Friday, May 29, 2009

Andrew Gould and James Kilpatrick

Andrew Gould Kilpatrick was born on June 14, 1842, in Newmilns, Ayrshire, Scotland, the son of John (b. 1798) and Janet or Genet (Wiley, 1797-1878).

His parents were married in Loudon, Scotland on either February 28 or March 6, 1819, and Andrew was the youngest of eleven children. John brought his family to the United States in 1847, arriving in Rochester, New York in September, and eventually settling in western Michigan, spending one winter in Hastings, Barry County.

In fact, their oldest son, John Jr. had preceded them to Michigan and by 1850 had settled in Woodland Township, Barry County. John Sr. settled his family in Woodland and became a U.S. citizen on October 16, 1851. He was elected Town Treasurer in 1853, in 1859, he built a sawmill on Mud Creek, in section 23 of Woodland Twp and was elected Justice of the Peace in 1874 and 1878. Andrew and the other younger children probably attended school in Vermontville, Bary County, in the late 1850s. By 1860 Andrew was a farmer living with his family in Woodland, Barry County.

Andrew stood 5’8” with gray eyes, brown hair and a dark complexion, and was 19 years old and still residing in Barry County when, along with his older brother James, he enlisted in the Hastings Rifle Company in April of 1861. The company was disbanded shortly after it arrived in Grand Rapids and its members distributed to other companies of the Third Michigan infantry then forming at Cantonment Anderson just south of the city. Andrew eventually enlisted with his parents’ consent in Company E on May 13, 1861, along with his brother James. (They would be joined by their brother-in-law Robert Barry, in 1864.)

Shortly after the regiment arrived in Washington in mid-June of 1861, Andrew began keeping a diary, which he maintained erratically until the end of the war.

In late September (probably on the 28th) Andrew was taken ill, and on November 20 he was sent to Columbia College hospital in Washington. He left Columbia hospital on December 6 when he was transferred to the Mansion hospital in Alexandria, Virginia. He returned to camp on December 30 and was subsequently sent to the regimental hospital on January 4, 1862.

By early spring of 1862 Andrew was sick at home in Barry County, according to Lieutenant Abraham Whitney, who was in Michigan recruiting for the Third Michigan, and who knew Kilpatrick. Whitney wrote to Detroit from Lowell, Kent County on March 24, 1862, that “Andrew Kilpatrick, a private in company E of the Michigan Third Infantry who has been home on a sick furlough has applied to me for a pass back to the Regiment. He says he cannot get money to take him back and I think that is probably the case, for I have known him since last spring and can recommend him as an honest truthful boy. He lives in the town of Woodland, Ionia [sic] County and thinks he can get some more boys to come with him. Can I give him a free pass to Detroit and can he be sent through with the next detachment of recruits?”

Andrew eventually rejoined the Regiment and was probably wounded on August 29, 1862, at Second Bull Run. He was absent sick in the hospital in August of 1862, but had rejoined the Regiment by January 1 of 1863, when he resumed his diary entries.

On January 12, Andrew took over cooking duties for the company, since the company cook was taken ill, and he resumed his cooking duties after the regiment returned to camp in mid-May of 1863, following the battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia. Indeed, he was present for duty with the regiment during the battles of Chancellorsville on May 3 and Gettysburg on July 2 (the second day of the battle). In late August Andrew accompanied the Third Michigan to New York for the upcoming draft. The regiment spent more than two weeks in New York City and Troy, New York, and by the end of September the Third had returned to Virginia.

On December 21 Andrew was examined by the regimental surgeon, Dr. James Grove and he officially reenlisted on December 23, 1863, at Brandy Station, Virginia, crediting Caledonia, Kent County.

At about 7:00 a.m. on December 28 Andrew along with the other reenlistees, left the regimental camp near Brandy Station, Virginia. They spent the first night at the Soldiers’ Retreat (now the Soldier’s Home) near Washington. They left Baltimore at 8:00 a.m. on the 29th, changed trains at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, stopped for supper at Altoona and reached Pittsburgh before dawn on December 30. They proceeded directly on to Cleveland, taking the better part of the day. On December 31 they headed to Toledo where they arrived at about 4:00 p.m. Due to heavy snowfall the trip goes very slowly, and the “veterans” do not leave Toledo until New Year’s Day at about 9:00 a.m. They spend January 2 stuck in the snow aboard the train and at last arrive in Grand Rapids by January 3. Andrew spends the 4th in Grand Rapids, picks up his furlough (apparently) from the Provost Marshal’s office (presumably) and goes to Ada in Kent County where he meets his brother James. The following day, January 5 he returned to Grand Rapids and on January 6 heads for his family’s home in Barry County.

While at home Andrew visited numerous friends and family in Barry County and in Kalamazoo. On the 5th he returned to Grand Rapids and stayed at the Barnard House. He continued to visit with friends in Kent and Ionia counties until February 10 when, after receiving his state bounty for $150 he left for Detroit aboard the 7;00 p.m. train. He arrived in Detroit at 10:00 in the morning on the 11th, left for Toledo at 11:00 a.m., arriving at 2:00 p.m. On February 12 he left Toledo at 3:00 a.m., arrived in Cleveland at 9:30 in he morning, left an hour late and arrived in Pittsburgh at about 10:30 that night. He ate supper at the Soldier’s Retreat, hosted by the citizens of Pittsburgh. He left Pittsburgh at 3:15 a.m., ate breakfast in Altoona at 8:00 a.m., arrived in Harrisburg at 1:00 p.m. and left for Baltimore at 3:00 p.m.

Andrew arrived in Baltimore around daylight on the 14th. He arrived in Washington at 5:00 p.m., stayed at the Soldier’s Retreat and at last headed for the regiment’s camp on February 16 at about 6:00 a.m. He rode “on top of a carload of hay in a furious storm of wind and snow.” He arrived at camp at 3:00 p.m. where he was “heartily welcomed back by our old comrades.”

