Samuel F. Woolman - updated 3/22/2015

Based on a review of pension records: 

Samuel F. Woolman was born in 1839, in Camden, New Jersey, probably the son of Josiah (b. 1817) and Martha (Rogers).

Samuel was probably living in Dorr, Allegan County, where he married Jane Nickerson (b. 1837) of Leighton, Allegan County, on February 11, 1862, and they had at least one child: Elton R. (b. December of 1862). Samuel stood 5’6” with blue eyes, light hair and a light complexion and was a 23-year-old mechanic possibly living in Dorr, Allegan County, Michigan, when he enlisted in Company E on August 10, 1862, at Grand Rapids for 3 years, crediting Dorr, and was mustered the same day.

He joined the Regiment on September 6 at Fairfax Seminary, Virginia, and was serving with the Brigade wagon and ambulance trains by April of 1863. He was missing in action on May 3, 1863, at Chancellorsville, Virginia, and he returned to the regiment in November, when he was listed as absent sick.

He eventually returned to duty and according to first Lieutenant Ernest Synold of Company E, Samuel was “mortally wounded” on May 23, 1864, at the North Anna River, “by a canister shot in the left shoulder’ and, according to Second Lieutenant Ernest Synold, then commanding Company E, subsequently “died from its effects May 30 in division field hospital.” War Department records report that he died at Lincoln Hospital in Washington. Either way, Samuel was reportedly buried in Arlington National Cemetery, probably in section 27, grave no. 609, listed as “Daniel Woolman.”

In August of 1864 his widow applied for and received a pension (no. 38083). In 1867 Jane remarried to Homer Collister and was probably living in Pentwater, Oceana County when she applied for and received a pension on behalf of a minor child of Samuel’s (no. 100195). Curiously, one Elihu Nickerson was listed as guardian of Elton.

John H. Sumner

John H. Sumner was born in 1840 in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Samuel Robert (b. 1803) and Jerusha (b. 1806).

Massachusetts native Samuel married Maine-born Jerusha in 1831, possibly in Maine where they lived for some years. By 1850 Samuel was working as a carpenter and John (listed as “J. H.” ) was attending school with two of his older siblings in Somerville, Massachusetts. John left Massachusetts and moved west, eventually settling in western Michigan where by 1859-60 he was living with one Samuel Sumner (probably his father) on the north side of Lyon east of Prospect Street in Grand Rapids, Kent County. In 1860 Samuel R. was reportedly living in Grand Rapids’ Second Ward.

John stood 5’6” with blue eyes, auburn hair and a light complexion and was a 21-year-old dentist possibly living in Grand Rapids or Zeeland, Ottawa County when he enlisted in Company A on May 13, 1861. He was reported in the Brigade commissary department in July of 1862, and promoted to Commissary Sergeant on August 1 or 17, 1862, at Harrison’s Landing, Virginia. In early March of 1863 John returned to his home in Grand Rapids on a 20-day furlough, “to visit his parents and friends in this city.”

John soon returned to the Regiment and was awarded the Kearny Cross for his participation in the battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia, on May 3, 1863. He was still Quartermaster Sergeant when he reenlisted on December 24, 1863, at Brandy Station, Virginia, crediting Cannon, Kent County, and presumably returned to his home in Michigan on veteran’s furlough in January of 1864 and if so he probably returned to the Regiment on or about the first of February. He was discharged per special order no. 42 (dated February 19, 1864) in order to be promoted and commissioned as of December 31, 1863.

He was subsequently promoted to Regimental Quartermaster on January 1, 1864, at Camp Bullock, Virginia, commissioned November 25, 1863, replacing Captain Robert M. Collins, who had been promoted to the U.S. Army regulars. John was mustered out on June 20, 1864, at Detroit.

After leaving the army John returned to Michigan where he reentered the service as Captain of Company A, Reorganized Third Michigan infantry on July 29, 1864, at the organization of that unit. Charles Wright, formerly Company A, wrote home on December 5, 1864, from Petersburg, Virginia, that “I heard from the new Third the other day. They were down in Georgia and had been in a four day fight, and lost five men out of the Regiment in killed and wounded. With two exceptions that Regiment has a lot of cowards for officers, Lieut. Moon, formerly sergeant of my company is not one of them nor is John Sumner captain of that Regiment.”

On January 21, 1865, Sumner requested a leave of absence. “I have the honour,” he wrote to Brigadier General W. D. Whipple,

to make application for a leave of absence for (20) twenty days, to visit my home in Michigan.

I have now entered upon my second term of service for three years. On being mustered out of the United States service, I held the position of R.Q.M. Third Michigan Veterans Infantry; my Regiment was consolidated with the 5th Michigan Veteran Infantry, and my business was left in an unsettled condition, which must have serious injury to the officers of the Regiment so consolidated, unless I can properly settle my business connected with the Regiment to which I formerly belonged. I have made stringent efforts through the Mail to do so, but have thus far failed. I know now of no way in which it can be done without my personal presence and attention. At the evacuation of Decatur, Ala., November 25th, 1864, I lost my valise, containing my uniform and other clothing. I wish to purchase another Uniform and outfit, which I am unable to procure here.

John’s request was granted and he was absent with leave from February 6. By the second week of February was back home in Grand Rapids. “Capt. John Sumner,” wrote the Grand Rapids Eagle on February 9, “of the new Third Michigan infantry, has just returned from the front, on a short furlough, to visit his parents and friends in this city. He reports the ‘boys’ in his command and Regiment generally well and in good spirits.”

He eventually rejoined the Regiment and was tried by a general court martial at New Orleans, Louisiana on July 4, 1865, for disobedience of orders: he reportedly spent the night in the city. The surgeon t4estified that he was too sick to return form the city for the night. But since he had a pass to spend the day only the courts found him guilty and fined forfeiture of one month pay. He was Acting Commissary and Subsistence at Victoria, Texas from November 28, 1865, through April of 1866, and was mustered out with the Regiment on May 25, 1866 at Victoria, Texas.

After the war John returned to Grand Rapids and was probably living at 137 Lyon Street in 1865-66. By 1870 John was living with his parents in Grand Rapids’ Second Ward in 1870, working as an insurance agent and he worked in the bookkeeping department of the Grand Rapids Democrat from 1870 until 1872 when he became engaged in selling real estate in Grand Rapids.

On December 13 the Democrat wrote that Sumner along with E. L. Somers “opened a real estate office and collection agency, with Alfred Putnam, Justice of the Peace. These gentlemen are young, active, experienced in business, and are sure to succeed. For two years past, Mr. Sumner has been employed in the counting room of the Democrat, and during that time has acquitted himself to the satisfaction of his employers, proving faithful to every tract and energetic in the discharge of his duties. His associate, Mr. Somers, is widely known and generally respected, as a man of integrity, and sound judgment, who never allows pleasure to stand in the way of business. We wish the firm the greatest success.”

He married Pennsylvania native Susan (1854-1928) and had at least one child: Mary R. (b. 1876).

By 1880 John was working as a book-keeper and living with his wife and daughter on Lyon Street in Grand Rapids’ Fourth Ward.

John was a staunch Democrat, and a member of the Old Third Michigan Infantry Association. In 1902 he applied for and received a pension (no. 1086398).

John resided in Grand Rapids for many years but by 1890 he had moved to Washington, DC, where he was working as Second Assistant Postmaster in the U.S. post office and either working or living at 915 I Street northwest. He lived the rest of his life in Washington.

He died at his home in Washington on May 2, 1905, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery: section 3, grave 1515.

The same month John died his widow applied for and received a pension (no. 599906). Susan was still living in Washington, DC in 1920; and her daughter Mary was living with her.

George Root

George Root was born in 1842 in New York.

George left New York and eventually settled in western Michigan where by 1860 he was working as a mill hand and living in Muskegon, Muskegon County at the Averill boarding house, where Thomas Waters and William Ryan (both of whom would also enlist in Company H), along with George’s older brother James also resided.

George was 19 years old and still residing in Muskegon when he enlisted with the consent of the Justice of the Peace in Company H on May 6, 1861.

He died on December 11, 15 or 20, 1863, of “lung fever” at Alexandria, Virginia, and was buried at Alexandria National Cemetery: section A, grave 815.

No pension seems to be available.

