Bovina in the Civil War - Soldier Biographies IV

Robert Dysart was one of the eleven Bovina boys who died in the war.  Born on May 27, 1837 in Bovina, he was the son of Peter and Jane Dysart.  He enlisted on August 28, 1862 into Company E of the 144th New York Volunteers.  A little over a year later, on October 14, 1863, he died of typhoid fever at Folly Island, SC (three of his fellow Bovina soldiers died in the same week at Folly Island of typhoid - Adam Biggar on the 18th, and John Murray, Jr. and Andrew Chisholm on the 19th).  He was buried at the Beaufort National Cemetery in Beaufort, SC.  There is a memorial stone to Robert Dysart in the Bovina Cemetery. 

Robert and Jane Elliott sent two sons off to war, and one did not return.  David Elliott was born May 2, 1844.  He enlisted in the 3rd NY Cavalry on February 16, 1864.  Within a few months he was taken prisoner at Stony Creek.  David appears to be Bovina's only missing in action soldier (MIA) from the Civil War.  He is believed to have died in Andersonville Prison, but further information is lacking.

David's older brother, John A. Elliott was born in March 1842 in Bovina.  He enlisted on August 26, 1862 in the 144th NY Volunteer Infantry, receiving an bounty of $150.  He was discharged for disability on January 29, 1864 at Folly Island, SC.  John left Delaware County in 1866 for Wisconsin, where he farmed for two years before moving to Poweshiek County, Iowa.  He had a farm of 160 acres in Iowa and while there served as a justice of the peace.  Married to Margaret E. Corey of Patch Grove, Wisc in 1869, he and his wife had three daughters.  Margaret appears to have died before 1890 for in 1891, John was married to a woman named Christina.

There are two more brothers who went off to war, the sons of David and Elizabeth Ferguson.  Neither brother appears to have officially lived in Bovina, but in 1865, their parents were living there.  And both brothers came home from the war.   John D. Ferguson lived in Andes when he enlisted in 1862.  He was a private in the 144th, but he also was a drummer.  He mustered out from the 96th company, second battalion at Hick's hospital in Baltimore on September 26, 1865.  After the war, he settled in Delhi, where he was a noted local merchant.  He married Margaret Brunnell in 1872 and died in February 1920.

Robert P. Ferguson enlisted in the war around the same time as his brother, John.  Robert was born in Andes in 1842.  Robert was discharged for disability on January 23, 1865 in St. Augustine, Florida.  Married to Elizabeth Dysart in Delhi, he and his wife left Delaware County, moving to Meadow Lake in California.  Robert was a carpenter and later a millman.  Robert and Elizabeth had four children before he tragically drowned in the Pacific on March 23, 1881, age 38. 

Two other Elliott brothers were in the war, James and Thomas Elliott, sons of William and Eleanor Elliott of New Kingston - how they are related to the Elliotts mentioned above has not yet been determined, if at all.  James and Thomas are not on Bovina's official list of Civil War soldiers because they came from the Town of Middletown.  Their main Bovina connection is the fact that they are buried in Bovina.  In my April 30 blog entry, I will tell their story in my series on Stories from Bovina Cemeteries.