A Preponderance of the Evidence

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In the previous post, I mentioned I would post more on the 1860 U.S. Census results for the Nihart/Neuhart family.  What drove me to search for this particular census, other than pure documentation, was the fact that in every record I had for Elizabeth and Frederick Nihart's children, the children are listed as having been born in Minnesota.  Since, the earliest record I had at the time was the 1870 U.S. Census for Hutchinson, Mcleod, Minnesota, I assumed the children may have been born there.  So I looked in the 1860 Census for Hutchinson, Mcleod, Minnesota and the family was not there.  I looked twice.  Still not there.

So I decided to peruse every page in the 1860 Census for the county of Mcleod in Minnesota.   The Nihart family was not there under any variation or misspelling of their surname.  There should have been three of them at that point - Husband Frederick, Wife Elizabeth, and firstborn son, August/Augustus.  But they were nowhere to be found in Mcleod.

What county were they in then?

The 1857 Minnesota Census had an answer.  In Township 111, Wabasha County, Minnesota, a "Felk" or "Fretrk" and Elizabeth Newhart were enumerated.  However, was this the correct couple?  If I could only find them in the 1860 census when Augustus would have been enumerated as well!

To make a long story short, I did find this same couple in the 1860 Census in the same town - Township 111, range 11, Wabasha, Minnesota... and there was Augustus, listed as their two year old son!  So I now know the birth place of the Nihart/Neuhart children.

Lowered Confidence in the 1870 U.S. Federal Census
In the 1870 U.S. Census, the Nihart family has moved to Hutchinson, Mcleod County, Minnesota.  Frederick is listed as being of an age that would place his birth in about 1820.  Meanwhile, his wife, Elizabeth, is listed as being seven years younger than her actual years.  Elizabeth was born in December of 1838 according to the 1900 U.S. Census and other records list either 1838 or 1839 for an approximate year of birth.  In the 1870 Census all three of Frederick and Elizabeth's children are enumerated.  Daughter Josephine, however, is enumerated as "Glindelia," a fact which, together with the errors in ages, leads me to suspect the information for this census came from a neighbor and not one of the family members themselves.

In the 1860 Census, I found the family in Wabasha, but not under any variation of the name I would have expected to find them under.  Even using simple pronunciation as a guide.  The family was enumerated under the surname "Neighart."  Husband Frederick was listed as having been born in Prussia, wife Elizabeth as having been born in Bavaria, and son Augustus as having been born in Minnesota.  Frederick's age is listed as 24, Elizabeth's as 20, and Augustus's as 2.  This implies birth years of about 1836 for Frederick, 1840 for Elizabeth, and 1858 for Augustus.

Why the greater trust in the 1860 Census.  A preponderance of the evidence.  For those still living at the time, the 1880 and 1900 U.S. Federal Census lists the same or similar years of birth as those given in the 1860 Census.  Then there are the Civil War  and Civil War Pension Records I found for a "Frederick Neihardt" and his wife Elizabeth.  These records reveal Frederick enlisted in 8th Infantry Regiment of Company K, Minnesota on 20 August 1862 at the age of 25 and was transferred into the Veterans Reserve Corps on 11 April 1864.  Frederick Neihardt - which is how he spelled his name the remainder of his life - survived the war.  The pension records indicate his wife filed for a pension on 21 February 1876 and that Frederick died 22 April 1872 in Hutchinson, Mcleod, Minnesota.

Before his untimely death at the age of 36 in 1872, the Neihardts, as they were now known, had no intentions of leaving Mcleod, Minnesota.  How do I know this?  Frederick Neihardt received a land patent in March of 1871 under the Homestead Act for land in Mcleod County.

It seems a preponderance of the evidence and the Civil War records themselves have come to the rescue in the previous matter of which Frederich Neuhard aboard the ship the Scotland is our Frederich Neuhard.  It would appear that our Frederich Neuhard/Frederich Nihart/Frederick Neihardt was born about 1837, indicating he was the little boy that sailed aboard the Scotland with his family to the port of Baltimore and heading to Pittsburgh.

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Sad Discovery

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For a while now, I have wondered what became of my 3rd great grandfather's children.  I know what happened to my 2nd great grandfather, George A. Butterfield, after the Civil War.  What I wanted to find out was what happened to the rest of T.A. Butterfield's children.

The first question I decided to answer was "Did any of the other boys go off to war and what were their experiences in the U.S. Civil War?"  The method I decided to employ to answer this question was simple:  proceed one by one, with each of T.A.'s sons, starting with the oldest and working my way down to the youngest son.

In spite of its seeming pedantry, my method led to some emotional discoveries.  In descending birth order, the sons of T.A. Butterfield and Rebecca J. Webb are:  Sherwood/Therwood W., George A., William F., Thaddeus Actford II, Justin Austin, and Marcus.

George A. is my second great grandfather and I know he had served in  the Minnesota cavalry, enlisting initially as a private and being promoted to full corporal.  As I mentioned in the previous post, George A. Butterfield also served as a corporal in the 51st Wisconsin Infantry.

Little did I know, I was about to embark on a sad journey.  The Butterfield family sent three of their boys off to war.  Of the three, only one would return home - my ancestor, George A. Butterfield.

Sherwood W. Butterfield, older brother of George A., enlisted as a private in Company E, 18th Infantry Regiment, Wisconsin, on 25 February 1862.  He was mustered out at Huntsville, Alabama, on 27 April 1864 at the age of 21 - a POW, he had died languishing in a Huntsville prison.  Official records indicate he died of "disease."

The soldiers of the 18th Infantry Regiment had already fought at Shiloh, Corinth, Jackson, Champion's Hill, and Vicksburg by the time Sherwood W. Butterfield was captured.  These soldiers arrived at Huntsville on Christmas Day of 1863 and would remain there until 1 May 1864.  Sherwood W. was among the 45 taken prisoner in the retaking of Huntsville - most of whom would die in southern prisons before the end of the war.  The 18th Infantry Regiment, meanwhile, went on to march to glory with General Sherman...

For his part, William F. Butterfield enlisted as a private in Company K, Wisconsin 36th Infantry on 29 February 1864.  He was mustered out on 18 June 1864 after being killed at the Siege of Petersburg in county Dinwiddie, Virginia.  Having arrived on the 15th of June, the 36th Infantry Regiment participated in Meade's Assaults (June 15-18), also known as the Second Battle of Petersburg.  Petersburg would make possible the fall of Richmond, the entire operation being under the command of Ulysses S. Grant.

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