The Holt Brothers of Peru, Maine

The majority of my research on the men of the 27th Maine having been "complete" for some time now, I occasionally return to those handful that I have failed to find very little (or no) information on. One of these soldiers was Otis C Holt, a private in Company G. He was the last to sign the enlistment sheet for the quota of Eliot, and was mustered in on 15 Oct 1862. 

Enlistment signature

The muster-in roll, dated "30 Sept" 1862, also included (in alphabetical order by surname) those mustered in October. On this list, Otis is shown as age 20. The descriptive roll, which shows no date, would list Otis as age 23. The Maine Adjutant Reports would repeat this age, as does the muster-out rolls. 

muster-in entry

Otis C Holt was listed as a carpenter, single, b. Peru, Maine, res: Canton, ME

descriptive roll entry

Following his service, I had difficulty finding any more information on Otis C. There was no pension filed, at least not under the 27th Maine, and he was not seen in the 1890 Veteran Schedule. There WAS an Otis C Holt from Peru, Maine, but he had served in the 23rd Maine (under an alias) at the same time his namesake had been with the 27th ME.

Looking into the 1850 census for Peru (and the surrounding communities), only one Otis Holt was found, with Erastus and Lucinda Holt in Peru. The 1860 census shows two of this name in Peru, both of them age 17, one with Erastus, and the other a farm laborer in the William Irish household. I suspected those were the same person, enumerated at different times.  

1850 Peru, ME census

1860 Peru, ME census

Checking into the History of Peru book (available on archive.org), I found the family entry:

So, apparently, it was Artemas Cooper Holt who had enlisted with the 27th Maine, using his younger brother's name (and age, at first). Further research shows that Otis' middle name was actually Charles, not Chandler. The above history goes on to write about Otis' service with Co K, 5th Maine, and later with the 23rd ME and the 30th Maine. 

Actually, both Holt brothers had enlisted with the 5th Maine: Artemas C with Co E on 2 May 1861 (res: Peru, b.Weld, ME; 5' 4", blue eyes, dark hair, Lt complexion), and Otis C with Co K on 28 May '61 (res+ b.Peru, ME; 6', blue eyes, Lt hair and comp.). Both were listed as age 19. Though seen on the muster-in roll, Artemas was not mustered in, as noted in a later adjutant report. Otis was must-in on 24 June, and received a disability discharge on 22 May 1862.

In the summer of 1862,  both Artemas Cooper Holt and Otis Charles Holt enlisted for the quota of Canton, Maine when a company of nine-month troops were being raised. Neither of them used their given names, however, they reversed them. Below are their signatures on the enlistment sheet for the town, which was dated 25 August 1862.

Co C, 23rd Maine Infantry enlistment page

"Cooper A" Holt was mustered in on 29 Sept 1862, the Descriptive Roll showing him as age 23, b.Peru, 5' 11", blue eyes, brown hair, dark complex, a mechanic. "Charles O" was never mustered, the muster-in roll stating "absent, was he mustered". The troops raised from Oxford County (23rd ME), along with those from Cumberland (25th ME) and York (27th ME), were all encamped at Camp Abraham Lincoln in Cape Elizabeth. It HAS been mentioned that agents of other towns, still in need to fill their own quotas, were also at the camps, offering better bounties than originally offered to the enlistees. Is this why "Charles O" wasn't mustered in with the 23rd, 'cause he went with the 27th for Eliot's quota as Otis C? So, was it really Otis who was with the 27th, and not older brother Artemas, as the History of Peru states?

Cooper A Holt was mustered out of the 23rd Maine on 15 July 1863, while Otis C was mustered out of the 27th Maine on 17 July 1863.  When September came around, along with it came another enlistment drive, for 3-year troops. One Charles O Holt of Peru, born same, a mechanic, age 20, 6', blue eyes, brown hair, light complexion, enlisted on 10 Sept 1863, and must-in as a sergeant in Co G. He would serve until 20 Aug 1865. The following year, he would apply for a pension (see index card on right).

"Charles O" Holt, alias "Otis C", alias "Cooper A" Holt.
He died 26 Jan 1920 in Lewiston, ME, aged 77 y,9 das (or b.17 Jan 1843)

So, according to his pension file, Charles O Holt of Co G, 30th Maine, was the same person as Otis C Holt of Co K, 5th Maine, as well as Cooper A Holt of Co C, 23rd Maine. This suggests that, not only did the two brothers reverse their names when signing up for the 23rd Maine, they also switched places! I wonder what the reasoning was behind this?

Thanks to the availability of most of the company enlistment sheets, where the volunteers would sign their names (unless unable to, when an X and "his mark" would instead be written), a comparison of the names can be made. Though I am no expert, it certainly looks like the "Otis C" and "Cooper A" in the left column have similarities, particularly in the 'H' of Holt. The same seems true of "Charles O" and "Otis C" on the right. Unfortunately, the letter 'C' on both sides do look alike! The "A G Holt" signature is almost surely not written by the same person whose signatures are below it.  

Co K, 5th ME enlistment

23rd ME enlistment

(no 30th Maine enlistment roll available)

Co E, 5th ME enlistment

23rd ME enlistment

27th Maine enlistment

Artemas Cooper Holt, after the war, moved first to Buckfield, Maine, then to Walpole, MA, where he went to work as a railroad station agent. On 28 Mar 1904, he was killed in a railroad accident at Highland Lake, MA. His age at death was 64 yrs, 10 mos, 15 das, calculating a birth date as 13 July 1839, two months shy of the date given in the History of Peru.

Perhaps by ordering the pension file for Otis Charles (aka Charles Otis), it may give me more information about why these aliases were used.