Any tips for common last names?

[GregM]

Trying to track down a Barney Smith from copiah county ms... best clues so far:

Tombstone:

Barney Smith (1839-1896) - Find a Grave Memorial

www.findagrave.com

Widow's pension application
https://da.mdah.ms.gov/series/osa/s1201/smith-a-smith-h/detail/482249#dtop

Tombstone says 11th ms inf co b, pension says 36th ms inf co b. I recall (20 yrs ago) looking at rosters on the film rolls at the mississippi archives and not finding a solid hit. Any tips?

 

[Championhilz]

The Barney Smith you are looking for - when was he born, when did he die, where did he live, and what were the names of his parents, wife, and children? With that information it will be much easier to help you.

 

[Championhilz]

In the Mississippi Confederate Grave Registration Index there is a listing for a Barney Smith who served in the 11th Mississippi Infantry & the 36th Mississippi Infantry, so you very well may have one guy who served in two different units, which was not uncommon. The Barney Smith listed in the index died in 1896 and is buried in Simpson County.

 

[DixieRifles]

Barney Smith who served in the 11th Mississippi Infantry & the 36th Mississippi Infantry

I guess he was lucky to have transferred out of the 11th Mississippi.

 

[GregM]

The Barney Smith you are looking for - when was he born, when did he die, where did he live, and what were the names of his parents, wife, and children? With that information it will be much easier to help you.

Don't know the answers to most of those. We knew his wife's name and nearly positive the pension application is from the right Elizabeth. She lived to be 107 and my grandmother met her. Barney reportedly served at least one term in the mississippi legislature.

 

[GregM]

In the Mississippi Confederate Grave Registration Index there is a listing for a Barney Smith who served in the 11th Mississippi Infantry & the 36th Mississippi Infantry, so you very well may have one guy who served in two different units, which was not uncommon. The Barney Smith listed in the index died in 1896 and is buried in Simpson County.

Interesting, don't think we ever found that info before. Certainly possible.

 

[GregM]

I guess he was lucky to have transferred out of the 11th Mississippi.

One of those "I might not have ever existed" possibilities there. Starving at vicksburg was probably pretty rough too.

 

[GregM]

One interesting note, 11th MS Co. B is from coahoma county in the northwestern part of the state, 36th MS Co. B is from copiah county where he was from in the south central part of the state and where many relatives still live. Curious where the 11th got into the grave registry. And when that tombstone would have been placed if there were family/friends around who would call out an error.

 

[Biscoitos]

One interesting note, 11th MS Co. B is from coahoma county in the northwestern part of the state, 36th MS Co. B is from copiah county where he was from in the south central part of the state and where many relatives still live. Curious where the 11th got into the grave registry. And when that tombstone would have been placed if there were family/friends around who would call out an error.

A quick look at Fold3 does not show a Barney Smith in the 11th or the 36th.
There is a Bailey Smith in the 36th.
I also got zero when I checked the 16th Miss.
There was a company from Copiah Co. in the 16th.

 

[lupaglupa]

So there's no card in the service records for a Barney Smith in either regiment, which tells me some crucial piece of evidence is missing here. I pulled up the application for the headstone. It was filed by a W W Smith in 1929. The top of the form says "comrade's statement 10/23/30" so clearly there was a delay in getting the stone and they needed more info.

 

[Biscoitos]

A quick look at Fold3 does not show a Barney Smith in the 11th or the 36th.
There is a Bailey Smith in the 36th.
I also got zero when I checked the 16th Miss.
There was a company from Copiah Co. in the 16th.

The alpha index for Miss shows 3 Barney Smiths.
Thirty-eighth Cavalry, Second Battalion, Infantry, R-Z AND Second (Davidson's) Infantry (Army of 10,000), and Barney S. Smith in the Forty-eighth Infantry,

 

[lupaglupa]

The one in the 38th cavalry enlisted at Hazlehurst, which is in Copiah county so I'd focus on that

 

[lupaglupa]

There is a second pension application from Elizabeth (that's common with my MS folks). In this application she states that Barney was living in Hazlehurst when he signed up in 1861. She states the officers were Captain Graves and Lt. Gillan (sp). Leander M. Graves was a captain in the 38th. There was also a captain Gilmer. That makes me think the unit on the tombstone was wrong.

You have to remember these women were older when they applied and it had been a while since the War. Details are not always correct. If the widow remembered incorrectly, it's more likely then that children and grandchildren will also be wrong.