Chauncey Rice

Chauncey Rice was born in 1832 in Cattaraugus County, New York, possibly the son of Daniel (b. 1815) and stepson of Mary (b. 1823).

New York-born Daniel married Chauncey’s mother and settled in New York. He remarried to Mary, probably in New York, and between 1843 and 1848 the family moved to Michigan. By 1850 Chauncey was working as a laborer and living with his family in Gaines, Kent County. By 1860 Daniel had moved his family to Leighton, Allegan County.

Chauncey reportedly married a woman named Mary and they had at least one child, a son Lyman (b. 1859).

In 1860 Chauncey was also living in Leighton, working as a farmer and living with his son and a woman named Mary who was reportedly 72 years old (and no place of birth listed in the census).

Chauncey stood 5’10” with blue eyes, dark hair and a dark complexion, and was a 32-year-old farmer living with his wife in Grand Rapids, when he enlisted in Company K on January 20, 1864, for 3 years, crediting Gaines, Kent County or Leighton, Allegan County and was mustered the same day. (His wife was living in Mayfield, Grand Traverse County in 1864.) He joined the Regiment on February 17 at Camp Bullock, Virginia.

In May of 1864 Chauncey was suffering from typhoid fever when he was transferred from the Regimental hospital to Armory Square hospital in Washington, DC, where he died on May 14, 1864, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, section 27, grave no. 30.

In July of 1864 his widow applied for and received a pension (no. 37739). She remarried and in 1867 (?) an application was made on behalf of at least one minor child (no. 94121).

Edwin Sheldon Pierce

Edwin Sheldon Pierce was born on December 1, 1833, in East Bloomfield, Ontario County, New York, the son of Silas (b. 1801) and Mary (Root, b. 1801?).

Silas was born in New York and Mary in Massachusetts and they were probably married sometime before 1826, possibly in New York. In any case they lived in New York for some years, and by 1850 Edwin was living with the family and working for his father in West Bloomfield where his father operated a woolen factory.

Edwin came to Grand Rapids and went to work for Carlos Burchard in January of 1853 as clerk. The following year Edwin and James Blair bought Burchard out, and together entered into the clothing business. The Eagle wrote on September 23, 1856, that “Blair & Pierce have the reputation of being the most fashionable establishment in the city. Their city retail trade is exceedingly large, and they also do a fair wholesale trade. These gentlemen are both young men, possessed of an excellent taste, and are certain of keeping at the top of the heap, so far as the city trade is concerned. Everything new, pleasing or fanciful, is always first found at their store, at the foot of Monroe-st.”

However, soon afterward Pierce dissolved the firm Blair & Pierce, and went into partnership with the Farr brothers. On January 29, 1857, the Eagle noted that “Messers. Blair & Peirce [sic] have dissolved partnership, and Messers. G. W. & W. B. Farr, with Mr. Peirce continue the clothing business in all its branches, at the old stand. Edward's pleasant countenance will, as usual, fall benignantly upon his old friends -- and he has a host of them -- while his polite endeavors to give them satisfaction as well as FITS, will, in no wise be relaxed -- though, should such be the case, the boys will only go a little Farther along and then they will be attended to. We wish the new firm of Farr & Peirce [sic] all the success that good looks, and active business habits must command.” This relationship, too, was very brief and that same year Pierce entered into a partnership with Lewis Porter. The two men continued in business as Porter & Pierce until 1861.

In 1859-60 Edwin was working as a clerk and boarding with his family on the north side of Washington between Lafayette and Jefferson Streets; his brother Byron was also living at home. In 1860 Edwin was on the census rolls of both his family and the National Hotel in Grand Rapids, First ward, and sometime during the year he became a member of the Valley City Guard, one of three local Grand Rapids militia companies and one in which his older brother Byron served as Captain. Edwin was 27 years old and still living in Grand Rapids when he enlisted along with Byron (who became captain of Company K), and was chosen (or possibly appointed) as Captain of Company E on May 3, 1861. (Edwin is mentioned in the introduction to the 1905 Third Michigan Regimental history, but there is no biographical sketch of him in the official history.)

When Pierce was placed in command of Company E there arose some controversy over what some charged as an attempt to “Grand Rapidize” the officers of those companies not from that city. Since many of the men in Company E were from the Lyons and Portland areas of Ionia County there was some debate over why a man from that area was not chosen to command the company. There was hostile press, especially in Ionia County over whether Captain Pierce was chosen by the men or for the men of Company E. On May 3 the Enquirer wrote that “The Lyons (Ionia) company have chosen Ed. Pierce, of this city, as their captain. Ed is a fine fellow, very popular, thoroughly posted in military matters, and will make a good officer. His company, if called to the field, will make their mark.”

Edwin married Mary Parkhurst Chamberlain (1840-1913) on June 10, 1861, in Grand Rapids, the day the Regiment was mustered into United States service, and they had at least five children: Byron R., Henry V. V. (b. 1869), Martha (b. 1871), Amelia C. (b. 1872), and Anna L. (b. 1877). Mary Chamberlain was the sister of both Charles and William Chamberlain who would also serve in the Third Michigan.

They left for their honeymoon on the evening of June 10. However, marching orders arrived for the Regiment on Tuesday, June 11, and Edwin was summoned back from Detroit.

He arrived the evening of June 12 and rejoined his company in time to leave with the Regiment on the morning of June 13. “At the depot,” wrote the Eagle, “just as the soldiers were about taking their departure Capt. Ed. Pierce was presented with an elegant sword by the ‘Old Guard’ of the National Hotel. This compliment to the gallant captain, coming at such a time, and entirely unexpected, completely overcame him, and he could only thank the generous donors. . . .”

According to the Detroit Tribune, “On reaching the depot, the men were formed into line, and a magnificent sword was presented to Capt. Edwin S. Pierce, of Company E, by Mr. E. Smith, on behalf of the “Old Guard at the National Hotel.” Capt. Pierce responded fervently to Mr. Smith’s eloquent remarks. The sword is a first-class Company sword of regulation pattern.” And that night as the Regiment passed through Detroit, en route for Washington a “vast multitude of 15,000 people assembled to bid them farewell. A sword has been presented to Captain Edward [sic] S. Pierce by Eben Smith, and various other presentations were made.” His wife soon afterwards joined her husband in Washington.

Edwin and Mary returned to Michigan from Washington, DC on August 6, 1861, for a brief furlough and “was waited on by a large delegation of citizens who gave him an enthusiastic reception.” Rebecca Richmond, teenage daughter of William Richmond, one of the leading citizens of Grand Rapids, wrote in her diary on August 6 that Pierce and his wife arrived that day in Grand Rapids from Washington. “The Grand Rapids Grays and a large number of citizens went to the Chamberlains this evening to welcome their favorite captain. He is to return to his post of duty on Friday.”

Edwin soon rejoined his command and was reported absent on leave from June 24, 1862; in fact had returned to Grand Rapids to regain his health. On June 13, Rebecca Richmond wrote in her diary that Pierce “has returned, in feeble health and on a furlough, to his home in this city.” Pierce was still at home on July 26 when Rebecca wrote “I spent the evening at Mrs. Ed. Pierce's. Mary [Rebecca’s sister] was invited but was not able to go out. The company numbered about 30, and consisted of young married and unmarried people. Surgeon Z. Bliss, Captain Ed. Pierce and Willie Chamberlain of the Third Regiment gave military dignity to the assembly.”

He remained in Grand Rapids through the end of July but eventually returned to the Regiment, and was reported detached as acting field officer in December through January of 1863. Edwin was mentioned in the official report of the Regiment’s action during the battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862.

By the end of December Edwin’s wife was taken quite sick in Washington, and on December 23, Michigan Congressman Francis Kellogg wrote to Lieutenant Colonel Byron Pierce informing him that “The wife of Capt. Pierce, an officer in your regiment is in this city and very sick[.] Capt. Pierce led his Reg't in the late battle is a brave officer and has faithfully discharged his duties. The Sec'y of war told me today he could no doubt [have] leave of absence for a few days to visit this city and I write to ask you to grant him a week's leave of absence. . . . If it can be granted I shall esteem it as a personal favor which I will certainly reciprocate.” It is assumed that Edwin was granted the leave of absence.

