Two Andersonville escapees in chains

[chubachus]

"A scarce cdv of Andersonville Prison escapees Capt. J.J. Geer and Lieut. A.P. Collins. The back of the cdv reads Capt. J.J. Geer and Lieut. A.P. Collins, Of the Federal Army, as they appeared in rebel rags and chains before the rebel court at Jackson, Ga. on trial for their lives. The cdv seems to be an advertisement for a book titled Beyond the Lines, or A Yankee Prisoner Loose in Dixie, published by J.W. Doughaday. No. 1308, Philadelphia (published in 1863)."

Source.

 

[UCVRelics]

Great Image.

 

[Seduzal]

Why chains around their neck! Why not around their legs?
Although a great photo, it's the first time I've seen it. Thanks for sharing.

 

[East Tennessee Roots]

Why chains around their neck! Why not around their legs?
Although a great photo, it's the first time I've seen it. Thanks for sharing.

And why would they be issued "rebel rags" at Andersonville of all places ? I couldn't find any Union soldiers with those names. The only A.P. Collins I found was discharged in 1862. Great photo though.

 

[chubachus]

The book they are said to be advertising can be read here if anyone is interested in possibly answering questions about the image: https://archive.org/details/beyondlinesory00geer

 

[Republican Blues]

Interesting since Andersonville was a prison for enlisted soldiers

 

[James B White]

"A scarce cdv of Andersonville Prison escapees Capt. J.J. Geer and Lieut. A.P. Collins. The back of the cdv reads Capt. J.J. Geer and Lieut. A.P. Collins, Of the Federal Army, as they appeared in rebel rags and chains before the rebel court at Jackson, Ga. on trial for their lives. The cdv seems to be an advertisement for a book titled Beyond the Lines, or A Yankee Prisoner Loose in Dixie, published by J.W. Doughaday. No. 1308, Philadelphia (published in 1863)."

Andersonville wouldn't have been in operation in 1863, though that is the correct date of the book, here: https://archive.org/stream/beyondlinesory00geer#page/n9/mode/2up

There's more on Geer here: http://www.48ovvi.org/oh48geer.html

The trial in Jackson GA is in the book, along with a drawing from the photo, starting p. 150. It looks like they escaped from Macon, p.91? Summer of 1862? Certainly not Andersonville, though the story is typical, with bloodhounds, hiding in the swamps and canebreaks, etc.

 

[East Tennessee Roots]

The book they are said to be advertising can be read here if anyone is interested in possibly answering questions about the image: https://archive.org/details/beyondlinesory00geer

The book they are said to be advertising can be read here if anyone is interested in possibly answering questions about the image: https://archive.org/details/beyondlinesory00geer

This is probably the same man. The 48th Ohio was consolidated with the 83rd and 114th to apparently form the 183rd.

John I. Geer

Residence was not listed; 27 years old.

Enlisted on 11/7/1861 as a 1st Lieutenant.

On 11/23/1861 he mustered into "K" Co. Ohio 48th Infantry
He Resigned on 2/1/1863
....................................................................................................................
John J. Geer

Residence was not listed;
Enlisted on 11/10/1864 as a Chaplain.

On 11/18/1864 he was commissioned into Field & Staff Ohio 183 Infantry.
He was Mustered Out on 7/17/1865 at Salisbury, NC.

Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio
.................................................................................................................
According to the book A.P. Collins was a Tennessean.

Alford P. Collins

Residence was not listed; 18 years old.

Enlisted on 9/1/1864 as a Private.

On 11/24/1864 he mustered into "A" Co. TN 5th Mounted Infantry. They primarely fought Confederate guerrillas in lower east Tennessee, northern Alabama, western NC. and northern Georgia.

He was Mustered Out on 6/26/1865 at Nashville, TN

Report of Adjutant General State of Tennessee

 

[tryagain]

Capt Greer Bio at
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/f...Sst=37&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=67915324&df=all&

Antything on Collins?

 

[chubachus]

Here are some engravings from the book:

 

[TerryB]

Capt Greer Bio at
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/f...Sst=37&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=67915324&df=all&

Antything on Collins?

Greer is not our man. His name was spelled Geer, just like my maternal grandmother's maiden name.

