Bovina and the End of the Civil War

April 9, 2015 will be the 150^th anniversary of the end of the United States Civil War. It was a war that permanently changed the country. 620,000 men died in the conflict. It is estimated that over ten percent of Northern men between twenty and forty-five died in the war.

Bovina’s population at the start of the war (based on the 1860 census) was 1242. By 1865, it had dropped by about 100. Bovina had about forty men serve in the war – twelve of them did not come back. Eleven died in the war and one, David Elliott, was never accounted for after going missing in action (he may have died at Andersonville prison). Bovina’s population drop can’t be directly blamed on the war – it was the continuation of a trend that had been going on since about 1850.

While the war was not a constant presence on the lives of people in Bovina it was an on-going issue. Several times during the war, Bovina voters had to decide on how much of a bounty to pay to meet the town’s quota. In December 1864, President Lincoln issued a call for 300,000 more troops. Bovina went ahead, without being sure of the exact quota to be assigned to it, and paid a bounty of $660 each to twenty men whose enlistment would be credited to the town. The quota ultimately was set at eleven. On April 3, six days before the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox, those who subscribed to the bounty agreed to pay, provided that the “excess of men…stand for the benefit of the said town in future calls if any should be made…”

The same day the subscribers agreed to pay what would be the last bounty, the session of the Bovina United Presbyterian Church met to hear a report “on the state of religion” in the congregation.

And just as it was when the war started four years earlier, Bovina citizens continued on with their lives and said farewell to citizens who had passed away. On April 1, the Delaware Republican and Visitor reported on a former resident, Dr. W. S. McCune, “late of Fish Lake Water Cure…” at Lake Delaware. Dr. McCune was “sick with small pox at the home of his brother in law John L. Frisbee [in Delhi]...The authorities have taken steps to prevent the spread of the disease….” Dr. McCune would struggle for a month and die on April 24.

On April 4, an auction was held at the farm of John Hastings. Cows sold at prices from $54 to $71, averaging $61 head. Six were half-blood Alderney cows, two and three years old and one yearling sold for $22. Also sold that day were oats, at $1.31 per bushel, rye for $2 per bushel, hay from $18 to $20 per ton, and bees from $9 to $9.25 per hive. Thomas E. Hastings was auctioneer.

Four days after the auction, and one day before the war’s end, Milton B. Elliott, the six year old son of James Elliott and Isabella Kinmouth, died. Milton was a first cousin once removed of James and Thomas Elliott, the brothers who both died in the war the previous November.

On the day of Lincoln’s assassination, April 14, 1865, there were two Bovina related deaths. Eliza Yeomans McPherson died in Bovina at the age of 70, survived by her husband, Alexander McPherson and by eight of her ten children. That same day, in Brighton, Iowa, Elijah Hilton Nichols, the son of Elijah Canfield Nichols and Amanda Melvina Hilton of Bovina, died at the age of only 23 years old. While buried in Iowa, he also is memorialized on his parents’ stone in the Bovina Cemetery.

So life and death went on in Bovina, just as it was doing at the start of the war, yet the loss of 11 young men and the uprooting of many more changed Bovina, as it did many communities, forever.

During the last four years, I have written over thirty entries about Bovina and the Civil War on this blog.  Here’s a list of some of the more important ones:

In 2011, the Sesquicentennial of the start of the Civil War, I wrote monthly entries about Bovina and the war on the 12^th of each month in a series “Bovina in the Civil War.” The twelve entries in this series were:

·       January - The  Sesquicentennial – A brief entry that introduced the series. [http://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2011/01/civil-war-sesquicentennial.html]

·       February - Bovina and Abraham Lincoln – A review of how Bovina voted in the 1860 and 1864 elections. [http://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/civil-war-bovina-and-abraham-lincoln.html]

·       March - Who Served in Bovina – A review of the database I still work on of Bovina’s Civil War soldiers [http://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2011/03/bovina-in-civil-war-those-who-served.html]

·       April - What Was Bovina Doing When the War Started – A look at what was happening in Bovina the month the war actually started. [http://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2011/04/bovina-in-civil-war-what-was-bovina.html]

·       May - The Supreme Sacrifice – Bovina lost 11 men in the war, starting with John Sinclair Burns in April 1863 and ending with the death of Roman Palmer in December 1864. [http://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2011/05/bovina-in-civil-war-supreme-sacrifice.html]

·       June - Recruiting – Bovina, like most communities in New York, had to provide bounty payments to encourage enlistment as the war dragged on. [http://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2011/06/bovina-in-civil-war-recruiting.html]

·       July - Exemption from Service – Not all eligible men in Bovina served. A number of them submitted claims for exemption, mainly due to health issues. [http://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2011/07/bovina-in-civil-war-exemption-from.html]

·       August - Honoring the Dead – Some of Bovina’s fatalities in the war, along with a number of Civil War veterans are buried in Bovina cemeteries. A sample of some of the stones is presented in this entry. [http://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2011/08/bovina-in-civil-war-honoring-dead.html]

·       September - Slavery in Bovina – Bovina had one or two slaves in the 1820s but none after that. Bovina was strongly anti-slavery and the church, in at least one instant, took a member to task for voicing another viewpoint. [http://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2011/09/bovina-in-civil-war-slavery-in-bovina.html]

·       October - The First Enlistments – A discussion of some of the early enlistments from Bovina, mainly covering 1861 [http://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2011/10/bovina-in-civil-war-first-enlistments.html]

·       November - Bovina's Old Soldiers – A review of those Bovina Civil War soldiers who survived the war. Some stayed while others headed west. [http://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2011/11/bovina-in-civil-war-bovinas-old.html]

·       December - To Care for Him Who Shall Have Borne the Battle – In 1888, the Grand Army of the Republic, the union Civil War veterans organization, set up a program to provide assistance to veterans needing assistance. At least one veteran received such assistance that year. [http://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2011/12/bovina-in-civil-war-to-care-for-him-who.html]

In 2012, I started a monthly series that went on until March 2013 with small biographies of every Bovina Civil War soldier, including those veterans who came to Bovina after the war. The series appears on the 12^th of each month.

In my stories from Bovina’s Cemeteries, I’ve written several times about Civil War veterans buried in Bovina cemeteries:

·       Stories from Bovina's Cemeteries - the Elliott Brothers – April 20, 2012 [http://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2012/04/stories-from-bovinas-cemeteries-elliott.html]

·       Stories from Bovina's Cemeteries - John Sinclair Burns – April 4, 2013 [http://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2013/04/stories-from-bovinas-cemeteries-john.html]

·       Stories from Bovina Cemeteries - Jimmie McClure – November 2, 2013 [http://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/2013/11/stories-from-bovina-cemeteries-jimmie.html]

And though the war ended 150 years ago, there still may be new discoveries to be made concerning Bovina during that time period, so stay tuned.

