NARA records arrive!

In my last post I mentioned sending off for whatever records NARA had for my gg-grandfather, John H. Brown, who served with the 3rd (later 3 and 5) Missouri Infantry, CSA. Saturday the packet arrived, containing a Compiled Service Record.

I hate those things. I mean, I appreciate them, it's more information than I had before, but it always leaves so many things unanswered!

He appears to have been out sick twice (I know disease was rampant in the camps during the Civil War) and wounded once. The first time was in April, 1862 (4 months after his muster-in date of January 1862); his company muster roll card for March and April note that he was "in hospital Memphis, Tenn April 11 1862." Which means he missed the surrender at Vicksburg (the 3rd was involved in the Seige of Vicksburg), which is why I couldn't find a parole for him at Footnote.com.

He was absent again, May through August, in 1863; the May/June card notes: "in hospital in Canton, Miss." and the July/August card "absent on detached duty."

Finally, he was wounded and sent to hospital June 3 1864, and noted as being on sick furlough for July/August. There's a card titled "Appears on a Register of Way Hospital, Meridian, Miss." that says "Complaint: wound," "Admited January 27 1865," and "Remarks: Furloughed." Another card notes he was wounded in the shoulder and reported to command in February 1865. He's on a Roll of Prisoners of War dated Meridian, Miss., May 11, 1865.

Bezaleel Brooks, the subject of my last post and John H.'s uncle-in-law (he was the younger brother of John H.'s wife's mother) was also wounded, in the upper thigh, so badly that 10 months after being wounded he submitted his resignation.

So now I'm curious about the hospitals and medical care of the time. Also, apparently neither man lost the wounded limb, but I'm wondering how their war wounds would have affected their lives after the war. I feel like the Elephant's Child, full of 'satiable curiosity.

Bezaleel "disappears" after his 1863 resignation, and John H. didn't live long enough to apply for a pension when Missouri started providing them in 1911 (though he survived the war by 40 years), nor have I found any evidence that his second wife, who died in 1924, ever applied for a pension. So pension files as a source of information are out, at least for these two men, at least for now (hope on, hope ever).

I am, however, wondering whether it would be worth the $75 to send off for the pension file of my Yankee gg-uncle, John A. Boston, who served with the Ohio 100th Infantry during most of the war. $75 is pricey for me. I'd like to see a "sample" file before I try to come up with the money.

You can, btw, order compiled service records and pension records online from NARA

Yee haa!

That's a Rebel Yell.

Since I've been watching Ken Burns' Civil War while I knit lately, I've been inspired to do some more poking around, trying to find more info about my Civil War ancestors.

Imagine my joy to find the military records for gg-grand-uncle Bezaleel Brooks online at Footnote.com, a site I've never visited before. It's a pay-for site, but like Ancestry, you can get a free trial, so I signed right up.

Treasures! Including a letter of resignation in his own handwriting! He was shot in the thigh at Malvern Hill and, ten months later, the surgeon testified that it would be years before he was fit for military duty again; that the leg was shorter than the other and deformed. (Actually, all things considered, he was lucky he didn't lose the leg; think of all the amputations that took place during that war.)

This was in 1863, so of course I immediately had new questions: what did he do for the rest of the war? What did he do with the rest of his life, with that bum leg? What happened to him? (He's the one I can't find in the census after 1860.) Did he write to his sister (my gg-grandmother) Sidna?

Didn't find anything about the other two ancestors, but hey--I'm happy. For now. (You can't be a good genealogist if you ever stay happy with what you have.)

I also read something at a site for someone who'd been in the same unit as one of my Civil War ancestors, and the information cited hospital and medical records from NARA. That sent me sprinting for NARA to send in a request for hospital/medical records for my gg-grandfather Brown, who was "seriously wounded" on or about June 6, 1864, near Kennesaw Mountain, and who didn't rejoin his unit until February 1865. Might be a waste of $25, but you never can tell.

