McLinda
Cadet
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2018
- Location
- San Antonio, TX
I uploaded to Flickr all of my grandfather's boots-on-the-ground research of his grandfather regarding why there was discrepancy when/where his grandfather died. I take no ownership of the dead, view or download, here, and share if it relates. My grandfather did this research in the 1980s, I was just recently able to liquor my mother up enough to get her to let me scan them. Really appreciate this forum to share.
George McKee was a skilled carpenter when he came over from Ireland, in fact, he's my only Irish ancestor that had a skill more technical than laborer. He was in the war from day one, re-enlisted the same day he got out after they started some bonus program for vets signing up, made it all the way to the very end and gets shot, April 5, 1865. Maybe this post will help some other researcher as there was conflicting info given to his widow and on documents, including the widow letter she got from a soldier. They said he was shot, died an hour or so later, April 5, 1865 on James Cross Road, outside of the Dinwiddie court house. My PopPop, like me, doesn't like sharing misinformation, and he really wanted to do the genealogy thing on his grandfather, but Dinwiddie was over with six days before, they weren't even there anymore.
Anyway, this was his research, don't know how he found this out but it turns out McKee and some other guys who survived Dinwiddie decided to chase the Rebs while they still had the advantage. Like literally, on horses, wild west style. But it was night, the were not prepared, and, my assumptions here, they were ****** off about something that happened at Dinwiddie so they ended up stuck there, no idea how they made it before they had backup come. His actual place of death was Amelia Springs.
The man who wrote this letter to his wife Sarah,said that he was there with him, and buried him. I can barely make out what his name is, maybe Timothy Coveney? I don't know if they were friends before the war, probably not, but it's likely this guy was from the Philadelphia area. I found out that these letters were common, and often the only way women were informed as the war department wasn't on top of it. I wonder if they buddied up... you know... If I die you write my wife, you die I will write yours?
Poor guy probably had survivor's guilt after all that and then he has to break the news to a widow? How awful, how admirable.
George McKee was a skilled carpenter when he came over from Ireland, in fact, he's my only Irish ancestor that had a skill more technical than laborer. He was in the war from day one, re-enlisted the same day he got out after they started some bonus program for vets signing up, made it all the way to the very end and gets shot, April 5, 1865. Maybe this post will help some other researcher as there was conflicting info given to his widow and on documents, including the widow letter she got from a soldier. They said he was shot, died an hour or so later, April 5, 1865 on James Cross Road, outside of the Dinwiddie court house. My PopPop, like me, doesn't like sharing misinformation, and he really wanted to do the genealogy thing on his grandfather, but Dinwiddie was over with six days before, they weren't even there anymore.
Anyway, this was his research, don't know how he found this out but it turns out McKee and some other guys who survived Dinwiddie decided to chase the Rebs while they still had the advantage. Like literally, on horses, wild west style. But it was night, the were not prepared, and, my assumptions here, they were ****** off about something that happened at Dinwiddie so they ended up stuck there, no idea how they made it before they had backup come. His actual place of death was Amelia Springs.
The man who wrote this letter to his wife Sarah,said that he was there with him, and buried him. I can barely make out what his name is, maybe Timothy Coveney? I don't know if they were friends before the war, probably not, but it's likely this guy was from the Philadelphia area. I found out that these letters were common, and often the only way women were informed as the war department wasn't on top of it. I wonder if they buddied up... you know... If I die you write my wife, you die I will write yours?
Poor guy probably had survivor's guilt after all that and then he has to break the news to a widow? How awful, how admirable.
Bringing the