USA > New York > Dutchess County > The "Dutchess county regiment" (150th regiment of New York state volunteer infantry) in the Civil War; > Part 21
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After his term of service was over he went back to the coopering business, which he started for himself in the spring of 1850, and continued it until August, 1905, when his place of business was destroyed by fire, and thinking he had enjoyed business long enough to take a rest, he and his wife moved to Staatsburgh, where they are still living and enjoying themselves as chicken farmers.
On September 24, 1851, he married Mary F. Russell, daughter of Captain Isaac F. Russell, of Rhinebeck, N. Y. They have had three children, of whom two are living, John Linden, born August 23, 1856, and Charles Henry, born January 20, 1868.
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THE DUTCHESS COUNTY REGIMENT.
JAMES H. RHYNDERS.
James H. Rhynders was born in the Town of Clinton, Dutchess County, N. Y., April 15, 1846, the son of Stephen and Jane Ann Rhynders. His education was received at the public schools, after which he followed farming for an occupation.
He enlisted at Poughkeepsie, January 21, 1864, before he was eighteen years of age. He was mustered in as a private, in Company F of our regiment, and succeeded in holding that rank until he was discharged on the 6th day of June, 1865, from a hospital in Albany, N. Y., where he had been sent in consequence of a wound in the left arm, received in North Carolina on March 21, 1865, while engaged with the enemy on the skirmish line.
After he was discharged and had fully recovered from the effects of the wound he again returned to the occupa- tion of farming, which he still follows.
On the 6th of September, 1870, he was married to Minerva E. Pink, by whom he has two sons, both now grown to manhood.
JEREMIAH COLLINS.
" Jerry " was one of our drummer boys, and though one of the youngest members of the regiment he managed somchow to have a more varied experience and see more adventure in the course of his service than some who were older.
Born of Irish parentage, October 20, 1846, he lacked a month of being sixteen years old when he enlisted, Sep- tember 15, 1862, in Company G of the Dutchess County Regiment, from the Town of Dover. His service in the
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JEREMIAH COLLINS.
war was not by any means limited to "the pounding of the sheepskin," for drummer boys were considered avail- able material for all sorts of service.
At one time he acted as orderly for Chaplain Bartlett when he visited some of the Southern towns. At Atlanta he was detailed to attend to the regiment's mail, and thus for a time he was attached to headquarters. Many times he was detailed to accompany the foraging expeditions which supplied the regiment with food while going from Atlanta to the Sea, and again in the two months of active campaigning in the Carolinas, from Savannah, Ga., to Raleigh, N. C. Through it all he carried the daring and reckless spirit of boyhood, with the hardihood of a man, and was mustered out with the regiment at the close of the war.
Mr. Collins was married October 25, 1868, at St. John's Church, New York, to Adelaide Ellen Francis, and the blessing invoked upon Abou Ben Adhem,-" may his tribe increase,"-has been theirs, for eleven children have been born to them, of which five are living. The eldest, Cornelius, took the degree of Bachelor of Laws at Columbia Law School. He has been a member of the New York Assembly, and at one time First Assistant Attorney-General of New York City. At present he is practicing law in New York. The other children, though not in law, are doing equally well.
Soon after the war Mr. Collins was appointed news agent on the New York, New Haven & Hartford Rail- road. In 1883 he was appointed captain in the Street Cleaning Department of New York, and three years later was advanced to a position in the Fire Department. He
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is now serving as a court officer in the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
Being asked for some reminiscences of a personal nature, Mr. Collins has related many such, indicating that, owing probably to his extreme youth in the service, the experience of war stamped his memory with a greater vividness and clearness than it did with the older men. Lack of space forbids us from including all, interesting though they are.
One of these happened at Gettysburg, and at this dis- tance of time it seems like a little comedy enacted in the midst of that great tragedy. During the progress of the battle a wagon loaded with provisions was hit by a shell, scattering the hardtack in the road. It will be recalled that most of the regiment were entirely without food dur- ing their participation in that battle, and Mr. Collins adds,-" There was a wild scramble for the hardtack, and my drumhead, having developed a hole as a result of the constant beating it had received, made an excellent receptacle for them, and I was able to get such a number in the drum before being stopped by the Provost Guard that I was quite popular among my comrades for a time."
