Addison P. Cherry
(Camden County)
Featured Character – A Soldier's Life
Catherine and Addison Cherry
Courtesy of the Families of James Sidney Cherry, Lawrence Edward Cherry, and Cleo "Peggy" Cherry James
Addison P. Cherry was born in 1835 in Camden County, where he resided as a prosperous landowner around the South Mills area before enlisting in the Confederate Army’s "Camden Grays" on May 30, 1861 at the age of 28. He was made 2nd Lieutenant of Company M, 12th North Carolina troops on May 30, 1861 and noted as present until he was transferred to 2nd Company B, 32nd Regiment North Carolina Troops in October of that year. There, he became a major and was accounted for until he returned home in 1865. He returned to his wife, Catherine Casteen, whom he had married in 1860, in Camden County. Their marriage yielded five children, the last born in 1873. Due to the war, he and his brother, Archibald, lost most of their land to bankruptcy. Known around town for his red hair, Cherry was the owner of the Cherry Tree Inn. During the 1870s, Addison served as a federal tax collector and post master. He died on March 11, 1886 in South Mills.