Military Monday - Private John A. SCOTT

(Photo courtesy of VF-Find a Grave Volunteer)

John Andrew SCOTT, is the son of CR SCOTT and Mary Ann Chumney SCOTT.  

He was born 22 Dec 1843 in Wabash County, Indiana.  He enlisted 21 Aug 1861 into I Company 8th Indiana Infantry.  He mustered out on 4 Sep 1864.

On the 2nd of  March 1865 in Wabash County, he married Susan Jane Frazier.  On the 5th of October 1872, at the age of 28, he died in Wabash County.  He is buried in Old La Fontaine Cemetery, La Fontaine, Indiana.  Sadly, just three years later at the age of 31 Susan also passed away.

John's Find A Grave memorial can be found here.

Military Monday - Private William R. SCOTT

(photo courtesy of Sixdogteam)

William R. SCOTT

12 Feb 1842 - 16 Dec 1861

Harper Cemetery, La Fontaine, Indiana

Son of Jonathan and Mary Pearson SCOTT

I COMPANY, 8TH INDIANA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY REGIMENT

WILLIAM R. SCOTT--Jonathan Scott was born January 26, 1816 in Fayette County, Indiana. On the 4th of January, 1845, he came to the then new and undeveloped wilds of Wabash County, and settled in Liberty Township. On the first of November 1840, he was married to Mary Pearson, daughter of Mahlon Pearson who was born in Granger County, Tennessee, August 18, 1824. Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Scott raised a family of three children, two sons, and one daughter. Both sons served in the war of the Rebellion, and the older one, William, died in the service of his country at Otterville, Missouri, December 16, 1861.

(From the History of Wabash County, Indiana)

William was 19 years old when he died.  His Find a Grave memorial can be found here.

Military Monday - The Boys of the 69th Indiana Volunteer Infantry

Henry C. Reynolds

(Photo Credit to Kathy Nixon, Find A Grave Volunteer)

Henry C. REYNOLDS was born 10 Jan 1842 in Wayne County, Indiana, the oldest son of Jesse and Rebecca REYNOLDS.

He enlisted in Company I, Indiana 69th Infantry Regiment and mustered in 19 Aug 1862. According to The History of Randolph County, Indiana by E. Tucker, Page 262, Henry died on a hospital boat in Memphis, Tennessee on 27 Feb 1863. He was 21 years old.

He is buried in Williamsburg Cemetery, Wayne County, Indiana.  His Find A Grave Memorial can be found here.

Military Monday - The Boys of the 69th - Deserters

The following is an excerpt from the book These Men Were Heros Once: The Sixty-Ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Pages 101-102.

Headquarters 69th Ind. Vol Infantry

Youngs Point, LA, Feb. 13, 1863

General Order No. 17

The following named soldiers have been mustered on the Rolls of the 69 Regiment Ind. Vol. Infantry as Deserters.

Co. E.

Lieut. Francis French, Williamsburg
Thomas. H. Cadwalader, Lynn
David Mann, Lynn
Daniel Taylor, Williamsburg
Wm.F. Loe (Odle), Lynn
Daniel H. Miller, Williamsburg
Nathan Harris, Lynn
John. B. Longfellow, Lynn
John. R. Fisher, Lynn
Urbane (Albin) Baldwin, Lynn
Pleasant W. Bales, Lynn
Isaac N. Bales, Lynn
Curtis L. Neal, Lynn
Jesse Hodgins, Lynn
Mark Sclagle, Williamsburg

Baldwin, the two Bales, Neal and Hodgins deliberately deserted from the transports on the Mississippi River; the others never left the state with the regiment.

If you ancestor is named on the above list don't be so sure they actually deserted! Further research shows that:

Lieut. Francis French, Williamsburg was a member of the 69th, Company E. He enlisted August 1982 for a period of three years. He was promoted to 2nd LT and was taken prisoner at Richmond, KY, exchanged and resigned.

The History of Randolph County Indiana by E. Tucker page 256, shows William F. Odell 69th Regiment, Company E missing since battle of Richmond, KY, August 20, 1862. This proves that he did leave the state with his regiment contrary to what the report shows although he may have left his unit at or after the battle.

More research is needed to determine the true story of these soldiers.

Military Monday - William Rhinehart COOMLER

(Photo Courtesy of Eric Lowman)

William Rhinehart COOMLER was born 8 May 1841 in Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio to Jacob and Mary Hoffman COOMLER.  He was 9 of 12 children born to Jacob and Mary (6 of whom lived to adulthood).

On the 10 Jun 1861 he enlisted as a private and was mustered into Company G, 12th Ohio Infantry.  On the 27 Aug 1862 he was shot in the face at Bull Run Bridge, Virginia.  He was discharged for his wounds on 19 Jan 1863.

On 8 Aug 1863 he married Sarah Moore and together they had 12 Children.  William died on 30 Mar 1926 at age 84 in Mentone, Kosciusko, Indiana.  He is buried along with Sarah in Mentone Cemetery, Mentone, Indiana.

His Find a Grave memorial can be found here.

Military Monday - How to Find Possible Civil War Soldiers in Your Tree

One of the best hints I took away from Ancestry Day in Fort Wayne came during the session given by Anne Gillespie Mitchell from Ancestry.com.  She showed us how to determine who in our family tree may have served in the Civil War using our Family Tree Maker program.

Here is how it works in 6 easy steps!

1.  Open your Family Tree Maker program and select a tree.  Take a look at the index on the left side of the panel.  At the top it will list how many are in your tree.  For me that number is 3734.  That's a lot of names to scroll through to find possible soldiers!  But wait, there is a quick way to cut that number down!

