Thursday, February 28, 2008

William Cartwright

William Cartwright was born 1817 in Detroit, Michigan.

William may have been the same William William Cartwright who was married to Connecticut native Cynthia (b. 1836), in 1849 or 1850, and by 1850 working as an engineer and living with his 14-year-old wife in Richmond, Ashtabula County, Ohio. He was possibly married to New Jersey native Mary Taylor (1832-1854), on November 27, 1852 in Rochester, Oakland County, Michigan, and if so, they had at least one child: Charles Ogden (b. 1854-1918).

In any case, William stood 5’8” with hazel eyes, black hair and a dark complexion, and was a 44-year-old engineer or merchant probably living in Tallmadge, Ottawa County when he enlisted in Company I on May 13, 1861. (Company I was made up largely of men from Ottawa County, particularly from the eastern side of the County.) He was subsequently discharged for varicose veins in both legs on October 7, 1861, at Fort Richardson, Virginia.

It is not known if William ever returned to western Ottawa County. He was living in Algonac, St. Clair County, Michigan in November of 1861 when he applied for a pension (application no. 261), but the certificate was never granted. And he may have been living in the vicinity of Port Huron, St. Clair County in the summer of 1862 when he hired an attorney named Joseph Barrett in Port Huron to apply for his state bounty money for his service in the Third Michigan infantry. (In 1860 there was a Charles Cartwright, born c. 1841 in Michigan, working as a sailor and living with his mother Nancy (a washerwoman b. c. 1810 in Michigan and who was head of the household) as well as a brother George, also a sailor, in Clay, St. Clair County. The family was living in Clay, St. Clair County in 1850 and again Nancy was listed as head of the household.)

It is possible that he was the same William Cartwright who enlisted as a 44-year-old Private in Company I, Nineteenth Michigan infantry on July 30 1862, at St. Joseph, Berrien County for 3 years, crediting Clay, St. Clair County, and was mustered on September 5 at Dowegiac, Cass County, giving his residence as Clay. If so he was discharged for disability at Louisville, Kentucky on either March 14 or May 4, 1863.

There is no further record.

There was one William Cartwright, age 43, who enlisted as a Private on March 30, 1864, in Company F, Second Michigan infantry. He joined the Regiment on May 23 and was killed in action on February 22, 1865, near Petersburg, Virginia. He reportedly died near Meade Station, Virginia, and was buried on Mrs. Virginia Armistead’s property, near Petersburg. In 1872 an application was filed and granted on behalf of a minor child, named D. Curtis Cartright (no. 180710), apparently the son of this same William Cartright of the Second Michigan infantry.

In 1906 a Dr. Cartwright of Sacramento, California inquired of the Pension Bureau seeking information on a man he believed to be his father, one of the three William Cartwrights (one of whom was killed, see above) who he thought to have enlisted from the state of Michigan at the outbreak of the war, and who, it was claimed left home in Michigan in 1861 and was never seen again.

It is not known what ever became of this inquiry, nor whatever became of the William Cartwright who served briefly in the Third Michigan Infantry.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Charles Carroll - update 7/16/2017

Charles Carroll was born 1847 in Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan, the son of Richard Carroll (1798-1889) and Mary O’Brien (1812-1888).

Richard and Mary were married in Ireland and in 1832 immigrated to America first settling in Vermont where their son Patrick was born. Between 1840 and 1843 Richard moved his family westward and first settled in Kent County. By 1850 Richard was working as a blacksmith in Tallmadge, Ottawa County and Charles was living with his family. By 1860 the family had moved to Wright, Ottawa County, where Charles worked as a farm laborer.

Charles was apparently residing in Wright, Ottawa County, was 17 years old, unable to read or write, and stood 5’7” with blue eyes, brown hair and a fair complexion, when he enlisted in Company E on February 11, 1864, at Grand Rapids for 3 years, crediting Wright, and was mustered the same day. He joined the Regiment on March 6, 1864, and was probably sent to a field hospital on or about June 1, suffering from diarrhea. He was transferred on June 7 to Finley general hospital in Washington, DC, but soon recovered and was returned to the Regiment from Finley hospital on June 9, just in time to be transferred to Company E, Fifth Michigan infantry upon consolidation of the Third and Fifth Michigan Regiments on June 10, 1864.

Charles was wounded on June 22 while on picket duty near Petersburg, Virginia, and subsequently died of his wounds on either July 1 or September 13 or 14, 1864, in the Division hospital.

His body was reportedly sent home to Ottawa County where it arrived in Berlin (Marne) on September 22 and buried on September 24 in St. Mary’s cemetery in Wright Township.

No pension appears to be available.

His family was still living in Wright Township in 1870.


Monday, February 25, 2008

Albert Dewitt Carr

Albert Dewitt Carr was born March 14, 1838, in Pennsylvania, the son of Stutley (1798-1888) and Elizabeth (Tyler, 1800-1844).

Stutley was born in Herkimer County, New York and married Elizabeth before 1825 when their son William was born. By 1830 Stutley was living in Dryden, Tompkins County, New York, and by 1840 in Cossawago, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. After Elizabeth died in 1844 he married New York native Eunice Eliza Stafford (b. 1812). By 1850 Albert (listed as Dewitt) was attending school with his younger sister Laura and living with his father and stepmother and other younger siblings on a farm in Union City, Erie County, Pennsylvania.

At some point Albert left Pennsylvania and moved west. By 1860 he was a laborer working for and/or living with a farmer by the name of Jessie Mattison in Concord, Jackson County, Michigan. (His brother William and family as well as his sister Adelia apparently resided in Lansing that same year.) He was living in Lansing when he married Jessie Mattison’s daughter, Vermont native Augusta D. Mattison (1842-1911) on November 20, 1860, in Jackson, Jackson County, Michigan. In any case, by the time the war broke out he was a member of the Lansing company called the “Williams’ Rifles”, whose members would serve as the nucleus of Company G.

Albert was 22 years old and probably living with his wife and working in Lansing when he enlisted in Company G on May 10, 1861.

According to Frank Siverd of Company G, Albert was sick with “inflammation of the lungs” at Cantonment Anderson in Grand Rapids shortly before the regiment left Michigan in June of 1861. In fact, when the Third Michigan left Michigan on Thursday, June 13, 1861, for Washington, DC, Albert was one of three dozen or so men too sick to travel and he soon went home to Lansing to recover. He reportedly died of congestion of the lungs at his brother’s house (probably William w.) in Lansing on August 12 or 16, 1861, and was presumably buried there.

In April of 1873 when Mt. Hope cemetery was first opened in Lansing, Albert’s remains were reinterred in the Carr family plot in section B, lot 3, grave 10 of Mt. Hope cemetery.

In 1885 his widow was residing in Sandusky County, Ohio when she applied for and received a pension (no. 240099).

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Benjamin C., Henry Ullman and John Grow Carpenter

Benjamin C. Carpenter was born August 7, 1836, in Niagara, Ontario County, New York, son of Asa Philopilus (b. 1802) and Margaret (Ullman, b. 1798).

Vermont-born Asa and New Yorker Margaret were married in 1824, probably in New York, and settled in Niagara, Ontario County, New York where they lived for many years. In 1853 Benjamin accompanied his family to Michigan where they eventually settled in Croton Township, Newaygo County. After “obtaining a fair common-school education” he was “employed in farm labor”.

Benjamin stood 5’8” with blue eyes, brown hair and a light complexion and was 24 years old and residing in Newaygo, Newaygo County when he enlisted in Company K on May 13, 1861, along with his older brother John. (Another brother Henry would join them in 1862.) Sometime in 1862 Benjamin contracted “rheumatism”, which plagued him in later years, and while the Regiment was near Harrison’s Landing, Virginia, he was diagnosed as having a varicocele, the result he later claimed of “hard marching” during the Peninsular campaign. He apparently recovered sufficiently to rejoin the Regiment but was sick in the hospital with dyspepsia from January 5 to 7, 1863. He eventually returned to duty, but from February 13 to 14 was again absent this time suffering from diarrhea. He was again absent sick from March 4 to 11, but soon recovered enough to rejoin the Regiment for the spring campaign.

On May 3, 1863, Benjamin was serving with the Regiment when he was shot through the mouth, resulting in the loss of his teeth, at Chancellorsville, Virginia. He was briefly hospitalized and treated for his wounds from May 13 to 16, and returned to duty. He was present from January through April of 1864 and was mustered out of service on June 20, 1864, probably in Detroit.

After his discharge Benjamin returned to his family farm in Croton where he lived until his marriage to Sarah Frances Higbee (1842-1936) on April 12, 1866, in Ionia County (she was from Orleans, Ionia County). They had at least four children: Laura E. (b. 1868), Maggie E. (b. 1869), Frank L. or S. (b. 1871) and Edwin Ralph (b. 1874).

In 1867 he and his wife moved from Croton Township to Morley, Mecosta County where he worked for his father-in-law, Nelson Higbee for some 15 months. (In 1870 Tommy Byers who had also served in the Third Michigan worked as a cook for Higbee, who was then a wealthy lumberman in Croton.)

Benjamin remained in Mecosta County until 1868 or 1869 when “he went to Ionia County and bought a farm, containing 40 acres of land. On this he resided six years, rented the place and went to North Plains center in the same County, where he was resident two years, going thence to Ionia. Six months later he sold his farm and removed to Newaygo County [in about 1877], where he settled on 80 acres of land in Big Prairie, given him by his father.” It was soon, reported one source, “well improved and under advanced cultivation, with good buildings.” Indeed in 1870 Benjamin and his wife were living on a farm in Ionia.

From 1877 to 1905 Benjamin apparently lived in Newaygo County, probably in Croton on a farm given him by his father, and he was living in Croton in 1883, drawing $15.00 per month (pension no. 773,881) when he became a member of the Old Third Michigan Infantry Association; he was also a Republican. He was living in Croton in 1888, 1890 and 1894. By 1906 he was back in Ionia County, and in 1907 was living in Orleans. Indeed, he probably resided in Orleans for the remainder of his life.

Benjamin died of apoplexy on February 4, 1911, in Orleans and was buried in Higbee cemetery, in Orleans (and so, eventually, was his wife).

His widow, Sarah applied for and received a pension (no. 718,849), drawing $12.00 per month in 1911.

Henry Ullman Carpenter was born May 31, 1830, in Niagara, Ontario County, New York, the son of Asa Philopilus (b. 1802) and Margaret (Ullman, b. 1798).

