JOHN O'NEILLE FRINK, son of John Frink and Annie Jane Gore was born on July
9, 1843, died on April 19, 1926. He was born in Columbus County, North
Carolina and his first marriage was to Amanda Mortimer Powell of Grist
Columbus County, North Carolina, in 1866. They had two children:

(a) Araminta, born 3-19-1867, married Dr. John McKinnon and had two
children: Lucille and Kenneth
(b) John Mortimer, born 8-22-1869, married Toncie Calhoun

Amanda Mortimer died August 23, 1869 from child birth. Nine months later
John O'Neille Frink went with a colony to Hempstead, Texas, leaving his two
children with his first wife's family.

In this colony was Frances Adalaid Powell, cousin to his first wife, whom
he married in 1871 or 1872. To this marriage was born three sons:

(a) Herbert Lee, married Willie McKane and died in Oklahoma in 1929.
(b) William Oscar, was Attorney at San Angelo, Texas
(c) Albert Frink

John O'Neille died in San Angelo, Texas and the following is copied from
"The San Angelo Daily", dated Tuesday, April 20, 1926:

'JOHN O'NEILLE FRINK, HEROIC FIGURE IN MANY OF SOUTH'S SEVEREST BATTLES
BURIED HERE TODAY'

    Honored by a host of friends he made during twenty year's residence in
San Angelo and by the fast thinning ranks of "the boys in Gray", with whom
he served in the Civil War, Captain John O'Neille Frink, Justice of the
Peace, Commander of both the Mountain Remnant Brigade, United Confederate
Veterans, and its local unit, Camp Schuyler Sutton, was buried Tuesday
afternoon.

    Impressive services were conducted at three o'clock by the Reverend
Gaston Hartsfield, pastor of the First Methodist Church at the residence of
Captain Frink's son, Oscar Frink, District Attorney, 224 East Harris
Avenue, with whom for many years he had made his home. The pallbearers were
Hugh Storey, B. L. Trimble, J. A. Thomas, Theo P. Bell, M. L. Mertz and
Penrose B. Metcalfe. Services at the grave were under the auspices of the
Masons. All Confederate Veterans who were physically able attended the last
rites. They placed on the grave the Stars and Bars. Selection of a
successor to Captain Frink as Commander of Camp Schuyler will be considered
at the next meeting.

    Few of the old soldiers of the South still living, or of the host he
has joined in answering the final roll call, saw more action in the Civil
War than Captain Frink. Participation in the Battle of Chancellorsville,
which cost the life of "Stonewall" Jackson, one of the Confederacy's
greatest leaders, and imprisonment with almost 600 of his comrades in gray
on Morris Island, off Charleston, S. C. where for forty-two days, they were
endangered by the shell fire of both armies and subsisted solely on corn
meal gruel--these were but two of Captain Frink's stirring experiences.

    He learned first hand the terribleness of war, the thrill of
hand-to-hand combat, the devastation of shot and shell and disease, the
hardships of fighting poorly clad and often with gnawing hunger, the
poignant grief over loss of a great leader--slain through mistake by his
own men--later the helplessness of being under the first of both friend and
foe and finally, surrender; then the long trudge home on crutches through a
country either laid waste or barren through unoccupancy. But Captain Frink
also lived to play an active part in peace in the restoration of the South,
which is as glorious in history as the fight by him and his comrades which
was not won.

    This is a sketch of his war service which Captain Frink by request
recently penciled for The Standard. It was intended to be the basis of an
article on his life it follows:

"SOON LAUNCHED IN THE FIGHT"

    "I volunteered in April, 1861, at Whiteville, Columbus County, North
Carolina. We organized a company of 102 men and were ordered to Wilmington,
North Carolina Infantry and did picket duty on the Atlantic coast in North
Carolina and  South Carolina until just about the time the seven days fight
in fron of Richmond, Virginia in the spring of 1862. At that time we were
upon the coast of South Carolina between Charleston, South Carolina and
Savannah, Georgia.

    We received orders to entrain for Richmond, Virginia. Our train was
given the right-of-way by both passenger and freight trains. We landed in
Richmond about daylight one morning, received orders for a force
march--sometimes a fast walk and sometimes a double quick and about three
o'clock in the afternoon we were rushed into battle. We held our lines
until the next morning and it rained that night. My bed was two flat fence
rails, one end in the space between the fence rails and the other end
resting on the ground with my pancho spread over me to keep the rain off.