American Civil War

I'm doing some knitting on commission, and if I'm inside I like to have something on TV that I can listen to but don't necessarily have to watch every moment, so I got out my old Ken Burns' Civil War videotapes to knit to. They're in very good shape, considering how old they are (I've got to get them transferred to DVD--wish I could afford the DVD set with all the great extras, but even the used sets are too pricey for me).

At any rate, it reawakened my interest in my Civil War ancestors. Since both sides of the family were in Missouri by that time, most of the men served in the EMM (Enrolled Missouri Militia), which was a state thing--Missouri, like Kansas, was terribly torn, a miniature civil war in itself. It got put under Federal military governance, which didn't help much, and it seems like most men in my family were of the Union persuasion and stayed home to defend their families and farms from jayhawkers and bushwhackers. I know, this isn't exactly accurate; I need to read more about Missouri in the Civil War.

However, the Brown boys joined up to regular CSA regiments, and John H.--one of my great-great-grandfathers--served with the 3rd Missouri Infantry. I have copies of some records of his service from the State of Missouri, and they don't tell me enough! Like--it says he was severely wounded on June 3 1864, just before Kennesaw Mountain, and didn't rejoin his unit until February 1865, which would argue a pretty serious wound for it to be such a long recovery, even if he took a furlough home, which isn't indicated in the records--but I don't know where/how/whether it affected him in his later life. It's likely he was at the Battle of Shiloh, and the 3rd Missouri went through the siege of Vicksburg, and in 1864 were at Rocky Face Ridge, Resaca, and New Hope Church. They also were part of the Siege of Atlanta, but according to the records John H. hadn't returned to the unit then.

Meanwhile, my great-great-uncle Bezaleel Brooks was fighting with the 57th Virginia Infantry, Co. A (the "Jeff Davis Guard"). He went in as a 1st Sgt and got promoted to 2nd Lt. Records on Ancestry say he "resigned" in 1863. I want to see their sources. But it's possible he was at Malvern Hill, 2nd Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredricksburg, and Gettysburg. I've been told he died in 1883, but while I can find his son in his home county in 1870, I can't find Bezaleel or his wife in either the 1870 or 1880 census. His wife may have died by 1870--she's not living with the son, William, who moved his family out to join his aunt Sidna in Chariton County by 1880 (and did he bring her any mementos of her brother?).

Meanwhile, on the Yankee side, another great-great-uncle, John Boston, fought with the 100th Ohio Infantry. They were at Rocky Face Ridge, Resaca, and New Hope Church, as well as Kennesaw Mt. and the Siege of Atlanta, but then were part of the pursuit of Hood and wound up in North Carolina in April 1865. He was wounded in the foot at Dallas (near Kennesaw Mt.) on June 6 1864 (or maybe near Pine Mountain on June 8--the Company Muster Roll and Company Descriptive Book differ). I have John B's NARA records, and records of his stay at the Dayton Military Home, which are very unsatisfactory, since, although they answered some of my questions, they raised others. He was on the roster as a deserter for a while, but was vindicated and reinstated without penalty. There's a description of him, and it makes me wonder how much like his brother--my great-great-grandfather--he looked--they both had dark hair and dark eyes.

It's really--strange--to think of John H. and John B. being at some of the same battles. John B. might have received his wound at the Battle of Dallas, too.

So--I've been posting on various surname lists and plan to find some Civil War lists to post to, to see if I can find any further information. And I've been prowling through the on-line University of Virginia Library records, looking for anything about Bezaleel. Wish me luck!

Brick walls and a stop in the swamp

We all have 'em, right?

Here are a few of mine:

Maria Susannah Agee. B. abt. 1785 in Buckingham Co., VA, d. 1861, Buckingham Co., VA. Married Vincent Reid Brooks, had 11 children. The problem is that no one seems to know for sure which Agee family she belongs to. Buckingham Co. was crawling with Agees at that time, but when you consider that they were all descended from the 3 sons of Matthew Isaac Agee, who arrived in Virginia with a group of Huguenot immigrants around the end of the 17th century, you wouldn't think it would be that hard to track. No go, though. Buckingham Co. is a "burned" county, and most of the official records are gone, and what information I have found about her seems unlikely.

