James Zechariah McChesney was the son of Captain James McChesney and Frances Ann McNutt. His father died 6 months and 14 days before he was born.

He attended Virginia Military Institute, enlisted in CSA as a private in 17th Battalion Virginia Cavalry and transferred to the 14 Virginia Cavalry. Va. Cav. Regt.; Co. C, 14th Va. Cav. Regt.; Ordnance Sgt., 1st Va. Cav. Regt.; back to 14th Va. Cav. Regt.

On the 1850 Dist. 51, Rockbridge Co., VA census, I found Frances McChesney, 44; farmer Alexandr J McChesney, 21; Robert McChesney, 18; Rachel G McChesney, 16; Martha A McChesney, 14; Frances A McChesney, 11; Mary M McChesney, 9 and JAMES Z McChesney, 7, all VA born.

On the 1860 Dist. 6, Rockbridge Co., VA census, I found farming Frances A McChesney, 53; Robert McChesney, 27; Mattie E McChesney, 23; Mary M McChesney, 19 and JAMES McChesney, 17, all VA born.

He married Lucy Johnson on 4 Apr 1865 in Rockbridge Co., VA. After the war James worked as a merchant and life insurance agent. They had 4 known children: Lila K, Alexander G, Alice Johnson and Mortimer Howell.

On the 1870 Charleston, Kanawha Co., WV census, I found dry goods merchant (re) - probably means retail, JAMES Z (or T?) McChesney, 27, VA born and Lucy McChesney, VA born, now WV.

J. Z. McChesney, 60-61, is a one of the most prosperous merchants here as well as one of the most prominent citizens. Charleston, WV Alumni. The 1 Jun 1879 issue of the Southern Collegian, Volume 11, paper of the Washington College (later Washington & Lee University).

On the 1880 Charleston, Kanawha, WV census, I found JAMES Z. McChesney, 36, VA born; wife Lucy J. McChesney, 35, VA; daughter Lila McChesney, 9, WV and son Alexander G. McChesney, 8/12, WV; servant Jane Johnson, 50, VA and farmer plus brother in law, Leake Johnson, 30, VA born.

26 Apr 1893, James Z McChesney and L J, his wife of Kanawha Co., WV; Edw and Mary M Lewis and Wm C & Prudentia W Campbell of Roane Co., WV, sell Wm Lee of Rockbridge Co., VA, a tract of land in Rockbridge Co., VA for $3K, what was conveyed to the J Z and L J McChesney by J K Edmondson by deed on 16 Mar 1889, "420-47/160 acres." It was recorded on 15 May 1893 in Rockbridge Co., VA Deed Book 80, p 134.

On the 1900 Dist. 46, Charleston Ward 4, Kanawha Co., WV census, I found insurance man J Z McChesney, 57, born Mar 1843; wife of 35 years Lucy J McChesney, 56, Jan 1846; son Alex McChesney, 21, Nov 1878; daughter Alice J McChesney, 17, Jul 1882; son M H J McChesney, 15, Dec 1884 and servant Jane Johnson, 60, Apr 1840. JZ was born in VA and the rest in WV.

On the 1910 Charleston, WV census, I found James McChesney, 66, married 45 years to wife Lucy, 65, had 4 kids, 3 living; daughter and teacher Alice, 27 and son and civil engineer Mortimer, 25, "all WV born." They lived at 505 Capital Street.

His papers AT the Library of VA (not online) consist of: McChesney, James Zechariah Papers, 1862-1909. Accession 50683. 8 leaves & 34 pages. " James Zechariah McChesney (1843-1922) of Rockbridge Co, Va, and Charleston, WV, consisting of an autobiography of McChesney; letters to James Z. McChesney from his sister Mary McChesney (1841-1915) regarding family news and from A. C. L. Gatewood regarding the Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee Camps no. 887 of the United Confederate Veterans in WV; a letter from Sallie G. Gatewood (1837-1882) to Union General Wm Averall regarding her brother Geo Henry Moffett (1845-1912) who is a prisoner of war; accounts of the battle of Moorefield, Hardy Co, WV on 7 Aug 1864, by James McChesney and by E. E. Bouldin; photographs of James McChesney & his wife Lucy Johnson McChesney (1844-1933); writings of an unidentified woman reflecting on Parson Brownlow (1805-1877), womanhood and war, books, family, and religion; and a recipe book." It gives a bio I believe to be accurate: He was born 7 Mar 1843 in Rockbridge Co, Va, to Jas McChesney (1795-1842) and Frances Ann McNutt McChesney (1806-1877). He attended Washington College (now Washington & Lee). He served in Co. F, 11th Va Cavalry, and transferred to Co. C, 14th Va Cavalry, 9 Aug 1863. He served until sent to the hospital with typhoid fever 9 Sep 1864. He was honorably discharged in Spring, 1865. James married Lucy Johnson (1844-1933) 4 April 1865 and they had 4 children. Lastly, he moved to Charleston, WV, in 1869 and worked as a merchant and an insurance salesman. He died 25 Jan 1922 in Charleston and was buried in Spring Hill Cemetery.

