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Descendants of Civil War soldiers


ChasUFarley
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With the diverse group we have here, I'm sure there's got to be some decedents of Civil War veterans. I've been working on a genealogy project and discovered a gr-gr-gr-grandfather plus some gr-gr-uncles who fought in the war.

Since tomorrow is Veterans' Day, I thought it would be interesting to see who else is a decedent...

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Several years ago I did a little research on an ancestor of mine - he's a uncle or cousin, many generations removed - named Marmaduke Foster (or possibly "Forster").

There's a great site online called "Sons of Veterans of the Civil War" or somesuch. Anyway, somebody on that site did the digging for me and sent me a short service record of sorts for Marmaduke (is that a great name 'er what?). He had fought with the New York Volunteers, earned a little rank, and died of wounds at Gettysburg. He'd never married, and died very young (at 23 IIRC).

I also had a great-grandfather (a Dr. Miller) who - though nobody knows anything about his war record now - was buried in a Civil War officer's uniform. Too bad records are so sparse, and with a name as common as "Miller", I think it would be nigh unto impossible to track down now.

Here's the site I used http://www.suvcw.org/

Edited by George Aar
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With the diverse group we have here, I'm sure there's got to be some decedents of Civil War veterans. I've been working on a genealogy project and discovered a gr-gr-gr-grandfather plus some gr-gr-uncles who fought in the war.

Since tomorrow is Veterans' Day, I thought it would be interesting to see who else is a decedent...

Post on....

I wish my Uncle (Dean Snyder) were still alive; he was, I believe, a fairly avid Civil war historian. But I never found out from him what if any roots our own family has.

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Ive been working on my genealogy off and on for a long time, I had a huge spurt when I focussed on it for about a year about 8 or 9 years ago where a lot of new things came together..good luck with the project Chas...and enjoy !

My great grandfather was in the 134th Pennsylvania Volunteers and fought at (amongst many other places)the battle of Gettysburg where he was wounded at the "Devils Den". The story that has been passed to me is that wounded he laid amongst the dead soldiers while over run by confederate troops and was somehow eventually rescued to safety and recovered. He went on after the war to father 11 children , including my grandfather.

I have one of the bullet casings from the 21 gun salute that was done at his gravesite when he passed away in 1933 that I am very thankful to have---

He was from a family of 12 and there were a number of brothers who also served, one who died in Andersonville Prison.

Edited by mstar1
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my Great- grandfather supposedly was a captain in the civil war that lost his ear during it. I believe his last name was Stanford. supposedly a brother of Leleand Stanford the Robber Baron. My nephew has his sword. This is all the info I Have from my mother. I've never have done any research on that side of the family though to substantiate it.

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My great-great-great Grandpa Beecher fought with the Grand Army of the Republic and I would have the cane to prove it except my mother got mad at me and gave it to my cousin.

On her side, great-great-grandpa Whitaker was just a young lad living in southeast Ohio, but he saw John Morgan's raiders coming, so he hid the purebred mare in the woods where they wouldn't steal her, got his gun and took potshots at "Morgan, Morgan the raider, and Morgan's terrible men." I do have a newspaper article, old and very yellow and frail, to prove that.

WG

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With the diverse group we have here, I'm sure there's got to be some decedents of Civil War veterans. I've been working on a genealogy project and discovered a gr-gr-gr-grandfather plus some gr-gr-uncles who fought in the war.

Since tomorrow is Veterans' Day, I thought it would be interesting to see who else is a decedent...

Post on....

You've gotten several (gracious) replies, but I'm thinking that those who replied are NOT decedents.

I'm figuring (and from the replies it looks like people were assuming) you meant "descendants."

For I'm certain that any decedents would NOT REALLY be welcome to visit the good ol' greasespot cafe.

:)

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Chas,

I have 5 direct ancestors that all fought for the South. My dad and brother are both members of Sons Of Confederate Veterans but I never joined. I have been to a few camp meetings and its interesting. I just don't get too bent out of shape about the taking down of the Confederate flag from public places and other "causes" that are near and dear to them.

