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House in Boonesville
Information and photo submitted by Norm Addington norm1394@gmail.com
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Calvin Shiflett served in Company F, 35th Virginia Calvery, as a Private during the Civil War. He is thought to be the son of Benson and Christina Shiflett. His last known record is at the Charlottesville Hospital from 30 March, 1863 to 18 May, 1863 with cystitis/debilitias.
According to a great-great grandson of Calvin, his mother told him the story that her grandmother, Elizabeth (Herrin) Shiflett, Calvin's wife had told her: "Calvin along with several other cousins and soldiers deserted in 1864/65 time frame due to lack of food, clothing and horses. A number of them were captured and held in the basement of a large, white house in Boonesville, Albemarle County, Virginia. Just a day or so before the end of the War, Elizabeth was bringing some food for the prisoners and as she was coming over the hill she heard gunshots from the house. Calvin and several others, including Tipton Walton, were executed. Several others were able to make a successful escape". Note: Tipton and Sallie Dowell Walton's daughter, Sarah Ann, married Calvin's son, Charles P. Shiflett in 1870.
Ed. note: My father has suggested to me that it is possible the Confederate deserters executed in the basement were killed in anger, when the guards found out some of them had escaped through a basement window. Norm has been trying for the last six months to find out what group was holding these men prisoner at the time of their execution. Since it was at the very end of the war, possible candidates are Union troops, Confederate troops, or the Home Guard. Since these prisoners were "local" men, simply trying to get home, I'd like to think that it was "outsiders" who killed them, and not their own neighbors and kin. If you have any additional information on this embarrassing episode in Albemarle history, please contact Norm Addington.