A Fallen Hero

  With the start of our Civil War veteran documenting project again this summer, it's started me thinking about all the vets of that war in my own family.  This unmarked tintype our family has always has intrigued me.  There's two possibilities, an uncle and a cousin, because frankly he doesn't look like any of my grandpas who served in the Civil War.  One of the possibilities is my cousin Gill Judah (pronounced Jew-dee).  Gill is the son of Henry and Margaret (Martin) Judah.  Henry is the brother to my ggg-grandpa Eli Judah.  The Judahs were a close knit bunch and the ones that made it out to Buchanan County, Missouri and Atchison County, Kansas from Indiana were frequently found in each others households in the census.   Gill is one of those not fortunate enough to make it through the war. So, I started hammering away on what happened to him.

photo taken courtesy of a wonderful Find a Grave volunteer

   In 1860 Gill's family was living in Atchison County, Kansas.  That same year his dad died at the young age of 55.  So, it would be a safe bet that after the official start of the Civil War, Gill used signing up as a way to help his mom out.   Gill served with Company C of the 8th Kansas Infantry, mustering in on November 30, 1861.  Interestingly enough, the Colonel in charge of the 8th Kansas (and would later become governor of Kansas), John A. Martin, was from Atchison.  His company was stationed at Fort Riley in Kansas for a while, but then went out east to see action in the Tullahoma & Chickamauga campaigns.  His last battle was the battle of Missionary Ridge on November 25, 1863, almost 2 years after he enlisted.  These guys from the 8th Kansas were so tough that General Wood said that "what that regiment could not take, it was not worthwhile to send any other regiment to look for".  At Missionary Ridge the minie balls fell like hail upon them and the heavy ammunition fire was well, heavy.  By the end of it all, Gill ended up with a minie ball that had fractured his left knee.  He was carried to a field hospital in Chattanooga where he later died from his wounds. 
  In his pension record, it contains a letter to his mother from a man serving with the U.S. Christian Commission:

Chattanooga, Tennessee
December 17, 1863

Mrs. Margaret Judah,
   I am about to announce to you the saddest fact perhaps of your life.  It is the death of your dear son Gill M. Judah which occurred on the night of the 15th or morning of the 16th.
   I went down on the morning of the 16th to find him with two others dead.  He passed off in peace without much pain I think.  I am very thankful and glad to say to you that I believe he died the death of the righteous--that his last days were spent in Christ.  I met him a few days before his death and felt quite an interest in him.  I spoke with him about his soul; he said he had no hope.  I pointed out with emphasis the importance of a preparation for the result that might occur.  He was fully resigned to his fate, submissive to the Lord's will.  The letter I wrote for him to you was in part dictated by me.  Yet he was fully imbued with its spirit. 
  I send ot you a lock of his hair knowing that you would place high value on it.  THis is my practice as far as I can do it.  There is about $3.00 in money and other effects of his in charge of General Ward Master Mr. Stewart.  You can secure it by writing to him or me for them.
  May God give you sustaining grace to hear with patience, fortitude and Christian resignation this heavy stroke of affliction.  His profession of the saviors love in his hear will certainly be cheering and soothing facts to soften and temper your bereavement.
  May the Lord satisfy to your soul this sad trial.  Trust Christ for all needed consolation.

Yours truly,
Rev. J. L. Landis
U.S. Christian Commission

What a beautiful letter!  It saddens me that something like that could not be conveyed in the current climate in the U.S. armed forces. 

Gill is buried in the Chattanooga National Cemetery with numerous other brave men.
 