Vermont-born Asa and New Yorker Margaret were married in 1824, probably in New York, and settled in Niagara, Ontario County, New York where they lived for many years. In 1853 Henry accompanied his family to Michigan where they eventually settled in Croton Township, Newaygo County. By 1860 he was a farmer living with his family in Croton; near-by lived Thomas White who would enlist in Company H.

Henry stood 6’1” with blue eyes, dark hair and a light complexion and was 32 years old and probably living in Croton or Grand Rapids when he enlisted in Company K (joining his two brothers Benjamin and John who had enlisted the previous year) on August 16, 1862, at Grand Rapids. Henry joined the Regiment on September 8 at Upton’s Hill, Virginia, and was reported as suffering from acute diarrhea on January 3 and 4, 1863. He was returned to duty. Henry was wounded in the right thigh at Mine Run (near Jacob’s ford), Virginia, on November 27, 1863. On December 4 he was admitted to the Third Division hospital in Alexandria with a “gunshot wound of right thigh and leg opening the knee joint.” According to his hospital record on December 5, “A minie ball entered the right thigh just above the knee joint, on its outer aspect and taking a downward & outward direction fractured the external condyle of the femur, opened the joint & made its exit about four inches from the point of entrance. Discharges very profusely a stinking, bad-looking pus. Limb in too bad condition to be operated upon at present. General condition & spirits fine.”

On December 13 his thigh was “amputated in middle third” and his “Spirits excellent.” He was placed on a diet of whiskey and egg. On December 30 Henry was reported to be “doing finely ever since operation. Appetite has been good [he was taking beef & tea along with the whiskey & egg], bowels regular, has suffered no pain, has slept well & been in splendid spirits all the time. Stump has healed well & discharged a healthy, laudable pus. Today he had a chill followed by a very heavy sweat, but still looks well & says that he feels well as usual. His pulse however is 120 & weak & his hands tremble like those of a man with palsy.”

The chills continued through the next several days, and on January 2, 1864, his condition was “about the same.” His condition in fact quickly worsened. On January 10 he was reported to have “had chills without much regularity, sometimes none for a day or two & then two or three in 24 hours, followed each time by a debilitating sweat. His diet has been whiskey beaten up with raw eggs & beef-tea ad librium. Sometimes he could eat pretty well & at others had no appetite. He suffered almost no pain at any time & had no complaints to make, always said that he was perfectly comfortable up to the time of his death at 8 o’clock this morning.” Post-mortem examination 24 hours after death revealed that his lungs were “filled with metastatic abscess & pleural cavities contained about a pint of turbid serum. Liver healthy, kidneys in a state of fatty degeneration, intestines healthy, heart somewhat enlarged.”

Henry was buried on January 12 in grave no. 1107, U.S. Military Cemetery in Alexandria, renamed Alexandria National Cemetery: section A, no. 961, grave 11 (old grave no. 1297).

His widow was living in Everett, Newaygo County, in March of 1864 when she applied for and received a pension (no. 24737). She eventually remarried in 1867 to Darwin Nelson.

By 1870 Asa and his family were still living in Croton, Newaygo County. By 1926 Helen, again a widow (Darwin died in 1899), was living in Scottville, Michigan.

John Grow Carpenter was born September 4, 1828 in Niagara, Ontario County, New York, son of Asa Philopilus (b. 1802) and Margaret (Ullman, b. 1798).

Vermont-born Asa and New Yorker Margaret were married in 1824, probably in New York, and settled in Niagara, Ontario County, New York where they lived for many years. In 1853 John accompanied his family to Michigan where they eventually settled in Croton Township, Newaygo County. By 1860 he was a carpenter living with his family in Croton where his father worked as a farmer; and near-by lived Thomas White who would enlist in Company H.

John stood 5’7” with blue eyes, brown hair and a light complexion and was 33 years old living in Newaygo County when he enlisted as Fourth Corporal of Company K on May 13, 1861, along with his younger brother Benjamin. (Another brother Henry would join them the following year.) According to Wallace W. Dickinson, regimental hospital steward and another member of Company K, during the action at Fair Oaks, Virginia, on May 31, 1862, John, who was a member of the color guard, “had a musket ball pass through his hat.

He was absent sick in the hospital but soon returned to the Regiment and was taken prisoner (for the second time) on August 29 at the battle of Second Bull Run. He was returned to the Regiment on November 13 at Warrenton, Virginia, and absent sick from December of 1862 through April of 1863. John claimed later that he was sent to Third corps hospital near Alexandria, Virginia just after the battle of Fredericksburg, and that he arrived at the hospital on December 15 and remained there until about the middle of January 1863. Apparently he was admitted to the general hospital at Fairfax Seminary, Virginia, on January 26, 1863 and was returned to duty on March 31. In May he was reported as AWOL, although he had in fact been discharged for chronic bronchitis and valvular heart disease on May 19, 1863, at Camp Convalescent (near Alexandria), Virginia.

Following his discharge John returned to Newaygo County where he reentered the service as Private in Company A, Tenth Michigan cavalry on August 18, 1863, at Brooks, Newaygo County for 3 years, crediting Croton, and was mustered on September 10 at Grand Rapids where the regiment was being organized. (Wallace Dickinson also reentered the service in the Tenth Michigan cavalry.) It is not known if John in fact ever served in the Tenth Michigan cavalry, however. He was reported as a hospital nurse from October of 1863 through May of 1864, and he claimed that he was taken prisoner in August (presumably of 1864) while guarding the ford at McMillan’s Bend near Strawberry Plains, Tennessee. He “had to march on foot and keep up with the rebel cav. For three days’ had to ford streams, got wet, slept with wet clothes, caught cold.” In any case he was reportedly paroled and returned to the regiment after resting for a couple of days and was assigned to special duty serving as a hospital steward for about six weeks before being mustered out.

From March of 1865 through May of 1865 he was on detached service at the dismounted camp at Knoxville, Tennessee. John claimed some years later that he “was with the medical department most of the time.” From September through October of 1865 he was detached at Memphis, Tennessee. John was mustered out with the regiment on November 11, 1865 at Memphis. (Although he claimed to have been with the headquarters hospital when he was mustered out.)

After the war John returned to western Michigan, to his father’s home in Croton, Newaygo County where he worked as a joiner. He lived at his family’s home until about the first of May, 1866, when he moved to Grand Rapids. He worked as a joiner in Grand Rapids until the spring of 1867 when he returned to Croton and worked as lumbering part of the time “and part of the time doing neither.” He then moved to Everett, Newaygo County and lived there until October, working as both a joiner and bridge builder.

He married Ontario, Canada native Rebecca Mathews (1844-1884) and they had at least four children: Charles (b. 1867), Idella (b. 1869, John (b. 1874) and Willie (b. 1880).

By 1870 John was working as a farmer and living with his wife and two daughters in Big Prairie, Newaygo County. He remained in Big Prairie until October of 1871 and worked as a farmer. He eventually moved his family to Montcalm County and settled in Howard City where he lived for many years working as a carpenter. He also claimed to have been Justice of the peace for eight years in Montcalm County, and was Superintendent of Schools for one year for Reynolds Township, while working occasionally at his trade of carpentry.

John was living in Howard City when became a member of the Old Third Michigan Infantry Association in September of 1885. He was probably a member of Grand Army of the Republic Jones Post No. 252 in Howard City. He received a pension (no. 438683).

By 1897 John was living at 1769 6th Street in San Diego, California; he was still living in San Diego in 1897, apparently under the care of his daughter Mrs. Idella McCord.

John died a widower of palsy in Howard City on April 4, 1901, and was buried in Reynolds cemetery (old section).

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Almon W. Carpenter

Almon W. Carpenter was born October 14, 1845, in Tyrone Township, Steuben County, New York, the son of Thomas B. (b. 1820) and Ann A. (b. 1820).

New Yorker Thomas married New Jersey native Ann and they settled in Michigan. By 1850 Almon was living with his family on a farm in Wright, Ottawa County, and by 1860 he was attending school with four of his younger siblings and living with his family on a farm in Wright.

Almon stood 5’9” with blue eyes, brown hair and a light complexion, and was an 18-year-old farmer possibly living in Oakfield, Kent County when he enlisted in Company I on January 25, 1864, at Grand Rapids for 3 years, crediting Oakfield, and was mustered the same day. He joined the Regiment on February 17 at Camp Bullock, Virginia, was transferred to Company I, Fifth Michigan infantry upon consolidation of the Third and Fifth Michigan Regiments on June 10, 1864, and was mustered out on July 5, 1865 at Jeffersonville, Indiana.

After the war Almon returned to western Michigan. He may have been the same Almon Carpenter working in a sawmill and married to Pennsylvania native Arabell (b. 1848) and living in Spring Lake, Ottawa County in 1870.

In any case, Almon married Annie E. Blish on October 6, 1876, in Wonewoc (?), Juneau County, Wisconsin, and they had at least two children: George (b. 1879) and Mabel (b. 1881).

By 1880 Almon was living with his wife and son in Grand Haven, Ottawa County; also living with them was his nephew Herbert Carpenter. He was living in Muskegon, Muskegon County in 1888, and he may have been the same Almon V. Carpenter lworking as a sawyer and living at 1060 Lake Street in Muskegon in 1889-90.

By 1892 he was living at 52 Bartlett Street in Grand Rapids and by 1894 he was residing in the First Ward. He was living in Grand Rapids in 1897, and apparently lived the rest of his life in Grand Rapids, working for some years as a salesman in a clothing store. In 1897 he was reportedly listed as having just moved from 25 Grandville Street to 55 Goodrich Avenue in Grand Rapids; he was still living at 55 Goodrich in 1901. By 1912 he was residing at 421 Curtis (new) Street in Grand Rapids’ Fifth Ward.

He was still living in Grand Rapids and was probably a member of the Old Third Michigan Infantry Association.

In 1891 Almon applied for and received a pension (no. 961,183)

Almon died of diabetes mellitus and endocarditis at his home in Grand Rapids on April 22, 1912, and was presumably buried in Grand Rapids.

His widow was living in Michigan in April of 1921 when she applied for and received a pension (no. 744229).

Friday, February 22, 2008

Bradford Carmichael Jr.

Bradford Carmichael Jr. was born in 1842 in Sodus, Wayne County, New York, the son of Bradford Sr. (1818-1890) and Margaret (1821-1872).

In the spring of 1835, Bradford Sr., a Free Will Baptist, in company with his brother Charles and their father Silas, all New Jersey natives but then residing in Wayne County, New York, moved to Michigan and settled in Lenawee County. The following year they moved to Wheatland in Hillsdale County, where Bradford Sr. lived for many years; he was living in Wheatland in 1840 and 1850.

