Re: Please prove me wrong!
-
In reply to:
Re: Please prove me wrong!
D Briggs 11/22/13
Thanks for your response. Since I first posted 2 weeks ago, I have become a detective checking the prime sources myself. You would not believe what I have uncovered so far! The deeper I dig the more convinced I am that I am looking at a "duck". lol But before I start acting like a brat and yelling "That's mine...Give it back!" I wanted to make sure I'm not on a wild "goose" chase! lol
The 52nd Infantry Regiment was organized at Staunton, Virginia, in August, 1861. (BTW, I live in Staunton) Many of its members were from Augusta County. During my search I learned there were several companies in the 52nd infantry. So I started searching for info about the different companies. I found in the 52nd regiment there were 8 companies from Augusta Co, one company (K) from Bath Co and one company (E) from Rockbridge. Men often enlisted in a company recruited in the counties where they lived, though not always.
In the "History of Rockbridge County,Virginia by Oren F. Morton" on page 435 it list a Jas H. Miller in Company E. of the 52nd regiment. My Joseph aka Jas H Miller was certainly living in Rockbridge Co during that time. From his daughter Willianna's birth record d/o Jas H. Miller (Shoemaker) So all info in the discharge papers fits my Joseph.
I haven't found any pention records. Even though he was discharged on a disability, it wasn't for a war injury. And his release was just a few days before the end of his enlistment, so I don't believe he qualified for a pention.
As for Joseph Andrew Miller, I can see how initials “A” and “H” could easily have been mistaken for one another. So at first I thought it could be a mix up in the military service records. Maybe Joseph Andrew Miller served in another company, even another regiment. But I couldn't find anything to support that idea. So why is he listed in the Soldiers Records on the Valley of the Shadow website, in Co E of the 52nd infantry?
So I start digging deeper! Then I find him listed as a CSA veteran in the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery on the W & L University Library website. There is a picture of the tombstone, but nothing inscribed on the stone in reference to his service. Also the stone looks new, which is another concern!
So I called the cemetery to find out what is in their original records, only to learn that all records were lost during a fire in 1927. So I decide to contact the Special Collections Department at the W & L University Library, to see what info they might have. Their records indicate that a CSA plaque marked his grave. Unfortunately, they don't know who determined that Joseph A. Miller was a veteran or when the plaque was placed there. But they sent me the page from Robert J Drivers book, listing him as a Private in Co. E, of the 52nd infantry. Strange how all mention of his service seems to be comming from the same source, the discharge papers in question!
However, they also sent me a copy of Joseph Andrew Miller's obituary, but it doesn't mention anything about his service. Then I also found him the 1910 census. That was the year they asked if you served in the war. I was a little suprize to find that nothing is mark on there either! So I have found nothing to verify that Joseph Andrew Miller ever served at all.
But my quest is not over! Now I intend to get to the root of when and how these records were linked to Joseph Andrew Miller in the first place! I plan to contact the United Daughters of the Confederacy in Lexington about the Series I: Grave Marker Applications,1905-1942 I found on the Library Of Virginia website. And I hope to talk to Robert Driver next week, to ask if he as any other source info that I might not know about.
PS Sandra I have see the National Park Service's Civil War Soldier's database. The other Joseph Miller in Co E of the 52nd infantry died while in service at age 22, of typhoid fever. He was s/o Andrew Miller & his 3rd wife Rebecca McCoy. He was 1/2 brother to my Harriett Miller d/o Andrew Miller & 2nd wife Ann Armentrout, my other Miller line. Harriett Millers dau married the s/o Joseph H. Miller. I am trying to find out if these 2 Miller families were related.