DOB:  Februrary 6, 1845 DOD:  September 7, 1923 Comments: Ephriam was born in Virginia in 1845 and by his own account moved to Tennessee when he was 5 years old.  By the time of the Civil War he was the slave of John Hopkins Otey who lived at Margin and Lewisburg Pikes in Franklin.  John was living in Franklin before Ephriam was born which means he is not his original owner, and that Ephriam had been sold to him sometime between 1850 and 1861.  Ephriam filed for a Confederate Pension in 1921 and states that while he belonged to John Otey he was brought into Confederate service by Anthony S. Camp, the Quartermaster for the 1st Tennessee Regiment just before the Battle of Murfreesboro in December 1862.  Anthony was originally part of the Nashville Battalion/Hawkins Battalion that acted as a home guard for the City of Nashville.  When the Federal army approached Nashville they helped evacuate the town and then retreated.  The men of the company that were considered fit enough for combat became Company L of the 1st Tennessee Infantry and Camp was elected AQM for the regiment the same year.  Camp was born in Williamson County but it is unknown why exactly Ephriam was sent to join him.  Lieutenant Loving Woldridge from Company D of the regiment was recruiting in Franklin in November 1862 and may have been the one to pick up Ephriam.  At the end of 1862, Ephriam would have been 17 years old. Ephriam claims he stayed with Anthony Camp the entire war working as a cook for the Quartermaster Department.  Using Camp’s service record as a guide, Ephriam would have followed the regiment from Tennessee to Georgia.  After May 1864, Camp’s records are not as clear and it is uncertain if he followed the army back into Tennessee.  Camp surrendered on May 18, 1865 and took the Oath of Allegiance at the end of the same month.  This coincides with Ephraim’s statement that he served until the end of the war and thought he came home in May 1865.   Ephriam spent the rest of his life in Franklin.  On February 28, 1867, he married Martha Scott and they eventually had seven children.  He was a carpenter by trade his whole post war life.  His address is listed as 1035 Fair Street in Franklin, which on his pension record in 1921 he states that he still has children living with him.  Two Census records state he can read and write so he had received some sort of education and his children are listed as students on one Census.  He is typically listed as working on his own account, which means he did not work under anyone else.  By the time of his application he was being supported by his children but states he worked when he could.  Wirt Courtney of the 32nd Tennessee Infantry vouched for his service.  Courtney had lived across the street from the Otey’s and stated he knew Ephraim from an early age.  Courtney states, “From 1865 we have always looked upon him as one of our loyal colored men.”  Ephriam died in 1923 and is buried in Toussaint L'Ouverture Cemetery in Franklin.  His cause of death is listed as “died suddenly.”  His tombstone is the only reference to his first initial being ‘J’ and there is also a Masonic emblem on his tombstone.

1860 Slave Schedule, the 14 year old black male listed under John Otey is presumed to be Ephriam Otey.