Bradford Sr. married New York native Margaret A. in about 1841 in Wheatland, but curiously all of his children were born in New York between about 1842 and 1847, a period of time when he was reportedly living and working in Wheatland. By 1850, however, the family had definitely settled together in Wheatland, where Bradford Jr. was attending school with his siblings.

By 1860 Bradford’s family had left Hillsdale County and were living in Oneida Township, Eaton County. That same year Bradford Jr., also a Free Will Baptist like his father, was a farmer living with his family in Oneida, Eaton County, Michigan.

Bradford Jr. was 19 years old and probably living in the Grand Ledge area of Eaton County when he enlisted in Company B on May 13, 1861. In June of 1862 he was reported sick in a hospital in Bottom’s Bridge, Virginia, suffering from a “cold after battle.” He soon recovered and rejoined the Regiment. He was first reported missing in action on August 29, 1862, at Second Bull Run, but in fact he was killed in action on August 29. He was presumably among the unknown soldiers who were reinterred in Arlington National Cemetery.

By 1870 Bradford Sr. and Margaret were living in Lansing’s Second Ward. He eventually moved to Portland, Ionia County where he was working as a merchant in 1876 when he remarried a widow, Ohio native Caroline Waddell Henderson (b. 1836) in Ionia County.

In October of 1888, Bradford Sr., was still living in Michigan when he applied for a dependent father’s pension no. 381,717but the certificate was never granted. By 1890 he was living in Greenville, Montcalm County. (He died that same year presumably in Greenville.)

Thursday, February 21, 2008

George Lafayette Carlisle - updated 1/28/2017

George Lafayette Carlisle was born on October 9 of 10, 1842, in East Aurora, Erie County, New York, the son of New York natives Hamilton Carlisle (1818-1859) and Phoebe Ann Wilcox (1821-1876).

Hamilton was living in Aurora, Erie County, New York in 1840. By 1850 they were living on a farm in Aurora where George attended school with his younger brother David (who would also enlist in the Old Third).

Hamilton left New York and moved westward with his family, including his brother Jacob and his family as well as their parents, settling in western Michigan, probably Ottawa County, in 1853 or 1854. Hamilton’s father Ebenezer died in Tallmadge, Ottawa County in 1858 and was buried in Berlin cemetery. The following year Hamilton was killed while felling a tree in Tallmadge. Phoebe died in Greenville, Montcalm County in 1876 and was buried in Greenville cemetery.

By 1860 George was a farm laborer working for and/or living with a farmer named Sylvester Combs and his family in Tallmadge, Ottawa County. (His younger brother, David, may have joined him sometime before the war broke out.)

George was 19 years old and living in Tallmadge when he enlisted in Company I on May 13, 1861; David Carlisle would join Company I in 1862. (Company I was made up largely of men from Ottawa County, particularly from the eastern side of the County.) George was a tentmate of Alexander Brennan (who was from Georgetown, Ottawa County). “I tent with two boys,” Alexander wrote to his parents on February 12, 1863, “in the company: George W. Adams is one and the other is George Carlisle. They are both good boys. I think they don’t snore much and Adams don’t snore at all; he has not snored once since we left Camp Mich [the previous year’s winter quarters].”

He was a Corporal in January of 1863 and detached in July to bring conscripts from Michigan to the Regiment in Virginia. He remained on recruiting service in Michigan through January 1864 and was listed as a Corporal as of November 7, 1863 in the roster for Camp Lee, in Grand Rapids, and in February he was stationed at the draft depot in Grand Rapids (Camp Lee). He soon returned to the Regiment in Virginia and was wounded by a gunshot to his left side and back of the head on May 5 or 6, 1864, at the battle of the Wilderness, Virginia. On May 11 he was admitted to Emory hospital in Washington with a diagnosis of “gunshot wound of back [with a minie] ball passing through muscles just over right scapula.” He was mustered out of service on June 20, 1864.

George eventually returned to western Michigan and settled back into Kent County. According to one source in the winter months George “went north to the lumbering area” of Michigan and “when the spring freshets came (known as a river-hog) he rode the logs downstream on the Flat River to the sawmills at Lowell.” It was also reported that his work “took him past a place called Fallasburg and the G. W. Rykert farm” where “he met a pert young school teacher named Helen Rykert.”

By 1871 George was living in Bowne, Kent County, and working as a farmer when he married Helen L. Rykert (1847-1922), who had been born in Ada, Kent County, on April 26, 1871, at Grand Rapids and they had at least seven children: Ada (b. 1872), Claude (b. 1875), George Frank (b. 1877), Arthur E. (b. 1879), Ray Alvin (b. 1883), Leon Clyde (b. 1885) and Lulu Mae Overbye (b. 1888).

Four years later he was quite possibly George Carlisle charged with grand larceny, but the “case nolle prosequied on payment of cash.”

“In the spring of 1872” George purchased and homesteaded 160 acres of land in Kalkaska County, one of the early pioneers of that County, although Helen apparently remained in Lowell, ands indeed, George commuted between his land in Kalkaska and his home in Lowell and between 1876 and 1877 they moved into their new home in Kalkaska. Although they may lived for a time in Howard City, George probably lived in Kalkaska for more than twenty years.

In any event, George and his family were living in Kalkaska in 1880 and in 1882 when he became a member of the Old 3rd Michigan Infantry Association, and in the following year when he was drawing $6.00 (pension no. 152,92

8) for a wounded left side, increased to $50.00 per month in 1923. He was a member of Grand Army of the Republic Baker Post No. 84 in Kalkaska, and of Grand Army of the Republic Watson Post No. 395 (member no. 393) in Grand Rapids until he was discharged from the Watson post on January 12, 1924.

George and Helen both were active in the Grange movement in Michigan, from the Boardman Valley Grange and County Grange to the State Grange where he reportedly served as “Gateman” from 1888-94 then as steward for another six years. George was also a Baptist.

In 1921 George and Helen closed their old farm in Kalkaska and went to live their daughter, Lula Mae Overbye at 736 Fulton southeast in Grand Rapids. Helen died in March of 1922 and the following year George was admitted as a widower to the Michigan Soldiers’ Home on August 1, 1923 (no. 7813).

George died of chronic myocarditis on September 26, 1924, at the Home and was his remains were taken to Lowell, Kent County, and interred alongside his wife in Oakwood cemetery.

David Carlisle - updated 1/28/2017

David Carlisle was born on June 1, 1844, in Erie County, New York, the son of New York natives Hamilton Carlisle (1818-1859) and Phoebe Ann Wilcox (b. 1821).

Hamilton was living in Aurora, Erie County, New York in 1840. By 1850 they were living on a farm in Aurora where David attended school with his older brother George (who would also enlist in the Old Third).

Hamilton left New York and moved westward with his family, including his brother Jacob and his family as well as their parents, settling in western Michigan, probably Ottawa County, in 1853 or 1854. Hamilton’s father Ebenezer died in Tallmadge, Ottawa County in 1858 and was buried in Berlin cemetery. The following year Hamilton was killed while felling a tree in Tallmadge.

David stood 5’8” with hazel eyes, brown hair and a light complexion, and was an 17-year-old farmer unable to read or write and possibly living in Tallmadge, Ottawa County when he enlisted in Company I on March 15, 1862, at Grand Rapids for 3 years, crediting Ottawa County, and was mustered the same day; George Carlisle had joined Company I the previous year. (Company I was made up largely of men from Ottawa County, particularly from the eastern side of the County.)

David was wounded in the elbow by a musket ball on May 31, 1862, at Fair Oaks, Virginia, and hospitalized on June 8. By July 26, reported one contemporary source, he was in the Christian Street hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, “wounded severely in the arm” but “doing very well” and in fact “was out in the city on a pass.” He remained a patient at Christian Street hospital until he was discharged on September 24, 1862 for “anchylosis of elbow resulting from gunshot wound.”

After his release from the army he returned to western Michigan, and was working as a farmer and living in Lamont, Ottawa County in May of 1863. He reentered the service in Company A, Tenth Michigan cavalry on October 7, 1863, at Grand Rapids for 3 years, crediting Tallmadge, Ottawa County, and was mustered on October 14 probably at Grand Rapids where the regiment was organized between September 18 and November 18, 1863, when it was mustered into service. It left Michigan for Lexington, Kentucky on December 1, 1863, and participated in numerous operations, mostly in Kentucky and Tennessee throughout the winter of 1863-64. Most of its primary area of operations would eventually be in the vicinity of Strawberry Plains, Tennessee.

He was serving as a teamster from January of 1864 through March, and by July he was recruiting for the United States Colored Heavy Artillery. He was sick in Knoxville, Tennessee from November of 1864 through May of 1865, and was honorably discharged June 8, 1865. After the war David returned to Michigan but at some point may have lived in Illinois. He may have returned to his family home in Montcalm County where he was reportedly living in 1875.

David married Ohio or Michigan native Mrs. Rhoda Jane Bailey Todd (1846-1886) on August 2, 1877, in Kalkaska, Kalkaska County, and they had one child: Phebe (1881-1905); David apparently adopted Jane’s three daughters: Dora (b. 1866) and Nella or Nellie (b. 1869), Rosa (b. 1871). They are all listed as Carlisle in 1880.

By 1880 he was working as a laborer and living with his wife and her three daughters in Hartwick, Osceola County. He eventually settled in Kalkaska, Kalkaska County (his brother George also settled in Kalkaska) where Jane died of consumption in 1886. But by 1893 and 1894 he was residing in the “Peninsula,” Grand Traverse County.

David married his second wife, German-born Almina Bertner Johnson (1843-1900) on October 8, 1891 in Traverse City, Grand Traverse County. He was living in Traverse City, Grand Traverse County in 1896 and probably still living in Traverse City where Almina died of diabetes in 1900. By the summer of 1900 David was living in Traverse City with his daughter Phebe; also living with them was a boarder, Nellie Myers.

He apparently married the widow and New York native Nellie Myers on September 20, 1900, in Traverse City. On April 11, 1906 he married New York native Sabra Westbrook Woodin (1854-1922) in Manton, Wexford County. (She had been married three times before.)

By 1910 he and Sabra Westbrook Adams were living on Pells Street in McKinley, Emmet County. 1917 he was living in Manton, Wexford County.

David received a pension (no. 137,806), drawing $17 per month by 1893 and $36 by 1896.