Stories from Bovina's Cemeteries - Jimmie McClure

One hundred and twenty five years ago today, on November 2, 1888, Jimmie McClure died. Scottish born, McClure was not in Bovina all that long, but was living in the town when he died and likely because of this is also buried in Bovina.  Born in 1814 in Dumfrieshire, Scotland, he came to the United States around 1839.  The notice of his death stated that he also had been in the British Army and was collecting a pension for service in the Mexican war.  The British Army service is possible.  His emigration may have been more than just seeking an opportunity in America.  He appears on the 1860 Federal Census for Delhi, New York, listed as a "British Deserter/loafer."  Was his sailing to America that desertion?  We just do not know.

His Civil War experience also was slightly checkered - he enlisted in Hamden in the 101st NY Volunteers in December 1861 but deserted in April 1862 in Washington DC.  He then re-enlisted in Cortlandville in July 1862 in the 157th, where he was paid $50.  Such desertion and later re-enlistment was a fairly common occurrence - and soldiers generally were not punished if they re-enlisted.  James stayed on to the end of the war, mustering out with his company on July 10, 1865 at Charleston, SC.

Then he disappears from the records again until towards the end of his life, when he shows up in Bovina.  In December of 1887, McClure had been admitted to the Delaware County Poorhouse.  He was noted as being "intemperate" and that he was in the poorhouse because he was old and destitute.  The record also recorded him as being single. He was awaiting transfer to a soldiers' home, but at some point the following year, he was moved to Bovina and was being supported by the town when he died.  The Delaware Gazette reported that "'Jimmie' McClure, the eccentric character so well known here and in this vicinity, died in Bovina last Friday.  Mr. McClure formerly served in the British army, and was a soldier in the Mexican war and also in the war of the rebellion.  He was a pensioner for services in the Mexican war.  Although he had been in so much war he was never wounded."

McClure was buried in Bovina, the expense of the burial and likely this headstone being borne by the town.

Stories from Bovina's Cemeteries - John Sinclair Burns

150 years ago today, on April 4, 1863, Sinclair Burns became Bovina's first fatality in the Civil War.   Born in Bovina on August 29, 1841, Sinclair was the son of John and Nancy Burns.  He enlisted on his 21st birthday to serve for three years in the 144th infantry, mustering into Company E on September 27, 1862 as a private.  The Town of Bovina paid him a bounty of $150 for enlisting.  At the time of his enlistment, he listed his occupation as farmer.  He had gray eyes, brown hair, and a fair complexion and was six feet in height.

This is the Muster Roll Abstract for Sinclair Burns, obtained through Ancestry.com and held by the New York State Archives.  The Muster Roll Abstracts were created in 1893, using existing military records.

There are no authenticated photographs of Sinclair Burns.  This photograph was in the Burns family collection and could be Sinclair.  Photograph courtesy of Jack Burns.

A little over six months after he was mustered in, Sinclair died of typhoid at the Fairfax Seminary Hospital in Virginia. His remains were sent back to Bovina for burial.  Sinclair was survived by his parents and a number of siblings.  Fourteen years later, his mother Nancy died and was buried near her son.  Sinclair's father, John, survived his son by 33 years, dying in 1896.  The last of his siblings to pass away appears to have been his younger brother Alexander.  Alex died in 1939, having survived his brother by 66 years.  It is through Alexander Burns that I am related to John Sinclair.  Alex's daughter Ella married my great grandfather, Sylvan LaFever.  So Sinclair is my great great great uncle (though my genealogy software notes him as my 2nd great grand uncle).

Bovina in the Civil War - Soldier Biographies XV

Alexander White was born in Scotland in May 1843 and emigrated to the United States a decade later.  Enlisting in September 1862 , he was paid a bounty of $150 for doing so.  He was a drummer in the 144th New York Volunteers.  Alexander had a 30 day furlough from May 28, 1865 and was discharged in July 1865.  After the war, he settled in Arena where he died in 1914.

Jonathan White was born in Delaware County in 1836 and was living with his brother in law, William Rutherford during the war.  Enlisting in August 1862 in the 144th New York Volunteers as a private, he mustered out with his company in June 1865.  He was living in Hobart in 1890 and was in Kortright by 1900.  Jonathan died in Kortright in 1915.

Robert White was born in Scotland in 1837.  At the time of his enlistment in October 1861 in Bovina, Robert's profession was blacksmithing.   Joining the 8th New York Battery, he was discharged within a year due to illness.  He left Delaware County, settling first in Iroquois County, Illinois, then later in Phillips County, Colorado, where he died in 1913. His widow Julia died in 1926.  They are buried in the Holyoke Cemetery, Colorado.

James Wright is another Bovina connected soldier for whom we have little information beyond his service.  He was born in Walton in 1842 and was a boarder with William Gladstone in 1865.  He enlisted in the the 144th in September 1864 and then transferred only a couple of weeks later to the 1st New York Engineers.  He was discharged on July 3, 1865 at Hilton Head, SC. Wright was 5 feet 8 inches tall with dark eyes, hair and complexion.  No  information about Wright after the war could be found.

Charles Wycof was born in 1846 in Delaware County.  He was paid $140 bounty money from the town of Bovina to enlist.  Charles enlisted in December 1861 in the 72nd New York Excelsior Regiment as a private.  He was discharged within three months due to a disability.  One source states he re-enlisted the next year in the 144th New York Volunteers, but no evidence of such service has been located.

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Daniel, John B., and Robert Tompkins were the nephews of Robert Post of Bovina.  In the 1865 census, they were enumerated with their uncle while in the service, though the Tompkins family was from Roxbury.  The three nephews likely were brothers, the sons of William and Lydia (Post) Tompkins.  Daniel and Robert enlisted the same day, August 19, 1861, Daniel in the 3rd NY Calvalry, Robert in the 20th New York Volunteers.  Robert joined his brother's outfit a year later.  Their younger brother John enlisted in August 1864 as a substitute for Charles E. Loomis.  He was wounded twice - in September 1864 then again in October 1864.  At some point he was absent without leave but he was mustered out in July in New York City.  The information on all three brothers after the war is somewhat confusing.  There is no definitive information for John's life after he mustered out.  It seems that Robert at some point moved to Pennsylvania and in 1915 was admitted to a National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Hampton, VA.  Daniel late in life also went to a home for disabled veterans, this one in Ohio.  He died in 1922 and his body was sent to Union Grove, NY for burial.

Robert Tuttle was Bovina's only Civil War veteran to serve in the Navy.  He was born on Cabin Hill in October 1833.  When he entered service in 1863 in the Navy it was as a 1st Assistant Surgeon.  He left service at the end of the war and settled in the Town of Rockland in Sullivan County, working as a physician.  In 1875, he married Emma Bush Parksville.  Dr. Tuttle died in 1910 and is buried in Roscoe.