On January 4, 1863, his brother Byron, acting Colonel of the Regiment, wrote to the former colonel, now Brigadier General Stephen Champlin saying that “Something must be done in regard to” his brother Captain Edwin Pierce. Byron wrote that the Brigade commander General Hiram Berry “in speaking of the fight [at Fredericksburg] does not mention Major [Moses] Houghton’s name. He only speaks of relying on Capt. Pierce and Captain [Israel] Smith. The officers here all speak of him [Houghton] with contempt but what they will do about it is more than I can tell.”

On January 8, a large group of officers from the Regiment sent a petition to Colonel Byron Pierce asking that Pierce recommend his brother for the vacancy in Lieutenant Colonel of the Regiment. In fact, on January 3, Champlin had already written to Michigan Governor Austin Blair. Champlin heartily recommended Edwin for promotion. “The promotion of Colonel [Byron] Pierce.” he wrote, “will leave a vacancy in the office of Lieutenant Colonel. Enclosed I send a letter received from General Berry recommending Captain Edward S. Pierce to fill the vacancy. The letter was written by General Berry without the solicitation of any one after the Battle of Fredericksburg and is based on a judgment formed on the battle field of the relative merit of officers. I can bear testimony that Captain Pierce is every way qualified to fill the office and can most cordially recommend him.”

Edwin was in fact promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on January 8, 1863, commissioned January 1, replacing his brother Lieutenant Colonel Byron Pierce, who had been promoted to Colonel of the Regiment. Commenting on the recent promotions in the Third Michigan the Eagle reported in early April that the Pierce brothers, “both able and efficient officers in the glorious 3rd Infantry from its organization to the present time, have just been promoted; [Byron] to Colonel and [Edwin] to Lieutenant Colonel of the Regiment.”

Edwin was on leave from February 26, 1863, and on March 11, Rebecca Richmond wrote in her diary that Pierce was presently at home on furlough and “has recently been promoted to the Lieutenant Colonecy of the Third Mich. Inft. Mr. Byron Pierce is Colonel of the same Regiment.” Edwin had apparently rejoined his Regiment by spring, and participated in the battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia,on May 2-3, 1863. In his official report, Colonel Byron Pierce wrote that

About an hour after daylight on the morning of the 3d, I received orders from Captain Fassitt, of General Birney's staff, to move my Regiment to the point we started from the evening before. I at once ordered Lieutenant-Colonel [E.S.] Pierce to have the pickets which I had posted on my right flank to follow up the movement of the Regiment, acting as skirmishers, as the enemy at this time were advancing and firing briskly upon us. I reached the point designated, without loss, in time to move with the Brigade to a position near the brick house. From this position we were marched to the left of the white house, in advance, and placed in line, in rear and supporting [a] battery, under a severe fire.

While forming the line at this point, I received a slight wound in the left hand and right arm, which disabled me for a short time, leaving the Regiment in charge of Lieutenant Colonel E. S. Pierce. While under his command, the Regiment made the charge, led by General Birney, toward the white house; swung around to the left and across the ravine, capturing about 20 prisoners. The Regiment was then moved to the rear and right of the brick house; reformed, and awaited orders. Hearing that the division flag was a little to the rear, the Regiment was moved there. After remaining a short time, we moved, with the Brigade, to the position we left just before the retreat across the Rappahannock.

On July 2, 1863, the Third Michigan was hotly engaged in the “Peach Orchard” on the second day of battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. When Colonel Byron. Pierce was wounded his brother Edwin took temporary command of the Regiment. In his official report on the actions taken by the Regiment while he was in temporary command on July 2-3, 1863, Edwin Pierce wrote that the Regiment

left Emmitsburg at 3 a.m. on the 2d, and arrived at Gettysburg about 12 m. On our nearing Gettysburg, the enemy appeared in our rear and left flank. We were then marched near and to the left of the Taneytown road, where the Brigade was formed in column of Regiments, we occupying the right, where we halted for a short time. Then we were moved forward about 1 mile, when the enemy made his appearance in force, and was driving in our pickets. The colonel was then ordered to deploy his Regiment as skirmishers. He moved his Regiment by the right flank to the left of the peach orchard, of which the enemy held a portion, where he deployed Companies I, F, and K, deploying forward on the right of Company F. We drove the enemy's skirmishers back to and beyond the stone house and barn on the left of the Emmitsburg road, our right resting in front of the orchard, near the road.

Upon gaining this position, we discovered that the enemy was massing his forces on our left. I reported the same to General Sickles, and kept him informed of the enemy's movements. During the engagement, the enemy made several attempts to retake the house and barn, but were repulsed with heavy loss, our men fighting with a desperation never before witnessed, and at times at a range of not over 50 yards.

Company A was detached to support a portion of General Graham's line on our right. They advanced to the brick house on the right of the Emmitsburg road, holding their position until overpowered by a superior force. The most of General Graham's force having retired, we held our position until about 7 p.m., when the left had retired so far that we were in danger of being flanked. We retired in good order, and assisted in bringing off a portion of two batteries.

It was at this time that the colonel was wounded, and I assumed command, he having remained mounted during the entire engagement, and constantly on the skirmish line cheering the men on. We rejoined the Brigade where it was formed at the commencement, when we were marched across the Taneytown road, and bivouacked for the night.

On the morning of the 3d, we moved forward to the first position occupied on the 2d, and were formed the same, where we remained till about 3 p.m. Thence we were moved off by the right flank at double-quick to where the enemy was trying to pierce our center. The Regiment was here detached, and sent to the support of the 2nd division, 2nd corps, where we assisted in repulsing the enemy, who had succeeded in breaking through a portion of their line.

The Regiment occupied the front line till the morning of the 5th, when we rejoined our Brigade. No casualties occurred to the Regiment during this day's action.

The Regiment was detached in September to Troy , New York, to serve as security for the upcoming draft. While in Troy, Colonel B. R. Pierce was assigned to command the detachment of several Regiments in garrison at Troy, and Edwin was commanding the Third Michigan. By late September the Regiment had returned to Virginia and the Army of the Potomac. On January 29, 1864, Edwin resigned due to ill health and was replaced by Major Moses Houghton.

After his discharge from the army Edwin returned to Grand Rapids and resumed work as a clothier. He was employed in the clothing business in downtown Grand Rapids until 1894. In 1865-66 he was working with or for his prewar partner Lewis Porter at 60 Canal Street and living at 168 South Division; his brothers Byron and Silas, both of whom survived their participation in the war, also lived at the same address.

On May 8, 1865, Edwin's 6-month-old son, Byron R. died, and the funeral was held at the residence of his brother Silas on Division Street.

In 1867-68 he was employed as a “salesman” for Lewis Porter, and living at 21 Jefferson Street, and in 1868-69 he was a clothier at 15 Canal Street, living on the east side of Division near Fulton Street; his younger brother Silas was working for him as a salesman and probably boarding with him at 168 South Division, and for many years he resided at 58 (old) Sheldon Avenue.

By 1870 he was working as a clothing merchant (he was worth $14,000 in real estate and another $10,000 in personal property) and living with his wife and family in Grand Rapids’ Third Ward. Also living with him was his mother-in-law Martha Chamberlain (who owned some $8500 in real estate and another $28,000 in personal property).

Sometime in the late 1860s Edwin went into the clothing business for himself, and by the early 1870s he opened up a clothing store styled as the “Great Wardrobe” which was located in the downtown area for more than a quarter of a century. In 1875 he built a new, larger structure, the “Tower Block,” at the foot of Monroe (and Canal) Street, and it was opened for business in March of 1876. By 1881 he had a branch store in Muskegon, Muskegon County and was planning to open a third in Manistee, Manistee County. In mid-March of 1881 the Eagle sent a reporter to interview Pierce, “to learn about the condition of trade, and as to his own business especially.”

The Colonel and his assistants, [wrote the paper] all genial gentlemen, answered questions freely and their replies are suggestive, indicate that reputable dealers here have entered on a season of greater business and prosperity than they have ever enjoyed before. The gross business of the Great Wardrobe in 1880 was about 20% larger than ever before, and thus far this year there there has been a considerable increase of sales over last year. Col. Pierce, and his Superintendent Gen. Pierce, are of the opinion that in the main the same conditions prevail with our merchants, generally, and that the outlook for business in 1881 is exceedingly satisfactory, cheerful. In other words, we are to have prosperity and plenty of it, as a community and throughout the land.

