behind AotW

I recently tweeted about adding a new bio page for a Georgia soldier, Andrew W Poarch and, somewhat as an aside, noted that his modern headstone has some problems.

He was buried at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Frederick, MD in October 1862 and at some point given a basic headstone, now heavily worn.

Much more recently, I’d guess in the 1980s or 90s, well-meaning persons got him a new headstone from the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Probably because of transcription errors in his original burial records, they got his name terribly wrong. Apparently the applicant for the new headstone didn’t dig any deeper – into the soldier’s service records, muster rolls, or family genealogies, for example – to verify his information. Although, to be fair, it’s much easier to do that today than it was 30 or 40 years ago.

But now the errors are literally carved in stone.

I’ve seen dozens of markers like these with errors large and small over the years of researching my soldiers, but had not thought to make a list or keep a log of them.

The day after Private Poarch’s, though, I found another such case – the stone for Louisianan Volney L. Farnham at Elmwood in Shepherdstown, WV. It has his first initial/name and his regiment wrong.

And this afternoon a third popped-up: Private William T. Curry of South Carolina. This is his modern VA marker in Dials Cemetery, Gray Court, SC. Minor things, to be sure, but his middle initial and his year of birth are probably wrong.

So taking these 3 stones as huge cosmic hints, I’m starting a visual list here, and I’ll add to it as I find more. I can’t fix them, but I can provide a virtual erratum.

Let me know if you find any more cases like these, won’t you? Or if you have any information that corrects errors I’ve made.

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Gravestone pictures via Findagrave.

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[48] additions after the break …

Another Mt. Olivet stone: This one’s for W.P. Hamby, who was mortally wounded on South Mountain and died in Frederick. He was probably a Sergeant, and, more certainly, in Company C of the 22nd South Carolina Infantry rather than a Private in K of the 27th.

Mt. Olivet again. The man buried here was Solomon Turbeville, Jr., about 18 years old when he was mortally wounded at Sharpsburg. His new stone missed his first name and added a letter to his last name.

Another resident of Confederate Row at Mt. Olivet: here’s the final resting place of Private Benjamin D. Anderson, mortally wounded at Turner’s Gap on South Mountain. He was probably not a Lieutenant, didn’t spell his first name Benjamen, and his middle initial was not J.

Also at Mt. Olivet. This stone is for 20 year old Louisiana Private Amos K. Anselm. He was wounded by a gunshot at Sharpsburg and died two months later in a Frederick hospital of the wound and gangrene. The stone has his last name twisted up a little.

I’m not sure who this next man was, but I’m fairly certain he didn’t die on 12 October 1862.

There were at least 7 Reeves/Reaves in the 27th Georgia, but none listed as Robert. The only one of the 7 not accounted for was Patrick – listed only as killed in battle – so he could be our man. Or not. Our Reeves could have been in another unit, but I’ve had no luck finding him. I have a page for him as Robert until I can do better. Here’s his new headstone at Mt. Olivet:

The Frederick hospital records (which have him as Robert) say he died of gangrene infection from his wound on 21 May 1863. If you look closely, that looks like the date on his original, or at least much older stone, which is immediately in front of his new one. It seems a shame not to have used that as a reference or at least a hint.

This next one’s a little fuzzier, because I don’t have a strong ID, but I think he’s F.M. McKown of the 15th South Carolina. This is his stone on Confederate Row in Mt. Olivet, Frederick, MD.

I say fuzzy because I only have his name from the State Roll and the CSR Index.  McCowan comes from his Federal hospital records. I do know that McKowns were common in the Union District before the war which is why I’m agreeing with the Roll/CSRs, I just don’t know which McKown he was.

Buried under this Mt. Olivet stone is John Francis Boles, a Private in Company K, 48th North Carolina Infantry. He took a gunshot to the chest at Sharpsburg and died in a Federal hospital in Frederick.

What are the problems with his modern stone? His first name and middle initial have been reversed and his regiment is not identified. Sad, again, because both of those things are correct on his older stone just in front.  Jno. = John, in case you’re not familiar with that abbreviation.

This Mt. Olivet marker is for Richard M. Brown of the 2nd South Carolina Cavalry. He was probably 2nd Corporal of Company C when he was mortally wounded in a skirmish in Frederick on 14 September. He died in a Federal hospital on 7 November. This stone has him as a Private in Company B of the 2nd SC Infantry.

His old stone is slightly off on his first initial and death date, but got his regiment right:

Here’s a different kind of problem, though it’s in Mt. Olivet in Frederick, again.

