George Washington Sadler, a Confederate Soldier, died in service to his country in Holly Springs, MS. Since the Union Soldiers arrived as the Confederate Soldiers were burying Mr. Sadler, no one marked his grave. After many years of trying to get a Confederate Marker (USA Gov. Refused to because the family had no record of his death), Mr. Sadler was honored with his well deserved marker on Sept. 28, 2015. Two of his great, great, grandchildren placed his marker beside his wife, Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth Sadler. These great, great, grandchildren were Rev. Ray Bobo and Dr. Linda Sparks. The USA Gov. Finally granted the marker after Rev. Bobo was able to locate a letter written by one of Mr. Sadler's fellow soldiers giving his name and date of his death. Mr. Sadler especially deserved his marker since he was serving as a substitute soldier - substituting for a wealthy man's son. Mr. Sadler's son, Robert Columbus Sadler, lived in the Tillers Crossroads Community just across the road from the "Old Ebenezer Cemetery". Rest in peace Mr. George Washington Sadler.

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(The following information was written by Ray Bobo (g-g-grandson of G.W. Sadler) when he created a memorial for George in 2008. However, after obtaining and placing a government issued V.A. marker for George (as explained herein), Mrs. Redmon created a second FAG memorial for George and someone else attached a photo of the VA marker labeled "Cenotaph," which I am now informed trumps the earlier memorial which I made, and trumps the fact that I am a direct relative, even though Mrs. Redmon is not. I pleaded with Find A Grave to reverse the merge so that my earlier one would remain and I could retain control as I continue my research while I live. They refused.)

George married Sarah Edwards Aug.7, 1844 in Edgefield Co., SC. George appears in the 1850 US census in Edgefield, SC, age 43, married to Sarah, age 24, with two children: Green (m) age 5; and Harriette (f) age 2 months. The 1850 Slave Schedule shows George owning one unnamed mulatto female age 27 [see below for more information on this person]. George and family migrated from Edgefield, SC to Chambers County, AL in 1859 according to a written pension statement by son, John Thomas Sadler. George and Sarah appear in the 1860 US census in Chambers County, AL . The census lists 8 children. Ultimately had nine children (perhaps more). When he went to war with the 37th Alabama Infantry, Co. G (c.1861), he never returned. He died from small pox in MS, and was buried in an unmarked grave. A pension was filed by Sarah dated March 30, 1863 (on file at US and SC archives). For more go here (https://tinyurl.com/y9d35tg8): and page down to Sadler. Discovering George's father has become my passion, but also a brick wall, so to speak. George was my g-g-grandfather. If anyone has information (from a family Bible, etc.) relating to who his father was, please contact me. At present my best speculation is that his father was Thomas Sadler of Edgefield, SC, and his mother was Sarah (Hensley ?). I and others base this on information obtained from the 1830, 1850 and 1860 federal censuses. The earliest mention I have found of George is in the Edgefield County, SC Court House miscellaneous records files, which show George serving jury duty in the late 1830s, which would make him at least 30. His name appears in two Sheriff's Sales in Edgefield County, SC. The first is recorded in a record book in the court house, dated 1840. George is debtor to James Sheppard for $500. Security for this debt was human property, one Clarrisa, "negro girl". Next, an ad in the Edgefield Advertiser dated Jan 10, 1844 regards the Sheriff's Sale of "land where Mrs. Sarah Sadler resides" and George is named as the debtor. Since at this time George is not married, this must be referring to his mother. Later documents show that at her death Mrs. Sarah Sadler still resided on and owned the land, so the debt must have been resolved. Exactly how she came to own this land is as yet unknown. The 1850 Census of Edgefield, SC, shows George as married with two children. Then ten years later the 1860 Census of Chambers Co., AL shows him with 8 children. The 1870 US census of Edgefield, SC shows a Sarah Sadler age 84 with four adult daughters living together. Three of George's daughters in AL have the same names as three of these adult women living with Sarah back in SC. George's eldest sons are Green B. and John Thomas. I speculate that Green is named for Gen. Nathaniel Green. I speculate that the second son was possibly named for his grandfather, Thomas Sadler, who also shows up in early SC censuses. To date, however, I have not been able to connect Thomas and the elder Sarah, or Thomas and George, or the elder Sarah and George (except that they appear one after the other in the 1850 census, which indicates they lived next door to each other or in the same household. And the above cited entry in county record books and the ad in the local newspaper pretty well substantiate their kinship.).

I have seen suggestions that the senior Sarah Sadler (George W.'s mother) was married to an Issac Sadler. There is an Issac Sadler listed in the 1800 and 1810 U.S. censuses of Edgefield County, SC, but the unnamed household members do not match by age to the children we know Sarah Sadler had, the eldest being George W. So I am not convinced the father of her children was Isaac Sadler.

In the 1980s Gerald T Golden produced a mailed-out newsletter entitled "Friends of the 37th Alabama Infantry" (copies held at Auburn University Library Archives). In the April 4, 1988 issue (Vol II, No.V, pgs 4-5) he cites a friend who supposedly found information which had originally appeared in a letter written in 1902 by Sam Singletary to Thomas Carlisle, who was publishing memoirs of veterans of the 37th AL Infantry in a publication called "The Weekly Enterprise." The letter tells of G.W.'s death and burial in north Mississippi. Also, the contributor to the newsletter stated that G.W. volunteered to go to war in the place of 22-year-old Robert L. Mitchell in exchange for 360 acres of land on the Hootalooco Creek. I discovered microfilm copies of The Weekly Enterprise in the Alabama State Archives. I now have in my possession pdf files of all references to the 37th Alabama Infantry which appeared in that paper from 1900 to 1902 (roughly 50 articles), including the Singletary letter dated Sept 21, 1902, which recounts the death and burial of "an old man named Sadler." George was 54 when he enlisted and 56 when he died from small pox. The letter states that George was buried by "Ben Forester and Sadler's son" [John, who enlisted at 13 yrs old with his father in the 37th AL Infantry, and who also contracted small pox, but survived]. At this point only God knows the whereabouts of that grave. But the Veterans Adm now accepts the fact that George did, in fact, die in service and in 2015 issued the monument shown above, which I placed next to his widow, Sarah Edwards Sadler in 2016. On August 4, 2017, my wife and I went to Chambers County, AL, to search deed records at the Probate Court vault. Sure enough, we discovered the 1862 deed of transfer from Robert Mitchell, Sr. to Sarah Sadler of the promised 360 acres for "valuable consideration". Indeed. Since she was penniless with nine children, what more valuable consideration did she have than her widowhood? Though not killed in action, her husband nevertheless laid down his life to provide for his large family. Additional child to those listed below: Elizabeth Josephine Sadler, history and burial whereabouts unknown at present. Again, if anyone reading this has any factual information about this family, please email me ([email protected]).