Francis Marion Wishart (1837 - 1872)

Born 13 Sep 1837 in Wisharts Township, Robeson County, North Carolina

Ancestors

Husband of Lydia Maria (Pitman) Harker — married 12 Jan 1866 in Robeson County, North Carolina

Descendants

Died 2 May 1872 at age 34 in Shoe Heel, Robeson County, North Carolina

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Biography

(13 Sept 1837 - 2 May 1872) Age 35

Parents & Birth

• On 13 Sept 1837 Francis Marion Wishart was born, the 3RD of 5 children born to Mary Storm, (22 May 1811 - 25 Aug 1851) and Francis Wishart , (18 Feb 1813 – 19 Apr 1893), of Robeson County, North Carolina.

Marriage & 3 Children

• A marriage bond was issued on Thursday 28 Dec 1865 in Robeson County North Carolina for Francis Marion Wishart and Lydia Pittman, daughter of Elizabeth Ivey, (30 Jan 1812 - 27 Nov 1893), and Uriah Hugh Pittman, (3 March 1812 - 14 April 1897).

• On 12 Jan 1866 Captain Francis Marion Wishart and Lydia Maria Pittman were married by Rev. Washington. S. Chaffin at the Methodist parsonage in Robeson County, North Carolina.

• “Married. At the parsonage, in Lumberton, on the 12th of January 1866, by Rev. W. S. Caffin, Captain F. M. Wishart and Miss Lydia M Pittman.” News article published in The Wilmington Herald (Wilmington, North Carolina), Tuesday, 16 Jan 1866, Page 2. http://www.newspapers.com/image/58004291/

• Lydia and Francis had 3 children, 3 sons. In chronological order they are:
  • 1. Aurelius Thurston Wishart, (23 June 1867 - 11 Oct 1946) Age 79
  • 2. James Franklin Wishart, Sr., (6 June 1869 - 24 Nov 1937 Age 68
  • 3. William Clifton Wishart, (8 Aug 1871 - 1 Nov 1965) Age 94

CSA Military Service

• The Cumberland Plough Boys, Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp #2187 Stedman, N. C. have a built a reliable, almost comprehensive database. The search engine allows for robust research. The link for Francis Marion Wishart is: http://ploughboys.org/francis-marion-wishart/

• On 24 April 1861, Enlisted in 12th North Carolina Regiment, 1st Company “D,” with rank of Sergeant.
• On July/ August 1861, Promoted to 1st Sergeant;
• On 16 Dec 1861 1st Company “D” was disbanded.
• Joined with the 46th North Carolina Regiment, Company “A.”
• On 8 Feb 1862 – Promoted to 1st Lieutenant.
• On 6 May 1864 – Wounded in hand at Battle of Wilderness, VA.
• Inactive status from 6 May until 1 July 1864 when he returned to duty.
• On 30 Sept 1864 – Promoted to Captain and transferred to 46th North Carolina Regiment, Company “B.”
• On 1 May 1865 – Paroled at Greensboro, North Carolina.

Other Brothers in CSA Military Service

• Wellington and John Pinkney were affiliated with Company “A”, 46th North Carolina Regiment, and Aladdin Strong was with the 31st North Carolina Regiment, Company “A”.

North Carolina Militia

• In the Spring of 1871 Francis M. Wishart was promoted to the rank of Colonel in the North Carolina Militia.

Death & Burial

• On Thursday 2 May 1872, Col. Francis Marion Wishart was shot to death in Shoe Heel, Robeson County, North Carolina. His remains were buried in New Hollywood Cemetery, Lumberton, Robeson County, North Carolina. A photo and description of the gravesite is available at Find-A-Grave memorial ID # 41945428. Weblink is: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/41945428

Circumstances leading up to the death of Col. F. M. Wishart

• Henry Berry Lowry was one of twelve children in the family of Allen and Mary Lowry. The Lowry’s were Indians, they referred to themselves as “Lumbees” and they lived in Robeson County. During the Civil War some of these Indian men were impressed to help build military fortifications near Wilmington. As a minority group they were outsiders and to avoid being harassed and rounded up by the military police they moved further into the non-farming lands or swamplands of Robeson County.

• In 1864 Henry Berry Lowry made the decision to fight back. He killed two men that his family had had many quarrels with. On 21 Dec 1864 he killed James P. Barnes and on 15 Jan 1865 he killed James Brantley “Brant” Harris. Local officials and militia quickly responded by accusing Henry Berry Lowry’s father and brother, William, of various crimes. They arranged an illegal court session and tried, convicted, and executed Allen and William in one day, 3RD March 1865. Henry, at 18 years of age, now had only one mission in life: revenge. He brazenly robbed from wealthy citizens and even stole the safe from out of the sheriff’s office.

• On 7 Dec 1865 Henry Lowery married Rhoda Strong. The couple did not have a chance to enjoy a honeymoon for the militia had been waiting for just this opportunity to take him prisoner. They surprised the couple that day. Henry was now in their custody. The question is, how did Henry break out of that jail? For the next 4 years violence and fear plagued the Robeson community.

