On Wednesday, July 03, 2013, several veterans organizations, historians, re-enactors and the public gathered at the Civil War Monument at Soldiers & Sailors Park on W. Front Street.
These are the pictures I took while there. For larger view, click on picture.
Dear Friends of History and Genealogy,
We need your help! In the course of updating the Jason King book, the Monroe County Genealogy Society (MCGS) is researching all the names of Monroe County Civil War Veterans. They have found that several of the Monroe County Civil War Veterans do not have headstones/markers on their graves. The MCGS believes that this is unacceptable and that all veterans should have headstones/markers on their graves.
Two of the Monroe County Civil War Veterans are Afro-American. One of the Afro-American veterans is buried in Woodland Cemetery (Monroe, MI). The other Afro-American Civil War Veteran is buried in Pleasantview Cemetery (Petersburg, MI). Neither of these men have headstones/markers on their graves.
In addition, there are seven to eight other Monroe County Civil War Veterans that are buried in Woodland Cemetery (Monroe, MI) that need head stones/markers on their graves.
Per Rick Danes (Graves Registration Officer, Dept. of Michigan, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War), the Veterans Administration requires a next-of-kin (descendent) to actually sign the application for a headstone/marker. Consequently, we need to find a descendent of these men to sign the application for a headstone/marker.
How do we do this? We figure that if we post the names in Facebook, a family may recognize the name and contact us. The Monroe County Genealogy Society does have the names of the two Monroe County Afro-American Civil War Veterans. They are as follows:
Bromley, Aaron Monroe 102nd, US Col’d Inf Co C 29 Aug 1864 Monroe d 4 Aug 1906 Monroe, MI Woodland Cemetery, Monroe, MI (R10S-Lot 17-Gr1) b 14 Mar 1823 Enlisted for 1 year. Age 28. Joined the regiment at Beaufort, SC on 11 Oct 1864. Discharged for disability 17 May 1865. Name given as Aaron Brumley in military files.
Lewis Robert E. Petersburg 1st MI Col’d & 102 USCT Co D d 5 Feb 1904 Summerfield Twp, Monroe Co, MI Pleasantview Cemetery, Petersburg, MI b 24 Oct 1819. Robert was in Company D, 1st Michigan Colored Infantry, then the 102nd U.S. C.T. He was a resident of Dearborn, MI then Monroe County. Late in life he lived with his daughter Amanda and son-in law Lee Brookins in Petersburg, MI and died in 1904.
Also, Robert ’s son Lorenzo, was a member of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry. Lorenzo returned to Dearborn, MI (Wayne County) after the Civil War, ended up in the Ohio Soldiers and Sailor Home in Sandusky, O in 1891, and died in the State hospital in Toledo, O in 1893. We do not know where Lorenzo is buried or if his grave is marked.
If you are a descendent of any of these Civil War veterans, please contact us!
Some people felt it was the turning point of the war, other’s called “Pickett’s” the most futile charge in American History. Join us as “The General” reveals Lee’s plan behind the scenes and what “Black Horse Cavalry” had to do with the Battle of Gettyburg. Years later, when asked why his charge at Gettyburg failed, General Pickett replied: ” I’ve always thought the Yankees had something to do with it.”
The Battle of Gettysburg will be the topic at the Third Civil War Dinner, Saturday April 27 at 6:00 p.m. General George A Custer, aka Steve Alexander, will reminisce about Gettysburg. Monroe County’s Fiddlesix will provide period music, a raffle for a locally made quilt and a silent auction will also be held. Proceeds go to Friends of the Museum for the publication of a book about Civil War veterans of Monroe County. Reservations are required and tickets cost $ 20. Call Chris at 734-652-1192 for tickets and further information.
8 more names have been discovered and have been added to the list on this site. There are now 418 names total with 410 currently listed on the monument.
The names found are;
Matthew Clark
George Bisell
Benjamin Dettenberger
John Jipson
Gilbert E. Pratt
Casper Nagel
Marcus Smith
Philo B. Weaver
It is unknown at this time when the names will be added to the Civil War Monument which now stands in Soldiers & Sailors Park.