At the battle of Resaca, " Jerry " picked up a cavalry revolver and belt, just what he had wished for, for he could carry it without its interfering with his drum. Some months later he was foraging with "Sherman's Bummers," and being suddenly confronted by a body of the enemy, this same revolver stood him in good stead, enabling him to " hold them up " until he could escape.
But upon trying to find his own command he discovered that he was cut off by the rebel cavalry. After many adventures, swimming his horse through a river at one
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CHARLES E. HORSFALL.
place, he at last succeeded in joining his comrades, and with them attacked and defeated the rebel cavalry, the horse which he rode being slightly wounded in the encounter.
Upon their return to the regiment they were received with joy, for they had been given up as lost. Colonel A. B. Smith was specially glad at their return, for it was his horse which "Jerry " had been riding that day. It appears that they were helped out of this scrape by the timely arrival of some of Kilpatrick's cavalry during the engagement, or they might not have gotten off so fortunately.
CHARLES E. HORSFALL.
Mr. Horsfall was born May 5, 1837, at Marlborough, N. Y., on the banks of the Hudson, the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Horsfall. He was educated at the public schools of Poughkeepsie, where he learned the trade of carriage maker, an employment which he has since fol- lowed, both before and after the war.
He enlisted September 27, 1862, in Company G of the 150th New York Volunteers, in which he was afterward promoted to sergeant. He followed the fortunes of the regiment, taking part in all its activities, until the close of the war, and was mustered out with it.
Mr. Horsfall has been twice married; first in 1858 to Mary E. Doughty, and two children were born to them. She died in 1867, and on September 8, 1869, he was mar- ried to Sarah A. McCullock. From this union four children were born.
Of his personal experiences in the war he recalls that he was one of the storming party that in the dense fog
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of an early morning surprised and captured a portion of the rebel's picket line in front of Atlanta ; a strategic point which was held until the city fell into our hands.
He recalls also the events in Georgia and the siege of Savannah,-he being a part of the detail that skirmished with the retreating foe on Argyle Island,-as well as the campaigning in the Carolinas, and the battles of Averysborough and Bentonville.
MYRON W. ROBBINS.
Mr. Robbins was born in Caton, Steuben County, N. Y., July 15, 1845, the son of James and Lydia Rob- bins, where he was educated in the district school until he reached the age of sixteen, when he began working at lumbering.
He was too young at the beginning of the war, but enlisted September 13, 1864, in Company G of our regi- ment, serving with it until the close of the war.
He was married March 5, 1868, to Emma J. Wellman, and they have three children, Adah M., Benjamin E., and Carlton A.
Since the war Mr. Robbins has spent a portion of the time in farming, but at present his residence is at Corn- ing, N. Y., where he is a dealer in agricultural implements, etc., filling an active place in his community; so active indeed that he is too much occupied with what he is doing to send us many particulars of what he has done.
We learn, however, that for many years he has repre- sented his town at the county seat, still holding that posi- tion, and that he has held various other town offices. Being a public-spirited citizen he has had a keen interest in the success of the Steuben Agricultural Society, of which
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JOHN E. WEST.
he is a member, being one of its executive committee and president of the society.
JOHN E. WEST.
John Edward West was born in the Town of Rockland, Sullivan County, N. Y., November 5, 1842, which at that time was a wilderness and where the wolves scratch- ing at the door of the cabin at night made life interesting.
His parents were William Moses and Mary Ann (Losee) West.
A few months later the family removed to Pough- keepsie, N. Y., their former residence, which place he has always claimed as his residence.
In early childhood he was considered of frail constitu- tion, and was not allowed to go to school until nearly seven years of age.
He received a common school education, and was one of the class that assisted in the organization of the original Poughkeepsie High School.
Generally, he not only kept his studies well in hand, but also kept his teachers guessing what mischief he was planning.
At the age of seventeen, tiring of school, and preferring mechanical work to the professional, he left school to work for his father in a chair factory, where he was found at the opening of the war.
It was not till September, 1862, that he could prevail upon his father to consent to his enlisting. He enlisted at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., September 19, 1862, in Com- pany G, 150th New York State Volunteers, and was mus- tered into the United States Volunteer Service October II, 1862.
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He was mustered out of the service as a private, the same as he enlisted. He preferred the independence of the private to the insecure position of a " non-com." with chances of being reduced to the ranks for some dereliction of duty.
