Joseph Stoughton
Joseph Stoughton was born in about 1838, the second child of parents Barnard V. Stoughton and 1st wife Susan Harvey. Joseph's parents are believed to have lived in Muddy Creek Twp., Butler Co. PA at his birth. Joseph's mother died in May 1847; Joseph would have been 8 or 9 years old that year.
The father and children then moved to Callensburg in Clarion Co. and the father remarried.
Joseph at about age 24 enlisted as a Private with Company K of the 159th Regiment, 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry, along with his older brother John Elliott Stoughton who had the rank of Ferrier (blacksmith). They apparently enlisted in May 1862, in Armstrong Co. PA, where most of Company K was drawn from, and where brother John E. Stoughton was living at that time.
From the memoir of Joseph's younger half-sister Jennie S. Stoughton we learn that Joseph participated in the battle of Greenbriar White Sulfur Springs,in West Virginia (which battle occurred on 20 Aug 1863), and was captured and sent to Andersonville Prison in Georgia. She says that there he survived for 21 months but died shortly before Union troops entered the prison to release the prisoners. This suggests his death occurred in May 1865.
Military records show his enlistment, but he vanishes then without further documentation.
Andersonville Prison - Notes on the Unidentified Dead
from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andersonville_National_Historic_Site
"During the summer of 1864 Union prisoners suffered greatly from hunger, exposure and disease. Within seven months about a third of them died from what was diagnosed as dysentery and scurvy and were buried in mass graves, the standard practice by Confederate prison authorities at Andersonville."..."in hindsight it is likely that the cause of (their deaths) was rampant hookworm disease, a condition not recognized or known during the Civil War." "During the war, 45,000 prisoners were received at Andersonville prison, and of these 12,913 died." "The prisoners' burial ground has been made a national cemetery. It contains 13, 714 graves, of which 921 are marked "unknown".
From this explanation (about 13,000 dead, about 13,000 gravestones) it appears that the mass graves were possibly exhumed and the remains reburied separately. Among the 921 buried in graves marked "unknown", Joseph Stoughton may lie. The existing list of the dead, given the circumstance of its secretive preparation, is likely incomplete. "A young Union prisoner, Dorence Atwater, had been chosen to record the names and numbers of the dead at Andersonville...He believed the federal government would never see the list, and was right in this assumption as it turned out...(He) secretly kept his own list among other papers. When Atwater was released, he put the list in his bag and took it through the lines without being caught. It was published by the New York Times when Horace Greely, the owner, learned that the federal government had refused and given Atwater much grief."
Regarding the numbers dead, and list-keeper Dorence Atwater, Wikipedia quotes these sources:
- Marvel, William, Andersonville: The Last Depot, University of North Carolina Press, 1994.
- Safranski, Debby Burnett, Angel of Andersonville, Prince of Tahiti: The Extraordinary Life of Dorence Atwater, Alling-Porterfield Publishing House, 2008.
| Date | Location | Notes | Sources | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth | ~ 1838 | Butler Co. PA | [1] | |
| Military | enlistment 9 Sept 1862 | Civil War | Private, 14th Regiment, PA Cavalry (159th Vol.s) Co. K | |
| Death | ~May 1865 Sept 1864 |
Andersonville Prison, GA Richmond, VA |
[3] [9] | |
| Burial | ~May 1865 | expect interment in GA | [14] |
Ancestry chart segment
Generation 5 Generation 6 Generation 7
+-- John Stoughton
| (1773-1833)
+-- Barnard VanZant Stoughton --+
| (1817-1887) |
Joseph Stoughton --+ +-- Catherine Covert
(1838~1865) | (1778->1850)
+-- Susan Harvey
(????-~1846)
Sources:
Places of Residence
| Location | Dates | Notes | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Muddy Creek Twp, Butler Co, PA | by 1840 | [1] | |
| Piney Twp, Clarion Co, PA | by 1850 | [2] |
Sources
| Ref. Num. | Description | Image of original | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1840 United States Federal Census, Muddy Creek Twp, Butler Co, PA, page 23. Census is not dated. Family headed by Barnard Stoeton(sic): 2 males <5, 1 male 10-15, 1 male 20-30, 1 female 20-30. Note: the male and female in their 20's are the proper ages for Barnard Stoughton and his wife Susan. The two youngest males are likely to be their children, but the 10-15 year old seems too old to be a child of someone in their 20's. Family headed by Margaret Stoeton is two entries earlier; William Wimer is next entry. |
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| 2 | 1850 United States Federal Census, Piney Twp, Clarion Co, PA, page 24. Previous page dated 30 Sept. 1850. Lines 16-25: B.W. Stoughton, 33, shoemake; Susannah, 33; John, 14; Joseph, 12; Elliott, 10; Hannah, 8; Catharine, 6; Susannah, 4; Jane, 2; Elizabeth, 1/2. John, Joseph, Elliott and Hannah attended school. |
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| 3 | Memories by Jennie Stoughton Osborn, Copyright 1935, Medicine Lodge, Kansas. Pg. 3 Father had married Susan Harvey, but she died leaving six children: John, Joseph, Elliott, Hannah, Catharine, and Susan Blanche, the baby whom the mother gave to her sister, a Mrs. Dustin, who took her to Illinois... Pg. 12 "While we younger children were growing up, two of our brothers and two of our sisters were married. One brother, Elliot, went to Washington State, and Joseph, in the Civil War, was taken prisoner in a skirmish battle at White Sulphur Springs. He was sent to Andersonville Prison, where he lived twenty-one months; and then died just before the Union boys got there to liberate him." Note: Jennie Stoughton , born about 1849, would have been about age 16 when her half-brother died in the war. |
See full text | |
