I followed the wrong family line! Gordon Johnson was born about 1827 in Tazewell County, Virginia.[1] He married Cosby Green in about 1849. I thought Gordon was the “right” guy. I had been doing the family history of my cousin’s paternal line when I stumbled across Gordon and Cosby.
Sadly, it was the wrong family line. However, I just
couldn’t shake the feeling that Gordon wanted to be “found.” You see, Gordon didn’t
appear with his family in the 1870 census. Cosby was listed with five children
ages nine to seventeen. I wondered where he was. His last child was born in
about 1861. Then, I knew. Gordon must have been a soldier in the Civil War.
I couldn’t help myself. I had to find out what happened to him. His story ended up being
fascinating and down-right uncanny.
Following Gordon in Time
I first found Gordon at age 23, listed with his wife, Cosby,
and a baby in the 1850 Lee County, Virginia census. The 1860 census found
Gordon again in Lee County, Virginia with his wife and six children. She was obviously quite the busy young
mother! By 1870, Cosby was head of the household with five children.[2]
My next step was to see what was available for Civil War records online. FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com both have several databases available for Civil War research. I did a military search for Gordon on Ancestry.com and found many good matches.
My next step was to see what was available for Civil War records online. FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com both have several databases available for Civil War research. I did a military search for Gordon on Ancestry.com and found many good matches.
I learned that Gordon was living in Lee County, Virginia and
was about thirty-six years old on enlistment day. He served for Virginia and
did not survive the war.[3]
Well, that answered my first question. He was definitely a soldier and he had
never returned home.
I also learned that Gordon was enlisted in the 64th
Virginia Infantry on 13 Aug 1862 and was mustered out on 26 Dec 1863 at Camp
Douglas, Chicago, IL.[4]
This is the uncanny part! Guess where I was living when I found this
record…yep, just outside of Chicago. What were the odds?! It just convinced me
even more that Gordon was cheering me on from the “other side.” “Find me,” he
called, “Tell my story!”
Another fun find was in the Alabama, Texas and Virginia, Confederate Pensions, 1884-1958 in
which his widow filed for pension.[5]
Did you realize that Confederate soldier widows could get pensions?
The application for pension filed by Cosby was only one
page, but she stated that she and Gordon had married in Mulberry Gap,
Tennessee.[6]
A quick Google search showed Mulberry Gap to be in Hancock County. Hancock
County courthouse had a fire and marriage records between 1844 and 1930 were
lost.[7]
Because of this loss, it is likely this pension record is the only record that
states the exact location they were married. This was a great find!
I Hit the Mother Lode
I love using Fold3, especially for Civil War and War of 1812
research. I searched for Gordon and hit the mother lode. There were seventeen
pages in the “Compiled Service Records of
Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Virginia”
file. It confirmed he was in Company G of the 64th Virginia Mounted
Infantry and enlisted in Lee County, Virginia for three years.
Other new tidbits of information included that he was
captured at Cumberland Gap, Tennessee on 9 Sept 1863. He was then sent to Camp
Douglas [Illinois] on 24 Sept 1863 via Louisville, Kentucky. He died on 26 Dec
1863 at Camp Douglas, Illinois of phthisis pulmonalis, another name for tuberculosis. At that time, he was buried at Chicago City Cemetery in grave
#918. Wow! What a story!
Gordon’s wife Cosby filed a claim on 12 July 1864 suggesting
that she was given word of his death at least within six months.[8]
I hope she found out sooner, rather than later.
Some Enriching Details
A Google search for “64th Virginia Mounted
Infantry” gave me some insight into Gordon’s time in the military and his
imprisonment.
The 64th Virginia Mounted Infantry was recruited
from the Virginia counties of Lee, Scott, Wise, and Buchanan. They were allowed
to stay in their home area as long as they promised to protect the Confederacy.