As a boy, I grew up hearing stories from my grandmother about her uncle, Thomas W. Goodenough, who had served and died during the Civil War. My grandmother told me that he had been “killed and buried at Antietam,” and she gave me a photograph of Tom, along with a diary and another small book that he had carried with him during the war. I was vaguely aware that there had been another uncle, George W. Brown, who also had served in the war, but he did not figure prominently in my grandmother’s tales. The story that follows is what I have been able to glean from various sources, including compiled service records from the National Archives, the original regimental records in the Michigan Archives, census records, and bits and pieces of family lore.
Thomas Watkins Goodenough was the son of Thomas Goodenough and Kitty W. Taylor Goodenough. They may have been part of the Nelson Goodenough family recorded in Ida Township, Monroe County, Michigan in the 1840 census, but this is based only on circumstantial evidence. Tom’s father died when he was young, and Kitty Taylor subsequently married George Brown and lived in Monroe, Michigan. Tom grew up in Monroe with his half-brother, George W. Brown, and two half sisters, Rachael and Harriet Brown.
Tom enlisted in Company E of the 1st Michigan infantry in Ann Arbor, Michigan on April 24, 1861 at age 22. He enlisted as a private, was promoted to corporal on May 22, 1862, was engaged with the 1st Michigan at the battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861, and was mustered out with his regiment in Detroit on August 7, 1861. He then enlisted in the 7th Michigan Infantry (Company D) on September 2, 1861 as a corporal in Monroe, Michigan. The 7th Michigan Infantry Regiment served during the Peninsular Campaign, and took part in the Battle of Fair Oaks on May 31, 1862. During the seven days battles, Tom was wounded on June 30, 1862, probably during the battle of Glendale, and taken prisoner on July 1, 1862, probably during the retreat from Glendale to Malvern Hill. After being paroled on August 6, 1862, he returned to his regiment and subsequently was wounded in the arm while the 7th Michigan was heavily engaged at the battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862. He subsequently died on October 4, 1862 from “exhaustion following secondary hemorrhage and amputation of arm” at Casparis House military hospital in Washington, D.C., as reported by W.E. Waters, Assistant Surgeon, U.S. Army.
Tom’s younger half-brother, George W. Brown, also served in the 7th Michigan Infantry in Company D, enlisting at Monroe, Michigan on September 3, 1861 as a private. He is described as being 5 feet 3½ inches tall, with blue eyes and brown hair. While his age at enlistment was listed as 18, he was only 14 in the 1860 census, so he actually would only have been 15 or 16 2
years old when he enlisted. George certainly would have known what he was signing up for, since his older brother Tom would have had no illusions about the realities of war after having been in the thick of battle at Bull Run with the 1st Michigan. George served during the peninsular campaign, and was wounded in the shoulder at the battle of Fair Oaks. George also fought in the battle of Antietam, after which his service record becomes a bit confused. According to his compiled service record, he was listed as absent without leave in the monthly returns from September, 1862 through February, 1863, and finally noted as having deserted on 9/22/62 at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia in the March, 1863 monthly returns. On the regimental muster-out roll compiled in 1865, however, he is listed under missing in action with the notation “missing since September 17, 1862,” but was NOT in the list of deserters for Company D. Clearly his comrades gave him the benefit of the doubt, because they must have been aware that he had survived the war and went AWOL shortly after Antietam. When these records were compiled and published by the state of Michigan in the late 1800s, the entry for George W. Brown was concluded with the statement “No further record” after his wounding at Fair Oaks, even though the regimental records clearly record him as having deserted. A cryptic notation in his compiled service record, dated June 18, 1868, indicates “a discharge on file.” Whatever the actual story may have been, George did survive the war, worked on a government dredge in Ludington and South Haven, Michigan, and had several children and numerous grandchildren. George Brown died in 1922, and is buried in Lakeview Cemetery in South Haven, Michigan. My grandmother never provided any details about George Brown, and when I questioned her directly about him she only said “Oh, the one who came back; no, I don’t know anything more.” My feeling is the shock of his older brother’s wounding and death combined with George’s youth were implicated in his decision to leave his regiment shortly after the battle of Antietam, and also may have been mitigating factors in the eyes of his comrades. George may have been the source of the family tradition that his brother Tom was “killed and buried at Antietam,” which made our search for Tom Goodenough’s actual grave somewhat complicated. Before accessing his service records, we had searched in vain for his grave at Antietam, only to find out later on that he was actually buried in Washington, D.C.
