The Lost Civil War Trophy

After the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment's march through Baltimore on April 19, 1861, Col. Edward F. Jones took the remaining troops via railroad to Annapolis on their way to Washington, D.C. It was near Relay House on May 11, 1861 that they captured the Winans Steam Gun which was on it's way to the Confederates at Harper's Ferry. They were also able to ensure that it did actually work according to General Benjamin Butler.

Winans Steam Gun, Captured by Colonel Jones on way to Harper's Ferry

Photographed by Weaver for Harper's Weekly, May 25, 1861

Winans Steam Gun was a crude forerunner of a machine gun. It operated not by gunpowder but by steam. It was capable of shooting 100-500 iron balls per minute and shooting balls from 1 ounce to a 24 pound shot. It was made in Massachusetts and sent to Baltimore two years prior to the Civil War. Ross Winan, a Confederate sympathizer and a locomotive builder owned the steam gun. It was one of a kind. An interesting side note is that George Washington Whistler, the father of James McNeil Whistler, worked with him at the Baltimore and Ohio railroad and went to Russia with Winans' sons.

When the 90 days of service was completed for the Massachusetts Sixth they were allowed to take the gun back with them to Lowell as a war trophy. It was displayed at various military reunions at the fairgrounds on Gorham Street and was kept at the Merrimack Manufacturing Company's storehouse. It was owned by the Middlesex Mechanics Association. The Civil War veteran's loved it.

Around the time of the 50th anniversary of the march through Baltimore, the Lowell Sun published an article looking for information as to what happened to it. Several older citizens came forth with the information that it was demolished at R.H. Barker's plant on Middle Street by the Assistant Engineer of the Fire Department, Edward Meloy. They estimate this was sometime in the late 1880s to 1890s.

In 2007, Discovery Channel's Mythbusters tested if they could prove the gun  could kill. While not an exact replica it's pretty interesting to watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKhLgPyymfU

It was never used in the war as it was found to be impractical.  I wish they had saved it.

Early Lowell and the Civil War

I was looking something up in Charles Cowley's "Illustrated History of Lowell" and I read something that interested me.

Who was Robert E.K. Whiting and how did end up a Major-General in the Confederate Army in the Civil War?

Robert Edward Kerr Whiting

Robert's grandfather and great grandfather served in the American Revolution. Timothy Whiting Sr. and Timothy Whiting Jr. from Billerica. After winning America's independence, Timothy Jr. moved to Lancaster, Massachusetts and settled there. He had thirteen children with two wives. Levi Whiting was born to Timothy and his first wife Abigail Kidder on January 27, 1790.

Levi Whiting was a career Army man in the 1st Artillery and he fought in the War of 1812. He served in the U.S. Army for forty years until his death in 1852. He married Mary Ann Cushing of Maine in 1823 in Biloxi, Mississippi.  They had seven children all born around the United States during Levi's assignments.

St. Anne's Church in Lowell was built in 1825. Levi Whiting and his wife had all their sons baptized at St. Anne's while they were residing in New York:

• William Henry Chase Whiting - baptism July 13, 1828 - born in Biloxi, Mississippi
• John McMahon Whiting - baptism July 13, 1828 - born in Houlton, Maine
• Jasper Strong Whiting - baptism July 13, 1828 - born in Louisiana
• Frederick Underhill Whiting - baptism August 28, 1831 - born in New York
• Robert Edward Kerr Whiting - baptism October 28, 1832 - born on Governor's Island, NY

I  tried to determine why would this family come to newly created Lowell for their son's baptisms? They came three different times.

Lowell connections:

1. Robert's grandfather, Timothy Whiting Jr. of Lancaster was a Mason and on December 10, 1809 he went to Whiting's Hall in Chelmsford (now Lowell) at the site of the Franco American School and installed the Pentucket Lodge of Mason's. He did this as the District Deputy Grand Master. 
2. Jessee Phelps of Lancaster was the first overseer of Merrimack Manufacturing Company. Jessee was also a Mason and the Deacon at St. Anne's Church. Timothy Whiting's second wife's maiden name was Lydia Phelps.

John and Frederick do not live to see the Civil War.  His two surviving brothers were William Henry Chase Whiting and Jasper Strong Whiting. They would not survive the American Civil War.

