Key Facts

Snapshot:	Confederate, wounded
Parents:	100Kenion Oxley 101Marinda Pool
Born:	circa 1838 Georgia, probably Houston County
Died:	before June 1880 probably Pulaski County, Georgia
Buried:	unknown

50Robert Oxley was born circa 18381 * in Georgia,1,2 probably in Houston County since his parents were living in Houston around that time.3,4 His parents are 100Kenion Oxley and 101Marinda Pool.1,5

The 1850 and 1860 censuses both show him living with his parents in Wilkinson County, Georgia.

1850: 50Robert's family in Wilkinson County, Georgia. Full page.1

1860: 50Robert's family still in Wilkinson County. Full page.5

The Civil War began the following year. On 4 March 1862 50Robert enlisted in company A of the 49th Regiment Georgia Infantry on in Irwinton, Wilkinson County, although he seems to have been sick for much of 1862: A muster roll for May and June notes him as "sick in tent," 7 and for July and August as "absent in hospital sick." 8 He was furloughed at some point, probably late summer.9

Service records, however, show him as consistently present throughout 1863. Some of the battles that 50Robert probably participated in are listed below. (Interesting side note: The 49th Regiment's battle flag still exists and is stored inside the state capitol in Atlanta.)

	30 April 1863: Chancellorsville — in Thomas' Brigade, A. P. Hill's Division, Second Corps under Stonewall Jackson
	1-3 July 1863: Gettysburg — in Thomas' Brigade, Pender's Division, Third Corps under A. P. Hill
	October 1863: Bristoe campaign — in Thomas' Brigade, Wilcox's Division, Third Corps under A. P. Hill
	27 November - 2 December 1863: Battle of Mine Run — in Thomas' Brigade, Wilcox's Division, Third Corps under A. P. Hill
	5-6 May 1864: Battle of the Wilderness — in Thomas' Brigade, Wilcox's Division, Third Corps under A. P. Hill

During the Battle of the Wilderness, Thomas' brigade (i.e., the brigade 50Robert was in) found itself on the frontline during an attack by Union forces at 5:00 AM on 6 May 1864. 50Robert seems to have been wounded, since he was admitted to a Confederate hospital in Chancellorsville that same day. Subsequent records consistently describe him as wounded, in the hospital, etc. for much of the following year,10 and there's no indication that he ever returned to active duty.

As of 17 October 1864 he was a patient at the Floyd House Hospital, the largest of several Confederate hospitals in Macon, Georgia; the hospital was at the intersection of Third and Mulberry streets, although I haven't been able to determine on which corner. His condition was described as "v.s. right foot fract.[?] 4" + 5" metarsal bone Phagedna," in other words fractures of the 4th and 5th metatarsal bones (the bones immediately behind the toes) in his right foot due to a gunshot wound (Latin vulnus sclopeticum), with secondary soft tissue ulceration ("phagedena").11 He was still hospitalized on 27 March 1865, when another record clarifies that he had developed gangrene several times due to his injury and also developed a "Typhoid condition now fairly recovering." The record also notes his "General Debility and Emaciation." 12

50Robert Oxley married 51Minerva Blount on 4 April 1867 in Pulaski County.13

1867: 50Robert Oxley's and 51Minerva Blount's marriage record. Full page.13

In 1867 the U.S. Congress passed several Reconstruction Acts. These Acts divided the former Confederacy into several military occupation zones, which were ruled by Union military commanders. The Acts also directed the commanding officers to register Southerners who wanted to vote in upcoming elections. One registration requirement was to swear an oath of loyalty to the United States; the obvious intent was to disfranchise any lingering Confederate resistance. 50Robert Oxley swore his oath in Pulaski County on 12 July 1867.14

1867: 50Robert's Reconstruction voter registration oath14

By 1870 they had two children.2 You may also be interested in his 1870 farm schedule listing (pages 19 and 20)15 along with the corresponding template.