Charles A. and James Warren were the sons of Horace and Clarissa Warren.  Charles was born in Ulster County in 1835.  He enlisted in August 1862, joining the 144th New York Volunteers as a private.  Discharged after one year because of a disability, he re-enlisted a year later.  During the Battle of Deveaux Neck in South Carolina he was wounded when a bullet struck him under the ear and came out near the eye.  He mustered out with his company in June 1865.  Settling in Fallsburgh, Sullivan County, NY, he died there in 1882.  His brother James, also known as DeWitt Warren, was born in Stamford in 1838.  Enlisting the same time and into the same regiment as his brother, he mustered out with his company on June 1865.  Married to Jane Aitken of Bovina, he lived in Bovina after the war, then moved to Kortright.  He spent the last 25 years of his life in Delhi, where he died in March 1917. 

Another Cathels Family Tragedy

In November 2011, I reported on the tragedy that descended on the family of James Cathels, Jr. in the fall of 1865.  James, four of his children and his mother in law died within about 10 days of each other.  James left behind a pregnant wife and four children. And he and his wife Nancy had lost two other children before 1865.

About a year and a half before this tragedy, the Cathels had another family death in somewhat unusual circumstances - unusual enough to trigger a coroner's inquest.  James father, James Cathels, Sr., was a widower and in February 1864 was living with Peter Dysart.  Dysart had a farm on Russell Hill (the former Lester McPherson farm).  At the age of 72, James Sr. was doing some farm work there, probably to cover his board.

He got up the morning of February 5, 1864 and commented to Peter that his boots pinched his feet.  While using a last to stretch his boots, James inquired of Peter about a caucus meeting held the previous evening in the hamlet.  The exact nature of the caucus meeting is not clear, but given that the town's annual meeting was February 9, this likely was some kind of caucus meeting to nominate candidates for town office.  Whatever it was about, Peter filled him in what had happened.  James then pulled on his boots and headed out to the barn.  Five minutes later, Dysart headed out to feed the animals.  As he started to throw hay down from the hayloft onto the feeding room floor below, he saw Cathels lying there, motionless. Dysart ran around the barn to get in at the lower level and unsuccessfully tried to rouse Cathels.  While he was pretty sure Cathels was dead, he ran over to his neighbor, Stephen Russell, to have him confirm this.   Russell concurred, noting that he could not get a pulse.  They contacted the coroner and sent word to James Jr. at his farm on Scutt Mountain Road about what had happened.

A jury was convened in the Dysart house that same day to examine the body and hear evidence.  The jury included James Douglas, Michael Miller, John Fife (Phyfe), Michael Dixon, Robert F. Scott, Roman Palmer, Robert C. Scott, James Gill, James Thompson, William Lull, Robert H. Sloan, and Richard Smith.  After examining Cathels' body and hearing the testimony of Peter Dysart and Stephen Russell, their verdict was that "James Cathels came to his death by falling on the feeding floor of the cow stable and striking his head on a pole in said stable dislocating one of the upper several vertebrae of the neck causing compression of the spinal morrow which would cause death."

Several of the people connected with this case were, to varying degrees, affected by the U.S. Civil War, completing its third year.   James Cathels, Jr. must have been a little uncomfortable to see James Gill on the jury.  James Jr. had gotten into a brawl with Gill at the Hamilton Hotel in Brushland in October 1862 over a comment Cathels made about Gill's son's Civil War enlistment (see the November 30, 2011 blog entry for more about this incident).  Also on the jury was Roman Palmer, who had only recently moved to Bovina to open a cooperage.  Palmer would enlist later that year and died in battle in December 1864.  Peter Dysart, the owner of the barn where this accident took place, had lost his son Robert in the war the previous October.  William Lull's son Andrew had enlisted in 1862 and would survive the war (as did Gill's son Alexander).  Michael Miller's two brothers, Gilbert and Berry S. Miller, enlisted around the same time as Roman Palmer.  Unlike Palmer, the brothers would survive the war.   

So even while a Civil War was raging, the routines of life - and death - went on back home.  

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William Storie was born in Delhi, the son of Samuel and Elizabeth Storie.  He enlisted in February 1864 in the 16th Heavy Artillery.  Six months later, William was dead, having died in Point of Rocks, Virginia of disease.  He was buried near where he died.

Samuel Stott was born in Delaware County in October 1845, the son of George Stott.  He enlisted in the 3rd NY Cavalry in February 1864.  Wounded at Stoney Creek, Virginia, Samuel was taken prisoner.  After five months, he was exchanged.  He mustered out at a hospital in Baltimore in June 1865.  Samuel never recovered from his experiences, dying less than five years later in January 1870 of "malignant kidneys," possibly caused by the challenges of being a prisoner of war.

William Stott was the son of Walter and Mary Stott.  Born in March 1842, he enlisted in August 1861 in company F of the 3rd NY Cavalry as a corporal but was demoted to private less than a month later.  William is one of only two Bovina soldiers to be killed in action, dying in the battle of Chala Bridge on May 14, 1864.  His body was not recovered, but there is a memorial stone for him in the Bovina Cemetery. (See the blog entry for April 12, 2011 for more about the family of Walter and Mary Stott.)

William G. Thomson was born in Stamford in October 1842.  At the time of his enlistment in September 1864 in the 144th New York Volunteers, he was six feet tall, with black eyes, auburn hair and a dark complexion.  William mustered out with his company in June 1865 at Hilton Head, SC.  A year after mustering out, William married Frances Frisbee in Delhi.  Settling in Walton, he died there in October 1906.

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John Schenk was one of the oldest Civil War soldiers in Delaware County. Born in Germany in 1816, he was living in Andes working as a wagon maker with Henry Rotermund when the war began.  He enlisted in 1861 in the 25th New York Infantry and was discharged after he was shot in the head.  He re-enlisted in the 46th NY Infantry in 1863 and served to the end of the war.  Schenk returned to Andes after the war.  It is not clear if or when he moved to Bovina, but when he died in September 1892, he was buried in the Bovina Cemetery.

John Scott was born in Hamden in 1843 but was living in Bovina by 1860.  He enlisted in the 144th New York Volunteers in September 1864.  At the time of his enlistment, he was 5 feet 6 1/2 inches tall, with hazel eyes, black hair and a dark complexion.  He mustered out with his company in June 1865 at Hilton Head, SC.  John moved to California after the war, settling in Salinas in Monterey County to work as a druggist.  He was married but lived as a boarder for many years when his wife was declared insane and institutionalized.  John Scott died in 1920.

Thomas M. Scott was born in Bovina in 1842, the son of Thomas and Eliza Scott.  He enlisted in August 1862, joining the 144th New York Volunteers as a private.  At that time, he was 5 feet 6 inches tall and had gray eyes, brown hair and a light complexion.  He was employed as a blacksmith.  Promoted to Corporal in April 1863 and later Sergeant in October 1864, he mustered out in June 1865 in Hilton Head, SC.  After the war, he headed west with his wife Sarah, first settling in Wisconsin.  By 1900, he was living in Laird, Nebraska.  He died around 1930 in Nebraska.