William was a West Point graduate class of 1845 who was number one in his class. Supposedly he had the highest class rank that stood until General Douglas MacArthur graduated.  He served in the United States Army Engineers and surveyed many areas of the country. Jasper Strong Whiting graduated from Bowdoin College and was also a Civil Engineer doing surveying work for the U.S. Army.  It looks like Robert was employed as a surveyor as a private citizen. During the time of the civil war he was the superintendent of Green-wood Cemetery in the Bronx. I can find no record of Robert E.K. Whiting serving in either the United States or Confederate army.

Jasper Strong Whiting enlisted in the Confederate Army with the rank of Major. He died of Scarlet Fever on Christmas Day in 1862 in Richmond, Virginia. He left a wife and infant son.

William Henry Chase Whiting resigned from the U.S. Army in February 1862 and offered his services to the Governor of Georgia. He ended up a Major General defending Fort Fisher at the end the war. He participated in the first battle of Fort Fisher that repelled Benjamin Butler's army. During the second battle of Fort Fisher he was shot two times and was taken a prison of war to Fort Columbus on Governor's Island in New York. He died March 10, 1865 on Governor's Island of dystentry. His funeral was held in New York City and he was buried at Green-wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY. His mother, brother and two sisters attended his funeral. His wife had him reburied in 1900 in North Carolina. He left no children.

Robert E.K. Whiting died at Lake George, New York in 1871 and is buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx that he designed and managed. He left a wife, an infant son & daughter. Here is his grave:

courtesy of findagrave.com

The Confederate General that was baptised in Lowell is Robert's brother William Henry Chase Whiting. Because Robert's brothers married Southern ladies and spent such a large portion of their lives in the South their allegiance to the South is not that surprising. There are a few more Lowell connections that I will share in a future post about Major General William Henry Chase Whiting. Stay tuned!

Nelson Joseph Loucraft - Pvt 33rd Massachusetts Regiment Company D

Nelson Loucraft, Sr. is one of those ancestors that drives you crazy. You find tidbits of his life here and there. He was born in New York in the summer of 1841 to Joseph Lucraft and Zoe Charron.

I married a Loucraft and everyone asks how do you spell that? LOUCRAFT - "oh just like it sounds". But in research documents it is spelled so many different ways. Loncraft, Loncroff, Lewcraft, Leucraft, Loucraff...... So, imagine my surprise when I found that Nelson Loucraft Sr. had served over three years as a private in the Union Army with the iconic 33rd Massachusetts Regiment Company D.

Source:  Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors and Marines in the Civil War, Volume 3.

As part of the 33rd regiment he would have been in the presence of Abraham Lincoln in his review of the troops. He would have been at Chancellorsville, Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg, Atlanta and Sherman's March to the Sea. Amazing civil war scenes.

Here is the monument to the 33rd Massachusetts Regiment at Gettysburg.

Monument at Gettysburg National Park

From the tablet on the front of the monument:

The Thirty Third Massachusetts Infantry
Detached from the Second Brigade, Second Division, Eleventh Corps on July 2nd, 1863. After supporting the batteries in action on  Cemetery Hill, while in position in a line extending westward from near this spot, withstood and assisted in repulsing a charge of the enemy’s infantry in its front. Loss in the battle eight killed, thirty six wounded.

When Nelson returned from the Civil War he married a fellow soldier's sister from Billerica, Nancy Haulton (Houlton) on November 10, 1865. They show up in the 1870 census in Lowell with two children, the 1880 census in Lewiston Maine & Topsham Maine with six children. Shortly after that they return to the Lowell area but Nelson and Nancy appear to lead separate lives. Nancy dies in 1899 at the age of 53 and is buried in St. Patrick's Cemetery in Lowell without Nelson.

Sadly, Nelson gets arrested several times for drunkenness and spends some time at the jail on Thorndike street. This jail with later become a Catholic high school - Keith Academy. Future generations of Loucrafts will spend a lot of time here.

Did the horrors of the Civil War break Nelson? When did he die? Where is he buried?

Nelson and Nancy had six children who were by all accounts successful and productive members of their communities.

• Mary married Joseph McDermott and settled in Billerica with 7 children
• Nelson married an Irish woman and had a farm in Chelmsford and had 5 babies all dying as infants and then his wife died so he moved to Cuba and became a sugar farmer there, remarried and had 7 healthy children
• Frank married late in life and had a store on Gorham Street in Chelmsford
• Charles married and died young but had 2 children in Chelmsford
• Etta married Leslie Fralick and had 2 children in Billerica
• George married and lived in Billerica and served in the U.S. Navy in the Spanish American War

 My next step is to try to find some pension records for Nelson. Fingers crossed!

