USA > New York > Dutchess County > The "Dutchess county regiment" (150th regiment of New York state volunteer infantry) in the Civil War; > Part 19
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He thinks it must have been about 2 A. M. when he
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recovered consciousness, and seeing the surgeons at their gruesome work upon the wounded amid the blood and uncertain light, and not knowing where he was, he fainted and did not again recover until it was broad daylight, when he again awoke to find himself partly covered with the arms and legs the surgeons had amputated and thrown near him. His wound proved to be not as serious as at first it was thought it was, and in a few days he was back again doing full duty.
Dr. S. G. Cook, who had been detailed to give tem- porary surgical aid to the wounded on the field, was kept informed by his stretcher bearers of those that had been killed. Among the names so reported to him were those of John Van Alstyne, John Wing, Levi Rust, Jedediah Murphy, Tallmadge Wood and others. In addition to those so reported to him was the name of George T. Willson, and he sent his name in as among the killed, and it was so published in some of the papers.
After the war he engaged in the speculation of cattle and horses, traveling extensively through the western parts of this state, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Canada.
In 1888 he engaged in the lumber, coal, and feed busi- ness, to which later was added the manufacture of brick, in partnership with L. F. Eaton, under the firm name of Willson & Eaton. It is now one of the most prosperous firms in Eastern Dutchess.
He was married September 13, 1876, to Emma Darke, by whom he had four children, three of whom, Charles T., Georgiana and Lee D., are now living.
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JOHN A. WALLACE.
JOHN A. WALLACE.
John Alva Wallace was born in Hyde Park, Dutchess County, N. Y., February 11, 1842, and is the son of David and Gertrude Wallace. He received his educa- tion at the public schools of New York City, the Strat- ford (Connecticut) Academy, and Williams College, Williamstown, Mass.
While a student at Williams College he enlisted, dur- ing a vacation, in Company A of the 21st Regiment, N. G. N. Y. S., under Captain R. R. Hayman, June 27, 1863, and was discharged August 6, 1863, by reason of expiration of term of service. April 16, 1864, he again enlisted, this time in Company A, 150th New York State Volunteers, and was sent to Hart's Island, N. Y., where he remained on detailed service until he connected with the regiment at Raleigh, N. C., just in time to start with it for home.
Having reported to his company he was again detailed for service, in the Topographical Engineer Corps, and served in that Corps until Washington was reached, when he was transferred to the 60th New York Veteran Vol- unteers, where he served until mustered out of the service at Ogdensburg, N. Y., July 31, 1865.
After being mustered out he engaged in school teaching in Dutchess County, N. Y., for a year or so, and in 1867 he entered the chief engineer's office of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where he served as a clerk until 1873, when he moved to Chester, Pa., and entered the employ of the late John Roach, as timekeeper in the well-known Roach shipyard in that city.
In 1871, having been appointed postmaster of Chester,
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he left the shipyard and entered on his duties as post- master of that city. While so engaged he organized the Chester Times Publishing Company, which bought the Chester Times, and acted as editor and manager of the paper until 1887, when he bought the paper and became its sole owner. In 1891 he sold a half interest in the paper to William C. Sproule, forming a copartnership under the name Wallace & Sproule, and the paper is still published by that firm.
For two years Mr. Wallace was half owner in the Trenton (N. J.) Times, and edited and managed that paper, but a flattering offer having been made for it, it was accepted and the paper sold to its present owners. In May, 1902, he was again appointed to the postmaster- ship of Chester, Pa., and was reappointed for another term by President Roosevelt on June 5, 1906.
Besides his active and successful business career, Mr. Wallace has been vitally in touch with the social and religious life of the community in which he has lived, to a degree rarely excelled. The barest mention of the posi- tions he has held in various societies and organizations for the betterment of mankind gives one glimpses of a life both active and useful; a life largely devoted to the welfare of the public.
He is a member and ex-president of the Chester Board of Trade, has served as president of the City Council, and president of the Chester Water Board, is president of the Chester Heights Camp Meeting Association, president of the Board of Trustees of Trinity M. E. Church, vice-president of the Chester Y. M. C. A., a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Hospital of Phila- delphia, superintendent of Trinity M. E. Sunday School,
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ANDREW J. OSTROM.
director in the Cambridge Trust Company of Chester, a member of the Board of Church Extension of the M. E. Church, and a member of Chester Lodge No. 236, F. & A. M., Chester No. 258, R. A. M., and Chester Commandery No. 66, K. T.
