History of Oakland County, Michigan, with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, palatial residences, public buildings, fine blocks, and important manufactories, Part 107

Author: Durant, Samuel W
Publication date: 1877
Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts & co.
Number of Pages: 553

USA > Michigan > Oakland County > History of Oakland County, Michigan, with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, palatial residences, public buildings, fine blocks, and important manufactories > Part 107

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Lewis G. Tower.

.Private, July 9, 1838.

Joel Benetick.

Private, July 9, 1838.

Charles Summers.

Private, October 4, 1838.

Abraham Hotch kiss

.Private, October 4, 1838.

Edson Hemingway

Private, October 4, 1838.

Lemuel Tower

Private, October 4, 1838.

Leullon Fosdick .Private, October 4, 1838.

Zebina B. Rice. Private, October 5, 1839.

Joseph Tower

Private, October 5, 1839.

Willis Lawson

.Private, July 9, 1838.

Elisha C. Taylor

Private, September 14, 1838.

.Private, September 14, 1838.

Seth H. Salyer

Private, April 20, 1839.

Alfred Moore

Private, October 5, 1839.

William Reynolds

Private, July 9, 1838.

Lyman J. Wilcox.

Private, July 9, 1838.

Daniel C. Chipman.

Private, July 9, 1838.

John Valentine, Jr.

Matthew Warner

Willit C. Jones.

HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

NAME.

RANK AND DATE OF COMMISSION.

.Private, October 5, 1839.

Albert Giddings. Wheeler B. Webster. Private, October 5, 1839.

Private, October 5, 1839.

Charles Rogers. Gabriel Stevens .Private, May 30, 1840.

Laban Correll. Private, May 30, 1840.

On the 30th of May, 1840, Almeron Brothers was elected captain, C. Z. Horton first lieutenant, and Calvin M. Potter and George Patrick second lieutenants.

The above roll has been copied very carefully, but some of the names were difficult to make out.

REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS.

We have made inquiries in all parts of the county with reference to any Revolu- tionary or other soldiers who have at any time settled in Oakland County. There have been a few of the veterans of 1776 of whom we have been able to learn the following, a portion of them from the court records, and others by inquiry among the people.

There were several of these relics of the "times that tried men's souls" in the early days of the republic who took up their residence in Oakland County and its dependencies, and among them certain ones applied for the pension allowed by Con- gress in 1818 and 1820 to such of these patriots as had become sufficiently poverty- stricken to come within the penurious provisions of the acts of relief. The names and brief history of those given below were culled from the records of the Oakland County court, and taken from the sworn statements of the veterans themselves. The first one who filed his declaration was

JOSEPH VAN NETTER,

who was on the date of his statement, February 12, 1822, fifty-nine years old. He enlisted for one year, in April, 1775, in Captain Wendell's company of Colonel Wynkoop's regiment, in the line of the State (Colony) of New York, Continental establishment, and served till November, and then re-enlisted for the war, in the same company and regiment, the latter then commanded by Colonel Van Schaick. He completed his term of service, being engaged with the enemy at the battles of Monmouth and Yorktown, and was honorably discharged. He filed an inventory of all of his worldly goods, which the court, Judge William Thompson presiding, valued at the munificent sum of nine dollars.

