USA > Vermont > Windsor County > Springfield > History of the town of Springfield, Vermont : with a genealogical record > Part 14
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In 1835 the village corporation was made a fire district, and the property of the department transferred to it. An engine house was built above the Universalist Church, and another engine was kept at the shop of Davidson & Parks. In 1846 a hook and ladder company was formed.
In 1848 a new engine was purchased called Torrent No. 3, and a company of thirty-six members organized. The members were to be paid two dollars a year for their services. The town ap- propriated two hundred and forty dollars for the purchase of
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OF SPRINGFIELD, VT.
hose. In 1852 the members of the company were uniformed, and the hosemen provided with rubber suits.
In 1854 an engine house was built at the east end of the falls bridge, at an expense of $850, the upper story being used for corporation meetings. Another appropriation was made in 1859 of $200.
In 1860 a new fire district was formed, which was again changed in 1866.
In 1879 a force pump was put in at the gristmill, and iron piping and hydrants at an expense of over $1,700. In that year Col. W. H. H. Slack presented to the hose company, which bears his name, a finely equipped hose carriage.
In 1882 the present engine house was built, and the fine steamer "Skitchewaug" was bought, the whole costing some $8,000. The Skitchewaug is an excellent machine. A heater keeps the water hot all the time, so the machine is always ready. Over two thousand feet of hose with two good hose carriages are also in readiness for use, and Springfield has one of the best equipped and most efficient fire departments in the State.
FIRES.
Springfield has had many disastrous fires, the earliest being the cotton mill and the machine shop on the west side of the river. The paper mill was burned about 1848. In May, 1859, Parks & Woolson's machine shop was destroyed, and in December, 1877, the Industrial Shop at the upper dam. The next year the shops of the Vermont Novelty Works were destroyed, June 25, with a loss of seventy thousand dollars. Whitmore & Dillon also had a serious fire the same year, and the residence of E. C. Nason was burned. In 1880 the barns of Thomas Carmody and of John Brady were burned. In 1881 the house of C. M. Ball was de- stroyed, and the Springfield Toy Company lost one thousand dollars the same year. In January, 1882, Gowing's grist mill, Carmody's hosiery shop. George W. Porter's store, and the houses of A. P. Fairbanks and John Chipman, were all burned. June 18 of the same year the foundry of the Vermont Snath Com- pany was destroyed, loss, $20,000. Sparrow's Block was partly
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN
burned that year. In 1883 Mrs. Dr. Sawyer's buildings were burned. Frank D. Martin's box factory at North Springfield was entirely consumed Sept. 3, 1884, loss, eight thousand dollars. Mr. Martin rebuilt, and his shop was again wholly burned in 1893. In 1885, Aug. 21, Adna Brown's new barn was struck by lightning and burned, and Dec. 21 the Pingry Block was damaged by fire. The fine residence of Mrs. Frederick Parks was burned April 18, 1887, loss $20,000. May 12 of the same year there was damage by fire at the Vermont Novelty Works to the amount of $3,000. In the night of June 7, 1894, a fire in the clothing store of D. O. Gill & Son, in the Fairbanks Block, resulted in a loss of $6,000 to the stock, and $1,000 to the building.
FRESHETS.
In the summer of 1869 a sudden rise of Black River, caused by a shower, carried out the bulkhead of the dam just built by the Novelty Works Company, and the north end of the new stone building, not yet occupied. The great freshet, in the autumn of 1869, carried out the dam and stone buildings next to the river, just built by Ellis, Britton & Eaton. The grist mill of Henry Safford was swept away, and the residence of Joseph Smart. Mike Tully's house (the first frame house built in the village) went off, and several houses below the lower bridge were undermined and turned upon their sides. The new iron bridge across the falls went of , with a man named Morsey, who was drowned; and every other bridge across the river except the covered bridge at the lower end of Main Street, and the Nathan White bridge was swept away.
