USA > New York > Dutchess County > The "Dutchess county regiment" (150th regiment of New York state volunteer infantry) in the Civil War; > Part 18
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THE DUTCHESS COUNTY REGIMENT.
CHARLES EDWARD BENTON.
The youngest child of William and Betsey ( Reed) Benton, the subject of this sketch was born September 1 I, 1841, on the farm in Amenia, Dutchess County, N. Y., to which his grandfather, Caleb Benton, came in 1794.
On his father's side he is descended from Edward Ben- ton, who came to New England in 1638, and his mother's American paternal line begins with Captain John Reed, one of Cromwell's officers who found it expedient, upon the restoration of the throne in 1660, to leave the land of his birth and come to New England. What education Mr. Benton had was received at the public schools, at the Amenia Seminary, in Amenia, N. Y., and at the Dutchess County Academy in Poughkeepsie, N. Y.
September 6, 1862, he enlisted in Company A of the Dutchess County Regiment, reaching Camp Dutchess with the Amenia contingent which came to the regiment with First Lieutenant Henry Gridley. Soon after this a regimental band was formed by detailing men from the ranks for that service, and Mr. Benton was included in that detail.
Thereafter his service with the regiment was in that capacity, with the exception of three months during the summer of 1864, when he was detailed for service in a receiving hospital at Kingston, Ga. When this hospital was discontinued he was returned to the regiment, with which he served to the close of the war.
His father died in May, 1865, and upon the settle- ment of the estate Mr. Benton purchased the home farm. This he afterward sold to his brother Myron, and for a year worked a hired farm. In 1870 he purchased a
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CHARLES EDWARD BENTON.
dairy farm in Sharon, Conn., and made that his residence until 1891, when he retired from active business and removed to New Bedford, Mass. During his residence in Sharon he served his town in various public offices, and was for many years a member of the Town School Board.
He became interested in the Grange movement, believ- ing it to be an institution well calculated for bettering the conditions of farmers and their families, and it was through his efforts that Webutuck Grange No. 86, of Sharon, Conn., was organized. This was the first Grange to be organized in that part of the country, and he served as its Master until the year of his removal from the town.
He is also an enthusiastic Grand Army man, and was Commander of John M. Gregory Post, No. 59, Depart- ment of Connecticut. He has, in his later home, served as Commander of R. A. Peirce Post, No. 190, Depart- ment of Massachusetts.
Mr. Benton has sometimes found relaxation by turn- ing from the plow to the pen, and has from time to time contributed to various periodicals, on a rather wide range of subjects. In 1902 G. P. Putnam's Sons, of New York and London, published a book from his pen, entitled, "As Seen From the Ranks," which received favorable recognition from the press of this country and of Eng- land.
This book is in no wise a history, but is a sketch of personal observations and impressions, aiming to give faithful pen pictures of the scenes of the war as those scenes appeared to a youth who was serving in the ranks.
A later publication of his is a piece of family history,- " Caleb Benton and Sarah Bishop: Their Ancestors and
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Their Descendants," issued from the press of The A. V. Haight Company, of Poughkeepsie, N. Y.
Mr. Benton has been twice married; first, October 6, 1870, to Clara Rogers Foster, of Southampton, N. Y. She died in 1872, leaving an infant daughter who fol- lowed her mother a few months later. June 3, 1875, he was married to Harriet Maria Drown, of New Bed- ford, Mass., by whom he has one daughter, Harriet Jack- son Benton.
EDWIN A. DAVIS.
Edwin A. Davis, son of Nelson and Adeline (Austin) Davis, was born September 28, 1841, in the town of Stanford, Dutchess County, N. Y., and received his educa- tion in the public schools there. Endowed with a native mechanical talent, as soon as his school days were ended he sought employment in those lines until his enlistment, September 15, 1862, in Company A of our Dutchess County Regiment. He was an excellent musician, and when the regimental band was organized he was detailed as a member of it, and served in that capacity to the close of the war, when he was mustered out with the regiment.
After his discharge he worked as locomotive engineer and fireman until 1872, then for five years as engineer in the New York Fire Department. After that he held positions as master mechanic in a furnace in Millerton, N. Y., with the Iron Cliff Company, of Negaunee, Mich., in Chester Rolling Mills, at Chester, Pa., in Crozer Iron Company, at Roanoke, Va., in Buffalo Furnace Company, at Buffalo, N. Y., with Lowmoor Iron Company, in Vir- ginia, and in the American Wire and Steel Company, of Pittsburgh, Pa. In 1903 Mr. Davis went to Cuba as
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EDWIN A. DAVIS.