BENJAMIN BULSON

filed his declaration for a pension July 21, 1823, at which date he was aged sixty- nine years. He enlisted in March, 1776, in a company of infantry on Long Island, commanded by Captain Thomas Mitchell and Lieutenant Cornell, in Colonel Van Courtlandt's regiment of General Putnam's brigade of New York troops. He served till August, 1776, when he was captured by our British cousins at Brooklyn, and sent to Halifax, having been wounded in the leg, from which wound he was, at the date of his declaration, still suffering, though nearly fifty years had elapsed since it was inflicted. He escaped from confinement at Halifax by digging out of the prison, and after lying in the woods for a long time, and almost starving to death, he arrived at Salem, Massachusetts, in September, 1779, and at once re-enlisted as a hand on the ship "Junius Brutus," Captain John Brooks, carrying eighteen guns, which on its first cruise captured a British brig and to which Bulson was transferred as one of the prize crew. Soon after, the prize was retaken by the British sloop of war " Hornet." The prize was taken to New York, and Bulson confined in the old prison-ship "Jersey," in Waalabout (Brooklyn). At the end of two months he escaped from the prison-ship by cutting off the rivets by which the iron bars which closed the port-holes were fastened, and swimming ashore. He was. however, the next day taken prisoner by Major Murray's Tories, called " The King's American Dragoons," and was sentenced to receive nine hundred lashes for escaping. He did receive four hundred and fifty on his bare back, the last half-hundred being given after he had fainted from pain and exhaustion. He was then taken to the hospital, where he remained just long enough for the recovery of his strength, when he again escaped, and arrived in Salem in 1781, early in that year. All of the time from his enlistment to his final escape he had been without pay, with the exception of two months' wages he had received. While on the prison-ship he changed his name on account of his Tory relatives on Long Island, who had threatened to kill him if they should get a chance. He therefore lost his individuality in the cognomen of Benjamin Smith, and had been known by that name ever since. His wife and himself were all the family he had, the former being sixty-five years old, and his invoiced property was valued at seventy-two dollars and sixty-two and a half cents, and included one wagon and the old soldier's walking-staff.

JAMES GRAHAM

declared at the February term of the court, 1826, that he was seventy-seven years old, and enlisted April 15, 1777, for one year, in Pennsylvania, in Captain Hewitt's. company of Colonel Dennison's regiment of Connecticut troops, and served in that company till Captain Hewitt's death at the battle of Wyoming. and was then attached to Captain Spaulding's company in Colonel Butler's regiment of Connecticut troops, and was discharged at the expiration of his enlistment. His family consisted of his wife Mary, sixty-six years old ; his grandson, six years old ; and his granddaughter Rosella, sixteen years old, all of whom save the latter were dependent on the old soldier for support, and his property, consisting of a horse and cow, was valued at forty dollars. He was one of the first settlers in Oakland County, March, 1817.

GEORGE HORTON,

on the 14th day of November, 1827, was sixty-six years old. He enlisted in May, 1780, in Captain Henry Shoemaker's company of Pennsylvania troops, and served until September, 1783. He was in no pitched battles, but participated in several skirmishes with the Indians. His daughter, twenty-six years old, in feeble health,

was his only child and companion, and his property, consisting of one yoke of small oxen, a cow, and clothing and bedding, was valued by the court at forty-five dollars.

WM. N. TERRY

made his declaration November 10, 1828, at which date he was sixty-eight years old. He enlisted for the war in March, 1774; was at the battle of Bunker Hill, in June, 1775, as a member of Captain Ransom's company of Pennsylvania troops in Colonel Butler's regiment. He served till October, 1782. While on a furlough he fought as a volunteer at the battle of Wyoming, and afterwards returned to his corps and was engaged in the battle of Princeton. He came to Michigan in 1824, leaving property in Tioga county, New York, out of which he was partially swindled, and was too poor to prosecute his rights for its recovery. Subsequently his sons obtained possession of his real estate in Michigan, their father lying seriously ill, and on his recovery refused to re-convey it to him or pay him for the same, and poverty again prevented him from forcing his unnatural children to restore him his rights. His family con- sisted of his wife and four children, one of whom was crippled, and the others useless for help for the want of a farm on which to work. The declaration closed with the following most touching and pitiful plaint: " And now I am old, poor, and infirm, and can work but little; I cannot feed and clothe myself and family in a decent and comfortable manner by my own labor, without some assistance from some quarter."

NATHAN LANDON

was the last of these Revolutionary soldiers to file a declaration in the Oakland courts for a pension, and he did so on the 13th of November, 1828, at which time he was seventy-one years old. He enlisted February 1, 1776, in Captain Archibald Shaw's company in Colonel Wm. C. Maxwell's regiment of New Jersey troops, and served in the same until November 14, 1776, when the regiment was dismissed by General Gates, at Ticonderoga. Himself and his wife (seventy years old) lived with a son, Stephen and his family, and the old people had no property save their wearing-apparel and bedding.

ITHIMAR SMITH,

maternal grandfather of Deacon A. P. Frost, settled in Pontiac in 1835.

