Remembering My Fallen Ancestors

     My family has been lucky not to experience the loss of a soldier, sailor or marine since the days of the Civil War, though many have since fought for our country.  Since Memorial Day evolved from the Civil War, it seems fitting to remember those ancestors today.

     Private Wiley Powell was 42 years old when he enlisted in the 38th GA Infantry Regiment as a substitute.  I have to assume that either his family needed the money, or he supported the war effort and saw a financial opportunity.  Wiley fought at 2nd Manassas, Chancelorsville, Winchester, and Gettysburg.  From his service record, it seems that Wiley was often ill (chronic rheumatism, tuberculosis) and, on 14 January 1864, he succumbed to his illnesses at Hospital No 3 in Lynchburg, Virginia.   He is buried in Lynchburg at the Old City Cemetery.

     Franklin E Leaphart was 25 years old when he enlisted in 1861.  As a young father with two children, he must have been a supporter of the war.  He fought at Sharpsburg, Chancelorsville, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Anna, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg.  He was promoted to 2nd Corporal in June of 1863 and later promoted 1st Corporal and then to Sergeant.  He was shot at the 3rd Battle of Winchester and was a prisoner at the US Depot Field Hospital in Winchester, Virginia.  He died of Dysentery there on 12 October 1864.  His burial location is unknown.

     Many other ancestors have fought in our country's wars, but have been lucky to survive.  Today we give thanks to those men and women, though it feels that no number of "thanks" will ever be enough.

150 Years Ago Today: The Death of Wiley Powell

     150 years ago today, Wiley Powell died from disease while fighting in the Civil War.  He had already done a stint in the Georgia militia 26 years prior and was 42 years old when he enlisted again. This time he was serving as a replacement for another man.  He almost certainly received payment for his service, and I have to assume that the family needed that money.

     Almost as soon as Wiley joined the regiment, he went into the hospital.  He suffered from rheumatism and tuberculosis and was in and out of hospitals throughout his service.  He was admitted to Lynchburg Hospital No 3, where he stayed for a number of months before he died on 24 Jan 1864.

     Wiley was buried at the Old City Cemetery in Lynchburg, Virginia.  There is a cenotaph for him in Elbert County, Georgia at the Rock Branch Cemetery where many of his family are buried.

Wiley's "Indian War" Service Record

     Back on September 4th, I wrote about my trip to the Atlanta branch of the National Archives.  There, I found the service record index card for my 4x Great Grandfather, Wiley Powell.  Using the information from that card, I submitted a research request via the National Archive's online research request form.  I filled out the form on September 4th and only 15 days later, they shipped my records.

     I was a little disappointed in the records I received; this three page service record:

     The information that I did receive will allow me to further research what exactly my ancestor was doing during his service.  Unfortunately, it's not exactly uplifting.

     Wiley Powell joined the 1st Georgia Militia, Bowman's Company, on 16 May 1838 in New Echota, Georgia.   This date coincides with the May 23rd deadline for Cherokee Indians to voluntarily relocate to Indian Territory and New Echota was the Cherokee's capital.  It's pretty much certain that Wiley was involved in rounding up the Cherokee who did not voluntarily leave on their own.

     You never like to find out upsetting things about your ancestors.  However, facts are facts and there's no point burying the information.  I plan to do more research on the 1st Georgia Militia and Bowman's Company to find out more about Wiley's activities during this tragic time.

First Visit to National Archives at Atlanta

     Today I visited the National Archives at Atlanta for the first time.  I've gone to the Georgia Archive a number of times, which is right next door.  My visit today was for a specific purpose: to look at microfilm containing Indian Wars Service Index Cards.  I'd looked online at NARA's website to learn that they had this microfilm, and was hoping they might have other records to help my search.  I want to find out what my ancestor Wiley Powell had been up to.

     For those of you who might be interested in visiting the Archive, here's the setup: You enter the main doors and are immediately greeted by the security desk.  You'll sign in and receive a visitors badge, then go through a metal detector and have your purse searched.  The security guard then points you across the lobby of the building to the records room.  The only thing is, once you get to the research room, you've passed the lockers.  I had to ask about them, then go back towards the entrance.  They are kind of hidden; when you first enter, you have to make a sort of U-turn to your right.

