SHULER-PARKER CEMETERY, Shuler Branch Rd., GILES COUNTY TENNESSEE

Peter Shuler, Jr., later known as "Squire Shuler", along with his father, Peter Shuler, Sr. and his grandfather, Abraham Shuler moved from Rowan County, North Carolina in the late
1820's and settled in a remote section of the 14th district of Giles County at a place known as Shuler Hollow, on Shuler Branch, near Campbellsville.

The house which stands in Shuler Hollow today was built for Peter Shuler, Jr., and his 15 year old bride, Martha Mildred Rushing. Peter and Martha were married on August
26, 1830. Shortly thereafter, a log cabin was built for the couple and upon completion of the house the young Mrs. Shuler carved her name on a log in the upstairs of the
cabin.

By 1860, the Shulers were the parents of nine children: William M., Martha E., Jimmia A., Rebecca Ann Jane, Mary L., Lucy C., John Peter, Nancy, and Emma. Life was safe
and secure in Shuler Hollow until the start of the War Between the States on April 12, 1861. News of the war spread like wild fire through the mountains. Little did people
know, at the time, that the War Between the States would be one of the greatest conflicts the world had ever known.

Peter Shuler, Jr., was 53 years old, a man of courage and dedication. His son, William, was 27 years old and anxious to defend the South. He enlisted in D Company, 3rd
Tennessee Volunteer Infantry. This regiment was organized at Lynnville, TN on May 16, 1861.

Days passed into weeks and weeks into months, with families waiting anxiously for news of loved ones, but when news finally came to the Shuler home, it was sad news.
Their son, William, had been killed during the Battle of Fort Donelson on February 15, 1862. He was buried under a large oak tree, never to return to his family in Shuler
Hollow.

Sometime after June 1862, Squire Shuler was approached about using his home as a scout headquarters, as it was located in a remote and secluded area. One can only
speculate as to Squire Shuler's reasons for volunteering his home for such risky business, willingly exposing his family to the consequences of harboring spies.
Perhaps the death of his son earlier that year had a bearing on the Squire's decision. The only certainty is that the house in Shuler Hollow became a focal point for
Southern espionage activities until November 1863, when Henry B. Shaw, alias E. Coleman, Captain of Coleman Scouts and Sam Davis were captured within days of one
another.

The Shulers involvement with Coleman's Scouts began shortly after General Cheatham appointed Henry B. Shaw as Commander of the Confederate Scouts- Bragg's Scouts.
Captain Shaw was an ideal leader, often traveling in the guise of an itinerant herb doctor called E. Coleman (this disguise was later to save his life). His scouts were
carefully selected for their particular talents and became known as Coleman's Scouts, operating within and behind enemy lines.

Sam Davis was one of Coleman's Scouts, selected early in the organization of the unit. He was the son of Charles Davis and his second wife, Jane Simmons, of Rutherford
County, Tennessee. Sam Davis left home in the fall of 1860 to attend Nashville Military College in Nashville, Tennessee. Shortly after the war began, he was recruited by
Captain Shaw for the dangerous job of scouting.

In 1863, Captain Shaw and his scouts were so efficient that General Dodge of the Union Army stationed at Pulaski, sent spies of his own to penetrate Shaw's
organization. General Dodge's luck turned when Sam Davis was captured on the 20th day of November 1863, at Minor Hill, in Giles County, TN, while traveling on the
Lambs Ferry Road.

Davis was scouting the enemy lines and needed to return to the Confederate command. He had spent the night at Shuler Hollow, according to Joel Clyde Shuler,
the grandson of Squire Shuler.

According to family tradition, Sam Davis was at the Shuler house when Federal soldiers came looking for him. He was alerted troops were approaching, and the
women went out on the front porch to greet the troops, while the boys went for the Davis horse hidden in the woods. The horse was brought to the barn, and Sam Davis
left the house wearing a bonnet, dress and carrying a milk bucket, entered the barn where he mounted his horse and rode out of Shuler Hollow.

Several days later, while trying to return to the Confederate lines, Sam Davis heard that a Confederate captain also behind Federal lines, was leaving the Pulaski area
enroute to Decatur, Alabama. Davis found the captain and assuming he was the man he was looking for, began to travel with him.

The Captain was L.H. Naron, "Captain Chickasaw", head of the Federal spies. He was traveling in disguise as a Confederate captain, while searching for Confederate
prisoners who had escaped from the Pulaski jail. Captain Chickasaw became aware of Davis situation and led him to Federal scouts lying hidden by the Lamb's Ferry Road.

When the travelers were within easy pistol range, the detail rose from their concealment, weapons leveled on the two men. The officer in charge of the detail
ordered the men to dismount. The men were searched, no weapons were found on Davis. Davis had over his shoulder a hank of cotton yarn, and in a cloth haversack, a
ball of cotton yarn the size of a man's double-fist. The hank and ball were thrown to the road side. Davis was searched further, the scouts found in his pocket a paper with
the names of the Commands and the officers attached which were in Pulaski under General Dodge. Ordered to remount, the two were escorted that evening to Pulaski.