Edgar D. Seacord and William R. Seacord were sons of John and Sarah Seacord.  The younger brother, Edgar, enlisted first, joining the 8th NY Independent Battery in October 1861.  He served his three years and mustered out in October 1864 in Norfolk, Virginia. His older brother, William, had been drafted in September 1863 but was excused because he had a brother in the war.  He enlisted after Edgar finished his three years, joining the 144th NY Volunteers as a private.  He mustered out with his company in June 1865.  Edgar was married twice, first to Anna B. Chisholm, and, after her death in 1867, to Mary Peake.  He died in July 1876, age only 36 years old.  William was living with his wife Sarah and one child in Bovina in the 1870 census, working as a stone mason.  He was widowed in 1873 and remarried in 1877.  By 1910, he was living in Andes with his second wife, Mary.  He died there in 1916 and was buried in the Andes cemetery.

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Roman Palmer's time in Bovina was relatively brief, though he had planned to settle there in the early 1860s.  Unfortunately, the war upended those plans permanently.  Roman was born in Hamden in 1840, the son of Saunders and Cornelia Palmer.  In 1860, he was living in Andes and working as a Cooper.  Around 1862, he started working in Bovina and in March 1864 he took out a $700 mortgage to buy a house in town, the house now owned by Chuck and Betty McIntosh.  In July of that year, he married  Margaret K. Gladstone.  Just over a month later, he enlisted, joining Company E of the 144th NY Volunteers.  On December 9, 1864, he was killed in action at Deveaux Neck, SC and was buried near where he fell.  In September 1866, his property was sold at public auction to settle debts.   Margaret Palmer never remarried, dying in Walton in 1923.  She is buried in Andes in the Gladstone plot.

Charles W. Redding was born in Delaware County in 1839.  Where he was living at the start of the war is not totally clear, but his family was living in Bovina at the war's end.  He enlisted in August 1862, joining the 144th New York Volunteers as a private.  He was six feet tall with blue eyes, dark hair and a dark complexion.  His main occupation was as a clothier.  He mustered out with his company in June 1865.  He did not long survive the war, dying at the age of 29 around 1868.

John Reynolds was another Civil War fatality from Bovina.  He was born in 1842 in Bovina, the son of William S. Reynolds.  He enlisted in September 1862 in the 144th New York volunteers and died barely six months later at Fairfax Seminary Hospital in Virginia.  Though he is listed in the town clerk's record of Bovina Civil War soldiers, his parents were living in Andes at the end of the war.  He is buried in Alexandria, Virginia in the Alexandria National Cemetery.

Martin Reynolds was born in 1822, making him one of the older soldiers in the war.  His connection with Bovina is unclear, other than the fact that he is buried there.  Reynolds enlisted in 1864, joining the 185th New York Volunteers, Company D.  He mustered out in May 1865 near Washington, DC.  He filed for an invalid pension in July 1881 and died 11 years later in 1892.

William Richardson was born in Scotland in 1831, coming to America with his parents when he was a teenager. Enlisting in the 144th New York Volunteers in September 1862, he was paid a bounty of $150 for doing so.  He was mustered out in June 1865 with his company in Hilton Head, SC.  William was a stone mason and did stonework on the Gerry Estate at Lake Delaware.  Married twice, he was living at the Bovina home of his daughter, Mrs. John Irvine, at the time of his death in March 1917.  One of his grandchildren was Isabell Irvine, who married Cecil Russell a few months before her grandfather's death.

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Adolphus E. Murray was born in 1842 in Delaware County, the son of Ira Murray and Maria Hoffman.  At the time of his enlistment in the 143rd NY Volunteers in October 1862 he was living in Neversink in Sullivan County.  Just over a year later, in November 1863, he was discharged at a hospital in Louisville, Kentucky due to fever and ague.  Murray would be plagued with these and with rheumatism the rest of his life.  He filed for a pension as an invalid in 1883. Sometime after his war service, he appears to have moved to Iowa, but by 1890 he was living in Bovina.  He died around 1916, but exactly when and where has not been determined.

Henry S. Murray was born in Delaware County in 1836.  He enlisted in the 8th New York Battery as a private in September 1862.  In 1863, he re-enlisted as a Sergeant and was discharged in June 1865.  Murray married Elizabeth Coulter in Bovina in 1868 and settled in Andes where he was a tinsmith.  He died in 1905 and is buried in Bovina.

John Murray, Jr. was one of the eleven Bovina men to die in the Civil War.  Born in 1839 in Bovina, he was the son of John and Jennet Murray.  He enlisted on September 2, 1862 in Bovina for a term of three years.  A little over a year later, he was dead, dying of typhoid fever on October 19, 1863 at Folly Island, SC.  He was buried in the Beaufort Cemetery in South Carolina.  There is a memorial stone for John in the Bovina Cemetery.

David Nicholl was born in 1841 in Andes but was living in Bovina in the 1860 census.  When the Civil War broke out, he was at Jefferson College in Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania.  After his sophomore year, on September 8, 1862, he enlisted in the Union Army at Pittsburgh in Battery E Light Artillery Regiment of Pennsylvania.  David was wounded in the right shoulder in 1863 which resulted in a permanent disability to his arm and shoulder.  He was unfit for active service but after several surgeries was transferred into the newly-formed 147th Company of the Veteran Reserve Corps until after the end of the war.  David went on to finish college and enter the seminary in Monmouth, Illinois and then Newburgh, NY.  He was licensed to preach at West Delhi in June 1868 by the Delaware Presbytery. David moved to Iowa when he received a permanent call as pastor in DeWitt, Iowa.  He donated part of his farmland for a church and also acted as a representative from his county to the Iowa State Legislature.  He had married Isabella Brown from Delaware County in 1870 and they had four children.  Isabella died sometime after 1900.  David remarried in 1909 and died in October 1929.  He is buried in Red Oak, Iowa.

James S. Oliver was the son of James F. Oliver and Isabella Miller, born in 1842.  He was living in Delhi in 1860.  In January 1864 he enlisted in the 8th Independent Battery, but he never got out of New York.  James died at McDougall General Hospital in New York Harbor of disease on March 20, 1864.  He has a memorial stone in the Bovina Cemetery.

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Berry S. Miller and Gilbert D. 'Gib' Miller were the sons of Scottish natives William and Isabella Miller, growing up in Bovina.  They enlisted in September 1864 in Company E of the 144th New York Volunteers as privates.  At the time of his enlistment, Berry was five feet nine inches tall, with blue eyes, brown hair and a fair complexion.  Brother Gib was similiarly described, except his hair was described as light.  The brothers  mustered out with their company in June 1865 at Hilton Head, SC.  Berry was plagued by illness from his service in the war, suffering from neuralgia, rheumatism and deafness in one ear.  He married Kate Elliott Oliver in 1866 and they settled in Bovina.  Kate died in 1892.  Berry survived her by 14 years, moving in with his brother Gib.  He died in 1906 and is buried in the Bovina Cemetery.  Gib also was plagued by illness after the war, in his case, chronic diarrhea.  In 1869, he married Mary Jane Banker.  He was active in the England Post of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Civil War Veterans' organization, until it was disbanded.  In his later years, the American Legion would supply a car to bring him to services honoring his fallen war comrades.  "Gib" Miller has the distinction of being Bovina's last surviving 'old soldier.'  He died on March 13, 1931 in Oneonta from the effects of a fall a few days previously.

