USA > Maine > Franklin County > Industry > A history of the town of Industry, Franklin County, Maine > Part 29
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mustered in Sept. 16, 1864. Going South with his company, he participated in all its movements, including the battle of Cedar Creek, etc. Ile was mustered out of the service June 5, 1865, some two months after the close of the war. Resides in New Sharon, Mc.
DANIEL S. COLLINS.
Daniel Saunders Collins, son of Daniel, Jr., and Harriet (Knowlton) Collins, was born in Industry, April 23, 1834. When about fifteen years of age, he went to live with a maternal aunt who resided in Belfast, Me A year later he entered the office of The State Signal, a newspaper published in that city, where he served the usual apprenticeship, and afterwards worked on that paper, as a journeyman printer, some two years. He next worked in Bangor, Me., and also in Bos- ton for a short time. He enlisted under the President's call for men to serve nine months, and was mustered into the U. S. service Oct. 10, 1862, as a private in Co. B, 22d Regiment, Volunteer Infantry. He served his full term of enlistment and was mustered out Aug. 14, 1863. Ile next enlisted as a private in Co. A, State Guards Infantry, to serve sixty days. He was mustered into the service July 7, 1864, and stationed at Fort McClary, in Maine. On the expiration of his term of service, Sept. 8, 1864, he was discharged and returned to his native town. Shortly after this he again enlisted as a member of the Ist Maine Regiment, Sharpshooters, then being organized, and was mustered into the service Nov. 28, 1864, and assigned to Co. E, with the rank of corporal. His company was rendez- voused at Camp Coburn, Augusta, Me. The company left Augusta, for Galloupe's Island, Dec. 7, 1864. They were ordered from thence to City Point, Va., Jan. 1, 1865, and arrived there on the 5th. June 2Ist Mr. Collins's Company was consolidated with the 20th Maine Regiment, Infantry, where he was also promoted to the rank of corporal in Co. E. July 16, 1865, he was mustered out and discharged, at Washington, D. C., and immediately returned to his native State. He died in Middleborough, Mass., Oct. 20, 1885.
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JAMES W. COLLINS.
James Warren Collins, son of George and Mary A. ( Nor- cross) Collins, was born in Industry, Nov. 3, 1825. On the breaking out of the war he was living on a small farm near Goodridge's Corner in Industry. He enlisted as a member of Co. A, 28th Maine Regiment, Infantry, and was mustered into the U. S. service Sept. 16, 1864. He was wounded in the battle of Cedar Creek, Oct. 19, 1864. Discharged in 1865. He died in Brunswick, Maine.
DANIEL A. CONANT.
Daniel A. Conant was a resident of Temple, Me., when the war broke out. He enlisted as a substitute for Samuel H. Nor- ton of Industry, and consequently counted on that town's quota. He was mustered into the service at Portland, Me., August 18, 1862, as a member of Co. G, 17th Maine Regiment, Volunteer Infantry. Taken prisoner at the battle of Chancellorsville, Va. Exchanged. Mustered out June 4, 1865.
JOHN F. DAGGETT.
John Fred Daggett, son of John A. and , Cynthia P. (Fur- bush) Daggett, enlisted for one year in the first Company of Unassigned Infantry, Capt. Edward S. Butler, and was mustered into the U. S. service Sept. 16, 1864, at Augusta, Mainc. Remaining at this place but a few days they went to Portland, and from thence to Washington, D. C. Here the company en- camped one night, when it was ordered to Harper's Ferry, Va. On their way thither they stopped over night in Philadelphia. Reaching Winchester they went into camp with the 29th Maine, acting with them in their various movements until Oct. 18. 1864, when Company A was discharged, its term of service having expired, and Mr. Daggett's company was assigned to the regiment to fill the vacancy. Prior to this date Mr. Daggett participated in the engagement of Fisher's Hill,-this was his first experience of being under fire. He took an active part in the battle of Cedar Creek, October 19th, his company's casualties being twenty-six in killed, wounded and missing. On the even-
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ing following the battle, while engaged in removing the wounded from the field, the subject of this sketch was run over by an empty ambulance wagon driven at a furious speed; by this accident he was forced to remain in the hospital five weeks. Reported to his company while it was stationed at Newtown, and was detailed for safe guard duty, continuing to act in that capacity for nearly a month. During the remainder of the winter Mr. Daggett's company was engaged in special service. Breaking camp at their winter quarters they marched down the Shen- andoah Valley, and while waiting for orders at Winchester, news of the fall of Richmond reached them. From this date to June 5, 1865, they were engaged in various light guard duties, at which time the company was mustered out of the service and discharged at Washington, D. C. Mr. Daggett resides in New Sharon, Me., and has for many years been engaged in selling fruit trees, etc.