In July, 1883, a local shower, or cloud-burst, in the northerly part of the town, caused a sudden rise in the brooks which did great damage. The roads were gullied four or five feet deep, or all washed out, culverts and Fridges swept away, the dam built by M. P. Whitcomb was swept out, the water-course under Main Street in the village was choked by flood wood, and the water poured through the hotel, filling the cellar with mud and running out of the front windows. Farmers in the south part of the town carted hay at the same time.
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OF SPRINGFIELD, VT.
In June, 1884, a similar shower was still more disastrous. Every bridge on the brook road was carried out. A house owned by Adna Brown was carried down several rods; the house of Henry A. Perkins was undermined and overturned; the flood- wood was piled up against Newton's store, to the second story windows ; the house now owned by Albert Lafountaine was carried off its foundation and left standing in the yard of John- son's blacksmith shop. A torrent of water poured through and around the hotel, livery stable, stage barn, and blacksmith shop, destroying a large amount of property both public and private. This shower extended over a larger area than the one eleven months earlier, and was accompanied by a gale of wind. The large new barn of Mr. Fairbrother, at Cheshire bridge, was blown down and destroyed; one person in the barn at the time was killed. The damage to roads and bridges in Springfield was estimated to amount to five thousand dollars. The interruption to business and travel in the town was a serious loss.
After this shower a wider passage for the brook under Main Street was blasted through the ledge, the bed of the brook thence up Valley Street was widened and securely walled at large expense.
AGRICULTURE IN SPRINGFIELD.
Springfield has always been noted as a good farming town. Its meadows and intervale lands are fertile and easily cultivated, and the soil of its hillsides, even to their summits, gives abundant returns to the labors of the husbandman. The first settlers on Sartwell Hill, though driven away by the Indians, were so pleased with the favorable character of the soil that they returned as soon as they could with safety to the same spot; and Capt. Simon Stevens, whose expeditions as a soldier and surveyor had given him an extensive acquaintance with the country in this section, set a stake on the site of the present town farm, and announced his determination to return to that spot to make his home when his term of service in the army was over.
The early settlers had no fear of climbing hills, and their farms were many of them located where they have long since
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN
been abandoned as too hard to reach. Their roads were built over the hills, when it would have been easier to have built around them, and much more convenient for travel.
In the early days potash and pearlash were about the only products which could be sold for cash, and great quantities of timber were piled and burned simply for the ashes, and to clear the land.
Distilleries and ginneries were built in the first years of the century, and when the hillsides had, with the labor of uncounted days, been cleared, ploughed, and dragged with the spike-toothed harrow, they were sown with rye year after year, a large part of which went to the distilleries. The few crude agricultural im- plements of those days appear to have been planned and con- structed upon the principle that the more iron worked into them the better. As late as 1840 or 1850, the most of them continued to be unnecessarily heavy, clumsy, and inconvenient, so much so that if such tools were offered to farm laborers to-day a "strike " would be the result.
In early days much flax was raised, which the industrious wives and daughters hatchelled, spun, and wove into tow and linen cloth, which was used for clothing for the men in summer, and for the women all the year. Very little wheat was raised, and none imported in the earliest years. The staple articles of food were rye and corn bread, potatoes, pork, and bean porridge. Their simple, homely way of living and their severe labors were not regarded as hardships, for they were universal in those times.
Horse-rakes were first used in town about 1845. When George and Brooks Kimball first introduced their spring-tooth horse-rake, which would work on rough and stony land, it was looked upon as a great advance in agricultural implements, and was re- garded as a luxury almost beyond the means of the small farmer. The first mowing machine was a Manny mower, used by James Whipple in 1853. The first light running and really good ma- chines were the Walter A. Wood mowers, introduced here about 1858, and Lucius Streeter bought a Granite State mower about the same time. The farmers of this town have always been enterprising in the introduction of improved stock, machinery, and methods of farming.
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OF SPRINGFIELD, VT.