• In 1869 the Republican Governor of North Carolina William Woods Holden outlawed Henry Berry Lowry and his accomplices. Under his authority the state government offered large bounties, a $12,000 reward for Henry Berry Lowry and up to $6,000 for some of his men, dead or alive. The band responded with more looting and more violence. The bounties were kept in effect, even after the impeachment of Governor Holden, and his successor, the Democrat Tod Robinson Caldwell, took control of the government.

• In the spring of 1871 Francis Marion Wishart was promoted to Colonel of a North Carolina militia unit and given a mandate by officials to return law and order to the county and protect the white community from the Lowry gang. Col. Wishart made the decision to arrest the wives of the Lowry band members and hold them hostage in prison until the men surrendered. The Lowry men sent Col. Wishart a letter demanding the release of their wives or, the letter did not mince words, “the bloodiest times will be here than ever was before—the life of every man will be in jeopardy.” The wives were released and a temporary lull in violence ensued. Colonel Wishart and local officials began to work out another solution to the conflict.

• However, in February 1872, Henry Berry Lowry vanished - without a trace. Col. Francis Wishart did not believe that Henry had left the county. But there were three other dangerous gang members that were still in the area: Tom Lowry, Steve Lowery and Andrew Strong. So he turned his attention to them.

• In late April 1872 Steve Lowry and Andrew Strong boarded a freight train on the W. C. and R. R. R near Shoe Heel to discuss with Col. Wishart conditions of surrendering. The men needed assurances that the bounty on their heads would be lifted so that they could leave the county without fear of being hunted down and shot by bounty hunters. They also pressed Col. Wishart to secure them pardons from the governor. A follow-up meeting was to be arranged.

• On Thursday 2 May 1872 Stephen Lowry and Col. Wishart met at Moss Neck near the Lebanon Presbyterian Church, located about 2 miles from the Red Banks Railroad Station and a turpentine distillery and 10 miles from Lumberton. Exactly what happened at that meeting is disputed. Only one fact is not disputed Colonel Francis Marion Wishart died that day. He was shot.

• According to Clifton Oxendine, a Lumbee historian, the two men met as planned. They talked for a time and finally decided to separate. “As Steve turned to go, Wishart drew a revolver which he had concealed and shot at him. At this point, Andrew Strong shot Wishart. . .” quoted from, Dial, Adolph L., and David K. Eliades. The only land I know: A history of the Lumbee Indians. San Francisco: Indian Historian P, 1975. Rpt. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse UP, 1996

Sources

The Lowerys

• Another Cold-Blooded Assassination by the Lowerys (From the New York Herald). Wilmington, North Carolina, May 3d. – The “Swamp Angels” have been again at their bloody work. These fiends incarnate have added yet another to their list of atrocious, cowardly and hellish crimes by the murder of Captain W. Wishart of Shoe Heel, Robeson county, on yesterday, who, though the victim of the vilest treachery, led, perhaps, too far by his courageous spirit, died a brave man in the effort to benefit his fellow men. The facts attending the murder of Captain Wishart are substantially as follows: It seems that one day last week Stephen Lowery and Andrew Strong boarded the freight train on the Wilmington, Charlotte and Rutherford Railroad near Shoe Heel, Captain Wishart being on the train at the time. They persisted in approaching him, until he finally consented to a conference with them. The conversation was long, and apparently important, the outlaws finally taking their departure. Andrew Strong was heard to remark on leaving, “when we send for you, you come.” In Shoe Heel, subsequent to this interview, Wishart divulged the fact that the subject of the conference was a proposition on the part of the outlaws to surrender themselves to him, on condition that he would intercede and procure their pardon, and that then they would depart the country. Thinking that perhaps he could, after all, benefit the country by causing the outlaws to leave in some manner, he seemed determined to hold another interview with them on receipt of a notice of the time and place. As had been previously determined, the notification was received, and the appointment fixed for Tuesday last, but Wishart’s business engagements were such as to compel its postponement until the Tuesday following. At the appointed time, this fearless man, alone and unarmed, as I learn, took his way to the place of meeting, a spot on the public road, about three- quarters of a mile from a place called Lebanon Church, between Shoe Heel and Red Banks, and distant some four or five miles from each of these points, but he never returned alive. He was either cowardly murdered from ambush or basely shot down while in the conference to which he had been betrayed. Between 12 and 1 o’clock of that day two or three negroes working in the woods near the scene of the murder, heard four distinct reports of fire-arms. About 4 o’clock the same afternoon William Sellars, while riding near this point, found the body of Capt. Wishart lying in the road and completely riddled with buckshot. He was shot through the side and shoulders, and also in the head, one or two shots passing entirely through the brain. His death must have been instantaneous. The fact was reported, and a party of grief-stricken friends and neighbors secured his body and conveyed it to his home at Shoe Heel. Capt. Wishart was one of the most intrepid and courageous of those who undertook measures to rid the country of outlaws. His efforts in hunting them were persistent and vigorous; he exerted himself most ardently, to either capture or kill them, for months and months, and was regarded by them as their most dreaded foe. When the State authorities commenced war on the Lowerys, Capt. Wishart was appointed to the command of one of the regiments then authorized to be raised. He leaves a wife and three young children in Shoe Heel. The place of the murder was near the scene of the young Davis by the outlaws some months since. Stephen Lowery and Andrew Strong are supposed to have done the deed, Tom Lowery being seen elsewhere at the time." As of Jan 2024 the weblink was broken; was called Wishart Connections.