Sam Watkins

Samuel Rush Watkins and his wife, Virginia (Jenny) Mayes Watkins, who worshipped at Zion Presbyterian Church, are buried in its cemetery. In Company Aytch: or, a Side Show of the Big Show, Watkins left a memoir of his experiences as a rank-and-file soldier during the Civil War. He left his home a few miles west of here when the war began, enlisted in the 3rd Tennessee Infantry, and then transferred to Co. H, the Maury Grays, 1st Tennessee Infantry. He fought in the battles of Shiloh, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, Franklin, and Nashville, among others. Of the 120 men who enlisted in Co. H in 1861, Watkins was one of only 7 remaining when Confederate Gen. Joseph Johnston's Army of Tennessee surrendered to Union Gen. William T. Sherman in April 1865. Watkins first published Company Aytch as a serial in the Columbia Herald newspaper. Issued in book form in 1882, Company Aytch had a production run of only 2,000 copies. Watkins's father, Frederick Henry Watkins, provided the money with understanding that he would receive first fruits from the book's sales. Filmmaker Ken Burns boosted the popularity of Company Aytch when he used selections from it in his 1990 documentary, The Civil War. In 2007, Watkins's great-grand-daughter published an expanded edition with hand-written notes from his original copy. Zion Presbyterian Church, built 1847-1849, serves Maury County's oldest active congregation, and the adjoining cemetery contains more than 1,500 graves, including veterans of the Revolutionary, Mexican, and Civil War.

Tennessee · United States