Grayson County TXGenWeb

David Oliver Brown

GRAVE GETS MONUMENT AFTER 47 YEARS
The Grave of Civil War veteran David Oliver Brown in
Collinsville Cemetery received a gravestone this week.
Erecting the federal government stone were grandchildren
of Brown, D.O.Pilcher of Collinsville and his sister, Mrs.
J. P. Tinsley of Gainesville. (Staff photo)

Sherman Democrat
Friday, March 8, 1974
pg13

Old Soldier Finally Gets Monument
by Keith Worsham

COLLINSVILLE - In the older section of Collinsville Cemetery there is a gleaming white granite stone, freshly laid last week at the head of a now-flattened grave.
The stone was 47 years late in being set to mark the resting place of a Civil War soldier who first wore the gray of the South, only to switch to the blue of the North when he had a change of conscience mid-way of the struggle.
He was foot-soldier David Oliver Brown, who lived for many years at Collinsville and Tioga. His descendents recall his war stories from both sides of the Civil War.
He had enlisted at 19 with the South, had a change of heart upon seeing a southern slave owner beating his human property and joined up with the North.
The war ended for him when a Rebel bullet struck him in the back, emerged from his chest and left him helpless on the Battlefield. Two days later the northern "dead wagon" clearing the battlefield found him still alive.
Formal unveiling ceremonies will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at the gravesite. Between 75 and 100 descendants are expected to gather at the grave for a short service.
Two grandchildren of Brown, David Oliver Pilcher of Collinsville and his sister Mrs. J. P. Tinsley of Gainesville put up the monument last week.
Pilcher said Mrs. Tinsley was responsible for their grandfather's grave getting the monument after several months of making applications and finally requesting the help of her congressman.
An Idea Came to Her
Mrs. Tinsley said the idea came to her one day last October that her grandfather should have a regulation federal monument to which all veterans are entitled.
She made several applications which were returned due to insufficient information. Then she wrote her congressman,
Rep. Omar Burleson, who secured copies of Brown's honorable discharge papers. This cleared the way for the monument.
Although Mrs. Tinsley didn't have any actual proof that her grandfather served in the Civil War, she recalled one thing she remembered as a child.
Hole in Chest
She recalled last week that in visits to his house her grandfather opened his shirt to show the hole in his chest and in his back telling how the bullet passed through his back. His stories were popular with young and old alike.
Mrs. Tinsley's efforts were convincing enough for Rep. Poage who had a search made of National Archives for her grandfather's military records.
The story went that her grandfather, hidden in an attic of a farmhouse, watched a Confederate whip his slaves. "He was able to see the incident through a crack in the ceiling." Mrs. Tinsley explained. "He decided that he didn't want any part of the Confederate cause," she added.
Wife Was a Cherokee
Following the war, Brown married and settled in the Collinsville-Tioga area after living in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico.