Headstone was set by the Col John B. Palmer Sons of confederate Veterans Camp 1946 of Burnsville, NC on December 7, 2019.

MARVEL NAPOLEON BONAPARTE “BONEY” EDNEY
COMPANY C, 13TH MISSISSIPPI INFANTRY

Marvel N.B. Edney was born “about 1845”, based on his pension application, in Yancey County, North Carolina . His parents were Calvin Jones and Lucinda Wilson Edney. The birth date on his headstone is 1842. His actual date of birth was never established, with one census record having him born in 1850, in which case if true, he would have only been fourteen years old at his enlistment.** A death certificate has not been found. The U.S. Federal Census of 1860 shows he is ten years old and living in Yancey County in the household of Edward Wilson (94), Elizabeth J. Edney (8) and William Wilson (67). By 1880, he has married Matilda Biddix (marriage on May 24, 1874 in Mitchell County) and is living in Bakersville, Mitchell, NC with their two children, William J. (5) and Niagara (2). Matilda was a child of James A. and Elizabeth Hall Biddix. She was born about 1852 (based on death certificate) in Mitchell County, NC and died on February 29, 1932 (based on death certificate) in Erwin, Unicoi, TN. In 1900, he (57) and Matilda (50) are living in Civil District 2 of Carter County, TN with children, John (23), Robert (16), Stephen (12) and a granddaughter, Dona Ledford (3). In 1910, he and Matilda are living alone in Civil District 2 of Carter County and the same reported in the U.S. Federal Census of 1920.

He enlisted as a private in Company C of the 13 Regiment of Mississippi Volunteers in Bristol, TN on April 3, 1864. His records show he would have been 19 (?). It is known the 13th Mississippi was in Bristol in March of 1864, on its way to rejoin the Army of Northern Virginia, which would account for his enlistment in a Mississippi regiment. Muster records show he is present for the muster periods of March-April 1864, May-June 1864 and July-August 1864. A hospital admission to Receiving and Wayside General Hospital #9 of Richmond is shown with an admission date of September 15, 1864 and a release on September 16, 1864 with a readmission on October 4 1864 and release on October 5, 1864. His records show a hospitalization due to chronic diarrhea on October 5, 1864 at Stuart Hospital of Richmond and a return to duty date of October 17, 1864. A Prisoner of War record at Point Lookout, MD shows a capture at Harper’s Ferry on April 6, 1865, with a transfer to City Point, VA on April 14, 1865. He was released June 26, 1865 with an oath of allegiance. He is reported a being 5’6” tall, light hair, with blue eyes and fair complexion.

On May 2, 1906, he filed for a Tennessee Confederate pension ( S8147) in Carter County, while a resident of Roan Mountain. He states he was engaged in battles, “….in the Battle of the Wilderness [May 5-7, 1864], at Spottsylvania Court House [May 19, 1864], Petersburg[June 9, 1864], and in a good many skirmishes and was captured about three days before General Lee surrendered to General Grant near Appomattox Court House, received only a slight wound by a spent ball.” He describes his wound with the claim, “The ball hit me on the back of the hand, lost service three days with it” and spent time in a hospital at Gordonsville, VA, and then sent to a hospital in Richmond. His pension was granted. He passed away on May 9, 1932 (based on pension records) and is interred in the McInturff Cemetery, McInturff Cemetery Road of Unicoi County, off Rock Creek Road. He is buried beside his wife, Matilda. The McInturff Cemetery is well maintained.

**NOTE: A notation on Find-A-Grave states, “When Marvel was 12 years old he marched as a drummer boy all the way north and then the Union soldiers put a blue uniform on him and marched him home.”


Lest we forget.