Civil War Pension Application ~ William Wallace Bruce

I was recently exploring Civil War Pension applications at Fold3.com and found 29 pages for the husband of a second great grand aunt of mine. Although he is not a direct ancestor, this pension file had information that answered some long-time questions that I have had about him.

Some background: my third great-grandfather, Thomas Cutler Whitman, was born in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, to parents who were Loyalists who fled to Nova Scotia after the Revolution. It looks like he was father of nine children, some of whom came to New York, some who came to New York and returned to Nova Scotia, and possibly some who remained in Nova Scotia. It is a challenge to keep track of this family.

His oldest daughter was Esther Abigail Whitman, who married James Pyle.

The second (I believe) daughter is found in records as Maria Whitman, Maria E. Whitman, Maria Bruce, and Ella M. Bruce, though in only one census record do I find her with her likely husband, William Bruce (born about 1831), and that is in the 1860 U.S. Census, which you can see here.

In the 1900 U.S. Census (the image is here), which was taken in June 1900, I find Ella M. Bruce, of the right age, in the same household as Esther Pyle, sister, (and Harriet Bliss, sister). All three of these women were born Whitman. Esther Pyle's husband had just died five months previously.

"Case Files of Approved Pension Applications of Civil War and Later Navy Veterans (Navy Survivors' Certificates), 1861-1910.", digital image, The National Archives (http://www.fold3.com/title_120/navy_survivors_certificates/), Fiche Number: 20510; Certificate Number: 21256. Record for William W. Bruce, page 07: Pension application questions.

William W. Bruce started his pension application in November 1891 and received pension payments from 1892 until his death in 1895.

The following is a partial transcription of one very useful page of the application:

Handwritten entries are in blue; my comments are [bracketed].

                           Invalid [Person who is sick or disabled]

                      Department of the Interior

                           Bureau of Pensions

Wm. W. Bruce

U.S. Navy, Washington, D.C., Jan. 3, 1892

Sir:

Please return this circular at your earliest convenience, with answers to the following questions:

1. Are you a married man, and if so, what is your wife's full name, and what was her maiden name? Ans. No, Am a Widower. Wife died in March 1886. [Since I know Ella / Maria was still living in 1900, I originally wondered if I had the right man.]

2. When and where were you married? Ans. Jersey City, N.J. on Agust 16th 1880.

3. What record of marriage exists? Ans. Recorded in Jersey City N.J.

4. If you had been previously married state the name of your former wife and the date of her death or divorce. Ans. Married on December 25th, 1855 in Guysborough, Nova Scotia, to Maria E. Whitman at the age of 17 years. Divorced in New York City in 1876. [YES - this is the kind of information I was looking for!]

5. If you have any children living state their names and ages. Ans. Three living. James P. Bruce in Prescott, Arizona; Age 31 years, Wm. W. Bruce aged 25 years. Ansia E. Bruce Aged 28 years (New York State)  [Again, YES - I only knew of James.]

This information is desired for use in the pension claim above referred to.

Very respectfully, Green B. Rauin, Commissioner.

Wm. W. Bruce

475 Canal St.

N.Y. City

This pension file also gave me William's date of death: June 24, 1895, since the government had to know when to stop paying his pension. With that date, I was able to find his name in a Connecticut death index.

I also found out about his service in the U.S. Navy between August 1864-July 1865, as a Landsman, the lowest rank in the U.S. Navy at this time. It appears that he injured his back during his naval service and in several places he indicates that he is unable to work due to: "Heart disease, bronchitis, injury to back, defective eyesight, general debility."

Not only can I add some names and dates to my tree, but I get a sense of William's life, AND that of his first wife, my second great grand aunt. I have never been able to find her family in the U.S. Census in 1870 or 1880 and I wonder if she returned to Nova Scotia for a couple of decades before returning to New York to be with her widowed sisters.

Civil War Blogpost Challenge ~ Military Monday

For Bill West's Civil War Blogpost Challenge, I looked at my database to see which of my ancestors might have fought in the U.S. Civil War (150 years ago). I find that I can't add much more to what I have already shared about the service of my ancestors in the Civil War.

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My maternal grandmother's ancestors were in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. I have written about my second great grand uncle, James M. Lysle, who died in Virginia, serving for the 63rd Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. I share his picture here again. His youngest brother, George Lysle, my second great-grandfather, was born in 1845, possibly too young to serve, but working in a coal company, perhaps he provided help in the war effort in other ways.

There were a few other Alstons and Lysles (great-uncles and/or distant cousins) who served from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania, Veterans Burial Cards, 1777-1999, at Ancestry.com, is a good resource to determine Civil War service. I do not find my third great grandfather, James Freeland, who died on March 1, 1863, at about age 48, according to his gravestone (see his FindAGrave memorial) or my third great-grandfather, Samuel Hunter, who also died in 1863 at about age 49, in this database, or in Civil War records at Fold3.com, so it appears that they may not have fought, but perhaps served in other ways.