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Crispen Watkins was commanding the 22nd South Carolina Infantry when he was mortally wounded in the head at Turner’s Gap on South Mountain. He died in Frederick on 26 September. A Confederate officer, obviously.

His newer government stone, however, is in the Federal or Union style. You’ll notice how it differs from all the other Confederate stones above. Puzzling.

Next to Colonel Watkins’ stone is this one, somewhat famous for the unusual name of Raisin Pitts carved on it. It probably marks the burial place of Lieutenant Drayton Pitts of Company F of the 6th Alabama. I guess if you slur Drayton it might sound like raisin. Or maybe it was an obscure nickname?

In addition to incorrect name, rank, and Company, this stone has the Union-style round-top shape (although without the shield), not like the typical Confederate pointed ones.

Here’s the Mt. Olivet marker for Private Joseph Jernigan of Company K, First (Hagood’s) South Carolina Infantry. Not Company F of the 20th Infantry, which was in Charleston, SC until the Spring of 1864.

Mt. Olivet again. This stone has Private George Knupp in Company B of the 7th Virginia Infantry. He was actually in Company G, 7th Virginia Cavalry. He was mortally wounded and captured at Poolesville on 8 September and died in Frederick. His death records and the older stone have only 7th Virginia Regiment, not specifying his Company nor cavalry vs. infantry.

This Mt. Olivet headstone has a minor error. The man buried under it was William H. McLeod (not McLead) who was mortally wounded at Sharpsburg.

This modern marker is for Allen F. Denney, 13th Georgia Infantry. He was mortally wounded at Sharpsburg, died in a US hospital in Frederick, and was buried at Mt. Olivet. His stone’s not far wrong.

This next headstone is for Captain Robert Boyce. He commanded the Macbeth Artillery at Sharpsburg but died of chronic dysentery 7 months later in Wilmington, NC. He’s in his family graveyard in Laurens, SC, and he must be spinning.

The man who followed him in command of the battery after April 1863 was Berry Argivis Jeter, until then Boyce’s First Lieutenant. Captain Boyce was never in Jeter’s Company … it was the other way around. And it’s not Mac Beths, it’s Macbeth.

Here’s the stone in Cedar Grove Cemetery in Lebanon, TN for Samuel G. Shepard, formerly Lieutenant Colonel of the 7th Tennessee Infantry and a Sharpsburg veteran. It illustrates something I see all the time: many people do not understand military unit structure and just accept what they find at large on the internet. That’s not really a problem … until they order a gravestone.

Shepard was not in “Company S” of the regiment.  There was no such Company. A number of online databases and genealogy sites use “Company S” to identify field and staff officers (hence the “S”) of a regiment – those who were not in a line Company. So we get this:

There’s only a minor error on the stone for William James Quesenbury in Bethel Cemetery in Springdale, Kansas. He was in Company G, not I, of the 7th Tennessee Infantry.

Just a quibble on this stone for James W White in Vernon Cemetery, Vernon, Alabama. He was Captain of Company H, not D of the 26th Alabama Infantry.

A small error on this next one at Mt. Olivet in Frederick, MD, I know. But an easily avoidable error. It’s for William C. Hill of the 26th Alabama Infantry, mortally wounded on South Mountain on 14 September. He died in Frederick on 5 October 1862. His original stone has that date, so why doesn’t the new one?

This government memorial has a different kind of problem altogether, hopefully rare. It’s for Henry Taylor McKay [via Findagrave]. I don’t believe Henry had the service described on the marker. Or any Civil War service, as far as I can tell. This is no slam on him, by the way, he was only 11 years old when the war began.

There’s more about this in another blog post, but the upshot is that someone probably found “H.T. McKay” listed among the men of the 26th Alabama Infantry and assumed it was this man. It wasn’t. It was actually Harley Tuttle McKay, and he’s buried in Texas.

This stone was put up in the Spotsylvania (VA) Confederate Cemetery for Captain William Thomas Bilbro of the 3rd Alabama Infantry. He never served in a North Carolina unit, nor did any other Bilbro as far as I can tell. I don’t know when this marker was placed or by whom.

Here’s another marker with a confused military unit. It’s for Captain Watkins Phelan in Oakwood Cemetery in Montgomery, AL. Phelan served the entire War – April 1861 to April 1865, when he was killed at Petersburg, VA – in the 3rd Alabama Infantry. I don’t know where the Alabama Home Guard(s) designation came from.