Captain Chickasaw and two other were ordered to return to the site of Davis' capture to retrieve the hank and ball of cotton yarn. In Pulaski, the ball of yarn was found to
contain papers showing the disposition of troops. Was the ball of yarn provided by the Shuler household to secret the information past enemy lines? Sam Davis was joined in
the Pulaski Jail by two other fellow scouts, Moore and Davis. On the 22nd of November, Federal troops once again descended on the Shuler home and arrested
Captain Shaw in his guise as a doctor. Shaw was described as a seedy, tired and awkward looking man, dressed in citizen's clothing. He addressed himself as Doctor
Shaw, an ex-surgeon in the Rebel Army. He was arrested and taken to Pulaski to join Davis and the other scouts in jail.

Since no papers of importance were found on Shaw he was not charged with being a spy. However, he remained a prisoner of the Federal Army and was later sent to
Johnson Island on Lake Erie not far from Sandusky, Ohio. Shaw remained a prisoner until after the end of the war and Coleman's Scouts were finished.

Based on papers found on Davis, in his saddle seat and in his boot, he was tried and convicted of being a Confederate Spy and was hung on East Hill, on Friday morning,
the 27th of November 1863. After the end of the war, Henry B. Shaw returned to the home of John G. Davis, friend, fellow scout and half brother of Sam Davis. He stayed
until the fall of 1866, when he persuaded John G. Davis and his father, Charles Davis, to purchase a steamboat. The steamboat "David White" was valued at $50,000.

On the 27th of February 1866, the "David White" exploded while traveling on the Mississippi River, below Helena, Arkansas. Here on the "David White", Captain Henry
B. Shaw and fellow scout John G. Davis lost their lives.

Years later, with the death of Squire Peter Shuler on October 21, 1894, an adventure ended, one which began in the 1820's when Abraham Shuler, Peter Shuler, Sr., and his
young son left Rowan County, NC to seek their fortunes in Giles County and established a homestead in Shuler Hollow.

The Shuler family cemetery still exists, overgrown, the tombstones weather-beaten, cracked, broken, but legible. Several older grave markers are heavy field rocks placed
to mark the resting places of Abraham and Peter Shuler, Sr., the patriarchs of the Tennessee Shulers.

The Shuler house still stands with the memories and secrets of times past hidden deep within its walls, some of the most patriotic men in Confederate history had
passed through the doors of the Shuler home. The house has been added on, modified, but major features remain unaltered. The two-story front building and angle-
story back room once separated by an open "dogtrot" are now joined.  Curiously, the existence of an attic that was unknown to family members but was
explored only after it was discovered that entrance to the attic could be gained through a closet in the backroom. A wall inside the closet swung back to reveal a
steep dark staircase that led to a low-ceiling room under the eaves. Was this the sleeping area for the scouts, secluded away from the family quarters, accessible only
through a hidden entrance? No one knows and if they did they have forgotten.

The Peter Shuler Home in Shuler Hollow, north east of the Cemetery.

Article sourced from the Giles County Tennessee Historical Society Bulletin Oct 2013, Volume XXXIX. Pages 12-15

1850 Census of Giles County Tenn.
Name:Peter Sheeler [Peter Shuler] 
Age:43
Birth Year:abt 1807
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1850:District 14, Giles, Tennessee, USA
Gender:Male
Family Number:50
Name              Age
Peter Sheeler      43
Martha M Sheeler   34
William M Sheeler  17
Martha E Sheeler   12
Jimmima A Sheeler   9
Rebecca A J Sheeler 6
Mary L Sheeler      4
Lucey C Sheeler     1

1860 Census of Giles County Tenn.
Name:Peter Shuler
Age:53
Birth Year:abt 1807
Gender:Male
Birth Place:North Carolina
Home in 1860:Northern Subdivision, Giles, Tennessee
Post Office:Lynnville (Cornerville)
Family Number:642
Value of real Estate:
View image
Name            Age
Peter Shuler     53
Martha Shuler    40
Wm M Shuler      27
Henry Shuler     29
Rebecca A Shuler 15
Mary Shuler      13
Lucy Shuler      10
Peter Shuler      8
Nancy Shuler      6
Babe Shuler       2

1870 Census of Giles County Tenn.
Name:Peter Shuler
Age in 1870:63
Birth Year:abt 1807
Dwelling Number:174
Home in 1870:District 14, Giles, Tennessee
Race:White
Gender:Male
Occupation:Farmer
Male Citizen Over 21:Y
Personal Estate Value:3030
Real Estate Value:3854
Name           Age
Peter Shuler    63
Martha M Shuler 54
Mary L Shuler   24
John P Shuler   19
Nancy E Shuler  16
Emma M Shuler   12
Joel C Gracey   22

Marriages: (a later Peter Shuler)
Name:Peter Shuler
Gender:Male
Marriage Date:4 Sep 1884
Marriage Place:Giles, Tennessee, USA
Spouse:Margaret McMiney

Marriages: Connections to Parkers
Name:Rebecca A. Shuler
Gender:Female
Spouse:Alfred F. Parker
Spouse Gender:Male
Marriage Date:4 Dec 1866
County:Giles
State:Tennessee

Added here by C Wayne Austin.