William Marion Brooks (1836 - 1887)

Born 21 Feb 1836 in Indiana, United States

Husband of Jane (Ballard) Brooks — married 21 Dec 1865 (to 1887) in Jackson, Indiana, United States

Descendants

Died 21 Jun 1887 at age 51 in Indiana, United States [uncertain]

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Biography

William Marion Brooks, 1836-1887, a Union Army veteran, married Jane (Ballard) Bedel, a widow with a young daughter, in Jackson, Indiana in 1865. They had five children together. He died in 1887. ^{[1] [2]}

William Brooks and his wife’s first husband, John A. Bedel served together in the Union Army in Company G, 67th Indiana Infantry. John Bedel died early in the war. William and the widow Jane Bedel were married in December 1865.

William M. Brooks served during the Civil War in Co. G, 67th Indiana Infantry. He enlisted as a Private, and was discharged as a Sargent. ^[3] Below is a detailed overview of his unit’s activities during the war.

• “67th Regiment, Indiana Infantry OVERVIEW:

Organized at Madison, Ind., and mustered in August 20, 1862. Ordered to Louisville, Ky., and attached to 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, Army of Kentucky, Dept. of the Ohio. Siege of Munfordsville, Ky., September 14-17. Captured September 17, paroled and sent to Indianapolis, Ind. Reorganizing at Indianapolis till December. Ordered to Memphis, Tenn., December 10. Attached to 1st Brigade, 10th Division, Right Wing 13th Army Corps (Old), Dept. of the Tennessee, December, 1862. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, Sherman's Yazoo Expedition, to January, 1863. 1st Brigade, 10th Division, 13th Army Corps, Army of the Tennessee, to August, 1863. 1st Brigade, 4th Division, 13th Army Corps, Dept. of the Gulf, to June, 1864. 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, 19th Army Corps, Dept. of the Gulf, to December, 1864. 2nd Brigade, Reserve Division, Military Division West Mississippi, December, 1864.

SERVICE: Sherman's Yazoo Expedition December 20, 1862, to January 3, 1863. Expedition from Milliken's Bend to Dallas Station and Delhi December 25-26. Chickasaw Bayou December 26-28. Chickasaw Bluff December 29. Expedition to Arkansas Post, Ark., January 3-10, 1863. Assault and capture of Fort Hindman, Arkansas Post, January 10-11. Moved to Young's Point, La., January 17, and duty there till March 8. Expedition to Greenville, Miss., and Cypress Bend, Ark., February 14-29. Moved to Milliken's Bend, La., March 8, and duty there till April 25. Movement on Bruinsburg and turning Grand Gulf April 25-30. Battle of Port Gibson May 1. Battle of Champion's Hill May 16. Big Black River Bridge May 17. Siege of Vicksburg, Miss., May 18-July 4. Assaults on Vicksburg May 19 and 22. Advance on Jackson, Miss., July 4-10. Siege of Jackson July 10-17. Ordered to New Orleans, La., August 24. Duty at Carrollton, Brashear City and Berwick till October. Expedition to New and Amite Rivers September 24-29. Western Louisiana "Teche" Campaign October 3-November 30. Action at Grand Coteau November 3. Moved to Algiers December 13, thence to Texas December 18. Duty at Du Crow's Point, Matagorda Bay, till March, 1864. Reconnoissance on Matagorda Peninsula January 21, 1864. Moved to Algiers, La., March 1. Red River Campaign March 10-May 22. Advance from Franklin to Alexandria March 14-26. Battle of Sabine Cross Roads April 8. Monett's Ferry, Cane River Crossing, April 23. Constructing dam at Alexandria April 30-May 10. Retreat to Morganza May 13-20. At Morganza and Baton Rouge till August Operations in Mobile Bay against Fort Gaines and Morgan August 2-23. Siege and surrender of Fort Gaines August 3-8. Capture of Fort Morgan August 23. Duty at Morganza till December. Expedition to mouth of White River November 12-20. Consolidated with 24th Indiana Infantry December 21, 1864.

Regiment lost during service 1 Officer and 52 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 2 Officers and 194 Enlisted men by disease. Total 249.” ^[4]

William M. Brooks and Mrs. Jane Bedel were married on 21 December 1865 in Jackson, Indiana. Minister of the Gospel, M.H. Zarring officiated. ^[5]

In 1870, the Brooks family lived in Vernon Township, Jackson, Indiana. All members of the household were born in Indiana. The family included (Wm) Marion Brooks, 30, a farmer, with $500 in real estate and $450 in personal estate; his wife, Jane, 25, who could not write; their children, Rose, 11, in school; Mary H., 6; Louisa, 2; and Fielding, three months, born in March. Living nearby were three Bedel families, and one Ballard household: William Ballard, 25, and John Ballard, 21 (Jane’s brothers).^[6]

In 1880, the Brooks family lived on their farm in Vernon, Jackson, Indiana. The household included William M. Brooks, 43, born in Indiana (parents b. KY), a farmer; his wife, Jane, 37, b. Indiana (parents b. Indiana); their children, all born in Indiana, Mary A., 13; Martha L., 11; Fielding U., 10; and Francis E., 5. Also living with them were two cousins, William D. Park, 53, born in Louisiana, a carpenter; and John Coy, 50, born in Kentucky, a farmer. ^[7]

William’s wife, Jane Brooks was the beneficiary to his soldier’s pension after he died in 1887. After Jane passed away in 1891, their grandson, James W. Bedel, a minor, became the beneficiary. ^[8]

William M. Brooks, 1836-1887 (aged 51), is buried with his wife Jane at Bedel Union Cemetery, Uniontown, Indiana. Brooks served as a Sargeant in the Union Army during the Civil War, in Company G, 67th Indiana Infantry. ^[9]

William M. Brooks and Jane Ballad are mentioned in the death record of their daughter, (Mrs.) Louise Beis, 24, who died in 1896 in Cleveland, Le Sueur, Minnesota. ^[10]

research notes

Cannot find his parents. Can you add any sourced data?

Sources

1. ↑ familysearch.org Family Tree, with sources (https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LZ8K-JS6)
2. ↑ (https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/alexander-bedel_21915064)
3. ↑ nps.gov The Civil War, Soldier Search (https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-soldiers-detail.htm?soldierId=4A28A586-DC7A-DF11-BF36-B8AC6F5D926A)
4. ↑ nps.gov The Civil War, Battle Unit Details (https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units-detail.htm?battleUnitCode=UIN0067RI)
5. ↑ "Indiana Marriages, 1811-2019," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VZQT-PNS : 8 April 2021), William M Brooks and Jane Bedel, 21 Dec 1865; citing Jackson, Indiana, United States, Marriage License, Indiana Commission on Public Records, Indianapolis; FHL microfilm 004646674.
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXX1-R5J : 28 May 2021), Marion Brooks, 1870.
7. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MH9Z-4FJ : 19 February 2021), William M Brooks, Vernon, Jackson, Indiana, United States; citing enumeration district ED 115, sheet 234D, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,286.
8. ↑ "United States General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDP1-PM3 : 20 February 2021), William M Brooks, 1865.
9. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #99361077
10. ↑ "Minnesota Deaths and Burials, 1835-1990", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FDHX-YFW : 16 January 2020), Wm M. Brooks in entry for Louise Beis, 1896.