Amos was born in 1830, the son of James Ambrose and Mary (Brunson) Humiston, in New York state where he was raised.
On the Fourth of July, 1854, Amos married Philinda Betsey (Ensworth) Smith, the daughter of Tracy and Harriet (Williams) Ensworth, in Candor, Tioga County, New York. This was Philinda's second marriage. Her first husband died shortly after they were married and there were no children from that union. Amos and Philinda settled in Tioga County, New York, and had the following children:
Dr. Franklin Goodwin Humiston (1855–1912)
Alice Eliza Humiston (1857–1933)
Frederick Roy Humiston (1859–1918)
The 1860 U.S. Census has Amos working as a harness maker in Portville, Cattaraugus County, New York, where his youngest two children were born.
When the Civil War broke out Amos answered President Lincoln's call to arms and joined the 154th New York Volunteer Infantry of the Union Army as a Corporal. He was soon serving as a Sargeant in Company C. Amos was killed during the first day of fighting in the Battle of Gettysburg on July 1, 1863. He was 33 years old at the time. He died while street fighting in the town of Gettysburg and was found dead from bullet wounds lying on straw covered ground inside a stock barn. He had no ID but clutched a photo of his three children, which his wife later identified.
Sales from the photo of Amos and Philinda's children enabled the Orphan's Homestead to be built outside Gettysburg. Philanda Ensworth Humiston became one of the first matrons of the orphanage and resided there with her three children for a period of time.
Amos' body is buried in the Gettysburg National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania.
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