While I still don't know the identity of my Civil War soldier, I sure am thankful that he got me interested enough to find out more about the brave men in my family that served their country:)

8th Kansas monument at Missionary Ridge courtesy of www.kansasmemory.org

 

One of my Favorite Sites

  I am a taphophile: a "tombstone tourist" (I like that one!), or a "cemetery enthusiast".  To me, it's one of the best parts of doing family history research - getting out and doing actual footwork, the thrill of the chase, and actually getting to touch a stone with my ancestor's name on it.  My mom and I always joke about us going through a cemetery is like the scene from the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly when Eli Wallach is running through the cemetery looking for the stone that marks the plot where the treasure is :) 
  So, I was thrilled to find Find A Grave.  Set up as a database that is striving to mark graves across the country, and hopefully include bits of info on each person represented.  They rely on volunteers that both add names to their database, take pictures of stones for the memorials, and input information on the individuals.  I originally signed up so I could request pictures of my ancestors' graves that were not easily accessible to me because of distance, but I got hooked!
   It all started when I signed up for the option to input my zip code to see if there are any photo requests in your area.  So, every time I saw one come across for our little town, I'd go and fulfill the request.  Well, that branched out to fulfilling requests when we were doing our Civil War project.  Now I've started adding memorials and including biographical info and pictures with them.  The problem with any form of genealogy is that it's like a huge puzzle that demands you solve it.  The thing is, it is neverending.  There's always another loose end.  :)
  The awesome thing about Find a Grave, it's free!  Sometimes, you won't find who you're looking for (there's a whole county in Pennsylvania that has barely any records on there - and I'm dying for that info!), but other times there will be pictures, dates, and links to the individual's family members. 
   A great place for beginners to start and seasoned veterans to haunt (no pun intended).  :)

Not Quite Indiana Jones

   I don't think I've mentioned before, Hubby is an archaeologist.  The man can eat and sleep archaeology:)  There haven't been any Indiana Jones types of adventures yet, but he has had to dodge tornadoes and even be wary of bombs while doing survey on a military base.
  Every year for the past five years we have had a wonderful opportunity to go and work with his best buddies at a dig down in the panhandle of Texas for two weeks.  It is a field school that brings in about 25 students from all over the States and even Canada.  This year Hubby was in charge of an excavation called Eastview which was occupied approximately 650 years ago.  It's really cool because the houses burned and in addition to the other artifacts there are these large burnt timbers that used to be the frame of the house!

a corner of one of the houses at Eastview,
you can see the timbers have been circled by Hubby's trained eye

  Bubby spent several days out on site with dad.  He was so excited for the opportunity to do more digging this year, usually he's just helped with the water screening.

Bubby at the water screen

  Shorty wanted to "diggy" too, but he has to wait a while to get into the serious stuff.

When we weren't out helping or visiting dad, we took off to do some sightseeing.  Some old favorites like the Citadelle art museum in Canadian - the most cool and fun little art museum we've been to.  It is set up in an old church that a family turned into a home and then to an art museum.  Wonderful art inside and out. This year we took our annual Father's Day picture on the grounds.

We also had to visit the windmill museum in Spearman.  We went a couple of years ago and the kids loved it.  They were eager to show Shorty around this year:)  Sometime we're going to make it to the alligator farm that's in town too!

And a new one for us, the Mid-America museum in Liberal, Ks, which we really enjoyed.  It had some great hands on exhibits for the kids as well as a ton of planes!

We also just got to hang out at what is called the "lab house" where we get to stay when we're down there.  It was nice to do just every day stuff on such a long trip!

Shorty blowing bubbles

Mookie's fairy house she made

In the evenings there were some great hands on activities from atl atl spear throwing to flint knapping.

Bubby and the atl atl spears

Bubby wanted to try his hand at flintknapping (making tools) this year.  I grudgingly agreed.  They were working with obsidian, which is super sharp.  He did great though! Not one cut on his self!  I won't say anything about his magnetism to cacti.  I kid you not, the past 3 years in a row, but I didn't say a thing! ;)

This trip is always one we are so anxious for every year.  Getting to see our old buddies, making new friends, seeing new territory and having new learning experiences - just an invaluable experience!  Getting away for two weeks is kind of hard with kids (we're usually ready to be home), but we wouldn't trade it for the world!