Levi Carpenter (abt. 1817 - 1864)

Born about 1817 in Burke County, North Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Catherine (Dellinger) Carpenter — married about 1838 in Yancey County, North Carolina

Descendants

Died 12 Dec 1864 at about age 47 in Camp Douglas, Chicago, Illinois, United States

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Biography

Levi Carpenter, born about 1817, was the son of Jacob Carpenter and was a beneficiary in his father's Yancey County, North Carolina, will.^[1]. His mother's given name was Margaret; however, her maiden name is not documented.^[2]

Before 1839 (calculated by the age of his eldest-known child), Levi Carpenter married Katherine Dellinger. Their marriage record is not extant.

The Confederate Congress, desperate for soldiers, enacted a draft in April 1862, requiring three years service of all white men between ages eighteen and thirty-five. In October 1862, the maximum age was raised to forty-five, and in February 1864, it was raised again to fifty. Levi, age forty-seven in 1864, was conscripted.^[3]

Levi was among those captured on Sunday, 11 September 1864, at Bakersville, Mitchell County, during a sweep through North Carolina by Union forces under Union Major General William Tecumseh Sherman. Levi’s military service file identifies him as a Private in Company C, 111th North Carolina Regiment. No account of the 111th Regiment exists.^[4]

The prisoners were first sent to Nashville, Tennessee, where they were confined at Brick Prison. Levi, recorded as age 47, became ill with “billious fever” and was admitted on 8 October 1864 to U.S.A. General Hospital No. 2 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was returned to prison on 10 November and on 21 November 1864 transferred with the other prisoners to the Military Prison at Louisville, Kentucky. Shortly after on 23 November, they were sent to Camp Douglas at Chicago, Illinois, arriving there on 26 November.

Already weakened from illness, Levi was unable to withstand deprivation of food, clothing, shelter, and medical care at notorious Camp Douglas.^[5] The winter of 1864 was particularly severe and 1,091 prisoners died during a four month period.^[6] On 12 December 1864, seventeen days after his arrival, Levi perished. His cause of death is listed as “debility.” Levi was buried in Block 2, grave number 240 at Chicago City Cemetery—the burial site used by Camp Douglas.^[7]

After the War, bodies in Chicago City Cemetery were disinterred and removed to Oak Woods Cemetery. The pitiful dead are buried in a concentric circle surrounding a forty-six foot tall monument. The monument was funded through subscriptions by Chicago citizens and camps of the United Confederate Veterans.^[8]

“The bronze statue surmounting the battlemented cap of the column is a realistic representation of a Confederate infantry soldier.” His sorrowful face mourns the thousands of prison dead below. “Although the government had only 4,200 names, cemetery records indicate that closer to 6,000 soldiers are buried here.” In 1911, bronze panels were added to the base with the soldiers' names, ranks, units, and home states, including “Levi Carpenter Co. C 11 [sic 111th Regiment] N. C.”^[9] It was erected in July 1893 and dedicated Memorial Day, 30 May 1895, with over 100,000 people in attendance.

Sources

1. ↑ Yancey County, North Carolina, Will Book 1: 111, Jacob Carpenter (8 September 1839).
2. ↑ See Miller families, Mathias Zimmerman, and Jacob Carpenter) for an account of Levi’s grandparents and father, courtesy of Marty Grant, "Carpenter Genealogy," http://www.martygrant.com/genealogy/carpenter/default.html.

   Summary: Matthias Zimmerman a.k.a. Carpenter (1752–1835) and his wife Elizabeth Miller (born 1750–1755; died before 1835) migrated to Ashe County, North Carolina. They were the parents of Jacob Carpenter (born 1778–1779; died 1856) who married Margaret (née —?—).

3. ↑ For a quick summary of the Conscription Act, see Judy D. Russell, The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2012/04/16/anniversary-of-two-very-different-laws/ : accessed 16 April 2012).
4. ↑ North Carolina Troops 1861-1865: A Roster (Raleigh: Division of Archives and History), vols. 1–14. possibly it was still in its formation stage when Union troops arrived.
5. ↑ “Camp Douglas,” Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Douglas_(Chicago).
6. ↑ “Camp Douglas,” Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Douglas_(Chicago).
7. ↑ I am indebted to John Landstreet of Ontario, Canada, for sharing Levi’s POW file. Mr. Landstreet is the great-great-grandson of Levi and Catherine (Dellinger) Carpenter. Mr. Landstreet’s great-grandfather was Jacob Jayhue Carpenter, son of Levi and Catherine. See also, Fold3 (https://www.fold3.com/image/60335996), Levi Carpenter, Company C, 111 Regiment, North Carolina Infantry.
8. ↑ Appeal for Monumental Aid: Roster of Confederate Dead buried in Oakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois (Cincinnati, Ohio: Cowen & Co., Printers, 1892); Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/registerofconfed00unit).
9. ↑ Matt Hucke, Graveyards.com (https://graveyards.com/IL/Cook/oakwoods/confederate.html). There is a Find A Grave memorial for Levi (https://old.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=37530871) memorial 37530871, created 26 May 2009 by “Doug the bug”; citing Oak Woods Cemetery, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, USA. Comment: the text states an incorrect county of birth and provides biographical information for John Calvin Carpenter instead of Levi. A photograph of Levi’s inscription on the bronze panel was added by Time Traveler on 21 September 2014.