Independence Township .- Jacob Petty, claimed to have belonged to Washington's body-guard.

Groveland Township .- Solomon Jones, died in June, 1865, aged one hundred and five years.

West Bloomfield .- Levi Green, from Rhode Island, soldier and pensioner of the Revolutionary army, died June 24, 1851, aged ninety-four years.

SOLDIERS OF. 1812-15.

Addison Township .- Derrick Huliek and Jesse Elwell; the latter died in 1874. Oakland Township .- Ezra Brewster, served in Captain Lacey's company New York militia. Josiah Dewey and James Coleman also served in the New York militia.

Oxford Township .- Peter Stroud, served in Captain Abraham Matteson's company of New York troops.

Brandon Township .- James Arnold, from New York ; Adam Drake died in 1874, aged ninety-seven years.

Avon Township .- John Sargent served from 1812 to 1817; was stationed for a long time at Fort Gratiot.

Pontiac Township .- Elizur Goodrich and Robert Parks settled in Troy in 1822-23 ; Goodrich afterwards removed to Auburn for a time.

Waterford Township .- Isaac Willets. Troy Township .- Solomon Carswell and Captain Robert Parks.

Farmington Township .- - Burns.

Commerce Township .- Cornelius Austin.

SOLDIERS OF THE GREAT NAPOLEON.

Two at least of the veterans of the great captain have been residents of Oakland County-Joseph Laubley, a native of the canton of Berne, Switzerland, who settled in Groveland township in 1836, and died in 1841; and John Oliver, who settled in Rochester about 1880, and died there about 1875.

SOLDIERS OF THE MEXICAN WAR.

Muster Roll of Company A, Fifteenth Regiment United States Infantry, which served in the Mexican War in the years 1847 and 1848. Mustered out of the service July 30, 1848.

Thornton F. Brodhead, captain; Wm. R. Stafford, 1st lieutenant; Eugene Van De Venter, captain, promoted to major Thirteenth Infantry, December 22, 1847; Wm. S. Tannyhill, 1st lieutenant; Samuel E. Beach, 2d lieutenant, breveted for meritori- ous conduct at Contreras and Churubusco; promoted 1st lieutenant, February 28, 1848; Edwin R. Merryfield, 2d lieutenant ; Lewyllen Boyle, 2d lieutenar ; Charles Peter- nell, 2d lieutenant ; promoted to Ist lieutenant, January 26, 1848; Thomas W. Free- love, 1st lieutenant.

Killed in Battle .- Samuel Carney, private, at Churubusco, August 20, 1847; John Haviland, private, at Chapultepec, September 13, 1847.

Died of Wounds .- Hiram Brown, private, battle of Churubusco, October 26, 1847; Wm. R. Koch, private, battle of Chapultepec, September 17, 1847 ; Henry Wydner, private, battle of Churubusco, August 28, 1847.

Died of Sickness .- Thomas Ainsley, private, Vera Cruz, July 2, 1847; John Asel- tine, Jr., private, Chapultepec, December 1, 1847; Wm R Buzzell, private, city of Mexico, October 29, 1847 ; Charles Calkins, private, Puebla, July 17, 1847 ; Chandler Delong, private, Puebla, July 28, 1847; Andrew J. Griffin, private, Perote, August 20, 1847 ; Nathan D. Haines, private, Perote, July 15, 1847; Edward Kelley, private, Camp Rio San Juan, June 13, 1847; James M. Proper, private, Chapultepec, Decem-

iii

HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

ber 9, 1847; Claudius H. Riggs, private, Vera Cruz, July 12, 1847; Henry Clay Rice, private, Vera Cruz, July 2, 1847; George Scudder, private, Chapultepec, December 8, 1847 ; Jacob Strobe, private, Perote, September 20, 1847.

Deserted .- Daniel G. Armstrong, private, Cincinnati, May 18, 1847; Sidney F. Alexander, private, general hospital, New Orleans, La , October 30, 1847.

Discharged .- Privates Silas S. Abernathy, Horace Botsford, Edward Botsford, Wm. H. Doyle, Brunson Drake, Lewis W. Hutton, Nehemiah Phillips, Jacob Booth, Philetus Birch.

