George Edward Pickett, Junior
Major, Paymaster
United States Army
George Edward Pickett, Jr., son of Major General George Edward and Sallie Ann Corbell Pickett, was born on 17 July 1864 in Richmond, Virginia. To honor his birth, Major General Pickett’s soldiers built bonfires as General Ulysses S. Grant was marching towards Richmond. When told of the bonfires, General Grant ordered his soldiers to build bonfires to also honor the birth.
(Photo courtesy Virginia Military Institute)
George attended Virginia Military Institute from August 1878 and graduated with Class of 1883.
On 3 November 1891, George married Ida Elizabeth Christancy in Detroit, Michigan. From this marriage they had two sons; George Edward III and Christancy.
At the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, he entered the United States Army and was appointed Paymaster from Virginia on 28 May 1898. After the war, George remained in the Army and on 6 February 1901, received his commission as a Captain in the Pay Department. On 9 March 1901, while serving in the Philippines during the Philippine Insurrection, he saw action that earned him a recommendation for the Medal of Honor. While en route for a second tour of duty in the Philippines in 1908, George was ordered back to Washington to appear before the Army Retiring Board for “defective hearing.” The board concluded that George was able to perform his duties as a pay officer and assigned to the Presidio of San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Circa, 1910, George received orders for his second tour of duty in the Philippines, accompanied by his family. Having completed his second tour of duty, George and his family boarded the Army transport ship Logan to return to the United States. During the trip, George became sick and died on 18 April 1911.
Major George Pickett's family stayed with him while he was stationed in the Philippines.
(L-R) George E. Pickett III, Major Pickett, Christiancy Pickett.
(Photo courtesy The Pickett Society)
His wife and two sons, his mother, and one brother survived George.
Major George Edward Pickett Jr. was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery on 18 May 1911. According to the 19 May 1911 issue of The Washington Post, “…The body, accompanied by Mrs. Pickett, mother of the dead soldier, and his wife and two children, reached the Union Station at 8:45 o’clock yesterday morning, where it was meet by a military escort from Fort Meyer and a party of friends, and taken to the Ontario apartments where Maj. Pickett’s mother resides. At 3:30 o’clock the funeral services were conducted in the apartments by Rev. J. Henning Nelms, rector of the Church of the Ascension, Massachusetts avenue and Twelfth street northwest. The services were attended by representatives of the United Sons of the Confederacy, Confederate Veterans, Daughters of the Confederacy, and representatives of the several Confederate organizations in the city. In addition, there were present a number of representatives from the regular army and the District National Guard. The funeral cortege was made up of the above mentioned representatives and a troop of the Fifteenth cavalry, stationed at Fort Meyer. The casket was placed on a caisson, draped with the national flag. The honorary pallbearers were Gen. C. H. Whipple, Gen. C. C. Sniffen, Col. George R. Smith, Col. G. F. Downey, Maj. F. W. Blauveit, Col. S. A. Day, Col. Benjamin Alvord, and Col. W. D. McCaw.”
Source of information:
1. The Washington Post, 16 August 1908, page 4.
2. The Washington Post, 19 April 1908, page 26.
3. The Washington Post, 18 May 1911, page 2.
4. The Washington Post, 19 May 1911, page 3.
5. Arlington National Cemetery website (http://www.arlingtoncenetery.net/georgeed.htm).
6. The Pickett Society (http://www.pickettsociety.com/)
7. 1910 Census of the United States, State of California, County of San Francisco, Supervisor’s District 4, Enumeration District 278, Sheet 8B.