Tag Archives: War of 1812

Veteran’s Day Tribute to Family Veterans

This is a story of men at war. I glance at a handy list of the dates of American wars and the birthdates of (until recently only) men who might have taken part in those wars. The overwhelming fact driven home by this list is–too many wars.

World War II Family 1942

World War II Family 1942

Last year on Pearl Harbor Day, I wrote a little about our family’s World War II veterans, and how rationing affected the home folk. You can read about the World War II effects on family here.

I have started a running list of ancestors who were veterans of various wars in our country’s history. Almost all survived. The list continues to grow, but here are some of my ancestor/veterans I have discovered so far, with birth date, place they enlisted, and relationship to me. If you know of some information I have missed, please tell me in the comments below.

Indian Wars Monument

Marker in honor of settlers and veterans of Indian Wars, Sudbury Cemetery

Veterans of New England Indian Wars

  • Major Peter Bulkely (b. 1642) Concord [8th great grandfather]
  • Capt. Joseph Bulkely (b. 1670) Concord [7th great grandfather]
  • Captain Joseph Hubbard (b. 1689) Concord,  [6th great grandfather]
  • David Stone (b. 1646) 1675, Great Swamp Fight, Framingham) [paternal grandfather of wife of 5th great-grand uncle–Ezekial Howe of Howe’s Tavern.]

DIED IN BATTLE:

John Howe Jr. (b.1640) Sudbury, Killed in battle at age 36 [7th great grand uncle]

 Veterans of American Revolution

Minuteman

This is a photograph of the statue representing Captain John Parker sculpted by Henry Hudson Kitson and erected in 1900. This statue in Lexington, Massachusetts is commonly called “The Lexington Minuteman” Photo from Wikipedia

  • Lt. Samuel Stone Jr. (b. 1748) Died 1775, Buried in Rutland MA Cemetery.[1st cousin 6 x removed.]
  • Ezekial Howe, (b. 1720) Lt. Col in MInutemen 1775, Col. of Regiment 1776-June 1779. Led Sudbury troops to Concord Bridge April 19, 1775. [5th great-grand uncle.]
  • Ezekial Howe, Jr., Minutemen. (b. 1756)  Ran 16 miles from Sudbury to Concord on the sounding of the alarm April 19, 1775. [1st cousin 6 X removed.]
  • Jeduthan Stone, (b. 1748) Minuteman, Pvt. in Militia from Rutland MA, Fought at Concord [4th great grandfather]
  • Note: Father John Fife Sr. and sons William and John Jr. all served.
  • John Fife Sr.,(b. 1721) Pvt. 4th C., 2nd Battalion in Washington County PA militia. [5th Great Grandfather]
  • William Fife (b. 1751) 12th Virginia Regiment 1777-1778, Captain in 4th Co., 2nd Battalion. Washington County PA Militia 1782. [4th Great granduncle]
  • John Fife Jr.,( b. 1756) Enlisted in Washington County, PA militia. Capt, 4th C. 2nd Battalion. [4th great grandfather]
  • Samuel Bassett,(b. 1754) Fifer, enlisted at Keene New Hampshire, slightly wounded at Battle of Bunker Hill [4th great grandfather]
  • Note: Brothers Israel, Benjamin and Stephen Barrett Jr. all served.
  • Israel Barrett (b. 1757) Enlisted in 1775 and second time in 1781. Served as Private under Col. Tupper, then in Nixon’s regiment. Taken prisoner and held in Quebec for about nine months. [4th great-grand uncle, step-son of Elizabeth Hubbard Howe Barrett]
  • Stephen Barrett, Jr. (b. 1753)  [4th great-grand uncle, step-son of Elizabeth Hubbard Howe Barrett.]
  • Benjamin Barrett (b. 1759 ) [4th great-grand uncle, step-son of Elizabeth Hubbard Howe Barrett]

Veteran of War of 1812

1812 Grave Marker

William Cochran Grave with War of 1812 Marker, Stout Family Cemetery, Guernsey Co.,Ohio

William Cochran [b. 1793]Enlisted in Ohio. Served six months in 1812 and one year from November 1813 to November 1814. [3rd Great Grandfather]

Veterans of Spanish American War (1898)

Although there is a Spanish American War medallion in the Stout family graveyard in Guernsey County, Ohio, it is not clear to whom it belongs.