Transferred .- Privates Robert Anderson, George Allen, Reuben Allen, Henry L. Brannock, Roswell Bement, John Botsford, Andrew J. Bissell, Peter Burke, Chas. Billsby, John Braden; Augustus D. Burdens, sergeant; privates Franklin Cart- wright, Lewis G. Clark, Thomas Crumpler (supposed dead), Alexander W. Davis, Charles Delong, Felix Dingman, Dow K. Fuller (appointed corporal November 8, 1847), Isaiah Foot, Michael Gordon, Robert Handa (supposed dead), Reuben Hopkins, George W. Hanchett; George W. Hewitt, musician ; James B. Healy, corporal (ap- pointed 1st corporal April 22, 1847), Willam B. Hopkinson (appointed corporal June 15, 1847) ; privates Jerome H. Johnson, David Johnson, Jacob Kent, James Leo- nard, Oscar O. Lyon, Horatio McLallen, John Lamour; John Myers, sergeant ; privates Duncan Mckenzie, William Mockmoer, Joseph M. C. More (appointed corporal September 17, 1847), John McCann, Ephraim S. Olmsted (died at Cuerna- vaca May 1, 1848), James Oliver, James O'Neill (appointed corporal April 22, 1847), Silas Reynolds (left sick at Perote, July 3, 1847; probably dead), James M. Rhodes, Charles Ruby, Thomas Smith, Thomas Shortal ; Quincy A. Scott, corporal; privates Gustavus Stebbins, Sherman Terrill (died at Puebla, October 18, 1847), Alvah Taylor (died on Mississippi River, July 12, 1848) ; Ralph Wright, Jr., sergeant (died Janu- ary 16, 1848, at Molino del Rey); privates Cornelius Westerfield, George Warner (died at Covington, Ky.), Wallis W. Wood, John West; Joseph Gaetz, Ist ser- geant ; Milo Whitbeck, private (died in Gulf of Mexico on his way home).

Recruits .- Privates Louis Mickey, William Barker (deserted at Cleveland, O., July 10, 1847), Cornelius Collins, Horatio Dix (deserted at Cleveland, O., July 14, 1847), Henry Errage, Samuel Fry, Matthias Gasson, Johannes Hall (died at Cuerna- vaca), Evan Jones, Charles Kreamer (died at Cuernavaca), Frederick Kreamer, John Leneweber, Thomas B. Niles, Louis Norbury, Jacob

Of this list forty-five, including himself, were enlisted by Lieutenant Samuel E. Beach in Pontiac. The remainder were enlisted in various places in Michigan and other States. Most of the men were enlisted in March and April, 1847. A number of recruits joined the company at different periods subsequently. Captain Eugene Van de Venter was the first commander, afterwards promoted to major.

WAR OF THE REBELLION.

The record of Oakland County, like that of every county in the State and through- out the North during the Great Rebellion, is one of which her people may well be proud. The total number of men enlisted in the county was something over three thousand seven hundred, of whom more than four hundred laid down their lives on the battle-field, in the prison-pens of the Confederacy, and in the hospitals, that the Republic should not perish, and that the work of our fathers should not become a by-word among the nations.

Their memory shall remain green forever, and their deeds shall be the proudest heritage of future generations.

The amount of money raised by the county and its various townships during the war aggregates $586,556.98, being, next that of Wayne county, the largest sum raised by any one county in the State.

The amount expended for the relief of soldiers' families under the Soldiers' Relief Law, reached $127,993.38. The amounts raised for sanitary purposes by the Sanitary Commission and by the various Ladies' Aid Societies was very considerable. The ladies of Oakland County were indefatigable in their exertions on this behalf, and, like their sisters elsewhere, gave ample evidence that the characteristics of the heroines of history were not wanting in the mothers, wives, and sisters of the brave men who answered promptly the call of their country, and so many of whom gave their lives upon its altars.

On the STATE SANITARY COMMISSION there were four delegates from Oakland County, to wit : Rev. J. M. Strong, of Clarkston, with Army of Potomac; Rev. W. P. Wastell, Holly, Army of the Potomac; Rev. J. W. Allen, Franklin, Army of the Potomac ; Rev. John Pierson, Milford, Army of the Potomac, all of whom were busily engaged in their duties for six weeks with the army in the field.