     Once inside the research room, you sign in again.  On your left, there is an office (shown in the photo below) where the binders with the microfilm indexes are located.  I must have looked a little confused, because the woman at the desk asked if I needed help.  I showed her the Indian War Pension Index Card I already had and gave her the microfilm number I'd found online for the Indian War Service Record Index Card microfilm I was looking for.  She then looked up the location of the microfilm for me, and showed me how the numbering system worked.

     Unfortunately, as I had expected, there weren't any more records that would help me with this search.  The worker pretty much told me that, for the most part, all they really had were indexes and I would need to send to DC for the actual records.

     The service record card didn't provide me with much more information than I already had from the pension card.  Finding my ancestor's card in this film did confirm the time period of his service (though not the exact date) since the microfilm was titled "Index To Compiled Service Records Of Volunteer Soldiers Who Served During The Cherokee Disturbances And Removal In Organizations From The State Of Georgia."  At this point I can be pretty much certain that Wiley Powell served in the Georgia Militia during the Trail of Tears. 

     Based on what I've found, I have requested a copy of Wiley Powell's compiled service record.  Hopefully there will be some valuable information included in those records - heck, hopefully those records exist.  If they don't, I'll order the pension records (which cost more).

     In the photo below, you can see most of the research room. In the back left is the entrance, with the office to the right.  Along the right wall is the microfilm, and a bank of computers is on the left.  Not shown are the microfilm readers, which were behind me when I took the photo.  The microfilm readers (I think there were four or five of them) are all electric and hooked up to computers and printers.  

I Know Where My Ancestors Where 150 Years Ago Today. Do You?

     150 years ago today five of my ancestors were brought together on a battlefield in Pennsylvania.  There, they fought on the Confederate side of one of the most famous battles of the Civil War: Gettysburg.  Were your ancestors there as well?  If you don't know, I'll share how I traced my ancestors to the battlefield.

     I started by making a list of all male ancestors in my family tree who were between the ages of 14 and 60 in the early 1860s.  I then searched for Civil War Service Records for those men, using the indexes available on Ancestry.com and images on Fold3.  Once I found their records, I made a list of my Civil War soldier ancestors with their enlistment date, regiments, and discharge date, as listed on their Civil War Service Records.

     Next, I researched the regiments and units that each soldier served in, to find out which battles they fought in.  This can be difficult, as each regiment has been researched to a different extent.  Some regiments were large and part of even larger armies, others were small and participated in smaller battles.  Regiments were often reorganized, becoming part of a larger army (ex Army of Northern Virginia).  Here, Google was my friend and will be yours as well.  There are lots of small websites out there, dedicated to particular regiments or units.  I also found good information on Wikipedia, in some cases.  For those doing Georgia research, the website, Georgia Confederate Units, will be very helpful to understand the organization of regiments.  But don't neglect books either!  Check out the collections at nearby libraries and archives to see if there is anything available.

     As you can see in the service record shown here, my Great-Great-Great Grandfather, Nathan W Hyler, enlisted with Company C of the 15th Regiment South Carolina Infantry on 7 April 1862.  This record shows that he was "Present" with his unit during the months of July and August of 1863.

     The dates on this record are key; I know when he joined the war (so I don't need to look earlier than this date) and I know that Nathan was with his regiment in July of 1863.  From researching his regiment, I know that at that time they were fighting at Gettysburg!

     Using the information I uncovered about my ancestor's military units, I came up with the following list of ancestors who fought there:

• From my Paternal line
• William Anderson Craft of Elbert County, GA, with the 15th Reg GA Infantry, Co F
• Wiley Powell of Elbert County, GA, with the 38th Reg GA Infantry, Co F
• From my Maternal line
• William Washington Sprouse of Abbeville County, SC, with the 1st Reg SC Cav, Co A
• detached to Hampton's Brigade
• Franklin Edwin Leaphart of Lexington County, SC, with the 15th Reg SC Inf, Co C
• Nathan Washington Hyler of Lexington County, SC, with the 15th Reg SC Inf, Co C

     I then visited CivilWar.org to look at battlefield maps from Gettysburg.  I was able to find each of my ancestors' units on the maps.  This image shows a portion of "The Wheatfield Fight."  You can see where the 15th Georgia and the 15th South Carolina fought in this battle.  That's three of my ancestors fighting very close together.  Hopefully one day I'll visit Gettysburg and will be able to walk where my ancestors fought.  Hopefully you found some helpful tips here and will be able to walk where your ancestors fought too.

