Golden Thread 75 Years are gone, but Old Men will Remember

John Hartwell

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I found these happy old vets absolutely irresistible, would love to have been there:
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I bought the photo on eBay, where it was properly described as a new print from an old negative. And, I didn’t feel that the $8 price for a quality 8x10 glossy was too unreasonable -- particularly since I couldn’t find a copy anywhere else online.

At 91, the gent with the long mustache (apparently humming along!) is the youngster of the group.

The caption is from the Charleston News and Courier of June 30, 1938. The AP wire photo printed over it, and in other newspapers across the country about the same date, was a slightly different shot taken apparently just moments before or after.
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Over the next few days, I am going to be telling a little something about each of these six veterans. They all have interesting stories to tell.

The caption above, it seems, has the men a bit out of order. The gentleman, third from the left, is not Charles Barothy, but Homer S Woodworth. And quite the individual he was:
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[Omaha World Herald, 6 Oct. 1935]
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[San Diego Union, 29 Dec. 1940]​
Homer S. Woodworth died on May 12, 1942, age 98.
 
Charles (Károly) Barothy was born in Nagyvárad, Hungary on Sept. 15, 1846. His father, Ladislaus Barothy, had participated in Kossuth’s rebellion in 1848, and as a result of its failure, he took his family into exile in the United States. He was active in Hungarian exile circles, and in 1851, when Kosuth visited the US, Ladislaus Barothy was among his bodyguard, who, “armed with swords and revolvers, … surrounded Kossuth, thus protecting him from any possible harm.” The family settled in Omaha.

On February 18, 1864, 18-year old Charles Barothy enlisted in Co.C, First Battalion of Nebraska Cavalry. Company C operated mostly against the Indians in Nebraska and Colorado, out of Forts Larramie and Cottonwood, and also briefly in Arkansas. A May 28, 1933, article about Pvt Barothy in the Omaha World Herald, reports, “His fighting was among the bushwackers of Arkansas. Twice in one day he had horses shot out from under him. He was wounded in the leg.” Another article (May 30, 1926), reports: “Mr. Barothy served on an Indian campaign in which Buffalo Bill (William F. Cody) was a guide. ‘And he was a darn poor one, too,’ Mr. Barothy asserts, ‘He never led us into a fight. We’d get within ten miles of the Indians, and then we’d stop while the scouts investigated.’”

The 1st Battalion was merged into the 1st Regiment, Nebraska Veteran Cavalry, on July 28, 1865. After another year on the Nebraska frontier, Bartholy was mustered out, with his regiment, in July 1866.

After the war, he was active in the GAR, serving as Commander of the George A. Custer “Old Guard” Post #7. Participating in the planning for the 1938 Gettysburg reunion, he is quoted on the debate over allowing the Confederate flag: “Let ‘em carry their colors. What’s the use of carrying a chip on our shoulders forever? I think the confederate soldiers were pretty good fellows. After the war was over, some of them even relieved us from guarding the stage coach out of Plum Creek.”(8 Sept 1935)

Charles Barothy died in Omaha, on July 5, 1944, and is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery.

See also Lincoln’s Hungarian Heroes, by Edmund Vasvari (1939) https://archive.org/details/lincolnshungaria00vasv

See also Find-a-Grave: http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi/http"//fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=57800069
 
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Of Pvt. Jeremiah Wilhelm, Omaha.com says:

“Born in Baltimore in 1844, he was a drummer boy with the 3rd Maryland Infantry Regiment and once shook hands with President Lincoln when a company from the unit was assigned as his bodyguard. He and three brothers fought at Gettysburg, and served in the Atlanta and Appomattox campaigns near the end of the war.

“Wilhelm moved to a farm near Dorchester, Nebraska in 1879, and worked for John Deere for more than 30 years before retiring in 1916. In his later years, he served as postmaster for the Nebraska State Senate. He attended the 75th anniversary observance of the Gettysburg battle. He died in 1942, at age 97, and is buried in Dorchester.”

He had enlisted at Baltimore on March 1st, 1862 in Company E, 3rd Maryland Volunteers. He himself was not with his regiment at Gettysburg, as he had been sick in Central Park Hospital in New York since early June, and would not rejoin the unit until October. His MSR reports him "present" at all other times. Pvt Wilhelm and his comrades mustered out at the termination of their enlistment on July 31, 1865.

Jeremiah Wilhelm kept up with his drumming after the war, and local Omaha newspaper coverage frequently mention him as drumming at reunions and public holiday celebrations. The last of which was just days before his death. We see him in the Grand Island Independent, of June 1, 1942:

The caption reads: “Jeremiah Wilhelm, 98 year old Civil War veteran and drummer at the Battle of Gettysburg, brought his drum out Saturday and played a drum solo during Memorial Day ceremonies at the Soldiers’ Home. ‘Jerry’ as he is affectionately known by members of the home, was brought out in a wheelchair because he isn’t as spry as he used to be, but he didn’t show any signs of slowing up when it comes to beating the drums. Posing with him are two members of the Harry Norton junior drum and bugle corps."

