Peter Myers - updated 11/6/2017

Peter Myers was born in 1841 in Chatham, Ontario, Canada, the son of Ontario, Canada natives Hiram Myers (1814-1900) and Barbara Traxler (1819-1895).

Peter’s parents were married in 1834 in Chatham, Ontario, Canada (where Barbara had been born), and resided in Chatham until sometime between 1843 and 1845, when they settled in first Sparta then Alpine Township, Kent County, Michigan. In 1847 and 1850 Hiram and his family were living in Plainfield, Kent County, and back in Sparta by 1854. By 1860 his father owned and operated a substantial amount of land in Sparta, Alpine Township. That same year Peter was attending school, working as a farm laborer and living with his family in Sparta.

He was 20 years and probably still living in Sparta when he enlisted with his parents’ consent in Company C on May 13, 1861. (His younger brother Andrew would join Company F in 1864. Peter’s sister Elizabeth married the brother of Allen Thayer would also join Company F, 3rd Michigan about the same time as Andrew Myers.)

Peter was shot in the shoulder on August 29, 1862, at Second Bull Run, and admitted to Bellevue hospital in New York City on September 12, 1862, from the steamer Bellevue. He remained hospitalized through January of 1863. He was awarded the Kearny Cross for his participation in the battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia on May 3, 1863, and was again absent sick in the hospital in August.

Peter eventually recovered and rejoined the Regiment. He was taken prisoner on November 30, 1863, at Mine Run, Virginia, and reportedly confined at Andersonville prison along with a brother who had joined the 1st Michigan cavalry (who allegedly died around August 1, 1864, at Andersonville). By the end of 1864 Peter was a prisoner in Blackshire, Georgia. He was paroled at Jacksonville, Florida on April 28, 1865, admitted to the hospital at Annapolis, Maryland on June 20, and discharged the same day.

After he left the army Peter returned to Sparta.

He married Canadian-born Henrietta Emmons (b. 1846) on July 4, 1865 in Sparta, and they had at least five children: Euphemia Barbara (1866-1929), George (b. 1874), Ethel (b. 1876), Grace (b. 1878) and Eugene (b. 1880). Henrietta was the sister of David Emmons who had served in Company K.

By 1870 peter was working a large farm and living with his wife and daughter in Sparta, next door to his parents and siblings. By 1880 the family had moved out west and living in Creighton, Knox County, Nebraska. The family eventually returned to Michigan. Peter may have been a member of the Old 3rd Michigan Infantry Association.

In 1870 he applied for and received a pension (135407).

Peter reportedly died in April of 1883, probably in Sparta, and was buried in Meyers cemetery, Sparta: 0-123-1.

In August of 1883 Henrietta was living in Michigan when she applied for and received a widow’s pension (no. 885766). She eventually married Charles Marsh and in 1891 (?) she applied on behalf of one or more minor children for a dependent child’s pension which was granted (no. 354965).