Estate of Alfred Dulaney

Alfred Dulaney, one of the three original Dulaney brothers who settled in Itawamba County in the early 1830s, died in 1862. He was 53 years old at his death on February 9, 1862, and I believe that he may have died from injuries or an illness received during his brief stint of service during the Civil War.

Alfred enlisted in the Army of the Mississippi on February 8, 1861 at Saltillo, which was then part of Itawamba County. His discharge papers indicate that he served as a private in Captain James G. Bullard's Company B of the 10th Regiment of Mississippi. The papers further show that Alfred was born in the State of Tennessee in 1808. He was five feet, nine inches with blue eyes and a dark complexion, black hair mixed with gray at the time of discharge. He was by profession, a farmer.

The discharge papers were dated July 19, 1861 and signed by James G. Bullard, Commanding Company, and R.A. Smith, Col. Comg, 10th Reg, Miss Vol. Alfred was discharged prior to the end of enlistment period "by reason of disability (See Surgeons certificate)." Within seven months of his discharge, Alfred had died.

Capt. Bullard's company, known as Ben Bullard's Rifles, were among the first soldiers sent out from Mississippi for the Confederate cause. When Florida seceded from the Union, federal troops at Fort Pickens near Pensacola refused to surrender their fort. President Jefferson Davis requested 1,500 men from Mississippi be sent to Florida to provide assistance in removing the Union's presence in that state. Alfred and the rest of his regiment arrived in April 1861, shortly after President Davis's request, but it wasn't until October that the Confederate troops attacked Fort Pickens. Alfred's discharge papers are dated in July therefore he likely contracted a disabling illness that forced an early discharge. His age could have been a contributing factor.

In the February term of Probate Court in 1862, letters testamentary were granted to John Dulaney, Thomas Dulaney and Henry Dulaney. This was a formal process that granted these men authority to administer the last will and testament of Alfred Dulaney. There is no record found of the will itself, likely having been lost over the years. The three men named in the record were probably the elder sons of Alfred.

Click on the image of the record for a closer look.