Darwin Hendershot

Darwin Hendershot was born in 1838 in Ohio, the son of Joseph (b. 1800 in Pennsylvania) and Naomi (Husong, b. 1804).

Darwin’s parents eventually settled in Ohio by 1822 or at least 1828, settling in Euclid, Cuyahoga County, Ohio where they resided for some years. By 1850 Darwin was attending school with his younger brother Alonzo (b. 1842) and living with their mother in Euclid, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Darwin left Ohio and moved westward, eventually settling in western Michigan where by 1860 he was working as a farm laborer and living with his older brother (?) David who was a stonecutter and his family in Caledonia, Kent County.

Darwin was 22 years old and probably living in Kent County when he enlisted at the age of 22 in Company A on June 10, 1861. By early August of 1861 he was reported to be sick and attempting to get a medical discharge. On August 8, 1861, George Miller of Company A, who probably knew Hendershot before the war, wrote home that “Dan Hendershot is in poor health and is applying for a discharge, I believe.” Darwin was, however, not discharged, but remained with the Regiment and by February of 1862 had been promoted to Corporal. He reportedly deserted at Fredericksburg, Virginia on December 14, 1862, from the color guard on the battlefield “before the enemy.”

There is no further record and no pension seems to be available.