David died of apoplexy on August 23, 1917, in Cedar Creek, Wexford County, and was buried in Fairview Cemetery, Manton, lot 56.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Joseph Cantor

Joseph Cantor was born 1844 in Baden, Germany.

Joseph immigrated to the United States. He may have been the same Joseph Cantor, born in Prussia and age 21, working as a laborer in Hancock, Houghton County, Michigan in 1860.

In any case, Joseph stood 5’8” with blue eyes, dark hair and a fair complexion, and was a 19-year-old farmer, possibly living in St. Clair County when he became a substitute for one Felix Haslin who had been drafted for 9 months from Cottrellville, St. Clair County. Joseph enlisted on February 26, 1863 at Newport, St. Clair County, for 3 years, crediting Newport, and was sent to the Regiment on March 6, 1863.

There is no further record.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Peter Canally

Peter Canally, also known as “Connelly”and “Conoly”, was born 1840 in Boston, Massachusetts or in Ireland.

Peter left Boston and moved west, eventually settling in central Michigan by the time the war broke out.

He stood 5’10” with blue eyes, dark hair and a light complexion, and was a 21-year-old farmer probably living in Meridian, Ingham County when he enlisted in Company G on May 10, 1861. (Company G, formerly the “Williams’ Rifles”, was made up predominantly of men from the Lansing area.)

On September 5, 1861, Peter was in the Regimental hospital sick with a fever, and less than a week later he was “been recommended to be discharged on account of tubercular disease, but his case is under advisement.” He remained with the Regiment, however, and was wounded severely in the left shoulder on May 31, 1862, at Fair Oaks, Virginia. Peter was helped off the battlefield and according to a statement he made later that year Regimental Surgeon Bliss “made an examination of the wound & probed it to find the bullet but that he could not find the ball, [and] that he was sent to hospital where he remained until he was furloughed”.

By June 18 he was reported to have gone home to Okemos, Ingham County, to recover from his wound, and according to one source he was among the sick and wounded soldiers who arrived at Detroit Barracks on July 9. In any case, he claimed that he remained at his home in Michigan until about the end of August when he went to Washington. From there he was sent to Fairfax Seminary Hospital where he was probably admitted on August.

Peter was discharged from Fairfax Seminary hospital on September 13, 1862, for a “gunshot wound through the left shoulder joint, resulting in anchylosis, and paralysis of the whole arm, is unable to raise the forearm without the assistance of the right hand.”

He reportedly died on September 21, 1862, of his wounds (probably at Union Hotel hospital in Washington, DC), and buried in Washington.

In fact Peter did not die of his wounds in September of 1862 and was alive and well by the summer of 1863, probably still living in Washington. In any event, he married Ireland native Sarah Ann Hunt (b. 1838), on July 19, 1863, at St. Matthew’s church in Washington, DC, and they had at least one child: John (b. 1875).

Peter was probably discharged on account of his disability (the record is uncertain on this however).

In any case, Peter eventually returned to his father’s home in Meridian, Ingham County, Michigan, presumably with his new wife, and by the fall of 1863 he was working in Meridian as a farmer. He was living in Ingham County in 1869.

By 1870 Peter was working as a conductor on a railroad and living with his wife Sarah in Lansing’s Fourth Ward, Ingham County. He was living in Ingham County in 1897 and in Lansing, Ingham County in 1898.

He was probably living in Ingham County when he applied for and received a pension (no. 23351), drawing $17 per month by 1897.

Peter died on November 11, 1911, in Longdale, Blaine County, Oklahoma.

His widow was living in Carlton, Blaine County, Oklahoma, in 1912 when she applied for a pension. She eventually moved to St. Paul in Alberta, Canada and by 1916 she was living in Lloydminister, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

William H. Campion

William H. Campion, also known as “Compion”, was born 1837 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

(In 1850 there was a William “Camp”, age 11 and born in Ohio, living with his mother, New Jersey native Rebecca and his siblings in Division 10, Berrien County, Michigan.) In any case, by 1860 William had left Ohio and settled in Michigan where he was working as a clerk living with the Dwight Dutcher family in Saugatuck, Allegan County.

William stood 5’5” with blue eyes, brown hair and a dark complexion, and was 24 years old and still living in Allegan County, probably working as a clerk when he enlisted in Company I on May 13, 1861. William was a Corporal when he was wounded by a gunshot to the left arm on May 31, 1862, at Fair Oaks, Virginia. He was subsequently hospitalized, and by late July he was reported to be in Chesapeake hospital near Fortress Monroe, “wounded in the neck, doing well.”

By early August, he had been transferred to New York and was hospitalized at Brooklyn College Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, and was discharged on November 25, 1862 at Brooklyn College Hospital “for partial paralysis of the left arm, the result of a gunshot wound near the lower part of the cervical spine.”

In June of 1863 he applied for and received a pension (no. 53,684).

At some point William returned to Michigan, probably to Allegan County where he was living when he reentered the service as Quartermaster Sergeant on March 8, 1864, in Unassigned, Third Michigan cavalry. He was promoted to Second Lieutenant of Company I on October 17, 1864 (effective December 15) and then to First Lieutenant of Company G on November 17, 1864, effective February 21, 1865. By early April of 1865 William was serving with the regiment in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was mustered out of Unassigned, Third Michigan cavalry on February 12, 1866, at San Antonio, Texas.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Adolphe T. Campau

Adolphe T. Campau was born August 19, 1841, on the site of what would become Herpolsheimer’s department store on Monroe Street in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the son of Toussaint (1811-1872) and Victoria Amelia Emily (de Marsac, b. 1819).

Both of Adolphe’s parents were born in Detroit and were married in 1834 in Grand Rapids, Kent County. Adolph’s uncle Louis Campau -- one of the founders of Grand Rapids -- and his second wife Sophia (de Marsac, sister of Emily) had no children of their own, and so they reportedly adopted Adolphe when he was an infant and he lived with them for many years (or so Adolphe claimed later). Nevertheless, by 1860 he was working as a cabinet-maker and living with his parents Toussaint and Emily in Grand Rapids’ Third Ward.

Adolphe stood 5’9” with black eyes, black hair and a dark complexion and was 19 years old and probably still living in Grand Rapids when he enlisted with the consent of his parents in Company A on May 13, 1861. (He is not found in the 1905 Third Michigan Regimental history, although he is found in the Regimental history for the First Michigan Engineers and Mechanics. See below) Although he was reported as sick in the hospital in July of 1862 and missing in action on August 3 at Harrison’s Landing, Virginia, Adolphe had in fact been captured on June 30 during an engagement near White House Landing, Virginia, and was reported to have been held “at the hospital on the York River, held by the rebels”. He was paroled on July 10, 1862.

Campau himself said many years after the war that “owing to the menacing attitude of the Union forces, the Confederates were unable to send the Union boys to prison, and were obliged to house and guard them in the field.” While a prisoner, it seems that one of his guards, a Sergeant Major, took his “silver watch that he had carried with him from his home.” Campau “promptly reported the loss of his watch to the Rebel General, J. E. B. Stuart, but his pleas for its return were disregarded. He then went to the Confederate General Stephen D. Lee, giving the number of his watch, and Lee immediately took the matter up, ordered the men out into a hollow square and told Campau to pick out the man. He at once did so; and the fellow said that he had bought the watch in Richmond. Said General Lee upon examining the watch: ‘It seems strange that there should be two watches bearing the same number; you are hereby reduced to the ranks,’ and the guilty fellow bore the humiliation of losing his stripes in the presence of his Regiment.”

Campau was soon paroled and reported at Camp Parole, Maryland on July 13, 1862. He was subsequently hospitalized, at the U.S. General Hospital in Annapolis, Maryland, and was reported among the paroled prisoners-of-war at Camp Parole, at Annapolis in late August and again in late October. During his stay in the Marine hospital at Annapolis, he told a newspaper reporter many years later,

the sick and wounded received through the sanitary commission many comforts that camp life denied. Among them [Campau] received was a pair of home-made socks, with the name of the sender appended to a brief note inside one of them. Mr. Campau still has the note in his possession and it is as follows: “The task of knitting these socks has been a pleasant time one, thinking they might come into possession of some brave soldier suffering from the want of these very socks. Please accept my best wishes, May you go forth in the strength of the God of hosts, true to yourself and your country. I have a degree of curiosity in regard to the disposition of these socks, name of wearer and so forth. Any information would be acceptable to Catherine H. Kingsbury, East Foxboro, Mass.” Illness at the time prevented his acknowledgement of the receipt of the present and when again in the field the exigencies of war were such that time forbade his doing so. The days in the hospital passed wearily, but occasionally the monotony was varied by some incident that can never be effaced from memory. In a moment of delirium a soldier heard the bugle call in the morning. He was instantly roused, thinking it a call to arms. Springing to his feet he started for the door and before an attendant could reach him, he fell in a collapse apparently dead. He was carried to the dead house, where a post-mortem was to be held to determine the cause of his death. With scalpel in hand, the physician began his work, when to the utter surprise of physician and nurses the soldier revived. An attempt was made to take him back to the ward in the hospital room whence he had been removed only a short time before, but their efforts met with stout resistance on his part and it required the combined efforts of four men to control him. The poor fellow died a week later.

Adolphe was eventually sent back to Michigan to recover and was discharged for chronic rheumatism on December 9, 1862, at Detroit Barracks. He subsequently returned home to Grand Rapids where he reentered the service as Corporal in Company L, First Michigan Engineers and Mechanics on January 6, 1863 and was mustered the same day at Detroit. Many years after the war he claimed that in July of 1863, while “overseeing the job of building a bridge over the [Elk River in Tennessee] he received what was thought to be a sunstroke.” He claimed that he “fell over on the ground in a dead faint and was carried back to camp and placed in Asst. Surgeon Van Ostrand’s tent and was taken care of there for about a month.” He was then sent “to the regimental hospital at Bridgeport, Ala. as nurse and remained on such duty until discharged.” He was reported sick at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in March of 1865 -- while the regiment was participating n the campaign through the Carolinas. The regiment marched to Washington via Richmond, Virginia, April 29-May 20, and was in the Grand Review on May 24. It was subsequently ordered to Louisville, Kentucky on June 6 and then to Nashville where it remained on duty from about July 1 to September 22.

Adolphe was mustered out with the regiment on September 22, 1865 at Nashville. The regiment was discharged at Jackson, Jackson County, Michigan on October 1.