Francis W. Miller was born in 1847, the son of James and Agnes Coulter Miller.  He enlisted in February 1864 as a private.  He was 17, but claimed to be 18.  Two months after he enlisted, Francis died in Martinsburgh, Virginia of disease (probably typhoid, but the records do not specify).  He has the distinction of being Bovina's youngest Civil War fatality.

James K. Mills was born in Connecticut in 1843 but by 1850 was living with his parents in Bovina.  James enlisted in the 8th New York Battery as a private in October 1861.  When he enlisted, he was a farmer and had hazel eyes, black hair, a florid complexion and was 5 ft 7 1/2 inches tall. He was paid a bounty of $350.  He re-enlisted in November 1863 and was discharged in 1865.  Settling in Pepacton in the Town of Colchester, he married Nancy Liddle in 1867 and had 11 children.  James died in September 1903 in Colchester.

James Murphy's connection with Bovina is pretty tenuous, though he appears on the official listing of Bovina's soldiers created in 1865.  James spent most of his life in Andes.  Born in Ireland in 1843, he came to America in 1856 with his parents, Luke and Anastasia Murphy.  He enlisted in the 144th New York Volunteers in August 1864 and mustered out with his company in June 1865 in Hilton Head, SC.  He settled in Andes working as a farm laborer.  He moved to Arkville late in life to live with his sister-in-law and died there in December 1929.  He is buried in Rondout.

Patrick G. Murphy was born in Ireland in 1842 and was in Bovina in the 1860s.  He enlisted in 1862 and was paid a bounty payment of $150.  At the time of his enlistment, he was 5 feet 7 inches tall, with a fair complexion, blue eyes and black hair.  He joined the 144th New York volunteers and mustered out with his company in June 1865.  After the war, Patrick headed west, settling in Colorado.  He was widowed by 1910 and living in Rio Grande County, Colorado in the Soldiers and Sailors Home.  He was still living there a decade later, but further information concerning when he died is lacking.

Bovina in the Civil War - Soldier Biographies VIII

John McArthur is another Bovina Civil War soldier who did not spend all that much time in Bovina and left the area after the war.  He was born in Rennsselaer County in 1825.  He came to Delaware County in 1830.  In 1853, he was married to Jane Sloan in Bovina.  She died a year later, a few days after giving birth to a daughter, and is buried in Bovina.  In 1855, John and his one year old daughter Elizabeth Jane were living with Andrew and Elizabeth Thomson in Bovina.  On August 1862, he enlisted in the 144th as a 1st lieutenant.  He received a bounty from Bovina of $100 for enlisting.  He was not in service very long.  He was dismissed 'by order of examining board' on February 7, 1863.  Three months later, he married as his second wife Mary Elliott Barlow.   Like a number of soldiers, he left Delaware County after the war, settling first in Grant County Wisconsin in 1866 and then in 1869 he came to Poweshiek County, Iowa.  John died in Belle Plaine, Iowa in 1885.

James McClure was born in 1814 in Scotland.  He enlisted in Hamden in the 101st NY Volunteers in December 1861, deserting in April 1862 in Washington DC.  He then re-enlisted in Cortlandville in July 1862 in the 157th, where he was paid $50.  Such desertion and later re-enlistment was a fairly common occurrence - and soldiers generally were not punished if they re-enlisted.  After his re-enlistment, James stayed on to the end of the war, mustering out with his company on July 10, 1865 at Charleston, SC.  It is not clear when he came to Bovina, but it was where he was living when he died in November 1888.  In December of 1887, McClure had been admitted to the Delaware County Poorhouse.  He was noted as being 'intemperate' and that he was in the poorhouse because he was old and destitute.  At some point in 1888, he was moved to Bovina and was being supported by the town when he died.  The Delaware Gazette reported that "'Jimmie' McClure, the eccentric character so well known here and in this vicinity, died in Bovina last Friday.  Mr. McClure formerly served in the British army, and was a soldier in the Mexican war and also in the war of the rebellion.  He was a pensioner for services in the Mexican war.  Although he had been in so much war he was never wounded."

James McNair was born in Delaware County in 1835 (though other sources say he was born in Canada).  He enlisted in the 8th NY Battery as a private in August 1861.  He re-enlisted at the end of his service and mustered out in Norfolk, Virginia in June 1865.  He was paid a bounty of $350.  In the 1865 census, he was enumerated with his brother-in-law, Walter Doig in Bovina. This appears to be his only Bovina connection.  In 1870, he was living in Andes with his wife Martha and son James.  By 1880, he had moved to Adair County in Iowa and was farming.  He lived there the rest of his life, dying in 1903.

Albert McPherson was born in Bovina in 1840, but at some point in his childhood and early adulthood he lived in Stamford.  He enlisted in August 1862 in the 144th New York Volunteers.  At the time of his enlistment, he was 5 feet 10 inches tall, with light complexion, blue eyes and brown hair.  He mustered out with his company in Hilton Head, SC on June 25, 1865.  In 1880, he was living in Bovina with his wife Drusilla and two sons.  He reported in 1890 that he was totally deaf, caused by his service in the war.  By 1910, he was a widower, living with his daughter, Ada Lester, in Queens.  He died in February 1917 on Long Island and is buried in Hobart.

Ezekiel McPherson was born in Bovina in 1835.  He joined the 144th New York volunteers in August 1862 as a corporal.  At his discharge on June 25, 1865, he was an orderly sergeant.  He married Isabella McDonald in 1868 and they settled in Hobart.  Ezekiel died in December 1906 in Stamford and is buried in South Kortright.

Bovina in the Civil War - Soldier Biographies VII

James Boswean Lee does not show up in any military records but he is considered to be a Civil War veteran.  Lee, born in Ohio, came to Bovina in 1856 as the pastor of the Bovina United Presbyterian Church.  In the summer of 1864, answering a call from General Grant for chaplains, he was chosen as one of 3000 special chaplains.  He served in the 18th Army Corp, spending his time very close to battle.  Lee provided food and medicines to soldiers during the siege of Petersburg, Virginia.  He also helped with the sick and wounded and buried the dead.  Lee returned to Bovina in September to bring back Rev. Robinson of Delhi because Robinson had contracted 'camp fever.'  Lee contracted the same illness on his return and was ill for several weeks.  Lee recovered and was pastor in Bovina until 1888.  He returned to Bovina after his retirement from the ministry in 1904 and died there in 1914, age 81.  Rev. Lee is buried in Bovina.

Thomas A. Lee was born in 1845, the son of Alphonso Lee and Adelia Howland.  In 1860 he was living with his parents.  In July 1861, he enlisted in the 3rd NY Cavalry as a private.  He re-enlisted in December 1863, transferring from Company E to Company F.  In July 1865, he transferred to Company H, First NY Mounted Rifles but had deserted by the 1st of August in Portsmouth, Virginia. Further information on Thomas A. Lee is lacking. 