 

[TerryB]

Capt. John J. Geer

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/f...65&GSdyrel=after&GSob=n&GRid=16664875&df=all&

 

[TerryB]

This is probably the same man. The 48th Ohio was consolidated with the 83rd and 114th to apparently form the 183rd.

John I. Geer

Residence was not listed; 27 years old.

Enlisted on 11/7/1861 as a 1st Lieutenant.

On 11/23/1861 he mustered into "K" Co. Ohio 48th Infantry
He Resigned on 2/1/1863
....................................................................................................................
John J. Geer

Residence was not listed;
Enlisted on 11/10/1864 as a Chaplain.

On 11/18/1864 he was commissioned into Field & Staff Ohio 183 Infantry.
He was Mustered Out on 7/17/1865 at Salisbury, NC.

Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio
.................................................................................................................
According to the book A.P. Collins was a Tennessean.

Alford P. Collins

Residence was not listed; 18 years old.

Enlisted on 9/1/1864 as a Private.

On 11/24/1864 he mustered into "A" Co. TN 5th Mounted Infantry. They primarely fought Confederate guerrillas in lower east Tennessee, northern Alabama, western NC. and northern Georgia.

He was Mustered Out on 6/26/1865 at Nashville, TN

Report of Adjutant General State of Tennessee

I looked at those records, too. I don't think this is our man. The book says he was a lieutenant and grad of Ohio Wesleyan.

 

[Northern Light]

View attachment 106800

"A scarce cdv of Andersonville Prison escapees Capt. J.J. Geer and Lieut. A.P. Collins. The back of the cdv reads Capt. J.J. Geer and Lieut. A.P. Collins, Of the Federal Army, as they appeared in rebel rags and chains before the rebel court at Jackson, Ga. on trial for their lives. The cdv seems to be an advertisement for a book titled Beyond the Lines, or A Yankee Prisoner Loose in Dixie, published by J.W. Doughaday. No. 1308, Philadelphia (published in 1863)."

Source.

Those guys look very well nourished and healthy for escapees from Andersonville, don't they?

 

[Northern Light]

Greer is not our man. His name was spelled Geer, just like my maternal grandmother's maiden name.

Like Grandpa Walton-Will Geer?

 

[Northern Light]

Here are some engravings from the book:

View attachment 112105

View attachment 112104

View attachment 112106

The clothes in the drawing are ragged, but are not in the photo.

 

[East Tennessee Roots]

I looked at those records, too. I don't think this is our man. The book says he was a lieutenant and grad of Ohio Wesleyan.

Maybe this man ? Nothing in either man's record about being at Andersonville or any prison.

John Greer
Residence was not listed; 33 years old,
Enlisted on 8/24/1861 as a 2nd Lieutenant,
On 9/1/1861 he was commissioned into "D" Co. 49th OH Infantry
Wounded 6/16/1864 Kennesaw Mountain, GA
He was discharged on 10/22/1864
Promotions:
* 1st Lieut 4/28/1862
* Capt 1/1/1863 (As of Co. C)

 

[Northern Light]

Might the photo have been taken to imitate the drawing?

 

[lelliott19]

Capt. John J. Geer
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/f...65&GSdyrel=after&GSob=n&GRid=16664875&df=all&

I think you are correct! The bottom photo on his Find A Grave memorial looks exactly like the man on the left in the OP.

I looked at those records, too. I don't think this is our man. The book says he was a lieutenant and grad of Ohio Wesleyan.

If Lt. A P Collins was a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan, then here he is.....Andrew Perry Collins b. 20 Aug 1835 in Seneca County, OH, the son of Oliver Collins and Sarah Noel Collins. "He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University and served during the Civil War and was for a time a rebel prisoner."
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=14417590


From the biography of his son, Albert N Collins of California, is this biographical info on Andrew P Collins:

"grew up in Ohio and his liberal education was acquired in the Ohio Wesleyan University. As a young man he assisted in raising the Twelfth Michigan Infantry, in which he was commissioned first lieutenant (Co K). He served in several battles along the Mississippi until captured. He was confined in Andersonville prison, escaping with another man from that notorious stockade. An account of their experiences in the swamps of the South was made by his companion the subject of a volume entitled "Beyond the Lines; or a Yankee Prisoner Loose in Dixie."