Captain America Walton

Usually when I research a story I find another. While researching Captain Kittredge who was killed in action during the Great War, I learned he had a grandfather who served in Civil War. His name was America Walton.

America Walton was born in Franklin Plantation, Maine in August of 1835. His family moved to Peru, Maine when he was nine and then on to Lowell by himself in 1856. He worked at the Lowell Bleachery and joined the Company B of the City Guards. He must of resigned from the 6th Massachusetts because he is not listed on the roster in 1861 and in May of 1861 he went to Patten Maine where he joined the 8th Maine Company B Infantry. In 1863 while on furlough he married Sophronia Dow.

Courtesy photo - Maine Archives

He was involved in several battles and was shot twice. He was at Appomattox when Lee surrendered to Grant on April 9, 1865. He was promoted often and ended up a Captain in 1865.

After the war he was an active member of G.A.R Post #120 (James A. Garfield). At a meeting celebrating the 50th anniversary of Lee's surrender at Appomattox he was the only living person in Lowell who had witnessed the surrender.

Unfortunately, he lived long enough to see his grandson, Captain Paul E. Kittredge killed in action in World War One.

He died in Lowell March 15, 1919 and is buried in Edson Cemetery. Our own Captain America.

Update: Thanks to Walter Hickey, Historian Extraordinaire we have confirmation that America Walton was a member of the Massachusetts 6th Company D from 1857-1859.

The Congressional Medal of Honor and Lowell Connections

With yesterday's announcement of Sgt. Ryan Pitts of Nashua, NH being selected as the latest recipient of the MEDAL OF HONOR I thought a rundown of past recipients with local connections was warranted. Sgt. Ryan Pitts was born in Lowell and served in Afghanistan in the U.S. Army 2nd Platoon, Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion Airborne, 503 Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne. The Congressional Medal of Honor is the highest award for combat valor

In the Hall of Flags at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium there is a plaque that was dedicated in 1952 to all the Lowell men who have are recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor. The plaque was updated with the addition of David H. McNerney, after the Vietnam War.

Here is the list of the Medal of Honor Recipients with Lowell connections:

CIVIL WAR

Albert Ames - US Army at Bull Run, VA. Buried in Lowell at Hildreth Family Cemetery. Married General Benjamin Butler's daughter.

Eugene W. Ferris - US Army at Berryville, VA. Entered service from Lowell.

John C. McFarland - US Navy. Lowell resident. Has headstones in St. Patrick's, Edson and Lowell Cemetery. Wife and son are buried in St. Patrick's Cemetery.

Daniel J. Murphy - US Army at Harcher's Run, VA. Entered service from Lowell, MA.

Dennis J.F. Murphy - US Army at Corinth, Mississippi. Entered service from Lowell, MA.

Joseph Aton Sladen - US Army at Resaca, GA May 14, 1864. Entered service from Lowell, MA.

Joseph Swell Gerrish Sweat - US Army 6th Massachusetts Co. C at Carsville, VA. Entered service from Lowell, MA.

Joseph Taylor - US Army at Wendon, VA.. Lived in Lowell after Civil War. Buried in Edson Cemetery. I have a separate blog post about him.

Edwin Truell - US Army near Atlanta, GA. Entered service in Lowell. Buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

OTHER

James F. Sullivan - US Navy. Peacetime. Saved sailor from drowning.

George Charette - US Navy. Born in Lowell 1867. Spanish American War in connection with the sinking of Merrimac in Santiago Harbor Cuba. Buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Square in Lowell in his honor.

Joseph R. Oullette - US Army Killed in Action in Korea. Born in Lowell. Buried at St. Joseph's Cemetery, East Chelmsford. Aiken Street Bridge is named in his honor.

David H. McNerney - US Army, Vietnam at Polei Doc. - born in Lowell.

Thank you Sgt. Ryan Pitts and all those Lowell men that came before you.

Dr. Walter Burnham

Walter Burnham was born in Brookfield, Vermont January 12, 1808. His father and brother were doctors. He graduated with his medical degree from the University of Vermont in 1829. He married Annis Crawford February 8, 1831. They had five children. He started his practice in Vermont but moved to Lowell in 1846.