He was on the skirmish line that drove in the enemy's pickets in front of Atlanta, and came near being captured, and later when the enemy came out in force, and drove our lines back on August 22, 1864.
On leaving Atlanta in Sherman's March to the Sea, he was selected as one of the detail from Company G on the regimental forage detail.
After leaving Savannah for the march through South Carolina and North Carolina he was again detailed on the regimental forage squad. On March 19, 1865, his party found themselves surrounded at Bentonville, N. C., by about 200 of the enemy's scouts under Captain Shan- non, and although there were only fifteen or sixteen in his party, they succeeded in holding the enemy at bay (after killing Captain Shannon) until succor arrived in the shape of two comrades-" Pete " Houghtaling and Theodore Burnes-who had been sent back to camp to secure addi- tional force to guard them through the night, while they ran a grist mill; but on their return with orders to get to camp the best way they could they packed up and stole their way between the enemy's pickets, swam the river and reached camp about midnight.
He was mustered out of the service with his regiment near Washington, D. C., June 8, 1865, on account of the close of the war.
After the close of the war he took a course in a business college-then returned to work with his father, where he
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WILLIAM CONRAD WILE.
remained a couple of years, going to New York and Brooklyn to sell their manufactures.
Later, he served as salesman in New York City in a furniture store, later on as salesman in a Poughkeepsie shoe store, then as a canvassing agent for county direc- tories for several years. In November, 1875, he received the appointment of clerk in the railway mail service, which he has held over thirty years and still holds, and in which he has traveled over 1,700,000 miles, or an average of 150 miles every day of the year.
The ride alone would be sufficient to use up many men. It is his pride that during his two years and eight months in the army, and over thirty years in the railway mail service, he has never met with any serious injury, which he ascribes to the fact that he was born on Friday.
WILLIAM CONRAD WILE.
William Conrad Wile, late of Company G, 150th New York Volunteers, was born at Pleasant Valley, Dutchess County, N. Y., January 23, 1847. When he enlisted, he was fifteen years old, scant, and was the baby of the regi- ment-the youngest man carrying a musket. His father was the Reverend Benjamin Franklin Wile, who, for thirty-nine years, was pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Pleasant Valley, and when the regiment was mustered out in Poughkeepsie in 1865, he told the boys that if any of them wanted to get married at any time to come to him and he would marry them free of charge. Quite a num- ber of them, we are told, accepted this offer.
Young Wile's elementary education was mostly in the public schools, finished at the seminary at Cornwall, N. Y., which was conducted by E. P. Roe, the author, and at
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College Hill, Poughkeepsie, which was made famous by Bisbee and Warring.
In 1870 he graduated with the degree of M. D. from the Medical Department of the University of New York. For twenty-one years he has been the editor of the New England Medical Monthly. Center College, Kentucky, later conferred on him the honorary degree of A. M., and later the Rutherford College, North Carolina, the degree of LL.D. He has been president of the American Medical Editors' Association, vice-president of the Ameri- can Medical Association, vice-president of the Connecticut State Medical Society, twice president of the Fairfield County (Conn.) Medical Society, and also president once of the Danbury Medical Society. Is now consulting sur- geon to the Danbury (Conn.) Hospital. He has been medical director three times of the Department of Con- necticut, Grand Army of the Republic, and was elected surgeon-general of that organization a few years ago in Washington.
His life has been an extremely busy one, and he modestly asserts that he has prospered beyond his merits. He is prominent in Masonry, being a Knight Templar, Mystic Shriner, and Scottish Rite of the 32d Degree.
His mother was Betty Wile, a woman very active in the work of the church with which her husband was connected.
He enlisted in 1862 at the time the regiment was mus- tered in at Poughkeepsie. He went in as a private, and came out as a private. His history is very simple-one of a boy trying to do his duty as well as he knew how. He was stricken with typho-malarial fever on the Rappa- hannock river, shortly after the battle of Gettysburg, and
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GEORGE H. WILLIAMS.
transferred to Fairfax Seminary Hospital, where he remained until convalescent, and thence transferred to the Convalescent Camp at Alexandria, Va. Full recovery to health finds him again with the regiment, with which he went with Sherman to the Sea. History does not record that he shirked his duty any more than the other boys; that he was not a chronic knocker, and only kicked when patience was exhausted. That he was obedient and dutiful, records pretty fully show. That he was not pro- moted was due to the fact that he was nothing but a kid from the start to finish. On the battlefield he did not play hookey unless he got a real good chance. He could ram the cartridges down into his old Springfield rifle until the bore got choked. In short, his life was that of the ordinary soldier trying to do his duty.