But right here it may be well to state that there are special reasons why Col. Pierce has built up so fine a trade, why he holds it and why it is growing. He was "brought up,” thoroughly educated as a lad and young man in the manufacture of woolen cloths, and thoroughly understands that business, as he had unusual facilities for perfecting himself in the business. hence he is now one of the most expert buyers of cloths and ready made goods in the West, both in regard to qualities and values of goods. This is a great advantage, both in the matter of prices he has to pay and in the fact that when he recommends a piece of cloth to a customer he may confidently rely on its wearing as he says it will, is certain not to be disappointed. Again, he has always made it a fixed principle to give value for his customer's cash, both in quality of goods, in their trimmings, and in the making of them. These advantages have enabled him to build up a mammoth business here, at Muskegon and Manistee, and to do a fine jobbing trade. So of course he makes very large purchases and gets goods at the very lowest rates, another advantage which he shares with his customers and so again increases his trade.

He has now a larger stock of cloths, suitings, for the coming spring and early summer trade, than he ever had before. And his stock of ready made goods is also larger and finer. In men's youths' and children's clothing and furnishings he says he is willing to compare stock with any house in the Northwest in the quality and variety from which selections may be made, and a hasty examination of the stock in the beautiful store under the Tower clock, led to the opinion that he was only stating facts, modestly. By the way the store has recently been kalsomined, tinted and greatly improved, and is indeed a beautiful Wardrobe.

Colonel Pierce is a manufacturer of clothing on a large scale already, . . . He probably pays out for labor in the neighborhood of $75,000 a year to residents of this city. His custom department now furnishes goods for the people of all the surrounding towns and hamlets even as far north as Petoskey and Harbor Springs and part of the time he keeps two salesmen traveling, showing samples, taking measures and orders and once he secures a patron he doesn't lose him. In this way he sends suits regularly to friends in all the Western states even to the Pacific coast; and or infrequently their suits advertise him as to get customers who were never in the state and never see the man or the establishment which supplied them. That he does so retain patrons tells volumes as to his methods of dealing with them, the worth of what he sells. Another fact illustrates his character and stability as a man. He retains his employees for years, and customers going into the Great Wardrobe are greeted by old friends.

The lessons suggested by these facts are suggestive to other dealers -- have been heeded by many merchants and manufacturers here for years, and thus may be explained the large trade, the great prosperity and the enviable reputation of the business men of our city and their wares. May they all live long to enjoy greater prosperity and triumphs in the future.

By 1880 Edwin was working as a merchant and tailor and living with his wife and children, along with his father Silas, in Grand Rapids’ Third Ward.

On June 11, 1886, Edwin and Mary celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. The Democrat that there was “a very brilliant and pleasant reception at their home. . . . Over 200 guests were present, nearly all from town, the principal ones from abroad being Mr. Pierce’s sister [and] daughter, of New York. Refreshments by Swetland, the caterer, were several during the evening, and Prof. F. M. Lawson furnished excellent music. The remembrance in the way of presents was very generous, the gifts being costly and well chosen.”

The following summer Edwin sold the “Great Wardrobe” to J. L. Hudson, and was officially out of business on July 30, 1887. He then formed a partnership with his brother Silas and E. Shattuck, and commenced an extensive merchant tailoring business on Monroe Street.
He retired from business in 1891, and for a short time was a director in the Grand Rapids Savings Bank.

In 1895 he applied for and received a pension (no. 923695).

Edwin moved to Washington, DC in 1898, when he was appointed as the Sergeant-at-Arms for the United States House of Representatives, and in 1911 he was living at 1412 Chopin Street, NW in Washington.

He was a member of the Old Third Michigan Infantry Association and of Grand Army of the Republic Custer post no. 5 in Grand Rapids and he was a charter member of the Peninsular Club in Grand Rapids.

Edwin died on September 1, 1912, in Washington and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery: section 3, grave 2511.

A week after Edwin died his widow applied for and received a pension (no. 750145).

William H. Hicks

William H. Hicks was born in 1847 in Picton, Ontario, Canada, the son of John (b. 1810) and Ann (b. 1815).

John was born in Ireland and immigrated to North America where he met and married Canadian-born Ann, and they settled in Ontario. William’s family left Canada and came to Michigan sometime after 1855, eventually settling in Lyons, Ionia County by 1860 where John worked as a watchmaker. (William is not living with them, however, only one James W., age 19 who also worked as a watchmaker and Victoria, age 5.)

William stood 5’7” with hazel eyes, brown hair and a dark complexion, and was 14 years old and residing in Clinton County when he enlisted in Company D on May 13, 1861. He was first reported missing in action on August 29, 1862, at Second Bull Run, but by early September he was listed as wounded, probably at Second Bull Run, and was subsequently hospitalized. He was reported absent sick in a hospital from October of 1862 until he was discharged for consumption on January 25, 1863, at the Third Corps hospital, near Fort Lyon, Virginia.

After his discharge from the army William returned to Bingham where he reentered the service as a Sergeant in Company I, Twenty-seventh Michigan infantry on December 9, 1863, for 3 years, crediting Bingham, and was mustered December 29 at Ovid, Clinton County. The regiment had been organized in Port Huron, Ovid and Ypsilanti and all but companies I and K mustered into service on April 10 and which left Michigan for Kentucky on April 12. Company I was mustered into service on December 13, 1863, and presumably shortly afterwards joined the regiment in eastern Tennessee. In March of 1864 he was sick at Knoxville, Tennessee from February 28, but recovered and rejoined the regiment before it was transferred to the Army of the Potomac.

The regiment arrived in Annapolis, Maryland in April of 1864 and subsequently participated in the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania and North Anna in May. William was was wounded on June 3 at Cold Harbor, Virginia, and he was subsequently hospitalized in Washington, DC.

William died of his wounds on June 29,1864, at Washington, DC, and was reportedly buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

In 1884 his mother applied for and received a pension (no. 216608); his father also applied for a pension (no. 200150).

John George

John George was born in 1842, possibly the son of Elizabeth .

John was 19 years old and living in Muskegon County, Michigan, when he enlisted in Company H on May 13, 1861. (Company H, formerly the “Muskegon Rangers,” was made up largely of men from the vicinity of Muskegon and Newaygo counties.) Although first listed as missing in action, he was in fact killed in action on August 29, 1862, at Second Bull Run.

He was presumably buried among the unknown soldiers whose remains were reinterred in Arlington National Cemetery.

There was one Elizabeth George who was receiving a dependent mother’s pension no. 99,686 (dated September of 1867) and living in Muskegon County in 1883, drawing $8.00 per month.

(Curiously there is one “John George” buried in the Grand Army of the Republic section of the Ludington city cemetery, Mason County.)

Oliver Gardner

Oliver Gardner was born 1844 in Ionia County, Michigan, the son of Joseph (b. 1818) and Miranda (b. 1818).

Canadian-born Joseph and Miranda were married presumably in Ontario, Canada, where they resided for some years. Between 1843 and 1844 the family settled in Michigan, and by 1850 Oliver was attending school with his siblings and living on the family farm in Keene, Ionia County. Oliver was still attending school with his siblings and living with his family in Keene in 1860.

Oliver stood 5’7” with brown eyes and hair and a light complexion, and was an 18-year-old farmer probably living in Lowell, Kent County or Ionia County when he enlisted with his father’s consent in Company G on April 4, 1862, at Lowell for 3 years, and was mustered the same day at Detroit. (He was possibly related to John Gardner of Company D whose father too was Canadian.) By early August of 1862, Homer Thayer of Company G reported that Oliver, who had been sick recently, was recommended for a discharge. In fact, Oliver remained with the Regiment and was wounded on July 2, 1863, at Gettysburg, after which he was hospitalized, possibly in Philadelphia. He eventually rejoined the Regiment, and was shot in the left arm on May 6, 1864, at the Wilderness, Virginia.

He was subsequently admitted to Armory Square hospital in Washington, DC where he died from his wounds on June 4, 1864. Oliver was buried on June 6 at Arlington National Cemetery, section 27, grave no. 521 .

No pension seems to be available.

In 1870 his parents were living on a farm in Saranac, Ionia County.

