Requesting help with ancestor please......

[Lonnie]

It is a family rumor that my grandfather's grandfather was in the civil war. He was from Carter County Kentucky. His name is Eli/Elijah Williams born 1822, died 1908. A cousin said that he joined a confederate cavalry unit. Another cousin said that he went to Ohio and joined the union army. I have found the name Elijah Williams on two confederate cavalry rosters. But the date of birth is not given. Could anyone given some assistance in this matter.

Thank you very much,

Lonnie R. Clemens

 

[Fairfield]

It is a family rumor that my grandfather's grandfather was in the civil war. He was from Carter County Kentucky. His name is Eli/Elijah Williams born 1822, died 1908. A cousin said that he joined a confederate cavalry unit. Another cousin said that he went to Ohio and joined the union army. I have found the name Elijah Williams on two confederate cavalry rosters. But the date of birth is not given. Could anyone given some assistance in this matter.

Thank you very much,

Tough one: your cousins might have co-ordinated their information!

What about this man? https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/94629309/eli-williams Census records (1850 and 1880) put him in Carter County; he and brother Basil/Bazel/Bazzle were drafted from a district that included Carter County. I'd contact the person who maintains the Find a Grave site and ask about that additional entry

edit: for spelling

 

[Lonnie]

Tough one: your cousins might have co-ordinated their information!

What about this man? https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/94629309/eli-williams Census records (1850 and 1880) put him in Carter County; he and brother Basi/Bazel/Bazzle were drafted from a district that included Carter County. I'd contact the person who maintains the Find a Grave site and ask about that additional entry

Good find Sergeant Major Fairfield. This Eli Williams is the man I'm doing research on. But he is Eli Williams Jr. His Dad Eli Williams Sr has a brother named Basil. Eli Jr. does not have a brother named Basil. That note was added by someone in the family and it is not right. More than likely it applies to Eli Sr and his brother Basil. They probably served in the war of 1812. Thank you for looking I appreciate your help.

 

[Fairfield]

Perhaps he did. Here's the 1850 census from Center County:

Eli's reported age here would have been c. 1825--census ages often were off by a few years, but far too young to have had a son in the Civil War. There are no relationships given but "Bazzel" is pretty young to be this man's uncle.

Edit: the 1840 census for Fleming County (KY) has a Bazzel Williams (age 40-49); this may be the uncle (brother of Eli sr.)

 

[Lonnie]

Perhaps he did. Here's the 1850 census from Center County:
View attachment 428478
Eli's reported age here would have been c. 1825--census ages often were off by a few years, but far too young to have had a son in the Civil War. There are no relationships given but "Bazzel" is pretty young to be this man's uncle.

I stand corrected! Bazzle's name is not listed on the family tree that I have been looking at.

 

[Lonnie]

The question still remains. What unit was Elijah Williams in? DOB: 1822-1908. From Carter County Kentucky

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

I looked at the Ohio index cards on fold3 and only found five Eli Williams.
( All in infantry regiments)

Elijah Williams yielded zero results from the Ohio cards.

I found those results very odd ... as Eli/Elijah Williams was a very common name during that era.
Even if your ancestor remained in Kentucky, I was expecting many more Ohio men of the same name.

 

[Lonnie]

I looked at the Ohio index cards on fold3 and only found five Eli Williams.
( All in infantry regiments)

Elijah Williams yielded zero results from the Ohio cards.

I found those results very odd ... as Eli/Elijah Williams was a very common name in that era.
Even if your ancestor remained in Kentucky, I was expecting many more Ohio men of the same name.

Right, it does seem to be a common name for those days. Old Testament bible names etc...

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Right, it does seem to be a common name for those days. Old Testament bible names etc...

Very much so !

It took me years to sort through every Civil War Vet in my family with common names such as James, John, or William.
And yeah, the Old Testament names were put on hold for awhile.

It was harder researching those guys as many regimental clerks misspelled their names on the records from day one.

BTW ... welome to CivilWarTalk.

 

[Lonnie]

Very much so !

It took me years to sort through every Civil War Vet in my family with common names such as James, John, or William.
And yeah, the Old testament names were put on hold for awhile.

It was harder researching those guys as many regimental clerks misspelled their names on the records from day one.

BTW ... welome to CivilWarTalk.

Thank you for the welcome. I'm sure I will enjoy the website.

 

[Fairfield]

The question still remains. What unit was Elijah Williams in? DOB: 1822-1908. From Carter County Kentucky

I'm not betting the family $ on this but how about the 2nd KY cavalry? Reasoning: the notation on Find a Grave said that he served with his brother Basil (etc.). The Confederate Basils(etc.) don't match up but there were three men from Kentucky whose fore-initials began with B; B.B. Williams served with the 2nd KY cavalry and his was the only regiment to have another soldier with the initial E (E.N. Williams).

A guess, a wild guess at that. But I don't have access to immediate Kentucky records and I am hoping that someone who does will look at this.

 

[Fairfield]

@Lonnie - FYI: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ky/elliott/obits/w/w452-0002.txt

 

[Sheltowee]

Adding to the difficulty is that Elijah passed in 1908- before Kentucky began authorizing Confederate pensions in 1915.