HIRAM P. DURRELL.
Hiram P. Durrell, son of John G. and Hannah ( Parent) Durrell, was born in Hodgdon, Me., June 23, 1832. In 1849, when seventeen years old, he came to Industry and for a time hired with Rufus Jennings, alternating his time between farming and clerking in his employer's store. He married (published Sept. 28, 1850) Lucy A. W. Brewster, daughter of Daniel W. and Mercy ( Hanson) Brewster of Carratunk, Me., and had the following children born in Industry, viz .: Hiram L., born April 24, 1851 ; died in Lawrence, Mass., Sept. 12, 1878. Ellen L., born Sept. 12, 1853; died, in Industry, Aug. 28, 1857. Wesley G., born June 29, 1855. Will H., born Dec. 28, 1858, married Capitola Daggett, of Industry. Hattie Estmer, born May 11, 1861 ; died in Lawrence, Mass., Nov. 20, ISSO. On the 10th day of September, 1862, he enlisted as a member of Co. K, 24th Regiment, Maine Infantry, and was mustered into the service at Augusta on the 13th of the follow- ing month. While the company was stationed at East New York, Mr. Durrell had the misfortune to break his ankle and was
* This name appears among the intentions of marriage as Hiram D. P. Durrell.
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discharged Dec. 11, 1862. He now resides in Freeman, Me., where he is engaged in farming. His wife, born in Carratunk, Me., July 3, 1832, died in Boston June 4, 1879, and he has since re-married .*
WILLIAM HI. EDWARDS.
William Harvey Edwards, son of Bryce S. and Abigail (Flood) Edwards, was born in Industry, Nov. 28, 1842. He was brought up as a farmer's son. He enlisted as a private in the 24th Maine Regiment, Infantry, Sept. 2, 1862, and on the loth day of the same month was mustered into the service and assigned to Co. H. Dec. 31, 1862, he was promoted to First Sergeant, in which capacity he served until June 13, 1863 ; promoted to Second Lieutenant, t while at Port Hudson, Louisiana ; mustered out at Augusta, Me., by reason of expira- tion of his term of enlistment, Aug. 25, 1863. He is now a physician and resides in Houtzdale, Penn.
JOIIN D. ELDER.
John Daggett Elder, son of Isaac and Sally ( Daggett) Elder, was born in New Vineyard, Me., Nov. 10, 1842. Studi- ously inclined, he acquired during his youth a good education, considering his advantages. In February, 1862, he enlisted as a recruit for the 9th Maine Regiment, and was mustered into the U. S. service March 3d, and assigned to Co. I. He remained at Augusta, Me., until May 23d, when, with others, he took the cars for Boston. On their arrival at that place the ladies had an excellent supper in waiting for them, after which, they continued their journey to New York, where they arrived at five o'clock on the morning of the 24th, having been twenty- four hours on the way from Augusta. After a few days spent
* Nathan G. Dyer, of the 19th Company, Unassigned Infantry, who enlisted and was mustered into the U. S. service at Augusta, Me., March 21, 1865, was undoubtedly an Industry recruit ( see note, p. 320 ) although credited to the town of Bradford in the AAdjutant General's Report. In consequence of the close of the war, Mr. Dyer never left Augusta, but was mustered out May 23, 1805, and soon after discharged.
+ Adjutant General's Report says, July 23, 1863.
Engraved by GEO. E. JOHNSON, Boston. From a photograph made in ISS7.
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in New York, Mr. Elder with his comrades embarked on board a transport for Hilton Head, S. C., where they arrived on the 8th of June. During this voyage Mr. Elder suffered severely from sea-sickness. On the following day they embarked for Fernandina, Florida, where they arrived June 15, 1862. In a letter to his father dated July 18, 1862, he says :
" I was on guard last night and the mosquitoes were as thick as you ever saw them, and they were nearly as large as wasps. The rebels came in with a flag of truce yesterday, and told us that General Mc- Clellan had been whipped before Richmond and that General Fre- mont's army had been all cut up; and gave us three days to leave the Island, - but they have got to come and take it before we shall leave. Last night we got news from New York that Richmond was taken. The company to which I belong is called the Bangor Tigers. The average weight of the men is 180 pounds ; average height 5 feet 11 inches."