Thomas H. Lee was born in July 1843 in Cadiz, Ohio.  He was living with his brother, the Reverend James B. Lee, in Bovina in 1860.  He enlisted in August 1862, joining the 144th NY Volunteers, company E.  Promoted to corporal in July 1863, Thomas became a sergeant in December of that year.  He mustered out with his company on June 25, 1865 at Hilton Head, SC.  After the war, he married and was living in Red Oak, Iowa at his death in August 1891.

Thomas J. Liddle was born August 7, 1841 in Delaware County.  He was living with his father in Bovina in 1860.  In September 1862 he joined the 144th New York Volunteers and served with the 144th until he was mustered out on June 25, 1865.  In 1866, in company with Thomas H. Coulter, he left New York state for the west. Traveling by train as far as Omaha, they took a boat on the Missouri river for Fort Benton, Montana.  Thomas ranched, mined and carried mail in Montana for two years.  Coulter stayed in Montana, but Liddle set out for Puget Sound in Washington State in 1868. He went as far as Walla Walla and settled as a farmer in Colfax in Whitman County in eastern Washington State.  In 1872, he married Martha Ann Starr in Colfax, with whom he had seven children.  Thomas died in Colfax in 1928. 

Andrew B. Lull was born in Otsego County in August 1843.  His family moved to Bovina sometime before 1860.  On August 27, 1862, he enlisted in the 144th New York volunteers as a private, mustering out with his company on June 25, 1865.  Andrew left New York State sometime after the end of his military service, settling in New Jersey.  He married a Miss Elberson in Mount Holly, NJ in 1871.  He was widowed and in 1893, married in Glassboro, NJ Georgiana Killyard.  He died in March 1895 in Glassboro.

James Lunn was born in 1844 in Bovina, though other information says he was born in Andes.  He appears to have spent much of his life before and after the war in Andes.  He enlisted in September 1862 in the 144th New York Volunteers as a private.  James was a farmer in Andes after the war but by 1910, he was living in Bovina working as a stone mason.  He died in December 1917 in Lake Delaware and is buried in Andes.  His widow filed a pension claim in January 1918.

Bovina in the Civil War - Soldier Biographies VI

Darius Hadley was born in 1836.  Hadley appears in the 1860 federal census for Bovina enumerated with Jonathan Adee.  He enlisted in the 8th NY Volunteers Artillery in October 1861 and was discharged on February 14, 1863 at a convalescent camp in Virginia after he was wounded in the right foot.  After his discharge, he came back to Bovina to live with his mother Elizabeth and filed a pension claim as an invalid in January 1865. Not long after this, he married and settled in the Town of Colchester where he remained the rest of his life. By 1900, he and his wife Priscilla were living with their son.  Darius died in the fall of 1904 and is buried in Downsville, NY.  His widow filed a pension claim in November 1904.


Robert Halsted was born in Bovina in October 1842 in Bovina, the son of James and Phebe Halsted.  Enlisting in August 1862 in the 144th New York Volunteers as a private, he was paid a bounty of $150.  Robert was discharged on July 12, 1865.  Halsted survived the war by less than a decade, dying in February 1874.  He is buried in Bovina.

Henry Hogaboom was born in the town of Rockland in Sullivan County in 1836.  By 1850, he was living in Bovina with his widowed mother, Elizabeth.  Henry enlisted in August 1864, joining the 144th NY Volunteers as a private.  He mustered out with his company on June 25, 1865 and returned to Bovina, living there at least through 1890.  That year, he was living in Lake Delaware and reported a 'general disability' due to an 'injury in service which is not overcome.'  By 1910, Henry had moved to Ohio and was living in the National Military Home in Jefferson, Ohio, near Dayton.  Dying there in February 1921, his body was brought back to Bovina for burial.

John R. Hoy was born in Washington County, NY in 1831, the son of James Hoy and Elizabeth Robertson.  By 1850, the family was living in Bovina.  John married Isabella Wilson Miller in 1854 and they settled in Bovina as farmers.  Active in his community, when he enlisted in the 144th New York Volunteers in September 1864, he was the tax collector for Bovina.  Because of his absence, the town in December had to appoint Joseph Raitt to fill the position.  John mustered out with his company on June 25, 1865 in Hilton Head, SC.  On his return to Bovina, he continued serving his town, becoming the commissioner of highways.  John and Isabella Hoy had eight children, including David Fletcher Hoy, the man to whom we are indebted for his research into Bovina families.  John and Isabella's daughter Margaret Jane was married to Douglass Davidson.  Margaret Jane is the mother of H. Fletcher Davidson and Vera Davidson Storie.  John R. Hoy died September 1901 and is buried in Bovina.

Edward Kennedy, also sometimes listed as Kenneday, was living in Bovina in the 1890s.  Otherwise, little is known about where he lived.  Born in Tyrone, Ireland in 1838, he enlisted in April 1862 in New York City in the 4th New York Volunteers.  He mustered out in May 1863 and in December that same year re-enlisted in the 16th New York Heavy Artillery.  On February 1, 1865, he deserted his unit while in New York City.  Apparently, he was never punished for it - it appears he was collecting a pension in 1890 for his service in the 4th New York Volunteers.  He is on the 1890 military census for Bovina, listing his post office in 1890 as Lake Delaware.  No further information on Kennedy has been located.

Louis Knapp's time in Bovina was relatively brief.  He was born in Dutchess County in 1830 (though another source says Delaware County).  At the start of the war he was living in Hamden but by the time he enlisted in February 1864, he had been widowed and was living in Bovina as a boarder of Walter D. Miller.  Knapp joined the 144th and was mustered out with his company on June 25, 1865.  He settled in the Shavertown area after the war and at some point remarried.  He filed a pension claim in 1890 and died around 1898 in Dunraven.

Bovina in the Civil War - Soldier Biographies V

Alexander Gill was born in Bovina in January 1839, the son of James and Mary Gill.  He enlisted in September 1862 in the 144th NY Volunteers as a corporal.  He was a sergeant at his discharge on July 12, 1865.  Alexander married Agnes Radeker in Downsville.  He moved to Montrose, Pennsylvania, working as a carpenter.  He died in March 1899 in Pennsylvania.

William T. Gillie was born in Bovina in Apirl 1844.  He enlisted in August 1862 in the 144th NY Volunteers, Company E and was paid $100 for doing so.  He died of typhoid fever at a hospital in Washington, DC on August 6, 1863 and was buried near the hospital.  He was only 19 years old.  There is a memorial stone for William Gillie in the Bovina Cemetery.

Thomas Gordon was born in Scotland and was a resident of Delhi when he served in the war.  He was in the 79th NY Infantry, enlisting September 7, 1864.  He was discharged May 30, 1865.  Thomas was married twice, first to Mary J. Oliver, who died in 1897, and then to Mary R. Scott, who survived him.  He taught in Bovina schools for many years and was noted for his excellent penmanship, which was useful in the years he was Bovina's Town Clerk.  Thomas was active in the local veterans organization, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR).  Gordon was Town Clerk when he died unexpectedly in April 1921.  His daughter Margaret was a noted Social Studies teacher at Delaware Academy.

