Memorials › Benjamin Curtis Wilson

Benjamin Curtis Wilson

Jan 1844 – 3 Jan 1901

BirthJan 1844
Death3 Jan 1901
CemeteryOld Morley Cemetery
Morley , Scott County , Missouri , USA
Added byBrent Gillespie on 17 May 2008
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/26894881

Bio

Benjamin Curtis Wilson was the older son of John and Charlotte Willson of Jackson County Illinois. Note that his parents spell their surname "Willson". From Curtis and onward, though, our line spelled their name "Wilson". He was born in January of 1844 in Cobden Illinois. He had auburn hair, fair skin and hazel eyes. Benjamin was the father of Henry Moses Wilson. Benjamin had a brother ten years younger than him whose name was Isaac. Isaac was the father of Dora Elizabeth Wilson. Henry and Dora married and are grandparents to many of us here on this site. Benjamin Curtis appears in the U.S. Census for Jackson County Illinois in 1850. He is almost 7 years old at the time. He has two older sisters ages 10 and 8 and three younger sisters ages 4, 2, and 6 months. His dad and mom, John Riley and Charlotte Willson are 30 and 26 years old in 1850. Benjamin's Grandma & Grandpa Isaac and Judith Willson lived two houses down, and in the next four homes lived Uncle George's family, Uncle William's family, Aunt Margaret's family, and Aunt Mahalia's family. With cousins and everyone, there were 30 Willsons all together! Their homes were simple settler's homes; unpainted and small. There usually were two bedrooms; one for mom and dad and one for the kids. Usually no living room, only a kitchen and a porch. No restrooms of course, only an outhouse. There is a cabin still standing in Jackson County called the Richmond-Gregory cabin. I've included a picture of that cabin on this site under John and Charlotte's names. Besides his cabin, John owned 350 acres which everyone helped farm. On this website, under John Riley Wilson's name, there is a picture of a map showing where this acreage is located. John's land is in section 31, second square from the left on the bottom row. The shaded section where the 3 roads come together is where it's at. Those roads are: Jerusalem Rd (North & south), Hickory Ridge (on the left) and Noble Rd. (on the right). The church sits on the corner of Jerusalem & Hickory Ridge Roads. The Willson family attended that church, then named Jerusalem Church. It still stands and is in use although it is now called Mt. Pleasant. The cemetery there has quite a few Lindsays. There is a photo of the church posted on this site under John and Charlotte's names. This location is on a hill way out in the countryside and overlooks a lovely valley of farmlands. I can imagine families gathering here under the shade trees for Sunday picnics, with the Wilson kids running and playing with all their friends! To get there, go west on 13 out of Carbondale, then south on 127 out of Murphysboro. Right on Pomona Rd. Left on Jerusalem Hill Rd. Pass Noble Rd on left. Church is on the right. When Benjamin was 13 years old, his parents split up. He and his brother stayed with their father to work the farm. The girls went with their mother to live with her family, the Lindsays. A year later, his mother died, and his father married Mary Ann Gupton McKinney. In 1861 the Civil War started. Curtis was about 17 years old at the time and probably pining for adventure. So on one fine summer day, Aug 12 1862, Benjamin, his cousin Caleb Lindsey and another young man from his area, Thomas McCluer headed up to Murphysboro to sign up. They were recruited under C.S. Ward and on Aug 26 1862 the boys were sent to join the Union 81st Infantry, Company D. Fortunately for us, Thomas kept a diary during the war. Eight months later, they have marched to Mississippi and are encamped near the Gulf of Mexico where he describes several battles and their day to day life for the next 3 months. In June, Thomas mentions Benjamin "O" Willson in his diary, in the very last entry. ("C" was probably mis-transcribed as an "O" for there is no Benjamin "O" listed in their regiment, only Benjamin C. Wilson) I suggest reading this diary and then the Adjutant General's report which follows, one after the other. They speak of the same events, first from a foot soldier's point of view and then from an officer's point of view. Very informative. The following is the excerpt from his diary: "Excerpts from the 1863 Civil War Diary of Thomas N. McCluer: Events prior to the Battle of Vicksburg" (Copy of the Original for the Year 1863 at the Jackson County Illinois Historical Society) James W. McCluer, [email protected] ©1999 James W. McCleur Thomas N. McCluer ©1999 James W. McCluer "April 30, 1863 - 10 A.M. Started and traveled to the River 6 miles below grand gulf. crossed the River and went-in to camp in the State of Miss. at 8 p.m. May 1, 1863 - 7 A.M. Started and marched 2 miles. I was detailed to unload the Boat so I did not march with Reg't caught up with the Reg't after dark. they had been in the fight that day. one wounded and 2 taken prisoner. May 2. 