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My maternal grandfather's father's family was in Maine (see second great-grandfather Henry Copeland's draft information here). It looks like he was exempted from service.

My maternal grandfather's mother's family was in Chicago. I wrote about what I could find about second great-grandfather Samuel S. Greeley's service (building sewers) here.

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Military Monday ~ Henry Clay Copeland

Several weeks ago, I posted information about a second great grandfather found in the Civil War Draft Registration Records. Another second great grandfather found in Ancestry.com's Civil War Draft Registrations, 1863-1865, is Henry Clay Copeland, in Calais, Washington County, Maine. Below is the top and very bottom of the page that shows Henry C. Copeland, age 31, Merchant, married. He was born in Norridgewock and lived in Calais on June 23, 1863, the date of this record.

Ancestry.com, U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), www.ancestry.com, Database online. Fifth Congressional District of Maine; line 18, record for Henry C. Copeland.

In this case, I did find another list that included Henry C. Copeland. The following is a screen shot of two pages. The source information from Ancestry.com is the same as that of the previous record, but this one notes a date of July 1, 1863, and includes some additional information.

These are all residents of Calais. The third line down indicates that Henry C. Copeland, is 31 years old, a merchant, and born in Maine. On the right hand page, under Remarks, is written "Disability" and the number "2." It looks like this second great grandfather didn't serve in the Civil War due to a claim of a disability, but I'm not sure what his disability was.

Military Monday is a daily blogging prompt from Geneabloggers, the genealogy community's resource for blogging. It is used by many genealogy bloggers to help them tell stories of their ancestors.

Military Monday ~ Ashby Connections

My second great grandfather, Daniel Morgan Ashby, was born in January 1828 and died July 13, 1907. I do not have a primary source record for his birth. All the records I have indicate that he was born in Kentucky (census records, death certificate), I'm just not sure where, as different sources indicate different counties.

Several years ago, I connected with a Kentucky researcher who was able to provide me with D. M. Ashby's ancestry to immigrant ancestor, Thomas Ashby (b. 1680, England, d. 1752, Virginia): 

Daniel Morgan5 Ashby (1828-1907), Stephen4 Ashby (1805-1829), Daniel3 Ashby (1759-1834), Stephen2 Ashby (1710-1797), Thomas1 Ashby (1680-1752)

Please note that some of this is considered secondary source information. I am hoping to ultimately find some primary source evidence to prove Daniel Morgan Ashby's parentage, which would be great. By confirming his parents, this would make the connection to the Virginia Ashby family, of which there is a lot of information.

Confederate Commander Turner Ashby (information at Wikipedia) has the following ancestry:

Turner5 Ashby, Jr. (1828-1862), Turner4 Ashby (1789 - 1834), John3 Ashby (1740-1815), Robert2 Ashby (1710/15-1792), Thomas1 Ashby (1680-1752)

The number after each man's name indicates the generation since the immigrant ancestor, who in this case is Thomas Edward Ashby. My second great grandfather is a third cousin to Turner Ashby, Jr. which makes me a third cousin four times removed to Confederate Commander (not actually General) Turner Ashby.

May 10, 2013 update: After reviewing The Ashby Book by Lee Fleming Reese (1976) for a Surname Saturday blog post, I have updated Turner Ashby's ancestry. The author was able to prove that his line was through Thomas' son Robert, not his son John.

Interestingly, D. M. Ashby was drafted into the Union Army, as he lived in Kentucky. 

My descent from Daniel Morgan Ashby > Mary Bowman Ashby > Elizabeth Adsit > Charles McAlpin Pyle, Jr. > me.

Military Monday is a daily blogging prompt from GeneaBloggers, the genealogy community's resource for blogging. It is used by many genealogy bloggers to help them tell stories of their ancestors.

Military Monday ~ D. M. Ashby

I found my 2nd great grandfather, Daniel Morgan Ashby, of Barren County, Kentucky, in Ancestry.com's Civil War Draft Registration Records, 1863-1865:

Ancestry.com, U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), www.ancestry.com, Database online. Line 20, record for D. M. Ashby.

Detail from above record

D. M. Ashby was 37 years old, white, occupation Merchant, and born in Kentucky. (I think that N. B. Ashby, two lines above, age 39, a farmer, was his brother, but I don't have primary source evidence for this.)

From Ancestry.com's description of these records:

There were four drafts between 1863 and 1865, which included 3.175 million records. Historically, the 1863 draft was one of the most tenuous moments in the Union outside of the battles fought on Northern soil. Most of the concern was due to the draft riots that took place in New York in 1863.
These records include 631 volumes of registries and are basically lists of individuals who registered for the draft. The records are split into two different classes, Class I are those aged 20-35 as well as those 36-45 and unmarried. Class II is everyone else that registered.