Master Mechanic for the Garagua & Lacorba Railroad, after which he was offered and accepted a position under the government, and is now employed as machinist in the Navy Yard at Washington.
In 1870 Mr. Davis was married to Emma T. Powers, of Amenia, N. Y., daughter of Gaylord and Abigail (Watts) Powers, and seven children have been born to them, as follows: Edna, now Mrs. Albert Norton; Ed- ward W .; Ella, now Mrs. Harry Witsell; Caroline, now Mrs. Harold Holman; Lillie, now Mrs. Charles Hollins; Frank, and Chester H.
Of incidents in connection with his service in the regi- ment Mr. Davis recalls that at Gettysburg he, like other members of the regimental band, was called to assist the Medical Department, and in that capacity was detailed for service at the 12th Corps Field Hospital. Among the ghastly scenes there the one thing which most im- pressed his boyish memory was a pile of severed legs and arms from amputations; a pile which was as high as the amputation table itself. Not until four days after the battle was he released from this labor, and then he was ordered to report promptly to his regiment.
He started off on foot in company with Corporal George T. Willson of Company A, who was recovering from a wound received at Gettysburg, and together they tramped for four days, until they overtook the regiment near Williamsport, Md., where the army was confront- ing the retreating enemy who were getting back across the Potomac at that point, and at Falling Waters, a few miles below.
They were both in a foot-sore and starving condition when they reached the regiment, for they had subsisted
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mainly on such nourishment as they could obtain by shelling out heads of wheat and swallowing the kernels, and the sharp stone-gravel of those famous stone pikes of Maryland had sorely wounded their feet after blisters had made the wearing of shoes impossible.
Nearly a year later, near Acworth, Ga., Mr. Davis was wounded. At the time this occurred there was a flank movement attempted by the enemy, by which the regiment was subjected to a fire which came partly from one side and the rear. A rifle-ball took a piece of skin from his thigh, and at the same time a buck-shot, or pistol-ball, penetrated his left hand. The wounds, though for a time painful and crippling, did not compel him to leave the army, and he continued with the regi- ment, taking his part in the various duties which the mem- bers of the band were called upon to perform.
EUGENE MOTT KEMPTON.
Eugene Mott Kempton, Company A, was born August II, 1862, in Robertsville, S. C. His parents were the Rev. George Kempton, D.D., of Stono, S. C., and Sarah E. Mott of Hamilton, N. Y. He came north when about three years of age.
Was a pupil in the New Brunswick, N. J., high school, and later spent about two years in Madison University, Hamilton, N. Y., but because of poor health gave up his plan of a classical education, and took a business course at Crittenden's Commercial College, Philadelphia, Pa., graduating in April, 1861. After graduating he secured employment as clerk and bookkeeper in a store in Amenia, N. Y., and while working there enlisted Sep-
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MILES K. LEWIS.
tember 6, 1862, with Lieutenant Henry Gridley. Was mustered into United States service with the regiment Oc- tober 11, 1862. Was appointed a Corporal, September 20, 1863, and held that position until mustered out with the regiment June 8, 1865. Was detailed at regimental head- quarters as clerk soon after Gettysburg, remaining there until muster-out. Returned to work in the Amenia store in 1867, and in 1872, by grace of General Ketcham, was appointed postmaster at Amenia, retaining that position until 1893, a term of 21 years, during nearly the whole of which time he was Town Clerk of the town. From 1895 to 1905 was employed in the Civil Service of New York State at Albany until forced because of poor health to resign. Married in 1870 to Mary Culver Davis of Amenia, N. Y., resulting in births of George R., Jessie D., and Jeannette M., all living at this time.
MILES K. LEWIS.
Mr. Lewis was born in Sharon, Litchfield County, Conn., August 15, 1842, the third son of Miles B. and Maria H. (Kelsey) Lewis. He is a worthy representa- tive of New England stock, and fairly illustrates the sort of material that went into the rank and file of the armies that defended the country in its time of need.
He received his education at the public schools-noted for their excellence-of his native town, and at the early age of fifteen left the parental roof to begin life on his own account. His first service was as a clerk in the store of George Conklin in Amenia, Dutchess County, N. Y., in which service he remained until the spring of 1862, when he accepted an excellent position with the firm of
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Seward, Vail & Haight, merchant tailors, in Poughkeepsie, N. Y.
