| Notes |
- James Warren Vasser/Vassey was b. in 1839 in Spartanburg SC or Rutherford, NC, the son of John Vasser and Elizabeth Jinkins Vasser. By 1850, the family had moved to Monroe County Tennessee and were there in 1860 as well. James joined Co. C of the 62nd Tennessee Mounted Infantry in 1862 and was captured at the Battle of Big Black River in Mississippi in 1863.
He was sent to Point Lookout, Maryland where he appears on the records until January 2, 1864 when he's listed as "joined US service". This service was with the 1st US Volunteer Infantry, and were sent out west to fight Indians.
Known as "Galvanized Yankees" (ie, like galvanized metals, they were one thing on the outside, another underneath), James stayed with the 1st USV long enough to reach Fort Reno in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and deserted.
He reportedly lived in Texas for a while, albeit a short one, because he returned to Nashville Tennessee and changed his identity, taking the last name of his sister Nancy's husband, Robert Thomas, and thus James W. Vasser became "Washington W. or "Watt" Thomas."
Davidson county Tennessee records show he married Priscilla Menees Whitsett in late 1865, and they lived the remainder of their lives as Mr. and Mrs. Washington Thomas of Antioch Tennessee.
They are both buried at a small cemetery that has been essentially overtaken by Nashville's suburban sprawl. This cemetery is located on Bell Road just past Blue Hole Road, and is virtually invisible unless you know what you're looking for.
The other stones in the cemetery are for a daughter in law, Callie, and an infant child.
(findagrave)
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Seems Nancy Vasser Littrell Thomas had a brother named James Vasser, (which we knew about), that had a little trouble in the Confederate Army. He was taken prisoner by the North, then joined the US service, and promptly deserted, possibly murdering two guards in the process. He laid low for a couple of years, moved to Nashville, changed his name to "Thomas", after his married sister Nancy, and James Vasser became "Washington 'Watt' Thomas. His luck changed, and he married a wealthy Nashville woman, Priscilla Menees Whitsett, and lived until 1912. His first daughter was named Elizabeth Jenkins Thomas, presumably after his mother. The story again gets weirder. Lizzie Jenkins Thomas married her first cousin, the son of Nancy Vasser and Robert Thomas, a man named J.W. Thomas.
http://genforum.genealogy.com/littrell/messages/504.html
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1839 - 1912 (~ 73 years)
