Dr. Johnathan Smith Bostick

Johnathan Smith Bostick was born in 1806 in North Carolina and moved to Tennessee with his family.  He married Margaret M. Elliott on November 4, 1844 in Rutherford County.  He started a medical practice in Murfreesboro.  They had four children, but times were hard in those days.  All of his kids died young with the last passing in 1856.  Margaret died in 1858. All are buried in Murfreesboro.

Note the J. Bostick Estate

In 1860, Johnathan Bostick moved to Tunica County, Mississippi.  He and a partner purchased a plantation that he called Beaver Dam.  He is listed as having 47 slaves on the 1860 census.

Beaver Dam Bayou in Tunica County, MS

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, his nephew  named Thomas Bostick ,who had came down from Kentucky, joined a company called the Panola Vindicators organized in Panola County.  This company would become Company H of the 17th Mississippi.  He was listed as sick in the hospital toward the end of 1863 and left at Middleton, Maryland. Thomas was captured September 16, 1862 at Middleton. The soldier was exchanged from Fort Delaware Prison on November 10, 1862.  After returning to his regiment, Private Bostick was captured again near Knoxville December 5, 1863. He died on January 26, 1864 in Knoxville, Tennessee of pneumonia at the U.S. Military Prison Hospital. His grave is listed as unmarked.

Two of the Bostick men would join the Union Army.  They were William A. Bostick and Charles R. Bostick.  They both belonged to Company K of the Sixth Tennessee Cavalry (Union).  Charles enlisted Feb. 1, 1864 and declared his home in Henry County Tennessee and mustered out July 26, 1865.  William joined August 15,1862.  He became bugler of the regiment and mustered out July 26, 1865.

During the Civil War, Dr. Bostick showed his loyalty to the Confederate States by furnishing the soldiers supplies on his Beaver Dam Plantation.  On November 7, 1864 he made a claim to the Confederate States for these expenses.  The document that follows was found in the Confederate Papers Relating to Citizens or Business Firms, 1861 – 1865 records.  Number 51, 4th District Mississippi, Tunica County.

The undersigned Johnathan Bostick, a resident of Tunica County in said District shows that he has claims against the Confederate States for forage and provisions furnished by him for the use of the army as follows – On the 23rd of July 1862, he furnished to Captain C.C. Marshall of the 1st Mississippi Cavalry, 32 rations with 75 cents per ration as represented at the time.  For the purpose of feeding the men of his command, also 8 bushels of corn worth $1.50 per bushel and 72 bushels, 200 lbs fodder worth $1.50 per cut for the purpose of feeding the horses of said command.  Receipt for which is herewith presented.  On November 30, 1863, he furnished to Captain W.J.Floyd 20 bushels of corn with $1.50 per bushel, 250 bundles of fodder at 7.5 pounds worth $1.50 per cut, 12 lbs of bacon worth $1.00 per lb and 2 bushels meal worth $1.50 per bushel for the purpose of feeding the men and horses of Captain Floyd’s and Perry’s companies of Collin’s Regiment. Receipt for which is herewith presented.  That said receipts are all the written expenses he ha, that no prices were agreed upon for said property except when stated in said receipts – that the prices fixed by claimant are he believes fair and that he has never received any pay for said property or there of.  Total owed is $141.25

Background on people mentioned above:

• Captain C.C. Marshall was in command of Company D of the First Mississippi Cavalry.  He and his men were surrendered at Citronelle, Alabama by  General Richard Taylor to Union General E.R.S. Camby.
• W.J. Floyd is listed as First Lieutenant of Company G in the 2nd Regt. Mississippi Partisans.
• J.R. Perry is listed as First Lieutenant of Company A in the 2nd Regt. Mississippi Partisans.
• W.F. Slemmons was Colonel of the 2nd Arkansas Cavalry and was in charge of many of the partisan forces operating in the Mississippi Delta.

The Civil War was harsh on the people of Tunica County.  Not only did they lose a large number of men who volunteered, the town of Austin was burned.  Dr. Bostick hid his silverware and other valuables when they came calling.  In late 1865 and early 1866, Dr. Bostick belonged to a committee organized to oversee the building of a new courthouse and jail at Austin.  In 1868, Johnathan Bostick passed away in Tunica County.  He had been joined by a number of family members from Arkansas and Georgia including his sisters Ann Bostick, Bethenia Guinn, and Elizabeth Guinn along with his brother Charles D. Bostick.  Much of Beaver Dam plantation went to them. He also left a large amount of his wealth to establish Bostick Female Academy in Triune, Tennessee.

Historical Marker about Bostick Female Academy: ( Note date of death is wrong )

Charles Bostick and his family had been burned out in Jones County, Georgia during Sherman’s march. He brought his grand daughter with him named Martha Susannah Bostick.  She was my Great Great Grandmother.  I still have a fork and spoon that belonged to Johnathan Bostick that survived the war and was passed to my Grandmother. Martha Susannah married William Henry Martin and they are buried at Dowd Cemetery along Beaver Dam Bayou.