After the war Adolphe returned to western Michigan and lived briefly in Muskegon, Marshall and Kalamazoo before settling in Big Rapids, Mecosta County where he was residing in 1879 and 1880, working for some years as a “general laborer” of a “light character”. By 1881 he was living in Grand Rapids’ Fifth Ward; but he was back in Big Rapids in 1885, in 1886 when he was working as a bank janitor, in 1887 and in 1891. By mid-1898 he was living at 826 S. Lafayette Street in Gra Rapids.

On September 11, 1902, Adolph was admitted to the Michigan Soldiers’ Home (no. 3890), where he lived the remainder of his life.

In 1908, when he was interviewed by M. S. Webster of the Grand Rapids Herald, Campau was living “in cozy quarters, made attractive by the occupants, in the north dormitory at the soldier's home, . . .” Upon

entering the room, the visitor is accorded a cheerful welcome, and becomes interested in the large collection of souvenirs of years ago, and pictures that adorn the walls of the little abode” and he had “a large store of souvenirs and relics, dating back as far as 1800. Among his souvenirs are: a copy of the Ulster County Gazette, published in Kingston, New York, January 4, 1800, containing the announcement by President John Adams of the death of Washington; a copy of the Grand River Times, G. W. Patterson, editor, published in Grand Rapids in April 1837; a letter bearing date December 28, 1836, written to his father [Toussaint?] by his uncle, Daniel J. Campau, Sr., of Detroit; Dr. Talley's old medicine scales, used in Talleyville, Va., during the war; has photos of the Confederate Generals S. D. Lee, [Simon Bolivar] Buckner and [Richard] Ewell bought in Alexandria, Va., and a hickory cane once owned by his uncle Louis Campau.

In 1903 Adolphe was appointed sexton of the chapel and morgue for the home and over the years he kept close records of the number of people he help to bury at the Home, a task which it seems, he took most seriously.

“According to Veteran Campau's records,” wrote Webster, “the number of graves decorated in the Home cemetery, May 30, 1903, the time at which he became sexton, were, men: 698, women: 28, total: 726. Since that date deaths have occurred as follows: year ending May 30, 1904 - 73 men, 11 women; year ending May 30, 1905 - 53 men, 8 women; year ending May 30, 1906 - 72 men, 3 women; year ending May 30, 1907 - 83 men, 9 women; year ending May 30, 1908 - 67 men, 4 women. The total number of graves in the home cemetery was 1,160.”

However, in Campau’s obituary, published the year following Webster’s interview, the Grand Rapids Press painted a picture of a man isolated from the world outside his room or outside of the Soldiers’ Home morgue, a world defined by morbidity, death and superstition.

“Before the war,” wrote the paper, “Adolphe Campau was considered one of the handsomest and most promising young men of Grand Rapids, but during the war he suffered a severe sunstroke and he never was the same after that. His health was seriously impaired and he never fully recovered it. In later years he was afflicted with a severe deafness and because of these afflictions he led a very retired and secluded life.”

“He regarded,” the Press wrote, his work as morgue sexton “as a special duty and would not accept the remuneration that the state provides for this, he preferring his work to be a service of love. Even at the beginning of his last illness when the body of a comrade was brought to the morgue Mr. Campau arose from his bed and performed the usual service to the dead, permitting no one else to do his work while he remained alive. This was his last service, as he was placed back in his bed from which he never arose.”

Mr. Campau [continued the paper] was in many ways a remarkable old man. He was a loyal patriot, a devout Catholic, and he was devoted to the memories of the past. The quaint little room in which he lived at the home was in a way an expression of the odd personality of its occupant. He had one end of the reception room just across the hall from the morgue, his personal apartment being separated by a white curtain. He also held the office of sacristan of the Catholic chapel and along the walls of his rooms were pictures of the stations of the cross, while at the end of the room was the altar that was used at the services, but carefully covered with white canvas when not in use. All about his rooms were ecclesiastical pictures hung among war relics and military badges. Everywhere in the chapel-like room the church and the nation were given a prominence which indicated the importance and influence they held in the life of this man. Everything in the room was in perfect order, showing the extreme care which Mr. Campau took of everything pertaining to him. Among his treasures was a silver 2-branch candlestick with a crucifix, which was used when he and his sister took their first communion, many years ago. The partly burned candles remained just as they were on that far-off day. The candlestick with other silver relics were kept in a little cabinet near the head of his bed. In another cabinet were a few china dishes and table silver carefully wrapped as any good housekeeper would have them, for he often brought his meals to his room and often he entertained the priest there when he conducted services at the home. Among these treasures was a tiny crucifix which belonged to his aunt, Sophie de M. C. and a cane which belonged to his uncle Louis C. A photograph of Louis and Sophie and a framed reproduction of the Campau crest hangs among the religious and military pictures and relics. The quaint little room is an expression of a lonely but not unhappy life.

Adolphe never married.

He was a member of the Old Third Michigan Infantry Association as well as Grand Army of the Republic Champlin Post No. 29 in Grand Rapids, a Catholic and he received pension no. 483,087 dated January 1884; also no. 833,568.

He died of “senility” at the Home on May 7, 1909, at 12:10 p.m., although his obituary wrote that “Mr. Campau's last illness was caused when he was struck by a street car several weeks before his death; he apparently failed to hear its approach on account of his extreme deafness. Although not a serious injury, apparently it resulted in an abscess in the head which caused his death. Mr. Campau's sister, Mrs. Danforth, arrived from Detroit too late to see him before he died.”

The funeral services were held at St. Alphonsus church and he was buried on May 10 in St. Andrews cemetery: the Campau lot, old section, no. 1, lot no. 25 grave 6 (1-25-6).

Friday, February 15, 2008

Aaron Pixley Camp Jr. and Samuel Camp

Aaron Pixley Camp Jr., also known as “Comp”, was born 1829, in Shelby, Orleans County, New York, the son of Aaron Pixley Sr. (1794-1884) and Mary (Welch or Welsh, 1800-1886).

Aaron Sr. fought in Crosby’s New York Volunteers and in 164th Regiment (Churchill’s) New York Militia during the war of 1812. He and Mary Welch were married in Hartland, Niagara County, New York on March 1, 1817, and by 1820 were residing in Shelby, Orleans County, New York, where they lived for many years. They were still living in Shelby in 1830, 1840 and 1844, and indeed they probably remained in Shelby for some years. By 1850 Aaron was working as a farm laborer and living with his parents on the family farm (his father owned some $1000 worth of real estate) in Shelby. Next door lived Aaron’s older brother Samuel and his family; Samuel too would enlist in the Third Michigan in the spring of 1861.

By 1856b Aaron Jr. and his parents had moved to Michigan settling in Adrian, Lenawee County and by 1860 was living with Aaron Sr. and his wife in Wright, Hillsdale County; by 1860 Aaron Jr. was working as a farmer and living with his sister Sarah and her husband John Foster in Allendale, Ottawa County.

In 1861 Aaron Sr. and Mary were still living in Wright and indeed lived out the remainder their days in Hillsdale County.

Aaron Jr. was 30 years old and probably living in Lamont, Ottawa County when he enlisted along with his older brother Samuel, in Company I on May 13, 1861. (Company I was made up largely of men from Ottawa County, particularly from the eastern side of the County.) According to Bob Bosch, historian of Allendale Township civil war veterans, Aaron was assigned as a washerman in the Regimental hospital soon after being mustered into service, and by November of 1861 he was a nurse in the Regimental hospital.

Aaron probably remained a nurse in the hospital until he died of typhoid fever on May 12, 1862, at Yorktown, Virginia.

Captain Stephen Lowing of Company I wrote home on May 17, 1862, that Camp had died “at the hospital at Yorktown. . . . He had been engaged in the hospital as a nurse for sometime and died of fever which is worse than the enemy bullets.”

While it is possible that his family brought his body back to Ottawa County for burial (though there is no record of this), Aaron was probably among the unknown soldiers buried in Yorktown National Cemetery.

Samuel Camp was born January 9, 1825, in Lockport, Niagara County, New York, the son of Aaron Pixley Sr. (1794-1884) and Mary (Welch or Welsh, 1800-1886).

Aaron Sr. fought in Crosby’s New York Volunteers and in 164th Regiment (Churchill’s) New York Militia during the war of 1812. He and Mary Welch were married in Hartland, Niagara County, New York on March 1, 1817, and by 1820 were residing in Shelby, Orleans County where they lived for many years. They were still living in Shelp in 1830, 1840 and 1844, and indeed they probably remained in Shelby for some years.

Samuel was married on November 2, 1846, to New York native Lydia Shaffer (1825-1894), probably in New York, and they had at least five children: Frederick Eugene (b. 1847), Pixley Aaron (b. 1850), twins James and Orson (b. 1854), Lucy M. (b. 1855) and Oscar (b. 1857) and Frank M. (b. 1861).

Samuel and his family probably resided in Lockport, Niagara County, New York, from 1847 through 1850 and by 1850 Samuel was working as a farmer and living with his family (his father owned some $1000 worth of real estate) on a farm in Shelby, Orleans County, New York; next door lived his parents and siblings including his younger brother Aaron who would also enlist in the Third Michigan.

Samuel and Lydia were living in Niagara County, New York in 1854, and in New York from 1855 until spring of 1857.

By 1856 Samuel’s parents had moved to Michigan settling in Adrian, Lenawee County and by 1860 Aaron Sr. and his wife were living in Wright, Hillsdale County. (In 1861 Aaron Sr. and Mary were still living in Wright and indeed lived out the remainder their days in Hillsdale County.)

By 1860 Samuel and his wife had left New York and joined his family in Michigan and was working as a farmer in Clarendon, Calhoun County. Sometime in the fall of that year he settled in Allendale, Ottawa County where he worked a farm.

Many years after the war, Oscar Foster (who would also enlist in Company I) told of first meeting Samuel Camp in the fall of 1860. Samuel had stopped at the home of his sister and brother-in-law, John Foster, Oscar’s brother. He remained, Oscar recalled, “perhaps a week while he was looking around for a place on which to locate. He had been living somewhere in the south[ern] part of the state.” Foster described Samuel Camp as “about 5 ft, 9 inches in height, broad and full chested, quite a muscular man, and some pretensions as a ‘thumper’, if I remember right. He weighed I should think from 165 to 170 pounds.”

