Cravin Michael Shanks

Born: 2 Jan 1835 in Jackson (Now Putnam) County, Tennessee

Died: 23 Sep 1899 in Jackson (Now Putnam) County, Tennessee

Company C, 1st Tennessee Mounted Infantry, USA

21 Oct 1863-22 Jul 1865

Cravin is the son of William Simon Shanks and Margaret Horton Maddux. He married Nancy Catherine Hendley, daughter of Thomas Aden S. Hendley and Elizabeth Jane Gentry, on 17 May 1854. They had six children between 1855 and 1869. Nancy died 6 Jul 1877. Cravin married a second time to Mary Elizabeth Burgess. They had one child born in 1884.

Cravin's service records show that he enlisted 21 Oct 1863 at Carthage, Smith County, Tennessee, but wasn't mustered in until 18 May 1864. It appears he was absent from around the time of his enlistment until his muster-in date.. Records do not give any history of activity between muster-in and muster-out dates. He was mustered out on 22 Jul 1865.

A family story tells that Cravin was visiting home during civil war to kill hogs for his family. This would be the winter of 1863/64 between his enlistment and muster-in dates. Andrew Jackson Maxwell, a confederate, alerted the confederate forces who attacked Cravin and two other men. Cravin ran into the woods and covered himself with leaves and thereby escaped. Cravin's brother, William Henry, vowed revenge against Maxwell. Maxwell was shot 17 times in Sep 1865 and killed. William and others (including John Harrison Roberts) were charged with murder. The story is that a "gang" busted William out of the Cookeville jail and put him on a train to Kansas. He did die in Kansas in 1906. However, the story of the jail break is questionable as he did not move to Kansas until 1886. A final resolution of the murder case is still undiscovered in court records as of Mar 2025.

Cravin's second wife, Elizabeth, received a widow's pension for his service. It appears Cravin was denied his claim for an invalid pension. More research required to learn why.

Cravin is buried in the Shanks Family Cemetery, atop a hill on the Luke Alexander Shanks farm in Buffalo Valley, Putnam County, Tennessee.