Francis Gowanlock was born in March 1843 in Bovina.  He enlisted in August 1962 in the 144th NY Volunteers and was mustered out in June 1865, returning to Bovina.  Gowanlock worked as a stone mason and in 1874, married Jane Liddle.  In the 1890 special census, he reported that he suffered from fever and ague as a result of his service in the war.  He also noted that he was shot in the leg.  Gowanlock died New Year's Day, 1918 and is buried in Bovina.

George W. Graham was born in Bovina in 1845.  He enlisted in August 1862 in the 144th NY Volunteers as a private and was paid a bounty of $100 for doing so.  Promoted to 2nd lieutenant, Graham later had to resign because of ill health in September 1864.  He left Delaware County sometime after the war and settled in West Virginia, where he married Sophia Bilson in Harper's Ferry.  Later, he married Jennie E. Marshall as his second wife in Woodstock, VA.  In the 1900 census, he was a life insurance agent and on the 1910 census, he said he was an attorney.  George died in 1916 and is buried in the Bolivar Cemetery in Jefferson County, WV, outside of Harpers Ferry.

Stories from Bovina's Cemeteries - the Elliott Brothers

This substantial monument in the Bovina Cemetery was erected by the grieving parents of Thomas and James Elliott.  William and Eleanor (Wight) Elliott of New Kingston lost two of their three sons in the Civil War - and in the same month.  The farm on which they lived and grew up is still in the Elliott family today.  Though mainly in the Town of Middletown it does overlap a bit into the town of Bovina.

William and Elliott had three sons.  James, born in 1841, enlisted first, signing up in the town of Middletown on August 26, 1862.  His war record says he was 6 feet 1 1/2 inches tall, with dark hair and grey eyes.  He was quickly promoted to Corporal and served in the 144th, Company G.  His older brother Thomas

James Elliott - 1841-1864
photo courtesy of
Joan Archibald Towsend

Thomas Elliott - 1840-1864
photo courtesy of
Joan Archibald Towsend

did not enlist until 1864.  This may be partly due to his health.  As recorded in Munsell's History of Delaware County, Thomas was a bright student and had been taking classical courses at Delaware Academy.  In the midst of his studies, his health failed so he took a tour to Scotland to recover.  Thomas enlisted in September 1864 in Company B of the 90th New York Regiment.  At the time of his enlistment, he was recorded as having blue eyes, brown hair and was 5 feet 11 inches tall.  He was paid a bounty of $800 by the Town of Bovina. On October 19th, barely six weeks after enlisting, he was mortally wounded at the Battle of Cedar Creek.  Munsell's history reports that Thomas was robbed of his personal effects, including his boots, by the rebels.  He was rescued from the battle field but never recovered and died from his injuries on November 6.  Did James hear of his brother's injuries and subsequent death?  He might have, but on November 30, 1864, James joined his brother Thomas as a fatality of the Civil War when he was killed in action at Honey Hill, SC.

James's remains were buried on the field, but his brother's body was brought back for burial in the Bovina cemetery. Though from New Kingston, the Elliott family had been involved with the church in Bovina and appear to already have had a plot there.  The photographs below were taken by Ed and Dick Davidson.

This substantial monument commemorates both brothers and sits next to the graves of their parents.  Thomas's inscription is on the east side of the monument, James's on the west.  Information is provided for each brother concerning his regiment, how he died and his age. Verses from the Bible are included and each epitaph concludes with a stanza from a poem by William Cullen Bryant, "The Death of Abraham Lincoln."  Bryant wrote the poem the month of Lincoln's death in April 1865.  Pieces of this poem were used frequently on the tombstones of the dead from the Civil War.

Thomas's inscription includes:

"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.  John 11:25"

"Pure was thy life; its bloody close
Hath placed thee with the sons of light,
Among the noble host of those
Who perished in the cause of Right." 

The inscription on James's stone notes that his body was not brought back for burial at home.

"Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.  Matt. 10:32-33
Verily I say unto you, in as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.  Matt. 25:40"

"Thy task is done the bond are free
We never saw thy honored grave
Whose proudest moment shall be
The broken fetters of the slave."

The second line is edited from the poem by Bryant, replacing “We bear thee to an honored grave” with “We never saw thy honored grave.”

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. 

Bovina in the Civil War - Soldier Biographies III

A cousin of brothers John and Solomon Coulter (featured last month), Thomas Coulter was born in Bovina in 1844.  He was the son of David Coulter.  He enlisted on August 28, 1862 and joined the same company and regiment as his cousins, the 144th NY Volunteer Infantry, Company E.  For enlisting, he was paid a bounty of $50.  Thomas was a farmer and had blue eyes, brown hair, a fair complexion and was 5 feet 11 inches tall.  In August 1863, he was sick in the hospital, but recovered and mustered out as a private on June 25, 1865 at Hilton Head, SC.  Thomas left Delaware County soon after the war and settled in Montana Territory as a gulch miner.  He died January 16, 1895 in Montana and is buried in the Forestvale Cemetery, Helena, Montana.

Born January 3, 1841, John P. Dennis, son of Thomas and Louisa Dennis, lived in Bovina when he enlisted on August 21, 1862.  He was paid $100 bounty.  He mustered out of the 144th NY Volunteers on June 25, 1865.  Dennis farmed in Bovina after the war.  In 1890, he reported as a disability a rupture and bad left hip.  Between 1900 and 1910, he and his wife Mary moved to Charles City County, Virginia.  The both appear in the 1920 census but by the 1930 census, Mary was widowed.  Exactly when and where John died I have not yet determined.

William Dennis may be the brother of John (there is conflicting information about his parents, so I'm not totally sure).  He was born in Bovina in 1836 and married Lydia Betts in December 1861.  When he enlisted August 24, 1864, joining the 144th New York Volunteers as a private, he was working as a miller.  He mustered out with his company on June 25,1865 at Hilton Head, S.C.  He moved several times after the war.  In 1870, he was a farmer in Colchester, with his wife and five children.  By 1890, he was in Delhi, when he reported in a special military census that he suffered from diarrhea and piles, an effect of his service.  He appears on the 1900 census in Walton.  William moved yet again and by 1910, he and his wife Lydia were living in Bergen County, NJ with two of their children.  They do not appear in the 1920 census, so it is possible that William and his wife were deceased by or before 1920. 

Walter Dickson was a blacksmith, born in 1834 in Bovina.  At his enlistment in Middletown on August 26, 1862, he was described as being 5 feet 6 inches tall, with light complexion, blue eyes and dark hair.  He mustered into the 144th NY Volunteers, Company G.  Mustering in as a sergeant, he was promoted to first sergeant in January 1864 and was a second lieutenant at the end of that year.  Walter mustered out with the company at Hilton Head, SC on June 25, 1865.  Dickson left Delaware County and was an early settler at Garner, Iowa, where he was the town's first blacksmith and, later, a farmer.  He died in 1892 in Crossville, Tennessee.