Elijah Fish

Elijah Fish was born 1818 in New York.

Elijah was married to Pennsylvania native Nancy Looker (b. 1821), on January 7, 1850 in Lyons, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, and they had at least two children: Charles D. (b. 1852) and John E (b. 1854).

(In June of 1850 there was one Elijah Fish, born 1822 in Vermont, working as a farmer and living with the Luke family in Mead, Crawford County, Pennsylvania.)

According to his wife, they lived together at several places near Meadville, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, until about a year before the war. They were living in Woodcock Township in 1852 and Randolph Township in 1854, both in Crawford County, Pennsylvania. “My husband went to Michigan to get his interest in some property there,” she stated in 1889. “My husband could not write consequently I did not have any letter from him after he went west. We had no trouble with each other. I knew my husband but four weeks before I married him. He said he had never been married before he married me. I had two children by this marriage to Elijah Fish.”

Elijah was 43 years old, unable to read or write and quite possibly residing in Clinton County when he enlisted in Company F on May 13, 1861.

Elijah was killed in action on August 29, 1862, at Second Bull Run, and presumably among the unknown soldiers whose remains were taken to Arlington National Cemetery from Manassas for interment.

In 1889 his widow, then living in Sparta Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, applied for a pension (no. 355290) and in 1893 so did her minor children (no. 314748).

Anna Etheridge - updated 11/27/2016

NOTE: Ray Mullins has done an incredible job of researching Annie's life and he has kindly put all of his work online, which includes links to documents, records, etc.: 

https://annieetheridgeblog.wordpress.com 

Many errors made in subsequent attempts, including mine, have been corrected so by all means turn to Ray for the final word.

Annie Etheridge, also known as “Ethridge,” and “Lorinda Blair,” was born May 3, 1839, probably in Michigan.

Her father was reportedly born in New York and her mother in Massachusetts. Although she was never an official member of the Third Michigan infantry, “Michigan Annie” or “Gentle Annie”as she was often called, played a vital role in the history of several Michigan Regiments, including the Third infantry.

Her maiden name was reportedly Lorinda A. Blair, and while she was occasionally mentioned in studies on women in the Civil War or in personal accounts of the war, the details of her life, who she was or where she was from are far from certain. Aside from her known record during the war and to some extent afterwards, little is known of her personal history. In 1863 she was described as of Dutch descent, about five feet three inches tall, with a fair complexion, brown hair and a “vigorous constitution, and decidedly good looking.”

She may have been born in Wisconsin the daughter of “a man of considerable property and her girlhood was passed in ease and luxury; but as she drew near the age of womanhood, he met with misfortunes by which he lost nearly all he had possessed, and returned to her former home in Michigan.” She was probably married at least twice before the war, and certainly once after the war: first to a David Kellogg, second to a James Etheridge, and finally to Charles E. Hooks on March 1, 1870.

Other accounts report that she was born in Detroit and, according to one source, “her father was once a man of wealth, and her early youth was passed in the lap of luxury, with no wish ungratified, and no want uncared for. But misfortune came and swept away his property, and, broken in fortune and depressed in spirit, he removed to Minnesota, where he died leaving our heroine, at the age of 12 years, in comparative poverty and want.

George Axtell, a former member of the Fifth Michigan infantry, claimed that she was “born in Detroit [and] married to Mr. Etheridge and early in the war, like many another wife, she went with him to the front, he being a member of the 2d Mich. After his death she remained with the brigade, doing what she could to alleviate the sufferings of the soldiers and finally became closely associated with the 5th Mich., with which regiment she claimed membership, although aiding the sick and wounded of other commands when opportunity offered.” And Third Michigan soldier Warren Wilkinson also confirmed that she was Mrs. Etheridge, at least in 1863.

L. P. Brockett claims that when her father left Wisconsin to return to Michigan Anna remained behind because she was married, but that while visiting her father in Detroit when the war broke out, she joined the Second Michigan when they left for Washington “to fulfill the role of daughter of the Regiment, in attending to its sick and wounded.” And a contemporary account wrote that “On the breaking out of the rebellion, she was visiting her friends in” Detroit and “Colonel Richardson was then engaged in raising the Second Michigan volunteers, and she and nineteen other females volunteered to accompany the regiment as nurses. Every other has returned home or been discharged, but she has accompanied the regiment through all its fortunes, and declares her determination to remain with it during its entire term of service.”

According to Bruce Catton, however, “Annie had gone to war with the Third Michigan as a laundress. When the Regiment first left Washington to go to the front, the other laundresses went home, but she stuck with the Regiment, sharing its marches and its bivouacs. It is recorded that she was ‘a young and remarkably attractive girl,’ that she was ‘modest, quiet, and industrious’, and that any soldier who dared utter a disrespectful word to her or about her had to fight the entire Third Michigan.”

The author of Michigan Women, on the contrary, claims that Anna “became the cook for the officers’ mess at Brigade headquarters” when she first left for Washington. According to the study Michigan Women in the Civil War, sometime in late winter 1861 or

early in the spring of 1862 Anna left the army temporarily, excluded perhaps by the same order which sent many of the Regimental woman from their places at the beginning of the Peninsular campaign of that year. However, she immediately found a place for herself in the Hospital Transport service operated by the U. S. Sanitary Commission. There she was assigned to the hospital boat, Knickerbocker, with Amy Bradley, another Regimental woman and formerly with the First Maine Infantry. They were in charge of the second deck of the boat and labored mightily to have it clean and ready for the sick and wounded who were brought down from the front twice a day in trains. the men came in bad shape, often untended from the time of their fall on the field. They were brought on board as rapidly as possible and laid in all the cabins and on the decks so thickly that it was difficult to work among them. It was the duty of the women matrons to wash their faces and feed them as quickly as possible while the surgeons and male nurses looked after their wounds. As soon as the boat was filled to its capacity of 450 men and the pitiful cargo had been made as comfortable as possible, the boat sailed for Washington, Baltimore, or even New York and the great hospitals. It would return again and again for more passengers. Miss Bradley and Annie also made three trips on a truce boat sent to receive the wounded who had fallen into the hands of the enemy. They worked on other boats, the Louisiana and the Daniel Webster, all hospital transports.

It seems fairly certain that by mid-July of 1861 she was firmly established in some capacity with the four Michigan Regiments encamped near Washington. She was under fire during the action at Blackburn’s Ford on July 18 and at the fiasco at Bull Run on Sunday, July 21, where, according to Brockett “she manifested the same courage and presence of mind which characterized her in all her subsequent career in the army.” According to one source, when the Third Regiment “went into the fighting line,” Anna “filled her saddle-bags with lint and bandages, stuck a pair of pistols in her belt, mounted her horse and galloped to the front. She was usually attended by the surgeon's orderly, who carried the medicine chest, but though they went out together, they as often became separated in the confusion of the battle.”

Margaret Leach and Brockett both described her as a “daughter of the Second Michigan” and Anna, although not carrying a musket, was reportedly armed with “two pistols in her holsters, but seldom or ever used them.”

Although the Detroit papers make no mention of the pistols, the Advertiser and Tribune reported in early 1863 that Annie “has for her use a horse, furnished with side-saddle, saddle-bags, etc. At the commencement of a battle, she fills her saddle bags with lint and bandages, mounts her horse, and gallops to the front, passes under fire, and, regardless of shot and shell, engages in the work of stanching and binding up the wounds of our soldiers.” It was also reported that “when not actively engaged on the battlefield or in the hospital, she superintends the cooking at the headquarters of the brigade. When the brigade moves, she mounts her horse and marches with the ambulances and surgeons, administering to the wants of the sick and wounded, and at the bivouac she wraps herself in her blanket, and sleeps upon the ground with all the hardihood of a true soldier.”

It was also noted that

Her dress, on entering battle, is a riding dress, so arranged as to be looped up when she dismounts. Her demeanor is perfectly modest, quiet and retiring, and her habits and conduct are correct and exemplary; yet, on the battlefield she seems to be alone possessed and animated with a desire to be effective in saving the lives of the wounded soldiers. No vulgar word was ever known to be uttered by her, and she is held in the highest veneration and esteem by the soldiers, as an angel of mercy. She is, indeed the idol of the brigade, every man of which would submit to almost any sacrifice in her behalf. She takes the deepest interest in the result of this contest, eagerly reading all the papers to which she can obtain access, and keeping thoroughly posted as to the progress of the war. She says she feels as if she stood alone in the world, as it were, and desires to do good. She knows that she is the instrument of saving many lives and alleviating much suffering in her present position, and feels it her duty to continue in so doing.

