Members of the John W. Sheffield family gathered at St. John Baptist Church in the Tarentum community on November 1, 2015, a rainy Sunday afternoon, to dedicate a grave marker for the Confederate veteran who served, not for fame or fortune but in simple obedience to duty.

The dedication ceremony was hosted by the Stephen D. Lee Chapter # 1201, United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Chapter President Marsha Boutwell said Sheffield was born an American and fought for the ideals of democracy under the Confederate States.

“John W. Sheffield came back home to Pike County, raised a family and died an American,” Boutwell said. “Today, we celebrate his life and his service to both of his countries.”

Anne Sheffield Parker, great-granddaughter of John W. Sheffield, said the honored Confederate soldier was born December 23, 1834 to J. Thomas Sheffield and Nancy Bush Beasley Sheffield. He enlisted in the Confederate Army on September 1, 1862 at Newton.

“My great-grandfather was a private in Company F, the 15th Regiment, Infantry, Confederate States of America,” Parker said. “He was wounded in the left thigh at the Siege of Knoxville on November 25, 1863 and fell into enemy hands on December 8, 1863. He was discharged in March 1865.”

Sheffield came home to Pike County and married Mary Anne E. Rudd in 1868. They had four sons, including Parker’s great-grandfather Amos Austin Sheffield, and two daughters.

John W. Sheffield was a farmer. In the 1899 Pike County Real Estate tax records, Sheffield was listed as owning one mule, one cow and seven hogs with a worth $70 in all.

He applied for his pension on Aug. 2, 1899 and died on Nov. 7, 1916 in Tennille.

“Nothing is ended until it is forgotten,” Boutwell said. “That which is held in memory still endures and is real. We are grateful for the records of the past, which bring inspiration and courage. We are appreciative of the lessons taught by memorials to events and deeds of long ago. We pray that our lives may always be patterned to give such devotion and service, as did our forefather of this great Southland.

“The Stephen D. Lee Chapter UDC dedicates this marker in grateful recognition of the noble service of John W. Sheffield, a Confederate hero.”