He was married to Emeline Coyle of Poughkeepsie in May, 1864, and they have five children, as follows : Mrs. J. Frank Kitts, Sharon Hill, Pa., Frank Wallace, foreman in Government Printing Office at Washington, D. C., Robert Wallace, of Hamilton, Ohio, Mrs. Rich- ard G. La Domus, of Hannibal, Mo., and Miss Sarah Gertrude Wallace, of Chester, Pa.
ANDREW J. OSTROM.
Andrew J. Ostrom was born July 21, 1833, in the town of Hyde Park, Dutchess County, N. Y.
His education was limited to about three years in the district schools in his neighborhood. At the age of twelve he entered upon the duties of a farmer's boy, and never again lived under the paternal roof as many days, putting them altogether, as there are in a year. He was born of humble parents of limited means. He divided his time between farming and teaming, and in the year 1862 he enlisted in Company B, 150th N. Y. Volunteers, at the age of thirty years.
He was mustered into Company B as First Sergeant, September 5, 1862, as Second Lieutenant April 26, 1863, and as First Lieutenant October 21, 1864. He participated in all the battles, skirmishes and marchings of the regiment throughout its whole course, and came home without a scratch, and was mustered out with his company June 8, 1865, near Washington, D. C.
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With all the hardships, privations and dangers a soldier has to endure, he found in the midst of them incidents at which he had to laugh. The following is one of sev- eral he relates : At the battle of Peach Tree Creek, July 20, 1864, in the thickest of the fight Augustus Phillips, a brave and good soldier, was loading and firing as rapidly as any of the boys when a bullet struck his knapsack, went through and struck a frying-pan attached to it. The rattling of it was enough to scare any one. He dropped his gun and howled, " Lieutenant, I am shot, I am shot !" The lieutenant said, " Shut up, you damn fool, you make too much noise to be shot!" and he went at it again as though nothing had happened.
CHARLES T. JOHNSON.
Charles T. Johnson was born in Wayne County, N. Y., June 30, 1843, where he lived with his parents until his ninth year, when the family moved to Poughkeepsie, where they had previously resided. The father of Charles was Daniel, an only child-the son of a shipmaster-born in Middletown, Conn., while his mother, Susan (Tibbitts) Johnson, was of Beekmanville, N. Y. Into the family of which Charles was a member eight children were born, -three daughters and five sons,-Charles being next to the youngest.
Every one of these five sons enlisted during the war, but for family reasons two-the oldest and youngest- were induced to remain at home. Daniel, Jr., John J. and Charles T. entered the active service, the two first enlisting in Company K of the 48th Regiment New York Volunteers early in 1861. Daniel was killed on the top of Fort Wagner in Charleston Harbor, S. C., during a
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night attack thereon July 18, 1863, and John J. severely wounded at the same time, and later, in 1864, more seri- ously wounded at the battle of Cold Harbor, Va., from the effects of which he died a few weeks subsequent in Washington, D. C.
Mr. Johnson enlisted August 13, 1862, being then nineteen years of age, served as private and Corporal in Company B of the Dutchess County Regiment till the close of the war, and was mustered out with the regiment, having taken part in every engagement in which it par- ticipated, without serious sickness; never having a fur- lough, or being absent a day, and never receiving an important wound while in the service.
While the regiment was at Baltimore, Md., he was on permanent detail as one of the guards at General Schenck's headquarters; at Gettysburg helped to draw off the guns of a battery near the famous "Peach Orchard " on the night of July 2d, when they were about to fall into the hands of the enemy after every horse had been killed, the guns being still so hot from use that they nearly burned the bare hands; was on the outer vedette line of skirmishers the night the Confederate army crossed the Potomac some two weeks later, and with one of his company was in the line they abandoned a half hour later; was on the skirmish line at the battle of Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864; at New Hope Church, May 25th following, was hit with a spent ball (which fortunately came through a comrade's coffee-pot first) ; was on the skirmish line at the battle of Kolb's Farm, June 22, 1864, the day that Lieutenant Gridley was killed.
For the hazardous work of the skirmish line Mr.
