➡  Helbling, Beerbower Families

Today marks the 154th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. We had thought to list all those of our ancestors who fought in the war, but that would be a long list. It would also ignore the sacrifices of those who stayed behind, whose land was destroyed yet consecrated by the blood of both sides, and those who dealt with the physical and psychological aftermath throughout their lives- not just the soldiers, but the family, friends, and community.The Civil War changed us as a nation, and changed us as a people. It would be impossible to tell all these stories, so instead, we will tell a story of Samuel T. Beerbower.

 

The oldest (surviving) son of Eleazer John and Matilda McKelvey Beerbower was Samuel Taylor Beerbower, born on 10 November 1842 in Fairfield County, Ohio. He was the brother of our ancestor, Edgar Peter Beerbower, who married Anna Missouri Springsteen. So he would be an uncle with a variable number of ‘great'(s) before, depending on the generation of our dear reader.

Sam turned eighteen just four days after Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States in November, 1860. Southern states began to secede from the Union within six weeks of Lincoln’s election. Lincoln was not inaugurated until March 4, 1861, and the South made good on their promise if Lincoln became President- the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, on April 12th, officially beginning the hostilities of the rebellion. Three days after the loss of Fort Sumter to the Confederate States, Lincoln called for 75,000 militiamen to protect the Union. In a special congressional session on July 4, 1861, President Lincoln told Congress the Union was in, “…a struggle for maintaining in the world, that form, and substance of government, whose leading object is, to elevate the condition of men…” Congress recognized the gravity of this struggle, and instead of 75,000 men, the number authorized was over six times the request- 500,000 men.

The call to arms to preserve the union of the United States was surely felt strongly by Samuel, his friends, and neighbors. The Union loss at First Bull Run on July 21, 1861 likely fueled the fires of a young man’s passion to go off to war and Samuel enlisted in the Sixty-Fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company B, on 23 Oct 1861, in Mansfield, Ohio. Sam was promoted to Sergeant just one month after enlisting, on 18 November 1861. His unit became a part of the Army of the Cumberland, and the battles in which he fought included Perryville, Stone River, Chattanooga, Chickamauga, and Mission Ridge.

Samuel was promoted to First Sergeant on 02 Aug 1862. The company had been on duty along the Memphis and Charleston Railroad and then marched to Louisville, Kentucky in pursuit of Bragg.

The Battle of Mission Ridge near Chattanooga, Tennessee on 25 November 1863 was a brutal battle. Union troops took the first row of rifles in the valley fairly easily, but then had to go up the mountain to get to the next line, and they were easy targets for the Confederates from above. As Samuel’s company was storming the ridge, he took a minnie ball to the right shoulder; it passed out near his shoulder blade, just to the right of the spine. (Only a short bit to the left and most of his body would have been paralyzed for life.) Samuel spent  three months confined in the hospitals of Chattanooga and Nashville to recuperate. Although he had avoided almost total paralysis, he did suffer from paralysis of his right arm and right hand.

 “In January of 1864, the subject of reenlistment coming up, three fourths of the men expressed a willingness to re-enlist…”

and Sam’s company was furloughed home for 30 days. Sam was not one of those interested in continuing in the Army, due to his wound and paralysis.

Samuel T. Beerbower was promoted to First Sergeant, and then was honorably discharged 23 March 1864 from Nashville, Tennessee, on a Surgeon’s Certificate of Disability. He returned to Marion, Ohio, and filed for a disability pension right away, on 08 April 1864. He may have been out of the fray, however the Civil War always stayed with him, as it did for all those who survived such a horrible war.

 

More to come about Sam’s life after the War.

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1) “The U.S. Civil War 1861-1865” on “The History Place” at http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/.

2) 1860 US Federal Census, E J Beerbower, head of household: Year: 1860; Census Place: Marion, Marion, Ohio; Roll: M653_1006; Page: 326; Image: 123; Family History Library Film: 805006. Ancestry.com.