At the close of the war he was mustered out with the regiment, and then commenced the study of medicine, sub- sequently practicing his profession up to ten years ago, when natural infirmities shut him out. In 1871 he was married to Eliza Scott Garrison, of New York, who bore him one child, Alice Buckley Wile. His wife died in 1881, and in 1887 he married Hattie Adele Loomis, of New Haven, Conn.
Dr. Wile, at this writing, is sixty years old.
GEORGE H. WILLIAMS.
George H. Williams was born September 16, 1844, at Chestnut Ridge, Dutchess County, N. Y. His father was Gerome Williams; his mother was Catherine, whose name before her marriage was Catherine Emigh.
He lived at his birthplace until April 1, 1860, when, with his father's family, he moved to Poughkeepsie, N. Y.,
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which has been his place of residence ever since. * He attended the schools in his native place, then took a course at Eastman College in Poughkeepsie, after which he began to prepare himself for entering Yale College, but Sep- tember 22, 1862, he enlisted in Company G, 150th Regi- ment, New York State Volunteers, and served with it until the end of the war, when he was mustered out with the regiment. He was a Corporal at first, but was later promoted to Sergeant of his company, and held that posi- tion when discharged in June, 1865.
He was at the battles of Gettysburg and Resaca, and on the March to the Sea, and in the Carolina campaign of Sherman's army, and participated in the Grand Review at Washington at the close of the war. He was wounded in the right arm at Dallas, Ga., and again slightly wounded near Golgotha, Ga.
After his return he studied law in his father's office at Poughkeepsie, and was admitted to the bar in that city May 18, 1866, and has ever since practiced there. He was city chamberlain of his city in 1875 and 1876, and deputy collector of U. S. Internal Revenue during most parts of President Cleveland's two administrations.
After his return from service with the Dutchess County Regiment he joined the 21st Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y., and held various offices, and when the regiment was mus- tered out, was its Lieutenant-Colonel.
He is a member of Poughkeepsie Lodge, No. 266, F. & A. M., King Solomon's Council, No. 31, R. & S. M., Poughkeepsie Commandery No. 43, K. T., and Mecca Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is a past chancellor of Armor Lodge, No. 107, K. of P., and past
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PLATTE MARVIN THORNE.
commander of D. B. Sleight Post, No. 331, G. A. R. He is also a governor of the Dutchess Club.
He is and has been secretary of the Veteran Association of the 150th Regiment from its formation, and secretary of its Officers' Association since October 11, 1886.
PLATTE MARVIN THORNE. By MARY E. THORNE.
My brother, the late Platte M. Thorne, was born in the Town of Pleasant Valley, Dutchess County, N. Y., May 11, 1837, and was the son of Edgar and Eliza Ann (Smith) Thorne.
During his infancy the family removed to a farm in the same county, near what is now known as Van Wag- ner's Station, and there his boyhood was spent, and there, in the district school, he laid the foundation of his educa- tion. Later he attended the Dutchess County Academy at Poughkeepsie, then and for many years conducted by Prof. William McGeorge.
After his school life was completed he went to New York City, where he found employment in a book store, but when, in 1855, his father was elected surrogate of Dutchess County, with his office at Poughkeepsie, Platte became a clerk in that office. At the expiration of his father's term, Platte returned to New York, where he this time went into business for himself.
But when, in the summer of 1862, steps were being taken to organize the 150th New York Volunteers, he disposed of his business and made arrangements to enter the service. He was enrolled September 27, 1862, as Captain of Company H, of that regiment, a company
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which had been recruited for him by Mr. Edward Crummey.
His service was not continuous with it, for a portion of the time he was a member of General Slocum's staff, a position which made necessary his absence from his own command. He was brevetted Lieutenant-Colonel, and May 26, 1865, was appointed Assistant Inspector-General of the Army of Georgia, serving in that capacity until he was mustered out with the regiment, June 8, 1865.