The summer which followed saw the discouraging lack of progress of our armies answered by a rising tide of patriotism all over the country, which bid defiance to disaster, and when, in the autumn of that year, the " Dutchess County Regiment " was being organized at Poughkeepsie Mr. Lewis responded to his country's call. He enlisted September 11, 1862, as a private in Company A of that regiment.
Upon the formation of the regimental band he was detailed to service in that organization, for he is a talented musician, and served with it until mustered out with the regiment. The only time he was absent from it was when he was sick with the fever in Virginia; a sickness which very nearly cost him his life. But he was able to join us during the time of our winter camp in Tennessee, and shared the fortunes of the regiment from that time on.
Upon returning to civil life, he at first entered a gen- eral store, with John M. Case and Theodore Wing, at Dover Plains, N. Y. But in January, 1866, upon the solicitation of the parents and brother of the lamented Lieutenant Henry Gridley (who was killed in battle at the head of his company near Marietta, Ga.), he opened a general store at Wassaic, N. Y., a business which at this writing he still conducts.
In addition to this he was for fifteen years connected with the New York Condensed Milk Co., which has a factory at that place, as bookkeeper and cashier. At the same place also N. Gridley & Son conducted an extensive and complicated business which included an iron mine and furnace, as well as a large amount of farm and wood
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MILES K. LEWIS.
land, and other real estate interests. After the death of both Mr. Gridley and his son Edward, who were the only members of the firm, the Court appointed Mr. Lewis to be receiver of the firm, and in that capacity he conducted its extensive affairs and closed them up satisfactorily.
He was also appointed administrator of the estate of Noah Gridley, and, with Charles E. Benton, was execu- tor of the estate of Noah Gridley's widow, Mrs. Emeline Gridley. All of these large properties were managed with a skill and success which showed Mr. Lewis to be endowed with an excellent business ability, as well as with an integrity which won the confidence of all who had dealings with him.
For eight successive years he was the unanimous choice of his town as its representative in the Board of Super- visors at the county seat, and as a member of the Board was chairman of important committees. One of these was that through whose recommendation the office of sheriff was made a salaried office, as it always should be. Another was the committee appointed on the equalization of taxes throughout the county. He was also secretary of the committee which had in charge the building of the new county court house and jail, and in his own town he is a member of the Board of Health.
Mr. Lewis was married at Amenia, October 24th, 1867, to Julia C., daughter of Lester and Margaret (Scott) Reed, and four children have been born to them : Emma G., wife of Edwin Tanner, Nina R., wife of Albert Hicks, Alice R., wife of William Scott, and Roland C. Lewis.
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THE DUTCHESS COUNTY REGIMENT.
ALBERT BANISTER REED.
By CHARLES E. BENTON.
Albert B. Reed was one of those heroes whose service in the field was short, and in his case it ended in the too frequent tragedy, but it is fitting that at least this brief tribute to a worthy member should find a place in the regiment's history.
He was the son of Newton Reed-author of " Early History of Amenia"-and Ann (Van Dyck) Reed; his grandfather, Ezra Reed, having four grandsons in Com- pany A of our regiment.
While his father's ancestry was entirely from the early English colonists, his mother's was of a prominent Dutch family which early settled on the Hudson, and this youth bore in his own person an excellent composite of those two races which have played such a part in the making of this country.
The fire of Albert B. Reed's patriotism was a pure flame, undimmed by any thought of self seeking, and it was fully recognized by his friends when he enlisted to carry a rifle at the age of seventeen that his motives were beyond question. Among his officers he was soon known as one whose courage and honesty were always to be relied on.
Soon after enlistment he was appointed Corporal, being marked for further advancement as opportunity should offer. He passed through the Gettysburg cam- paign unscathed, but in Virginia fell a victim to the fever which invaded the camp in the lowlands of the Rappa- hannock. His father was sent for, and arrived just as the regiment was about to be moved farther south. The
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EDGAR NICHOLAS SHELDEN.
sick of the regiment were sent back in the cars, and Albert died in his father's arms before reaching Alexandria.
He was a boy to be loved for his many charming per- sonal qualities, as well as on account of his noble Christian character, and short as was his service doubtless his influ- ence is more far-reaching than can easily be reckoned.
" The heroism of personality is an unspent force, which always registers gain somewhere."
EDGAR NICHOLAS SHELDEN.