Veterans of Civil War

  • William McCabe Anderson (b. 1841) Enlisted in Ohio, September, 1861. Discharged October 1864. Served in Co. B, 16th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry.  Was held captive for part of his service, but not in Andersonville as speculated in his obituary. [Great Grand Uncle, brother of Isabella McCabe Anderson.]
  • Benjamin Franklin Stone (b. 1782 ) Enlisted in Rutland MA in  1872 and reenlisted in 1873. Advanced from Pvt. of Company C, 73rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry to Adj. General of the 11th Army Corps.  Fought at Manassas, Gettysburg, Lookout Mountain and was part of Sherman’s March to the Sea. [1st cousin 5x removed.]
  • Henry Allen Butts

    Great Grandfather Henry Allen Butts

  • Henry Allen Butts (b. 1835) Pvt. Enlisted twice, and was part of Sherman’s march to the sea. [Great grandfather , grandfather of my father]

DIED IN BATTLE:

Erasmus Anderson (b.1830) Pvt. in Company E, 16th Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, enlisted in 1871. Killed in battle at VIcksburg in 1872.  Read the series telling his story here. [Great grand-uncle, Uncle of my maternal grandfather, Guy Anderson]

Veteran of World War I

Earl Fair

Earl Fair

Kenneth Earl Fair (B. 1898 ) From Ohio. [Uncle. Married to my mother’s step-sister.]

Veterans of World War II

World War II

Herbert and Bill Anderson and Frank Fair

  •  Herbert Guy Anderson From Ohio. Member of Navy Construction Battalion–SeaBees. Pacific Theater. [Uncle, mother’s brother]
  • William J. Anderson  From Ohio. Member of Navy Construction Battalion–SeaBees. Pacific Theater. [Uncle, mother’s brother]
  • Robert Anderson ,From Ohio. Navy–Pacific Theater [Cousin, son of William J. Anderson]
  • Frank Fair, From Ohio Army Air Force Fighter pilot in Europe. [Cousin, son of Rhema Anderson Fair]

Veteran of Vietnam

Brother, Paul Kaser, Vietnam Veteran

A visit from a Vietnam AF officer, Paul Kaser Scottsdale, circa 1966

Paul W. Kaser, From Ohio. Air Force Lt.  stationed at Bien Hoa in Vietnam [Brother]

Veteran of Cold War

Kenneth Paul Badertscher, From Arizona Navy, nuclear submarine. [Son]

Veterans of Iraq War

  • David Kaser, From California. Marine [Nephew]
  • Kenneth Paul Badertscher II, From Arizona. AirForce [Grandson]

 *Family members in picture

Top Row: Pauline McDowell Anderson, Herbert G. Anderson, Vera Stout Anderson, Frank Fair, Ruth Fair, Rhema Anderson Fair, Kenneth Earl Fair, Sarah Warner Anderson

Second Row: Dick Fair, Harriette Anderson Kaser, Leonard Guy Anderson, Paul Kaser, William J. Anderson

Bottom Row: Vera Marie (Bunny) Kaser, Joann Anderson, James (Jimmy) Anderson, Romona Anderson, Larry Anderson.

Picture was taken on the lawn of Vera and Guy Anderson’s home in Killbuck, Ohio.

 

Would I Lie to You?– William Cochran and the War of 1812

William Cochran 1793-1878

Would I lie to you? Not on purpose.

How I went wrong in telling a War of 1812 story.  Read the revised biography of William Cochran (1793-1878).