Surgeon - Massachusetts Sixth Regiment (1862-1870)

Dr. Burnham was a gynecological doctor. He specialized in removing ovarian tumors.  Now at this time, anesthesia was primitive and these surgeries were very risky.  For the first time in the world, on June 26, 1853 he performed the very first hysterectomy where the patient survived and it happened in Lowell, MA. He performed over 300 surgeries with only a 25% mortality rate which was excellent for the time.

Dr. Burnham also was a state legislator. He was responsible for the Anatomy Act of 1855 which allowed the bodies of dead paupers to be used for medical dissecting purposes. He was a member of the Lowell school committee for many years. He was also a 32 degree Mason and  a member of the American Medical Association.

During the Civil War he was the surgeon for the Massachusetts Sixth Regiment. He was very proud of the fact that his mortality rates for disease were very low for his unit in the Great Dismal Swamp of Virginia. He only lost 13 men to disease out of the regiment of 1,000.

He traveled extensively throughout the Northeast performing operations for those in need. In January  of 1880 he fell in Elmira, New York getting on a train, injuring his elbow. This resulted in an amputation which started the decline in his health. He died February 17, 1888 in Lowell at the age of 75. He is buried in the Lowell Cemetery.

His daughter, Stella married Henry Phelps Perkins an agent at the Bleachery and brother of the Civil War hero, Solon A. Perkins whose framed gideon was just found in the basement of the Lowell Memorial Auditorium.

MOH - Joseph Taylor

The Forgotten Medal of Honor Recipient – Joseph Taylor

Joseph Taylor was born in Leeds, England December 16, 1847 and came over to the United States with his family and settled in Burrillsville, RI.  With his father’s permission he enlisted in the Seventh Regiment Rhode Island Volunteers August 11, 1862 at the age of 15.

The following is the account of how Joseph Taylor came to receive the Medal of Honor:

“This morning one of the mounted orderlies at brigade headquarters was killed outside the picket line.  Joseph Taylor was detailed to take his place and assigned to A.A. Adjust-Gen. Peleg E. Peckham.  They at once started out and he relates:  “We were obliged to pass over a route lying through dense shrubbery, he leading and I following.  The high bushes swung back with a swish into the face of my horse, and finally, he would not stand it.  I commenced to lose ground, in order to keep up, took a turn off to one side to avoid the objectionable bush.  By so doing, I lost my superior, and while trying to find him, suddenly came upon three fully armed rebel pickets, members of the Sixteenth Georgia Tigers.  I was startled for a moment, but regaining myself, immediately whipped out a revolver, and, covering them demanded their surrender.  They were at my command, for each realized that the first that dared make a move would be a dead man with chances that all would be shot, as I could handle my revolver quicker than they could handle their guns.  I made them march in front of me and took them before Brig.-Gen. John I Curtin, of Pennsylvania, who inquired with an expression of great surprise where I got them.”  For this feat the corps commander at once recommended Private Taylor for a medal of honor, which came to hand in due time, July, 1897, or thirty-three years afterword.”  [1]

Joseph Taylor was living in Lowell, Massachusetts at 28 South Whipple Street in 1897.  In 1905 another bronze medal was given to him from the war department.  This medal was awarded under an act of Congress April 23, 1904 of the new design.  This medal was for his actions on August 18, 1864 at Weldon Railroad near Petersburg, Virginia. 

Joseph Taylor married Mary Francis Chapman April 29, 1868 in Waverly, Rhode Island.  They had one daughter Frances Taylor born in Rhode Island.  The family soon moved to Lowell, MA and Joseph worked as a wool sorter and was active in the G.A.R.  He returned to Rhode Island for reunions of his unit.  His wife died June 24, 1907 and her body was returned to Rhode Island for burial.  Joseph Taylor married his second wife, Alice Cram January 20, 1909 in Lowell, MA.  They had no children.  Joseph Taylor died February 24, 1914 in Lowell, MA and is buried at Edson Cemetery in Lowell, MA.  His second wife died February 24, 1944 in North Billerica, MA and is buried with him at Edson.

Joseph Taylor’s family still resides in the greater Lowell area today.

---

[1]  The Seventh Regiment Rhode Island Volunteers in the Civil War, 1862-1865 by William Palmer Hopkins, The Providence Press, Providence, R.I., 1903 p. 212.