In speaking of the fight of James Island, before Charleston, he wrote :
" It was a shocking sight, after a battle, to see five hundred poor fellows wounded and mangled in every conceivable manner. as I (lid. Provisions are very high here ; butter is worth fifty cents per pound ; cheese, 25 cents ; molasses one dollar and fifty cents a gallon, and tobacco one dollar and fifty cents per pound."
During the summer the duties of the soldiers were very light. They were required to keep their equipments in order, and drill four hours a day, with an occasional turn on guard. Many families fled from their homes when the Union forces occupied the place, and in these the soldiers were quartered instead of in the usual tents or barracks. In a letter dated at Fernandina, Florida, Sept. 25, 1862, he wrote :
" We have had one fight since my last letter was written. The Colonel sent our company and about twenty men from Co. A, up about twenty- five miles into Georgia. to capture a band of guerrillas. We went in boats and arrived at our destination about three o'clock in the morning. Landing as still as we could, we crept up to surround the house in which the guerrillas were rendezvoused. When we were within a few
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rods of the house their dogs gave the alarm and they commenced to fire on us with their double-barrelled shot-guns, loaded with buck-shot. and we replied with ounce slugs from our rifled muskets. Finding that we were making it too warm for them, they ran, leaving four of their comrades dead, five wounded and two made prisoners. Besides the prisoners, we captured a large number of Sharpe's rifles and revolvers. One of the best men in our company was killed. I am afraid it will be hard work to conquer the South, for they fight just as our forefathers did in the Revolution."
Five days later he writes :
"We went down to Pine Island, yesterday, in the steamer ' Darlington,' which ran on to a sand-bar, and we had to keep the pumps going all night to keep from sinking, but at last we got her off and got back. I have got one of the nicest silver-mounted double-barrelled shot-guns. which I captured from a rebel, that you ever saw. He said it cost him sixty dollars, and I had to threaten to shoot him before I got it. I will send father a piece of the telegraph wire which ran under water from Savannah to Fort Pulaski .* When the Union forces captured the fort they took up as much of the wire as they could without ex- posing themselves to the rebels."
Writing from the same place ( Fernandina, Fla. ) on the 10th of November, 1862, Mr. Elder says :
"We have had quite a fight. Two companies, A and I, with a gun- boat, went up and took St. Mary's and burned the place to ashes. I went on shore with the captain to get some furniture. I got about eighty dollars' worth, nice for my own quarters, besides a piano worth five or six hundred dollars, for the captain, and a looking-glass six feet tall by four wide for the colonel. William W. Lunt, a deserter from our company, has been returned and will be shot on the first day of December. This is the second person who has been executed for desertion since the war begun."
From an account of the execution sent his parents, we give the following extract :
" The condemned man's real name was Albert, though it appears on the muster rolls as William. He was nearly 22 years of age, and was
* This wire, or rather cable, consisted of a single fine copper wire, insulated in a resinous substance. In size it was about as large as an ordinary pipe-stem.
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born in Hampden, Maine, of respectable parents. In early youth he became restive under parental restraint, and ran off with a circus com- pany, with which he continued some six years. He was of remarkable physique, being more than six feet in height and of a frame propor- tionally large and muscular. At half-past ten o'clock the prisoner was brought from his tent, and approached the wagon between a guard of two men, with side arms. He was habited in the usual blue army over- coat and wore a black felt hat. He still retained his almost stoical firmness of manner ; not a muscle of his features moved, nor a limb trembled, as he entered the wagon and seated himself on the coffin so soon to contain his mortal remains. The wagon was guarded by the squad of men who were selected as the firing party, under Captain Eddy, and was preceded by an escort of forty men from the 47th New York Volunteers. Chaplains Butts of the 47th New York and Hill of the 3d New Hampshire, who acted as his spiritual attendants, followed im- mediately in the rear-together with those of the medical department who were to assist in the proceedings, all mounted. The solemn procession moved forward to the sound of muffled drums-the escort with shoul- dered arms and the guard with arms reversed. Nothing was neglected which could add to the solemnity of the occasion. Throughout the march the prisoner sat upon his coffin, almost without motion, his head resting upon his hand-no moisture on his brow, no tear bedewed his cheek, his whole manner betokened perfect calmness and resignation. The spot selected for the scene of the execution was without the en- trenchments and opposite the southern sallyport. Here the entire regiments of the command were drawn up to witness the tragic scene, formed in three sides of a hollow square. Near the centre of the square was stationed General Terry and his staff, with several promi- nent officers. The procession halted directly opposite the general and his staff, and the condemned man alighted without assistance. The coffin was taken out and placed beside him, and his sentence was then read to him in a clear and distinct voice by Lieutenant Gallaer, Adju- tant of the Provost Marshal's force, to which he listened without manifesting the slightest emotion. After the reading of the sentence, Major Van Brunt addressed a few words to him to the effect that his sentence was about to be carried out, and if he desired to make any remarks he was at liberty to do so. At the invitation the prisoner arose and in a calm voice said : 'Fellow soldiers, I want you to take warning by me and seek salvation from the Lord before it is too late. I am not guilty of the crime for which I have been condemned to death.'