Until within a few years wool-growing was a leading and satis- factory industry. The proximity of Consul Jarvis's flock of merinos was soon felt in the introduction of merino blood into the flocks of coarse, Irish sheep, so that as early as 1814 the girls of Calvin Hubbard's family carded, spun, and wove broadcloth in considerable quantities from wool raised on the farm. It is probable that many others did the same, for there seems to have been business for the fulling mill at the village. The high prices of wool about 1865 stimulated enterprise and improvement, and many farmers took great pains to improve their flocks. Among those who made liberal and early investments in thoroughbred merino sheep may be mentioned James B. Whipple, James Lovell, Morton C. Roundy, Lucius Streeter, James R. Walker, C. Horace Hubbard, Henry Safford, Leverett Brown, Levi White, George F. Wiley, Nathan P. White, Edson X. Pierce, George L. Cutter, Jeremiah Abbot, Horace Randall and others.
The reduction of tariff protection, and the competition arising from the marvellous development of wool-growing in the terri- tories, Australia and New Zealand, have lowered the price from year to year, and now (1894), with "tariff reform " promising "free wool," the industry has ceased to be profitable, and the few re- maining flocks are being rapidly decimated.
Dairying was formerly an incidental part of the business on most farms. The farmers made their own butter and cheese in the old-fashioned ways, and a little to sell, in exchange for goods at the stores. The " general purpose cow," of native or mongrel blood, prevailed, and many steers were raised for beef or working oxen. In 1866 twenty farmers united to make a systematic im- provement of their cattle. A committee was appointed to buy a thoroughbred short-horned bull. Two were bought for the association. C. Horace Hubbard, James E. White, Morton C. Roundy, and Daniel O. Gill bought choice cows and heifers of the same blood, bred for both dairy and beef qualities. The next year Henry M. Arms purchased the celebrated Loomis herd of ten animals. These purchases gave a marked impetus to the improve- ment of the cattle in this section. The town came to be noted for its fine large cows and choice heavy oxen. In this connection the
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN
following letter to the editor of the Springfield Reporter, by the late Asahel P. Fairbanks, one of Springfield's successful farmers, who died in 1894 at the age of eighty-eight years, will be of interest : -
MR. EDITOR, -
A number of my friends and acquaintances having expressed a desire to see an account in print of some of the heavy steers that I have raised during my residence in town, with your permission I will furnish something for pub- lication in the Reporter. The first forty-hundred pair I ever sold brought $250, a larger price than had ever been received at that time. Then I sold two pair that weighed forty hundred per pair, for $600; one pair, forty-six hundred, for $225; one cow for $105, and two pair of steers that weighed over forty-six hundred per pair, for $430 per pair. I had one cow that brought seven male calves in succession. Just think of it, over seven tons of beef from the progeny of one cow. During the civil war my son was drafted and went to war. I thought I would make the best soldier, but my friends said I had better stay at home and raise beef for the soldiers. I did so and raised five fat ones in a bunch. I don't remember how much they weighed, guess they were fat enough for anybody. The next pair I raised I broke for work- ers and they tipped the scales at forty-five hundred. I broke up ten acres of greensward and also hauled a lot of large stone, beside doing considerable other work before they were sold, which happened in this way: While at work in my field a man came along and praised them highly, although I had no idea that he desired to purchase them. After talking a while, says he, " How much will you take for them?" I answered him off-hand, " Five hun- dred dollars," and he shoved the money into my hands. I could not back out although I could have had $525 the next day. He sold them inside of two weeks for $550. I then sold one big fat pair that brought $575 in market, and seven fat ones that I sold to John Taylor and for which I got a pocket full of money. I sold one big fat steer that brought $500 in market. I have raised many more fat cattle but they are too numerous to mention. Two fat hogs that I sold dressed 1,200 and 1,010 respectively. In writing this I do not wish to be understood that I have raised " fancy stock," it is the profit I have been after. I had nothing but my hands when I begun and I had to work to get me a piece of land. I happened to have gumption enough to know good land and raise good crops and then feed them out to make the steers grow. I have often been asked how I made my steers so big, and how much meal I gave them in the summer. I never gave a bushel of meal in the summer. I never gave over a peck a day to any steer, large or small. I used to cut my hay fifteen days earlier than my neighbors and have been told to keep out of my grass until later and I would have hay enough. Early cut hay and a little meal is what will make good cattle if they are tended right, kept clean and made to eat up their food clean. I have also raised a good many nice colts and I think if some one had given me a $2,000 farm when I started, I could have raised some fancy stock that would astonish the natives, but if I have not done my part for the commonwealth of the place, just let me know it. I
-
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OF SPRINGFIELD, VT.
could show quite a sum that I have brought into town from sales of fat stock, but I do not wish any one to think I desire to brag of my doings. In conclu- sion I will say that if other young inen (of my time and later) had stuck to one kind of business as I have, there would be less growling about taxes, debts, and mortgaged farms.
