If you are able to get the pension record for your Civil War ancestor, read it carefully. The first part of my great-great grandfather, Abraham Bates Tower’s pension record contained a summary of his military career. The summary included where he was born, years in the military, marital status and spouse’s name, his trade, his parents names and where they were born, the date/place/cause of his death, and the cemetery name.
That’s where I found out that my ancestor had been a farmer before the war.
Vintage Plow Engraving. Ceramic Tiles by historiceaton
After the war, in 1870 he is listed on the census as a farmer in LaClede, Missouri. At this point, he is 32 years old and also in the household are his wife, Nancy, 3 daughters, a son and his 21 year old brother who was listed as a farm laborer.
UPDATE: Found Abraham Bates Tower in the 1860 census and at that time, he was a cooper. He lived near the Ohio River in Southern Indiana, so I imagine there was quite a bit of shipping on the river that required barrels. Possibly he switched to farming before volunteering.
It was great to find this blog!! My last blog post was on an ancestor in the Civil War and my next blog post will be on him in the Civil War as well. It was great to find so much information and the history behind him. I was even asked to teach a lesson on the Civil War. We ought to follow each other. Oh, Welcome to Geneabloggers!!
Regards, Grant
LikeLike
Me again. You may want to delete some of these comments. :-). I have some pins on pinterest (on the board Researching Wars) that might interest you for blogs on the Civil War if you want to check it out.
LikeLike
Hmm, I’m searching for the pinboard on pinterest, but not having any luck.
LikeLike
If you go to
http;//thestephensherwoodletters.blogspot.com
and click on “pinterest” that should take you to my site and then go the board “researching wars.”.
LikeLike
Welcome to GeneaBloggers! Will definitly add your blog to my list of weekly reads!
LikeLike
Thanks! I’ll stop by to see your topics.
LikeLike
Found your blog through Geneabloggers. It has a beautiful look! I’ll have to read more here.
LikeLike
Have you visited: http://www.civilwar-online.com/ I keep a link on my blog.
LikeLike
Sounds intriguing. I’ll go check it out.
LikeLike
Looks like a great blog.
LikeLike