2.  At the bottom on the index you will see a button that says "Filter".  Click on that to open the filter panel.  First step is to click "Select All" and hit OK.  This should give you the number in your tree.  3734 appears for me.

3.  Now comes the fun part!  First click on "Filter Out" - Sex = Female.  Now my number is reduced to 1949! 

4.  Then "Filter Out" Birth - is before - 1818.  My number is now 1800.  But wait....let's go back and "Filter Out" Birth - is after - 1846.  Now I'm down to 897!

5.  We can also "Filter Out" Death - is before - 1861.  My number is now 877.

6.  One more step that I took was to "Filter Out" - Birth is Blank.  The number I'm left with is 220!  So much better than scrolling through the 3734 names I started out with!

My next step is to check out the Civil War Soldiers Records and Profiles on Ancestry to see if I can find these men in the records.  If you don't have an Ancestry subscription you can always check out the Soldiers and Sailors website the site is free and searchable by name or unit. 

The last hint that Anne shared was to check for gaps in the children.  If there are no children born between 1860-1865 that could be a clue to follow.

Once you have this information be sure and map your soldier's journey through the war by following his regiment's records.  Gather all the information you can and create a timeline.  Check for brothers and cousins who may have also fought.  Lots of times family members served together. 

All this information will begin to reveal a story to you.  Take the time to do a biographical sketch of your Ancestor.  What better way to honor them than to tell their story and share it on your blog? 

I look forward to reading everyone of them........

Military Monday - Andersonville Prison

In my BOTKIN family alone I have 24 confirmed Civil War Veterans.  16 on the Union side and 8 on the Confederate side.  I have 28 more that I have not confirmed but I believe may have served.  There are so many sad stories to come out of this research but lately I have been taking a closer look at the three I know died in Andersonville Prison.

This is their story.

On 19 Jun 1862, 18 year old Amos BOTKIN of Clark County, Ohio enlisted in the 45th Regiment, Company K.  He was the oldest son of Moses and Sally Ann BOTKIN.

On 6 Aug 1862, Amos' uncle, William Innes BOTKIN, age 30 also enlisted in the 45th Regiment, Company K.  Three months earlier William and his wife Nancy had lost their only child.  William was the son of Jeremiah and Anna BOTKIN.

Also on 6 Aug 1862, Willam's cousin, William J. BOTKIN, age 27 also enlisted in the 45th Regiment, Company K.  Willam left behind his wife Clara and two children, 1 year old Kenton and daughter Georgie who was born while Willam was at war.  Willam J. was the son of Abraham and Sarah BOTKIN who lost another son, Wallace, in the war. 

The 45th Regment was mustered into service on 19 Aug 1862 at Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio.  They faced many battles in the 15 months leading up to that day that sealed the fate of the BOTKIN men.

On 15 Nov 1863 at Holsten River, TN all three were captured and sent to Andersonville.  I can only assume the two older Uncles were probably looking out for 18 year old Amos and thus were together when captured.

Andersonville prison was the deadliest prisoner of war camp during the Civil War with a total of nearly 13,000 deaths. Over 40% of all Union prisoners of war who died during the Civil War perished at Andersonville.  The conditions were horrible.

Amos died first on 19 May 1864 of Debilitas, a condition described as a weakened and enfeebled condition.  5 days later his Uncle William Innes died of Anasarca followed 22 days later by William J., also of Anasarca. 

All three are buried in Andersonville National Cemetery.  Amos is in grave #1212, William Innes in grave #1368 and William J. in grave #1970.

Military Monday - The Boys of the 69th Indiana Volunteer Infantry

Moses "Mode" D. Catey

b:  1837 in Indiana

d:  11 Mar 1866 in Wayne County, Indiana

Moses D. CATEY, oldest son of William B. and Sarah DAVIDSSON CATEY was born in 1837 in Indiana. 

Mode served in the civil war along with his brothers George and William Henry "Big Hank".  He enlisted in the 69th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, Company D on 18 Aug 1862.  Mode was discharged for disability on 6 Aug 1863.  He died 11 Mar 1866 at his Wayne County, Indiana home of consumption.

Mode is buried in Union Chapel Methodist Cemetery in Randolph County, Indiana. His FAG memorial can be found here.

Military Monday - The Boys of the 69th Indiana Infantry

John and Joseph ALBRIGHT were brothers from Harrison, Indiana.  Sons of Isaiah and Sally STALEY ALBRIGHT, they enlisted as privates in Company I, 69th Indiana Infantry on 19 Aug 1862.  Both brothers survived the war, mustering out on 5 Jul 1865.

On 19 Jul 1869 in Henry County, Indiana, John married Mahala MCCORMICK. He was the father of seven and died 6 Jun 1926 at the age of 84 years, 8 months, 16 days. 

On the 27 Aug 1865 in Henry County, Indiana, Joseph married Theodate HENDRICKS.  Sadly, Joseph died on 9 Jul 1871 at the age of 28.

Both John and Joseph are buried in Hess Cemetery, Cadiz, Henry, Indiana.  Their memorials can be found here and here.

Military Monday - Ora Everett Stephens

This is my great-grandfather, Ora Everett STEPHENS.

He died in 1929 at the age of 38 when my grandfather, Irvin Ora STEPHENS, was just 10 years old.  Since he died so young we don't have many images for him.  Just recently my mom and I made a trip to Marion, Indiana to visit the cemetery he is buried in.

March 28, 1891 - December 22, 1929

Estates of Serenity, Marion, Grant, Indiana, USA



So I was thrilled when I found his World War I Draft Registration Card on Ancestry!

(Click to enlarge)

It provides another peek into the short life my great-grandfather lived and I'm so glad to have it.