Samuel was 36 years old when he enlisted as First Sergeant along with his younger brother Aaron in Company I on May 13, 1861. (Company I was made up largely of men from Ottawa County, particularly from the eastern side of the County.) He failed to leave with the Regiment on June 13, 1861, when it departed for Washington, DC, and in fact he died of pneumonia on June 15, 1861, probably in Lamont, Ottawa County. Postwar investigation by the U.S. pension bureau concluded that Camp may not in fact have ever been mustered into either state (May 13, 1861) or United States (June 10, 1861) service, due to his bouts of ill health during the period when the Regiment was forming at Grand Rapids and before it left for the east (roughly April 25 to June 13).

Martin V. B. Taylor, also of Company I, knew Samuel Camp about a year previous to their enlistment and at that time lived about one and one-half miles from Camp in Allendale Township. In his statement given on August 14, 1896, Taylor said that Ottawa County “was a new country then and while I never worked with him regularly I was with him at a great many ‘raisings’ -- the raising of log buildings. I knew him just the same as I did the other neighbors. Have been to his house one or two times before he enlisted. He enlisted about the same time that I did, I think a few days before.”

Martin Taylor told of how the Regiment was given a furlough just before leaving Michigan in June of 1861. “After our enlistment we were quartered in barracks in Grand Rapids” where they waited “to be mustered in the United States service. About three days before [June 7] the muster in [June 10] we were granted furlough for three days to go home and as soon as we returned from this furlough we were discharged from the state service and immediately mustered in the United States service.” He explained, “the furlough we were granted was not a written furlough, the men were merely told that those who wanted to, could go home for three days before being mustered in the United States service.”

Taylor added that soon after enlisting he (Taylor) became “orderly sergeant and had charge of the company book and it ran out, I took an unused portion of the book and copied in it the original roll of the company as it was mustered in. The said portion of book I detached from the company book and have always retained it.”

According to Taylor, “Camp’s name nowhere appears in this copy of the original co. rolls” and “the first I knew anything about Samuel Camp’s being sick while I was at home on [furlough before leaving for Washington, and] then read that Camp had been taken sick on his way home and had stopped at Lamont.” Apparently, they had both gone home of a three day’s furlough just prior to the mustering in of the Regiment into United States service. Camp “lived on one side of [the] Grand River and I on the other, so we went on opposite sides of the river.”

On June 3, 1896, John Foster testified that he “was present during [Camp’s] last illness. He died . . . of pneumonia. He took an awful cold and it settled on his lungs. He got the cold he said and his brother [Aaron] told me so by exposure in the barracks at Grand Rapids. I don’t recall about his getting the cold going swimming. On his return from Grand Rapids he was sick about a week before he died, I should say about five days as near as I can remember. I didn’t see him in the barracks at Grand Rapids. I think he was over there about three weeks. He got a uniform and was buried in it. . . . His brother Aaron went back to Grand Rapids before Samuel died.”

And on August 11, 1896, Oscar Foster told of how he remembered Camp’s illness. “I recollect his sickness because of the fact that the boys when he first commenced to be sick, joked him about it. He had gone to Lamont . . . to arrest Elisha Galuncia who had been with the company in Grand Rapids [but had deserted]. It was said that when Sam Camp went to Galuncia’s house, Galuncia’s wife picked him (Camp) up and threw him out of the house. Camp did not bring Galuncia back with him and the boys laughed at him and said that Galuncia’s wife had made him sick.”

The summary of the special investigator, written on August 31, 1896, said in part that “The testimony of Martin V. Taylor shows that soldier’s name never appeared on the company books. He is corroborated by Capt. Simon Brennan” who had also served in Company I. Indeed, according to a statement given on April 18, 1896, Brennan said that he was “now confident that Samuel Camp was not present with the co. when we were mustered into U.S. service.” After taking eyewitness testimony from family members still living, the investigator felt that the government was “warranted in concluding that [the] soldier was sick as much as five days at Lamont before he died” and that according to testimony of comrades from the company “he was certainly sick in Grand Rapids for at least several days before he went to Lamont.” The conclusion drawn was “that he could not have been in Grand Rapids at the time of muster-in” to federal service on June 10, 1861.

It is not quite clear as to exactly where Camp was buried or indeed even where he died. According to a Grand Haven source Samuel (mistakenly listed as “Campbell”) died at Lamont, possibly of measles (two other Third Michigan soldiers were sick with measles in late June). Samuel was presumably buried in Lamont, although none of the existing records confirm this.

According to the sworn statement of Oscar, one of his children, given in Fargo, North Dakota on November 12, 1896, Samuel died in Lamont, at the house of Samuel’s cousin, Eleanor Waters Barnes. “Father is buried at Lamont,” said Oscar at the time, “He has no tombstone. We can’t find his grave.” Indeed, there seems to be no record of Samuel’s burial in the existing cemeteries in Lamont or Allendale. It is possible of course that he was simply buried at the Barnes home in Lamont or perhaps his remains were taken home to the farm in Allendale for interment on the family farm, which, according to Bosch, was probably in section 28, along M-45 on the southeast corner of 76th Avenue.

Samuel’s widow applied for a pension (no. 979), but abandoned the claim when she remarried one Andrew Rawls on April 3, 1863, in Allendale. Samuel’s children received minors’ pension no. 341,540.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

John M. Call

John M. Call was born November 11, 1830 in Hornellsville, Steuben County, New York, the son of the Rev. Orlando Boardman (1810-1871) and Caroline C. (Crandall, 1811-1884).

John’s parents, both New York natives, were married in 1830 in Andover, Allegheny County, New York and were living in Hornellsville in 1830, then in Andover in 1833 and in fact they resided in New York for many years. The family eventually moved westward and sometime after 1853 settled in Michigan (where both of John's parents died).

John was living in Hartsville, Steuben County, New York when he married Permelia Stryker on April 3, 1855 in Hartsville, and they had at least two children: Eva (b. 1858) and Ira (b. 1859).

By 1858 John and his wife had settled in Michigan and by 1860 John was working as a farm laborer and he and his wife and children were living with the Comstock family in Bushnell, Montcalm County. By 1860 John's parents were living in Alaidon, Ingham County.

John was a 30-year-old laborer probably living in Ionia County, Michigan, when he enlisted in Company E on May 13, 1861. (Company E was composed in large part by men from Clinton and Ingham counties, as well as parts of Ionia County.)

He was wounded on August 29, 1862, at the Second battle of Bull Run, and subsequently sent to a hospital in Alexandria, where he died from his wounds on September 8, 1862. According to Lieutenant Andrew Nickerson of Company E, writing on September 16 to John’s wife,

It becomes my painful duty to inform you that your husband is no more. He departed this life Sept. 8th, 1862, in the hospital at Alexandria. He died of wounds received in the battle of Groveton Aug. 29th, 1862. Early in the action he received a minie ball in the knee. He was borne from the field by his comrades. His wounds dressed and he was sent to the hospital. None suppose his wound would prove fatal, but it did. I deeply sympathize with you in your great loss. I have known your husband but little over a year yet he seemed as near to me as a brother. He was a favorite of the whole company, brave and generous to a fault. We all mourn his loss and yet almost envy him the proud death he died. You will see by the note I enclose from the Surgeon in the Hospital that he left no effects of any value. His knapsack with his spare clothes was put aboard a vessel at Harrison’s Landing and when we received them after we returned form Manassas some of them we found to be rotted, having been exposed to the weather. Mr. Call’s was among this number. There was nothing in it except some blankets and a few clothes. Any information that I can give you I will be most happy to impart. He had about 4 months pay due him at the time of his death.

John was buried in Alexandria National Cemetery: section A, grave no. 263.

In 1863 his widow applied for and received a pension no. 15,774, dated July of 1865. By 1870 she and his two children had returned to Hartsville, New York and were living with her parents Jacob and Elizabeth. That same year John’s parents were living in Vernon, Shiawassee County.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

John Calkins - updated 1/28/2017

John Calkins was born 1836 in New York, probably the son of William (b. 1800).

His parents were reportedly born in Canada, although according to the 1850 census his father William was born in New York. In any case, John left New York with his family and moved west, eventually settling Leoni, Jackson County by 1850, where his father worked as a wagon-maker (as did his older brother Clinton). By 1860 John was working as a wagon-maker and living at the Day boarding house in Allegan, Allegan County.

John was 25 years old and probably still living in Allegan when he walked to Grand Rapids and enlisted in Company F sometime in the first week of June of 1861.

According to the Allegan Journal, the “Allegan boys” were “spiling [sic] for a fight”, and on the evening of June 5, “two of our boys, George W. Bailey (son of our wealthy fellow townsman Leonard Bailey), and John Calkins started from here afoot, bound for Grand Rapids, where they intended to join the Third Regiment. We have no doubt but that if there is any fighting to be done, the boys named above will have a hand in it.” The paper added, “we learn that the boys have been mustered into the Third Regiment.” In fact, according to George Bailey’s lengthy account of that walk to Grand Rapids, John Champion also accompanied Bailey and Calkins. At a little before 7:00 p.m. on June 4,

John B. Champion, John Calkins, and G. W. Bailey, after bidding farewell to relatives and friends, were seen wending their way eastward, via Martin Corners to Grand Rapids, taking the old and reliable line of foot and walker, as the surest way to “get there”. None of the trio had ever been to the Rapids, and all were confident they could not get off the right road after striking the plank. The early evening was very dark and the atmosphere torrid. On our journey through Watson we came to ‘a little red school-house’ where a meeting of some kind was being held. Here an inquiry was made as to the direct route and distance to Martin. We had not proceeded many miles when the road seemed to come to an abrupt termination, and all felt sure that Lake Michigan nor the ocean was on the east boundary of Allegan County, and it was our most solemn opinion that “Saint Patrick” had in his travels through Ireland found himself in our plight, and he did then and there banish all snakes and frogs from the land, and the whole outfit -- in our imagination -- had dropped right here in a large swamp. After skirmishing around a short time, we found the right turn of the road, and some came to a corduroy bridge leading across a large swamp, whose inhabitants were as disloyal as any ranting traitors in the south. This is the manner in which they encouraged our patriotism and self-sacrifice. First the little frogs squeaked, “going-t'enlist, going-t'enlist, going-t'enlist”, then the guttural voice of Mr. Bull would bellow “Dam-phool, dam-phool, dam-phool”.
At 11 o'clock we arrived at Martin, ate a lunch, then proceeded on our journey, being well pleased with the “plank road”. At 2 a.m. we were well on our way, but mighty sore on the feet. At 3 o'clock we were spread out, Calkins taking the advance, Champion holding the center, and Bailey the rear guard. At about this hour we came to a hotel and after consultation it was agreed to awake the proprietor and hire him to drive us the balance of the way. After vigorous pounding assisted by the loud bark of a dog within, we finally aroused a small boy, who informed us that “it was about 9 miles to Grand Rapids.” We then informed this boy -- and he the proprietor of our wish, and were informed that $6 would be the price. To this we readily agreed. I was then conducted to the bedroom door, to talk with the proprietor (who would not arise), informed him of our great haste (we were going to enlist in the third Regiment of Michigan infantry, and understood the Regiment left Grand Rapids for the front that day, June 25.) This did not seem to impress him favorably, for he and his wife had a talk in an undertone, after which he said, “I don't care to go for less than $9”’ This attempt at extortion was rejected and we again took up the old line of march (foot and walker), consoling ourselves in the belief that “mine host” was a rebel sympathizer, and a fit companion to those frogs who inhabit the pond near Martin, for all seem to think or call us “dam-phools”, if we were going to enlist. Calkins again took the lead, Champion the center and I way back.

