William H. Smith (1823 - 1863)

Born 9 Jul 1823 in Boone County, Illinois [uncertain]

Husband of Caroline Rowles — married 30 Jun 1853 in Albia, Monroe County, Iowa

Descendants

Died 31 Aug 1863 at age 40 in Army Hospital, Keokuk, Lee County, Iowa

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This profile is part of the Smith Name Study.

Biography

Name: William H. Smith.^[1][2][3]

Born: 9 Jul 1823 Boone County, Illinois.^[1][2][3]
This is the birthplace he supplied upon enlisting, but there are major problems with this.

Married: Caroline Rowles, 30 Jun 1853 Albia, Monroe County, Iowa.^[4]
Certificate of marriage signed by Rev. William Armstrong & witnessed by a county judge. The marriage apparently was not recorded until Dec 1862 (it's far out of place in the Marriage Book). Possibly this had to do with Caroline filing for her widow's military pension.

Military:
Enlisted in Co. A, 36th Iowa Vol. Inf., 11 Aug 1862, at Albia, Iowa, at age 39. He was 5' 8-3/4" tall, fair complexion, with dark hair & blue eyes. Gave his occupation as "carpenter."^[5]

One letter in his hand survives, written to John N. Massey (his wife's sister's husband, whom he addresses as "Brother John"), dated 28 Nov 1862 from Benton Barracks, St. Louis. While grammar, spelling, & capitalization is erratic (common for the period), his penmanship shows evidence of formal schooling on the copperplate model -- i.e., circumstantial evidence that he grew up in or very near a town (his occupation also points to this), not in the northwestern wilderness. [This is assuming that he did not have the letter written for him].^[6]

In Feb 1863, the 36th Iowa moved to Memphis by steamer, then to Helena, Arkansas, which it garrisoned throughout the winter. It was included in the Yazoo Pass expedition in Feb 1863, and the approach to Fort Pemberton, Mississippi. The 36th was "ordered out on an expedition of exploration to find a way of approach to the fort, but no way was discovered. Water was in our way in all directions. That trip made many cases of sickness in our ranks, . . . which resulted in death during that spring and summer."^[7] This included William, who was mustered "sick in hospital" in March & April 1863. He was shipped back to Keokuk Army Hospital in April or May, and died there 31 Aug 1863 of "Chronic Diarrhoea." His widow received a pension in 1864 & under the Act of 1866 (cert. #16,677), which apparently continued to her death in 1905.

Died: 31 Aug 1863 Army Hospital, Keokuk, Lee County, Iowa (of "chronic diarrhea" -- probably amoebic dysentery, contracted in the Mississippi swamps).^[8]

Buried: Oakview Cemetery, Albia, Monroe County, Iowa.
Note: Grave is in Lot 230, in the old part of the cemetery, north of the road. A metal GAR marker was installed but was missing on a 2005 visit.

Census 1860
Troy Twp, Monroe County, Iowa, Troy Twp, p. 255.^[9]
Smith, William 36 yrs b. Illinois Carpenter (real estate = $1,500; personal estate = $200).
Smith, Caroline 28 yrs b. Indiana.
Smith, Emma 6 yrs b. Iowa.
Smith, Edward 5 yrs b. Iowa.
Smith, Mary 9 mon b. Iowa.

Research Notes

He listed "Boone Co., Ill." as his birthplace on his Civil War enlistment certificate but that county was not formed until 1837, 14 years after his birth. Also, there were no white settlers in the area until the early 1830s, and there was serious Indian unrest in the late 1820s, so his birth there seems unlikely.

I have wondered if "Illinois" was a clerical error and he actually was born in Boone County Indiana, just northwest of Indianapolis. It was founded in 1830 and organized the following year, but there had had been settlers there since about 1820.

Note: William has been tentatively identified in the 1850 census. He apparently migrated to Iowa in 1846, but a man of the right name and birth date appears in the household of Samuel Smith in Clark County, Missouri (p. 292) in 1850. There are an awful lot of "William Smiths," but I'm provisionally accepting this identification. (Michael K. Smith)

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Census Iowa 1856 Monroe County
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} William H. Smith, Civil War Muster Rolls and papers (copies on file)
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Oak View Cemetery, Albia, Monroe County, Iowa
4. ↑ Monroe County, Iowa, Marriage Book 1, p. 142
5. ↑ William H. Smith, Civil War Muster Rolls and papers (copies on file)
6. ↑ Letter written by Pvt. William H. Smith while at training camp at Benton Barracks, St. Louis, to his brother-in-law, John Nebeker Massey, 28 Nov 1862 (photocopy on file).
7. ↑ Frank Hickenlooper, An Illustrated History of Monroe County, Iowa. Albia, Iowa: The Author, 1896
8. ↑ Death certificate signed by M.H. Taylor, Surgeon, U.S. Infantry
9. ↑ Census Iowa 1860 Monroe County