On Thursday, March 10, 1864, Andrew woke up with “A very sore throat from the effects of a bad cold.” Two days later he was taken sick with “a heavy fever with pains in the head and temples.” The following day, March 13, Dr. James Grove, the regimental surgeon, told Andrew that his illness “is a sort of ague fit.”

He was reportedly wounded in early May and was transferred as a Corporal to Company E, Fifth Michigan infantry upon consolidation of the Third and Fifth Michigan Regiments on June 10, 1864. He was mustered out on July 5, 1865, at Jeffersonville, Indiana.

After the war Andrew returned to Michigan and bought his father’s farm in Woodland.

On October 20, 1867, he married Michigan native Sarah Ann Cole (b. 1849 in Woodland), in Barry County, and they had at least seven children: Decina (b. 1869), Nellie M. (b. 1871), Emmett (b. 1875), George Gould (b. 1882), Andrew Vernon (b. 1886), Agnes (b. 1890) and Jennie F. (b. 1891).

By 1880 Andrew was working as a farmer and living with his wife and family in Woodland. In 1883 they moved from Woodland to Shelby, Brown County, Dakota Territory (now South Dakota). In fact, Andrew spent his remaining years in South Dakota. By 1907 Andrew was living in Houghton, South Dakota and was a member of the Old Third Michigan Infantry Association. In 1913 he was living in South Dakota when he was appointed by then-Governor Francis Byrne as an official delegate from the state to the 50th reunion of the veterans of the battle of Gettysburg. By 1916 he was residing in Houghton South Dakota and in 1920 he was living in Shelby, Brown County, South Dakota.

In 1914 he applied for and received a pension (no. 1099029).

Andrew died in Houghton on April 23, 1923, and was presumably buried in Houghton.

In 1923 his widow applied for and received a pension (no. 935243).

James Kilpatrick was born on January 4, 1840, in New Milns, Ayrshire, Scotland, the son of John (b. 1798) and Janet (1797-1878).

James was the second to the youngest of eleven children. His parents were married in Loudon, Scotland on either February 28 or March 6, 1819, and John brought his family to the United States in 1847, arriving in Rochester, New York in September, and eventually settling in western Michigan, spending one winter in Hastings, Barry County. In fact, their oldest son, John Jr. had preceded them to Michigan and by 1850 had settled in Woodland Township, Barry County. John Sr. settled his family in Woodland and became a U.S. citizen on October 16, 1851. He was elected Town Treasurer in 1853, in 1859, he built a sawmill on Mud Creek, in section 23 of Woodland Twp and was elected Justice of the Peace in 1874 and 1878. James and the other younger children probably attended school in Vermontville, Barry County, in the late 1850s. By 1860 James was a farm laborer living with his family in Woodland, Barry County.

James stood 5’8” with gray eyes, brown hair and a dark complexion and was 21 years old and still residing in Barry County when, along with his younger brother Andrew, he enlisted in the Hastings Rifle Company in April of 1861. The company was disbanded shortly after it arrived in Grand Rapids and its members distributed to other companies of the Third Michigan infantry then forming at Cantonment Anderson just south of the city. James eventually enlisted in Company E on May 13, 1861, along with his brother Andrew. (They would be joined by their brother-in-law Robert Barry, in 1864.)

James was absent sick in August of 1862 and discharged on September 29, 1862, at Upton’s Hill, Virginia, for an inguinal hernia which occurred on July 8, 1862, while he was loading wagons at Harrison’s Landing, Virginia.

Following his discharge James may have moved to Minnesota, although he eventually returned to Michigan, probably to Barry County.

He married New York-born Adelaide Greenfield (b. 1844), November 7, 1866, in Bedford, Calhoun County, and they had at least four children: Edith (b. 1867), Grace (b. 1873), Della (b. 1876) and Dana (b. 18820.

It is possible that he was living in New York in 1867 when Edith was born. By 1870 he was working as a farmer and living with his wife and daughter Edith in Hastings, Barry County. It is possible that the family was living in Ohio in 1873 when Grace was born.

In any case, he eventually settled in the northern Michigan. By 1880 he was working as a farmer and living with his wife and two children in Bliss, Emmet County; also living with them was his mother-in-law Mary Greenfield.. He was living in Cross Village, Emmet County in 1883, and he was still living in Cross village in 1888, in 1890 when his pension was increased and in Bliss, Emmett County in 1894.

James was a member of Grand Army of the Republic Richardson Post No. 13 in Harbor Springs, Emmet County. In 1869 he applied for and received a pension (no. 121,958), drawing $4.00 per month in 1883, and increased to $6.00 by 1890.

James died at his home in Bliss Township, Emmett County on July 16, 1899, and was buried in Bliss cemetery: lot 37. (Hugh Kilpatrick who served in the Twenty-first Michigan infantry is also buried in Bliss cemetery.)

His widow applied for and received a pension (no. 506774) until 1905 when she remarried John Cook. After Mr. Cook died in 1916 she was possibly living in Barry County when she applied for renewal of her widow’s pension.

3 comments:

Sara said...

I am a great great grandchild of Andrew Kilpatrick. I have a copy of his diary. We recently discover that he was livied in Houghton, SD. Tonight we stopped by the cemetary in Houghton and A. G. Kilpatrick and Sarah Kilpatrick are buried there.

Steve Soper said...

Can you share any photos of Andrew's grave? Thanks!

Don Hillen said...

I am a great grandchild of Andrew Kilpatrick. I also have a copy of his diary. Thanks, Sara, for the information on his grave in Houghton. I was going to go to Houghton and try and locate it, as he was buried in Houghton.