It was now getting to be daybreak. “Walking the plank” had become tedious on account of blistered feet, which made me doubly tired, and necessitated a long rest for a short distance traveled. While taking one of these rests, and meditating on the “croaking of frogs”, my ear caught the sound of a wagon approaching from the rear. This welcome sound revived me, and I at once prepared for a ride. In a short time it drove into sight and proved to be a men [sic?] moving a load of household goods “up north”. On his approach I hailed him, and requested a ride, informed him of my two companions, on the road ahead, and of our willingness to pay him well. But he refused on the plea “of a large load, and a tired team”. I then explained to him our situation, also our experience with the landlord a short distance back. That story (it was no fable, either), fired his loyal heart and he exclaimed, . . . “You climb up here, and we will arrange this furniture so you can all ride.” this done we soon overtook Champion and Calkins, who were taken on the load. At 8 o'clock we arrived at the fairgrounds where the Regiment was quartered, and as ‘our loyal friend’ could not be induced to take money consideration, large or small, for our ride, on parting with him he accepted one dollar, with our express wish that his horses should be well groomed and have a substantial breakfast. As we approached the gate we passed a soldier who informed us that we were “all right, and one time”, and for us to request the guard at the gate to call for Captain J. J. Dennis of Company F, who wanted a few more men to fill his company. On arrival at the gate, we were confronted by a soldier marching back and forth carrying a gun, with a sharp and ugly prodding rod on its muzzle end. Being green hands at this business, we attempted to pass him. That act brought forth the challenge, “Halt!”, at the same time the point of his gun was brought to bear on us in such a savage manner that our hair “riz” (we were not bald-headed then). We now followed instructions, called for Captain Dennis, who soon appeared, ordered the guard to ‘let the boys pass’. The captain was very glad to assign us in his command, conducted us to his company quarter in the barracks, where we enjoyed a rest and sleep until noon. After dinner we were conducted to the surgeon's office, where we were ‘sized up’ in length, breadth, and thickness, were accepted and sworn into state service -- to date from May 10. Champion, who was a musician, joined the Regiment band (which was at that time regularly enlisted musicians). We then returned to the barracks, where we found several of our Allegan County friends, some of whom were late members of Captain Bassett's home company [from Allegan]. We were now real soldiers and genuine “tenderfoots”, and our first business was to inspect “mudsills”, so off came the boots, when lo! what a sight! Each foot had one blister, in size the full width of foot, and extending from the end of toes to heel, and as to thickness, will say, I was one half inch taller when measured that day, than I have been able to stretch up to since; and they were not vanity puffs, either. After foot inspection we took to our bunk, being reminded of “Pilgrim's Progress”, and the welfare of our soles, although we were not as yet, “bowed down with a hump on our back”, neither had we wallowed in Virginia mud. Still, the argument was forcibly brought to mind that “it is better to travel in the straight and narrow path,” than follow the broad highway, which, if not leading directly to Sheol, did (with us) in after years, pass so near that we saw fire and smoke, heard its roar, and witnessed all the devilish accompaniments of four years in “hell let loose.”

John was reported as missing in action on May 31, 1862, at Fair Oaks, Virginia, and was probably taken prisoner (although the record is unclear on this). He was reportedly exchanged and returned to the Regiment on either September 27 at Upton’s Hill, Virginia or September 28 at Camp Pitcher, Virginia. He may have been among the parolees who were mentioned in the Richmond Dispatch of September 15, 1862,

Three thousand three hundred of the Yankee prisoners left Richmond on Saturday for Varina to be exchanged. – Such as could not walk were conveyed away in wagons. The officers, of which there were 61, went in carriages, provided for the purpose. As the long line filed past the C. S. Prison, on Cary Street, they greeted their less lucky compeers with a feeble cheer. A small cavalry escort accompanied them down. Another large gang were started for Aiken’s landing, on James River, yesterday morning. During Saturday and Sunday five thousand two hundred and twenty-eight were sent away. This leaves on hand only about seven hundred, a good many of whom are in the hospital under treatment for wounds or disease, who were unable to bear removal. Three Yankee women and eight Yankee deserters, or rather men who came over to us and professed to be such, were sent from Castle Thunder. Though these deserters professed to have left their brethren in great disgust, they were very willing to be sent back to the North. The departure of the prisoners will save the Confederate Government an expense of about $4,000 per day, which was the average that their food as soldiers cost.

John was working as a clerk for the Brigade commissary from January of 1863 through May, and in June was wagon-master, probably in the Brigade Commissary, a position he held through July. By August he was reported AWOL, and in November was serving in the ambulance corps, probably as a wagoner. He was a teamster with the Third Brigade from December of 1863 through May of 1864, and was mustered out of service on June 20, 1864.

John eventually returned to Michigan.

He married Ohio native Emily Jane Odell (1847-1914) and they had at least one child: a daughter Hetta Belle (b. 1868).

They were living in Michigan in 1869 and by 1870 John was working as a wagon-maker and living with his wife and child in Allegan village, Allegan.

It appears that at some point between 1870 and 1880 John and Emily were divorced (she eventually remarried to a man named Odell). By 1880 John was listed as divorced and working as a farmer and living with his older brother Clinton and his family in Mason, Murray County, Minnesota. He was still living in Murray County, Minnesota in 1882, the year he became a member of the Old 3rd Michigan Infantry Association. At some point he eventually settled in Claremont, Surry County, Virginia where he was living by 1890, when he was drawing pension no. 728,604.

For unknown reasons, sometime in the mid-1890s his pension rate was reduced from $12 per month to $8.

John probably died in Virginia, on February 19, 1897, and was buried in St. Anne’s Cemetery, Claremont, Virginia (there is a monument in the center of the cemetery dedicated to the Union soldiers buried therein).

Monday, February 11, 2008

Henry S. Calkins - updated 1/28/2017

Henry S. Calkins was born on August 14, 1837, in Clinton County, New York, the son of New York native John Calkins (b. 1807) and Canadian Elizabeth “Betsey” Hedges (1805-1895).

Between 1838 and 1846 the family left New York and settled in Michigan and by 1850 Henry was living on the family farm in Tallmadge, Ottawa County. In 1860 Henry was working as a farm laborer and still living with his family in Tallmadge.

Henry stood 5’10” with blue eyes, brown hair and a light complexion, and was a 24-year-old farmer probably living in Tallmadge, Ottawa County when he enlisted in Company B on May 13, 1861. According to Reuben Randall, who was also from Tallmadge and who also served in Company B, Henry was taken sick sometime in mid-July and was confined to the regimental hospital while the regiment was advancing towards Bull Run. Henry was discharged on July 29, 1861, for consumption and “a predisposition to insanity.” After his discharge he returned to Michigan and settled in Tallmadge, Ottawa County. He was living as a single man in Tallmadge, Ottawa County in the summer of 1863 when he registered for the draft.

In 1863 Henry married Michigan native Ellen Coldron (1845-1934), and they had at least two children: Charles (1867-1929) and Elizabeth Bertha (1868-1934, Mrs. Ransom).

By 1870 Henry was working as a painter and living with his wife and children with his in-laws, the Jacob Coldron family in Grand Rapids’ 2nd Ward. (In 1870 his parents were still living in Tallmadge.) By 1880 Henry was reported to be working as an engineer and still living with his wife, who was working as a dressmaker and son Charles was working in a laundry at his in-laws’ home on Coit Avenue in Grand Rapids (his parents were still living in Tallmadge).

Henry may have been active in the Reform (or Temperance) movement in Ottawa County, and although he was mentioned in Old 3rd Michigan Infantry Association records he was apparently not a member. At some point Henry became mentally unstable and he was reportedly unable to support his wife (but not as a consequence of “vicious habits”).

Henry was admitted to the Michigan Soldiers’ Home (no. 386) for the first time on July 31, 1886. Although he reported himself as a married man he listed his nearest relative as his mother Betsey who was then living in Lamont, Ottawa County. He was discharged at his own request on November 29, and in February of 1887 he was residing at 87 Coit Avenue in Grand Rapids (possibly with his wife and/or in-laws). Sometime around 1888 he was admitted to an insane asylum, presumably in Kalamazoo, where he resided for about six months before being transferred to the Soldier’s Home in Grand Rapids. He was readmitted to the Home on November 29, 1888, discharged on June 20, 1891 and was in and out of the home several times until he was admitted for the last time on November 11, 1904. By 1900 Ellen had moved to Oregon and was living with her daughter Bertha and her family in Portland’s 9th Ward. It appears that she remained in Oregon for the rest of her life.

In 1890 he applied for a pension (application no. 966,665) but the certificate was never granted (and indeed his Home records note that he received no pension).

Henry was listed as a widower when he died of valvular heart disease at the Home on January 12, 1908, at 4:00 a.m., and according to the Home records his remains were taken to Ottawa County for interment in Berlin (Marne) cemetery, Ottawa County. In fact it appears that he was buried in Maplewood Cemetery, Lamont, Ottawa County, section I.

Curiously, his wife Ellen, who sometime around 1900 (or perhaps earlier) had moved to Oregon to live with her daughter Bertha and her husband Oscar Warren, listed herself as a widower in the Portland city directories beginning in 1900.

By 1910 Ellen was living with her son Charles and his family in Hood River, Oregon. By 1920 Ellen was living with her daughter Bertha and her family in Mount Hood, Hood River County, Oregon. She was living in Portland, Oregon in 1930 and 1931, and she died in Portland in 1934.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Charles R. Calkins

Charles R. Calkins was born December 4, 1836 or January 4, 1837, in either Unadilla, Otsego County, or Chenango County, New York, the son of Sylvanus or Sylvester (b. 1798) and Jane (Vanderberg, b. 1806).

