John Geddis was born in Albany in 1841. He was the son of Samuel and Margaret Geddis, born in Ireland. By the 1850 US Census the family was in Schaghticoke. Samuel, age 41, was a laborer. He and Margaret, 43, had a daughter Elizabeth, 15, born in Ireland, and a son David 13, born in New York. That pegs their arrival in America at 1836. Their other children were John, 8, the future soldier; William, 6; Sarah, 3; and Susan 11/12. They stayed in Schaghticoke. The 1855 NY Census lists no occupation for any of the family, but Samuel had an estate of $2000, quite a sum. Son-in-law Daniel Chase, who was a miller, and wife Elizabeth lived with her parents.
Apparently things didn’t go too well for the family, for by the 1860 US Census, they were living in a house with two other families. Samuel was listed as a day laborer, with an estate of just $200, and future soldier John, now 18, was also a day laborer.
I am a bit uncertain about the Civil War history of John Geddis. There is a John Geddes who enlisted in the 7th NY Cavalry in Troy in September of 1861. He was 5’11’ tall, with blue eyes and light hair and worked as a machinist. He mustered out on March 31, 1862 in Washington D.C. This is the Cavalry regiment that went to Virginia, failed to obtain horses, and mustered out. Its members went in many different directions.
It’s barely possible that this is the same John Geddis who enlisted in New York City in Company I of the 102nd NYS Infantry Regiment in March of 1862. I’m not sure why John enlisted in New York City- except that I found two other men from Schaghticoke who enlisted in the same Company in Schaghticoke in January and February. John could have planned to enlist with men he knew…or even have returned from Washington to New York with the same goal in mind. But at this point I just don’t know. A later reference to John has him enlisting in November of 1861 in the 102nd NY Infantry Regiment- perhaps he was including his brief service with the 7th Cavalry in the accounting. It’s all hard to say at this distance from the event. His pension papers would probably tell the whole story.
In any event, John had a checkered experience in the 102nd. Company I left for Virginia a bit after the rest of the regiment, in April of 1862. It participated in General Pope’s Campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, and fought at Antietam in September of 1862. However, according to his record card, John deserted in August of 1862. He did return to the regiment…almost two years later, in June of 1864. Why did he leave, where was he, and why did he return? He was court martialed and had $30 taken from his pay at once, plus $10 per month for 18 months. Considering he only made $13 per month, that is a pretty stiff fine, but better than being shot or imprisoned.
NYS Muster Card of John Geddis in the 102nd NY
After John returned to duty, he participated with the regiment in the Atlanta Campaign, the battle at Kennesaw Mt., Georgia, and Sherman’s March to the Sea. According to one source, he was mustered out with the regiment on July 21, 1865 in Alexandria, Virginia; another gave the same date, but stated he was mustered out at Hart’s Island in New York- the site of a major hospital. This would indicate he had been ill or wounded and mustered out when cured or at least better.
The 1865 NY Census captured John back at home in Schaghticoke, still listed as a soldier. His mother had died in 1860, but his father Samuel was still working as a laborer. They lived in a brick home with two other families. His brother William had married, but still lived in town. By the 1870 US Census, Samuel was a gig tender in the woolen mill at age 62, with an estate of $8000. Youngest daughter Susan, now 20, was keeping house for her father. Soldier John, now 28, was listed as “at home,” with no occupation. Perhaps this indicates he was disabled so that he could not work.
I have not been able to find John and his sister Susan in the 1880 US census, nor John in the 1890 Veterans Census. I did find him in the records of the N.Y.S. Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home in Bath, Steuben County. He was admitted in October 1889 at age 48. As I said earlier, he reported he had enlisted in November 3, 1861- actually March of 1862- in Company I of the 102nd NY, and been discharged at Hart’s Island, NY in July of 1865. He had served under Captain Trotter. He suffered from a lung disease, acquired while in the service, and received a pension of $18 a month. He stated he was single and his closest relative was Mrs. Sarah Harris of Schaghticoke- that would be his sister. He was discharged from the hospital on June 25, 1891.
I found a pension card for John, which indicated he applied for a pension in 1890- slightly off from what is listed above- but also listed an application for a widow’s pension by a wife Ella, on December 19, 1896. A wife? I have not been able to find out anything else about her. But it seems he would have had to have married her after 1891, or she would have been his nearest relative while in the hospital.
John died in 1896 and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery. The interment record states that he was married, and that he died of consumption (tuberculosis). His tombstone records his service in the 102nd. Also in the plot are his parents, (his father died in 1879), his brother David, who had died in 1858, and Solon Harris, the 3-year old son of his sister Sarah and her husband John Harris.
broken tombstone of John Geddis at Elmwood Cemetery
James J. Fitzsimmons certainly did his part in serving his country in the Civil War. He was in both the Army and the Navy. James was born in Schaghticoke in 1839. The 1850 US Census lists his family: father Patrick, born in Ireland, was a 40-year-old laborer- and a widower. His children were Mary Ann, 15; Margaret, 13; Catharine, 9; our soldier James, 11; George, 4; Philip, 2; and Eliza, 3, all born in New York. This places the family’s arrival from Ireland as early as 1835. By the 1855 NY Census, the family was reduced to Patrick plus children Catherine, Eliza, George, and Philip. They lived in a house with four other Irish families. James was not living in Schaghticoke at the time that census was taken, but in the1860 US Census he appears in town as a farm laborer working for farmer Francis Haraman and his wife.
