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Individual page on this site for Horatio W Trefethen
This 1862 bible was presented to Horatio W Trefethen of Kittery, Maine, who was a private in Company G (of the 27th Maine Infantry), by Isaac D Phillips. As can be seen in the photograph of the inscription on the inside cover, both the company letter and regiment number had yet to be assigned when this book was distributed. Horatio probably was the one who added his own middle initial, as well as the "G" for his company, though he wrote the "27" in the wrong spot. Isaac Deering Phillips, a Kittery resident, was town clerk in the 1850's, employed as a cooper and retail grocer, and was a Justice of the Peace. His gravestone lies in the First Baptist Church Cemetery in Kittery Point, and is engraved with "Dea" for deacon, presumably a position he held at the church in 1862, when this bible was given out. It is not known (at this time) how many bibles were given out, or if they were handed out (by Phillips) to only those parishioners of this particular church, or if Mr. Trefethen was even a member. Inside the bible was found a newspaper clipping, a poem titled "Heaven", by Martha Remick. She was a Kittery resident, the daughter of Rufus and Sally (Cram) Remick, who was a poet and author. Many poems of hers were printed in various newspapers in Maine and New Hampshire (usually the religious ones), but I did not find the exact issue this writing was clipped from.
Also: Individual page on this site for Horatio W Trefethen
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On December 9th, 1862, John H. Came wrote home to his sister, Miss Eliza C. Came, of West Buxton, Maine. He was a 1st Lieut. in Company C, 27th Maine. He died while serving in this regiment, on 16 Jan 1863, from typhoid fever. His body was returned home, and buried in the family cemetery in Buxton. He didn't marry.
Above is an 1861 map of Washington and Alexandria. Lieut Came wrote from Camp Seward, which was located somewhere along Arlington Heights. Bailey's Crossroads and Munson's Hill, where Co. C had done picket duty, is highlighted to the left of map. Camp Casey, where Lt Came would pass away in Jan 1863, was located south of Fairfax Seminary, northwest of Alexandria. Camp Vermont, where the regiment had spent the latter part of December '62, was just south of red arrow marked at bottom of map. NOTES:
Page 1 Sister Eliza C Came, daughter of Abraham L and Annis (Green) Came, was born 1833 in Buxton. She never married, and died in 1885. She is buried in the Came family cemetery. Page 2 "Warren" is referring to Joseph F Warren, also of Co C, who was 2nd Lt. at the time of this letter writing. Following John Came's death, he became 1st Lt (and later captain, when John Hill was promoted to major). Page 4 "Sam Davis" - I believe this is Samuel L Davis of Standish, Maine, who was captain of Co K, 25th Maine Infantry. He was "discharged for incompetency" on Dec 8th 1862 [according to ME archives index card]. There is also has some newer writing along the top that erroneously listed John's death as "Dec 16th", instead of Jan 16th. Page 1 (closing part of letter) Frank C Came, of Co B, the fellow from York, was indeed Charles Came's son. I haven't trace their ancestry to see if or how closely related they may have been. The Find a Grave entry for: John H Came (with grave photo): While researching the pay rates of the various positions within an infantry regiment during the Civil War, I found an excellent reference book, published in 1863. It is the "Army Pay Digest and Ready Calculator; or, Regimental Pay Table" by Major Ezra Webb (available on Google Books HERE). As this pay scale was established by G.O. No 126 in September 1862, these would be the numbers under which the men of the 27th Maine were paid. This first table (from page 13) lists the field and staff officers: Filling the staff positions for the 27th Maine were: Colonel: Rufus P Tapley (later Mark Wentworth) Lieut-Col: Mark F Wentworth (later James Stone) Major: James M Stone (later John D Hill) Adjutant: Edward M Rand Quarter-Master: Lewis O'Brien Surgeon: John E L Kimball Ass't Surgeons: Freeman Hall, Charles M Cross (app't in Feb '63) Chaplain: Otis F Russell (position not filled until Jan 1863) Sgt-Major: Calvin L Hayes Qr-Master Sgt: John Hall (later Horace H Burbank) Com. Sergt: William H Tapley (later Cyrus G Marr) Hosp Steward: Ivory M Hodsdon The "servants" were enlisted men pulled out of the companies, and can be seen listed in the monthly reports under the "extra or daily duty" section. They served as cooks, hostlers (horse caretakers), and clerks for the officers. This second table (pg 14) shows the structure on a company level. According to the company organization, each unit could have a maximum of 101 men (not including servants, which were pulled from the enlisted). This total was used as the base number to calculate how many "recruits required" were needed per company, and recorded on a monthly report. Below is one of the monthly reports (January 1863), showing the number of men in each company, and those that were required. The circled "29" was the number of serviceable horses available, which had been 31 (this included field/staff and those used by the wagoners).