[NOTE: With further research I have found that I did indeed mislead with this post.  “Write in haste, repent at leisure!  I have marked in brown the sections below that were sloppily done originally, or were written without enough research and have proven to be wrong. Where I have the correct information, I’ve added it in blue.]

William Cochran, father of Emeline Cochran Stout, was in the first generation of the Cochran clan to move to Ohio.  Born in Hickory, Pennsylvania, he got to Ohio in 1802 when his family moved to a settlement along the National Road in Southeast Ohio making them one of the earliest families to settle in that county in frontier Ohio Territory. As an old man, one account says he claimed there were only 25 families in the county in 1802. But the Cochrans had done a bit of migrating before.

My great-great grandmother Emeline Cochran Stout came from two very impressive pioneer families–both originally from Scotland–both migrated to Ireland before coming to North America. The men folk in both families were warriors. Her father was William Cochran. Her mother was a Fife. [Stupid mistake.  I was confusing her with my other great-great grandmother, Isabella Fife Anderson, who indeed also came from a distinguished family of Scottish warriors.]

I hope I’ll have time to go more deeply into Emeline’s family history at some point, but for now, I would like to focus on her father, known as Col. William Cochran. William was nine years old, (or five, according to which history you believe) when his father Alexander Cochran, a 2nd generation Scotch-Irish American [I was relying here on my mother’s word that Emeline’s grandfather migrated from Scotland. The Cochran family goes much further back. Alexander was at least a 3rd generation American.] pulled up stakes and headed for Ohio Territory.

By the age of twenty, young William was apparently ready for some more adventure. Military service was a family tradition. The ancient Scots had hired out to fight for Irish lords. William’s  grandfather had fought in the Revolutionary War and his father saw service fighting Indians.

[While the Information below about the War of 1812 is correct, the William Cochran I describe is not likely to be my ancestor.  All of that information came from one source.  There is a William Cochran from Guernsey County listed in the Roster of soldiers from Ohio. Furthermore, another source (see updated bio of William) specifies that he served in the 2nd Brigade of the 15th Division of the Ohio Militia under James M. Bell. However I have not found other references to his military service in sources such as his obituary and the History of Guernsey County.] 

The War of 1812 had reenergized the mostly ignored Ohio militia.  After the final battles with the Indians, when peace settled over the land, people had pretty much put down their weapons and drifted away from the required weekly militia drills. But in 1812, Britain attacked American forts and enlisted the aid of Indians which raised the spectre of returning to the bloody days of raids on farms and scalping. Besides, Americans had their eye on annexing Canada.

The support for the new war ignited throughout the state–vulnerable to attack across Lake Erie and from the Ohio River–and as one source quoted in an 1812 history says, they were ready to fight for the flag, “of thirteen stripes and seven stars–the last star being that of Ohio.” Well, poetic as it was, that is not quite accurate.

Star Spangled Banner

Star Spangled Banner at Smithsonian of 1812 era.

It was in fact the flag that inspire Francis Scott Key to write “The Star Spangled Banner.”

Where they got that “seven”, I don’t know, since Ohio was the seventeenth state, and during the War of 1812, the flag actually had 15 stripes and 15 stars. It did not catch up with the number of states until 1818, when it was changed to 13 stripes and 20 stars.

And the story you are about to read about William (Emmeline’s father) may be as off base as that claim of seven stripes. [Well, at least I cautioned you before I told the following story.  I leave it in just because the descendant of that other William Cochran may find it useful.]

At any rate, William volunteered in August of 1813 for five months and joined with a crowd 8000 near Upper Sandusky in northern Ohio, where he was under the command of General Tupper for five months.  Some of those soldiers joined Admiral Perry as crew on his ships on Lake Erie (apparently regardless of experience at sailing), but I don’t know what William was doing.

