Help reading a Civil War record?

[lupaglupa]

Thanks for your call, Nathan. JeffFromSyracuse thinks MR Oct 31' 62 cites a bi-montly muster status and is a correction to the top entry, and that he was actually discharged on 9/1/62. I wish they had just crossed out whichever line was the error.

I would go with 1863 myself since that's what is in the official unit roster.

 

[JeffFromSyracuse]

I would go with 1863 myself since that's what is in the official unit roster.

I only have experience working through one NY regiment's muster cards, but they did tend to mark where there is conflicting information. And in doing hundreds of thousands of these, the occasional typo is inevitable.

It also makes sense to me that someone who was likely significantly older than the maximum enlistment age and who was discharged for debility would have only lasted a few months in the service instead of nearly two years.

This is all just conjecture based on observations during my own research.

 

[lupaglupa]

I only have experience working through one NY regiment's muster cards, but they did tend to mark where there is conflicting information. And in doing hundreds of thousands of these, the occasional typo is inevitable.

It also makes sense to me that someone who was likely significantly older than the maximum enlistment age and who was discharged for debility would have only lasted a few months in the service instead of nearly two years.

This is all just conjecture based on observations during my own research.

I agree the age issue makes the earlier date more likely. It's the kind of situation where you really want a pension application to clear it up.

 

[lupaglupa]

I did a search of New York newspapers and found a mention of Russell Lamb in Wells in 1885 - he sold ten cows for $320. Was there a son named Russell? There's also a story from 1869, again in Wells, about an accidental shooting but the Russell Lamb in that incident was said to be 70 years old. An obit of Russell Fletcher Lamb is in, but he's from Putney.

If you want to see any of these (I can't copy or link them) check out my favorite online time suck -

index

 

[Nathan Stuart]

Thanks for your call, Nathan. JeffFromSyracuse thinks MR Oct 31' 62 cites a bi-montly muster status and is a correction to the top entry, and that he was actually discharged on 9/1/62. I wish they had just crossed out whichever line was the error.

You are welcome. Glad you are able to unravel this information.

 

[luce31021]

I did a search of New York newspapers and found a mention of Russell Lamb in Wells in 1885 - he sold ten cows for $320. Was there a son named Russell? There's also a story from 1869, again in Wells, about an accidental shooting but the Russell Lamb in that incident was said to be 70 years old. An obit of Russell Fletcher Lamb is in, but he's from Putney.

If you want to see any of these (I can't copy or link them) check out my favorite online time suck -

index

He didn't have a son named Russell, but his name was sometimes misspelled that way, so that might be him. I'll look into the obituary. He did live in Putney, VT in 1860. He seems to have bounced around between Western NY and a few towns in VT.

Thanks very much for checking.

 

[luce31021]

Thanks to everyone who commented on this thread. I gained some new perspectives and learned a lot.