The following is a letter written by Horace Pennell, who was a private in Company C. At first I thought it was addressed to a "Brother Danl (for Daniel)", but now believe the name is Darl, short for Darling [Huntress Chadbourne], his brother-in-law. Darling's brother Francis T Chadbourne, and a first cousin James M Chadbourne, were also in the 27th Maine, but in a different company than Horace, and may be those mentioned in the letter. In the closing, respects to "Mother", "Lizzy" and "Mellie" are written, and are likely referring to Darling's mother, wife and his sister Melvina. A Sam and David are also mentioned, but I didn't see any close family relations with those names. There was no puncuation throughout the letter, and I didn't add any to the transcription. It is interesting that there is a piece cut off from page three, removing about three lines of writing. Was this done by someone who inspected the outgoing mail, perhaps an officer within the 27th Maine? Maybe Lieut Warren himself!
Horace Pennell, the son of James and Jane (Berry) Pennell, was born 27 May 1819 in Buxton, Maine. He enlisted from Hollis at age 43, his occupation listed as a michanic(sic), though he usually worked as a carpenter. Some time after the war, he moved out west, settling in Meeker County, Minnesota. In 1901, just a few months prior to his death, he moved to Flint, Michigan, to live with his daughter Clara. He died on 10 Aug 1901 in Flint, and was buried there in Avondale Cemetery.
He was married to Elizabeth "Lizzie" Ann Chadbourne in 1852, and they had two children, Clara E Pennell (who married John E Andrews), and Horace E Pennell (who was married to Mary Nye). The three thousand volunteer recruits who marched into Camp Abraham Lincoln in September of 1862, the future men of the 27th, 25th, and 23rd Maine Infantry Regiments, came from all walks of life, from farmers and fishermen, to peddlers and lawyers. Among them were many students, some recently graduated and those currently enrolled in secondary schooling. There were a dozen from the 27th Maine who listed themselves as students on their enlistment papers. In the following article, printed in the Lewiston Journal on Oct 15th 1862, it was written that many former and current students of the Maine State Seminary [in Lewiston, Maine; later became Bates College] had gathered within the camp on the 11th, to form the "Maine State Seminary Camp Club". Here, they planned to occasionally gather and have discussions, "declamations and other exercises". They also agreed to have their proceedings published in the Lewiston Journal. I found this interesting, as the three regiments were already mustered in, and plans were being made for them to be shipped out shortly. Indeed, they were all marching to Washington, DC within a week of this being printed. As many soldiers were on furlough home finalizing their plans while they were to be away, perhaps the students decided to pass these last days in camp together, and joined in the educational activities they had put on hold while serving their country. I did not find any other mention of the Club in later issues of the Lewiston Journal. At the end of the article was written a P.S.: "There are at Camp Lincoln about thirty students who have at some time attended school at the Seminary". From their catalogues, and from using Civil War records, I found most of those 30 who were likely part of this "Camp Club". My interest being in those of the 27th Maine, I believe the five names below is a complete list. From the 27th Maine: James Allen Bedell of South Berwick, Cpl [attended classes in '57; later non-grad Class of 1866, Bowdoin College]. Died on 20 Dec 1862 while in service. Josiah Chase Jr of York, pvt, Co E [Class of 1870] Pliny Fisk Drew, pvt, Co A [non-grad of Bowdoin College, Class of '66]. Died 19 Jan 1863 while in service. Frederick Hayes of Berwick, 2nd Lt; formerly a Sgt, 5th Maine Joseph Frank Warren of Hollis, 2nd Lt/1st Lt, and Capt [Class of '62] From the 23rd Maine: Henry M. Bearce, 1st Lieut, Co D; later in 32nd ME [Class of 1859] John Edward Cutter, Pvt, Co E [on '63 Seminary Advocate list with Winfield below; I found them in the Maine Wesleyan Sem. student list, but not the State Sem catalogues] Winfield B Cutter, Cpl, Co E Joseph Hewett Freeman of Poland, 2nd Lt, Co G Arthur Given Jr of Wales, pvt [Class of 1867] Amos Hadley of Lewiston, pvt, Co A Frank Haven Hall of Mechanic Falls, Cpl, Co H John M Jackson, pvt, Co A; later served in 32nd ME Moses M Libby, pvt [listed as being w/ this reg't, I did not find a record of this] George Mellen Park, 1st Lt, Co F (he resigned before muster) [Class of '62] Virgil P Richards of Roxbury, pvt, Co H; later served in Navy Joseph Rounds of Danville, Sgt, Co G; later Capt, Co A, 14th ME [non-grad, Class of 1868] Albion Thorn of Canton, 1st Lt, Co C [Class of '58] Oscar M Tucker of Peru, Sgt E. Mellen Wight of Gorham, NH, 1st Lt, Co B; later 1st Lt, Invalid Corps Henry E Wood, pvt, Co A From the 25th Maine: Hanson M. Hart, pvt, Co A Sources:
Lewiston Evening Journal, 15 October 1862 Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the Maine State Seminary, Lewiston, year ending Nov 13, 1862 (on Ancestry) Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the Maine State Seminary, Lewiston, for y/e 11/25/1863 (on HathiTrust.org) Maine State Archives Collection (on Family Search) |
AuthorSteve Dow Archives
March 2024
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