Kimball County Texas has a monument for William A. Gentry indicating that he was in the confederate military and died in action some time in 1862-1863 and that he was the first and only Kimball County confederate soldier to die during the war. The monument says that the family thinks he died in either Tennessee or the Shenendoah valley but no confirmation of his death or the unit he fought in is available. He was married to a Nancy Frazure and had 2 children. Nancy did remarry.
I do have some notes that William A. Gentry and Nancy Frazure were married in Kaufman County Texas. I don't have any documentation to prove this is where they were married. However, I do see in the 1860 census that Nancy Frazure is with her family and unmarried in 1860 in Kaufman county.
I also found that there were several William Gentrys that were from Texas and fought in the civil war. However, I've only been able to find 1 William A. Gentry and interestingly enough he enlisted in the Texas 19th Calvary in Kaufman county. The age of this William A. Gentry is 25 whereas my great great uncle would have been about 27. The record indicates that this William A. Gentry enlisted in April 1862 as a corporal and interestingly enough was discharged in August 1862 as a private.
My guess is that this William A. Gentry is probably my great great uncle given that his wife lived in Kaufman county, family records say he married his wife in Kaufman county and military records of Texas enlistments only have one William A. Gentry and he enlisted in Kaufman county. If so, and my understanding is correct, it would mean that my great great uncle was not killed in the war but was kicked out 6 months after he joined and had his rank dropped to private which I would guess means he was not a highly regarded soldier for reasons I would love to determine.
Also, if he didn't die in the war, it means he abandoned his wife and children and his extended family since he is never shown afterwards on the census etc as William Gentry. I guess there is the possibility that he was discharged and was captured or killed on his return home or something of that sort.
Anyway, I would really appreciate any comment on my assumptions and analysis as well as any advice on how I could pin down more details, truth etc. Also, I would really like to learn more about Burford's regiment and the Company William A. Gentry was with for 6 months to learn about the battles etc that he might have participated in etc.