He apparently went in to the army about the time that a lot of others were leaving to care for their crops. Disorganization reigned and most of the men who had enlisted were sent home.  William went home (or elsewhere) in January and then resurfaced in April 1814 to volunteer with a Captain Sheppherd. He signed up in Adams County which is in Southern Ohio, along the river, not far from Guernsey County where the Cochran family lived.

1812 map of Ohio counties

1812 map of Ohio counties

This time he signed up for eight months and became a boat builder. (Wish I knew more about that!) In December of 1814 he was honorably discharged at the Maumee River , in the northern eastern corner of the state.

Maumee River map

Maumee River map

But he must have been enjoying his military duty more than most of his fellow Ohioans (according to historic accounts, the militia was disorganized to say the least) because he immediately went back down to Adams County and reenlisted for a year under Sgt. Samuel Stitts and Col. James Miller.  I’m guessing he may have gone back to building boats, because records say he was honorably discharged December 1815 “on the Niagara River.”

According to the United States Archives, William Cochran of Highland County claimed his bounty of land from the government when he was 53 years old. I am not sure whether he was awarded land, because the archives has mixed another William Cochran’s files together with the Highland County  William Cochran. But the same William Cochran, also from Highland County, puts in a claim when he is 81.

I have to admit that now I’m not even sure that the details of his service record as reported above are correct since there is confusion with other William Cochrans and since “my” William Cochran definitely came from Guernsey County, so why would he be filing a claim in Highland County? [Would that I had followed my instinct and not passed these interesting histories along as belonging to my ancestor!]

After the War, William Cochran (“My” W.C.) married Martha Henderson and had a bunch of children. (One history says eleven) among whom were my great-great-grandmother Emeline and her brother Alexander who went to California during the gold rush and came back to become a founder of the town of Quaker City, Ohio. When Martha died in 1851, William quickly married Ruth Hazlett.  In 1870, he probably [actually] married again to a Mary Moore. He passed away in October 1878.

There is no indication that the “Col.” was anything more than an honorific title, however he DID serve in the War of 1812, at least as a private.  There is a medallion with his tombstone in the Stout Cemetery in Guernsey County to honor his service. OF course, I suppose there is the possibility that a veteran’s group got as confused as I am by the various William Cochrans and put the medallion on the wrong one.

I can see that if I am to keep my credibility, I need to do a LOT more research on William Cochran. The misinformation floating around is overwhelming. [INDEED]

William Cochran

Wm. Cochran Grave Marker, with War of 1812 Marker Stout Cemetery

Willliam Cochran

William Cochran Tombstone in the Stout Cemetery, Guernsey County, Ohio

How I am related:

  • Vera Marie Badertscher, daughter of
  • Harriette Anderson Kaser, daughter of
  • Vera Stout Anderson, daughter of
  • William Cochran Stout, son of
  • Emeline Cochran Stout, daughter of
  • (Col.) William Cochran

This has been another post that is part of the #52 Ancestors initiative. To see more participants go to the website that started it all: No Story Too Small.

Research notes

  • Photos: The map pictures are linked to their sources. The 1812 flag is in the public domain and was acquired from Wikipedia. The two final pictures were taken by cousins Larry and Judy Anderson
  • I find information on birth, death, marriages, etc. at Ancestry.com
  • Information about Ohio in the Civil War from “Notes on the Ohio Militia during the War of 1812. ” by James T. Brenner Found on the web in a PDF at this Ohio government site. (This site no longer exists, and I could not find the paper referred to.
  • A genealogy of Alexander Cochran and family by George C. Williston, found on the web at RootsWeb.
  • Information about Alexander Cochran, the son of William Cochran and brother of Emeline, is in History of Guernsey County, Ohio by Col. Cyrus P. B. Sarchet, Illinois, Vol. 1 & 2, pg. 615, (1911)
  • The Household Guide and Instructor with Biographies, History of Guernsey County, Ohio, by T. F. Williams (1882)  (Two copied pages that include the Stout/Cochran family are in my possession. (Whole available free through Google books)