I used to listen to my grandmother talk about having listened to her grandfather who fought at Shiloh. He was shot in the neck and had to walk to the hospital tent bleeding so badly the blood was sloshing in his boots. My mom was the one who researched all my ancestors. I was a little disappointed to find out that there wasn't a Confederate general among them. Not even a lieutenant. Nope.... they were ALL lowly buck privates. :(

sudo

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I've worked my tree for about 12 years. I have a few who fought in the Civil War. As far as I recall all my direct line were on the side of the north, but I have some loosely tied branches that were located in the south.

Somewhere I have a couple of local newspaper articles from the time period about one of my ancestors who was a Colonel in an IL regiment.

My grandfather at the behest of a few of his relatives documented our line to allow membership in the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution). He never really cared about such things however.

I've enjoyed the hobby, it gives a real historical perspective to events, and it is thrilling to make a breakthrough like being able to walk alone at sunrise through the eastern Germany village where at least 7 generations of my father's side were born, dating back to the 1600s.

Its just as thrilling to help someone else find a long lost link or memory.

Edited by HAPe4me
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I am descended from Confederates on both sides; there is not a single Yankee in my lineage, from the time that anybody was identified as Southern or Northern. Before that, though, I'm from Massachussets Bay Colony folk, and Revolutionary soldiers. Calvin Monroe was one of the Southerners, but I'd have to check the geneaology in the attic to give you the other names.

My dear husband is descended from the family of Turner Ashby, albeit nobody is descended from Turner himself, who died a bachelor.

My family was full of lovely people who were also pretty darn racist, and I don't really subscribe to the "Southern" thing any more; except for discussions of geneaology.

Love, niKa

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I used to get a lot more worked up about geneology than I do now.

Once I figured out that - once one gets beyond two or three generations - those people have only the tiniest of contribution to your life , genetically or any other way. Yeah, they may be your great, great, great grandparent, but they are to about 3 or 4 THOUSAND other folks too.

People are always so keen on tracing their ancestry back to the founding fathers or the Mayflower or maybe some royalty somewhere. But they usually disregard the hordes of horse theives, prostitutes, and nose-pickers that abound in every family tree as well (and in far greater numbers)...

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I used to get a lot more worked up about geneology than I do now.

Once I figured out that - once one gets beyond two or three generations - those people have only the tiniest of contribution to your life , genetically or any other way. Yeah, they may be your great, great, great grandparent, but they are to about 3 or 4 THOUSAND other folks too.

People are always so keen on tracing their ancestry back to the founding fathers or the Mayflower or maybe some royalty somewhere. But they usually disregard the hordes of horse thieves, [etc.] prostitutes, and nose-pickers that abound in every family tree as well (and in far greater numbers)...

I'm pretty sure that on my mother's side there are several of those types... they are from northern Arkansas, probably from back before the Civil War, but I did trace my maternal grandfather's line back to Germany in the 1700s... and on my dad's side, my grandparents came from Italy around the time of WWI.

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I used to get a lot more worked up about geneology than I do now.

Once I figured out that - once one gets beyond two or three generations - those people have only the tiniest of contribution to your life , genetically or any other way. Yeah, they may be your great, great, great grandparent, but they are to about 3 or 4 THOUSAND other folks too.

People are always so keen on tracing their ancestry back to the founding fathers or the Mayflower or maybe some royalty somewhere. But they usually disregard the hordes of horse theives, prostitutes, and nose-pickers that abound in every family tree as well (and in far greater numbers)...

What if your Mayflower ancestor was also the proverbial "horse thief"... I've got one of those. He was my 8th gr-grandfather - Stephen Hopkins.

Stephen Hopkins was aboard the ship "Sea Venture" which left for the Jamestown Colony in Virginia in 1609. The ship was wrecked by a hurricane in Bermuda and Stephen was one of one hundred and fifty castaways who survived. After about six months in Bermuda, Stephen began to challenge the authority of the governor and began to organize a mutiny. He was arrested and put in chains. He was tried and found to be guilty and was sentenced to death but the record states that "But so penitent hee was, and made so much moane, alleadging the ruine of his Wife and Children in this his trespasse" that he finally was pardoned. This shipwreck was partly responsible for inspiring Shakespeare's play, The Tempest.