Sylvanus was living in New Berlin, Chenango County, New York in 1840. In any case, by 1850 Charles was attending school with his two siblings and living with his parents in Bainbridge, Chenango County, New York, where his father (listed as “Sylvester W.”) was working as a shoemaker (the Vanderberg family lived nearby). it is not known if Charles left New York on his own if he moved west with his family. By 1860 Charles was probably working as a sash-maker for Warren Rindge in Grand Rapids’ Second Ward. That same year his mother (?) Jane was working as a nurse for and living with the George Judd family in Grand Rapids’ First Ward; George and his brother Samuel would also join the Third Michigan in 1861.

Charles stood 5’7” with black eyes, black hair and a dark complexion, and was 24 years old and probably still living in Grand Rapids when he enlisted in Company A on May 13, 1861. (Company A was made up largely of men from Grand Rapids, and many of whom had served in various local militia units before the war, specifically the Valley City Guards, or VCG, under the command of Captain Samuel Judd, who would also command Company A.)

According to a statement he made after the war, sometime in the fall of 1861, while serving with the regiment in its camp near Alexandria, Virginia, Charles was taken with chills and a fever and in “November 1861 was seized with pneumonia and placed in [the] regimental hospital” where he remained for about three weeks and then came home in a furlough. He was reported absent on furlough from January 23, 1862 and reported as still in furlough through the end of April, 1862.

He was reported at home sick on furlough in Grand Rapids in June of 1862, and on June 13, 1862, he wrote to Colonel Smith commanding the military rendezvous in Detroit inquiring what he should do about his furlough and his presumed discharge. He began by saying that in a recent issue of the Detroit Free Press he had seen

a notice to soldiers on furlough to report at your office. So I will state my case and await your advice [as to] what to do. I am a private of Co. A Capt. Judd (before he was killed) 3 Mich regt of infantry. I was taken sick in October [and] obtained a furlough the last of February. I was suffering with bronchitis when I came home and am now got [have now gotten] my furlough renewed [extended]. The next time I reported I sent my surgeon’s certificate for a discharge but did not hear any more for sometime but reported regular[ly] when my time expired. When Capt [Charles] Lyon went back [to the Regiment after] recruiting here for our Regt he said that I never would be fit to soldier anymore very soon anyway, and he would see what the Col. had done. Shortly after Lt. Lindsey of co. B resigned and came home and Col Champlin and Capt Judd sent word by him that my papers were properly made out and sent to Washington and that I ought to have had them before this time but to rest easy and he [Lyon] would make it all right.

Calkins added that Colonel Stephen Champlin, commanding the Third Michigan and who had recently been wounded, was “on his way home and I think the best way is let wait until he comes.” He also said that he asked the Kent County clerk to write “to the Auditor Gen to look for my papers now if they shouldn’t come shall I report to you [Smith] I have lost my health in the army and it seems as so I ought to be entitled to an honorable discharge but the pay is not what I am after but the thing has run long enough and the prospects are that I will not be able to do anything this summer at least. Please send me a letter by return mail with your advice.”

It is not known what Colonel Smith’s reply was, but apparently Charles was ordered to report to Detroit where he was examined by a Dr. Pritchard who found him recovered sufficiently to be returned to his regiment in Virginia. Charles claimed some years later that while en route to his regiment he took sick again and was admitted to a hospital in Baltimore.

By mid-July he was reported in Hygeia Hospital near Fortress Monroe, in “feeble” condition and “of little use as a soldier.” In fact, he was apparently suffering from typhoid fever. He was soon transferred up north, and on July 10, 1862 he was admitted to the general hospital at Fifth & Buttonwood Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, suffering from bronchitis. (Variously known as either fifth Street hospital or Buttonwood hospital.) He told an agent for the Michigan Soldiers’ Aid Association who interviewed him in Fifth Street hospital in Philadelphia that he thought he would soon be discharged, and indeed, he was discharged for bronchitis on August 2, 1862, at Philadelphia. (Charles claimed that he was admitted to Buttonwood hospital in Philadelphia and discharged from there as well.)

According to one report Calkins had contracted pneumonia during the war and “was sent home to die, but proved the surgeons in error by living nearly fifty years.”

Following his discharge from the army Charles returned to western Michigan.

He married New York native Elizabeth “Lizzie” Keeley (1845-1915) in 1863, and they had probably at least four children: Carrie (b. 1866), Mary E. (b. 1868), Emma (b. 1870), Clarence A. (1872-1894) and Frederick (b. 1876).

By 1867-69 Charles was working as a cabinet-maker and living on the west side of Broadway between Fifth and Sixth Streets in Grand Rapids, and in 1870 he was living with his wife and four children in the Fourth Ward working as a blinds-maker. By 1880 Charles was working in a furniture factory and living with his wife and children in Grand Rapids’ Seventh Ward; by 1881 he was residing at 149 Broadway in Grand Rapids. In fact he lived his postwar years mainly in Grand Rapids, in the Second and Sixth Wards, working as a cabinet-maker, and then operating a grocery business for some years on east Bridge Street Hill. In 1889-90 he was probably living at 346 Broadway, working for T. W. Allen in 1889 and C. C. Comstock in 1890.

Charles was a member of both the Old Third Michigan Infantry Association and Grand Army of the Republic Custer Post No. 29 in Grand Rapids, and in 1881 he applied for and received pension no. 268315.

He resided at Eleventh and Broadway Streets for more than 25 years, probably at 344 Broadway, and in about 1906 he retired to a farm near Cascade. He was living in Cascade in 1907.

When he became ill in the summer of 1910 he was taken to his daughter’s home at 445 South College Street in Grand Rapids, where he died of apoplexy on July 26, 1910. Funeral services were held at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Schmidt, at 2:00 p.m. Friday afternoon, July 29, and he was buried in Greenwood cemetery: section P lot 17.

His widow applied for and received a pension (no. 708759).

Friday, February 08, 2008

Charles E. Califf - update 12/14/2016

Charles E. Califf was born July 19, 1846, in Smithfield, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, the son of David E. (b. 1825) and Harriet (Knickerbocker, 1825-1890).

Pennsylvania-born David and New Yorker Harriet were married sometime before 1845. (Harriet was the sister of Ira Knickerbocker who would also serve in the Old Third.) By 1850 the family was living on a farm in Franklin, Bradford County, Pennsylvania (where David was born and raised), but in the late 1850s David and Harriet moved their family westward, eventually settling in Michigan by 1858 and in Fruitland, Muskegon County, Michigan, a year later David bought 160 acres of government land and after selling most of the timber on the land for lumber, cleared it for farming. By 1860 Charles was working as a farm hand and living with his family in Dalton, Muskegon County. (In 1860 there was one Hubbard "Caliph," born in Pennsylvania, 30 years old and working as a ferryman in Muskegon, Muskegon County.)

Charles stood 5’5” with black eyes, light hair and a sandy complexion and was a 19-year-old farmer living in Dalton, Muskegon County (or in Mears, Oceana County) when he enlisted in Company E on January 26, 1864, at Grand Rapids for 3 years, crediting Dalton, and was mustered the same day. He joined the Regiment on February 10, and was wounded on May 8, 1864, at the Wilderness, Virginia.

On May 14 he was admitted to the Second Division (Baptist church) hospital in Alexandria, Virginia, suffering from chronic diarrhea. Sometime afterwards, he wrote his mother from the hospital,

I take this opportunity to write you a few lines to let you know how I am getting along & I am getting along better than I was. I was pretty sick for about three weeks and I am not very well now. Now I will tell you about the fight so much as I know of it. We broke camp the third of May at 11 o’clock at night and marched all that night and till 2 o’clock the next day when we camped on the Chancellorsville battleground. There was graves where they were half out of the ground some with their arms in sight & others with their legs in sight with no end of skull bones lying around. The next day we marched till noon when we heard cannon off tot he right and about 3 we got where they were fighting. We were put on the skirmish line for about an hour then we were ordered to charge on them and we did too. The underbrush was so thick that we could hardly get through but we did get through. We charged up a hill when we got on top of the hill when the colonel ordered us to lay down and fire and how the bullets did [fly] cutting the bushes down on every side of us. The boys said they never saw men fall as fast as they did there. We had to get out of there on the double quick when we got up to leave I never expected to get out alive but I did not get hurt but I felt a ball touch my knee. The next morning I was taken with the diarrhea and sent to the regimental hospital and kept there four or five days and then sent here. There was five days I never ate a mouthful. I got so weak that I could hardly walk. I can’t eat anything now but bread and milk and rice. I wish you would send me some postage stamps for this is the last one that I have got. I like to have forgot to tell you that Uncle Ira is wounded. . . . Mr. Sheffield was wounded but I don’t know how bad. I don’t know where either of them are. I am all alone. Don’t forget to send some stamps for I have not got a cent of money. So good bye from Charlie.

Charles was transferred on June 7 to Summit House general hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was still absent sick when he was transferred to Company E, Fifth Michigan infantry upon consolidation of the Third and Fifth Michigan Regiments on June 10, 1864, and returned to duty from Summit House hospital on July 10, 1864. He was mustered out on July 5, 1865 at Jeffersonville, Indiana.

After the war Charles returned to his home in Fruitland where he farmed for many years.

He was living in Fruitland near his parents farm when he married Ohio native Emma R. Evans (1852-1928), on June 19, 1867, and they had at least six children: Ada (b. 1869), Ella (b. 1874), Hattie (b. 1876), Harry (b. 1878), Charles De L. (b. 1881), Leslie A. (b. 1884), Mabel J., (b. 1886), Edna M. (b. 1890) and Ernest F. (b. 1892).

Charles and Emma were living on a farm next to his parents’ farm in 1870, and he was still farming in Fruitland in 1880 and living with his wife and children. (David was living in Fruitland in 1887-1890.) By 1890 Charles was residing in Whitehall, Muskegon County, but by 1894 he was back in Fruitland.

In 1878 Charles applied for and received a pension (no. 421,563), and drawing $8.00 per month by 1889. In February of 1889 he became a member of the Grand Army of the Republic Noah Ferry Post No. 3 in Whitehall, Fruitland Township, Muskegon County.

Charles had been ill for some months in early 1896, possibly the consequence of having suffered a stroke.

In any case he died as a result of partial paralysis at his home in Fruitland on June 12, 1896, and was buried in Fruitland cemetery: block 1, grave no. 64.

In 1896 his widow applied for and received a pension (no. 437,149).