William Y. Claflin; (also announcement)

Joined
Mar 23, 2021
Location
Wisconsin
I already feel like I take up to many of your guys times on endlessly researching my family history. This is a question but also a statement, I didn’t know what forum to put this in as it doesn’t pertain much to the Civil War but I think it would be cool to share, so sorry to any admins reading this and wondering why I put this non-pertaining too statement in this forum. I am officially retiring from the Wisconsin Historical Society as an Historical Preservationist. I think now in retirement I will try to explore more about the ACW and try to accumulate my knowledge on the subject so I don’t look like an absolute idiot on this app. So yea, the announcement is my retirement from the WHS, now to the question.

So, my research at the WHS has the first settler of Door County, WI, Increase Claflin, and his son, William Y. Claflin, who was the first documented white child born in Little Sturgeon excluding the Potawatomi and Menominee native tribes who have been their since the post ice age era. A few years ago, me and my colleagues helped preserve the historical event of Increase Claflin’s famous feud with the Indians, which is a part of why Door county is a tourist attraction to many in the USA and even some foreign countries. Well, I have found that William was in fact my relative, and am in fact curious to his service. Increase, a god-fearing, prosperous horse-breeding, War of 1812 veteran, sent his three sons to war in August, 1862 after Lincoln’s call for troops and the forming of the 32nd WI. William served the duration of his term, so I would presume he was mustered out sometime late 1865 (May to October) and am wondering the different sequences and timelines of his troubles in the regiment and what they went through. William and his brother Charles were in Co. F, while Albert was in Co. E, Albert is the eldest of the three brothers sent to war by their father, a staunch abolitionist Yankee from New York, and a grandson of Capt. George Stimpson, the first settler in Windham, Greene, New York. Increase was listed in the “Wisconsin Republican” newsletter as a board member in the Wisconsin Republican Party and would often speak out against succession and the idea of chaining up Africans, even once calling them his “brothers and sisters,” which even back then, was something an abolitionist would almost never say, except for John Brown of course, who said the same phrase on many occasions. Increase was often hated during the war by some, but loved by most, and was at one time an Indian Trader in Green Bay while it was still considered in Michigan Territory, and is even called the “Davy Crockett” of Door County, WI. Well, back to the question, William was a Private in Co. F of the 32nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry and served through the duration of his term, and was the only brother to survive the war, fully, and he mustered out federally. His brother Albert was stricken with disease and returned home on a sick turlough, and later passed away at home on June 7, 1864. Charles on the other hand, was stricken with consumption and later discharged due to a disability captured from the disease and returned home, and he just made it to the war’s end before dying at the bed of his father and mother on November 5, 1865. Increase went into a deep depression, even burning his barn on fire on purpose at a point in 1866 and trying to stay in the barn, before his daughter and their neighbors, Adelia Stevenson, noticed the flames and her husband, Robert Stevenson, saved his life. This is the real reason why Increase sold his land to Robert, not because of the famed “Indian Gunpowder Keg Brawl” but instead a stint of thanks for help with the distraught Increase. Increase moved to his cabin in Fish Creek in 1867 with his wife and lived their until his death in 1868. Increase’s mental health was overlooked, and strikes me down to think all the grief he felt after losing two of his sons to the war, and blaming not only himself, but his choices. In Increase’s will, he even waved off military honors due to his distraught and disgust the federal government with the two rejected pensions of both of their dead sons who died from consequences of combat. But to sum this up, I am just wondering about any other records that could be pulled to help me fill in pieces of William Claflin’s military served in the 32nd Wisconsin Volunteers.

Thank You All. I will dedicate more time to this app and my knowledge of the Civil War in my retirement. I am planning on writing some books on the Civil War and you already know I will share it with none others then my friends on this wondering app, thank you to CWT members for making every notification I receive on this app a smile brought to my face, and lastly thank you for your help with my military background in my tangled up family tree, still trying to fill in some red flags, but I know I got my Yanks and Rebs to help me.

EDIT: I am on mobile right now as my laptop is being fixed, so any spelling errors, I apologize.
 
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His service file hasn't been digitized but you can get that from NARA too.

BTW, Mary Jane's pension payment record says that she died on 9 Aug 1920.
 
This shows his enlistment and discharge dates and line #4 at the bottom shows his address and disability.

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@Bob Velke has done a great job (as always) at getting you the pertinent records. The next step for you might be to look for records written by the soldiers during the War. If you are really lucky, you may get a mention of William. Even if you don't, the experiences of the men who served alongside him will give you an idea of what he experienced. Finding these can be hard but it's worth it! I did a quick search and found letters at an archive in Oregon

http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv73184

At the University of Wisconsin Madison they have the publications made by the Thirty-Second Wisconsin Survivor Association which might be worth checking out

https://search.library.wisc.edu/catalog/999724132202121

In my searches I have found old letters, diaries, articles in veterans magazines - I've even read things written by opposing troops. There's a lot out there if you are willing to dig.
 
EDIT: I am on mobile right now as my laptop is being fixed, so any spelling errors, I apologize.
Welcome. I hope you achieve great results on your research now that you are retired. Im sure you will enjoy it.
I use CWTalk on my iphone but it isnt as easy. Mainly the problem using a tiny keyboard.
I know how you feel because over the last 2 weeks my Printer died, I accidentally chopped my internet/TV cable and my desktop Puter’s power supply. I was almost late paying my bills.

I dont know if I can help you but I will watch the posts to see.
 
Welcome. I hope you achieve great results on your research now that you are retired. Im sure you will enjoy it.
I use CWTalk on my iphone but it isnt as easy. Mainly the problem using a tiny keyboard.
I know how you feel because over the last 2 weeks my Printer died, I accidentally chopped my internet/TV cable and my desktop Puter’s power supply. I was almost late paying my bills.

I dont know if I can help you but I will watch the posts to see.
Thank you, I am planning and booking a countrywide trip exploring battlefields and other Civil War artifacts all around the country. Then I plan to start writing some books and accumulating my knowledge about the ACW so I can start helping others instead of being the one asking questions, it all comes with time I am afraid, but nothing else is more fun then exploring the ideals of the American Civil War!
 
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