But like many men of his generation, he answered the call to defend his home state. On 10 May 1862, he enlisted at Gadsden, Alabama, as a Private in Company G (2nd), 48th Alabama Infantry Regiment. His enlistment record describes him simply: age 35, farmer, married — a man leaving behind a wife and children to face an uncertain future.

    The 48th Alabama was assigned to Law’s Brigade, part of Hood’s Division in the Army of Northern Virginia. This meant Edward fought in some of the most brutal battles of the entire war. He was present at:

    • Cedar Run
    • Second Manassas
    • Harpers Ferry
    • Sharpsburg (Antietam) — the bloodiest single day in American history
    • Suffolk
    • Gettysburg — where the 48th Alabama fought on the slopes of Little Round Top
    • Chickamauga
    • Lookout Valley
    • Knoxville
    • The Wilderness
    • Spotsylvania Court House
    • Cold Harbor
    • Petersburg

    His record shows periods of sickness — unsurprising given the conditions — and occasional furloughs, but he returned to the ranks again and again. By late 1864, he was furloughed from Fort Harrison, and like many Confederate soldiers, he simply never returned to the collapsing front. The war ended with Edward alive, but forever changed.

    When he returned home to Alabama, he found a world transformed. The economy was shattered, land values had collapsed, and opportunities were scarce. Like thousands of other Southern veterans, Edward looked westward. In the early 1870s, he and Edna gathered their children and joined the great post‑war migration into Texas, settling first in the central counties and later in Williamson, Milam, and Bell Counties. There, the Gregory children married, raised families, and spread across the state.

    Edward lived long enough to see the frontier close, the railroads knit Texas together, and his children establish themselves in a new land far from the Alabama hills of his youth. He died in 1909, an old man who had survived war, migration, and the hardships of rebuilding a life in the West. Edna followed him in 1914, closing the chapter on a marriage that had endured more than sixty years.

    Legacy of Edward Pinkney Gregory

    Today, Edward Pinkney Gregory stands as a pivotal figure in the Gregory family story — the man who carried the line through the Civil War, across the Deep South, and into Texas. His legacy lives on through his twelve children, his many descendants, and the enduring memory of a life shaped by duty, resilience, and the restless movement of the American frontier.

    Parents

    FATHER: Griffin Gregory (1798–1860)
    MOTHER: Cynthia Haynes (1800–1860)

    Marriage

    Edna Catherine Martin (1833–1914)

    Children

    • John Marion Gregory (1852–1891) married Mary Jane Burk (1857–1928)
    • Dialtha Gregory (1854–1937) married William Hale (1853-1917)
    • Loven Gregory (1857–1923) married Samantha Ann Griffin (1863-1949)
    • William M Gregory (1859–?)
    • Asa Gregory (1859–1904) married Ellie Gray (1865-1948)
    • C Jane Gregary (1865–?)
    • Mary Frances “Fanny” Gregory (1866–1950) married James Harrison Blackwell (1858–1932)
    • Hiram Harrison Gregory (1868–1947) married Mittie Jeffreys (1875-1976)
    • Charles Gregory (1871–1946) married Clemenntine Cockrell (1872-1940)

    Documents

    • Birth Records
      • Find a Grave > Edward Pinkney Gregory, Birth: 20 Jun 1827, South Carolina, USA
    • Death records
      • Find a Grave > Edward Pinkney Gregory, Birth: 20 Jun 1827, South Carolina, USA; Death: 3 Jan 1909 (aged 81), Hill County, Texas, USA
      • Burial: Prairie Grove Cemetery, Aquilla, Hill County, Texas, USA
    • Census Records
      • 1860 United States Federal Census > Alabama > Calhoun > Ranges 5, 6, and 7 > E P Gregory (33, Farmer, birthplace: South Carolina), Edney C Gregory (24, birthplace Georgia), John Gregory (7, birthplace Georgia), Dialtha Gregory (5, birthplace Alabama), Loven C Gregory (3, birthplace Alabama), William M Gregory (10 months, birthplace Alabama)
      • 1870 United States Federal Census > Alabama > Lawrence > Mount Hope >E P Gregary (44, farmer, personal estate: $1906) E C Gregary (34, keep house), J M Gregary (17, farm labor), L G Gregary (13), Asa Gregary (10), Mary T Gregary (8), C Jane Gregary (6), H H Gregary (4), Charley Gregary (2)
      • 1880 United States Federal Census > Texas > McLennan > Not Stated > 109 > E. P. Gregory (52, farmer), E. C. Gregory (45, keeping house), Lovin Gregory (22, works on farm), Asa Gregory (19, works on farm), Fanny Gregory (14, works on farm), Hiram Gregory (12, works on farm), Charles Gregory (10, works on farm). Hudy Gregory (8), James Gregory (6), Hattie Gregory (3)
      • 1900 United States Federal Census > Texas > Hill > Justice Precinct 07 > District 0050 > E P Gregory (72, landlord, owns house), Edna C Gregory (wife, 65) years married: 48
    • Military Records
      • Alabama, U.S., Civil War Muster Rolls, 1861-1865 > Name: E P Gregory; Estimated Birth Year: abt 1827; Military Unit: 48th Alabama Infantry Regiment; Military Unit – Company: G; Muster Roll Date: 1862 10 May; Enlistment Date: 10 May 1862; Rank: Private; Age: 35; Place of Enlistment – City: Gadsden; Place of Enlistment – State: Alabama; Roll #: 524; Archive Collection #: SG025058-8
      • Alabama, U.S., Civil War Soldiers, 1860-1865 > Name: E. P. Gregory; Marital Status: Married; Occupation: Farmer; Birth Date: abt 1827; Birth Place: USA, South Carolina; Enlistment Date: 10 May 1862; Enlistment Place: Alabama, USA; Enlistment Age: 35; Military Branch: Infantry; Regiment or Unit: 48th Alabama Regiment; Company Unit: 2nd Co G; Enlistment Info: Age 35, Alabama, Gadsden, Private; Military Engagement Info: Present Cedar Run Aug 9 62 2nd Manassas Aug 29-30 62 Germantown Sep 1 62 Harpers Fry Sep 13 62 Sharpsburg Sep 17 62; Abs sick Fredericksburg Dec 13 62 Present Suffolk May 3 63 Gettysburg Jul 2-3 63 Port Royal Aug 23 63 Chickamauga Sep 19-20 63; Present Lookout Vly Oct 28 63 Campbell Stn Nov 4 63 Knoxville Nov 25 63 Beans Stn Dec 17 63; Abs furlough Dandridge Jan 16 64; Present Wilderness May 6 64 Spottsylvania May 8-10 64 Cold Harbor Jun 3 64 Bermuda Hndrds Jun 17 64;
        Remarks: Present Petersburg Jun 26 64; Absent sick New Market Heights Aug 16 64 Absent furlough from Ft. Harrison to end of war.; Residence Gadsden, Alabama.;
        Author: Record Roll near Richmond, Va, Jan 1, 1865.
      • U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 > Name: Edward P Gregory; Age: 35; Birth Year: abt 1827; Enlistment Date: 1862; Military Unit: Forty-Eighth Infantry
    • Other

    Relation of Edward Pinkney Gregory to Karen Edgar: 2nd great-grandfather

    Page last updated May 21, 2026

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