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Johnson seems to have been a favorite choice with his officers, and on the night when Sherman's army fell back in front of Atlanta to a point on the Chattahoochee river he was one of the outer vedettes, and was the last to leave the line on the left of the Marietta Pike, and at the battle of Peach Tree Creek, July 20, 1864, which was one of the numerous conflicts in front of Atlanta, one of the enemy's bullets cut a lock of hair from over his right ear.
Previous to the war Mr. Johnson had attended the public schools and served an apprenticeship at the print- ing business, but at the time of enlistment, because in need of change to a less sedentary form of employment, was in the stove and tin business, and was at the same time a member of a military company,-the Montgomery Guard,-all of Poughkeepsie, N. Y.
After the war he traveled as a commercial drummer in the stationery business for an Albany firm, then returned to the printing business for a year in New York City, after which he was for about two years engaged on State printing in Albany, N. Y., going from there to New Paltz, Ulster County, N. Y., at the request of an association, to establish the New Paltz Independent, which he printed for three years. From New Paltz he returned to Pough- keepsie and for a year and a half was foreman for the Poughkeepsie Daily News. Since February, 1873, with the exception of three years and eight months (when back in Poughkeepsie, where he was employed as proofreader in the office of A. V. Haight), he has been in the Gov- ernment Printing Office at Washington, where he is now -July, 1906-a proofreader. He is still in the enjoy-
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ment of good health, thanks to an abstemious and regular life, never having used tobacco or alcoholic liquors.
June 30, 1868, Mr. Johnson was married to Phebe A. Roberts, of Poughkeepsie, daughter of John Roberts (formerly of Ulster County) and Lavinia (Weed) of Orange County, both of New York. To them were born eight children, all dying in infancy except the first daughter, who is now Mrs. Frederick DeLamater, of Poughkeepsie (they have one son), and Charles T., Jr., the second son, who is a clerk in the Department of Justice, Washington. He married Octavia Reeves Rucker, of Missouri, the daughter of a Confederate soldier, and they have one daughter. They reside at Mt. Ranier, Md., one of Washington's suburban villages.
All the families connected with the subject of this sketch date back to old colonial times. From Charles T. Johnson's paternal grandmother connection is traced back to General Charles Lee of Revolutionary fame, and through his maternal grandmother to the Tibbitts line, one of Dutchess County's early families. His wife, Phebe A. (Roberts), traces back on her mother's side to no less than five or six members of the Weed family who were soldiers on the side of the colonists in the Revo- lutionary War; some drawing pensions for such service as late as 1841. The father's progenitors, being closely allied to the Quaker Church, though some of the earliest residents of Ulster County, seem to furnish no Revolu- tionary history obtainable.
The wife of Charles T. Johnson, Jr., traces connection to the Wade Hampton family of South Carolina, and also with a Revolutionary War history of noteworthy honor. The DeLamater family, into which the daughter
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of Mr. Johnson married, has been for many years a family well known in the upper portion of Ulster County, where some of them still make their home. They also possess a most creditable history for army service with the colonists during the Revolutionary War.
MATTHIAS JOIS.
Matthias Jois was born in Baden, Germany, February 24, 1831, the son of Frank and Mary Jois, and received his education in his native country. Coming to America when twenty-three years of age he settled in Dutchess County, New York, finding employment on the farms, and this has been his occupation both before and since the war.
In 1858 he was a member of Wade Van Steenberg's Company of Rhinebeck Militia. When the Civil War broke out he promptly enlisted under the first call for volunteers, for the term of three months, and was hon- orably discharged at the expiration of his term of enlistment.
April 19, 1862, he again volunteered, this time enlist- ing as a private in Company B of the 150th New York Volunteers, and was mustered into the United States ser- vice with the regiment. He was a faithful soldier, fol- lowing the fortunes of his regiment in all its campaigns, and being mustered out with it at the close of the war.
While the regiment was doing guard duty in Tennessee during the winter of 1863-'64 he had an attack of " night blindness," or "moon blindness," as it is some- times called, which clung to him for about three months.
It was the first case the surgeon of the regiment had ever seen, and he was incredulous as to its reality until
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he put the unfortunate soldier through a very severe test ; a test which proved conclusively that he could not see at all in the night, and he was therefore excused from night duty for about three months.
In 1860 Mr. Jois was married to Catharine Eighmey, and seven children have been born to them, as follows: Frederick, Francis, Lansing, Ellsworth, Mary, Caroline, and Ethel. Of these Frederick and Francis have died, while the others are still living.