On August 1, 1862, Annie went back to the Michigan Regiments when they returned from the Peninsula, and was at the Second Battle of Bull Run, on August 29. It was reported that early on in the action “she was on a portion of the battle-field which had been warmly contested, where there was a rocky ledge, under shelter of which, some of the wounded had crawled. Annie lingered behind the troops, as they changed position, assisted several poor helpless fellows to this cover and dressed their wounds.”

One of these was a soldier of the Seventh New York Infantry, “a noble looking boy to whose parched lips she had held the cooling draught, and had bound up his wound, receiving in return a look of unutterable gratitude from his bright blue eyes, and his faintly murmured ‘God's blessing on you’, when a shot from the rebel battery tore him to pieces under her very hands. She discovered at the same moment that the rebels were near, and almost upon her, and she was forced to follow in the direction taken by her Regiment [Second]. On another portion of that bloody field, Annie was kneeling by the side of another soldier binding up his wounds, when hearing a gruff voice above her, she looked up and to her astonishment saw General Kearny checking his horse beside her. He said, “That is right; I am glad to see you helping these poor fellows, and when this is over, I will have you made a Regimental sergeant.”

Bruce Catton wrote in Glory Road that General Kearny “more or less adopted her into the Division, providing her with a horse and saddle and a Sergeant's pay and detailing her officially as cook for the officer's mess.” Brockett, however, points out that Kearny was killed two days after this incident at Chantilly and Anna never officially received the appointment.

Anna was at Chancellorsville on May 3, 1863, when the Third Michigan

were in such extreme peril, in consequence of the panic by which the Eleventh Corps were broken up, one company of the Third Michigan, and one of the sharp-shooters were detailed as skirmishers. Annie, although advised to remain in the rear accompanied them, taking the lead; meeting her colonel however he told her to go back. as the enemy was very near, and he was every moment expecting an attack. Very loth to fall back, she turned and rode along the front of a line of shallow trenches filled with our men; she called to them, ‘Boys, do your duty and whip the rebels.’ The men rose and cheered her, shouting ‘Hurrah for Annie’, ‘Bully for you.” This revealed their position to the rebels, who immediately fired a volley in the direction of the cheering; Annie rode to the rear of the line, then turned to see the result; as she did so, an officer pushed his horse between her and a large tree by which she was waiting, thus sheltering himself behind her. She looked round at him with surprise, when a second volley was fired, and a Minie ball whizzing by her, entered the officer’s body, and he fell a corpse, against her and then to the ground. At the same moment anther ball grazed her hand, (the only wound she received during the war), pierced her dress, the skirt of which she was holding, and slightly wounded her horse. Frightened by the pain, he set off on a run through a dense wood, winding in and out among the trees so rapidly that Annie feared being torn from her saddle by the branches, or having her brains dashed out by violent contact with the trunks. She raised her self upon the saddle, and crouching on her knees clung to the pommel. The frightened animal as he emerged from the woods plunged into the midst of the Eleventh Corps, when his course was soon checked.

In Glory Road, Bruce Catton tells of yet another incident involving Anna at Chancellorsville.

Out in the open men fought in a blinding fog, and as they fought, in a clearing by the turnpike there appeared in the front lines a young woman, one of the characters of the III Corps, gentle, respected Annie Etheridge, who wore a black riding habit with a Sergeant's chevrons band who had been part of the army since the early days of the war. This morning, in the hottest of the fighting, Annie came riding forward with a snack of hardtack and a dozen canteens of hot coffee, and she trotted brightly up to a busy general and his staff and offered refreshments. The officers tried to shoo her back to safety, but she refused to budge until each one had had something to eat and drink. The Rebel bombardment was at its worst, and three horses in this mounted group were smashed by solid shot while she was about this business, but an admiring Pennsylvania soldier who watched it all wrote that ‘she never flinched or betrayed the slightest emotion of fear’. A bit later she appeared from nowhere beside an all but disabled Union battery which had lost all of its horses, several caissons, and a good many men. The gunners were about to abandon their pieces, but Annie talked them out of it. She smiled at them and cried, ‘That's right, boys -- now you've got the range, keep it up and you'll soon silence those guns’. The men raised a little cheer, made her go to the rear, and returned to the service of their guns. One sweaty cannoneer remarked that all the officers in the army could not have had as much influence with them just then as ‘that brave little Sergeant in petticoats’.

For her participation in the battle of Chancellorsville on May 3, 1863, General David Birney, who had succeeded General Phil Kearny as Division commander, awarded Anna the Kearny Cross, a medal struck just for and awarded to many of the men who fought at Chancellorsville. She was also mentioned in the Official Records for her participation in the action at Chancellorsville.

According to Michigan Women, when the Second Michigan was transferred to Tennessee, Anna transferred her allegiance to the Third Michigan, ostensibly in order to remain in the eastern theater. She was therefore present with the Regiment during the battle at Gettysburg. In his massive study of the second day at Gettysburg, Harry Pfanz writes that Anna served in the field tending to the wounded at Gettysburg. As Cross’ Brigade of Irishmen were heading for the Wheatfield on July 2, “They headed southeasterly down the front of the slope of the ridge and through the open fields in the general direction of the Trostle buildings. Somewhere near the farmyard they splashed through the upper reaches of Plum Run and saw Annie Etheridge, a Third Corps nurse ride by.”

She went with the Third Michigan when it was assigned briefly to Troy, New York in late summer of 1863, to serve as protection during the upcoming draft in that city. Dan Crotty, a member of Company F, wrote some years after the war, that Anna became quite popular with the people in Troy. “Annie's tent,” he wrote, “is besieged with visitors. People come from far in the rural district to get a sight of the great heroine of so many campaigns and battles. We do not blame them much, for, indeed, she is a curiosity, as she is one woman in a million who would leave a home of luxury and cast her lot with the soldiers in the field, who are all proud of her, and any man in the Regiment would die in her defense, should any one cast a reproach on her fair name and character. All believe her to be one of the truest of women.

According to the Troy Daily Times of August 31, writing under the headline “Daughter of the Regiment”,

In the ranks of the Third Michigan volunteers there is a most agreeable exception to the bronzed face, and stalwart forms of which the regiment is composed. The refining influence of woman’s presence mingles with the panoply of war, and a lady -- a true lady -- is enrolled under the banners of the Third. Mrs. [?] Annie Etheridge is the lady who discharges the honorable duties that entitle here to the name ‘daughter of the regiment.’ She has accompanied it ever since its organization -- sharing the hardships of two years’ campaigning and the dangers of the battlefield with this fighting body. On several occasions bullets have passed through the folds of her dress, as she moved on an errand of mercy amid the scenes of Fredericksburg, Gettysburg and the Seven Days Conflict. Mrs. Etheridge is a lady of refined manners, pleasing personal appearance and rare adaptation to the duties which she has assumed. Her husband was a soldiers, and she became associated with the army two years ago -- enlisting in May 1861 and regularly receiving pay since that time. Her services as a nurse has [sic] been invaluable, and her influence upon the regiment have been most salutary. Numerous compliments have been paid her by those in authority, including Vice President Hamlin, and many encomiums have been passed by the public press upon her services and example. The soldiers would die for her, and she is deservedly the idol of this noble regiment. Mrs. Etheridge is not one of the women who believe that “While our nations sons are fighting, We can only pray.” It is her mission to be useful in her sphere and to contribute towards the final and fast-approaching victory of the Union cause. We are glad to know that Mrs. Etheridge has been tendered the hospitalities of many of our leading citizens and their families during her stay in Troy. All honor to the “daughter of the regiment.”