| 4 | History of Armstrong County Pennsylvania,1883, by Robert Walter Smith; in transcription by the Smith's History Project, at http://www.pa-roots.com/armstrong/smithproject/index.html Chapter 2, Armstrong County in The War of the Rebellion,159th Regiment - Fourteenth Cavalry. See http://www.pa-roots.com/armstrong/smithproject/history/chap2l.html Included are a brief history of the regiment's war engagements, and the roll of officers & privates. August 18, 1862, Lieut. James. M. Schoonmaker, of the 1st Maryland Cavalry, but a citizen of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was authorized by Secretary of War Stanton and Gov. Curtin to recruit a battalion of cavalry of five companies. Recruits came in so rapidly that on the 29th the authority was extended to the recruiting of a full regiment of twelve companies... Companies K and L were principally, and Company M entirely, composed of Armstrong men...The date of the muster out was August 24, 1865, and the companies returned in a body to Pittsburgh, where they disbanded... The 159th lost about eighty men killed and more than 200 wounded, besides many reported missing. Records of Company K include in the list of officers, Farrier (blacksmith) John E. Stoughton (no further information), and among the privates, Joseph Stoughton, listed as "not accounted for" (i.e. there was no record of his death, or of being mustered out with the company, or discharged). | ||
| 5 | History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-65, Harrisburg, 1868-1871., by Samuel P. Bates. See at: http://www.pa-roots.com/pacw/cavalry/14thcav/14thcavorg.html, 14th Cavalry Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers This source gives a fairly complete history of the service of the regiment. It places the battle of Greenbriar White Sulfur Springs WVA to have occurred on 20 Aug 1863. |
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| 6 | Joseph Stoughton file, Civil War Pension Records, Ancestry.com. See at:
http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?ti=0&indiv=try&db=civilwarpension&h=1322661
Original data: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. T288, 544 rolls. |
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| 7 | James Voltz correspondence 2008, ongoing: jlv100@psu.edu Many of the sources on this page, including the History of Armstrong Co. PA. and History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1865, and the "Memories" memoir of Jennie S. Stoughton, forwarded to us by Jim Voltz. |
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| 8 | Joseph Stoughton Memorandum from POW Records,1863 forwarded by A. Fixx June 2013. Stoughton, Joseph; Private 14th Regiment Co. K, PA,Arm of Service (illegible). Information Obtained From Records of (Illegible), Vol.40, pg 273, and (M.A.)Vol. 20, pg.180. Captured at White Sulphur Springs Aug. 24, 1863, continued at Richmond Va. Sept. 12m 1863;Admitted to hospital at (Un?) Richmond, Va. Dec. 8/63, Diarhrea; Farmer age 23. (Remainder of form blanks not completed). Note: Admitted to Hospital at: 21 Richmond, Virginia. (if you "google" this, it brings up General Hospital #21, Civil War, Richmond, Virginia) It was a Confederate Military Hospital and it was called 21. He was admitted on December 8, 1863, with diarrhea. He died of disease. |
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| 9 | 14th PA Cavalry action, captivity, and death reports. Joseph Stoughton, Private, Comp. K, 14 the Regiment, Pennsylvania Cavalry. Mustered 23 Nov 1862; Captured 26 Aug 1863 at Miller's Beach, White Sulfur Springs, Rocky Gap, VA. Confined at Richmond, VA 12 Sept 1863. Admitted to Hospital 21 8 Dec 1863 for diarrhea. Died Sept 1864 in Richmond. No further details are available as to date, place or cause of death. |
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| 10 | History of the 159th Regiment 14th PA Cavalry from Armstrong County in the War of the Rebellion. History of the 14th cavalry from authorization 18 Aug 1862 to muster out on 24 Aug 1865, including lists of officers and men. Joseph Stoughton is listed on page 6 as a private, unaccounted for. |
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Source notes
- A scan of the Atwater death list for Andersonvill Prison can be seen at
http://www.angelfire.com/ga3/AndersonvilleprisonA/ - RE Military records, Joseph Stoughton: Notes from A. Fixx.
Joseph Stoughton appears to have mustered into Company K in November, 1862; his rank was Private.
When he mustered in, he indicated he was 23 years old and his occupation was farmer.
August 26, 1863: Captured at White Sulphur Springs (Rocky Gap), White Sulphur Springs, Greenbrier, West Virginia.
September 12, 1863: Confined as a prisoner at Richmond, Virginia.
December 8, 1863: Admitted to Confederate General Hospital #21, also called Gwalthmey Factory Hospital.
January to February, 1864: Muster rolls confirmed Joseph Stoughton was in the hands of the enemy.
August, 1864: reported to have died in Richmond, Virginia, in the hands of the enemy. Died of disease.
The military was having a hard time tracking him down and was reporting based on what they "heard" from the confederates or from other prisoners or other soldiers. In December, 1864, David K. Duff, Captain of Company K, 14 Pa Calvary, filed a Casualty Sheet on Joseph Stoughton stating that he has died in August, 1864 in Richmond, Virginia.
I believe that when Jeannie Stoughton Osborn wrote her story, news was traveling back to her family that he had been captured, but no one knew for sure where he was. So more than likely the family was trying to "guess" what happened to him. I think it is a possibility that John Elliott Stoughton went to look for Joseph because John was reported missing from several of the muster rolls.
Barnard VanZant Stoughton did file a pension claim on his son Joseph, I don't know if he received any payment or not.
In the attached Armstrong County PA 159th Regiment, search for Stoughton and you will see John E. Stoughton was an Officer and Joseph Stoughton was a Private
