Wartrace

View from the railroad tracks of Wartrace's downtown area. This area of the town is listed
on the National Register of Historic Places as the Wartrace Historic District.

Commentary

The name Wartrace came from a Cherokee Indian trail that once passed through the area. Wartrace is connected to Shelbyville by the Walking Horse and Eastern Railroad, a historic rail line that is still in part-time operation. The town, initially known as "Wartrace Depot," was established in the early 1850s as a stop on the newly constructed Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad.

During the Civil War, the rail line was strategic to both the Union and Confederate armies. The Tennessee campaigns of 1862 and 1863 saw Union troops force the Confederates from Nashville all the way to Chattanooga along the line of the railroad. The tracks and bridges were repeatedly damaged and repaired, and the rolling stock was largely destroyed. At different times the trains carried supplies for both armies.

During the Civil War, the town was the winter headquarters of Confederate General William J. Hardee following the Battle of Stones River. The Old Chockley Tavern in Wartrace was a gathering place for Confederate officers during the Tullahoma Campaign. A skirmish was fought at Wartrace on April 11, 1862. The town eventually came under Union control toward the end of 1863.

With the increase in rail travel in the late 19th century, Wartrace experienced a boom period. At its height, the town had six inns and hotels, and serviced 13 trains per day. One hotel, the Walking Horse Hotel, is still in business today.

William did not have an ordinary peasant's taste in newspapers. He hungered for knowledge, not sensationalism. He sided with those wronged by a slave owning society. He was an abolitionist.

Horace Greeley

The New York Tribune was one of the major newspapers of the day. The Tribune was created by Horace Greeley in 1841 to provide a trustworthy media source in an era when newspapers such as the New York Sun and New York Herald thrived on sensationalism. Although considered the least partisan of the leading newspapers, the Tribune did reflect some of Horace Greeley's idealist views. During the Civil War the Tribune was radical Republican in view, supporting abolition of slavery and subjection of the Confederacy instead of negotiated peace.

Harriet Beecher Stowe, a strong abolitionist wrote for both the New York Evangelist and the Independent...”

The NY Evangelist was published from 1830 to 1902. To give a sense of the opinion of the publications read by William Graham, a writer for the New York Evangelist wrote on July 25, 1861: We are now opening our eyes to the unwelcome fact that they are enemies of the country, and must be dealt with as TRAITORS. This once settled, scruples fast vanish about the mode of conducting the war. We feel bound to use every means in our power to put down a rebellion which is striking at the very life of the nation.

In the same issue the Evangelist asked: why not make a speedy end of this dreadful business by at once proclaiming freedom to the slaves?…Whatever rights they [southerners] had before as loyal citizens, they have forfeited by their treason and rebellion.

There are 74 Comstock’s with NY regiments, none with the 107th. In the 1860 Census the only male Comstock of young man age in Schuyler County (Town of Reading) was John age 13, which would have made him 17 in 1864.

Davids' Island is a 78 acre island off the coast of New Rochelle, New York. It is about 5 miles north of Throg's Point, the location of Fort Schuyler, on the western end of Long Island Sound. Currently uninhabited, the island has been owned by the City of New Rochelle for more than 30 years. After a number of false starts, including a brief attempt by Donald Trump to develop the island, its future use remains undetermined. Remaining structures on the island were demolished by the city in 2008. So much for history.

The U.S. Government in April, 1862 rented the island for hospital purposes from the then owner, Thaddeus Davids. Wooden structures were immediately erected which housed thousands of wounded prisoners from the battlefields of the Civil War. At the end of the war, Congress authorized its purchase for military purposes and it was conveyed to the United States in 1867. It was later converted to a coastal artillery defense post and was given the name Fort Slocum after Major General Henry W. Slocum, U.S. Volunteers.

Fort Slocum on David's Island in 1968

Uncle Bell was the father of Dr. Robert Bell. Uncle Bell's first wife Elizabeth died in 1846 and was the sister of William Graham's father.

The writing of love letters for another is one practice that seems to have disappeared in our society. It still occurs in societies on this planet where literacy is less universal. Not sure who was the Boyes for whom William was writing love letters.

 

Commentary

 

William Graham's comments about living in "the midst of sin" and his frequent references to the Lord indicate he was a religious man of the stricter sort. At the same time, his comments about slave owners and his preferences in newspapers would indicate that he was an abolitionist.

Abolitionism had a strong religious base including Quakers, and people converted by the revivalist fervor of the Second Great Awakening in the North in the 1830s. Belief in abolition contributed to the breaking away of some small denominations, such as the Free Methodist Church. 

Evangelical abolitionists founded some colleges, most notably Bates College in Maine and Oberlin College in Ohio. In the North, most opponents of slavery supported other modernizing reform movements such as the temperance movement, public schooling, and prison- and asylum-building. They split bitterly on the role of women's activism.

William was raised a Presbyterian in Ireland. The Free Methodist Church was founded in 1860 in western New York near where William Graham worked as a farmer. They opposed slavery, supporting freedom for all slaves in the United States.