Another item for my to-do list: find out if Daniel Morgan Ashby served in the Civil War. A quick look at Ancestry.com shows me that there were at least two other Daniel Ashbys on the side of the Union in the Civil War - one in Indiana and one in Missouri. There were also Ashbys on the Confederate side in Virginia, very likely cousins to great great grandfather Daniel Morgan Ashby, but at first glance, I don't see "my" Daniel Morgan (or D. M.) Ashby in other ancestry.com Civil War databases or in fold3.com Civil War databases.

Military Monday is a daily blogging prompt from GeneaBloggers, the genealogy community’s resource for blogging. It is used by many genealogy bloggers to help them tell stories of their ancestors.

Military Monday ~ Building a Civil War Sewer

My second great grandfather, Samuel Sewall Greeley (1824 - 1916) was of the right age to have served in some capacity in the U.S. Civil War. The only Civil War record I have found for him is from Official records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1861-1865, an online database at Ancestry.com.

From Series II, Vol. 4. Correspondence, orders, reports, and returns relating to prisoners of war, pp. 278-279

Camp Douglas, in Chicago, Illinois, was a large Union prisoner of war camp, with approximately 7,800 prisoners in July 1862. (See page 278 above.)

From Wikipedia:

"It became a prisoner-of-war camp in early 1862. Later in 1862 the Union Army again used Camp Douglas as a training camp. In the fall of 1862, the Union Army used the facility as a detention camp for paroled Union Army prisoners pending their formal exchange for Confederate prisoners. Camp Douglas became a permanent prisoner-of-war camp from January 1863 to the end of the war in May 1865. In the summer and fall of 1865, the camp served as a mustering out point for Union Army volunteer regiments. The camp was dismantled and the movable property was sold off late in the year. In the aftermath of the war, Camp Douglas eventually came to be noted for its poor conditions and death rate of between seventeen and twenty-three per cent."

Transcribed from above, Colonel Joseph H. Tucker, writes to Colonel William Hoffman on July 24, 1862:

"I forward an estimate made by S. S. Greeley for introduction of sewer, for sinks connected therewith and for the supply of water for the camp. This estimate I am informed was handed to you by Mr. Greeley while you were here. I do not send the estimate as approved by me; I merely lay it before you."

From Series II, Vol. 4. Correspondence, orders, reports, and returns relating to prisoners of war, pp. 280-281

These pages include the detail of the estimate to build the sewer for Camp Douglas. The total cost is estimated to be $8,257.18, including labor.  "The work will probably occupy nearly six weeks after it is actually begun." and is signed Samuel S. Greeley, Civil Engineer.

I have not been able to find confirmation that the Union Army hired S. S. Greeley to build the sewer, but there are references to the need for water and "an ample system of drainage."

From Series II, Vol. 4. Correspondence, orders, reports, and returns relating to prisoners of war, p. 353

Military Monday is a daily blogging prompt from GeneaBloggers, the genealogy community’s resource for blogging. It is used by many genealogy bloggers to help them tell stories of their ancestors.

Military Monday ~ James M. Lysle

After reading Russ's suggestion at Family Tree Maker User and Lisa's post at The Faces Of My Family on how to filter people in Family Tree Maker, I filtered my tree from 4,294 down to 80 men born between 1818 and 1846 who could have been soldiers in the Civil War. The one I already knew about is James M. Lysle, a second great grand uncle on my mother's side.

Yours Truly
Jas M Lysle 63d Regt Pa Vol

Here is a Mathew Brady portrait of my second great grand uncle. On the back is written (in unknown handwriting): "James M. Lysle / Killed in Civil War / age 21 years." [sic]

The 63rd Regiment of Pennsylvania, Volunteer Infantry, was made up of men from McKeesport, Allegheny County, organized in August 1861. The U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles found at Ancestry.com tells me that he enlisted on August 19, 1861. His regiment left the state on August 26, 1861, for Washington, D. C. More details of this regiment can be found at the Park Service Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System where you can search for Last Name = Lysle, First Name = James, and State = Pennsylvania.


According to the Ancestry.com database: American Civil War Soldiers (compiled by Historical Data Systems of Kingston, MA), James enlisted as a second lieutenant and was promoted to Full Quartermaster on September 1, 1861. According to the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, it looks like he served in defense of Washington, D. C. until March 1862.

Under the Red Patch: Story of the Sixty-third Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1864 compiled by Gilbert Adams Hays with personal narrative by William H. Morrow (published in 1908), can be found at Google Books, and this includes several mentions of Great Great Great Uncle James M. Lysle.