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| Mr. Weary Clyburn of Lancaster County, South Carolina. Co. E, 12th South Carolina Infantry Regiment, CSA. Member of the United Confederate Veterans. Image courtesy Lancaster (SC) Historical Society. |
Weary Clyburn was born into slavery in Lancaster County, South Carolina sometime in the year 1841. He was listed as the son of one Phillip Blare and was raised with his master’s son, Thomas F. "Frank" Clyburn.
When the War Between The States broke out in April, 1861, Weary Clyburn went to war with Frank, as his bodyguard. Both men served as members of Company E, 12th South Carolina Infantry Regiment.
The 12th South Carolina Infantry was formed at Lightwoodknot Springs near Columbia, South Carolina in July of 1861. Frank Clyburn was made the Captain of Company E. Both young men were present during all the major battles that the unit fought in as part of the General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. During the war, Frank officially gave Weary manumission (freedom) and though he was under no military obligation to remain with the regiment or work for Frank, Weary elected to remain with his friend. As part of Company E, Weary Clyburn also performed jobs as a forager, cook, and at times picket duty with a borrowed rifle on occasions during the war.
Frank Clyburn would be promoted twice during the course of the war: to Major on Tuesday, November 17, 1863; and then to Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment on Friday, May 6, 1864 during the Battle of the Wilderness.
Colonel Clyburn was badly wounded at the Battle of North Anna near Jericho's Ford on Monday, May 23, 1864. It was there that Weary was reported to have carried the wounded Frank Clyburn off the battlefield and saving his life.
Weary Clyburn was with the 12th South Carolina Infantry Regiment when it formally surrendered at Appomattox Court House on Monday, April 10, 1865. Clyburn, along with the remaining 159 officers and men of the regiment walked back to South Carolina together.
After the war, Weary and Frank remained friends until the Colonel Frank Clyburn passed away on October 16, 1896. Frank and his wife, Eliza, moved to Union County, North Carolina.
Weary Clyburn was known for his fiddle playing and his enthusiastic approach to life and attended dozens of reunions with surviving members of the 12th South Carolina Infantry after the war, and was a proud member in good standing of the United Confederate Veterans. One prominent post-war photo shows Weary Clyburn with his fiddle attending the 50th Anniversary 1913 Reunion of the Battle of Gettysburg along with the other 8,750 former Confederate soldiers in attendance.
Weary applied for a pension for his service in the War Between the States on Monday, February 1, 1926 in the State of North Carolina and was one of the first persons of color to receive a Confederate pension in Union County, North Carolina.
The oral history Weary shared with the Union County pension board tells us he was present at the training camp in Columbia [SC] and also with the company at Charleston, Morris Island, Page's Point and Hilton Head "and other places throughout the war; that at Hilton Head, while under fire of the enemy he carried his master out of the field of fire on his shoulder; that he performed personal services for Robert E. Lee; that he has been a resident of this county [Union County, NC] for four years; that he is eighty-five (85) years old; has a wife and foolish boy to support..." (the family shared that the 'foolish boy' was named Lee) Attorney, J. P. Richards of Lancaster, SC submitted an affidavit dated January 22, 1926 for Weary's pension application that verified that "Worry D. Clyburn seved [served] in the Confederate Army from the years 1863- to 1865, along with Capt. Frank Clyburn of the 12th regiment of the South Carolina volunteers;...he is eligible for pension if he lived in this state. However, as he lives in the state of North Carolina, I sincerely recommend him for pension and any other possible aid obtainable in that state."
When the War Between The States broke out in April, 1861, Weary Clyburn went to war with Frank, as his bodyguard. Both men served as members of Company E, 12th South Carolina Infantry Regiment.
The 12th South Carolina Infantry was formed at Lightwoodknot Springs near Columbia, South Carolina in July of 1861. Frank Clyburn was made the Captain of Company E. Both young men were present during all the major battles that the unit fought in as part of the General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. During the war, Frank officially gave Weary manumission (freedom) and though he was under no military obligation to remain with the regiment or work for Frank, Weary elected to remain with his friend. As part of Company E, Weary Clyburn also performed jobs as a forager, cook, and at times picket duty with a borrowed rifle on occasions during the war.
Frank Clyburn would be promoted twice during the course of the war: to Major on Tuesday, November 17, 1863; and then to Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment on Friday, May 6, 1864 during the Battle of the Wilderness.
Colonel Clyburn was badly wounded at the Battle of North Anna near Jericho's Ford on Monday, May 23, 1864. It was there that Weary was reported to have carried the wounded Frank Clyburn off the battlefield and saving his life.
