Fitz Pannill at 18
I had planned this series for May 21, 2011 — the day 150 years ago that William Carter Cherry enlisted in Company D, 4th Georgia Infantry, at Augusta. He enlisted with one of his brothers and joined Confederate service at Portsmouth, Virginia. In the spring of 1862, the regiment marched to join the army defending Richmond in the Peninsula Campaign. On June 1, 1862, General Robert E. Lee took command and transformed his men into the Army of Northern Virginia. William Cherry fought in most of the battles of this remarkable army until his capture in 1864.
I have a copy of Colonel Cherry’s memoir that he wrote in the 1880s. I have a box of original letters he received during the war and to the end of his life in 1907. I have the History of Doles-Cook Brigade (1903), lovingly preserved by our Aunt Carrie Pannill Wooten. I have walked most of his battlefields and stood in his trenches at a few. I hope to post the most interesting material here.
But I also have much material about the my father’s family, the Pannills — especially letters and photographs. I have letters and pictures of the Goodrums, my mother’s family. I am making the most interesting bits available and archiving the rest.
So I took a few detours over the past year: discovery of a lymphoma in my right eye (now cured) threw me off stride. In the fall, my brother Fitz began suffering from intense jaw pain. In February, Fitz suddenly became paralyzed on his right side. The hospital diagnosed him with brain tumors that had metatasized from untreatable lung cancer. Fitzhugh Hastings Pannill, Jr., died on February 27, 2012, at 2:11 p.m. Fitz was 69. He followed our father, Fitzhugh Hastings Pannill (2000), our mother, Mary Goodrum Pannill (2005), and our sister, Mary Lynn Pannill (2002). And we lost two more brothers, David Pannill (b. 1944), who died in infancy, and Thomas Jonathan Pannill (b. 1950), who was stillborn.
As the last of the Stephenville Pannills, I figure it’s time to stop collecting and start writing.
7 Responses to Welcome
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I enjoyed reading your history.
William Gordon Pannill age 85
Hi,
I’m fascinated with the history you’ve shared here. I’m researching my ancestry, and have found that I’m related to Thomas Pannell who emigrated from the Isle of Wight to Virginia in 1642.
Richard Lee Pinnell, age 53
Chico, CA
I’d appreciate an e-mail address. We probably have the same DNA, and there are enough different spellings I will cast my net wider. WmP
I only learned of Fitz’s passing today. I am devastated by this news. During his early law career here in Corpus Christi, he was mentored by my father, Antonio “Tony” Abarca. Fitz lived only two blocks away and my parents semi-adopted him. He was like a big brother to me. When Fitz purchased a four-plex a few blocks away, I would do the yard for him. He came to my father’s funeral and kept in touch with my mom for several years. My wife and I visited him in Houston at his house on Nottingham and dinner with him several times. His name came up in a conversation with a friend of ours this holiday season and that is when we tried to locate him and came across the obituary. We deeply mourn his loss. He was an active part of my teenage memories and a dear friend to my father and mother. He will always be a part of our life and in our memory and prayers.
Mr. Pannill,
Did the Cherry brothers in the 4th GA Infantry have a close relative – a father or uncle, that was a physician? I have references to a “Dr Cherry” traveling with Doles’ Brigade during the Gettysburg Campaign.
Please email me.
Sincerely,
Greg C. White
Canton, GA
Dear Greg White,
The father of the family was Dr. James A. Cherry. I have no information about his accompanying the regiment to Gettysburg. I do have an unpublished letter I am transcribing in which he offers to come immediately to the army if either of his sons is wounded. That was, I believe, before The Wilderness.
William Pannill