1870: 50Robert Oxley's family in Pulaski County, Georgia. Full page: 1, 2.2

50Robert died sometime in the 1870's, although the exact year is uncertain. One could guess he died circa 1873, since he's listed in a tax digest for Pulaski County's militia district 542 (map) seemingly for the year 1872 (although the year is not explicitly labeled) but is not listed in corresponding tax digests for subsequent years.16 However, his widow had a 2 year-old son in the 1880 census, so perhaps he died later in the decade. In any case, he certainly died before June 1880, when his wife 51Minerva was noted as a widow.17

Footnote:

*

One record suggests that he was born circa 1842,2 but this is implausible since the 1840 census strongly suggests he was already born by 1840.3

Sources Cited:

1: 1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Division 93, Wilkinson County, Georgia. Page 381A, dwelling 646, family 646, Kinion Oxley household. NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 87. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-63KW-9PT?cc=1401638&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMZY6-FKV>., accessed 22 April 2020.

2: 1870 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Pulaski County, Georgia. Pages 105-106, dwelling 891, family 891, Robert Oxley household. NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 170. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DT7H-MH?i=4&cc=1438024&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMC3L-MSS> et seq.

3: 1840 U.S. Federal Census. Houston County, Georgia. Page 379, Kinian Oxley household. NARA microfilm publication M704, roll 43. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYTL-3NN?cc=1786457&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AXHBZ-28F>, accessed 22 April 2020.

4: Houston County, Georgia. Marriage book A (1833-1852), page 38, marriage of Kenion Oxley and Marinda Pool, dated 25 September 1836. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS7W-J3YR-2?cc=2748952&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AQL8R-6YML>.

5: 1860 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Griffins District, Wilkinson County, Georgia. Page 965, dwelling 730, family 732, Kenan Oxley household. NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 141. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YBT-8F4?i=11&cc=1473181&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMZM4-5K6>.

6: Compiled Confederate service record of Private Robert Oxley of Company A, 49th Georgia Infantry, images 5-13. NARA microfilm publication M266, roll 343. National Archives Catalog, <https://catalog.archives.gov/id/78921613>, accessed 24 February 2020. Hereafter abbreviated as "Service record."

7: Service record, op. cit., image 3

8: ibid., image 4

9: ibid., image 14

10: ibid., images 10 (May and June 1864, "In Hosptl wounded"), 11 (September and October 1864, "on wounded furlough"), 12 (November and December 1864, "on furlough"), and 13 (January and February 1865, "In Hospital wounded").

11: ibid., image 15

12: ibid., image 23

13: Pulaski County, Georgia. Marriage book for the years 1856-1869, page 279, marriage of Robert Oxley and Manervy Blount, dated 4 April 1867. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GPPD-XQ6?cc=1927197&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AFWCD-76G>.

14: Georgia's 1867-1868 Voter Registration Oath Books. Volume 81 (Pulaski County Book 2), page 244, entry 485, Robert Oxley. Ancestry.com ("Georgia, Returns of Qualified Voters and Reconstruction Oath Books, 1867-1869" / Oath Book / Pulaski / election district 14 / image 799 of 1038). Although I copied the image from Ancestry.com, it's also on FamilySearch (<https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS9C-TCXF>) and on Georgia Archives microfilm 296/34.

15: 1870 U.S. Federal Census (Agriculture Schedule). Pulaski County, Georgia. Pages 19 and 20, entry 6, Robert Oxley farm. NARA microfilm publication T1137, roll 8. The NARA provides a helpful template.

16: Pulaski County, Georgia. Tax digests for the years 1872-1877, section for 1872 [inferred], Hawkinsville district (militia district 542), entry for Robert Oxley. Ancestry.com ("Georgia Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892" / Pulaski County / 1872-1877 / image 31 and 32 of 925), accessed 24 April 2020. Although the individual years are not labeled in the book, image 31 very likely pertains to the year 1872 since it's near the beginning of the book. I have found other, corresponding pages for militia district 542 on Ancestry.com image numbers 301, 469, 638, and 815, and these are presumably for later years.

17: 1880 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Fort Valley (militia district 528), Houston County, Georgia. Enumeration district 29, page 52, dwelling 211, family 211, Minerva Oxley household. NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 152. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YBH-XZD?cc=1417683&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AM8G4-DJP>.