3) The Story of the Sherman Brigade. The camp, the bivouac, the battle; and how “the boys” lived and died during four years of active field service., by Wilbur F. Hinman, published by the author, 1897. This book is about the Ohio regiments mustered together by Col. John Sherman, not William Tecumseh Sherman, though they did assist in his march through the south. The book is a very interesting read as it contains so many details that regimental histories do not- truly, much of the day-to-day life as the author was a Lt. Col. in the Ohio 65th Regiment, and was there. https://ia600801.us.archive.org/26/items/StoryOfTheShermanBrigade.theCampTheMarchTheBivouacTheBattleAnd/Story_of_the_Sherman_Brigade.pdf

 

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 What a joyous news note- the birth of a daughter to Edgar “Ed” Peter Beerbower and Anna Missouri (Springsteen) Beerbower!

This cherished daughter was born 22 April 1880. She was named Mary Emma Beerbower, likely after her paternal aunt, Mary Emma (Beerbower) Ligenfelter, who was 3 years younger than her brother Ed.

A Marion, Ohio newspaper printed this story, since Ed and his father, Eleazer John Beerbower, his mother, Matilda Louise McElvey Beerbower, and their other children, were former residents of Marion. (It was also a way to increase newspaper sales in another city- a common ploy by savvy newspapers.) Ed’s brother Samuel T. Beerbower still lived in Marion, and was the postmaster, so the news would be of interest to many in the town.

Ed and Anna Beerbower had already had 2 sons, Robert Warson Beerbower, born 1874, and Edgar Springsteen Beerbower, born 1876. There was then a gap of about three and a half years before dear Mary Emma was born. Two more children would later be born to Ed and Anna: Anna May Beerbower, b. 1881, and Willie Beerbower, b. 1889, but Willie only lived one day.

Samuel T. Beerbower and his wife, Irene L. Peters, had only two known children, both sons: Cornell R. Beerbower (b. 1870) and Wilson Beerbower, birthdate unknown but probably in the 1870s; he only lived one year and a few days.

Little Mary Emma’s grandparents, Eleazer and Matilda Beerbower, were still alive and living in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1880, and must have been thrilled to finally have a granddaughter. Other children of Eleazer and Matilda would give them more grandchildren in later years.

Note the play on words: “Brightwooder be the smiles…” instead of “Bright would be the smiles.” The writer refers to Brightwood, where the daughter was born, a residential area then northeast of Indianapolis, Indiana.

We have real privacy concerns today, but it’s really not that new, except the scope- the newspapers of old could print pretty much what they wanted and usually filled their columns with all sorts of goings on in the town, along with editorial content in the news pages. The birth of a niece was probably a happy event for Samuel and his wife Irene, especially with the 3+ year gap in children for Anna and Ed Beerbower, when they may have lost another child not known. Sadly, the newspaper sort of rubs in the fact that Samuel and Irene do not have a daughter of their own- that probably hurt deeply, as anyone who has lost a child or been unable to have as many as they wish would know.

The sadness continues though… despite being a healthy 8- 1/2 pounds at birth, baby Mary Emma Beerbower only lived just over two months. The Beerbower family bible states

“Died

Mary Emma Beerbower

June 29th 1880 Aged

9 weeks, 5 days

Brightwood, Ind.”

The telegram was dated 29 June,, but states that the infant died “yesterday, at 4 p.m.” making her actual death date 28 Jun 1880. The paper notes her burial is to be July 1st, but the Find A Grave record for Mary Emma in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana, notes that she was buried 29 Aug 1880, quite a long time from the bible and telegram death date.

Mary Emma is buried in Section 22, Lot 894, which is not by the remaining family’s lots.

Even though the news is first happy but ultimately sad here, one bright spot to an intrepid family historian is that the first article tells where  Ed Beerbower worked- the CCC & IRR office, so we may be able to find some railroad worker records for him now that we know the line and a date.

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1) Birth announcement in Marion [Ohio] Daily Star, April 26, 1880, Volume III, No. 170, Page 4, Column 2. Posted with kind permission of the newspaper for personal, non-profit use only.

2) 1880 US Federal Census for Eleazer and Matilda (McElvey) Beerbower: Source Citation: Year: 1880; Census Place: Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana; Roll: 295; Family History Film: 1254295; Page: 227B; Enumeration District: 113; Image: 0156.

3) Death telegram news story in Marion [Ohio] Daily Star, April 26, 1880, Volume III, No. 225, Page 4, Column 2. Posted with kind permission of the newspaper for personal, non-profit use only.

4) Mary Emma Beerbower’s Find A Grave Memorial #45869800: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=45869800&ref=acom

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Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

 

We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post, and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.