Soon after the disbandment of the 150th he accepted a commission in the regular army, where he rose to the rank of captain. On December 14, 1892, while sta- tioned at Detroit, Mich., he had a fall which resulted in a broken hip; an injury from which he never fully recov- ered. He afterward served for a time in a recruiting office in Albany, N. Y., but in March, 1896, retired from the service. He died at Rochester, N. Y., March 16, 1897.
Platte M. Thorne was married in June, 1869, to Susan Nickerson, and six children have been born to them, as follows :
Roberta, born at Fort Totten, Dak., April 13, 1870, now the wife of Captain Thomas N. Moody of the 20th U. S. Infantry; Percy, born at Fort Sully, Dak., June 4, 1871; Marvin, born at Fort Sully, Dak., September 20, 1872; Norna, born at Fort McKavett, Tex., November 2, 1880; Roslin, born at Fort Lyon, Colo., December 4, 1882, and Gordon, born at Fort Lyon, Colo., March 7, 1884.
Platte M. Thorne is survived by his wife and all of his children.
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JAMES BANKS.
JAMES BANKS.
James Banks was an English boy, being born October 2, 1839, in Bradford, Yorkshire, England; the son of Wil- liam and Ellen Banks. He received his education at the day school, and at the Mechanic's Institute in the even- ings, until the age of seventeen, when, in 1856, he emi- grated to the United States.
On arriving in New York he went first to Glenham, in Dutchess County, and through the aid of Mr. Stern, man- ager of the factory, he bound himself as an apprentice to the firm of Leonard & Clark, builders of lathes and planers, in Moodna, Orange County, N. Y. In the winter of 1859 he came to Newburgh, N. Y., where he was employed by Mr. Corwin.
While there employed a position in Mexico was offered to him, as machinist and engineer for the Valle Cillo Silver Mining Company, and having accepted it he left New York in June, 1860, for the mines, where he remained two years.
He returned to this country in 1862, just in time to meet and absorb the spirit of patriotism which was sweep- ing over the North then, and at New York enlisted, Sep- tember 5, 1862, in the 145th New York Volunteers, Colonel William Allen commanding the regiment. In this regiment he took an active part in the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, being a corporal in Company D.
In January, 1864, the remainder of the 145th was dis- banded, and he was transferred to the 150th New York Volunteers, becoming a corporal in Company H, in which he served until the close of the war, being mustered out with the regiment.
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After the war he again followed his trade as a machin- ist, and in that capacity he has worked for some of the most prominent tool and engine builders in Newburgh, N. Y., Newark, N. J., and Philadelphia, Pa. Of late years he has been employed by the government at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Mr. Banks was married at Newburgh, N. Y., in 1866, to Mary L. Clearwater, and five children have been born to them.
HUBBARD F. ROBERTS.
Hubbard Fowler Roberts was born in the Town of Union Vale, Dutchess County, N. Y., October 15, 1837. His father, the Rev. Philetus Roberts, was a clergyman of the "Christian " denomination, and well known throughout Dutchess and Columbia Counties. His mother was Maria Fowler, daughter of Hubbard and Christina (Miller) Fowler, also of Union Vale.
Mr. Roberts' early education was received in the dis- trict schools of this county, and he afterward attended Starking Seminary, in Yates County, N. Y., completing his studies at Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio. Previous to the Civil War he was employed as clerk in stores at Stanfordville and Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and after his marriage he engaged in farming.
He enlisted September 8, 1862, as a private in Com- pany H, of our regiment, and was mustered into the United States service with it. When the regimental band was formed he was detailed as Drum Major, or " Princi- pal Musician," as the official title was, and served in that capacity throughout the entire service of the regiment. While the regiment was in Baltimore that first winter he
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DAVID B. SLEIGHT.
was offered a commission as Second Lieutenant of his company, but declined in favor of John Fitzpatrick, the First Sergeant of the company.
He was discharged from the service with the regiment at the close of the war, and since then has been principally engaged in railroad and express business.
In 1858 Mr. Roberts was married to Emma Josephine Arnold, daughter of Archibald H. R. and Catherine M. E. Arnold, of Stanford, Dutchess County, N. Y. She died in 1889, and in 1893 he married Emily Hill McCoull, daughter of David and Emily McCoull, of Poughkeepsie, N. Y. By the first marriage there were three children: Edward Arnold, Charles Lent, and Her- bert Francis Roberts, of whom the last named is the only one now living.
DAVID B. SLEIGHT. By JOHN I. PLATT.
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