James Walters 16th Pa Cavalry, Company D, how do I find out where he was in prison?

genishann

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Joined
Sep 27, 2021
Hello all! I hope you are all having a great day~

His name is James Walters. He was born in 1833 but I cant find any records for that, I have been using census reports. He is from Tioga County Pennsylvania. Mustered in at Harrisburg in October of 1862, 16th PA Cavalry, 161st Volunteers. He was under Cpt. Robison and Later Seth Kennedy in the army of the Potomac. The 16th was at Gettysburg 1-3 then to the Culpepper area in Virginia. I know he was engaged at the battle of Mine Run Nov 26-December 2 but was captured in the skirmish at Parker's Store by the confederates on November 29, 1863. I was hoping to find a record of where he was imprisoned. I checked Andersonville records but can't find him. I am thinking it was PROBABLY Belle Isle in Richmond but would like to know for sure. He was a pvt so he was most likely not at Libby. He was paroled on April 14, 1864 to City Point, VA where he died the same day, cause is listed as prison life and knowing what I do about Belle Isle, the poor man probably froze and starved to death. What a horrible way to die. He is buried at Hampton Nation Cemetery and is section C 1254 I believe, can't 100% remember with out looking. At some point, they transferred him from Co. D to B after his capture but not sure when or why. He was married to Amelia Wilson in 1858 by Reverend Amos Mansfield in Rutland, Tioga County PA in March of 1858. He and Milly are listed in the 1860 cansus in Rutland under the name Walton ( the hand writing was hard to read) He had one son, Orson. E Walters who was born in 1861 and the next census info, shows him living with his Maternal grandparents, Samuel and Betsy Wilson in Tioga County PA. I know that Amelia,(Milly) remarried a George Smith in the early to mid 1870s and had several more children. James's parents were John and Margaret (Argetsinger) Walters from Mohawk/Amsterdam, Montgomery County New York. The walters family has been REALLLLLY hard to trace especially in NY and finding where they hailed from. James had one brother John that I know of for sure who was born in 1825 and he married a Margaret Van Ness in the same church by the same reverend Amos Mansfield in 1855 I believe. John and James were both farmers. I have an original letter written by James to his brother dated October 18th, 1863, which is how I was able to research the info I have. Any help you can provide would be awesome!
Thanks a bunch!!
 
@genishann when you had this question in the new members forum I asked there if you had gotten Amelia's pension application. I think that would be helpful in getting more information.
 
Hello all! I hope you are all having a great day~

His name is James Walters. He was born in 1833 but I cant find any records for that, I have been using census reports. He is from Tioga County Pennsylvania. Mustered in at Harrisburg in October of 1862, 16th PA Cavalry, 161st Volunteers. He was under Cpt. Robison and Later Seth Kennedy in the army of the Potomac. The 16th was at Gettysburg 1-3 then to the Culpepper area in Virginia. I know he was engaged at the battle of Mine Run Nov 26-December 2 but was captured in the skirmish at Parker's Store by the confederates on November 29, 1863. I was hoping to find a record of where he was imprisoned. I checked Andersonville records but can't find him. I am thinking it was PROBABLY Belle Isle in Richmond but would like to know for sure. He was a pvt so he was most likely not at Libby. He was paroled on April 14, 1864 to City Point, VA where he died the same day, cause is listed as prison life and knowing what I do about Belle Isle, the poor man probably froze and starved to death. What a horrible way to die. He is buried at Hampton Nation Cemetery and is section C 1254 I believe, can't 100% remember with out looking. At some point, they transferred him from Co. D to B after his capture but not sure when or why. He was married to Amelia Wilson in 1858 by Reverend Amos Mansfield in Rutland, Tioga County PA in March of 1858. He and Milly are listed in the 1860 cansus in Rutland under the name Walton ( the hand writing was hard to read) He had one son, Orson. E Walters who was born in 1861 and the next census info, shows him living with his Maternal grandparents, Samuel and Betsy Wilson in Tioga County PA. I know that Amelia,(Milly) remarried a George Smith in the early to mid 1870s and had several more children. James's parents were John and Margaret (Argetsinger) Walters from Mohawk/Amsterdam, Montgomery County New York. The walters family has been REALLLLLY hard to trace especially in NY and finding where they hailed from. James had one brother John that I know of for sure who was born in 1825 and he married a Margaret Van Ness in the same church by the same reverend Amos Mansfield in 1855 I believe. John and James were both farmers. I have an original letter written by James to his brother dated October 18th, 1863, which is how I was able to research the info I have. Any help you can provide would be awesome!
Thanks a bunch!!
The "History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1865" lists him as being in Company D and being transferred to Company B. There is no mention of his being a POW, yet a number of others serving in the 16th do show details of their capture. Also, no mention of his death, as they counter that info with details of him being mustered out on 8-11-1865 in Richmond, Virginia.

Looks as if you need to research more to find which is correct.
 
I was hoping the pension would be a help. Darn.

The Confederates didn't keep records as well as the Union did and many things were lost towards the end of the War. I think your educated guesses about where James may have been are probably on the money but I'm not sure how you can confirm them. I do have a couple of suggestions -

1. While CSA records are few the Union records are still around. If James was brought to City Point for exchange, it may be that there are records which show where recently released prisoners had been before being brought to City Point for exchange. It may be worth trying to look at Union records from City Point. FamilySearch has a number of records from Civil War prisons which can be looked at page by page (tedious but sometimes very helpful).

2. James is likely not the only soldier who was captured at Parker's Store nor the only one released to City Point. You may be able to trace his steps by following the experiences of other soldiers who were at the same place at the same time. Have you checked the other men in his company/regiment to see if there were others captured that same day?

3. Newspapers are sometimes great at recording information. Have you looked to see if there were articles that mentioned James? There is a wonderful (though very quirky) website from upstate New York which has tons of easily searchable newspapers - my husband's family are from Montgomery County and I've found great stuff at this site. It ,ay be that there is information of the walters family there -

https://fultonhistory.com/

Lastly -and I apologize for not putting this up to your earlier query - I think you should ignore the movement from company D to B. That had nothing to do with James himself and was part of a wider reorganization. It makes the records a bit messy but it doesn't contribute to his story so it's just noise.
 
The "History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1865" lists him as being in Company D and being transferred to Company B. There is no mention of his being a POW, yet a number of others serving in the 16th do show details of their capture. Also, no mention of his death, as they counter that info with details of him being mustered out on 8-11-1865 in Richmond, Virginia.

Looks as if you need to research more to find which is correct.
Hi and thanks for your response. Yes, He was transferred from company D to B after his death for some reason. I do have paperwork stating that he was captured (see photo) so I am not real sure. It's a mystery but I know that sometimes records got lost etc. I have no Idea why it would show like this...

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