Tom Goodenough’s Diary and Memorandum from 1862 has been passed down in the family, and records his thoughts while on picket duty along the Potomac River in February, 1862. This provides a view of the time the 7th Michigan spent in winter camp near Poolesville and Edwards Ferry, Maryland. The following passage is transcribed from his diary, with a few explanatory comments in italics.
Monday, February 24, 1862
Well, here we are on picket about four miles from camp and as I always do I must improve some of the time in writing to my pet sister, for no matter where I am or what I am doing I never forget my own darling sister. I mailed a letter to you this morning. I am on post ten in a nice little hut with five men besides myself; my brother George, Bill (Waters), Thomas Arnold, Denious Smith, and Wm. Brown. Bill W. has gone across the canal after some milk and I am a going to have some for my dinner. Don’t you wish you had some pet? Well, I will eat enough for you and me both.
Half past eleven o’clock at night while I am sitting on the bench which is in front of the fireplace and the tramp of the sentinel is heard just outside of our snug little cabin. I will add a few more lines to my eight day letter. The wind is a blowing a perfect gale and it is a very cold and tedious night for anyone who has to stay on post for two long hours, and as I sat looking in to the fire my mind wandered back to old Monroe for when I get to thinking of anything Monroe is the first that enters my mind: the home of my childhood, the home of the one who is the nearest and dearest to my heart. How can I help it when there is so much there for me to care for and live for? I cannot help it, can I my dear little pet. I know you will decide in my favor like a dear good sister.
Who can tell the thoughts of the sentinel as he walks his lonely beat? None but those who have had experience, none but the soldier himself. He is on the bank of the River Potomac; the enemy is just across the river. He has three ways for Sunday to look for all at once, as the old saying is. He has to watch up and down the towpath of the canal to see that no one approaches his post or crosses the canal and he has to watch the river to see that the rebels do not come across and surprise him on his post. What are his thoughts? He is thinking of the dear ones at home at this late hour. They are in their comfortable beds; no enemy have they to look after, no fear have they that they will be called perhaps before morning to go forth to meet the deadly foe. Do they allow one single thought to wander away down here for him? Are they dreaming of him as he walks to and fro on his lonely beat? If so, then it is worth worlds to have the assurance of that one thing, but it is time I was relieving Bill Brown so I must stop. So goodnight pet sister, but I suppose you have gone to bed long before this.
Tuesday morn, February 25th, ten o’clock. Good morning, my dear pet sister, how do you do this cold windy morn? Pretty well, I hope. Last night passed off without anything of any account happening or anyone getting shot. Got up this morn about eight o’clock, washed myself and had some coffee and cold meat and bread and molasses for breakfast. Our shanty caught afire, but we put it out before it got to going very bad. Two of the boys have gone across the canal after some milk and the rest are asleep so that there is no one to bother me nor disturb my peaceful thoughts and I have nothing else to do but to sit and think of my darling sister and all the rest of the dear ones at home. Seven o’clock in the evening; well dear sister I received your very kind and much beloved letter of the 16th this morn about ten o’clock.
Twelve o’clock, Tuesday March 11, 1862. Fell in about eleven o’clock and started for the ferry keeping time to a beautiful tune played by our band. Arrived at the ferry about twelve o’clock. Met where our troops embarked on board three canal boats and started. Two o’clock; here we are on the Cayling canal about two miles from Ball’s Bluff where Colonel Baker was killed. We are just opposite the rebel fort which the rebels built for the protection of Leesburgh. Our troops have position of it now. The scenery along the canal is grand, especially on the Virginia side. High bluffs arise all along the river side and on the Maryland side is more level and once in awhile we come to a large plantation. How I wish you was here to enjoy this ride with me, but you are not and so I will have to be content to enjoy it all alone and allow my thoughts to wander away back to Monroe where my beloved pet sister lives.