Weary Clyburn was with the 12th South Carolina Infantry Regiment when it formally surrendered at Appomattox Court House on Monday, April 10, 1865. Clyburn, along with the remaining 159 officers and men of the regiment walked back to South Carolina together.
After the war, Weary and Frank remained friends until the Colonel Frank Clyburn passed away on October 16, 1896. Frank and his wife, Eliza, moved to Union County, North Carolina.
Weary Clyburn was known for his fiddle playing and his enthusiastic approach to life and attended dozens of reunions with surviving members of the 12th South Carolina Infantry after the war, and was a proud member in good standing of the United Confederate Veterans. One prominent post-war photo shows Weary Clyburn with his fiddle attending the 50th Anniversary 1913 Reunion of the Battle of Gettysburg along with the other 8,750 former Confederate soldiers in attendance.
Weary applied for a pension for his service in the War Between the States on Monday, February 1, 1926 in the State of North Carolina and was one of the first persons of color to receive a Confederate pension in Union County, North Carolina.
The oral history Weary shared with the Union County pension board tells us he was present at the training camp in Columbia [SC] and also with the company at Charleston, Morris Island, Page's Point and Hilton Head "and other places throughout the war; that at Hilton Head, while under fire of the enemy he carried his master out of the field of fire on his shoulder; that he performed personal services for Robert E. Lee; that he has been a resident of this county [Union County, NC] for four years; that he is eighty-five (85) years old; has a wife and foolish boy to support..." (the family shared that the 'foolish boy' was named Lee) Attorney, J. P. Richards of Lancaster, SC submitted an affidavit dated January 22, 1926 for Weary's pension application that verified that "Worry D. Clyburn seved [served] in the Confederate Army from the years 1863- to 1865, along with Capt. Frank Clyburn of the 12th regiment of the South Carolina volunteers;...he is eligible for pension if he lived in this state. However, as he lives in the state of North Carolina, I sincerely recommend him for pension and any other possible aid obtainable in that state."
However, upon his death and a racist ruling by a North Carolina Attorney General, his wife was denied his pension declaring in a letter that "negro (sic) pensioners are not classified as Confederate soldiers." So few former Black Confederates lived long enough to even
see the pensions that they did receive and they were classified as "type
B", very similar to the widows of soldiers; so the State of North Carolina at the time probably would
not want to extend the pension to the widow.
In spite of this, the former Confederate Veterans that he served with helped raise money for Eliza our of respect for his service to the South, and also because Weary also apparently helped raise money for veterans reunions and expenses through his fiddle playing at hotels.
Weary Clyburn died on Sunday, March 30, 1930. According to a notice of death in The Monroe Journal, Tuesday, April 1, 1930, by Aaron Perry, another former black Confederate Veteran, Weary was "...long a figure here and at Confederate reunions, was buried yesterday wrapped in the Confederate uniform of gray" in accordance with his final wishes. His casket was also covered with a Confederate battle flag.
Nearly 78 years after his death, in the summer of 2008, Weary Clyburn's grave was marked by a new Confederate Veterans' headstone by the James Miller Camp #2116, Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV). In attendance was his then living elderly daughter, Mattie Clyburn Rice -- herself an active member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) -- as well as members of the Clyburn family, some of them remain active SCV and UDC members today.
His daughter, Mattie, passed away in 2014 and her ashes were buried with her father at his grave at Hillcrest Cemetery in Monroe, Union County, North Carolina.
In spite of this, the former Confederate Veterans that he served with helped raise money for Eliza our of respect for his service to the South, and also because Weary also apparently helped raise money for veterans reunions and expenses through his fiddle playing at hotels.
Weary Clyburn died on Sunday, March 30, 1930. According to a notice of death in The Monroe Journal, Tuesday, April 1, 1930, by Aaron Perry, another former black Confederate Veteran, Weary was "...long a figure here and at Confederate reunions, was buried yesterday wrapped in the Confederate uniform of gray" in accordance with his final wishes. His casket was also covered with a Confederate battle flag.
Nearly 78 years after his death, in the summer of 2008, Weary Clyburn's grave was marked by a new Confederate Veterans' headstone by the James Miller Camp #2116, Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV). In attendance was his then living elderly daughter, Mattie Clyburn Rice -- herself an active member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) -- as well as members of the Clyburn family, some of them remain active SCV and UDC members today.
His daughter, Mattie, passed away in 2014 and her ashes were buried with her father at his grave at Hillcrest Cemetery in Monroe, Union County, North Carolina.
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| Grave of Weary Clyburn, Confederate Veteran. |
A special thanks to the members of the Lancaster County (SC) Museum, the James Miller Camp #2116, SCV, South Carolina Division, United Daughters of the Confederacy (SC UDC), and the Clyburn family for the information in this article.
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