Back to Mt. Olivet in Frederick for this next one. It’s for Private William Segrist (or Segrest) of Company G, 9th Alabama Infantry who was mortally wounded at Sharpsburg and died in Frederick. The name on his stone is probably due to poor Federal burial data based on the Frederick hospital records, which have him as William S. Legrest. I wonder if handwritten loopy-script S and L look enough alike to have caused the error.

It could have been worse, I guess – he was originally buried under a wooden headboard that had him in Company B of the 3rd South Carolina Infantry. That carried forward onto his first stone at Mt. Olivet. This newer marker got the regiment right.

There are a couple of minor errors on this Mt. Olivet stone. It’s for Joseph L. Davis, Company C, 3rd Alabama Infantry. He was mortally wounded on South Mountain and died in a Frederick hospital.

Also at Mt. Olivet is this one, for a man who never existed. His actual name was William D. Scarborough. And he got a new gravestone at Mt. Olivet with his real name, too.

There’s more about Scarborough/Corfre in a blog post elsewhere on behind AotW.

George T. L. Robison carried the colors of the 8th Alabama Infantry and was wounded at Sharpsburg in 1862. He died young, age 33, in 1877 and his family buried him in the city cemetery in Wetumpka, AL. About a century later someone thought he needed a new marker, at government expense. I wish they’d got his last name right.

Another member of the 8th Alabama, cited for bravery at Sharpsburg, was Private Lovick Pierce Bulger. He was promoted to 4th Sergeant by the end of 1862 but was killed in action at Gettysburg, PA.  I expect his body was left on the field and buried there with many others as an “unknown”.

Someone got him a modern stone as a memorial in the Old Rockford (AL) Cemetery. It’s a shame they couldn’t find more of his name, give him his rank of Sergeant, and get closer to his birth year of 1842/43. I wonder, also, why he’s in Rockford. Before the war Bulger was a farmer in Wetumpka – more than 30 miles away.

The stone in Mt. Olivet, Frederick, MD for Private Joshua Lane has his first name oddly misspelled. A simple typo?

Here’s the stone for Sharpsburg veteran David Burge Smith of the 22nd Georgia who was wounded and lost an eye there. This marker is in the Riverview Cemetery in Canton, GA. A small detail: he was born in 1843, not 1844.

This is the headstone at Mt. Olivet for Aurelius Vastine Kennerly who was mortally wounded at Sharpsburg. His right leg was amputated in a Federal hospital in Frederick on 2 December but he died there of wounds on 13 December 1862. Another example of someone taking the (incorrect) burial information and having it inscribed in stone without looking closely enough at the man himself.

This next soldier required more research than the average, with sources having many names for him. He is John P. Caveny, Company F, 17th South Carolina Infantry. He died of effects of a gunshot wound in Frederick on 15 October 1862. His ancestral name may have been Cavanaugh or similar, but his family was in South Carolina for at least 3 generations as Caveny. This modern stone is also in Mt. Olivet Cemetery. The next photo is of his original stone, which is slightly worse: it has him as J.P. Conaugh.

I don’t know who this next Mt. Olivet stone is actually for. I found records for him under two names, from hospital and burial records, neither of which appears in any muster roll or other service record. His modern stone has J.R. Fitske, the original looks like J.R. Pitsk or Fitsk. He matches up well with Frederick hospital records for D. Zebriskie, and that’s how I have him on AotW. Any of these – or none of them – may be his real name.

Here’s the government marker in Morgan County, GA for Private Absalom R. Jones. One minor error: he was in Company F, not C, of the 4th Texas (1861-64). Perhaps the person who ordered the stone was confused by his service in Company C of the 4th US Volunteers (1864-66), not mentioned on the marker.

This marker is for John William Crabtree, late of Company I, 4th Texas Infantry. He was with them from July 1861 to April 1865, so it’s not clear when he would have served with in the “19th Brigade, Texas State Troops.” That “brigade” was the military district for home guard Militia units in Navarro, Ellis, Freestone, and Limestone counties and didn’t really start mustering troops until July 1861. Even if he was with them, it’s a shame who ever ordered this stone missed his 4 years in Hood’s Brigade. And I think they got his death year wrong to boot. His pension records say he died on 23 August 1931.

Another Mt. Olivet stone with a small thing wrong follows: this one for Private Alfred M. Miller, Company K (not H) of the 4th North Carolina Infantry. Miller was mortally wounded and captured on South Mountain on 14 September 1862, in a US hospital in Frederick on the 17th, and died of wounds on 23 September 1862. The name on his original/older stone looks like Alfred. D. Miller, so I wonder why his modern stone doesn’t have his first name also.

