Blog no. 61

Capt. Henry P. Pointer was born on May 15. 1822, in VA, to Henry Pointer and Wilmoth Boyd. He had at least five siblings. After Henry’s family relocated to Spring Hill, TN in 1827, he was educated at Jackson College.

On July 19, 1852, in Maury County, TN, Henry married Martha Jane Caldwell. Martha’s father, Dr. St. Clair Caldwell, built a home for his family in Spring Hill, TN which Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest used as his headquarters during the Battle of Spring Hill. The home no longer stands and was located on modern day Royal Park Boulevard. After five years of marriage to Henry, Martha died in 1857. No record was found stating Henry and Martha had children together.

On May 20, 1861, after enlisting into the Confederate Army during the Civil War, Henry was commissioned captain of the 3rd Tennessee Infantry, Co. F to replace Nathaniel Francis Cheairs. At the Battle of Fort Donelson almost nine months later, on February 16, 1862, he was captured and sent to Johnson’s Island, Ohio. Henry was exchanged on September 1, 1862, at Vicksburg and was transferred to Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Cavalry where he worked as a staff officer. He surrendered with the cavalry in 1865. During his time with the cavalry, Henry often negotiated under a flag of truce for the surrender of some of Lt. Gen. Forrest’s opponents. By the end of the war, Henry had been wounded several times including once near Memphis, TN. 

On March 27, 1873, in Maury County, TN, Henry married Virginia “Jennie” Brown. They had one son whose name was Henry Strange Pointer. Jennie’s grandfather was Col. Hugh Brown, whom I have also written a blog about.

According to the book The History of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford & Marshall Counties by Goodspeed, Henry was one of the principal stock raisers in Maury County at the time of the book’s publishing in 1887. He notably bred pacing champions Star Pointer and Hal Pointer. Star Pointer was the first harness horse to go a mile in less than two minutes with his time being 1:59 1/4, and Hal Pointer was known as the pacing king. Star Pointer’s first trainer was the famed Edward Franklin “Pop” Geers. 

In around 1885, Henry built a home for his family on Main Street in Spring Hill, TN where he owned a 200 acre tract of land. The home stood near the modern site of Lowe’s on Main Street until 2005 when the home was moved. The home now stands on Kedron Road. While at its original location, the home was on the National Register of Historic Places, but when it was moved, it was taken off. 

Sadly, on June 22, 1892, in Spring Hill, Maury County, TN, Henry died. He was originally buried at Caldwell Cemetery in Spring Hill, Maury County, TN, but he is now buried at Rose Hill Cemetery in Columbia, Maury County, TN.

Special thanks to my friend Neel for this blog idea.