In the 1904 Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of New York Mr. Jois' name is carried as " Matthias Joos."
LEVI LUMB.
Levi Lumb was born in England, October 5, 1839. His parents were John and Elizabeth (Beaumont) Lumb.
He came to this country with his parents when he was three years old, and the family located at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Here he was educated in the public schools of the city, and after leaving school he learned the trade of sash and blind making. He continued to work at this trade until August 13, 1862, when he enlisted in Company B of the 150th New York Volunteer Infantry, and he served in that company with honor, sharing in all the marchings and fightings of the regiment until the end of the war, and was mustered out of the service June 20, 1865.
He then went into the business of sash and blind mak- ing in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., under the firm name of Swart, Lumb & Brother, which continued a number of years, when he withdrew from the firm and started a fac- tory in his own name, which proved a gratifying success.
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About 1901 he retired from the business, which was con- tinued by his sons.
Mr. Lumb was married October 16, 1876, to Emma Childs, and from this union four children, two sons and two daughters, were born. He died January 18, 1905, at Tarpon Springs, Fla., where he was staying for his health.
Mr. Lumb was a member of Hamilton Post, G. A. R., located at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and was much beloved by his comrades. He always took an active interest in the annual reunions of the old regiment. He was a much respected citizen of the city in which he had spent nearly the whole of his life, and was especially appreciated by his business associates, among whom he bore an enviable reputation for integrity and stability of character.
WILLIAM S. VAN KEUREN.
The subject of this sketch was born June 29, 1840, at Pleasant Plains, Dutchess County, N. Y., the son of Benjamin I. and Mary A. (Barnum) Van Keuren. His father was also a native of Dutchess County, being born in the Town of Pleasant Valley, but his mother was born in Salisbury, Conn.
His father was a farmer, but our soldier-to-be left the farm at the early age of seventeen and entered upon a mercantile career, which he followed until the breaking out of the civil war.
In July, 1861, Mr. Van Keuren enlisted as a private in the 44th New York Volunteer Infantry, serving with that regiment until October, 1862. During that time he met with considerable experience in what was then
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WILLIAM S. VAN KEUREN.
termed the "Peninsular Campaign," under General McClellan, and was actively engaged with his regiment in the battles of Hanover Court House, Gain's Mill, and Malvern Hill.
From Harrison's Landing he was detailed as one of a squad to go to Poughkeepsie to procure recruits for his regiment. But the project of filling up the old regiments by enlisting new men for them was not entirely successful, and the Government abandoned it, and took up instead the plan of forming new regiments. It was at this juncture that Van Keuren was offered the position of First Lieutenant in Company H of the Dutchess County Regi- ment, which he accepted. This commission bore rank from September 27, 1862.
Coming thus, an already seasoned veteran wise in the ways of war, he was a valuable acquisition to our regi- ment in its formative period, and he proved to be one of its highly valued members.
From that time the life of the organization was his life, until July 20, 1864, when, at the battle of Peach Tree Creek in front of Atlanta, he was severely wounded, a bullet passing through both thighs. During the cam- paigns which immediately followed this he was at home, being prostrated by his wounds and unfit for duty. As soon as he was able he reported to the hospital at Nash- ville, Tenn., and was just in time to be one of a Provi- sional Brigade, which was placed under command of General Benjamin Harrison, afterward President of the United States.
In this command he took part in the battle of Nashville, when General George H. Thomas so thoroughly defeated Confederate General Hood, pursuing the demoralized
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remnants of his force as far south as Huntsville, Ala. With a portion of this brigade Lieutenant Van Keuren spent the winter of 1864 and 1865 at Dalton, Ga.
Early in February, 1865, he was sent, with a large detachment of Sherman's men, to rejoin that command, reaching it in March, at Goldsborough, N. C., and then learning that during his absence he had been promoted to Adjutant of the regiment; said promotion to date from November 18, 1864.
Immediately upon reaching Goldsborough he was de- tailed as Aide-de-Camp on the staff of Brigadier General Barnum, then in command of the 3d Brigade of the 2d Division of the 20th Army Corps. He was promoted to Captain of Company C of our regiment, with rank from March 2, 1865, serving with that rank until mustered out with the regiment.
