Merrill Temple was my Grandmother Basford's Great Great Grandfather, he is circled in red in the image above. There are several things that make his story interesting and warrant a post. He was born in 1827 in Montville, Maine the third or fourth child of 14 children. The uncertainty of his birth order is that he may have been a twin. His sister, Clarissa, appears to have been born in the same year. I haven't been able to determine their exact birth dates so it's possible that one was born in late 1826 and the other in late 1827.
By 1850 he had moved to Troy and married Diana Bickmore, where he begain working as a farmer. When the census taker came to Troy on 13 June 1860 he and Diana had four children and were living next door to his brother in-law. He had no personal wealth, nor owned any property that had value, and the column entitled "Whether deafened, dumb, blind, insane, idiotic, pauper, or convict" has "pauper" entered. Even though his occupation was listed as farmer. From the research I've done, "pauper" indicates that he was working but needed aid from the local parish. This by it's self isn't all that interesting, but then when the census taker came to Detroit, Maine on 18 July 1860 he and Diana are listed again. This time his personal worth is listed as $50 and his occupation is "Lumberman" and they are living next door to a different brother in-law. He still owns no property, but it's clear he got a break from some one. The brother in-law, Riley, has an occupation of "Day Laborer" so he's not working with him. But it does go to show the difference a month can make.
About 18 months later Merrill enlisted in the Army to go fight in the Civil War, 13 Jan 1862. He enlisted as a Private in Company G of the 14th Infantry Regiment. The first real action his unit saw as at the Battle of Baton Rouge on 5 Aug 1862, a Union victory. The regiment was fighting against battle hardened Confederate troops and got pushed back. The battle was a street to street battle with the Union forces in a controlled retreat. But the Union Navy was able lay on cannon fire and break the Confederate advance and force them to retreat, leaving the city under Union control. Merrill's G Company was involved in the fighting, though to what extent is unclear. He lived through the battle, only to die of disease at Camp Carrolton Louisiana on 12 Oct 1862. For details about the Battle of Baton Rouge visit: The Battle of Baton Rouge
Merrill wasn't the only "Detroit Temple" to serve in the Civil War, his older brother Levi also served. Levi's military carreer is much more complicated than Merrill's. He originally enlisted on 15 June 1861 as a Corporal in I Company of the 4th Maine Infantry Regiment. He is then granted a pension of $6 a year on 26 Sep 1861 and musters out of the Army the next day. He got one pension payment in September of 1861, then re-enlisted for three years on 25 Aug 1862. The interesting thing here is that a Levi Temple from Detroit also enlisted in M Company of the 1st Maine Cavalry on 9 Feb 1862. On 2 Sep 1862 the Adjudent General's report for the Cavalry Regiment records that Levi was "Detached with invalid corps". The most recent military record indicates that Levi mustered out of the Cavalry on 15 June 1864. I can't find any record of there being two Levi Temples living in Detroit in 1860. This leads me to believe the Levi who joined the Infantry is the same one that joined the Cavalry. I think it's possible the "re-enlistment" record is actually referring to a transfer from the Infantry to the Cavalry. Especially when in 1850 Levi's occupation was listed as "Blacksmith".
The other interesting fact about Levi, is that he legally divorced his first wife in April 1859. I don't have any
information as to the circumstances of the divorce, only that it happened. This was a fairly rare event in rural communities in the 1850's. It appears that he got married in Brooks, which is in Waldo county, in 1848 but the divorce was granted in Penobscot county. In 1860 the Census lists a different wife, and he was living in Troy, again in Waldo County.
I do find a Levi Temple living in Knox, Maine but he was born in 1821 and appears to have lived past 1880. The Levi who is Merrill's brother died in 1867. The only other Levi that is a direct relative to Merrill and his brother is their grandfather who died in 1821.
The stories of the Levi and Merrill give us a glimpse into the struggles and challenges that average people over came while living in central Maine before and during the Civil War, while adding to our family's history of military service. It also brings up questions we may never answer. Like how and when did Levi hear of his brother's death? Levi's unit was on the East Coast for all of the war and he didn't return home until 1864. Where was Merrill buried? I can't find him listed in any military cemeteries, nor is he listed as being in the Detroit Village Cemetery where his siblings are buried.
3 comments:
Great stuff. It also shows how close we repeatedly come to not existing at all -- obviously Merrill had kids before his death.
On the Pike side my grandfather's father died of an industrial accident at 32 and a couple of generations earlier Deliverance Pike and his son Oscar both went off to the Civil War. Initially I thought Deliverance joined when the Vermont Volunteers were formed in '62 and that unit was almost entirely wiped out at Vicksburg. That unit was also involved in Baton Rouge (small world, huh?) but these two joined when the unit returned to Vermont in '64 for a month of leave, then returned to fight in such places as Spanish Fort.
So yes, it shows the struggles to survive but also just how close we repeatedly come to not getting a chance to be born in the first place.
Kind of scary to think about it to tell the truth...
Just looked at this again and the Bickmore name stood out this time. Bickmores lived around the corner from us where Brent Salisbury lives now. I purchased some items on e-Bay of Riley Bickmore's. They are just tax receipts, etc, but interesting. Sherm and Ethel were the Bickmores that lived there in my memory. They didn't have any children. I remember Mom and Dad mentioning some controversy between Sherm and Grmpie, probably as to where the property lines were.
Post a Comment