The drum he carried through the last years of the Civil War is now in Omaha's Durham Museum. He passed away on June 11, 1942, at the age of 98.
 
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What a wonderful face! ... with magnificent hook-nose and wide, toothless smile. That’s 95-year-old Joshua Henry, of Sabetha, Kansas in 1938, but born in Upper Turkey Foot (I kid you not!), Somerset Co., Pa. on July 2, 1842 (some genealogies differ on the exact date). He was living in Middlehawk Township when he enlisted on August 25, 1862, in Co. C, 142nd Pennsylvania Infantry. The regiment, assigned to the 2nd Brigade, Penn. Reserves, first saw action at Fredericksburg on December 3rd, engaging with 550 men, and suffering 250 casualties, among whom was Pvt Joshua Henry.

One genealogy website quotes an unidentified 1930s newspaper article: “He says when the Rebels couldn't kill him they captured him at Fredericksburg and tried to starve him. But being in good condition even that failed and he is hoping to reach the ripe old age of 100 yet. They incarcerated him at Libby prison for six months. He weighed 186 Pounds when captured and when released he only weighed 86.” He was paroled at City Point on July 2nd, and did not rejoin his regiment until October. So, Joshua Henry was not with the 142nd when, as part of I Corps, it was heavily engaged on McPherson’s Ridge and Culp’s Hill during the first day of the battle of Gettysburg.

Joshua served with his regiment through the Overland Campaign and the siege of Petersburg, and was present at the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox on April 9th. In the course of which service, he was wounded three times. The 142nd participated in the May 23, 1865 Grand Review, and just six days later was mustered out of the service.

Joshua Henry died August 4, 1941, in Sabetha, Ks. He was survived by 9 of his 13 children.

See also: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=35744622

PS: the above quoted website contains a great deal of very confused, and sometimes contradictory information about Mr. Henry -- I have not tried to puzzle it out here.
 
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Charles Edward Scarlett was born in Hebron, Ill., on 10 April 1847. The family was living in Nebraska City, Neb. on Feb. 21st, 1864, when, at the age of 16, he enrolled as a recruit in Co. C, 1st Nebraska Cavalry Regiment. His father, Stephen, signed a consent to his underage enlistment.
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Through the spring and early summer, the 1st Nebraska served in Arkansas, before moving to Ft. Kearney, Neb. for operations against the Indians, arriving there, according the regimental history, on August 23. But Charles Scarlett must have remained in Arkansas, perhaps on detached duty, for the record has him “Missing in action at Jonas (or Jones?) Sta., Ark.” on August 24, 1864. His POW record says “Captured near [Allie(?)] Station, Ark. Aug 24, 1864.”
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I have not been able to clarify this. Perhaps someone familiar with the war in Arkansas can. At any rate, his time as POW was brief, for he was Paroled at Batesville, Ark. on August 30. He spent his time at the Parole camp at Benton Barracks, Mo., and returned to his company at Ft. Kearney on November 27th.

For the next year and a half, the 1st Nebraska Cavalry operated against Indians in Nebraska and Colorado, participating in numerous affairs with hostile Indians at Plum Creek, Spring Ranch, Julesburg, Mud Springs, Elm Creek and Smith's Ranch. Also engaged in scout and escort duty. Charles E. Scarlett mustered out with his regiment on the first of July, 1866.

After the war, he lived mostly in White Cloud, Kansas, before moving to Fairfax, Mo. in 1909. He died there on March 9, 1939, less than a year after returning from the Gettysburg Reunion.

See also a long obituary HERE,
And, his Find-a-Grave page.
 
Really starting to look forward to these. Thanks so much, truly.

Noticed Charles Find A Grave bio had no information on his war record. Like a big buttinski, sent a message to the memorial creator on this thread- just stated it was here in case they were interested.

A lot of Find A Grave memorials use obituaries. It's a wonderful way to include a biography on someone.
 
Through the spring and early summer, the 1st Nebraska served in Arkansas, before moving to Ft. Kearney, Neb. for operations against the Indians, arriving there, according the regimental history, on August 23. But Charles Scarlett must have remained in Arkansas, perhaps on detached duty, for the record has him “Missing in action at Jonas (or Jones?) Sta., Ark.” on August 24, 1864. His POW record says “Captured near [Allie(?)] Station, Ark. Aug 24, 1864.”
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I have not been able to clarify this. Perhaps someone familiar with the war in Arkansas can. At any rate, his time as POW was brief, for he was Paroled at Batesville, Ark. on August 30. He spent his time at the Parole camp at Benton Barracks, Mo., and returned to his company at Ft. Kearney on November 27th.
I'm sorry I missed this post. I might be able to clarify a bit. The veterans of the 1st Nebraska Cavalry joined with the 1st Battalion Cavalry around Jan. 1864 after their veteran furlough. Newer recruits were still sent to and remained in Arkansas in and around the Duvall's Bluff region of Arkansas. So very possible he was captured in that area as indicated on the document above.
 

