Biographies & Family Histories
Salisbury Confederate Prison
Bibliography - Biographies & Family Histories
*Designates materials NOT owned by Rowan Public Library
Carpenter, John L. “There Will Be No Parade For This Soldier” published in the Web publication, Biographies and Family Stories From Early Long Island. Http://www.longislandgenealogy.com/article.html 
as of March 30, 2000.
This article briefly tells the story of Private George Coles Carpenter of the New York 5th Heavy Artillery, Company E. He was captured in the Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia. George arrived in Salisbury Nov. 4, 1864. He died Dec. 21, 1864in the prison.
Dowd, Jerome. The Life of Braxton Craven: A Biographical Approach to Social Science, Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1939.
The biography of the founder of Trinity College, later known as Duke University, who was captain of the Home Guard in Randolph County when called up to run the Salisbury Prison between December 20, 1861 and January 7, 1862. This work contains one chapter on Craven and the prison. The prison information is slight.
Fletcher, W. J. The Gee Family: Descendants of Charles Gee (d. 1709) and Hannah Gee (d. 1728) of Virginia with a Chapter on the English Background. Rutland, VT: Tuttle Publishing Company, Inc. 1937.
A family history of the Gee family, which contains a brief chapter on Dr. John Henry Gee. Dr. Gee was the commandant of the Salisbury Prison who, following the war, was tried for the conditions in the prison. He was found innocent.
Lape, Jeff. In Memory of PVT Patrick Fowler, Prisoner of War 1819-1864. Web publication http://home.twcny.rr.com/lape/fowler.htm as of March 3, 2000.
A printout of the relevant pages is held in Rowan Public Library’s Salisbury Confederate Prison Materials #9060. Fowler was wounded and captured at Ream’s Station. He was transported to Salisbury in August 1864. This work draws heavily upon the diary of Henry H. Ladd and Robert Keating’s Carnival of Blood, a history of the 7th New York Heavy Artillery.
Petrucelli, Katherine Sanford, ed. “Nealen Lefler, Company F, 5th Regiment,” in The Heritage of Rowan County. Salisbury, NC: The Genealogical Society of Rowan County, 1991.
Nealen Lefler was a guard at the prison in charge of the “Pest House.” His daughter, Dora Lefler Fesperman, recorded a brief account of his time at the prison late in her life and some time following the death of her father. Nealen was, supposedly, the guard who befriended prisoner Charles H. Baker who subsequently named a daughter Caroline Salisbury Baker. A photocopy of Ms. Fesperman’s story is held by Rowan Public Library. An edited transcript of Mrs. Fesperman’s account appears in the Heritage of Rowan County.
Warren, Alice. “Rev. Thomas Kennedy.” In The Heritage of Wayne County. Mary Daniels Johnstone, ed. Wayne County Historical Assoc. and The Old Dobbs County Genealogical Society, 1982.
Tells the story of a Quaker conscientious objector and Unionist who was held in the Salisbury Prison.
“August Kissel: Union POW at Salisbury Prison, Notes and Clippings,” Rowan Public Library.
The photocopied notes of a journalist who interviewed August Kissel, a POW at Salisbury who escaped. The interview took place in the 1900s or 1910s(?). Also a few newspaper clippings regarding August Kissel.
Aull, Sara and Mary Brandon. Dr. Josephus Wells Hall: A Man of Energy and Enterprise. Salisbury, NC: Historic Salisbury Foundation, 1994.
Josephus Hall was a surgeon at the prison.
*Blaikie, W. Garden. The Personal Life of David Livingstone, Chiefly From His Unpublished Journals and Correspondence in the Possession of His Family. London: John Murry, Albermarle St., 1903.
David Livingstone's son was imprisoned in Salisbury and died following an escape attempt. His identity in the prison was Rupert Vincent.
Smith, G. Wayne. “Nathan Goff, Jr. in the Civil War.” West Virginia Journal of History. (v.14): 108-135.
A West Virginia politician’s early life is explored. He was held in the Salisbury Prison.
*Seaver, George. David Livingstone: His Life and Letters. London: Lutterworth Press, 1957.
“Maj. Mason Morfit.” Confederate Veteran (Jan. 1923): 28.
An obituary of one of the prison’s commandants who died in 1921.
Hatton, Clarence R. “Gen. Archibald Campbell Godwin.” Confederate Veteran (April 1920): 133-136.
A biography of one of the prison’s commandants.
“Mrs. Johnston is Dead.” Salisbury Post (May 14, 1906).
The obituary of the Salisbury woman who carried food to the prisoners, etc. The account of her service to the prisoners is not mentioned in this account of her life.
*Designates materials NOT owned by Rowan Public Library