The regiment did not see much “action” or bloodshed, but their mortality rate
was high due to their dying of disease as prisoners of war.[9]
Two thirds of the 64th regiment were captured on
9 Sept 1863 at Cumberland Gap, Tennessee.[10]
Gordon and a couple of his brothers were among those captured.
The winter of 1863 and 1864 were some of the harshest on
record. Cold temperatures, insufficient food, lack of adequate clothing, and
disease ravaged the camp. By the end of the war, Camp Douglas had housed over
26,000 Confederate prisoners and had over 3,000 fatalities due in large part to
the horrible conditions.[11]
 |
| Fort Douglas, Chicago, IL. Image from Wikimedia Commons. |
Soldiers who had died at the camp were first buried in the
Chicago City Cemetery, but due to flooding, in 1866, the soldiers were exhumed and removed to Oak Woods Cemetery in a large mass grave.[12]
A monument stands there and reads “ERECTED TO THE MEMORY OF SIX THOUSAND
SOLDIERS HERE BURIED WHO DIED IN CAMP DOUGLAS PRISON 1862-5”. There are large
bronze tablets that list some of the dead that are buried there. I checked to
see if his name appeared on the tablets…it does.
Conclusion
Even though I had followed the wrong family line and found
the “wrong guy,” it was a pleasure to get to know Gordon Johnson. I was kind of
disappointed when I learned he wasn’t in my cousin’s family line. But guess
what…after more research, I found that it was me who was related to Gordon…through
his wife Cosby! I love it when a family history story comes together, don’t
you?
Do you wonder how to best write about tragic events in your family history? If you are struggling with that question, I think you will enjoy reading:
Thoughts on Writing Tragic Events in Family History
Do you wonder how to best write about tragic events in your family history? If you are struggling with that question, I think you will enjoy reading:
Thoughts on Writing Tragic Events in Family History
ARTICLE REFERENCES
[1] 1850
US Federal Census, District 31, Lee, Virginia, population schedule, page 351
(stamped), dwelling 657, family 679, Gordon Johnston [sic], digital image, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 27 Mar 2015);
citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 955.
[2] 1870
US Federal Census, Jonesville, Lee, Virginia, population schedule, page 14
(penned), dwelling 88, family 89, Cosby Johnson, digital image, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 Apr 2015);
citing NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 1658.
[3] “U.S.,
Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865,” index, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed
5 Apr 2015), entry for Gordon Johnson, born 1826, resident of Lee County,
Virginia.
[4] Ibid.
[5] “Alabama,
Texas and Virginia, Confederate Pensions, 1884-1958,” digital image, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 Apr 2015),
entry for Mrs. Causby [sic] Johnson, widow, Lee County, Virginia.
[6] Ibid.
Note the location of marriage is indexed as Troutburg, TN, however after
viewing the image, it was determined to be transcribed incorrectly and the
location of marriage is Mulberry Gap, TN.
[7]
“Hancock County, Tennessee Genealogy”, FamilySearch,
(http://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Hancock_County,_Tennessee_Genealogy
: accessed 4 Apr 2015).
[8] “Compiled
Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the
State of Virginia,” digital image, Fold3,
(www.fold3.com : accessed 7 April 2015),
entry for Gordon Johnson, 64th Mounted Infantry; citing NARA
microfilm publication M324, roll 1044.
[9] Jeff
Weaver, “64th Virginia Infantry,” USGenWeb Archives, (http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/military/civilwar/rosters/va64th.txt
: accessed 6 Apr 2015).
[10] Ibid.
[11] The Chicago Story that must be Told, Dec
2013, pg. 3; digital image, Camp Douglas
Restoration Foundation (http://www.campdouglas.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Camp%20Douglas%20Presentation.pdf : accessed 2 Apr 2015). This number has been disputed
over the years. Most have declared the
official number to be about 3,108, however the monument placed at Oak Woods
Cemetery in Chicago gives the number as 6,000.
[12] Confederate Mound at Oak Woods Cemetery in
Chicago, Illinois, para. 2-3, digital image, National Park Service