ASAHEL FAIRBANKS, 81 years old.
But this condition of things was soon all changed. In the march of national progress the vacant lands on the western frontier were converted into ranches, and cattle raised without hay, where no plow ever turned a furrow, and driven to Kansas and fattened on its cheap corn, filled our great markets with beef at prices far below the cost of raising ours; and so the strong, patient oxen, in which our farmers took such pride, have by low prices been driven to the wall, and, like the buffalo, have practically become extinct. We have learned slowly -and we are slow to learn - that dairy qualities in the cow are of paramount importance ; and the little Jersey cow has come to the front as a butter cow. The invention of the Cooley system and the institution of creameries have largely revolutionized the dairy business. With warm stables and ensilage as a winter food, the farmers find winter dairying more profitable than that of summer.
The Springfield Creamery Company was organized in 1888, and a factory built having a capacity for the milk of one thousand cows. This enterprise has proved profitable to the patrons.
A cheese factory was established at the North Village in 1877, and was run until 1884 by Charles A. Leland and Fred G. Field, and from thirty to sixty thousand pounds were made annually.
In 1862 a farmer's club was organized in town which held weekly meetings for four winters. Out of this grew the Spring- field Agricultural Society, which has held annual fairs since 1866, when the first was held on the Common. The Springfield Park Association having made a financial failure in the effort to con- duct a horse-racing society, the grounds were given up on the mortgage and offered to the Agricultural Society for one thousand dollars. The sum of six hundred dollars was raised by volun- tary subscription, and the town, in 1880, voted to appropriate the remaining four hundred, and the property was deeded to the town, to be held forever for a place to hold the town fairs. The park is cared for by six trustees, chosen by the town.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN
SOLDIERS FROM SPRINGFIELD IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.
FIRST REGIMENT VERMONT VOLUNTEERS. THREE MONTHS.
This regiment was mustered into service May 2, 1861, and mustered out Aug. 15, 1861.
COMPANY E.
Allen, Albert W.
Frost, Roswell W.
Allen, James H.
Kendrick, Benjamin S.
Blodgett, William H.
Kendall, Luke.
Clapp, Albert S.
Perkins, William H.
DeCamp, Ezra M. Wheeler, Charles.
Williams, Henry C., Corporal.
THIRD REGIMENT. THREE YEARS.
COMPANY A.
Adams, Harrison S., enlisted June 1, '61 ; discharged Oct. 10, '62 ; re-enlisted Dec. 10, '63 ; discharged June 17, '65.
Arms, Eben B., enlisted Aug. 16, '62; died in hospital at Alexandria, Va.
Bailey, Andrew A., enlisted June 1, '61; died April 17, '62, of wounds received at Lee's Mills, April 16, '62.
Ball, Leroy A., enlisted June 1, '61; transferred to Invalid Corps, Nov. 20, '63 ; discharged July 20, '64.
Barnes, Lewis J., enlisted Aug. 14, '62; deserted July 20, '63. Bixby, Charles A., enlisted Sept. 19, '62; deserted Jan. 20, '63. Brewer, Harrison H., enlisted June 1, '61; discharged Feb. 4, '62.
Boynton, Emerson A., enlisted June 1, '61 ; promoted sergeant Feb. 1, '63; killed at Spottsylvania, May 12, '64.
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OF SPRINGFIELD, VT.
Carmody, John, enlisted June 1, '61; mustered out July 27, '64 ; promoted corporal Feb. 1, '63.
Chilson, King A., enlisted June 1, '61; died June 29, '62; wagoner.
