Headstone mystery

[Phogan87]

If anybody can help me out with this, I greatly appreciate it. I've recently found the location of the burial site of my great-great-great uncle, Dennis Holden. All the obvious family information seems to line up, I definitely had an uncle named Dennis Holden who participated in the Civil War and the grave is located in the town I know he lived in alongside his brother who also served. The problem is the inscription. The headstone was contracted in 1884 and it lists him as being part of the 139th Indiana infantry company k. The problem is that all government records seem to list him with the 142nd Indiana infantry. After searching through all the records for the 139th there is no Dennis Holden mentioned. My question is, how can this be? I can't imagine the family making an error with headstone that is this egregious, however, government records put him with 142nd, and I would think these records would be pretty precise. Any thoughts about this mystery? Thanks for all of your help.

 

[milhistbuff1]

Perhaps the stone cutter made the error and the family was too poor to fix?

 

[Sheltowee]

Have you been able to find the grave marker request form? Would be interesting to see what it says.

I have a similar issue with an uncle who has "8th Mississippi Inf" engraved on his marker. No records of him in that unit. I think that as time goes by, relatives just simply forget- or never knew. So if some other local men served in the 139th- they might assume he did, as well. Believe this is what happened with my uncle.

Don't think many authorities did due diligence to verify what they were told.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

At the link below is the Vol. 7 Report of the A-G of Indiana showing the rosters for both of the regiments mentioned. (The report is derived from official rolls, returns and other documents).

Report of the Adjutant General of the state of Indiana .. : Indiana. Adjutant General's Office. cn : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

16

archive.org

The shown rosters of the 139th IN Infantry (see pp. 416 - 427) shows no soldier with the last name of 'Holden' in the regiment.

However, the displayed rosters of the 142nd IN Infantry (see pp. 444 - 458) reveals the name of 'Pvte. Dennis Holden' as a member Co. K. He was a resident of Lawrenceburg, m/i on Oct. 27, '64 and m/o on Jul. 15, '65. (See p. 457).

It's also noted that the period of service in the Union army for both regiments were:-

139th IN - Jan. 5, '64 to Sep. 29, '65

142nd IN - Nov. 3, '64 to Jul. 14, '65

These periods of regimental service are compared to determine whether he may have transferred between these units. This does not appear to be a possibility.

Based on the above information found, it appears Pvte. Dennis Holden belonged to Co. K, 142nd IN Infantry. The unit inscription shown on the headstone seems to be incorrect. This could have been due to any one of a variety of unknown reasons for any mix-up. But this finding needs further corroboration to be conclusive.

 

[RedRover]

I must concur that it appears the headstone likely gives the incorrect regimental number.


The 139th Regiment of Indiana Volunteers was organized for 100 days service in 1864.

Here's another roster of Company K, 139th, As mentioned, no Dennis Holden shown therein...

History of Dearborn, Ohio and Switzerland Counties, Indiana

www.google.com

Company K, 139th Indiana was in active service from June 6 to Sept. 29, 1864...

142nd Regiment of Indiana Volunteers was mustered into US Army service for 3 years from late 1864.

As mentioned, Dennis Holden is recorded among the privates of Company K, 142nd Indiana Volunteers, mustered into service Oct. 27, 1864. Discharged July 15, 1865.

Report of the Adjutant General of the Indiana Militia to the Governor

www.google.com

Some veterans of the 139th subsequently enlisted in the 142nd Regiment, like William Henry Worden of Whitley County...

But it does not appear that Dennis Holden had previously served in the 139th Indiana.

 

[Phogan87]

I can't tell you how much I appreciate the effort you guys put into helping me out. You confirmed what I thought… I just find it so odd because you would think that you'd be able to both trust a headstone and also obviously trust official reports. The fact that a mistake like this was made is pretty unbelievable. Again, thanks a lot.

 

[lupaglupa]

Mistakes on official government headstones are not infrequent. If we had the form requesting the stone it would be helpful. Some times family members were confused and submitted inaccurate information.

 

[Phogan87]

It's funny that you say that, because after a deep dive and a long night, I realized that the headstone for my other great great great uncle and Dennis Holden's brother, Benniah (Benjamin), has an incorrect engraving on his tombstone as well (same cemetery). His gravestone has him as being part of the 35th Indiana infantry when, in fact, he too was part of the 142nd with his brother (which makes sense.) I found out the reality behind his deployment through the National Park Service and the report of the adjunct general of Indiana. I'm positive that those graves are of my relatives but the fact that BOTH headstones are incorrect is unbelievable. The order for both stones was in 1884. I just don't get it… Again, thanks to everybody for their help and advice.

 

[John Winn]

Mistakes on official government headstones are not infrequent. If we had the form requesting the stone it would be helpful. Some times family members were confused and submitted inaccurate information.

Yes, errors are not infrequent. And sometimes it wasn't family that applied for the stone but, say, the GAR or some other organization and they sometimes didn't have all the information. With the several hundred vets I've researched there are a number of stones with incorrect information. Also, men who served in several regiments are sometimes shown with the first one and sometimes with the last one (the last one most common in my experience).