James enlisted in the 22nd NY Infantry Regiment in Troy on May 9, 1861. As you can tell by the low number, this was one of the early regiments to form after the war started in April, and men enlisted for just two years. James enlisted in Company A, the first to form.
NYS Muster Card of James J. Fitzsimmons
The 22nd arrived in Baltimore in late June, where they were attacked by a mob of Confederate civilians at the railroad station, resulting in one man killed. They fought in the first battle of Bull Run, after which both sides realized the war would be long and hard. This fact was really driven home at the horrific battle of Antietam, where the regiment also fought, and again at Fredericksburg. James survived all of this, though he was absent in the General Hospital for a while in April, 1863, and was mustered out with the rest of the regiment on June 19, 1863 in Albany.
James was included on the draft list for Schaghticoke in summer 1863, where he was listed as a laborer who had already served. The list erroneously says he served in the 2nd New York Regiment. I don’t believe that he would have been drafted to serve again.
But James did enlist again, in August of 1864, this time in the Navy. The 1865 NY Census states he was a seaman on the “Sanfannah,” which I have interpreted as “Savannah.” If so, he at least had easy duty, as the “Savannah” was a frigate in the U.S. Navy. After 1862 it was used as a training vessel at the U.S. Naval Academy, near Baltimore. What an experience for a man who had grown up in Schaghticoke and served as an infantryman, to be a seaman on a sailing ship! There are a number of James Fitzsimmons who applied for naval pensions, but I don’t know if one is this James. I did not find that he applied for a pension based on his service in the Infantry.
James returned to live with his father in Schaghticoke after the war. The 1865 NY Census lists Patrick, age 55, with an estate of $400, a laborer, and James, also a laborer. The family also included sisters Catherine, now 21, and Eliza, now 18, who were weavers, and brother Philip, 16, a laborer. So far, I have been unable to find James in the census thereafter. Much of his family remained in Schaghticoke, and I know he definitely kept in touch with them.
I did find James in the beautifully detailed records of the N.Y. Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home in Bath, NY in 1884. He was admitted in November of that year with “phthisis pulmonatis,” which is a form of tuberculosis. He gave his age as 45 and recorded he had served in Company A of the 22nd Regiment under Captain Estabrook, being discharged when his enlistment was up on June 19, 1863. He gave his residence as Schaghticoke and his occupation as cotton spinner. His closest relative was his sister, Mrs. Eliza Lancaster, who lived there. James died in the hospital on December 22, 1885, and is buried in the National Cemetery at Bath in Section C, Row 2, Site 27.
Tombstone of James J.Fitzsimmons, Bath National Cemetery. Thanks to Find-a-Grave
Edgar Fields was born and died in the village of Schaghticoke, but lived almost every year of his life elsewhere. His newspaper obituary ended up in my files. Pat Booth, who lived in the village, remembers him as one of the few surviving Civil War vets of her youth, “DaDa Fields.” According to that obit, he was born November 4, 1847.
As of the 1850 US Census his family lived in Lansingburgh, in a section with many brush makers, which would indicate he lived in what we now call Lansingburgh, and not the southern part of Schaghticoke. Father Ambrose Fields 30, a clerk, mother Amanda, 29, and son Edgar, 4, comprised the family. Amanda Fields died in 1859 at age 27. I have not been able to find Ambrose in later censuses.
Edgar stayed in the area for a while. In the 1860 US Census he was a 15-year-old servant in the family of Mary VanWert of Pittstown. Her son Henry was a doctor. By 1863 Edgar was in Illinois. On December 31, 1863, he enlisted in Company A of the 89th Illinois Infantry Regiment as a Private. That regiment had been formed a year earlier, and had suffered many casualties. Edgar was a new recruit to fill vacancies. His obituary and his pension card indicate he was a musician, specifically a drummer boy, but the military records do not state that.
The 89th Illinois fought in the battle of Kennesaw Mountain in Georgia in June of 1864, and the battle of Atlanta from July-August 1864, marched in Sherman’s March to the Sea, then went on to the battle of Nashville in December, 1864. The records state that Edgar transferred to the Veterans’ Reserve Corps in Washington on May 3, 1865. That was usually an indication that a man was recovering from a wound or illness, but Edgar’s obituary doesn’t quite say that, though it states that he served as a mounted guard in the Corps, being transferred from Cumberland Hospital in Nashville.