That second application is here:

12/MISS0066D_0002/MISS0066D_0005/MISS0066D_Confederate-Pension-applic-Smith,-A.-Smith,-H-1900-1932_1320468100/MISS0066D_Confederate-Pension-applic-Smith,-A.-Smith,-H-1900-1932_00376.tif - Smith,-A.-Smith,-H

Smith, Elizabeth

da.mdah.ms.gov

 

[RobertP]

I guess he was lucky to have transferred out of the 11th Mississippi.

Maybe not. My folks in the 36th were captured at Vicksburg after defending the Stockade Redan, paroled and exchanged, sent to Resaca for the Atlanta Campaign, then on to Franklin and Nashville where one of them was killed.

 

[Championhilz]

I did find this about him in The Westville Weekly News, June 15, 1889. I also found that Barney Smith served in the state legislature as a representative from Simpson County for 1889 - 1890.

 

[RobertP]

Tombstone:

Barney Smith (1839-1896) - Find a Grave Memorial

www.findagrave.com

Widow's pension application
https://da.mdah.ms.gov/series/osa/s1201/smith-a-smith-h/detail/482249#dtop

Tombstone says 11th ms inf co b, pension says 36th ms inf co b. I recall (20 yrs ago) looking at rosters on the film rolls at the mississippi archives and not finding a solid hit. Any tips?

I found him on Wikitree and see that he was from the same small town, Gallatin, as my g grandfather and his brother who both served in the 36th Miss. i imagine they knew each other.

 

[GregM]

The alpha index for Miss shows 3 Barney Smiths.
Thirty-eighth Cavalry, Second Battalion, Infantry, R-Z AND Second (Davidson's) Infantry (Army of 10,000), and Barney S. Smith in the Forty-eighth Infantry,

Interesting, when I was in the archives room all those years ago the may have come across the 38th MS guy but never could be sure due to the conflict on the pension application and tombstone

 

[GregM]

So there's no card in the service records for a Barney Smith in either regiment, which tells me some crucial piece of evidence is missing here. I pulled up the application for the headstone. It was filed by a W W Smith in 1929. The top of the form says "comrade's statement 10/23/30" so clearly there was a delay in getting the stone and they needed more info.

Gotta ask sometime if W.W. Smith was known for being absent minded... I'm descended from one of the other kids that would never make a mistake

 

[GregM]

There is a second pension application from Elizabeth (that's common with my MS folks). In this application she states that Barney was living in Hazlehurst when he signed up in 1861. She states the officers were Captain Graves and Lt. Gillan (sp). Leander M. Graves was a captain in the 38th. There was also a captain Gilmer. That makes me think the unit on the tombstone was wrong.

You have to remember these women were older when they applied and it had been a while since the War. Details are not always correct. If the widow remembered incorrectly, it's more likely then that children and grandchildren will also be wrong.

That second application is here:

12/MISS0066D_0002/MISS0066D_0005/MISS0066D_Confederate-Pension-applic-Smith,-A.-Smith,-H-1900-1932_1320468100/MISS0066D_Confederate-Pension-applic-Smith,-A.-Smith,-H-1900-1932_00376.tif - Smith,-A.-Smith,-H

Smith, Elizabeth

da.mdah.ms.gov

That 38th cav hit sounds the most promising... hate that none of the other things that should line up don't. If he later became a legislator maybe he had enough property/etc. to already have been a horseman before the war broke out.

 

[RobertP]

There is a second pension application from Elizabeth (that's common with my MS folks). In this application she states that Barney was living in Hazlehurst when he signed up in 1861. She states the officers were Captain Graves and Lt. Gillan (sp). Leander M. Graves was a captain in the 38th. There was also a captain Gilmer. That makes me think the unit on the tombstone was wrong.

You have to remember these women were older when they applied and it had been a while since the War. Details are not always correct. If the widow remembered incorrectly, it's more likely then that children and grandchildren will also be wrong.

That second application is here:

12/MISS0066D_0002/MISS0066D_0005/MISS0066D_Confederate-Pension-applic-Smith,-A.-Smith,-H-1900-1932_1320468100/MISS0066D_Confederate-Pension-applic-Smith,-A.-Smith,-H-1900-1932_00376.tif - Smith,-A.-Smith,-H

Smith, Elizabeth

da.mdah.ms.gov

You are correct! @GregM here's your guy. He was with the 38th Miss. throughout the war. The confusion lies in its designation as an infantry regiment, which it was through the Vicksburg siege. After parole and exchange they were mounted and designated the 38th Miss. cavalry. The regiment participated in the battle at Harrisburg, July 1864, where it suffered severe casualties.

Here is Barney Smith's card (there are 16 in his file) and his parole document from Vicksburg with his signature.