I've been waiting for this week to get here so that I could talk about one of my favorite ancestor's connection to a historical story that was brought to light by a letter.
This ancestor is my 3rd great grandfather, John Border Amos. He was born on Apr 13, 1833 in Bedford county Pennsylvania, the son of John Amos and Rebecca Border. John was a farmer and in 1855 he married Sarah Mower. By the start of the Civil War, John and Sarah have three children with one more on the way. John, along with so many others, enlisted in the Army on Oct 12, 1861. His Regiment was the 55th Pa Infantry Company D. Shortly thereafter, his Company leaves for training at Camp Curtin in Harrisburg. In November, the regiment reported to Fort Monroe, Virginia for further training before departing by ship for duty in Port Royal, South Carolina in December. The voyage took 4 days and upon arrival the regiment was assigned to guard duty of the small islands in the area. It wasn't until February 1862 when they were transferred to Edisto Island, that the regiment had it's first skirmish. John was sick in his quarters for March and April with probably one of the ailments common among the troops at that time. In May 1862, John was promoted to Corporal. On June 21, 1862, the 55th participated in the minor Battle of Simmon's Bluff.
It was this trip up the river to Simmon's Bluff that placed John firmly in connection to a historical figure who is still remembered today. I mentioned a letter. This letter is one that was shared with me by another descendant of John. The letter was written by John and sent to his wife Sarah. The date on the letter, June 22, 1862, was the day after the Battle of Simmon's Bluff. In the letter, John mentions the names of the two ships which carried the troops upriver. They were the "Planter" and the "Crusader". Not only had he named the ships but also detailed his experiences during the battle. How incredibly fortunate to still have access to this letter!
Thank you Jonathan Zane, my 3rd cousin 1 x removed, for this letter
Robert Smalls in 1862
Here in Pittsburgh, where I live, I found that in 1863 when some small forts were being built along the rivers for defensive purposes, one of them was was built by free blacks and named Fort Robert Smalls. It survived until the 1940's. Robert Smalls is still remembered and celebrated in the Charleston, SC area today.
Oh my gosh, you just never know what you will find.
The rest of John Amos' story shows that after his reenlistment and promotion to Sergeant in 1864, his regiment was given a furlough which John used to visit home. His Regiment transferred north to Virginia where they encountered many more battles. In May 1864, John was wounded at the Battle of Drewry's Bluff when a piece of iron struck him in his hip and knocked him into a ditch. He recovered enough to be with the regiment at the Battle of Cold Harbor. On the third day of this battle, June 3, 1864, John was wounded once again. This time a gunshot wound to his jaw and an injured wrist. By June 8th , John was in a Regimental Hospital away from the fighting. Here is where it gets a little confusing. His records show him in the hospital in July and August but by Sept 8, 1864 he is shown as a prisoner in the Old Capital Prison in Wash DC being held "for suspicion of being implicated with counterfeiters of US Treasury Notes". It is my understanding that the Secret Service held some people with no charges ever being pressed. I have no information regarding how long he was held exactly or why and what the official outcome was. But he was not back with his Regiment until after the end of the war(April 1865) when on June 8, 1865 he was promoted to 2nd Leuit. and being commissioned as a 1st Leuit. 4 days later. He was finally mustered out on Aug 30, 1865 in Petersburg, Virginia. With that kind of promotion, I can only assume that he was innocent of all charges. John returned home and he and Sarah would have 7 more children. He returned to farming and then in 1876, he applied for the first time for a Veteran's Pension. It would take 2 years to be approved. He was awarded $4 a month. By the time John died on Feb 20, 1901, he was collecting $17 a month. His wife, as a widow, also received a pension, but only $8 a month. She would pass away in 1905.
John Border Amos was the first ancestor in our family tree that I was able to positively identify as a Civil War soldier. I was able to do a lot of research on him just by knowing that and then also when I ordered and received his military service records and pension file from the National Archives. In piecing it all together, I learned so much history. Once, I knew of John's service, I wondered if there were any photos of him out there somewhere. I always hoped and then one day a fellow descendent of John's found my tree and shared some family photos. One was of John and Sarah. John was in his uniform. Finally, a face to the name. Then a few years later, another descendant shared a wonderful group photo of John's family, his wife, and all but two of their children and even a granddaughter who lived with them at the time. Then the letters came along from yet another descendant. All three of these descendants were from a different child of John and I was from a fourth. All of these offered with such generosity and received with much gratitude. In 2005, I finished what I thought at the time was John's story, at least as much as I could find. Then the photos and letter came to me adding so much more to it.
And one last thing happened. A few years ago, I was contacted by a man who was compiling a book of every known Civil War soldier of Bedford county Pennsylvania. He had found my tree and wondered if he could use the photos of John in his book. I was delighted, but first I wanted to let the owners of the photos know. He was able to use the one of John & Sarah and gave credit to the owner. But when I received my copy of the book last fall, of course I ordered one, I found that he had included yet another photo of John as a soldier. So now I had copies of 3 photos of John and copies of a handwritten letter by him.
His story feels complete now, except for that counterfeiting thing..... I'll be needing more documents.
Please give credit and post a link to my blog if you intend to use any of the information written here. My blog posts are © Ann M Sinton 2022. All rights reserved.
Oh wow! This is such an interesting post. So much to absorb and think about. But I just love that you got photos of your ancestor. We can build up a picture with documents can't we but there's so much excitement when you actually get to see a photo of them. Great post. Enjoy your research.
ReplyDeleteThank you! The best parts of genealogy, to me, is the hunt and the sharing.
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