In 1860, farmer and blacksmith Moses Tesh (b. 1818) and his family were living in the Panther Creek section of Yadkin County. William Addison Tesh (b. 1843) was the oldest son of Moses Tesh and his wife, Mary (Molly) Mock Tesh (b. 1819). William A. Tesh enlisted as a private in Co. I, 28th North Carolina Infantry on March 18, 1862, when he was 18 years old and was eventually promoted to corporal. He died of unspecified causes on May 4, 1864.