STARKE COUNTY, INDIANA IN THE CIVIL WAR Jonathon Bascom Marvin & Kathy Allen Copyright © 2008 STARKE COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR Introduction Although Starke County had been formed by a legislative act in 1835, it was 1850 before the county was organized with its own governmental jurisdiction. The 1850 Federal Census listed only 557 inhabitants. The 1860 Federal Census shows there were 2,195 inhabitants living in the young county just prior to the breakout of war between the north and south. We might assume half of those inhabitants were males, and we could further assume that fewer than half of those were of an eligible age to enlist. In any case, records show that little more than 155 men enlisted from Starke County. Growth had been slow in the county in those early years. A large portion of the county was constrained by the Grand Kankakee Marsh, and transportation was severely lacking. But land was cheap encouraging many settlers seeking a new start to move west from Ohio and Pennsylvania and other places in the east. Immigrants straight from Germany and elsewhere were attracted, as well, to Starke County’s wilderness. Living was primitive in the county prior to the war. There would have been few if any wood frame homes. Instead, logs were used for most buildings. These early settlers were mostly concerned with survival. When the war broke out, there was no doubt a variety of reasons that our early county men enlisted. The records show Indiana was fifth in numbers of supplied troops. For many it was a matter of duty and pride. For others a bounty of $10 to $500 was inviting, prompting even older married men with families to enlist. Most Starke County enlistees departed for Indianapolis from the New Albany & Louisville Railroad depot in San Pierre. Some headed north on the railroad and enlisted in Michigan City or LaPorte. The “Copper-Heads”, a loosely organized Indiana group opposed to emancipation, are reported to have fired upon departing enlistees more than once at San Pierre. Twenty-one of the little more than 155 men who enlisted from Starke County never returned home from the battlefields. Some were killed in action against the rebels, but even more died of disease and sickness. And a few were reported as deserters. After the war was over in 1865, Starke County saw another wave of settlers, some of them single unmarried men looking for a place to settle down. Even at that early date there was much land speculation, as there were those who wished to drain the marshes and convert the virgin land to productive farms. As a result, there were many Civil War Veterans, who had enlisted in such places as Ohio and Pennsylvania, that moved into the county after the war. Many stayed, raised families and died here in Starke County. The ultimate record of Starke County Civil War Veterans has to be the Veteran’s Grave Registration, which was put together by the WPA and American Legion in 1938-1939. These cards included all known veterans buried in Starke County at that time. The majority of these veterans served in the Civil War due to the timing of the WPA project; however the records also include veterans of the War of 1812, Mexican War, Spanish American War and World War One. For the purposes of this account, we have only included those veterans who appear to have served in the Civil War. After the turn of the last century, the numbers of local Civil War veterans began to dwindle rapidly. By the late 1930’s, there were but one or two veterans left. In our effort to make a complete record of Starke County Civil War Veterans, the question of “just what is a Starke County Civil War Veteran”, soon becomes apparent. Does a veteran have to be buried in our county? Did a veteran have to enlist from Starke County? What about the veterans who moved to Starke County long after the war, lived here for a time but then moved and died elsewhere? Or the person who lived in our county before the war, but moved and enlisted from elsewhere? And even a veteran who moved to Starke County at the age of ninety- five, died here five years later but is buried in another county? For our purposes, we have tried to make record of any Civil War Veteran who spent time in Starke County during his lifetime. We have attempted to record information from as many sources as possible. In some cases, the information appears to be in conflict. Therefore our account should not be taken as the final authority. It is hoped that this record will be a useful consolidation of everything that is available on Starke County in the Civil War. Marvin & Kathy Allen 2008 STARKE COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR Contents Chapter One………………………… Starke County Enlistments & Casualties Chapter Two………………………... Enrollment of the late Soldiers, their Widows and Orphans for 1886 Chapter Three………………….…… Starke County Veteran’s Association Records of 1908 Chapter Four.………………….……. Excerpts from McCormick’s 1915 History of Starke County Chapter Five.……………………….. Starke County Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Posts Chapter Six..…………………………Veterans Grave Registration of 1938-1939 Chapter Seven………………………. John W. Kurtz’s Early History of Starke County Chapter Eight..……………………… Civil War Memoirs Chapter Nine..……………………… Additional Civil War Veterans Chapter Ten………………………… Confederate Veterans Buried in Starke County Chapter Eleven………………………The Last Starke County Civil War Veteran(s) Abbreviations………………………. Abbreviation Definitions Selected Bibliography………………. Sources Index………………………………... Civil War Veteran to Chapter (s) Index Chapter One Starke County Enlistments & Casualties In the early 1900’s, the Indiana Adjutant General’s office hired clerks to transfer the deteriorating original muster rolls to index cards in an effort to more readily locate the records of soldiers who had served through the State of Indiana. Those soldiers, now older, needed confirmation of their service to apply for military pensions. The index cards contain information about the individual’s service, including regiment and company, and in many instances the soldier’s age and physical description, former occupation, nativity and any notes found in the rolls, including promotions, medical conditions, and dates of death if during service. Years later the index cards were also microfilmed. They are available in the Genealogy Room at the Indiana State Library. A review of enlistment information recorded for Starke County Civil War veterans indicates most home addresses were given simply as the nearest post office at that point in time. This was many years before the introduction of rural mail delivery, and people simply stopped by their nearest post office to get their mail. The post offices that were in existence in the 1860’s were Brantwood, Grovertown, Knox, Lake City (Bass Lake), North Bend, North Judson, San Pierre and Toto. It should also be noted that since the time of the Civil War, a number of post offices have both opened and closed in Starke County. One post office that was open in the 1860’s and yet shows no enlistees was Toto. It is not clear why Toto enlistees used Knox as their address. Some enlistees from the eastern part of North Bend Township may have used Maxintuckee or Marmont as Culver was called back then. Some enlistees from the Koontz Lake area, then known as Clear Lake, used Walkerton as their address. It is nearly impossible to identify Starke County enlistees who used a post office outside the county, as no other identifying information was recorded. As a result, our list of Starke County enlistments could be missing a few more veterans. Many veterans show multiple enlistment dates due to re-enlistments. We have only shown the first enlistment for the purposes of our account. Others served in more than one unit. Here again we have only shown the first unit. While a few were promoted, we are showing their enlistment rank. Often the place of enlistment was different than where a soldier was mustered in. For example, John Henry McFarland’s record shows he enlisted February 9, 1865 at Winamac and was mustered into Co. G, 151 Reg’t Indiana Infantry at LaPorte on February 19, 1865. John lived near Round Lake. The bodies of some of those who died during the war were returned home to Starke County and are so indicated. Others are thought to be buried on the battlefield or at the nearest hospital’s burial ground. The burial place of many of those who enlisted from the county is not known. Some of the younger unmarried men may have moved on to new opportunities after the war. Others may very well have come back to the county, stayed a few years and then moved elsewhere. As in countless wars before, brothers often joined the war effort at the same time. Three such brothers (shown left to right) were Jonathon, Silas and Isaac Bascom from Round Lake. All three brothers were mustered into Company D 29th Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry on September 13, 1861. Silas died of wounds received during the war in 1865. We know that Isaac participated in a number of battles, including Chickamauga, Shilo, Missionary Ridge and Bull Run. He was wounded twice and captured twice. In all, Isaac served 4 years, 4 months and 14 days. James Short (shown to the right) was one of four sons of Wingate Short of Round Lake to enlist in the Union Army. Two more of his sons, Robert and Tipton, died during the war. A third son, Henry, survived the war but developed suffered various ailments as a result of conditions in the field.