William Butler Ensor. How cool a name is that, anyway? B. 1856 in Washington Co., KY, d. ? Married Mary Agnes Megown, had 3 children, is last seen officially in the 1915 Kansas state census, last mentioned unofficially in his sister Fanny's obituary in 1925. Vanishes without a trace.

William H. Boston - b. abt. 1801, maybe in Virginia, maybe in Maryland. First officially shows up in marriage records in Fairfield Co., OH, when he married Rachel Rader in 1825. Had 5 children, died in Browns Corners, Huntington Co., IN in 1872. Can't go any farther back with the Bostons than William.

John A. Boston - eldest son of William, b. 1838, Fairfield Co., OH. Served with the 100th Ohio Infantry in the Civil War, went back home and worked as a carpenter with his brothers in 1870, then disappears until 1900, when he's listed as living at the Dayton Military Home. In 1900 and 1910 censuses, he's shown as a widower; on his death certificate it says he's single (which, technically, he was at the time of his death). Where was he between 1870 and 1900, and was he or wasn't he married?

Harriett L. Brown - b. 1808 KY; d. 1873 Ray Co., MO. Don't know what her maiden name was. She married Alexander Richard Brown, and had a son named Alexander Richard--Brown family names. There was also a son named John Hales Brown, and a son named Colville G. Brown. It's purely a guess that Hales and Colville are from her side of the family: I have enough information to know it's not from the Brown side, and Colville is a fairly unusual name. Problem is, I can't find any Hales or Colvilles/Colvils/Colevilles in KY in the 1800 or 1810 census.

Bezaleel Brooks. Great name, isn't it? You wouldn't think I could lose someone named Bezaleel. Bezaleel is one of the sons of Maria Susannah Agee and Vincent Reid Brooks, b. 1822 in Buckingham Co., VA. He was a 1st Sgt/2nd Lt. of the "Jeff Davis Guard," Co. A. of the 57th VA Infantry. I've found nothing to indicate he was killed in action. I can't find him or his wife, Ann Moseley Brooks, in any post-Civil War census; his son, William Reid Brooks, went out to join the Chariton Co. Agees by 1880, which would seem to indicate that his parents had died.

Hales. If Harriett Brown's maiden name was Hales, or if her mother's maiden name was Hales, my next question is: Is there an Agee connection? When I talk about the genealogical swamp, it's the Agees I'm talking about. The Agees and their extremely complicated family relationships. With the Agees and "allied families," as the genealogists say, you have to enter everyone in every family into your database, because if you don't, 2 or 3 generations down the line you're going to find out that person A married person B, who turns out to be the son of the guy whose half-sister's mother was the daughter of person A's grandfather's younger brother. You can get lost for days following the twists and turns of these people, until you get dizzy and fall in. They would fit right into The Shire (you may remember that hobbits love genealogy and everyone knows who is related to whom in what degree). Fortunately, they're reasonably easy to track because of their naming habits, and if a name like Darby or Mourning pops up, you know you need to backtrack and see where it came from, and if there's a Maria Susannah in someone's family, there's likely to be a Maria Susannah or Mary Susan in the families of all of Maria Susannah's siblings (so you'd better get your dates straight).

Therefore, when John Hales Brown shows up and marries Drucilla Raiford Agee (Drucilla Raiford married John Dickerson Mask, and is the great-grandmother of Drucilla Raiford Agee), AND when Elizabeth Hales marries Matthew Ayres, who is the father of Nathan Ayres, who married Mary Agnes Bondurant, who is the first cousin 3x removed of Drucilla Raiford Agee (are you dizzy yet?) -- well, I just get suspicious, that's all!