Finally, the castaways worked together to construct two ships and were able to sail on to Jamestown. Stephen had contact with Indians there and it is thought that the reason that he was a passenger on the Mayflower was because of his experience in the New World. He was called a tanner or leather maker at the time.

Stephen and Elizabeth and two children from his first marriage and a two-year-old child from their marriage sailed on the Mayflower. He also had two men servants. On the way, their son, Oceanus was born between 6 September and 11 November 1620 while the ship was at sea. They had five more children after their arrival in Plymouth.

In Plymouth, Stephen was one of three men designated to advise Captain Myles Standish on the first land expedition. He was deputized to meet the Indians and act as an interpreter. In Plymouth, he was referred to as a merchant and a planter and was called "Gentleman". He served as Assistant Governor of the colony in 1633/34.

The Mayflower passengers were referred to as Saints who were part of the religious group and "strangers" who had come along for other reasons. As a "stranger", Stephen often found himself in trouble. He was fined for battery of a John Tisdale, was charged at various times involving the sale of wine, beer, strong waters and nutmeg at excessive rates. He was charged with refusing to deal fairly with an apprentice girl and also with selling a looking glass at an excessive price. Stephen dated his will on 6 June 1644. It was proved upon testimony of William Bradford and Captain Myles Standish in Plymouth on 20 August 1644.

You've gotten several (gracious) replies, but I'm thinking that those who replied are NOT decedents.

I'm figuring (and from the replies it looks like people were assuming) you meant "descendants."

For I'm certain that any decedents would NOT REALLY be welcome to visit the good ol' greasespot cafe.

:)

I know... I know...

But I can't edit my posts - the damn button "edit" doesn't show up....

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Some of my father's great-great-great or so uncles were a pair of twins who were Baptist evangelists and preachers, one of whom was accused of improprietries with a choir member.

Chas that is an awesome story.

I have been told if I properly researched my ancestry I could belong both to the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Daughters of the Confederacy, but I'm not sure where the latter comes from. Possibly some of the children or grandchildren of one of my ancestors, whose name escapes me, but I have a copy of his 1848 will doling out his properties to his 12 children. He sent one son packing to the land he owned in Ohio, and that is how we got here. They were from Loudon County, Virginia.

Oh I just remembered, his last name was Skinner.

WG

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Yes, we have Revolutionary folks, too, on both sides, and my husband has them on at least his Dad's side, as well. I am descended from one woman who has credit as a Revolutionary fighter, albeit she appears to only have defended her own home (vigorously) against a Tory raiding party. She was injured in that altercation, and never walked "right" again. Her son was walking down the street in Nashville after the war, and by chance met the sole remaining survivor of that raiding party, whom he promptly shot dead. The good people of Nashville declined to prosecute him.

It's pretty interesting to think about all of the sacrifices others have made so that we can be here, in this great Human experiment of America. I believe that we are faced with different challenges today; it's hard to start a country, and also hard to keep one going in a right direction. We're not fighting off Tories or Yankees today, but we face other issues which require courage and strength. I hope that those who fought for us would be proud of how we're living our lives today.

love, niKa

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I hope that those who fought for us would be proud of how we're living our lives today.

IMO that can be said about those who fight for us as well.

(Recognizing them has nothing to do with glorifying the reasons they are fighting...this from one whose stepdaughter for the last 23 1/2 years became a U.S. citizen a few years ago while refusing to make the pledge to bear arms).

Back to the Civil War...I remember (funny about my memory!) a story in the Shelby, OH Daily Globe back around 1960 or so about the last surviving Civil War vet dying at age 112.

Edited by Lifted Up
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Interestingly, the last Confederate widow just died last year. She'd been a very young bride, married to a poor sharecropper, when she suddenly became a very young widow, with a baby. She married her elderly neighbor, who had been in the Civil War as a near-youngster. After he passed on, she married his son, whom she also outlived. She died this past year. The oldest Union widow had passed away within five years before that.

Oh, if you read the book or saw the miniseries True Women, those sisters are our family. That's mr.niKa's branch. My branch sold them the horse that they hid in the brambles so that the other Army wouldn't steal him.

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