 

[Sheltowee]

Feel your pain. I've been trying to find info on Doswell (Dawz) Stephens- reportedly of the 8th Mississippi.
A long story, but the only war- related documentation I can find is where his grandson applied for a CSA headstone. No rosters or CSRs can I find linking him to the regiment.
Did someone get the wrong unit information- maybe. I've reached out to other folks on Ancestry and Findagrave…. No more info.
Don't mean to sound crass, but I really am beginning to wonder if Doswell really served. I'll leave it there…… just kind of bizarre.

 

[Fairfield]

Feel your pain. I've been trying to find info on Doswell (Dawz) Stephens- reportedly of the 8th Mississippi.
A long story, but the only war- related documentation I can find is where his grandson applied for a CSA headstone. No rosters or CSRs can I find linking him to the regiment.
Did someone get the wrong unit information- maybe. I've reached out to other folks on Ancestry and Findagrave…. No more info.
Don't mean to sound crass, but I really am beginning to wonder if Doswell really served. I'll leave it there…… just kind of bizarre.

He probably did serve--the headstone application was approved and a gravestone was sent (this was in 1940). Before ANY government spends $, it wants to make sure that it has to do so. O.L. Stephens (the applicant) probably presented some information that the govt. checked and agreed with.

That you can't find him may mean that the unit was incorrect or there is something not complete about the name; IMO the latter is more likely. Looking at Confederate rosters, southern soldiers had the discouraging practice of using initials rather than their full names ; considering the scrawls that we try to decipher today, it wouldn't be surprising if "D.W." showed up as something rather different. If you haven't done so, I'd check the Mississippi GenWeb pages (msgw.org). For Smith County, of course but also its ACW information. Also, there is a multi-volume book (1907) by Rowland Dunbar on Mississippi towns, counties and individuals (World Cat will tell you if there is a copy near you; Family History has it on microfilm). Another book (mentioned on MS GenWeb is Our Stephens Family by Charlene Stephens & Evelyn Stephens Down -- a shot in the dark, perhaps).

According to the application, your ancestor died on the 14th of May 1863 (having been discharged a day earlier). I'm not up on Mississippi military (or any military to be honest): what was the 8th doing on that day? If it were in battle, there may be information available there). All I can see is that it was part of Jackson's Brigade in the Army of Tennessee.

On the application, the words "True Confederates" leaped out. I did a search on those works and the only place that I could find them in caps was a book mentioned on the MS GenWeb site: True Confederates of Mississippi; Sullivan [and] Spell families.

BTW--there was a D.D. Stephens in the MS 9th as well as two men with the surname "Stephens" in Co. C of the 8th.

 

[Sheltowee]

Thank you for the tremendous help- will follow up on your recommendations.
BTW- True Confederates was the moniker for Co. C. This fits, as Co. C was from Smith County- where Daws was from.

Thanks again!

 

[Lonnie]

@Lonnie - FYI: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ky/elliott/obits/w/w452-0002.txt

What an obituary! People don't write like that nowadays. Thank you for your help.

 

[Lonnie]

I'm not betting the family $ on this but how about the 2nd KY cavalry? Reasoning: the notation on Find a Grave said that he served with his brother Basil (etc.). The Confederate Basils(etc.) don't match up but there were three men from Kentucky whose fore-initials began with B; B.B. Williams served with the 2nd KY cavalry and his was the only regiment to have another soldier with the initial E (E.N. Williams).

A guess, a wild guess at that. But I don't have access to immediate Kentucky records and I am hoping that someone who does will look at this.

You might be onto something.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Did someone get the wrong unit information- maybe.

That's a very common mistake.

Especially with family researchers that are excellent with family relations, but
not familiar with military organization.

Example: for years family tradition held that my GG Grandfather was at Gettysburg with the 2nd Mississippi .

When I started my casual research, that made no sense. First, he would have been too old for a front line unit.
Second, the 2nd Mississippi was organized in the northern counties of the state ... around Tennessee.
( We were along the Louisiana border ... not too far from New Orleans ).

Turns out he was indeed a member of the Second .... 2nd Mississippi State Troops, which was basically a local militia unit.

It seems a well-meaning family researcher saw "2nd Mississippi" in a family bible and assumed it was the regiment in
the Army of Northern Virginia.

So yeah, a wrong unit can be confusing as a misspelled/abbreviated man's name. Plus, as the War dragged on ... many CSA regiments were consolidated ... thus often taking an entirely different numerical designation.

 

[Lonnie]

I would like thank everyone for their assistance with research on Grandpa Eli/Elijah Williams. Haven't been able to verify the records yet. But on the bright side of things I did find his brother Shadrack Williams on the Fields Partisan Rangers roster. He enlisted on 14 Sept 1862 in Carter County Kentucky.

Grandpa Elijah was 41 years of age at the outbreak of the war. Was told that since he was older, that he was put into a cavalry marauding group to help locate supplies for the confederate army etc.....

Thanks again everyone! No maybe I can help someone else.

Sincerely,

Lonnie R. Clemens