Ancester found

[Youngblood]

I notice the 6th was one of the few units with their own specific belt buckle.
Seen down along the middle of this list.

http://civilwarbuckles.com/pages/states/northCarolina.html

Does anyone know how many of these there were or when they were made and issued?
If my guy signed up in Feb 62 would he have gotten one or only the pre first Manassas guys got one?

 

[Schwallanscher]

siller is a rather seldom family name but quite common in south germany and austria - unfortunately i don't find where it comes from - german family names are quite often proffesions, it might be the same word in english

 

[Allie]

would that simply make him a miner?

is there a chance to look up the professions of the other guys in his regiment? if he was a miner, there should be plenty of sillers - if that's a special job however ...

I'll take a detailed look later. Just glancing he seems to be the only siller surrounded by farmers. I think the miners were in a slightly different neighborhood.

 

[Youngblood]

Heres the widows application fir pension around 1910.
With a witness letter.
http://digital.ncdcr.gov/cdm/ref/collection/p16062coll21/id/147862

 

[Allie]

I took a closer look at the 1860 census for the Southern Division of Davidson county, NC, where Jesse Varden lived. This is an interestingly different community from what I'm used to looking at, I've never looked closely at a mining area before. There are miners scattered throughout the Southern Division, but as might be expected, many are clustered near Silver Hill. The Silverhill mine appears to be owned by a company based in England who have shipped in all their own officers. There are also many other mine-related jobs, such as mechanics, ore separators, and ore pressers. No other sillers, however - Jesse Varden is the only one.

 

[Allie]

Heres the widows application fir pension around 1910.
With a witness letter.
http://digital.ncdcr.gov/cdm/ref/collection/p16062coll21/id/147862

Good stuff! I had no idea NC had these online.

It looks like her application was accepted, which means there is probably a record somewhere with her date of death on it, which I haven't found. Also the return envelope seems to be addressed to son James Knox Polk Varner. I looked at his census records for 1900 and 1910 and his mother does not appear to have been living with him but presumably she is nearby if he's handling her business.

 

[Allie]

Thought you might be interested in what local newspapers had to say about GW Varner's capture and imprisonment. Hopefully someone nearby took the paper, and read it to his wife!

I left the article which appeared after the casualties list because it sheds an interesting light on what people of NC thought of the war at the time he was captured. Note that the editor refers to the Union government as "abolitionists."

Edit: just noticed the date on the first article in which he is missing - this was before the Battle of Rappahannock so must reflect a different incident! This doesn't seem to be mentioned in his record. He is recorded as being present for the period May 11 to Aug 31 so if he was reported missing May 4 he can't have been gone long. Where was the 6th at this time? Chancellorville?

The Evening Bulletin
(Charlotte, North Carolina)
16 May 1863, Sat • Page 2

The Weekly Standard
(Raleigh, North Carolina)
21 Sep 1864, Wed • Page 1

 

[Allie]

While looking for George Washington Varner on newspapers.com I also ran across three articles from 1883, when he would have been 46 years old. It appears he was robbed by cardsharks! The second article mentions some women who were possibly involved without giving particulars, which makes me suspect there is at least one more article out there somewhere. It also repeats an article from the Durham Plant which spelled his name wrong.
The Daily Review
(Wilmington, North Carolina)
4 Nov 1882, Sat • Page 4

The Farmer and Mechanic
(Raleigh, North Carolina)
8 Nov 1882, Wed • Page 3

News and Observer
(Raleigh, North Carolina)
4 Jan 1883, Thu • Page 4

 

[Rutherford Co NC CSA]

http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/davidson/census/1850d.txt

29 453 459 VARNER ALEXANDER 37 M FARMER NC
30 453 459 VARNER EUNICE 35 F NC X
31 453 459 VARNER LOUISA 14 F NC X
32 453 459 VARNER JACOB 11 M NC X
33 453 459 VARNER MATILDA 9 F NC X
34 453 459 VARNER ERASTUS 5 M NC
35 453 459 VARNER CINTHIA 2 F NC
36 453 459 VARNER ALFRED 1 M NC

 

[Bruce Vail]

Heres the widows application fir pension around 1910.
With a witness letter.
http://digital.ncdcr.gov/cdm/ref/collection/p16062coll21/id/147862

I didn't know it was possible to search N.C. Civil War pension records on line!

How do I do that?

 

[Youngblood]

Im new to all this, even ancestry.com and familysearch.
All i did was google his name and 'civil war' and that widows pension was in the first few sites listed.