Andrew Jackson Pepper

Three Civil War veterans rest in the Old Pioneer Cemetery along Kentucky 1109, south of the AA Highway. Alfred Doughty and Hiram T. Jordan both saw service in Company D of the Sixteenth Kentucky Infantry (U. S. A.). The third fellow is Andrew Jackson Pepper. There are a few interesting details that make Pepper a bit unique among the Bracken County veterans.

Pepper was born on January 10, 1816, making him forty-five years of age when the war erupted in 1861 (the 1870 U. S. Census lists his year of birth as 1811). His age alone would qualify him as a bit uncommon as the average age for a Federal soldier was 25.8 years, but there are numerous examples of older soldiers who served in the ranks. So not common, but certainly not unique.

Let’s add in that A. J. did not enlist until August 11, 1864, over three years from the commencement of the hostilities. While again uncommon, it was not unusual as many men would enlist in 1864 as a way to avoid the draft as well as earn a $300.00 bounty, which would be similar to a $5,300 signing bonus today.

Pepper had married Margaret Rankin, but Margaret would die in 1852. Within three years Pepper would remarry, this time to Clarinda (Clara) Hendrixson, who was twenty-two years younger than her husband. When he enlisted in 1864, Pepper would not only leave Clara at home, but with three young sons. Uncommon, but perhaps not unique.

Consider one more facet about A. J. Pepper - while born in Bracken County, he joined an Ohio infantry regiment, the 175th Ohio Volunteers, a unit raised from across southern Ohio. Why he joined the 175th OVI is unknown. There are no other men with the last name of Pepper in the unit, so he did not join to serve alongside an immediate family member. He could have joined the ranks of an existing Kentucky regiment, as those units actively accepted new recruits throughout the war. He could have also joined one of the newly forming Kentucky regiments, such as the 54th, like other Bracken County men, but Pepper did not. There are examples of men, usually in company numbers, joining units from other states. Uncommon, but not unique.

The 175th Ohio would be sent into Tennessee by November 1864. On November 30th it was be in the heart of the action at the terrible Battle of Franklin, where ironically it was positioned behind the aforementioned Sixteenth Kentucky, just east of the Carter House, and close to the Confederate breakthrough location. Pepper survived this action and would be mustered out of Federal service on June 27, 1865 in Nashville. He returned home to Kentucky, and proceeded to have five more children with Clara. One son, John J., was born sometime in 1871, when Andrew was approximately fifty-five years of age. Yet another uncommon occurrence.

John J. Pepper would enlist in the Sixth Infantry Infantry at Fort Thomas in late, 1897. He was sent to Cuba, and would die of acute dysentery at Santiago de Cuba on August 8th, 1898. He is buried in the Johnsville Cemetery, also known as Fairview or Odd Fellows, just a few miles from his father, who himself had died on August 26, 1886.

Perhaps if we take all of Andrew’s uncommon facets of his life, we can see that his story is unique, particularly so within Bracken County.

Note - Andrew Jackson Pepper is a part of our Adopt-A-Soldier program, and is sponsored by Scott Savory of Dayton, Ohio.