Clark, James H., enlisted June 1, '61; corporal; killed at Wilderness, May 5, '64.
Coffin, Henry W., enlisted June 1, '61 ; discharged Nov. 12, '61, for disability.
Cook, Charles A., enlisted Feb. 29, '64; killed in action May 5, '64.
Coffin, James B., enlisted June 1, '61; mustered out July 27, '64; wounded May 5, '64.
Cook, Henry M., enlisted June 1, '61; died Dec. 10, '62, of disease.
Cook, Marvin J., enlisted June 1, '61 ; corporal; wounded and taken prisoner May 3, '63; paroled May 16, '63; discharged July 16, '64.
Cook, Seymour O., enlisted June 1, '61; musician; discharged June 18, '62.
Crain, Frederick, enlisted May 24, '61; 1st lieutenant; pro- moted captain and assistant quartermaster United States Volun- teers May 18, '64 ; brevet major of volunteers March 13, '65, for faithful and meritorious service during the war, and lieutenant- colonel of volunteers Dec. 2, '65 ; mustered out Feb. 8, '66.
Cutler, Charles, enlisted June 1, '61 ; mustered out July 27, '64.
Damon, George M., enlisted Feb. 15, '62; died Oct. 29, '62.
Damon, Hiram, enlisted June 1, '61 ; discharged Nov. 29, '62, for disability.
Damon, Olcott, enlisted June 1, '61 ; discharged April 29, '62, for disability.
Estabrook, Jasper L., enlisted Sept. 23, '61 ; died Nov. 27, '62, of disease.
Farrington, George E., enlisted Aug. 13, '62 ; promoted cor- poral Nov. 7, '63 ; sergeant, June 1, '64; commissary sergeant March 25, '65; mustered out June 19, '65.
Flanders, Alden P., enlisted June 1, '61; died Oct. 21, '62, of disease.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN
Flanders, Edwin J., enlisted Aug. 27, '62; re-enlisted Dec. 21, '63 ; killed at Cold Harbor, June 1, '64.
Floyd, Horace W., enlisted May 24, '61; 2d lieutenant ; promoted 1st lieutenant Co. F, Aug. 13, '61; captain Co. C, Sept. 22, '62; wounded June 21, '64 ; promoted major Aug. 4, '64 ; lieutenant-colonel Oct. 18, '64; brevet colonel Oct. 19, '64, for gallantry and good conduct in the campaign before Richmond, and in Shenandoah Valley ; mustered out as lieutenant-colonel July 11, '65.
Frost, William, enlisted Aug. 14, '62; wounded May 5, '64 ; discharged May 17, '65.
Gould, Norman, enlisted June 1, '61; re-enlisted Dec. 21, '63; died June 10, '65, of wounds received at Petersburg, April 2, '65.
Griswold, Francis, enlisted June 1, '61; discharged July 11, '62, for disability.
Hatch, Edward D., enlisted June 1, '61 ; mustered out July 27, '64.
Hopkins, Frye B., enlisted Aug. 14, '62; discharged April 16, '63, for disability. .
Holbrook, Joshua M., enlisted June 1, '61 ; re-enlisted Dec. 21, '63; mustered out July 27, '65.
Hopkins, George B., enlisted Aug. 14, '62; mustered out May 13, '65.
Jolinson, Frank, enlisted June 1, '61 ; mustered out July 27, '64.
Leland, Levi P., enlisted June 1, '61; promoted sergeant Aug. 13, '61 ; promoted 1st sergeant; re-enlisted Dec. 21, '63; died July 14, '64, of wounds received July 12, '64.
Leonard, Henry L., enlisted Oct. 9, '61 ; discharged June 14, '62, for disability.
Lockwood, Ira, enlisted Oct. 15, '61; re-enlisted Dec. 21, '63 ; mustered out July 11, '65.
Lyons, John A., enlisted June 1, '61; corporal; promoted sergeant; discharged Nov. 21, '62, for disability.
Madigan, Thomas, enlisted June 1, '61; discharged June 14, '62, for disability.
Martin, James M., enlisted June 1, '61 ; corporal ; discharged Nov. 6, '61.