" Having made these few remarks he was divested of his outer cloth-
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ing, and in his shirt sleeves, required to kneel upon his coffin. In this position his eyes were bandaged with a white cloth, and the squad of twelve men were silently motioned to take their position directly in front of him at twenty paces distance, at the same time preparing to aim. Everything was now ready, and Chaplains Butts and Hall both went to the prisoner to receive his parting words. He expressed him- self as perfectly resigned to his fate and ready and willing to die. The chaplains having retired, Major Van Brunt shook the prisoner by the hand and, after bidding him farewell, stepped a few paces back, and with a wave of his handkerchief, announced that the fatal moment had come. With a motion of his sword Captain Eddy commanded his men to the position of 'Ready, aim,' and instantly uttering the word 'fire,' there followed a flash and loud report, and at the same moment the wretched man fell forward, pierced with nine balls. One cap exploded and the piece missed fire ; one shot failed to take effect, and the twelfth musket contained a blank cartridge. Thus ended the second execution of the kind which has taken place in our army since the com- mencement of the war."
On the 17th of January, 1863, the regiment returned to Hilton Head, S. C. Soon after this Mr. Elder was detailed as hospital nurse, in the General Hospital at that place. Speak- ing of the bombardment of Charleston, to which he was an eye- witness, after his return to Hilton Head, he says: "It was the most terrific cannonading 1 cver witnessed. It was one con- tinuous sheet of flame from Fort Moultrie and Battery Bee." He continued as hospital nurse until the month of May, when he was stricken with fever and ague and afterward with typhoid fever, which resulted in his death June 5, 1863. Mr. Elder was a young man of good habits, a dutiful son and a brave soldier. His conduct while in the army, won both the respect of his comrades and esteem of his superiors, and his early death was mourned by a large circle of friends and acquaint- ances.
CARLTON P. EMERY.
Carlton Parker Emcry, son of Josiah and Hannah C. (Man- ter) Emery, was born in New Vineyard, Me., Feb. 13, 1844. Enlisted as a recruit for Co. L, Ist Maine Regiment, Cav- alry, and was mustered into the service Dec. 28, 1863. Promoted
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to sergeant near the close of his term of service. Mustered out Aug. 1, 1865. He was subsequently killed in a billiard saloon in one of the Western States.
GEORGE C. EMERY.
George Cornforth Emery, brother of the foregoing, was born in New Vineyard, Me., December 23, 1848. At the age of fif- teen he enlisted as a recruit for Co. L, Ist Maine Regiment, Cavalry, and was mustered into the service Dec. 26, 1863. Mustered out Aug. 1, 1865.
ZEBULON M. EMERY.
Zebulon Manter Emery, son of Josiah and Hannah C. ( Man- ter ) Emery, was born in New Vineyard, Dec. 20,* 1838. Though a native of New Vineyard he had for some years prior to the war been a resident of Industry. He enlisted in the fall of 1861 as a member of Co. L, Ist Maine Regiment, Cavalry, and was mustered into the service at Augusta, Me., Nov. 1, 1861, and immediately appointed corporal. He was discharged for disability Feb. 11, 1862, before the regiment left Augusta. He subsequently married, Nov. - , 1862, Ann H. Johnson, daughter of Henry and Catherine (Sullivan) Johnson of Industry, and soon after went to the newly-settled Territory of Nebraska and engaged in stage-coaching. Illustrative of his coolness and bravery the following anecdote is related in the "History of Nebraska :"
This young man was one of the most fearless, kind-hearted and gen- erous young men that ever braved the dangers of frontier life. In 1864 he was stage-driver along the St. Joe and Denver route. In August of that year occurred the great Indian raid, when so many settlers lost all their property and a great many their lives. There were nine in his coach, seven gentlemen and two ladies. Although exceedingly danger- ous, he offered to drive to Liberty farm, where his brother, Calvin N. Emery, lived. The morning of August 9th, 1864, was a most delightful one. The sky was clear, and a cool breeze came from the Northwest. The coach left the station of Big Sandy, with its freight of human lives,
* December 10, New Vineyard Town Records.
