John B. Stiles, Sr

John B. Stiles was born in 1802 in North Carolina, probably Haywood County, to Thomas Stiles (b. 1780, d. ca. 1879) and Jane (Mc)Cabe (b. ca. 1780, d. 184?). On September 19, 1822, he married Mary "Polly" Cogdill in Haywood County. The couple reared nine children:

1. Thomas, born circa 1823; married Louisa Smith; died December 11, 1864.
2. William L., born circa 1825; married Telitha Sutton; died circa 1863-5.
3. James M., born circa 1829; married Elizabeth Minerva Decker.
4. Catherine, born circa 1831.
5. Jane, born September 1833; married Jonathan Gibby; died March 08, 1825.
6. Charles, born circa 1836, married Mrs. Jincey Meredith Malone; died January 01, 1865.
7. Mary Telitha, born circa 1838.
8. John B., Jr, born 1841; married Clarissa Ingram (12/16/1836-06/11/1921); died August 03, 1929.
9. [an unknown daughter]

In 1843, John, Sr, and Polly moved from Haywood County to Persimmon Creek in Cherokee County, NC, where John's parents had moved a few years before.

John, Sr, and Polly lost three sons in the Civil War. True to western North Carolina's legacy of bitter division during the War Between the States (which gave birth to its ornery two-party politics), one fought for the North, two for the South:

• Thomas, a Union scout and guide, was killed by bushwhackers.
• William, 39th North Carolina Regiment, died in a Knoxville prison camp.
• Charlie, 39th North Carolina Regiment, died in a New Jersey prison camp.

A fourth son, John, Jr, also served in the 39th and was wounded in the Battle of Chickamauga.

John B. Stiles, Sr, died in Cherokee County in the 1860's.

Sources: Marjorie Wolf's "Descendants of John Sr STILES"; Cherokee County Heritage--North Carolina, Vol. I, page 450.