One man I researched is shown with his fist rank and regiment. He later got a commission as a captain in a USCT regiment. I think in his case he - or his wife - didn't want him to be shown as serving with a USCT regiment (which was his shortest time regiment). The GAR performed his service and wrote his obituary and there was no mention of the USCT or his rank as captain. I discovered that by getting his pension application file and service record.

 

[lupaglupa]

The file at Ancestry shows the cards ordering headstones for Benniah and Dennis. They were requested the same day, I would assume by the same person or persons. It might be worth looking at other veterans in the same cemetery and seeing if their stones were requested on that date. The local GAR or another organization might have done multiple requests at once and mixed the info.

 

[BCS1973]

The file at Ancestry shows the cards ordering headstones for Benniah and Dennis. They were requested the same day, I would assume by the same person or persons. It might be worth looking at other veterans in the same cemetery and seeing if their stones were requested on that date. The local GAR or another organization might have done multiple requests at once and mixed the info.

If these were government stones, wouldn't the discharge paper (showing rank and regiment) be required for each soldier as part of the application?

 

[Phogan87]

If these were government stones, wouldn't the discharge paper (showing rank and regiment) be required for each soldier as part of the application?

Great question!

 

[lupaglupa]

If these were government stones, wouldn't the discharge paper (showing rank and regiment) be required for each soldier as part of the application?

@John Winn can answer this better than I can but from what I have seen the documentation required was not rigorous.

 

[John Winn]

If these were government stones, wouldn't the discharge paper (showing rank and regiment) be required for each soldier as part of the application?

The process now is quite different than in the early years after government stones were first allowed in non-government cemeteries (1879 for Union vets, 1929 for confederate vets). From what I can determine the government seems to have just accepted requests from organizations like the GAR without checking (at least until the 1920s) and I suspect oversight wasn't very tight for any of the applications early on in private cemeteries (I think they were tighter in military cemeteries). But I did find one vet's marker in the Andersonville cemetery that had the wrong day of death. I communicated with the Andersonville admin and sent them the documentation and they changed their official record and filed my provided documentation. So, I suppose some errors were made even in government cemeteries.

In one cemetery where I researched almost all of the government markers before 1910 were obtained in a two-or-three-year period by the GAR and there were a number (don't remember exactly how many now) with mistakes.

I've seen applications from the early 1920s where corrections were noted - obviously by the military - so I think by then the government had become considerably more careful. These days they've made it rather difficult.

 

[DixieRifles]

I can't imagine the family making an error with headstone that is this egregious, however, government records put him with 142nd, and I would think these records would be pretty precise. Any thoughts about this mystery? Thanks for all of your help.

My ancestor enlisted when he was young and died in 1923. His Confederate grave at Beauvoir had the wrong regiment. It turned out that there was a name by the same name in that regiment. I don't know who decided this was my ancestor's records---the family or Beauvoir/Sons of Confederate Veterans.
Years ago, before Katrina, I asked the Staff at Beauvoir if they could order a replacement headstone. They basically said there are a lot of headstones with errors and he seemed to imply it would cost too much---which I didn't understand. So I dropped the idea. I made a small plaque and somebody, I don't know who, glued it to the headstone.

 

[John Winn]

My ancestor enlisted when he was young and died in 1923. His Confederate grave at Beauvoir had the wrong regiment. It turned out that there was a name by the same name in that regiment. I don't know who decided this was my ancestor's records---the family or Beauvoir/Sons of Confederate Veterans.
Years ago, before Katrina, I asked the Staff at Beauvoir if they could order a replacement headstone. They basically said there are a lot of headstones with errors and he seemed to imply it would cost too much---which I didn't understand. So I dropped the idea. I made a small plaque and somebody, I don't know who, glued it to the headstone.

The VA will replace an incorrectly engraved marker at no cost. However, there is paperwork which could be seen as a hassle and the government does not cover the cost of placing the marker or removing and destroying the old one (destruction being a requirement). Thus the Beauvoir folks very well might have just not wanted to pay for, or do themselves, the removal and replacement.

As a side note, replacing a military marker isn't rocket science but it is some work and typically requires either machinery or a tripod lift. The pre-1918 stones are of three sizes (depending on year of make mostly) and weigh between 185 and 202 pounds (vs the after-1918 ones that weigh 230 lbs). They're installed at 18 inches deep but the old ones typically have sunk so are usually at least two or three inches deeper. And you need some gravel. One guy can do it but two makes it a lot easier. So, there's an expense to install them yourself.

 

[Phogan87]

Again, I really appreciate all the information everybody's provided, especially Mr. Winn. This has been an unbelievable help.

 

[John Winn]

Again, I really appreciate all the information everybody's provided, especially Mr. Winn. This has been an unbelievable help.

You are most welcome; glad to have been of service.

 

[John Winn]

BTW, this thread prompted me to create one in the cemetery forum showing how a CW military marker is reset. Have a look over there if you are curious about the process.

 

[Phogan87]

It would be great information to have! I'll keep an eye out for it. Again thanks for everything and take care.