John Wesley Cheatham was born on March 19, 1836, in Georgia to Arthur and Asenath Cheatham. His father was a farmer who owned $11,800 of real estate and $19,300 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Jefferson County, Georgia. He graduated from Trinity College, and by 1860, he was working as a high school teacher. He married Naomi M. Miller on June 7, 1860, and they had at least seven children: Alice, born around 1861; John, born around 1866; Lewis, born around 1869; Ruth, born around 1872; Russel, born around 1874; Anna, born around 1875; and Thomas, born around 1877.

 

He enlisted in the Confederate army on March 4, 1862, and he mustered in as a sergeant in Company E of the 48^th Georgia Infantry. The regiment took part in the Seven Days’ Battles, the Second Battle of Manassas, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg, the Overland Campaign, the siege of Petersburg, and the Appomattox campaign. 

 

He was promoted to 3^rd lieutenant in January 1863 and to 1^st lieutenant in July 1863. He was wounded in the hand and leg at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863, but he eventually recovered and rejoined the regiment. He eventually earned a promotion to captain. He surrendered as part of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865.

 

He returned to Jefferson County after the war, and he earned a living as a farmer. By 1870, he owned $3,000 of personal property. He was a member of the Methodist Church, and he was reportedly “known all over Georgia for his charities.” He died in Wadley, Georgia, on August 17, 1904.

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