Thus he ended an honorable and strenuous career as a volunteer soldier in defense of his country, a service which covered, practically, the whole time of the war, the hardest war of the century in this or any other coun- try. Then he turned his energies and talents to winning the victories of peace.
Captain Van Keuren became engaged once more in mercantile lines, and then in the mercantile marine, and for a quarter of a century served as captain of several different steamers plying on the Hudson river, viz .: The "City of Kingston," the "City of Springfield," the " D. S. Miller," the "City of Catskill, and the "William F. Romer."
During 1895, 1896 and 1897 he was a member of the New York Legislature, and in that capacity formulated the Navigation Law, which passed the New York Legis-
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lature in 1897, becoming operative in June of that year. He was also appointed to one of the inspectorships, a position which he still holds.
Captain Van Keuren was married, October 30, 1867, to Margaret A. Swaim, the ceremony being at the Metho- dist Episcopal Church in Highland Falls, Orange County, N. Y., and of this union two children have been born; Horace Barnum, born September 13, 1868, and Willard, born September 1, 1870, both of whom survive.
WILLIAM E. GURNEY.
William E. Gurney was born in the town of Stanford, Dutchess County, N. Y., September 10, 1839. His parents were Henry H. and Rachel (Arnold) Gurney.
Like so many others of that day, he obtained his entire education at the public schools, supplemented by private study, attending the district school as soon as he became of school age, both summers and winters, and later while helping on the farm in the summer attended school dur- ing the winter; never attending any but the district school of his town. He thus secured an education that enabled him to obtain a teacher's certificate, and taught two terms ; one being in the same school where he was educated.
On January 10, 1861, he was married to Miss Kate L. Cornelius, a daughter of one of his nearest neighbors, and five children have been born to them, one son and four daughters. Of these the daughters are living, but the son died in 1869. The following spring he left the farm where he was born, and worked for farmers in that vicinity until September 4, 1862, when he enlisted in Company C, 150th New York Volunteers, for three years or during the war.
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He left Poughkeepsie with the regiment October II, 1862, and was never absent from it for more than twenty- four hours at a time until it returned in June, 1865, not having seen any member of his family during that time.
After his discharge he was engaged in the Rogers Axle Factory at Stanfordville, N. Y., where he was employed nearly two years, but had to give it up, as it did not agree with him to work indoors. Again he worked on farms until October, 1869, when he removed with his family to Poughkeepsie and engaged in the milk business, which he followed four years; then he sold that out and worked in a meat market one year. He was then appointed on the Poughkeepsie police force, where he served four years.
His next venture in business was trucking and express, which he followed successfully until the spring of 1891, when he sold that business out, and July Ist was appointed a clerk in the Poughkeepsie postoffice under John I. Platt, postmaster, and has served under postmasters F. Has- brouck, F. Halsted, and I. W. Sherrill, being still so employed.
It is significant of the high esteem in which Mr. Gurney is held, and of his well-known trustworthiness and stability of character, that during his whole service in the regiment he was never absent from duty, was never in the guard- house or hospital, that during his fifteen years of service in the postoffice department not a mark has been recorded against him, and that during his membership in Hamilton Grand Army Post, of Poughkeepsie, he has filled in suc- cession every office in the Post, and has for several years been one of its delegates to the Department Encampment.
He is an enthusiastic worker also in the Regimental Association. The first reunion of the regiment, held in
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1887, was greatly owing to his endeavors. He has held the position of president of the Association since the death of General A. B. Smith in 1896, and now holds that posi- tion. He is also an active member of the Officers' Asso- ciation of the regiment.
It is only just to say of him that no worthy comrade ever applies to him that does not receive such aid and sympathy as he is able to give.
JULIUS O. HICKS.
Julius O. Hicks, son of Bartlett and Lorinda (McIn- tyre) Hicks, was born August 31, 1842, in the Town of Milan, Dutchess County, N. Y. He received his edu- cation in the public schools, and early obtained employ- ment on the farms.
Mr. Hicks enlisted as a private August 29, 1862, in Company C of our regiment, but was later promoted, first to Corporal, then to Sergeant. But his military experi- ence was by no means without adventure. He was one of the unfortunate squad under command of Lieutenant Bowman, which was captured by Stuart's Confederate cavalry near Westminster, Md., in the latter part of June, 1863. After some hard marching-and hard fast- ing-they were paroled and released, and Mr. Hicks rejoined the regiment in Virginia.
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