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I'm glad this thread came up again. Reading over it, I see that I neglected to write about one of the six old veterans in the photograph: "J. R. Huddleston, La Harpe, Ill." Frankly, I've been able to find little about him beyond the following.

Mr. Huddleston was born in McDonough Co., Ill., on 18 August, 1842. He was living in Blandinsville on Sept. 1, 1862, when he enlisted as a replacement in Co. C, 78th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He enrolled as Robert J., but in most later records, he appears as James Robert Huddleston. He mustered out with his regiment on June 7, 1865.

As the Illinois MSRs have not yet appeared on Fold3.com, I have been able to find no details of his service. The 78th Regiment, however, saw much action in the Western theatres, as part, successively, of the Army of the Ohio, the Army of Kentucky, and the Army of the Cumberland -- after Oct. 1863, as part of XIV Corps. After Huddleston joined, their first service was during Grant's advance into Northern Mississippi, then followed the Vicksburg Campaign. Later service, with Sherman, included the Jackson, Miss. campaign, Meriden, Atlanta, Kennesaw Mountain, Jonesboro, etc. The 78th participated in the "March to the Sea," then north through the Carolinas, and were present at Johnston's surrender. They marched through Washington D.C. on the second day of the Grand Review of May 1865.

After the war, J. R. Huddleston remained in Blandinsville for many years. Married and divorced twice before his final marriage at the age of 40. He had one daughter, Pearl. About 1930, he removed to La Harpe, Ill., where he remained until his death on Christmas Day, 1941, at the age of 99 years. He is buried in Glade City Cemetery, in Blandinsville.

James Robert Huddleston's Find-a-Grave page.
 
One of the few Civil war veterans attending the 1938 Gettysburg Reunion who had actually fought on that field in July 1863, was William D. Welch, shown here in a well-known Signal Corps photo (No.109174), being embraced by 9 year old “Annie Laurie of Atlanta, Ga.”
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Bill Welch was born in Quaker City, Pa. “during Old Hickory's first term.” The exact year is somewhat in dispute. At the 1945 G.A.R. annual reunion, he claimed he was, at 113, the oldest living member – some of his former comrades insisted he was only 105, and “Capt. Billy” was quite prepared to defend his honor, and his age, with his fists, if need be. His 1865 discharge papers list his age then as 33 -- which would tend to support his claim.

He had enlisted on August 25, 1862, in Co. I, 140th Penn. Volunteer Infantry. Barely six weeks later, at Antietam, he was wounded. He returned to fight at Chancellorsville, and then Gettysburg. As part of Zook's Brigade, Caldwell's Division, of Hancock's II Corps, the 140th Pa. Fought in the Wheatfield on July 2nd (taking heavy casualties), and the next day stood at the “Bloody Angle” to face Picket's oncoming Confederates. Private Welch went on to participate in the Mine Run, Wilderness, and Petersburg campaigns, and on to the war's end. He witnessed Lee's surrender at Appomattox. He mustered out with his regiment at Washington D.C., on May 31, 1865.

After the war, William D. Welch returned to Pennsylvania, and his life as a boatman on the Monongahelia, Ohio, and Mississippi rivers. His occupation was towboating, operating the powerful little tows that pulled strings of rafts or barges, laden with coal, or iron ore, or crockery, or furniture – anything that didn't have to move in a hurry. “I know every lock, dam, shoal and snag between Pittsburgh and New Orleans,” he claimed, “They got pieces of my boats on all of them.” A few weeks before his death, the Saturday Evening Post published a profile of “Capt. Billy,” entitled “The Old Man and the River” (Sept. 13, 1945). There, Mark Murphy describes the hard life of the riverman:
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And young ones there were: 24 children by three wives.

William D Welch died of influenza on December 15, 1945, at the home of his daughter in Eugenia, Ohio. He is buried in Belle Vernon Cemetery, Westmoreland County, Pa. His Find-a-Grave page contains very little information.

There is much, much more to read about the eventful life of William D. Welch, in Patricia Carlson's Literature and Lore of the Sea (1988), which quotes extensively from the Saturday Evening Post article, and also at: http://www.davidmaloney.com/gar/TheFourthBattalion1987-1990/1987-90_Vol2No5.pdf
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You could write a book about this gentleman.​
 
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Over the next few days, I am going to be telling a little something about each of these six veterans. They all have interesting stories to tell.

The caption above, it seems, has the men a bit out of order. The gentleman, third from the left, is not Charles Barothy, but Homer S Woodworth. And quite the individual he was:
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[Omaha World Herald, 6 Oct. 1935]
I found it interesting that in the first sentence of the article they refer to him as an "automobile pilot" even though the headline says "driver". And this is in 1935 ! It would seem "pilot" would be rarely if ever used by then.
 
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