dfostermem

[dfostermem]

Well, this is a first. The only record for John W. Foster is a requisition form for a coffin and shrouding sheet. "Soldier died D'cr 13th 1861" is written lower down on the form. The outside of the paper is marked 29th Mississippi Regiment but the record is filed with the 33rd TN. The requisition form says Foster was in Company G commanded by J. F. Carpenter. Records for Co. G of the 33rd list James F. Carpenter as captain. He seems to have resigned quite early in the War - there are no cards for Carpenter with the 33rd that I could find.

I checked the Tennessee pension records and they don't have a record there showing his widow filed for a pension.

From what I found, his wife died soon thereafter. All the living kids that I have found were living separately in 1870 Census. My assumption is that measles might have had an impact on wife and some of the children. One of my thoughts is that he enrolled in Jackson, TN, and then went to training camp. He was probably sick early on and may have been "passed around" between units. An Obion County website lists him with the Obion Avalanche, died of measles. It may be that that unit had to move out and they left him with the 33rd, I found a book on the Obion Avalanche that I'm ordering that I hope will provide something. Confederate records aren't the best and even more so for someone who was only in for a few months. He might not have ever been paid - except for a coffin. I have found no records concerning his burial. He might have been sent home but there is also a chance he ended up with those buried in Union City where there is a Confederate monument to unknown.

 

[dfostermem]

From what I found, his wife died soon thereafter. All the living kids that I have found were living separately in 1870 Census. My assumption is that measles might have had an impact on wife and some of the children. One of my thoughts is that he enrolled in Jackson, TN, and then went to training camp. He was probably sick early on and may have been "passed around" between units. An Obion County website lists him with the Obion Avalanche, died of measles. It may be that that unit had to move out and they left him with the 33rd, I found a book on the Obion Avalanche that I'm ordering that I hope will provide something. Confederate records aren't the best and even more so for someone who was only in for a few months. He might not have ever been paid - except for a coffin. I have found no records concerning his burial. He might have been sent home but there is also a chance he ended up with those buried in Union City where there is a Confederate monument to unknown.

Just to add, my great grandfather was the oldest child and would have been 13 years old at the time. This probably added to the lack of family history- compounded by my grandfather being a teenager when his parents died.

While John Foster there is a little sadness that he died of measles in training camp, it was probably a blessing. He could have died at Shiloh a few months later and thrown into a mass grave. He at least was spared that.

 

[Mike Serpa]

The rest of his bio is at the link below.

Biographical souvenir of the counties of Buffalo, Kearney, Phelps, Harlan and Franklin, Nebraska : Battey, F. A., & co., Chicago, pub. [from old catalog] : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

3 p. l., 19-132, [2], 141-866 p. 28 cm

archive.org

 

[dfostermem]

The rest of his bio is at the link below.
View attachment 533066

Biographical souvenir of the counties of Buffalo, Kearney, Phelps, Harlan and Franklin, Nebraska : Battey, F. A., & co., Chicago, pub. [from old catalog] : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

3 p. l., 19-132, [2], 141-866 p. 28 cm

archive.org

 

[dfostermem]

Thank you. I had seen some of this information on a webpage but having the original is greatly appreciated.

The attached is part of my confusion. It states that he joined Company H, 3rd MSM in 1862 but his service records start in 1864. The 1862 date is consistent with my estimate of his arrival in Missouri in late 1861 to early 1862. I believe he married my 2nd Great Grandmother, Polly English, Feb 1862 in Ste Genevieve. The marriage documentation has Robert E Brown marrying her but I believe this to be a typo. They had two children, my great grandmother, Matilda Jane Brown and her brother John Dennison Brown. My speculation is that Robert D Brown's alias middle name is Dennison. In 1870, Polly, Matilda Jane, and John Dennison Brown are living with Polly's father in Ste Genevieve. Polly died there about 1874 and her kids went with her parents to Texas. Matilda Jane met and married my great grandfather James Taylor Foster on the wagon train from Missouri to Texas.

That's probably more info than what is needed in this forum but it is part of picture. At this point my speculation is that he came to Missouri to work undercover. He possibly married Polly as a way to get close to English family which were mostly "southerners". That's my wild guess but it would be great if I could locate documentation one way or the other. So my biggest "wishlist" is to find out what he was doing between 1861 and 1864.

The only other datapoint that I have is that Nelson Short's wife Maria Nancy Gray was a cousin of Edward Gray. Edward Gray lived in St Louis before the war and interacted with Grant there. I have nothing that suggests that there is a connection between Nelson Short and Grant, but it is an interesting tidbit. I don't know why someone in Sandusky County, Ohio, would pack his bags and go to Missouri. It would make more sense to join a local Ohio unit.

 

[lupaglupa]

From what I found, his wife died soon thereafter. All the living kids that I have found were living separately in 1870 Census.

This is one of the most frustrating situations to come across, in my experience. Kids get sent to live with relatives (sometimes distant ones, like the sibling of an in law) and tracking them all down is tough. The younger the children the harder: it seems like older kids keep their last names but young ones often switch surnames to the name of the new family. I've had more luck tracking the missing siblings through obituaries than any other method. But some kids I've just plumb lost.

 

[dfostermem]

This is one of the most frustrating situations to come across, in my experience. Kids get sent to live with relatives (sometimes distant ones, like the sibling of an in law) and tracking them all down is tough. The younger the children the harder: it seems like older kids keep their last names but young ones often switch surnames to the name of the new family. I've had more luck tracking the missing siblings through obituaries than any other method. But some kids I've just plumb lost.

It has taken years to get to this point. My interest in family history started in the early 70s when my grandfather received a book on Ridgely, TN. In it was a short sketch on my great grandfather, James Taylor Foster. Twenty years later I could go back many generations on all my other lines but I was stuck with JT Foster and his wife Matilda Jane Brown. A clue came up from a cousin of my father who gave him the name of a sister to JT Foster. Based on tracing her information, I was able to piece together their parents, including John W Foster. Then came DNA and that started filling in some more gaps and allowed me to confirm what I had on John W Foster's families. DNA is the key to locating "lost kids". Having said that, I have not been able to identify John W Foster's parents. Based on DNA he is closely related to people in Wilson County, TN, and I believe that his father is actually a Patterson in that area.

The sketch on JT Foster stated that he met Matilda Jane Brown on a wagon train from Missouri to Texas. It stated that she was a orphan and that her grandparents had given approval for marriage (she was 14). It said that she was from Cape Girardeau and that lead me to finding her living with her mom in Ste Genevieve in 1870 Census. Once I had her mother identified, I was able to find the marriage record of her marrying Robert Brown in Feb 1862 in Ste Genevieve. I have spent many years working on Robert Brown. I basically tried to locate Browns in my DNA matches however I kept coming up with matches associated with Short, Fry, and Tracey families. Long story short, a few months ago I came across the Pension Cards that showed that that Nelson W Short used the alias Robert D Brown. Suddenly the DNA side started fitting together and that led me to start developing the historical documentation. This brought me to the goal of trying to determine why Nelson Short/Robert Brown used an alias, came to Missouri, and what he was doing there.

I have always thought I was a true southerner but now that I know that I have "yankee" blood I am having to revaluate my heritage. This has given me a greater appreciation for understanding how the war brought many families, friends, and neighbors to be enemies. It also highlights how difficult it must have been to sort through wartime friend or foe, especially with regard to Missouri.