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OF SPRINGFIELD, VT.
Messinger, William O., enlisted Aug. 16, '62; died June 6, '64, of wounds received in action June 3, '64.
Mason, Oscar F., enlisted June 1, '61; promoted corporal Nov. 29, '61 ; wounded May 5, '64 ; mustered out July 27, '64.
Newton, Julius C., enlisted June 1, '61; discharged Dec. 10, '61, for disability.
Parker, Myron E., enlisted Dec. 24, '63 ; corporal ; died Nov. 9, '64, of wounds received at Cedar Creek, Oct. 20, '64.
Phillips, Hubbard H., enlisted June 1, '61 ; sergeant Co. A ; promoted 1st sergeant Co. H, Aug. 13, '61; promoted 2d lieu- tenant Co. E, Jan. 15, '63 ; mustered out July 27, '64.
Pierce, Lewis A., enlisted June 1, '61; sergeant; promoted 2d lieutenant Co. D, Oct. 24, '62; discharged for disability April 13, '63.
Piper, Charles F., enlisted June 1, '61; mustered out July 27, '64.
Putnam, Benjamin F., enlisted Aug. 14, '62; mustered out June 19, '65 ; promoted corporal April 3, '65.
Randel, George H., enlisted June 1, '61 ; discharged Nov. 20, '62, for disability.
Reed, Allen, enlisted June 1, '61; died Feb. 27, '62, of disease.
Shaw, Daniel L., enlisted June 1, '61; promoted sergeant Dec. 10, '62; promoted 1st sergeant June 1, '64; mustered out July 27, '64.
Spring, George P., enlisted June 1, '61; died July 28, '62, of disease.
Stanley, George M., enlisted Sept. 19, '61 ; discharged Dec. 29, '62, for disability.
Stowell, Martin A., enlisted June 1, '61; discharged Jan. 18, '62, for disability.
Tolles, David N., enlisted Aug. 14, '62; discharged March 8,'65.
Veazey, Wheelock G., enlisted May 21, '61 ; captain; promoted major Aug. 10, '61; lieutenant-colonel Aug. 13, '61; colonel 16th regiment Sept. 27, '62. Awarded medal of honor for dis- tinguished gallantry at battle of Gettysburg, Pa., July 3, '63; mustered out Aug. 10, '63.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN
Veazey, Daniel B., enlisted May 21, '61; promoted 2d lieu- tenant Co. I, Nov. 1, '63 ; mustered out July 27, '64.
Walker, William, enlisted Aug. 16, '62; discharged Dec. 25, '62, for disability.
Whitcomb, Emerson E., enlisted June 1, '61; wounded April 16, '62; mustered out July 27, '64.
White, John M., enlisted Aug. 14, '62; promoted corporal April 3, '65 ; mustered out June 19, '65.
Winchester, Salmon, enlisted Aug. 14, '62; mustered out June 19, '65.
Woods, Willis W., enlisted June 1, '61 ; re-enlisted Dec. 21, '63 ; promoted 2d lieutenant May 10, '65 ; mustered out July 10, '65, as 1st sergeant.
COMPANY B.
Bullard, Ryland N., enlisted July 22, '63; died May 19, '64, of wounds received May 5, '64.
COMPANY H.
Parker, Darius, enlisted July 22, '63 ; killed in action May 5, '64.
Parker, Nelson, enlisted July 22, '63; transferred to Co. K, July 25, '64 ; mustered out July 11, '65. '
Rumrill, Hamlin, enlisted July 22, '63 ; killed in action May 5, '64.
Rumrill, Haskell B., enlisted July 22, '63; transferred to Co. K July 25, '64 ; discharged July 2, '65, for disability.
COMPANY I.
Sexton, Thomas, enlisted Aug. 3, '64 ; mustered out June 19, '65. Spillane, Patrick, enlisted Aug. 30, '64; mustered out June 19, '65.
FOURTH REGIMENT. THREE YEARS.
COMPANY C.
Davis, Seth A., enlisted Aug. 26, '61; mustered out Sept. 30, '64.
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