The denomination was more conservative than the regular Methodists with regards to drinking, smoking, gambling, jewelry and modern dancing. Given these beliefs, and the association of his descendants in Schuyler County with the Methodist Church, there is a strong possibility that William was a Free Methodist.

Methodist camp revival meeting in the 1830s

Guy C. Adams is recorded as being with the 107th by the Nat’l Park Service database. Like William, he went in as a private and out as a Sergeant. Guy Adams, age 15 is listed in 1860 Census living in the Town of Dix. Guy, who would have been 19 in 1864, is mentioned in a number of William Graham's letters.

Dr. Robert Bell - Detailed information on his life may be found in William's Letter Correspondents.

This mention of a shilling is the only indication in William Graham's surviving letters of his Irish origins.

Anna is mentioned in a number of William Graham's letters. In 2008 one might call her a girl friend, but his comments about her to his sister convey an ambivalent feeling on both sides. Whatever transpired in their relationship, he eventually married another woman, Mary Platt.

Blockhouse at Union camp guarding the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad

 

Commentary

Rural New Yorker, a farm paper founded in 1850 as Moore's Rural New Yorker, dedicated "to home interests of both country and town residents."

Interesting the importance placed on the photo, the picture of loved person as a representation of that loved one. Photography was then a new technology and had a fascination and significance which has diminished today.

The rumors about heading to Kentucky were wrong. William's suspicion in that regard was correct. However, change was indeed afoot. The Atlanta Campaign which would culminate in the fall and burning of that city would begin in a little over a month - on May 7, 1864.

William and the 107th Regiment would again experience the stress, fear and excitement of battle. The boredom and sins of the last six months would be no more. Now a different sort of horror would bathe the land of Georgia.

William's Letter Correspondents

Four different people were addressed in the 26 surviving letters of William Graham. The great majority were sent to his sister Elizabeth (Libbie) Graham. One was addressed to John Boyes and one to Andrew Scobey. The rest were addressed to his cousin, Dr. Robert Bell. All the known correspondents were either relatives of William or, in the case of Andrew Scobey, living with a relative.

Elizabeth 'Libbie' Graham

Elizabeth 'Libbie' Graham, c1870

Elizabeth 'Libbie' Graham was born in 1838 in County Down, Ireland. She immigrated with the rest of the family from Ireland in 1850 at the age of 12. In one of his letters, William states that Libbie is his only sister. 

By 1855, Elizabeth Graham was age 17 and living in the Town of Dix, Schuyler County, New York with Andrew and Harriet Scobey (both age 28). She had also been adopted by them. She is living not far from the Brewster Platt’s, whose daughter Mary would eventually marry Elizabeth's brother William after the Civil War.

In 1860, Elizabeth Graham is a domestic servant still living with the farmer couple, Andrew and Harriet Scobey. Brother William Graham sends his respects to the Scobey’s in a number of his letters sent to Libbie (Elizabeth) during the Civil War.

In 1870 and 1880, Elizabeth is a housekeeper still living with the Scobey’s and just down the road from the Platt/Graham household. In 1884, Elizabeth Graham married the widower, Eugene Pangborn of the Village of Townsend in Schuyler County. Eugene had five children by his previous wife, Jane Huey. Elizabeth helped raise the 3 youngest children. 

Affidavet by Elizabeth regarding Mary Platt Graham's
Pension Application

She probably had the greatest influence on the youngest child Ruth, who was age five when Elizabeth married Eugene. Ruth eventually married Edwin Van Deventer in October 1900 in Monterey, New York. Ruth survived to the age of 102, dying in 1982.

The 1900 Census for the Town of Dix shows a farmer Eugene Pangborn and wife Elizabeth born in May 1843 (she probably lied about her age so as to appear no older than husband). Elizabeth died on February 1, 1910 at age 71. Her husband Eugene, who survived her, married a third time to Iva Warden. He died on January 12, 1929 at age 84.

Documentary evidence (other than the letters) of Elizabeth's relationship with William Graham comes from an affidavit. She signed this in 1900 in support of Mary Platt Graham's application for a pension as a widow of a Civil War veteran, William Graham. This affidavit on the left (with emphasis added), attests to her lifetime acquaintance with William Graham (which would reach back to life in Ireland) and her presence at the marriage between William Graham and Mary Platt. Strangely, she never states that she is William's sister.

John Boyes

John Boyes was likely the nephew of the family William lived with in 1860. William was then living with farmer Thomas Boyes, his wife Mary and seven children in the Town of Orange, Schuyler Co., NY. Mary and her sister Eliza were William's cousins, daughters of William Bell and Elizabeth Graham (sister of William's father James). They were also sisters of Dr. Robert Bell, another of William's correspondents

Eliza Boyes' farm was in the same neighborhood as her sister's in the Town of Orange. Eliza had married James Boyes who died in 1846. She remarried a James Criddle. One of Eliza's sons was named John Boyes and would have been age 22 in 1862. In 1860, 20 year old John Boyes was working as a farm laborer in nearby Seneca, Ontario County, NY. By 1870, John Boyes, age 30 and employed as a physician, is living in Tyrone, Schuyler County with his wife Cynthia, age 26. John lived until age 90, dying in 1930. He and his wife had two daughters.