Thomas Goodenough had three younger half sisters: Rachael Elizabeth Brown (born in 1847), Harriet Amanda Brown (born ca. 1854), and Ida Lucinda Fuller (born in 1858). The family tradition is that this letter was written to his sister Rachael.
Miscellaneous Notations from Tom Goodenough’s Diary and Memorandum:
Wednesday, May 7, 1862
Battle of West Point
Saturday, May 31, 1862
Battle of Fair Oaks
Sunday, June 1, 1862
Second Battle of Fair Oaks
Sunday, June 29, 1862
Battle and retreat at Savage Station
Battle of tower station (possibly Allen’s Farm, near Orchard Station)
Monday, June 30, 1862
Battle three miles from the James River (probably the battle of Glendale)
Tuesday, July 1, 1862
Tacon prisenor
All of these notations relate to the Peninsular Campaign of 1862, during which the 7th Michigan took part in the advance toward and retreat from Richmond. The 7th was heavily engaged at Fair Oaks on May 31, 1862 and took part in a charge that drove the confederate forces back and closed the fighting on that day. The 7th Michigan also was heavily engaged at Glendale on June 30th during the retreat from Richmond. During this engagement, the regiment had moved forward in support of the 20th Massachusetts when it came under a heavy flanking fire and retreated in disorder. This is evidently when Tom was wounded, and he was taken prisoner sometime during the union retreat to Malvern Hill.
Compiled by Neil W. MacDonald, Sparta, Michigan June 17, 2012. 5
Thomas Watkins Goodenough, age 16.
Tom’s grave in the Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home National Cemetery, Washington, D.C.
The first of the CIVIL WAR stories has been submitted by Mr. Neil Macdonald. It is about two brothers from Monroe, Michigan in the Civil War. Thomas W. Goodenough and George W. Brown who served together in the 7th Michigan Infantry. Included is an excerpt from the diary of one brother describing his thoughts while serving picket duty during the winter of 1862, providing a living glimpse of the past.
Each submission will have its own individual Post as well as added to the CIVIL WAR STORIES Page.
Abraham Lincoln (Fred Priebe) delivering his Gettysburg Address at the Monroe Civil War Monument dedication this past Memorial Day weekend. May 27, 2012.
Thank you to Mr. Jim Dunham for the photo.
This photo has been added to the page “Pictures of Civil War Monument & Sawyer Home Events”
Sometime ago, I was contacted by a representative from the National Archives in Washington D.C. to obtain permission to include this site in their NEW Civil War Digital Collection.
I granted permission and was informed that either towards the end of the Civil War Sesquicentennial or after, this site along with other’s will be available for public use and research.
That is one of the reasons I asked in a previous post of Monroe residents who have ancestors from Monroe that fought during the Civil War. The request e-mail was sent on an old account that I had to delete. But when I got the e-mail, I forwarded it to a couple of people and hoped that at least one of them saved it so I could post the request. Unfortunately neither one saved it or could locate it.
So please send your family Civil War histories to me at jjmj63@gmail.com as soon as you can. –
Thank you and I hope to be able to post your family’s past, at the present for the future.
The events of the day will begin at 10:00 a.m. when the Corl-Gaynier AMVETS Post 1942 will be calling out the names of all 410 county men listed on the new Civil War monument one at a time located at Soldier and Sailors Park and ringing a ships bell after each name is called out. All 410 were county residents that died in the war.
The Monroe County Civil War Fallen Memorial will be dedicated at 2:00 p.m. The memorial is at Soldiers and Sailors Park, E. Front and Navarre Sts., and honors more than 400 soldiers from Monroe County who died during the war.
Activities and demonstrations are scheduled from noon to 4:00 p.m.; A 12 piece Civil band will be giving two concerts are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
The event also will include over 100 military re-enactors, Civil War encampment, and historical organization displays and cannon firing.
For information, call 847-9527.
I would like to add local stories of Monroe’s Ancestors who fought in the Civil War. I am also looking for stories of local Monroe’s involvement during the Civil War. For example, the story I posted about gun stocks made locally.
Please sumbit stories to jjmj63@gmail.com
Thank you.
Monroe County, Michigan Civil War Sesquicentennial 