Lewis Higgins (1809 - 1864)

Born 30 Jun 1809 in Rileyville, Hunterdon, New Jersey

Ancestors

Husband of Ann Barbara (Cramer) Higgins — married 5 Jan 1832 in Hunterdon, New Jersey, United States

Husband of Mahala (Hummer) Higgins — married 29 Oct 1853 in Hunterdon, New Jersey, United States

Descendants

Died 16 May 1864 at age 54 in Spotsylvania Courthouse, Spotsylvania , Virginia, United States

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Biography

Lewis Higgins, born June 30, 1809. Died May or June, 1864, in Virginia.

Enlisted as a Private on 8/5/1862 with Company A, 15th Infantry Regiment, New Jersey on 8/25/1862. Missing on 5/12/1864 at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia. Killed Company A, 15th Infantry Regiment New Jersey on 5/12/1864 in Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia. Widows pension gives 5/16/1864 as date of death.

Married (1) 1/25/1832, Ann Barbara Cramer.

Married (2) 10/29/1853, Mahala Hummer.

Lewis Higgins resided at Stanton and at Clinton, New Jersey.

During the civil war starting on 8/5/1862 in New Jersey. He was one of the original members of the Company A, 15th Infantry Regiment New Jersey and was killed in battle on 5/12/1864 in Spotsylvania (part of the battle of the Wilderness). Most likely this was during the Union attack against the Bloody Angle at dawn, on 5/12-13 which resulted a capture of nearly a division of Lee's army and came near to cutting the Confederate army in half. The Confederate army was able to counterattack in what was one of the most ferociously sustained combats of the Civil War. Nearly one-fifth of the regiment was lost during this battle.

He was also most likely present at the Battle of Gettysburg with his regiment although they were not actively engaged. Side served: Union. State served: New Jersey. Enlistment date: 8/5/1862.

Mahala Higgins is listed as the widow of Lewis Higgins in 1890 Veterans Census Schedule for Hopewell, Mercer County, New Jersey. Civil War pension index shows Lewis Higgins' widow received a pension (Application #124067 & Certificate # 89059) on 3/26/1866.

Case Files of Approved Pension Applications of Widows and Other Dependents of Civil War Veterans (NARA) Mahala Higgins (nee Hummer) applied for a pension, 1/6/1866, for the loss of her husband, Lewis Higgins, who was a private in Company A, 15th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry. They were married by Reverend John McNair at Amsterdam County, New Jersey on 10/29th/1853. They had two children; William H. Higgins, born 4/5/1855 and Rebecca M. Higgins, born 8/19/1858. Lewis Higgins had been wounded in a charge of the rebel works at the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse on 5/12/1864 and died in a Rebel Field Hospital on 5/16/1864.

Research Notes

Children listed on Ann's FamilySearch page:

• Female
• Daniel Blackwell
• John C.
• Elizabeth
• James

Children listed on Mahala's FamilySearch page:

• William
• Rebecca

Not sure about these children linked to Lewis on his wikitree record & not on FamilySearch:

• George
• Mary Jane
• Sarah
• Cornelia
• Francis

Sources

• Lewis: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/M55F-LT6 Lists his parents, 3 siblings, spouse Ann & 5 children, spouse Mahala & 2 children, 21 sources/notes.

• 1850 Census: Clinton, Hunterdon, New Jersey.

• 1860 Census: East Amwell, Hunterdon, New Jersey.

• Richard Higgins, a resident and pioneer settler at Plymouth and Eastham, Massachusetts, and at Piscataway, New Jersey, and his descendants. By Higgins, Katharine Elizabeth Chapin. Worchester, Mass, Higgins, 1918.

• American Civil War Soldiers. Historical Data Systems, comp. Provo, UT. The Generations Network, Inc., 1999.

• Conrad Emery And His Descendants. By Frederic B. Emery. Logan, Utah. Unique Printing Service, 1970.

• The Hartpence Family in America: Descendants of Johannes Eberhart Pence and Hannah Kitchen of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, 1735-1985. By Esther Leonard Heer. Baltimore, Gateway Press, Inc., 1989.

• Hunterdon County Democrat Marriage Records of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, 1795-1875