On Monday I blogged about the five BOTKIN cousins who went off to war together to fight for the Union side. But some BOTKINS had remained in Virginia and I felt certain some of those must have fought for the Confederate side. I started doing a little digging around and found the story of three brothers, John Addison, William Harrison and Michael K. BOTKIN who fought for the south.
All were sons of Joshua BOTKIN and Barbara PROPST of Pendleton County, Virginia. They enlisted in the 25th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Heck's) early in the summer of 1861. John was the older brother at 23 years old while William was 20 and Michael was 19.
The unit reported heavy casualties including 25% of the unit disabled at Gettysburg. But all three BOTKIN boys returned home.
John Addision married Mahulda EYE on 25 Jan 1866 and was the father of four children. He and William moved with their families after the war to Maquoketa, Jackson, Iowa where they were farmers. The 1880 census shows them living one farm away from each other. John died on 27 Mar 1913 and is buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Maquoketa, Iowa. His FAG memorial is here.
William married Martha B. COWGER on 1 Mar 1866 and was the father of at least 5 children. He died the 21 Apr 1912 in Maquoketa, Jackson, Iowa. Burial location unknown.
Michael married Eve Rebecca COWGER on 1 May 1866 in Pendleton County, WV. He was the father of at least six children and died in 1926 in Randolph County, WV. Burial location also unknown.
There were seven other BOTKINS that fought for the confederacy out of the state of Virginia, one more in the 25th Regiment. How they are related I have yet to determine. But this clearly shows the picture of a family divided by war.
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