The Library of VA also has his 14 Nov 1864, 2 page letter frin Mt. Sidney, Augusta Co., Va, regarding his health and the escape of Granville J. Reger of Co. C, 14th Va Cavalry, in Moorefield, WV. Accession 39195.

He married Lucy Johnson on 4 Apr 1865 in Rockbridge Co., VA. After the war worked as a merchant and life insurance agent. They had 4 known children: Lila K, Alexander G, Alice Johnson and Mortimer Howell.

Apparently he wrote a book, Library of VA, Broadside 1868 .J13 FF
Author J.Z. McChesney's Banner Store, titled: Free show : the Great Mystery Solved Why You Will Die! ... at McChesney's Banner Store ... / J.Z. McChesney's Banner Store, Publication [Charleston, W. Va.] : J.Z. McChesney, [1868], Material 1 broadside; 32 cm. Google Books lists it also, but not for sale.

In Mar 1874, his mother Frances Ann McNutt McChesney wrote her daughter Martha, while visiting James, Lucy and baby Lila, for over 2 weeks. Many were sick with colds there. She heard frail looking John Brown preach here.

In my photo album is a wallet size 1880 calendar (see daughter Lila's site for photo) with a picture on one side, of a young girl and dog that says Edwin C. Burt Fine Shoes and on the other, the 1980 calendar. This side says: James Z McChesney, Front Street, Dealer in Shoes, Clothing and Gents' Furnishing Goods, Is a special Agent for the sale of my Goods in CHARLESTON, Kanawha Co., West Va, EDWIN C. BURT, New York. It is beside a photo of a man with a beard, that I could not place until I saw the older photo of him on this site.

Another photo of him is on page 398B in the Family Record and Biography, by Leander James McCormick, 1896. It adds he was elected a ruling elder of the 1st Presbyterian Church in Charleston.

I have an original daguerreotype of him and it's a dead ringer for him in his Civil War gear including a sword as identified in a different photo in Robert J. Driver Jr.'s book, 14th Virginia Cavalry. Gregory S. added the same photo to this site already. My photo of this daguerreotype is on his wife's page. DO NOT REPRODUCE it.

I note he is listed as "General" (small gravestone) and as "Colonel" (older pix, click for captions).

Click on all five photos for details.

His WV Dept. of Health Certificate of Death #501, says James Z McChesney died in Charleston, Kanawha Co., WV on 25 Jan 1922. He was an insurance agent, married, white, born 7 March 1843 in Virginia, aged 78 yrs, 10 mos & 18 ds, his parents were born in VA, names of his parent are unlisted (dont know), informant was M. J. McChesney of Charleston. His Dr. W.W. Tompkins & Dr. Jas Putney saw him Jan 23 to 25th and he was alive on Jan 24th. He died from Arterio Sclerosis and Angina Pectoris, which he had for 4 or 5 days.

"JAMES Z. MCCHESNEY PAPERS. 1862-1906. 15 manuscripts. James Z. McChesney (1843-1922) was a native of Rockbridge County, Virginia. In January 1862 he entered the Virginia Military Institute, but left the following June to enlist in the Confederate army. Most of the manuscripts in the group relate to McChesney's time in Co. C, 14th Virginia Cavalry, a regiment he joined as a private in August 1863. His service in the field effectively ended when he contracted typhus in October 1864. During his period of service, the 14th Virginia was attached to Jenkins' (1863-64) and McCausland's (1864-65) brigades, in the variously named departments incorporating western Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. The papers include eight wartime letters written by James McChesney: one to his mother (10 June 1862), making an ardent case for joining the army, and seven to his future wife, Lucy Johnson, of Rockbridge County. Two of these latter, from September 1863, are courtship letters; the others (April to November 1864) are largely given over to news from the field. Other war-date manuscripts include two letters from early 1865 relating to McChesney's illness, and a letter to McChesney from one of his sisters (March 1865). There is, in addition, a nine-page memoir, undated but probably written long after the war, in which McChesney recalls events of late July and August 1864, including the second Chambersburg (Pa.) raid and an engagement with Union cavalry at Moorefield, West Virginia (7 August 1864). Acquisition funded by Robert and Beverly O'Grady, 2006. MSN/CW 1007-1 to MSN/CW 1007-16." Found in the manuscript holdings in the Department of Special Collections, at the University Libraries of Notre Dame.

Bio researched and written by LSP.