Hospital Steward Warren Wilkinson wrote from the Third Michigan’s camp near Culpepper, Virginia, in late September of 1863 that “Mrs. Etheridge is with us and is in the enjoyment of good health. She seems to feel much more at home in the camp than she did in the city of Troy, and I presume that when our regiment is disbanded she will enlist in the veteran corps. “

Anna was still with the Regiment the following year when it entered into the Wilderness and Spotsylvania campaigns in Virginia. At the battle of Spotsylvania on May 12, writes, Brockett, she met up with a number of soldiers retreating from the field and she “shamed them into doing their duty, by offering to lead them back into the fight, which she dud under a heavy fire from the enemy.” And when the Second Corps (to which the Third Michigan was now attached) attacked the enemy at Deep Bottom, Virginia on June 1 or 2, she became separated from the surgeon’s orderly who usually rode with her and she found herself near the enemy lines. Rebel skirmishers soon appeared to her immediate front, but did not open fire as they did not want to give the alarm, and Anna escaped unscathed.

When the Third Michigan was mustered out of service on June 10, 1864, those men of the Third who had reenlisted were consolidated into the Fifth Michigan, and Anna moved right along with them. In fact, Dan Crotty described a particular incident involving Anna during the campaign in Virginia in 1864. He wrote that she “has remained with the colors, but this time we are up too close to the front line, and unless we get back we may be captured. So we have to do some tall walking to get out of the swamp we have got into. Anna falls back with us in good order, but her dress is a little torn by the brush. One of our boys is borne back wounded, our heroine dresses up his wound. The balls fall thick and fast around her, but she fears them not, and performs her task as coolly as if she was in camp and out of danger. I need not mention this one instance, hundreds of the same kind could be related to her. She is still with us through thick and thin for the last three years.”

Crotty added that toward the end of September of 1864, “General Grant issues an order that all women in the army have to get back, and Anna for the first time has to leave her Regiment. A petition is sent to the commander to have her stay, but no use, she must get back and she bids us good-bye and goes to City Point [Virginia]. We hear from her, however, often, by receiving lots of good things sent to us by her, such as potatoes, onions, and all kinds of vegetables she can obtain.” In fact, it was on or about July 14, 1864, that General Grant ordered all women to be excluded from the camps. The officers of the Third Corps united in petitioning Grant to make an exception in Anna’s case, but this was denied and she went to the supply base at City Point, Virginia. She continued her work of serving the soldiers from City Point.

Curiously, however, Brockett reports that Anna was back “in the saddle again”, as it were by late 1864. On October 27 in one of the numerous actions near Hatcher’s Run and Boydton Plank road, Virginia, “a portion of the Third Division of the Second Corps, was nearly surrounded by the enemy, in what the soldiers called the ‘Bull ring’. The Regiment to which Annie was attached [Fifth Michigan] was sorely pressed, the balls flying thick and fast, so that the surgeon advised her to accompany him to safer quarters; but she lingered, watching for an opportunity to render assistance. A little drummer boy stopped to speak to her, when a ball struck him, and he fell against her, and then to the ground, dead. This so startled her, that she ran towards the line of battle. But to her surprise, she found that the enemy had occupied every part of the ground held a few moments before by Union troops. She did not pause, however, but dashed through their line unhurt, though several of the chivalry fired at her.”

She was mentioned in the Detroit newspapers and Dan Crotty wrote at some length about her heroism under fire; “the heroine and daughter of our Regiment”, as he described her. “The world never produced but very few such women, for she is along with us through storm and sunshine, in the heat of the battle caring for the wounded, and in the camp looking after the poor sick soldier, and to have a smile and a cheering word for every one who comes her way. Every soldier is alike to her. She is with us to administer to all our little wants, which are not few. To praise her would not be enough, but suffice to say, that as long as one of the old Third shall live, she will always be held in the greatest esteem, and remembered with kindly feelings for her goodness and virtue.”

Dan Crotty probably spoke for many of his old comrades when he wrote about a Sunday in early March of 1865. One could see “Annie in her best dress, sitting on the ground with her own boys listening to the man of God [a Mr. Pritchard]. . . . Annie, you, I hope, will get your reward in heaven when your campaigns and battles in this life are ended. For no one on this earth can recompense you for the good you have done in your four years' service for the boys in blue, in the heat of battle, on the wearied marches, and in the hospitals and camps. May your path through this life be strewn with roses, and may you rest on the laurels you have so dearly won, is the prayer of thousands who have been benefited by your timely presence.”

And, in July of 1865, writes Crotty, “Noble Anna is with us to the last, and her brave womanly spirit brakes [sic] down, and scalding tears trickle down her beautiful bronze face as each of the boys and comrades bid her good-bye. Good-bye noble, heroic and self-sacrificing Anna. May your path through life be the reverse of your four years' hardships, strewn with flowers the most delicious, and when your campaigns and battles with this struggling world shall end, may you meet in Heaven with those whose burdens you have sought to lighten in the hard life of the soldiers' experiences.”

It wasn’t only the soldiers who thought highly of Anna, some of her peers did too. The Detroit Free Press of June 9, 1864, reported the observations of Mrs. Jessie Hinsdill who served as a nurse during the war, apparently with the Second Michigan. Mrs. Hinsdill “speaks in glowing terms of her co-laborer, Miss Anna Etheridge, of this state, who has already become famous in the discharge of her angelic duties as hospital nurse. Her name will be cherished and remembered by many a suffering soldier to the latest hour of their lives.” She had her detractors, however, and one of them was Dorothea Dix, a champion of women in nursing during the war. Dix thought Annie was everything a woman nurse should not be: small, young and attractive, but all this seemed only to add to the respect she was given by the soldiers.

After the war “she felt the necessity”, wrote Brockett, “of engaging in some employment, by which she could maintain herself and her aged father, and accepted an appointment in” the Treasury department, “where she labors assiduously for twelve hours daily. But her army experiences have not robbed her of that charming modesty an diffidence of demeanor, which are so attractive in a woman, or made her boastful of her adventures. To these she seldom alludes, and never in such a way to indicate that he thinks of herself in the least as a heroine.”

In 1870 she married Charles E. Hooks, a one-armed veteran of the 7th Connecticut Infantry war. She was referred to as “the Florence Nightingale of the Regiment” during the proceedings of the Second annual reunion of the Old Third Infantry Association in December of 1872, and in 1883 she was made an honorary member of the Old Third Michigan Infantry Association and given “Three cheers and a tiger” for the lady “who acted as a nurse for the Regiment all through the war. . . .”

In 1886 Senator Thomas Palmer introduced a bill into Congress to allow Annie a pension of $50 per month, and it was approved on February 9, 1887 (no. 352510 under the name of Anna Hooks), though it was reduced to only $25 per month. In 1891 she marched with the Regiment at the Grand Army of the Republic encampment and parade in Detroit, and in 1892 during the association business meeting “a deserved tribute” was paid to Anna by Henry Patterson, formerly of Company G.

Annie died at Providence Hospital in Washington, DC, on January 23, 1913, she was buried in Arlington Cemetery, section 15, next to her husband Charles Hooks.

On June 24, 1915, the Grand Rapids Herald reported that

To commemorate the memory of Anna Etheridge Hooks, late of Washington DC, but formerly of Michigan, who went to the front with three Michigan Regiments during the Civil War and gave valuable assistance in first aid members of the old Third Michigan infantry, in annual convention at the Morton house yesterday, took the first steps to have a statue erected on the capitol grounds at Lansing. Mrs. Hooks was known as the daughter of the ‘Old Third’. She went with the Second, Third and Fifth Michigan Regiments and, according to the old veterans, was often on the firing line giving what aid she could to the wounded and dying. The veterans now propose to ask the next legislature for a sufficiently large appropriation to erect a statue that will commemorate the heroic deeds of the woman in years to come.

The statue was never made.

John Eadie Jr.

John Eadie Jr. was born in 1841 in Scotland, the son of John Sr. and Elizabeth (b. 1819).

John Jr. immigrated to America with his parents sometime between 1851 and 1853, and by 1859 they had settled in Ravenna, Muskegon County, Michigan. John Sr. died soon after they arrived in Muskegon and Elizabeth married one George Sipps in 1859. By 1860 John Jr. was a farm hand living with his mother and stepfather in Ravenna.

John was 20 years old and residing in Muskegon County when he enlisted in Company K on May 13, 1861. He was absent sick in the hospital from October of 1862 through January of 1863, and he reenlisted on December 24, 1863 at Brandy Station, Virginia, crediting Alpine, Kent County. John was presumably absent on veteran’s furlough in January of 1864, probably at his mother’s home in Muskegon, and probably returned to the Regiment on or about the first of February.