The Powell Family of Elbert County, Georgia

     I found this photo in the book "Powell: Wiley and Mariah" by Clifford R Hill and and David M Powell, located at the Elbert County Public Library. In front are my GGG-Grandparents, John Franklin and Frances Emma Taylor Powell. In the middle row, my GG-Grandmother, Effie V Powell Craft is the third from right.  I'm trying to figure out when the photo was taken.  (John died in 1920)

Tombstone Tuesday - Powell

Maria (or Mariah) Powell was born 5 Aug 1821, probably in South Carolina. She married farmer Wiley Powell of Elbert County, GA. Together they had at least 10 children, including my ancestor, John Franklin Powell. In 1864, Wiley died of disease while fighting in the Civil War. Mariah lived on and left behind documentation in pension applications. She died on 6 Feb 1912 in Elbert County at age 90. She is buried in Rock Branch Cemetery in Elbert County, next to a memorial marker of her husband.

Names, Places & Most Wanted Faces

The surname genealogy meme, started at GeneaBlogie

Surnames & Locals:

Albea - Georgia (Lincoln), South Carolina (Greenwood, Greenville)

Barfield - Georgia (Emanuel, Burke)

Boatright - Georgia (Emanuel, Burke)

Craft - Georgia (Elbert, Hart), South Carolina (Anderson)

Dorn - South Carolina (Edgefield, Greenwood)

Farr - Pennsylvania (Tioga), England

Hyler / Huyler / Hoyler - South Carolina (Lexington)

Leaphart - South Carolina (Lexington)

Powell - Georgia (Elbert, Hart)

Quattlebaum - South Carolina (Edgefield, Greenwood)

Waters - Georgia (Cobb, Milton, Fulton, Rockdale)

Smith - Georgia (Milton, Fulton, Rockdale)

Most Wanted Ancestor:

Parents of Leveret Wat(t)ers (b. 1881, Cobb County, GA)

Memorial Day

In honor of memorial day, I remember my 4x great grandfather, Wiley Powell.

Private Powell enlisted July 29, 1862 as a private in the Confederate Army. A year and a half later, on January 24, 1864, he died in the hospital at Lynchburg, VA of “Phthisis Pulmonalis” or, Consumption of the lungs. He was buried at The Old City Cemetery in Lynchburg. He left behind a wife and ten children, the youngest less than a year old when he went to war.

Footnote.com

I signed up for a free seven day trial for footnote.com today. They have tons of historical scanned documents, but they're a little hard to explore. The search is a basic Boolean search of either all documents on the site, or specific categories, such as Revolutionary War Service Records, Naturalization Records for certain states, Newspapers, Confederate Papers, etc.

So far, I've only found records for one ancestor, Wiley Powell. Wiley died during the civil war from illness. I was able to find records of his service, illness and death.

There are a few more that you can check out on flickr.

I went to the local library today and used their Genealogy section. I took my computer with me and browsed the books while going through the index file of my gedcom.

I found two useful books. The first was Georgia Interstate Records. I found record of two children of Daniel & Maragret Boatright's children after their father's death.

“Boatright, Charles, orph of Daniel, decd, Margaret Boatright, gdn, Sion Kirkham, Edward Surrency, srus, 9/3/1821, Emanuel, GB”
“Boatright, Nancy, orph of Daniel, decd, Margaret Boatright, Sion Kirkham and Edward Surrency, gdns, 9/3/1821; Benjamin Sherrod, gdn, George Dekle, sec, 9/4/1826, Emanuel, GB”

The other book was Hart County, Georgia Marriages - 1854-1898. I found multiple marriage records in this book that fit my tree. Some of them were: James D. Craft & Emma Richardson, Martha Alice Powell & James S. Craft, and Thomas Craft & Roxie Fisher.

I received a Bible from a very helpful woman in Texas, who had recieved a Bible belonging to Heln Windom. Inside the bible she had tucked some papers in that contained family trees for John Franklin Powell's family, which listed some children that I wasn't aware of. It also branched off from there to family trees including Moon, Dixon and Arnold. There were no dates included, but these families were pretty easy to find on the censuses. I've already added the individuals to my family tree. Check out the surname page to find them and check out Helen's Bible to see the pages from the Bible.

Added 56 new people to the Powell line.

New research added on the Powell Family (Wiley -> John F. -> Effie) and Taylor Family (Jesse -> Frances "Emma" -> Effie)

Updated the Louise Smith Bible Records page. I didn't realize that I hadn't posted the Cover Page and the Chapter Index Page. I also added an (*) next to the people who appear in my family tree.