After the war, Edgar returned to Rensselaer County. In the 1870 US Census he was in Lansingburgh. He was 25, a painter, with wife Eliza, 27, a dressmaker, and daughters Mary, 6; Amanda, 3; and Carrie, 10/12. This implies an immediate marriage after getting out of the service. His obituary states he was a carriage painter. By the 1880 US Census Edgar was in Pittstown, working in the cotton mill there, along with his daughter Mary. The family now included two more children, Edgar, 6, and Emma 7/12. Edgar, Sr. was still in Pittstown in the 1890 Veterans’ Census, when he only listed his service in the Veterans’ Reserve Corps. This seems odd, as his other service sounds very exciting. He did list his service in the 89th Illinois and the Veterans Reserve Corps when he applied for a pension in 1891.
I cannot find Edgar in the 1900 US Census. But his wife Eliza, now 52, was a washerwoman, living with her daughter Mary in Pittstown. Mary was married to Dennis McAlinden. Edgar, Jr, a 19-year old cigar maker, lived with them as well. Where was Edgar, Sr?? The couple could have separated, he could have been working elsewhere, or there could just be a census error. Edgar does appear in the 1910 US Census in Pittstown. He was living with his daughter Sadie, age 44, and her husband Harvey Utter, 50. By the age, I guess Sadie would be a nickname for Amanda. Harvey worked in the twine mill. Edgar was listed as a 66-year-old widower, working as a U.S. mail carrier. His son Edgar, the cigar maker, also lived with the family, along with his wife Mable.
Edgar Sr.’s obituary states he was a rural mail carrier, “one of the first persons in the valley to own an automobile.” Continuing his original trade of carriage painter, “he gave his car a fresh coat of paint each year.” A newspaper article from the year before his death stated he had just renewed his driver’s license at age 93, still not needing glasses. At death his height was listed as 5’2”, the same as when he enlisted as a drummer boy in 1863. Perhaps he had been at least a bit taller as a grown man., and had then shrunken with age.
Excerpt from the obituary of Edgar Fields 1938
Edgar stayed with the Utters through 1920. By the 1930 US Census he had moved to live with his grandson Frederick McAlinden in Clifton, New Jersey. His daughter Mary, nicknamed Mattie, lived with him and his family too. Edgar was now retired, at the age of 77. Edgar, Sr. moved back North at the end of his life, living with his son Edgar in Buskirk where he died in 1938 at the age of 94. His obituary states that he was “the only (surviving) Civil War veteran in his part of the county.” (Actually James Henry Nible died two years later.) His other daughters also survived him: Mrs Homer C Ferguson in Hamilton, Ohio; Mrs Alfred Butler of Paterson, N.J.; and Mrs. Walter Maloney of Buffalo. He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery, along with daughter Emma, who died just after the 1880 census recorded her, at age 8 months, and son Edgar, who died in 1965 at age 83.
This is from the “Knickerbocker News”. It was in Geneva Viall Cukrovany’s scrapbook and must date c. 1935.
Tombstone of Edgar Fields, Sr. at Elmwood Cemetery. It’s hard to read, but his birth year is given as 1844, and the death date has not been added
I think that the George Ferris I am researching appears in the NY Census for 1855 in Greenfield, Saratoga County, aged 26, with wife Rebecca, 21, and son Albert, 3. He was a laborer, who had lived in the county for ten years.
George D. Ferris has a mysterious service record. He enlisted on March 3, 1862 in Company E of the 77th New York Infantry Regiment in Saratoga at the age of 33. The record card states he was absent, deserted, from August 1862-1864. Though he was allowed to return to the unit, thereafter he was sick for quite a while. He transferred from Company E to A on November 14, 1864, and mustered out on March 3, 1865. His wife Rebecca applied for a widow’s pension on November 17, 1862- so she clearly didn’t think he had deserted, but rather that he had died. Who knows where he was?
NYS Muster Card of George D. Ferris
I am reluctant to list the battles in which he may have fought, as it seems he was rarely serving with his unit. The 77th was active through the spring of 1865, and was at Appomattox Court House in April – but George missed all of that. Was he in the hospital,unidentified, for a long time? Was he captured? The unit mustered out on June 27, 1865. Perhaps the pension record would tell the story. He applied for an invalid pension on January 5, 1886.
George has a mysterious history in general. I have included him here as he appears in the Veterans Schedule of the 1890 census, when he lived in Reynolds, town of Schaghticoke. Reynolds is the little community around the railroad crossing of what is now Howland Avenue, the road that goes under the magnificent one-lane granite railroad arch over the road, at the end of Hansen Road.
At the time, George listed his service and stated he suffered from chronic diarrhea. He died the following year and is buried in the Medbury Cemetery in Greenfield, Saratoga County. His tombstones gives his dates as 1829-1891 and records his service in the 77th, from 1862-1865. I have not been able to find him in any other census, either before or after the war. I believe I found his son Albert in the 1865 census for Greenfield, where he was a servant in a family, age 13.
George Ferris tombstone in Greenfield, Saratoga County
History of the Town of Schaghticoke 