On May 12, 1864, John was wounded at Spotsylvania, Virginia, by a gunshot to the left leg, and his left thigh was “amputated at the middle third” in the field on May 18. He was seriously ill when admitted on May 28 to ward A, bed 45 in Emory hospital in Washington, DC, where he was treated for gangrene and loss of blood. (He was apparently divorced by the time he was admitted to the hospital since his medical descriptive list reported him as being single and his nearest relative as his mother.) On May 29 he was observed to be “partially comatose” and was “Suffering from an ulcer upon his sacrum 3 inches in diameter inclined by gangrene.” The following day it was noted that the “Stump of amputated limb discharges freely from around the bone. Left parts of stump continually look healthy, and about two thirds united. Bone necrosed.” He was given morphine, and on May 31 he was reported to be generally “the same,” although it was noted that he “Grows more comatose and weaker. Refuses at times to take nourishment or stimulants.” He was given morphine at bedtime. The following day, June 1, it was observed that he “Takes but little” stimulants presumably, and “Will not take anything except in small quantities.”

John failed to recover and died at 11:30 p.m. on June 1, in Emory hospital, and was buried on June 2 at 3:00 p.m. in Arlington National Cemetery: section 27, grave no. 421.

In 1890 a woman named Elizabeth Eadie, apparently living in Michigan, claiming to be John’s widow applied for a widow’s pension (application no. 444,341) but the certificate was never granted. (If in fact he had been married, his widow remarried in 1873, to one William Patterson, and she lived in Coopersville, Ottawa County and then in Ludington, Mason County.)

William Edward Creary

William Edward Creary, also known as “Crary” and “Crarey”, was born October 20, 1842, in New York.

William left New York before the war broke out and eventually settled in Michigan.

He was 18 years old when he enlisted in Company F on May 13, 1861. William was listed on picket duty as of October 31, 1861. He was reported as a clerk at Brigade headquarters from December of 1862 through July of 1863. In August he was a clerk at the convalescent camp in Alexandria, Virginia, where he remained through September. It appears that William may have suffered from a chronic ailment -- or perhaps he had been wounded.

He was transferred to the Seventy-third company, Second Battalion, Veterans’ Reserve Corps, on October 24, 1863, listing his residence as Ludington, Mason County, and was in the Seventy-eighth company, Second Battalion on June 13, 1864. (The VRC was made up of men who while ambulatory were generally incapable of performing regular military tasks due to having suffered debilitating wounds and/or diseases and were assigned to garrison the many supply depots, draft rendezvous, camps, forts, prisons, etc. scattered throughout the northern cities, thus freeing able-bodied men for regular military duty.) He worked as a clerk in the headquarters for the Seventy-eight Company and/or Second Battalion, and in November and December he was listed as present although absent sick at Depot Camp, Company I, Nineteenth Invalid Corps. In February of 1864 he was reported as deserted and in mid-June as working as a clerk in the Provost Marshal General’s office. He was still detached from the Nineteenth VRC to the Provost Marshal General’s office in August and indeed through October of 1865 when he was taken up on the rolls of the Thirty-ninth Company, Second Battalion VRC. By December of 1865 he was detached to the Quartermaster General’s office.

He married Annie Elizabeth Clark (d. 1917), on July 10, 1865 or 1866, in Washington, DC, and they had at least three children: Henry, William and Catharine. (She was probably his second wife.)

William was discharged, presumably from the VRC, on August 23, 1866. He apparently joined the regular army and was appointed as Major and Paymaster on June 23, 1879, and retired on December 22, 1892.

He was on duty at Washington, DC, from July 1 to September 4, 1879, at Fort Lowell, Arizona, to April 19, 1880; at Tucson, Arizona, to May 5, 1880.

The particulars remain unknown but apparently William was under arrest undergoing trial and awaiting sentence at Tucson to November 27, 1880, when, by General Court Martial Order No. 60, AGO, on November 17, 1880, he was sentenced to suspension from rank, forfeiture of half pay for the period of one year, to November 27, 1881.

Nevertheless, he was on duty at Tucson, to April 30, 1883, at San Francisco, to October 10, 1885, and at Cheyenne Depot, Wyoming to March 8, 1887. He was reportedly sick at Fort McKinney, Wyoming, while absent on pay tour, from September 25 to October 13, 1886, and at Cheyenne Depot to February 28, 1887. He was on leave to June 3, 1887, and on duty at Omaha, Nebraska to October 1, 1888. He was at Salt lake City, Utah, to June 25, 1891 and at San Antonio, Texas to November 15, 1892, “when having been examined by a Retiring Board and found incapacitated he was ordered home.”

He was awaiting orders to December 3, 1892 and on sick leave to December 22, when he was officially retired.

According to the Dr. Edward Moseley, the surgeon who examined William for his board review, he found William

suffering from the effects of a partial dislocation of the left elbow joint received at the battle of Gettysburg. The head f the radius has been forced entirely away from its articulation and has formed an anchylosis in such a position that the power of supination is entirely lost, the fore-arm and hand are fixed in a prone position and can be used in no other way. This injury is permanent and disables this arm to the extent of one-half for all purposes of active use in work. His right hand is deformed by the loss of the second and third joints of the fore finger from an amputation required in consequence of gangrene and necrosis of the bones of the ginger following an injury while on a pay trip on the frontier several years ago. The stump of his finger is contracted, deficient in circulation and innervation, and in consequence painfully affected by cold and accidental injuries. His capacity to write, handle money or such other use, is most impaired. In my opinion, this officer . . . is unfit for active service as a Paymaster in the Army.

Although his residence was given as 223 Indiana Avenue, Washington, DC, William was in Jordan Hot Springs, Frederick County, Virginia, when he died on July 22, 1899. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery on August 2, 1899: lot 448.

According to his widow, when William died “she was on a visit to the Philippine Islands accompanied by her daughter Katharine Caldwell Creary, and that at that time her two sons Henry Clark Creary and Wm. Ferry Creary were stationed at [the] Islands in the service of the United States.” Henry “was a paymaster’s clerk to Major Sherry” and William “was a 1st Lt. Of the 12th U.S. Inftry.” She added that her husband William had died “at Jordan Hot Springs, Virginia.”

Although a resident of Washington, DC, Annie was living in California in November of 1899 when she applied for and received a pension (no. 553174), drawing $20 per month by 1917 when she living at 181 Infantry Terrace, the Presidio, San Francisco. She was living at Fort Douglas, Salt Lake County, Utah in 1901, but was back in San Francisco by 1917. She was buried in San Francisco National cemetery: Officers 6, plot 8.

Thomas Conger

Thomas Conger was born 1839 in Oneida, New York.

Thomas had reportedly been residing in Olance, Huron County, Ohio shortly before the war broke out, and apparently arrived in Grand Rapids, Michigan, just in time to enlist in the Third Michigan before it left the state.

He stood 5’10” with hazel eyes, brown hair and a light complexion, and was a 22-year-old nurseryman (or gardener) probably living in Grand Rapids when he enlisted in Company F on May 13, 1861. He was possibly a Sergeant when he was wounded in the hip on August 29, 1862, at Second Bull Run, and was subsequently absent wounded in the hospital. In November he was reported as an ambulance driver, and in December was a provost guard at Brigade headquarters where he remained through July of 1863.

In August of 1863 Thomas was reported as both a Sergeant and as "absent without leave" (AWOL), but he eventually returned to duty since he reenlisted on December 24, 1863, at Brandy Station, Virginia, crediting Caledonia, Kent County. He was presumably absent on veteran’s furlough in January of 1864 and probably returned to the Regiment on or about the first of February.

Thomas was transferred as a Sergeant to Company E, Fifth Michigan infantry upon consolidation of the Third and Fifth Michigan Regiments on June 10, 1864. He was shot in the right leg on June 16 near Petersburg, Virginia, and admitted to Armory Square hospital in Washington, DC on June 22 with a “gunshot fracture of the right thigh”. The hospital admission records listed him as a single man and that his nearest relative was a sister Carrie living in Olance, Ohio.

Thomas died of a fractured right thigh on July 1 in Armory hospital and was interred on July 3 in Arlington National Cemetery.

No pension seems to be available.