Johnzie Tongue

Johnzie Tongue M V R C B K Y Photo: Born: 16 February 1843.[4012] Married: His wife was alive in 1917. “Mrs. Johnzie Tongue and Miss Rosa Neal Tongue have returned from Baltimore, where they were the guests of Mrs. W. died Primrose for several weeks.”[4013] Mrs. Tongue’s maiden name ‘Neal’? Check marriage records. Died: 27 January 1925, buried Warrenton Cemetery.[4014] Buried Warrenton Cemetery, age 76 years old. Obituary: “For the greater part of his life he was in the mercantile business and was an active and successful business man even to old age as long as his health permitted. … In his youth he was a brave Confederate soldier, and was one of the few survivors of the famous Black Horse Cavalry.”[4015] See Obituary Chapter. Children: Rosa Neal Tongue, George R. Tongue[4016] Parents and Siblings: Parents John R. Tongue and wife Frances Yeatman.[4017] Siblings R. W. Tongue,[4018] Virginia P. Tongue,[4019] and Thomas William Tongue.[4020] Other Family: Johnzie Tongue’s sister Virginia P. Tongue married Addison Warren Utterback (1836–1896)[4021], latter Captain in Poague’s Battalion.[4022] Johnzie’s brother Thomas William Tongue served with Mosby.[4023] Check # Alex Hunter reference calling his wife “The Florence Nightingale of Mosby’s Confederacy.”[4024] “There was one woman in the town [Warrenton] who dropped everything and devoted herself to the task, day and night, of nursing the wounded soldiers. Her name was Mrs. Johnsie Tongue. She was the Florence Nightingale of Mosby’s Confederacy. Certainly if every good deed which she performed had been a block of granite, and had been placed over her last resting place, she would sleep beneath a column that would overtop the loftiest peak of the Blue Ridge. She was a saint to the wounded whom she tended, and an angel to those who held her hand as they entered into the ‘Valley and the Shadow.’ So long as the traditions of the old burg shall be handed down from father to son, from mother to daughter, will the name of that white-souled woman, Mrs. Tongue, be cherished and honored.”[4025] “Frances (Yeatman) Tongue (1819–1891) daughter of John Yeatman of Warrenton. She married 8 July 1834, John R. Tongue, a successful tanner of Warrenton. They were the parents of Johnzie Tongue, a member of the Black Horse Cavalry and later a prominent merchant in Warrenton. Alexander Hunter, in his ‘Women of the Debatable Land’,… p. 12,… incorrectly pays tribute to ‘Mrs. Johnsie Tongue’ instead of Mrs. John R. Tongue. He says, ‘She was the Florence Nightingale of Mosby’s Confederacy. Certainly if every good deed which she performed had been a black of granit, and had been placed over her last resting place, she would sleep beneath a column that would overtop the loftiest peak of the Blue Ridge. She was a saint to the wounded whom she tended, and an angle [angel] to those who held her hand as they entered into the ‘Valley and the Shadow.’ So long as the traditions of the old burg shall be handed down from father to son, from mother to daughter, will the name of that white-souled woman, Mrs. Tongue, be cherished and honored.’ pp. 40–182 # Separate out Hunter reference.[4026] “John Robert Tongue was one of Warrenton’s notable figures in my early days, passing away less than a score of years since. He was an active, clever business man and was as genial as one so quiet as he could be. His hospitable home was for years the headquarters of visiting Methodist clergymen. He kept a superb table, gave charming entertainments and as the custom was in his day, kept open house for his friends on holiday occasions. He always enjoyed a joke, though, himself, rarely related one. … Mr. T. by his business thrift, gained ample means, but believed in the doctrine of enjoying the fruits of his labor.”[4027] Stories, Letters & Biographies: “Johnzie Tongue joined ‘Black Horse Company’…”[4028] See Biographies Chapter. “We reached a colonial residence, and awoke the owners. He told us how to cross the river, then learned we were Confederates escaping from prison. He then exclaimed, ‘Wait.’ ”[4029] See Stories Chapter. CSR: Enlisted 2 October 1861 Sangster’s Crossroads; absent for horse November to December 1862; captured 14 August 1863 Warrenton; escaped 4 September 1863 Point Lookout Prison; wounded right foot 28 May 1864 Haw’s Shop; paroled 3 May 1865 Fairfax Courthouse. Additional Information: Private.[4030] Wounded at Haw’s Shop, May, 1864. Warrenton.[4031] Listed as “Johnsie Longue.”[4032]