James R. Douglass was born in October 1822.  In August 1864, at the rather advanced age of 42, he enlisted into the 144th New York Volunteer Infantry as a private.  He mustered out with the company on June 25, 1865 at Hilton Head, SC.  James was married twice, first to Nancy Scott, then to Mary McCune.  He died at the age of 50 in 1873 and is buried in the Bovina Cemetery.

Bovina in the Civil War - Soldier Biographies II

Samuel Bouton was born in Roxbury in 1830, the son of Nathaniel Bouton and Elizabeth Corbin.  His service in the war appears to have been relatively brief.  He enlisted in Company H of the 8th Pennsylvania Battery in Scranton in May 1861 and was discharged less than three months later at the end of July 1861.  He was in Bovina in 1863 when he was registered for the draft but saw no subsequent service.  Married to Ann Gillie in Andes in 1864, the couple lived in Lake Delaware, where he died in 1912.  Samuel is buried in Bovina.

Known more familiarly as Sinclair, John Sinclair Burns, was Bovina's first Civil War casualty.  He was born in Bovina on August 29, 1841, the son of John and Nancy Burns.  On his 21st birthday, he enlisted for three years in Company E of the 144th NY Volunteer Infantry.  The following spring, on April 4, 1863, Sinclair died at the Fairfax Seminary Hospital in Virginia of typhoid fever.  His remains were sent back to Bovina for burial.
   
Andrew Chisholm was one of the many victims of typhoid fever in the Civil War.  Born November 1, 1839, Andrew was the son of Andrew Chisholm.  He enlisted in Company E of the 144th Infantry on August 19, 1862 in Bovina and was paid a bounty of $150. A little over a year later, on October 19, 1863, Andrew died at Folly Island, South Carolina.  He was buried on Folly Island, though there is also a memorial stone in the Bovina Cemetery.

James Clark was from Delhi, and appears to have spent most of his life there, but was living in Bovina at the time of his death.  Born in 1830, he enlisted in the first year of the war, joining company I of the NY 72nd Infantry.  He mustered out in June 1864 and settled in Delhi for some time.  By 1890 he was living in Downsville.  In the 1900 census, he was listed as widowed and living in Bovina.  He died in Bovina in 1902 and was buried in the Bovina Cemetery.

Brothers John and Solomon Coulter, sons of James and Nancy Coulter, enlisted in the 144th New York Infantry in August 1862.  John was quite successful, as a soldier and after his military service.  Born on April 19, 1842, he enlisted on August 15, 1862 and was paid a bounty of $150.  At the time of his enlistment, he was described as six feet tall with blue eyes, dark hair and a fair complexion.  John enlisted as a Sergeant and was promoted several times, becoming a 2nd Lieutenant before he was discharged on July 12, 1865.  After the war, John headed west, settling in Georgetown, Colorado.  In 1874, he married Annie Gaffney Leggett, a widow, and adopted her two children.  His career was quite successful, becoming a lawyer and a justice of the peace and, later, mayor of Georgetown.  John also served one term in the state legislature.  He moved to Moffat County, Colorado in 1900, continuing his legal practice.  In 1915, he moved to Boulder and retired from the law.  On New Year's Day, 1919, John Coulter died of heart disease and senile dementia at the age of 78.  He was buried in Boulder.

John's younger brother Solomon was not so lucky.  Enlisting a week after his brother, Solomon also was paid a bounty of $150.  He was a couple of inches shorter than his brother but also had blue eyes, black hair and a fair complexion.  A little over two years after enlisting he became yet another victim of typhoid fever, dying on September 23, 1864, in South Carolina at the age of 20.  There is conflicting information as to whether he was buried at Hilton Head, SC, where he died, or back in Bovina, where there is a memorial stone.

Bovina in the Civil War - Soldier Biographies I

With this entry, I am starting a series that will run a bit over a year of mini biographies of Bovina's Civil War soldiers. These will appear once a month on the 12th of each month, five or so biographies each month.

Born in 1836, James S. Adee was the son of  Stephen B. Adee and Elizabeth Luddington.  He enlisted on September 2, 1862 in the 144th New York Volunteers as a 2nd Sergeant.   James was reported 'absent sick in hospital' in August 1863.  He was promoted in May 1864 to 1st Lieutenant.  Mustered out as a first lieutenant in 1865 at Hilton Head, South Carolina, he married Mary E. Witmore the following year.  In 1866, he joined a large group of Civil War Veterans who opposed President Johnson and his policies that they saw as too lienient to the south and harmful to the recently emancipated slaves.  In 1890, he reported suffering from 'disease of the lungs, rheumatism and malaria, measle and other afflictions.'  He died in Delhi in 1899 and is buried in Bloomville.

John G. Atkin was born in 1833, the son of Charles Atkin and Rachael Miller.  He was excused from the draft in 1863 because he was the father of a motherless child, but a year later, he enlisted in Company E of the 144th New York Volunteers.  He was paid $700 for doing so.  By this time, he appears to have remarried to Mrs. Dorcas Hamilton, who ran a hotel and tavern in Bovina.  He mustered out as a private in Hilton Head, SC in June 1865.  By 1870, John, Dorcas and their daughter had moved to Delhi.  Dorcas died sometime before 1885.  That year, John married as his third wife Mary Grantbury.  He died in Delhi in 1914.

Though born in Scotland in 1838, Andrew Anderson came to the United States while still an infant.  His time in Bovina was relatively brief but encompasses his service in the Civil War. In 1860, he was in Bovina as a servant in the household of Thomas Hamilton, his uncle. He enlisted in the 144th NY Volunteers as a private on September 1, 1862 and mustered out in Hilton Head, SC on June 25, 1865.  He married Margaret Liddle in Delhi in 1866 and settled in Andes on Dingle Hill as a farmer.  He and Margaret had nine children.  Widowed in 1917, Andrew died November 6, 1929 from the effects of a fall the day before.  He was almost 92 and had been in good health when the fall happened.  The obituary in the Stamford Mirror noted that "He leaves very few comrades behind as the lines are growing thinner."  He was buried in Andes with members of the American Legion as pall bearers.  Note: Andrew Anderson's last name varies in the records, from Andrewson to Anderse to Anderson

Adam C. Biggar was born in 1840, the son of Walter Biggar and Jeanette Cowan.  He enlisted in August 1862 in Bovina and mustered in as a private in Company E, New York 144th Volunteers.  He died of typhoid fever on October 18, 1863 at Folly Island, S.C. and is buried there.

Samuel O. Blair, the son of Peter Blair and Margaret McCune, was born in Bovina in 1831, but he spent most of his life in Delhi.  He was married to Elizabeth Atkin and had three children when he enlisted in 1864 and was mustered into Company E of the 144th New York Volunteers.  He mustered out a year later at Hilton Head, S.C.  He briefly lived in Bovina during the war, but by 1870 was living in Delhi.  Samuel suffered from malarial poisoning of the bladder, a side effect of his war service.  He died on December 11, 1890 and is buried in Bovina.