James Warren Welch was the son of Simeon Flecter Welch and Mary Asberry; he was the 8th child of ten children of this Irish immigrant.
James Welch was a dirt farmer from Gravette, AR when he receive the call to defend his home, family, and community from the yankee invaders; he served in Co A, 15th MO Cavalry. The 15th MO Calvary was under the command of Col Tim Reeves and was a regimential strength battalion. This cavalry unit was practically the only protection between most southern Missouri and northern Arkansas folks from the yankee invaders. The invaders primary were made up of the Illinois milita. Private Welch was called "Wick" as he had very white hair and was described as a "Wick of a Candle". He was wounded in a ambush at Elkhorn Tavern. He was rescued by yet another ancestor of Compatriot Kirk Gruenewald by the name of Jesse Woodson James. His rescue was featured in a movie and he was almost exactly as Kirk's Great Uncle Dick Welch told him the story as he got it from James Warren when Dick was a youngester.
After the war he married Julia Margaret Dwyer, daughter of William Dwyer. It is rumored that she is the descendant of Patrick Henry, the famous "Give me liberty, or give me death!" patriot of the 1st American revolution. They were married on Feb 26, 1882 and had two boys Franklin and Hugh, Franklin was Kirk Gruenewald's great grandfather. He died in Jan of 1930 and is buried in an unmarked grave in the Gravette City Cemetery in Gravette, AR. Recent information indicates that the city is trying to locate all of the graves in the cemetery and perhaps there is a chance to locate both him and Julia.
Private Welch is a gg grandfather of Compatriot Kirk Gruenewald who is a founding member of NM SCV Camp 2033.