Yesterday was my first visit to the National Archives in Washington D.C., and I have to tell you...if you're an aspiring genealogist...definitely put this place on your TO GO VISIT list!
I'm a member of my local genealogical society here in Slower Lower Delaware and every so many months they plan a D.C. trip with three sites to visit: The National Archives, The D.A.R Library (Daughters of the American Revolution), and the Library of Congress.
I chose the former because I'm a huge Civil War buff and my great great grandfather, Alonzo Starr, was enlisted with the 5th Artillery and served with the Army of the Potomac. Last year I had saved up my pennies and ordered a copy of his Civil War Pension file through the NARA website. I was amazed with the amount of information in his file. But one document had me curious. Alonzo, for whatever reasons, was in a tug of war with the government about getting his pension increased and there were dozens of letters going back and forth regarding this topic. One letter, handwritten by him in 1926 when he was 81 years old was copied with another typewritten testimonial letter on top of it. I couldn't read the bottom of the first page! The last paragraph started with "After the war, I was one of..." and then the testimonal page started. Apparently whomever copied the document left the testimonial over the handwritten page. Really got my curiousity going.
So, this was the first thing I wanted to clear up on my visit to the National Archives. What did that last paragraph really say?
After doing the check in stuff that is required of new researchers, I went to the desk to request a copy of his pension file. I really couldn't believe I was going to get the chance to hold these documents in my very own hands! They said it would take about an hour. So I went next door to another desk and requested to look at the indexes on military units during the Civil War. I also wanted to check out some information about his brother, Edward, who also served but deserted after a month. I knew Edward was with the 68th PA Volunteers, but didn't know much about that unit.
After I filled out my requests, I wandered around downstairs, killing time looking at the census indexes. I went up to the research room (Room 203) and asked about Alonzo's file. The girl behind the desk handed me a thick envelope and I really had to hold my composure...I felt like a kid on Christmas that couldn't wait to open their present from Santa!
I sat down and laid the envelope in front of me. Took a deep breath and carefully pulled out the documents. Of course, all of this I had a copy of at home, but seeing the familiar pages in real life in front of me, still, was something I never thought I'd ever see. It was kind of hard not to get emotional, for me...I spent many years learning the life of this man who was my great great grandfather. My friend, Cathy, had come along on this trip, and she was with me a few years ago when I found his gravesite in Wilmington for the first time. She knows how much Alonzo means to me.
Carfully flipping each page over to the left, careful not to get them out of order, I finally come to the page that pigued my curiosity this past year. The handwritten note from Alonzo. And there on top of it was the typewritten testimonial. Oh, who was the testimonial from you ask? His commanding officer, Henry A. DuPont. Original signature and all. I looked over at Cathy, and she's grinning, "go ahead and lift it up!"
So, I did. On the left edge, the pages were stuck together, so I was careful not to pull them apart, and gingerly lifted the page.
The words I could see on my copy at home were: "After the war, I was one of"...
The rest of the story blew me away.
The entire text of that paragraph from 1926 read:
"After the war, I was one of the guards over Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate Army, at Fortress Monroe, VA, until he was released." And, of course, Alonzo's signature.
YOU DID WHAT????!!!! I mean, I was a hundred times proud that my great great grandfather served in the Civil War...and SURVIVED...but to read what he did at the end of his time in service...WOW! From his service record I had at home, I knew his last assignment was at Fort Monroe, but as a Yankee, did I know ANYTHING about Jeff Davis' incarceration? No. Just what everyone else knows...that his slave threw his wife's overcoat over him as he was leaving his home and the news stories chomped on it and said "Jeff Davis runs away dressed as a woman"...humiliating enough to lose a war, but that news story had to have hurt.
Gotta love Cathy for bringing along her iPad...I took a quick picture of it for my files. You are allowed to bring a digital camera into the research room with you as long as the flash does not go off and damage the files. The research staff also needs to inspect whatever files you have the intention of copying on their copy machine. Some items they have just won't survive the light so they nix some things.
Anyway, I was beyond thrilled to have this new piece of the puzzle. Well, since I'm going to be here for another 5 hours, might as well find something else to look up. So, I worked on Edward's unit information. The only file they had for him was his muster rolls. There were six muster roll sheets in his file...and that was it. Nothing else.
Company Muster In Roll dated 4 Aug 1862 Philadelphia, PA, Edward was 22 yrs old and paid $25.
Company Muster Roll for the period August 4 to October 31, 1862 it lists Edward had deserted on September 1, 1862.
Descriptive List of Deserters dated March 21, 1863 from HQ PA listed Edward as deserted on September 1, 1862.
Descriptive List of Deserters dated 31 Dec 1863 from Brandy, VA listed Edward as deserted on September 1, 1862.
Descriptive List of Deserters dated 31 Mar 1865 from City Point, VA has more to say in the Remarks section: "This man deserted on Sept 1, 62. Man apprehended on or about the 1st day of Jan'y 1864, taken to Baltimore, MD, from which place he subsequently escaped."
Company Muster Out Roll dated 9 Jun 1865 from Hart Island, NY said Edward drew $21 for uniforms and listed his original payment of $25. Again the remarks it says he deserted on 1 Sep 1962 in Philly.
One of my other requests for unit information downstairs was for the daily morning reports for the 68th PA Company C - which was Edward's unit. This came to me as a huge, ribbon wrapped dusty, falling apart journal. I was half afraid to open it. It was a hundred and fifty years old!! So, I flip carefully through the pages searching for his unit...all four units were part of this book. And there on January 17th 1864 it was written that Edward Starr was captured in Baltimore. Well, now that's confusing...it says in his file that he was TAKEN to Baltimore.
Well, either way...I know that by the time of the 1870 census, Edward was up in Butler, PA working for the Pullman Railcar Company. By 1880 he was back home in Wilmington and on 3 Jun 1890 he was dead by accidental drowning. Another puzzle for another day. Seems fishy to me. I want this to be something juicy like he was "murdered" by drowning because someone found out he was a deserter. But so far I haven't found anything. As I said...another puzzle for another day.
All in all I had a great day in D.C. doing research at the National Archives. I can't wait for April!!!