In this next case, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the information on the stone – just its design: it’s the standard style for US (not Confederate) Civil War and Spanish War veterans – with the rounded top and engraved shield. It’s for Private Hilliard D Williamson of the 13th Georgia Infantry, killed at Sharpsburg.

This stone’s especially interesting. It’s over James M. Farrior in Glenwood Cemetery in Chipley, FL.
The stone was apparently inscribed with “Co. B, 6 Ala Inf”, in error, but someone has made corrections by sticking small blocks on the face of the stone. I’ve never seen anything like that before. He died in 1920 – so that needs a block pasted over it as well. I think his birth year is wrong too, but only have US Census information on that.

This next one has a minor misspelling in the last name and missed his first and middle names. So not awful. It’s in Westview Cemetery in Atlanta.

As I was looking into Lieutenant Benjamin Franklin Curtright, though, I found the 1956 application for this marker:

An Army clerk found a couple of errors (green ink) and noted corrections. Curtright’s rank made it onto the stone, but his last name didn’t.

Having found this one, I’m going to have to go back and see how many other applications I can find for the markers above. Some day …

This stone has an error in his unit name and too little information otherwise.

It’s for James M. Adams and is located in Laurel Grove Cemetery in Savannah, GA, where he died of acute dysentery on Christmas Day 1864 while a prisoner of war. James was a Corporal in Company G, 13th Georgia Infantry (not Cavalry) at the time of his death.

Here’s the modern government marker for Private William D. J. Crouch of Company B, 13th Georgia Infantry in Webster Parish, Louisiana. Crouch was wounded and disabled at Sharpsburg in 1862 and afterward detailed as a teamster into 1864. This stone got his Company wrong and missed out on his rank and first name, so not too bad.

A small error here: Private John Thomas Ainsworth was a Private in Company H (not A) of the 16th Mississippi Infantry; wounded at Sharpsburg and Gettysburg.

Next up is a man who died at Sharpsburg and who appears twice, in two different regiments – the 38th and 48th – in Lillian Henderson’s massive Roster of the Confederate Soldiers of Georgia, 1861-1865 (1959-1964). Unfortunately, whoever commissioned this stone appears to have chosen the wrong one.

He’s Sgt. Matthew Coleman of Swainsboro, GA and he was only actually in the 38th Infantry, Company C, never the 48th. Other Colemans, including his brother John, also at Sharpsburg, were members of Company H of the 48th, and both units recruited in and around Swainsboro, so it can be confusing. Also, his first name had two Ts and his mother’s name was probably Lavina Wine Douglas.

Back to Mt. Olivet in Frederick, MD again – this stone is for Pvt. Israel H. Hargrove. He’s seen in almost all of his military and hospital records as “J.H. Hargrove” – so the name on his stone is understandable; it’s pretty easy to confuse a handwritten 19th Century capital “I” with “J”. Still a shame no one looked deeper before having his stone engraved.

Also at Mt Olivet is this one for Private Richard P Hughes of Lowndes County, GA, who was mortally wounded at Fox’s Gap on 14 September and died in a US hospital in Frederick on 25 November (not 5 November) 1862. His original stone got his death date right, but called him R.H. Hughes.

This stone in Philadelphia National Cemetery has several problems, all due to a faulty 1974 application, which can probably be blamed on transcription of earlier cemetery records. The man under it is Private Thomas J Chapman, Company D, 28th New York Infantry, who was mortally wounded in the head at Antietam and died in Philadelphia on 4 October 1862.

Here are the modern (rear) and original stones in Mt Olivet for Private Thomas Jefferson Rountree. Note no “D” in his surname on the older stone. Family spelled it Rountree but Federal hospital records have him as Roundtree, probably the source for his new marker.

Here’s a whopper in the Hines Baptist Church Cemetery in Summertown, GA. It’s for Joseph Braddy who was a 19 year old farmer when he enlisted in Company A of the 48th Georgia Infantry in March 1862. He was wounded at Sharpsburg but survived to end his war at Appomattox Court House in April 1865. This relatively recent marker has his name and dates right, but confuses his military service with an entirely different man. That man was James Robert Brady (also seen as Joseph Braddy in his service records) [gravesite] who was about 34 years old when he enlisted in Company C of the 38th Georgia Infantry. He died in Virginia in November 1862.

The presence of this modern marker is doubly sad, because it was unnecessary in the first place. Government markers are to be provided for unmarked graves. Joseph already had a lovely large monument marking his burial.