    From then on for seven days we were fighting nearly all the time,
driving the enemy back by degrees to his gun boats. Then we went to
Harper's Ferry, captured 11,000 prisoners. We then crossed the Potomac
River over into Maryland and had one of the hardest fights at Sharpsburg,
Maryland. In that battle, we lost our brigard commander, General Branch. We
continued our march over Maryland for a time but returned, wading the
Potomac both ways.

Fought By Day; Marched By Night

    We then had several battles in the Valley of  Virginia. Jackson would
attack the enemy in the valley and drive them back and march his army all
night over the mountains and meet another advancing army the next day and
drive it back. We kept that up until cold weather and before we went into
winter quarters. We camped in a kert of heavy timbers and I raked me up a
bed of leaves and spread a blanket over the leaves and retired, covering
with blankets, etc. and spreading a pancho over these. And the next morning
the snow was twelve inches deep over me. We then went into winter quarters
at Gordensville, Virginia.

    When the spring of 1863 opened, we started out and met the enemy at
Manassas Junction. There we captured several train loads of supplies, and I
was one of the men to guard them. We boys went into one of the cars and
found some of the best French brandy that I ever drank. We then marched a
few miles and entered the second Battle of Manassas. My command found the
enemy about sundown. I could have walked on dead men for a quarter of a
mile without touching the ground.

    Then came the Battle of Chancellorsville, where our idol, "Stonewall"
Jackson was wounded and finally died. It was his orders that caused his
death by my regiment, the Eighteenth North Carolina Infantry. We were
advancing in a heavy timbered country and was ordered to fire on any
advance of the enemy. "Stonewall" Jackson and General A.P. Hill were out in
front of the lines, reconnoitering to see the position of the enemy and got
too far out and were fired upon by the enemy pickets. They came loping back
and my regiment, the 18th North Carolina, fired at the, wounding Jackson
and killing several of his staff. One horse fell within three feet of me.

How Jackson Met Death (above)

    The next morning General Stewart, being the ranking general was
assigned to the command of Jackson's army. He ordered a general advance. We
were in the timber and as we advanced out into the open, charging a
battery, and were fired upon by this battery. The color bearer and six men
were shot down by this battery. My company being on the left center and I
being a second sergeant, I picked up the flag and got in front of the
regiment and waved the flag and called to the regiment to follow me and
capture the battery. We raised our familiar yell and captured the battery.
For that act I was promoted from a second sergeant to a first lieutenant.

    For the remainder of 1863, we were fighting first one place and another
and went into winter quarters at Moss Nock Virginia.

    In the spring of 1864 the army started out and the first battle was at
the Wilderness or Spottsylvania Court House. Our lines, or a part of them,
were formed upon a range of hills in the shape of a horseshoe. On the
morning of May 12, 1864, the enemy massed their troops upon a certain part
of our lines, broke through, came upon the rear of my brigade and captured
about 3,000 men. My command or regiment was a part of the captured.

    I had the flag. It being a foggy morning, before we were aware of it
they came down in our rear, and a large double jointed sergeant came up and
demanded the flag. I not knowing what had happened looked at him and told
him to get back to the rear--'you d--- Yank'. He immediately turned the
butt of his gun and struck me, knocking me down. And if it hadn't been for
a large pair of blankets that I had captured from the enemy, rolled up and
thrown around my shoulders, he would have killed me, but the blankets saved
me.

Imprisoned On Morris Island

    I was then with about 3,000 others sent to Fort Delaware, Delaware and
in August, 1864, a lieutenant in charge of the prison came in one morning
and gave us to understand that he was after 600 officers, ranking from
lieutenants to colonels, and hinted that we were to be exchanged. So he
commenced calling the names out and I became one of the 600. All thought
that we were going to be exchanged, but we were landed, after about
eighteen days on that steamer, it was at Morris Island in front of
Charleston, South Carolina.

    We were kept there for forty-two days and nights, and our only rations
was three and a half pints of corn meal gruel a day; no meat, coffee nor
anything else. After this forty-two days, we were moved to Fort Pulaski,
Georgia until General Lee surrendered. We were sent back to Fort Delaware,
Delaware. While down there I contracted the scurvy and I did not get able
to travel until the 11th day of June, 1865.

    I was paroled and sent to Philadelphia, thence to Baltimore and then to
Petersburgh, Virginia and from there to Wilmington, North Carolina. I was
then forty-five miles from home. There was a railroad past my home but it
was not in operation. I was not able to walk except upon crutches and I
started to walk home on my crutches. I walked about ten miles the first day
and stayed at a farm house for the night. Next morning, I started out again
and had to sit down to rest about 10 o'clock. While sitting there a covered
wagon came up. I hailed the driver and he was man who lived about two miles
From my home and I got home O. K., but walking on crutches".

^^^^^^^^^^
krf


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