1863 - 5 A.M. the Rebs having retreated from the field we took up the march persuit overtaking and skirmishing-with them. drove them about seven miles. camped at 01 A.M. May 3, 1863 - Started. Marched. two or three hundred yards went into camp on little Ridge. had to use water out of the standing holes that was in the Branch. May 4, 1863 - 9 A.M. Now drying our Blankets while a Squad of men are killing us some beef. Remained in camp all day and a very hard Rain at night. May 5, 1863 - 10 P.M. in Camp Cleaning our guns. a gun is fired occasionally and a man arrested and tied up to a tree. we drew half rations for two days. May 6, 1863 - 2 A.M. laying in Camp. teams pass me taking pontoons Bridges to the River. May 7, 1863 - 10 A.M. took up the line of march to travel about 5 miles in the direction of Jackson and went in to camps. Sent teams to the gulf for Rations. Remained in camp at Rocky Springs. May 8, 1863 - 6 P.M. yet in camp at Rocky Springs. we are expecting to march tomorrow. May 9, 1863 - 5 A.M. We have orders to draw rations to include the 11th and have them cooked in our haver sacks by 10 A.M. We marched 8 miles and camped within 6 miles of utacha. May 10, 1863 - 1 P.M. marched 2 miles Beyond Utacha and Camped in a pine grove. Drawed two days Rations after night and was ready to march. here 100 men was detailed for Picket. May 11, 1863 - 5 A.M. marched about 5 mile formed a line of Battle and stopped there and Camped at night at this place about 7 miles Beyond Utacha and lay in Line of Battle all night. May 12, 1863 - 4 A.M. marched in the direction of Raym9nd at 1 o'clock we had marched 9 miles we was attacked. the attack was made on our first Brigrade. we got up in a hurry and fought until night. May 13, 1863 - 12 P.M. Started to Clinton. distance 8 miles at 3 pm it rained a hard shower which made us all quite wet. at half past six stopped. kindled fire made coffee at 1/2 7 oclock was ordered to change the position so we all least lay down to rest. May 14, 1863 - 6 A.M. We started for Jackson distance 10 miles within 3 miles at 10 am. the Battle commenced. Login in the neighborhood of the city. gen Logan took position on the left and was not engaged. gen (?) division commanded by Gen. Crooke put them to flight we camped near town. May 15, 1863 - 6 A.M. started in the direction of Vicksburg. travelled 18 miles camped near Bolton(?) in a level bottom. hard rain yesterday. the road very bad May 16, 1863 - 6 A.M. Started in the direction of Vicksburg. traveld about 8 miles met the enemy in force and commenced fighting Battle last till sundown when the enemy was in full Retreat. By this time being dark we camped on the field. May 17, 1863 - 7 A.M. The Rebs Being full Retreat toward Vicksburg followed closely by two Divisions. they crossed the Black River Bridge and burned the Bridge leaving 5500 on this side. we of course had to make a pontoon Bridge which took up some time. May 18, 1863 - 11 A.M. Crossed Black River on a pontoon Bridge. travled 15 mile camped 5 miles from Vicksburg. Lay on the ground without Blankets or coats or tents and all most without anything to eat. May 19, 1863 - 11 A.M. Onward on the field and was called to Support the llth Ohio Battery. continued in action till night when we as sent out on Picket guard where we continued all night so easily at the evening works. May 20, 1863 - 4 1/2 A.M. advanced within 400 yards of the Enemies works. keeping a constant firing and if they attempted to fire their cannon we would Shoot in their prot holes and soon Silenced the Battery's. we was soon Relieved by Co. B of our RegIt. when we Returned to the RegIt and had nothing to eat. May 21, 1863 - 4 1/2 A.M. hear firing all night. firing continued all day and heavy Bombardment at night from the gun Boats which we could witness at the distance of 3 miles. (The following battle and loss of the 81st heroic Col J.J. Dollins is spoke of at length in the report by the Adjutant General. It is found shortly after the diary entries) May 22, 1863 - 9 A.M. Our RegIt was ordered in line to Charge the works of the enemy at 12 n the charge was made but on nearing the fort we was obliged to fallBack. the horrible seens. our Reg't cut all to pieces. our Col.Dollins killed. a great Loss on our side. I was Sunstruck. May 23, 1863 - Today we lay in line of Battle all day. what was able into action had one man wounded in the arm. I was prety sick all day. May 24, 1863 - The Reg't Laying around Camp on the Battle field fixing them Shebangs to sleep in. making Shades out of cane we dig in the hill side and put some cane over it. May 25, 1863 - A flag of truce was hoisted and firing ceased untill our men could Bring the Dead which was awful Sight. May 26, 1863 - Nothing Particular going on. the Battery Boys are throwing up earth works for them to stay behind. May 27, 1863 - Our Reg't went on Picket and at night made rifle pits to Stay in and shoot from. May 28, 1863 - drawed plenty of Rations such as hard crackers and fat Sowbellies, coffe, Sugar, potatoes, everything an abundance. May 29, 1863 - Today the heaviest firing ever Been since the Seige commenced injuring the Rebs fort very much, tearing it down and they could not fix it up for our Shooters. May 30, 1863 - Lay in Camp day. Rifle pits at night. heavy cannonaiding from 3 untill day. May 31, 1863 - again all day firing. have finished our Rifle pit. during the month of May we have been in 4 different engagements and gained 3 victories during this month. Our Co. lost 18 men killed wounded taken prisoners. Our Reg't is in tolerable good health and are in good Spirits and bound to give the Victory. June 1, 1863 - On picket guard firing all day. worked in trenchments till 10 o clock at night. heavy skirmishing on our left opposite Quinby's Division at 12 o clock a large fire was seen in town the gun boats set the city on fire. June 2, 1863 - Laying in Camp all day. continued cannonading very lively and doing a great deal of injury to the Rebs works. June 3, 1863 - Laying in Camp and was called up at 10 pm. lay in the ditches at night. one Capt. one Sergeant one private wounded out of the 8 Illinois. they was onPicket. June 4, 1863 - Laying in camp all day continued cannonading at a Brisk Rate the rebs Batteries are silenced and are doing no harm. June 5, 1863 - Lay in camp all day. Nothing. Strange. trasers fired. continued fire of cannon. the Boys are in good Spirits and all are Ready. to meet the Enemy at anytime outside of the ?? Works. June 6, 1863 - on Picket guard Co. D & E up on the Reserve and worked at night on the Crest works ?? had one man wounded in Co. F. June 7, 1863 - in camp. health generally good. June 8, 1863 - In Camp all day. Benjamin 0. Wilson returned to the Regt and was to the Cane Breakers Barrell ? commenced to dig a well." By Thomas N. McCluer (son of John A. and Clarinda Nase McCluer of Levan Township) Notice in the last entry that Thomas tells about "Benjamin O. Wilson". That's our guy, Benjamin C Wilson. However, Thomas' June 8th entry doesn't really make sense until you do some research on Benjamin 's stint in the Army. I found this information on the cyberdriveillinois.com site: ILLINOIS CIVIL WAR DETAIL REPORT NameWILSON, BENJAMIN C RankPVT CompanyD Unit 81 IL US INF Personal Characteristics Residence MURPHYSBORO, JACKSON CO, IL Age18 Height 5' 7 1/2 Hair AUBURN Eyes HAZEL Complexion LIGHT Marital Status SINGLE Occupation FARMER Nativity COBDEN, JACKSON CO, IL Service Record Joined When AUG 12, 1862 Joined Where MURPHYSBORO, IL Joined By Whom C S WARD Period 3 YRS Muster In AUG 26, 1862 Muster In Where CAMP ANNA, IL Muster In By Whom N/A Muster Out N/A Muster Out Where N/A Muster Out By Whom N/A Remarks SENTENCED TO HARD LABOR FOR REMAINDER OF TERM OF SERVICE WITH LOSS OF ALL PAY & ALLOWANCES AT SUCH PLACE AS THE COMMANDING GENERAL MAY DIPVTT Then I found this excerpt from an antique book being auctioned off online: "A General Court Martial, which convened at Vicksburg, Mississippi, August 3, 1863." A number of soldiers were put on trial. The first defendant, Private Benjamin C. Wilson, Co. D, 81st Illinois Volunteers, was found guilty of desertion and sentenced 'to be shot to death, at such time and place as the General commanding the Department may designate.." Fortunately for his descendants, this did not happen. I have yet to discover why he wasn't shot to death, but apparently someone plead his cause and he was just sentenced hard labor. I've also received info of a family story handed down by the descendants Benjamin's parents, John and Mary Ann. It is told by their descendant, Diane: "During or after the war, Benjamin and another soldier were going around the country, pilfering and searching for food. They may have been possibly coming home after the war and were starving. They approached a farm house occupied by a woman and her baby. The woman got scared and ran into the barn. The other soldier was going to kill the baby if the woman didn't feed