Among the volunteer surgeons from the State were Drs. John Smith, J. E. Wilson, and F. B. Galbraith, of Oakland County.

In the fall of 1864 commissioners were appointed by the governor, according to an act of the legislature. to proceed to thel various portions of the army where Michigan troops were stationed, and superintend an election for presidential electors. Upon this commission was Asher E. Mather, of Pontiac, who had the superintend- ence of the Ninth and Twenty-Second Infantry, with the Army of the Cumberland, then at Atlanta, Georgia.

THE SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' MONUMENT ASSOCIATION was organized for the purpose of erecting a monument to the memory of the gallant men in the different branches of the service from Michigan who fell in the war of the rebellion.

Upon the Board of Directors were the following gentlemen from Oakland County : Hon. M. E. Crofoot and W. M. McConnell, Esq., of Pontiac. The stately and beautiful monument erected by this association in front of the City Hall in Detroit is the pride of the citizens of Michigan and the admiration of every one visiting the city.

"Rest on, embalmed and sainted dead, Dear as the blood ye gave ; No impious footstep here shall tread The herbage of your grave ;

" Nor shall your glory be forgot, While Fame her record keeps, Or Honor points the hallowed spot Where Valor proudly sleeps."

"Decoration Day" has been very generally observed in Pontiac, and on several occasions more than usual interest has been manifested. One of these was on Friday, June 4, 1869, an abstract of the proceedings of which is herewith presented :

" MEMORIAL CEREMONIES.

"Friday, the fourth inst., to which the memorial ceremonies were postponed, by reason of the storm of the 29th ult., proved still more unfavorable. The formation of the procession was delayed until quite late in the afternoon, in the hope that the weather might prove fine, but we were doomed to disappointment. Notwithstanding the rain, a goodly number of citizens, arrayed in the order designated in the pub- lished programme, and headed by the Pontiac Silver Cornet Band, marched up Saginaw street to Clinton Hall, where the further observances of the day were carried out. The hall was nearly filled with a patriotic assemblage, who, in a spirit of meekness, did homage to the brave patriots who died in defense of our country's flag. " The services were opened with prayer, by the Rev. W. H. McGiffert, followed by the choir singing a memorial hymn by Andrew Mckinley, Sr. :

"Great God of Battles, here we come, To honor and adore Thy name ! 'Twas by Thy will our country's foes Were overthrown and brought to shame.

"The heroic dead that here lie low, And sweetly slumber 'midst the gloom, Again shall rise victoriously, And burst the barriers of the tomb.

"No war shall mar their peace again, No sorrowing tears their eyes shall dim ; And while eternal years roll on, Their cups with joy will ever brim.

" The brightest glory, Lord, be Thine; To Thee we humble homage pay ;

"Twas Thy right arm that made us strong- Our spirits nerved to win the day.

" These blooming flowers, a tribute due- Emblems of Heaven-we plant them here In honor of the glorious dead, And wet them with a falling tear.

" As each revolving year goes round, We'll strew fresh laurels o'er the graves Where sleep, secure from war's alarms, Our ne'er forgotten Patriot Braves.

" The oration by Rev. W. H. Shier was ably delivered and well received. We were in hopes to be able to publish it entire, that those of our readers who were un- able to hear, might be afforded the privilege to read, that eloquent eulogy to the departed braves.

" He commenced by recalling to mind the great sacrifice that was offered upon the altar of our common country; the great struggle through which our nation has passed, costing the lives of three hundred and fifty thousand Union soldiers, and two hundred and fifty thousand more, who have been maimed and ruined. How freely this sacrifice was made ! Our brave boys in blue, coming from every rank and station in life, in one common cause, marched forth to battle and to die. Whether that life was given in the roar and tumult of battle, on the long, fatiguing march, in the hos- pital, or from disease contracted while in the service, it is all the same; we should remember them as patriots who died that their country might live.

"Our final triumph, the joy felt by the Union people throughout the country, their manifestations, and then the dark pall which rested upon us in the death of Abraham Lincoln, was most graphically depicted.