In the closing years of the war he served on the staff of Gen. C. C. Andrews.

After the war Andrew P. Collins removed to Solomon, Kansas, beginning at the grass roots in that frontier community. He acquired one of the largest farms in the region. In 1868 he married Miss Sarah E. Blair, who was a native of Iowa and is now living at Riverside. Andrew P. Collins for many years was a prominent Kansan. He served as county superintendent of schools of Saline County, sat four years in the Legislature, was for ten years a member of the State Board of Agriculture, and was one of the five Kansas World's Fair Commissioners at Chicago in 1893 and had charge of the agricultural exhibit of his state. He took an active part in 1885 in the founding of the Kansas Wesleyan University at Salina and for years was president of the Board of Trustees. He was a leading layman of the Methodist Church in Kansas and was a delegate to the General Conference at New York in 1888.

Andrew P. Collins came to Riverside (California) in 1903 and bought fifty acres of oranges above Highgrove. After trying to market his product for a couple of years he bought a packing house of his own, and made a notable success of this enterprise known as the Collins Fruit Company. With his son and others he was interested in the development of six hundred acres in the Morino Valley. The water had been developed, but about the time they were ready to put the land into cultivation a favorable opportunity for selling arose and they disposed of it. Andrew P. Collins was a booster for all things of interest to Riverside. He was a member of the Masonic order. His death occurred March 17, 1911, when he was seventy-four years of age." http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/biographies2/bios2/collins-albert-n.htm

 

[East Tennessee Roots]

I think you are correct! The bottom photo on his Find A Grave memorial looks exactly like the man on the left in the OP.


If Lt. A P Collins was a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan, then here he is.....Andrew Perry Collins b. 20 Aug 1835 in Seneca County, OH, the son of Oliver Collins and Sarah Noel Collins. "He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University and served during the Civil War and was for a time a rebel prisoner."
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=14417590


From the biography of his son, Albert N Collins of California, is this biographical info on Andrew P Collins:

"grew up in Ohio and his liberal education was acquired in the Ohio Wesleyan University. As a young man he assisted in raising the Twelfth Michigan Infantry, in which he was commissioned first lieutenant (Co K). He served in several battles along the Mississippi until captured. He was confined in Andersonville prison, escaping with another man from that notorious stockade. An account of their experiences in the swamps of the South was made by his companion the subject of a volume entitled "Beyond the Lines; or a Yankee Prisoner Loose in Dixie."

In the closing years of the war he served on the staff of Gen. C. C. Andrews.

After the war Andrew P. Collins removed to Solomon, Kansas, beginning at the grass roots in that frontier community. He acquired one of the largest farms in the region. In 1868 he married Miss Sarah E. Blair, who was a native of Iowa and is now living at Riverside. Andrew P. Collins for many years was a prominent Kansan. He served as county superintendent of schools of Saline County, sat four years in the Legislature, was for ten years a member of the State Board of Agriculture, and was one of the five Kansas World's Fair Commissioners at Chicago in 1893 and had charge of the agricultural exhibit of his state. He took an active part in 1885 in the founding of the Kansas Wesleyan University at Salina and for years was president of the Board of Trustees. He was a leading layman of the Methodist Church in Kansas and was a delegate to the General Conference at New York in 1888.

Andrew P. Collins came to Riverside (California) in 1903 and bought fifty acres of oranges above Highgrove. After trying to market his product for a couple of years he bought a packing house of his own, and made a notable success of this enterprise known as the Collins Fruit Company. With his son and others he was interested in the development of six hundred acres in the Morino Valley. The water had been developed, but about the time they were ready to put the land into cultivation a favorable opportunity for selling arose and they disposed of it. Andrew P. Collins was a booster for all things of interest to Riverside. He was a member of the Masonic order. His death occurred March 17, 1911, when he was seventy-four years of age." http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/biographies2/bios2/collins-albert-n.htm

Andrew P. Collins

Residence Niles MI; 26 years old.

Enlisted on 9/30/1861 as a 1st Lieutenant.

On 12/19/1861 he mustered into "K" Co. 12th Michigan Infantry
He was discharged on 1/7/1865


He was listed as:
* POW 4/6/1862 Shiloh, TN
* Returned 1/4/1863 (place not stated)
...........................................................................................................