William T Rominger 1845-1916

[Taylin]

From find a grave (but I've heard a lady in my county recount a similar story)
"The story is told that William Thomas (W.T.) Rominger was too young to walk with his brothers to enlist in the Union Army so he was left behind in North Carolina, only to be drafted into the Confederate Army and sent into active duty. Jonathan was on duty one day when he spotted his brother in a camp on the other side. He proceeded to smugle him over to the Union side where the Rominger brothers were once again reunited."

He and his brothers were in North Carolina in 1860 but his two older brothers, Isaac Rominger (1842-1918) and Jonathan P Rominger (1840-1923) are found in Valeene, Orange County, Indiana in 1861 enlisting in the 59th Indiana, Company F and serving till the close of the war.

I found a William J Rominger (also listed as "Romigner, W. T." on the NPS) who is very close to William T Rominger's age in the "1st Regiment, North Carolina Junior Reserves" Both the 59th Indiana and the 1st junior reserves are at the battle of Bentonville, NC and presumably they would be within somewhat close radius to one another before and after the battle during the campaign.

William Rominger is not found on the 59th Indiana's roster or on the digital archives for Indiana. Curiously though, he does apply for a pension and list his unit as Company F 59th Indiana.
I was wondering if someone could provided any records, newspaper stories and etc that would help bring some light to this story. From what I've seen I don't doubt that the story has some truth to it. Attached below are some related files/screenshots

 

[Taylin]

How would I find the documents of "S 3617" Congressional Record Index? I believe this might put to rest the mystery

Edit: this appears to be from the 55th Congress, Second Session, screenshots from
Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress, Volume 31

 

[Taylin]

 

[SJU5]

This all that I have found with this last name in any of the CW military records. I have found numerous examples of pensions being allowed with incorrect information. Many supposed GAR veterans were outed as deserters, or imposters. The GAR unit in my town has a few that were asked to leave the post.

 

[Taylin]

It would appear he was in the Confederate army at some point, at least according to the newspapers where he lived at in Indiana. I've also found that he was a pension agent too, even indicted by a federal grand jury for supposedly giving false affidavits, but he was acquitted for that.

 

[SJU5]

It would appear he was in the Confederate army at some point, at least according to the newspapers where he lived at in Indiana. I've also found that he was a pension agent too, even indicted by a federal grand jury for supposedly giving false affidavits, but he was acquitted for that.
View attachment 202007 View attachment 202008

Just the NC Jr reserves is all I found of him...

 

[Taylin]

Just the NC Jr reserves is all I found of him...

Same here, I suspect strongly that it's the same man.

 

[connecticut yankee]

Here's some genealogy info that might help:

Sixth Generation

Children of John Thomas Rominger and Clarinda Miller
unnamed infant (b. & d. 1832)
Clarinda Rosina Rominger (1835-1843)
Cornelius Nathaniel Rominger (1836-1838)
Sarah Ann Rominger (1838-1921) m. William Augustus Johnson (1840-1922)
Jonathan Parmenio Rominger (1840-1923) m. Mary Ann Boyd (1844-?), lived Indiana
Isaac Rominger (1842-1918) m. Elmira White, lived Indiana
William Thomas Rominger (1845-1916) m. Martha Elrod (1843-1870), possibly the d/o Noah Elrod (b. c1807), s/o Robert Elrod and Elizabeth Riddle

http://www.fmoran.com/rominger.html

 

[connecticut yankee]

1860 census: William T Rominger , age 14, living with (aunt) Phebe Padgett in salem nc.Source: Hope Star-Journal, Obits, compiled by Mildred Dixon Harrod
******************************************************************************
ROMINGER, Margaret
Daughter of W T and Sarah Rominger, she died Tuesday [February 14, 1933] at Hartsville where she had lived all her life. Surviving are her mother; three sisters, Mrs William Wilson of near Greensburg, Miss [sic] Berdie Clapp of Hartsville, and Mrs Arthur Mahaffey of Indianapolis. Funeral service was Saturday, February 18 [sic] 1933, at the Hartsville Methodist Church with burial at Garland Brook cemetery in Columbus. She was 62.

Hope Star-Journal - Friday, February 17, 1933
On August 11, 1870 in Bartholomew Co, IN, Margaret's father, William T Rominger married Martha Elrod - before birth of Margaret Rominger.
Siblings of Margaret Rominger, and children of Martha Elrod and William Rominger:
Minnie B Rominger, b. abt. 1872, married in 1892, Barth Co, IN, Arthur M Mahaffey.
Birt L Rominger, b. abt. 1872, married in 1891, Barth Co, IN, Alonzo B Clapp.
Minnie B Rominger & Birt L Rominger were twin girls, b. 1872)
Mary M Rominger, b. 1879, married in 1907, Barth Co, IN, William H Wilson.
Margaret Rominger, b. abt. 1871, was survived by her mother, named in obit as "Sarah" Rominger.
"Sarah and/or Martha Elrod", married in 1870 to William T Rominger - appear to be one and the same person.
******************************************************************************
ancestry.com

 

[Taylin]

Thanks. I've pretty much gotten to the bottom of this, I think the only digging I could do is to see what happened to the proposed bills to "Correct the military record" of Mr Rominger, I might get some help for that as I've no idea where to start.

William died in Bartholomew County, he's buried in Columbus Indiana.

I was initially very skeptical of the story when I heard it from one of his descendants, but when looking into everything I came out thinking it's likely true, the story varies in details but he sequence of events is usually the same. Jon and Isaac traveled to Orange County Indiana leaving William behind, and enlisted in Co. F 59th Indiana. William is drafted/conscripted at some point in late 1864 or early 1865, William either deserts on his own or is "smuggled" out of the CS army by his brothers who would have been in close proximity to him in NC. All in all, it was fun getting into this.

 

[Taylin]

I just got his pension papers and he claims to have been in Co. C 33rd NC Infantry from January 02, 1865 to February 23, 1865 at which point he deserted, and that he joined Co. F 59th Indiana on April 10th 1865. He also claims that he was in the 1st NC Junior Reserves and was transferred to the 33rd NC Infantry.

He took the oath on Feb 27, 1865 in Washington. On his oath he claims to have deserted the 33rd NC Infantry, this lines up with the story about him deserting the lines at Petersburg in one of the above post by me.

There were written statements by the regimental surgeon and captain Churchill of company F 59th Indiana in support of Williams claims. The GAR didn't seem to have approved of his attempt to gain a pension and have his record corrected. Various persons provided statements on his character both negative and positive, whether or not he was genuinely in the service of the 59th I don't know, they're ate an extra 22 papers I need to order and hopefully they'll have the answer to that. As of 1912 he was rejected on the basis that he isn't on the rolls. He died in 1916 so not much time left, he has consistently been fighting for a pension since 1890.

 

[Zella]

Really interesting story! Thanks for sharing it!