" He said Michigan's contribution to the army was 90,747; 1453 colored troops. Oakland county sent of this number, 3718. 4024 officers and 18,523 privates, making a total of 17,547, have died. He then read the roll of dead, being the names of soldiers and sailors buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Pontiac, as follows :

" Major-General I. B. Richardson, United States Volunteers, mortally wounded at Antietam.

" Colonel Moses Wisner, Twenty-second Michigan Infantry, died at Lexington, Kentucky.

"Captain T. C. Beardslee, Twenty-second Michigan Infantry, died at Nashville, Tennessee.

" Private Turner Tompkinson, Twenty-second Michigan Infantry, died at Lexing- ton, Kentucky.

"Color-Sergeant T. Miller, Eighth Michigan Infantry, died at home.

" Lieutenant Samuel Pearce, Fifth Michigan Infantry, killed at the crossing of the North Anna, Virginia.

"Sergeant Beckwith Capron, Fifth Michigan Infantry, died at home.

" Private Peter Dibeau, Fifth Michigan Infantry, starved at Andersonville. Buried in Catholic Cemetery.

" Private John H. Carran, Fifth Michigan Infantry, died at Camp Michigan, Virginia.

" Lieutenant Percy S. Leggett, Fifth Michigan Cavalry, killed near the Rappa- hannock.

" Lieutenant Richard Whitehead, Fifth Michigan Cavalry, killed near Hanover Court-House.

" Private George Wesson, Fifth Michigan Infantry, died at home.

" Drum-Major -- Daniels, Fifth Michigan Infantry, died at home.

HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

"Sergeant John Chamberlain, Tenth Michigan Infantry, killed at Jonesborough, Georgia.

" Private Lewis Eldred, died at home.

"Private Lamont Pratt, Eighth Michigan Cavalry, ' missing,' supposed to have died at Anderson ville.

" Private Jonas Ladd, Second Michigan Infantry, died at home.

" Lieutenant Joseph MeConnell, Eighteenth United States Infantry, killed at Stone River.

"Quartermaster-Sergeant Eugene Nelson, died at Nashville.

"Sergeant-Major William Churchill, Seventh Michigan Infantry, killed at An- tietam.

" Captain William North, Fifth Michigan Cavalry, killed at Cedar Creek, Va.

" Private Arthur Pierce, Fourth Michigan Infantry, died in Tennessee.

" Private Jonathan Ash, died at home.

"Private Hamilton Davis, Fifteenth Michigan Infantry, killed at Atlanta, Ga.

"Private Joseph Davis, Fourteenth Michigan Infantry, mortally wounded at Chattahoochee River.

" William Shaw, died at home.

"James Stuart, First Colored Infantry, died at home.

" Edward Stickney, Fifth Michigan Cavalry, killed after his return home.

"He stated that twenty-seven soldiers, ranking from a major-general down to a private, lay in our cemetery, and out of that number he knew of but one who had nothing to mark his resting-place, and that one was Major-General I. B. Richardson (or, as he was more familiarly known in the army, 'Fighting Dick'). He pro- ceeded to state that the general was a graduate of West Point, and fought under General Scott in all the important battles in the Mexican War, and as soon as the rebellion broke out was one of the first to offer his services to his country. He fought bravely in the Army of the Potomac up to the time he was killed, but after he had gained such a national reputation as a patriot and a fighting general, being one of the first made major-generals. A stranger desirous of visiting his grave could not find it in our cemetery without the aid of a guide, as it remains up to this time wholly unmarked.

" When he told of the reverence our brave boys had for the old flag, how they toiled and suffered by its inspiration, it brought tears to the eyes of many who best knew of the truth he was uttering.

" The address throughout was most touching, and left a lasting impression upon the hearer.

"Singing by the choir-

" MEMORIAL HYMN.

"God bless our native land ! May Heaven's protecting hand Still guard our shore: May peace her power extend, Foe be transformed to friend, And all our rights depend On war no more.

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History of Oakland County, Michigan, with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, palatial residences, public buildings, fine blocks, and important manufactories, Part 107

Author: Durant, Samuel W Publication date: 1877 Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts & co. Number of Pages: 553

Author: Durant, Samuel W
Publication date: 1877
Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts & co.
Number of Pages: 553