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drawn by four large and mettled steeds, in which the driver had un- bounded confidence and over them perfect control. The journey was without accident or unusual incident until about eleven o'cock ; up to that time no signs of Indians had been seen, but just as the lead horses had passed over the hill and on a spur that led into the "bottom land" or valley, (this was narrow and bordered on either side by deep ravines worn by the water) just as the coach had commenced the descent the driver discovered a band of Indians about thirty rods in advance. He wheeled his horses in an instant ( two rods further on he could not have accomplished the turning) and laying the whip to their backs he com- menced an impetuous retreat. The passengers were terrified and were at once all on their feet. Emery said, "if you value your lives for God's sake keep your seats, or we are lost." The Indians, about fifty in num- ber, gave chase with their terrifying yell, and for about three miles, which were accomplished in about twelve minutes, pursued and pursuers made the most desperate efforts at speed. The savage yells of those blood- thirsty villains and the wails of despair of the men and women in the coach are past the power of pen to describe. But to the glory of the driver, be it said, he was the only steady-nerved and unexcited person in this memorable chase. The coach bristled with arrows "like quills upon the fretful porcupine." They grazed young Emery on every side, but the young man heeded nothing but his driving. There were two points at which all would have been lost but for the driver's wonderful presence of mind. These were two abrupt turns in the road, where the coach would have been thrown over, had he not brought the team to a halt and turned with care. But this he did, greatly to the dismay of some of the passengers who saw escape only in speed. But their sub- sequent praise of his conduct was as great as his courage had been cool and calculating.
George Constable, who was conducting an ox-team over the route, saw the coach about a mile ahead and at once corralled his twenty-five wagons. The brave driver drove his nine passengers into their shelter in safety. Words could not express the gratitude felt by the passengers to their hero and deliverer. In the delirium of their delight they em- braced and kissed him, and thanked God that be held the lines, and that they were in a position where they could not interfere. And the noble steeds were not forgotten ; the passengers patted them and cast their arms about their necks with feelings of grateful emotion. This memor- able drive would never be forgotten if not recorded here ; for the story would be handed down to posterity by the survivors of the saved.
The hero of that day's chase won not his best laurels in that hour,
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for wherever he was known his gentle manners and kind deeds won for him a welcome in every home, and wheresoever known, there were his praises heard. Devoid of boastful pretense, he wore meekly his well- deserved honors-silently carried a hero's heart. His health was frail, and in about one year from that, day he was prostrated with fever, and while on his death-bed, yet still conscious, Mrs. Randolph, one of the number he had saved from a horrible death, placed upon his finger a beautiful ring on which was engraved the following: "E. Umphey, G. E. Randolph and Hattie P. Randolph, to Z. M. EMERY, in acknowl- edgement of what we owe to his cool conduct on Tuesday, Aug. 9, 1864." Oh, how this must have eased his pillow of pain, for soon after this he passed away from these scenes of warfare to the silent and peaceful realm of the dead. The doctor who attended him in his last hours eulogized him as a silent hero and as, all in all, one of the noblest of mankind-God's nobleman.
CALVIN B. FISH.
Calvin Bryant Fish, son of Elisha and Mary ( Robinson) Fish, enlisted as a member of Co. G., oth Maine Regi- ment, in September, 1861, and was mustered into the U. S. service on the 22d of that month. Two days later the regi- ment left Augusta and reached Fortress Monroe in season to join General Sherman's expedition for the capture of Port Royal, S. C. Writing home from this place, October 13th, he says : "We were on the boat twenty days and in the steerage at that." Their rations during this time were scant in quantity and poor in quality. When off Cape Hatteras the fleet experienced rough weather and some of the vessels were badly damaged. In the gulf stream they encountered a storm which lasted for eighteen hours, during which two of their fleet was lost. Mr. Fish and his comrades were in an unseaworthy craft, which, although it got badly racked, carried them safely through the storm. As the fleet neared Port Royal, five rebel gunboats opened fire on the fleet but were soon driven back to the pro- tection of the guns of the land batteries. Two days later, after five hours of bombardment, in which the whole fleet of forty- six vessels participated, the troops landed and took possession
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