Edgar N. Shelden, son of Nicholas and Rachel Maria (Swift) Shelden, was born at Deposit, Delaware County, N. Y., July 25, 1842. The family removed to Dutchess County, N. Y., where he received his education in the public schools, and for a time attended the Friends' School in the Town of Washington, in that county.
Early in life he became an earner, for his father died, and at the age of sixteen Mr. Shelden went to work on a farm, continuing in that employment until he entered the army. He enlisted in Company A of our regiment at Baltimore, April 8, 1863, and was soon made a Corporal.
Of war's moving adventure and hair-breadth escapes "Our Nick " had his full share, through all of which he bore himself so well that he won the confidence of those under whom he served, and became known as one who could be relied on in all circumstances.
At the battle of Gettysburg his service was with the regiment during the battle, and after its close he was one of the detail which was placed in charge of Chaplain Vassar, charged with the duty of searching the field for
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THE DUTCHESS COUNTY REGIMENT.
our dead, and he says that the Chaplain is entitled to the greatest credit for his faithful service in that connection.
Included in the detail were some members of the Ist Maryland Potomac Home Brigade-which was brigaded with us-and when they reached the place near Spangler's Spring at which this regiment had met the Ist Maryland Confederate Regiment a first lieutenant of our Mary- land Regiment found among the enemy's slain his own brother,-a first lieutenant in the enemy's Maryland regi- ment. He was mortally wounded, and died soon after being found by his brother. This and the many other terrible sights met with, Mr. Shelden says, revealed more of the dreadful earnestness and tragedy of the war than any other experience which he passed through at the front.
From this time his service continued with the regiment until the siege of Atlanta. On July 20, 1864, while the regiment was stationed near Peach Tree Creek, our pickets advanced and captured some of the enemy's out- posts. During this action Mr. Shelden was wounded by the bursting of a shell from one of the enemy's siege guns, a piece of the shell striking him in the side and loosening several of his ribs. While he was being carried on a stretcher to the rear the bullets at one time came so thick that the men carrying him dropped the stretcher to the ground.
But he was finally removed to the rear, where he was cared for by the surgeons of the regiment, and was eventually sent, with other wounded men, to the hospital at Chattanooga. He recovered from his wound and joined the regiment again, reaching it just in time to take part in the famous "March to the Sea."
Not long after his return to the regiment he was
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EDGAR NICHOLAS SHELDEN.
detailed for service at General Slocum's headquarters, where he was employed in carrying dispatches to the commandants of the various Divisions of Sherman's army. He continued in the discharge of this responsible and sometimes hazardous duty until the close of the war, when he rode in the grand review at Washington with the mounted men attached to General Slocum's head- quarters.
Of his service in connection with headquarters he recalls many stirring incidents. One of these was in the night after the day in which there was a slight stampede in the 14th Army Corps, near Bentonville, N. C. Mr. Shelden, with Colonel Asmussen, General Slocum's Chief of Staff, was sent with dispatches from General Slocum to General Sherman. The night was dark and the rain fell in torrents, and to reach the place they were obliged to swim their horses across a deep river. They at last found General Sherman (covered with a poncho and sit- ting by his campfire) and delivered to him the dispatches. After reading them General Sherman said, " Tell Slocum to hold his line and I'll 'tend to them as soon as it's light." The events of the following day proved that General Sherman made good his promise to "'tend to them."
With his errand accomplished Mr. Shelden returned to his command, which he reached just before dawn. Soon after this one of the headquarters escort was wounded, and he was sent to the rear for an ambulance. Imme- diately on his return Colonel Asmussen said,-" Shelden, I want you to go and have the scouts report to me at once, as to what is in front of us."
Putting spurs to his horse, "Nick" dashed up the road; but the enemy's pickets had discovered the move-
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ment, and they immediately opened a rattling fire on him. His horse instinctively recognized the danger, and of his own accord sprang into the woods at the side of the road. Fortunately he was not hit, and he succeeded in finding the scouts, in the place where they were carefully con- cealed from the enemy, and delivered his message.
Upon his return Colonel Asmussen turned to his men and said, "There; I told you I had one man I could depend upon."
But "Nick's " quick reply was,-" Not if I had known what was ahead of me, Colonel ! "
Returning to civil life Mr. Shelden was appointed to a responsible position in the United States Customs Service at New York, a work in which he is still employed.
November 3, 1873, he was married in New York City by the Reverend W. H. Boole to Nora Augusta, daughter of Benjamin W. and Nancy Ann (Andreys) Way, and two sons, William Boole and Obed Wheeler, have been born to them.