Dr. Robert Bell

Dr. Robert Bell

Robert Bell was William Graham's cousin. According to a A biographical record of Schuyler County, New York, Robert was born August 24, 1815, in County Down, Ireland (now Northern Ireland, or Ulster), about 12 miles from the City of Belfast. He was the son of William Bell and Elizabeth Graham (aunt of both William Graham and his sister 'Libbie'). He was 12 years old when his family left Ireland and landed in St. Johns, New Brunswick, Canada in 1827.  They then made their way to Boston, Mass., and resided in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Later Robert Bell was a student in Newburg, NY where he contracted and survived typhoid fever.  The family then moved to Fishkill Landing where his brother and sister died.  Subsequently, they moved to Newtown, NY (now Elmira, NY). By 1840 they moved about 3 miles south of Monterey Village in the Town of Orange, Schuyler Co., NY.

Harriet Haring Bell

In 1839 & 1840 Robert was a student in a select school in Montour Falls, taught by Artemus Fay and later by Mr. Gillett.  Then Robert became ill again, and Dr. Nelson Winton attended him, and offered him a course of medical study for three years in return for one year of service to Dr. Winton.  Eventually the now Dr. Bell was persuaded by the people of Monterey to set up a permanent office there.

In 1846 his mother Elizabeth Graham died and is buried in the Monterey Cemetery. Robert Bell's father William continued living on the family farm outside Monterey, New York with his unmarried son James. In 1864 William remarried a woman named Margaret, whose surname is unknown.

In 1849 Dr. Bell married Harriet M. Haring.  Mrs. Bell was an active and influential member of the Presbyterian Church, being especially active in its missionary organizations. In the spring of 1878 they went on an extensive trip through the west and south, with the hope of benefiting Mrs. Bell's health. She died on September 3, 1902 and is buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Watkins, with a large monument in the center of the cemetery. 

Dr. Bell was important in the building and development of Monterey village  He built a large block in Monterey for the post office and 3 stores, and a community hall upstairs. Dr. and Mrs. Bell were said to live in the most beautiful residence in Monterey.

Former Dr. & Mrs. Bell Residence in Monterey
'Still the most beautiful'

Dr. Bell had no children, but was much attached to his wife, and took much interest in all his relatives. As a preceptor (teacher) he gave many young men a good start in the medical profession. He was known for his kindness of heart and charitable deeds, and ever contributed liberally to any worthy cause. Dr. Bell died in 1907 and is buried next to his wife.

Andrew Scobey

Andrew Scobey and his wife Harriet were childless. According to the 1855 New York State Census, the Scobey's adopted Elizabeth 'Libbie' Graham (although only 11 years younger than them) sometime after her 1850 arrival in America at the age of 12. Libbie lived as a servant on their farm during the Civil War.

Andrew was active in his community. Appointed postmaster in the town of Townsend in 1854. Still listed as postmaster in the 1860s. Listed as the Townsend justice of peace and a farmer in the 1868 city directory.

The 1875 NY Census illustrates the Scobey interest in adoption. An Archey* C. Scobey age 16 is listed as an adopted son along with adopted daughter Elizabeth Graham. According to the 1880 Census, Elizabeth 'Libbie' Graham was still living as a domestic with the Scobeys. Also living next door were Andrew Scobey's 'nephew' and 'niece', Archule* 21 and Mary Scobey 22.

In 1880 the Scobeys lived just down the road from the Platt’s where Libbie's sister-in-law, the widow Mary Platt Graham was living in her parent's home with her two children. This was four years before Libbie's marriage to widower, Eugene Pangborn in 1884. 

In the early 1890s Andrew was  listed as a retired merchant farmer living in the Village of Watkins. Libbie's then husband, Eugene Pangborn, was working 'on shares' on 100 acres owned by Andrew Scobey. Scobey was providing the land and Pangborn the labor, in return for which Pangborn would receive a share of the crop. Wonder if this was some of the land that Scobey bought while William was fighting in the war.

According to the 1900 Census, the Scobeys finally produced a daughter. A Mary Scobey age 22 is listed in the household as such. Curiously, no such Mary is listed as a two year old living with them in 1880. Probably they adopted her as was their wont. Very strange!

Andrew died in 1902 at the age of 76. Interestingly, adopted son Archey together with wife Harriet are listed as executors for Andrew's 1902 estate. Andrew's wife outlasted him by more than a decade, dying in 1911 at age 86.

*Archule age 21 and nephew in 1880 must be the same person as Archey age 16 and adopted son listed in 1875. Sounds like adoption by the Scobeys was a little bit loosey goosey.