Boodog, do you happen to know your grandfather's given name? My grandfather JImerson (William Henry) was b Mar 17, 1862, shortly before the battle of Shiloh (MS). He was one of 16 children, all born in MS, and for the most part, so far as I know, they all pretty well stayed south.He had a sister Sarah who was born in 1880, and his brother Andrew (used the surname Jameson, as did a couple of the siblings) was born in 1882. Granddaddy's grandfather had three sons, but they all settled in Arkansas. Over all, I don't see any links (none of the birthdates -- and I've got most of the dates of the offspring) match the time frame. So it looks like we don't have a family link. :-(
Have you tried putting an individual's name into google.com plus aa birth or death date? That might turn up a bit of something for you.
Good hunting!