GEORGE RYNUS.
George Rynus was born in the town of Unionvale, Dutchess County, N. Y., on October 23, 1841, although he has spent most of the sixty-five years of his life in the town of Washington, Dutchess County.
His father's name was Mimard W. Rynus, who was born in the city of Poughkeepsie, and was a soldier in the War of 1812. His mother's maiden name was Eliza Dutcher, who was also born in the city of Poughkeepsie.
He enlisted September 1, 1862, at Washington, N. Y., and was mustered in as private of Company A October 10, 1862, was promoted Corporal December 19, 1863,
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JAMES H. VASSAR.
and made Sergeant April 24, 1865 ; mustered out with his company June 8, 1865.
He was married November 30, 1873, to Mary Brei- bun. They have one daughter, Mattie Adele, who mar- ried Adelbert F. Cookingham. They also have two grandchildren.
JAMES H. V ASSAR.
James Hervey Vassar was the third and youngest son of William and Mary (Hageman) Vassar, and was born at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., October 20, 1839. He was named for his great-uncle, James, the father of the founder of Vassar College, so widely known. The great- uncle died while his namesake was still a babe. Thomas and James Vassar were the first of the line to cross the Atlantic, and the names of both brothers were perpetuated by boys in William Vassar's home.
Another son of William was called after his maternal grandfather, Adrian Hageman (sometimes written "Hegeman "), an uncle of the man who established the now widely known drug business of Hegeman, Clark & Co., of New York City. This brother too was a soldier of the Civil War, and an officer on the staff of General N. P. Banks. He died in the service at Point Isabel, Texas. The eldest son, Thomas, first Chaplain of our regiment, is mentioned elsewhere in this history.
James H., like his brothers, was educated in the public schools of Poughkeepsie, and began working for himself in the manufacturing establishment of Hotchkiss & Sons at Sharon, Conn., when about nineteen years of age. While there employed he heard the call to arms that so
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THE DUTCHESS COUNTY REGIMENT.
stirred many youth, and enlisted in Company A of the Dutchess County Regiment.
He was somewhat proficient in music, and that fact led to his being detailed to serve as leader of the regimental band, and in this capacity he continued until his regiment was mustered out at the close of the war. In the old Army of the Potomac, and later in all of Sherman's famous campaigns, from Chattanooga to the sea, and northward to Washington, he shared in all the toils and triumphs.
On returning home and falling into the pursuits of peace he was offered a position in the United States Treas- ury at Boston, and here, in different capacities, he has held a place for more than forty years. For two decades or more his office has been that of specie clerk, and on the coin question he is now an expert, and conceded to be one of the best authorities of the land.
In 1870 he married Etta, daughter of Hon. George M. Rice, of Worcester, Mass., one of the leading busi- ness men of that city, and a prominent member of the upper house of the Massachusetts Legislature. Mr. and Mrs. Vassar have one daughter, Mary W., a graduate of Boston University. Their summer home is at Lynn, but commonly their winters are spent in Boston.
Mr. Vassar is still hale and hearty, and bids fair to round out a half century of civil service, beside the mili- tary service rendered to his land. Practically about all his days have been given to the public interests of the country that he calls his own.
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GEORGE THERON WILLSON.
GEORGE THERON WILLSON.
George T. Willson was born in the town of North East, Dutchess County, N. Y., on February 3, 1837.
His father's name was Theron, and his mother's name was Eliza (Collins) Willson.
His education was received at the District School located on his father's farm, Warren Institute (Conn.), and at Amenia Seminary.
After leaving school he worked upon his father's farm until eighteen years of age when he went as clerk in the general store of L. D. Hedges at Pine Plains, where he remained two years, when he went back to the farm and remained there until his father's death, which occurred in January, 1862.
He enlisted in the Dutchess County Regiment on Sep- tember 5th and was mustered in as Corporal of Com- pany A, October 11, 1862.
He followed the general fortunes of the regiment until the capture of Atlanta, when he was detailed in the Quartermaster's Department of the First Division of the 20th Corps, where he remained until the close of the war.
At the battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, while we were defending the line on Culp's Hill, he was struck in the forehead by some kind of a missile, probably a spent bullet, which fractured the external tablet of the skull, and knocked him down unconscious. Supposing him to have been killed, some of his comrades carried him behind a large tree in close proximity to our line, where he was left for dead. Later, he was carried back to the field hospital and laid among the rows of the dead.
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