and sleep with him. Benjamin told the other soldier that if he hurt the baby, he would kill him. The soldier killed the baby anyway and Benjamin carried through with his promise and took the wretches life. This could be the scandal that Eddie thinks possibly happened. There is probably no way that we will ever know." So now, back to Thomas' diary. His last entry didn't make sense at first. But after research, I bet Thomas or the transcriber omitted the word "chained" in that last entry. Benjamin was probably chained to a cane breaker's barrel and instructed to dig a well. I have included a picture of an old cane breaker machine and barrel in the pictures under Benjamin's name. The barrel was to catch the juice of the sugar cane which was a common crop in Mississippi at the time. From this juice, sugar was made. Yahoo says that these barrels weighed about 50 lbs. So chaining Benjamin to this barrel, would pretty much insure that he wasn't going anywhere very fast! As a side note, descendants of John and Mary Ann all remember seeing a picture of a uniformed Civil War soldier named Benjamin Curtis hanging in their grandparents' living room. Diane sent me another email assuring me that every effort is being made to locate that picture. Here is her email, "I have been searching for the Civil War picture of Benjamin Curtis Wilson for about 3 years now. I have not actually seen it but I first heard of it 3 years ago at the annual Wilson family reunion. Eddie Wilson was the one who brought it up, stating that he could remember seeing it over the fireplace. All of Eddie's brothers and sisters who were there and Nema Lee (Beverly's mom) and I discussed this picture for quite some time. All of them agreed that they had seen it and no one seemed to know what had happened to it. They also stated that his arms were crossed in the picture and he was holding a sword or something and they could not determine exactly which side he was fighting for. After I returned home from the reunion, I went and talked to Fred Hill. Fred is a grandson of Elige and Mary Jane who was raised by them after his father died in 1929. He lived with them up until the time of their deaths in the early 50's. He remembered the picture and said that it was hanging over the fireplace at Elige's home during his years there. At this point we did not know quite what the connection was but Fred said that he thought he was either a brother or a nephew. I asked him if he knew where the picture was and he stated that he did not. I just talked to him again and asked him once again if he knew where it was. He stated that he thought that someone in Riley Wilson's family probably had it, possible Riley's daughter-in-law, Annie. As soon as the weather clears up here (we have had our monthly quota of rain in the past 24 hours with snow in the forecast) I will load up Fred one day when I can find him and have him show me where Annie lives and ask her. I will take my laptop and a scanner and copy it if she does and any other old pictures that she has that she might share. From what everyone says it might possibly be a 16x20 picture which will be too big to scan. If so, I will ask her if I can drive on into Ft. Smith, Arkansas with it and have it copied somewhere. If Annie doesn't have the picture the next step would probably be to talk to all of Riley's children's descendents. Nema Lee could be helpful here. Wanda's daughter and Sarah's daughter live fairly close to me. I might be able to talk to them. I have no idea how to get in touch with any of the rest of them. I know that Leonard did not have it because they were there when we were discussing it. If none of Riley's family has it I suppose the next step would be to talk to the descendents of all the children of Elige and Mary Jane. I know that Martha, William Albert (Bill), Miles, Velta, or Jim's family does not have it. That leaves George, Susie, and Luther." The year Curtis got out of the Army the 24th of October, 1865, he married Rhoda Julie Russell. Curtis was 21 years old and his bride was 18. Their marriage certificate is on file at the Jackson County Courthouse in Murphysboro Illinois and a copy of is shown on this site under Benjamin Curtis' and Rhoda's names. His father and his new wife had a couple of children of their own by now, and moved to Ripley County, Missouri. Their descendants are the folks who may have the famed Civil War portrait of Benjamin Curtis Wilson. Most of them live in Oklahoma and Arkansas I believe. They had nine children in 18 years. He died on January 3, 1901, in Morley, Missouri, at the age of 57, and was buried there.

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