The Thurman and Ecklin families resided in western Tennessee near Memphis in Shelby and Fayette counties during the Civil War era. The Ecklins were from Morning Sun and their daughters, including Sallie Ecklin, were educated at a residential school called the Macon Female Institute, Macon County, Tenn. In the autumn of 1856, Sallie Ecklin and John P. Thurman were married. They lived on a farm in Hickory Withe and raised three children, two of whom were Royster and Berta.
John P. Thurman enlisted in the Confederate Army no later than March 1862. The Roster of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865 lists him as having served as a sergeant in Company B of the Tennessee 3rd (Forrest's) Cavalry Regiment until at least April 1865. He seems to have served also with McDonald's Battalion. He fought in many battles and raids along the Mississippi River and its environs, including the Battle of Shiloh or Pittsburg Landing. He survived the war.
Beverly S. Thurman, John P. Thurman's brother, served in Company A of the Tennessee 4th (Neely's) Infantry rising to the rank of 2nd lieutenant. He was killed in Georgia in 1864.
From the guide to the John P. and Sallie Ecklin Thurman Papers, 1844-1896, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)
