Captain James Allen Capps

Other Events:

• Residence: 1860, Washington, St Landry, Louisiana, USA
• Residence: 1870, Washington, St Landry, Louisiana, USA
• Probate: 30 Mar 1886, Opelousas, St Landry, Louisiana, USA; Opelousas Court House

Notes:

James Allen Capps was the son of Benjamin Capps and his wife Nancy M. Scurlock Capps. At an early age he worked on riverboats, plying the MIssissippi and its tributary rivers. His travels brought him to St. Landry Parish in the Louisiana bayou where he met Mary Esther Gardner (1830-1869), daughter of Thomas Gardner (1787-1844), a prosperous tanner and dealer in animal hides. James and Mary were married in Washington, LA on June 20, 1852.

Capps was one of five riverboat captains who married the daughters of Thomas Gardner. In the 1850s he entered into business with his brother-in-law Orramel Hinckley and other partners in a boat building and shipping business connecting Washington to New Orleans and as far north as Indiana. For several years before the outbreak of the Civil War, Capps captained the steamboat "Anna Perret."

"The Anna Perret, A.J. [sic] Capps Master, will leave Washington every Wednesday at 9 a.m. and leave New Orleans every Saturday at 6 p.m....Passengers and shippers may rely on the punctual time for ceparture of the steamers....
[Transcript of advertisement in the Opelousas Courier (St. Landry, LA), 17 December 1859.]

James and Mary Capps made their home in Washington, LA, where they raised nine children: Mary Ann Page (b. 1853), John Davis (b. 1855), Lucy (b. 1856), Aline Emily (b. 1858), Oramel Hinckley (b. 1860), James Allen, Jr. (b. ca. 1863), Thomas Gardner (b. ca. 1864), Charles (b. ca. 1866), and Mattie (b. 1867).

During the Civil War, James A. Capps apparently joined the Confederate forces engaged along the Mississippi. In a letter dated Sept. 15, 1863 from Lt. Col. A. L. Rives, Chief of the Engineer Bureaur, C.S.A. War Department, a Captain James Capps of St. Landry was included in the "list of men who, by the wish of the honorable Secretary of the War, are to be employed in your department on the special service of destroying the enemy's property by torpedoes and similar inventions." The letter fell into Union hands and in a letter of March 21, 1864 U.S. Rear Admiral David O. Porter ordered the listed men arrested as "rebels, engaged as agents for the Confederate Government, employed for the purpose of furthering the views of said Government in destroying Union vessels by torpedoes and other inventions." [Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Ser.1, Vol.26 (Washington, 1914), 192-193.]

Died
November 16th A.D. 1870
Mr. James Allen Capps
The Burial will take place
this Afternoon (17th) at
three oclock at the family
grave yard of Mr. O. Hinckley
where he will be buried
with Masonic Honors.
The friends and acquaintances
are respectfully invited to
attend without further notice
On the part of the family
[Handwritten death notice]

Source: Find A Grave Memorial, www.findagrave.com, Capt James Allen Capps, Memorial# 72076791, John Coffey, Jun 27, 2011.

Buried:
James A. Capps
1825 - 1868
The 1868 death date on the headstone is not correct. James was living in Washington in 1870 as listed in the census records. Furthermore, the handwritten funeral notice records his date of death 16 Nov 1870.

James married Mary Esther Gardner on 19 Jun 1852 in Opelousas, St Landry, Louisiana, USA. Mary (daughter of Thomas Gardner and Mary Norton) was born on 20 Nov 1830 in Washington, St Landry, Louisiana, USA; died on 23 Feb 1869 in Washington, St Landry, Louisiana, USA; was buried in Gardner Hinckley Cemetery, Washington, St Landry, Louisiana, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Mary Ann Page Capps was born on 10 May 1853 in Washington, St Landry, Louisiana, USA; died on 20 Jan 1933 in Huntington, Cabell, West Virginia, USA; was buried in Huntington, Cabell, West Virginia, USA.
2. John Davis Capps was born in Jan 1855 in Washington, St Landry, Louisiana, USA; died on 28 May 1855 in Washington, St Landry, Louisiana, USA; was buried in Gardner Hinckley Cemetery, Washington, St Landry, Louisiana, USA.
3. Lucy Capps was born on 26 May 1856 in Washington, St Landry, Louisiana, USA; died on 18 Jun 1933 in Barboursville, Cabell, West Virginia, USA; was buried in Spring Hill Cemetery, Huntington, Cabell, West Virginia, USA.
4. Aline Emily Capps was born on 20 Aug 1858 in Washington, St Landry, Louisiana, USA; died on 12 Jun 1908 in Melville, St Landry, Louisiana, USA; was buried in Melville, St Landry, Louisiana, USA.
5. Orramel Hinckley Capps was born on 11 Sep 1860 in Washington, St Landry, Louisiana, USA; died on 24 Aug 1878 in Washington, St Landry, Louisiana, USA; was buried in Gardner Hinckley Cemetery, Washington, St Landry, Louisiana, USA.
6. James Allen Capps, Jr. was born on 14 Feb 1861 in Washington, St Landry, Louisiana, USA; died on 24 May 1944 in Orange, Texas, USA; was buried in Orange, Orange, Texas, USA.
7. Thomas Gardner Capps was born on 19 Oct 1863 in Washington, St Landry, Louisiana, USA; died on 1 Jul 1935 in Melville, St Landry, Louisiana, USA; was buried in Melville, St Landry, Louisiana, USA.
8. Charles Capps was born about 1866 in Louisiana, USA.
9. Mattie Capps was born about 1867 in Washington, St Landry, Louisiana, USA; died on 15 Nov 1956 in Amarillo, Potter, Texas, USA; was buried in Amarillo, Potter, Texas, USA.

Living married Nancy M. Scurlock Nancy was born about 1804 in North Carolina, USA; died in Oct 1870. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]