The Missouri in the Civil War Message Board

Re: Civil War Soldier?
In Response To: Civil War Soldier? ()

Dear B. Woods,

You don't have enough information from what you've posted to have a reasonable chance of finding this man.

First of all, at the age of 41 or 42 he was not subject to the draft which came into effect in 1863.

Your clue that a child was born in Illinois in 1861 makes it more likely that, if he did enlist, it was in an Illinois unit, but this is only speculation.

I would suggest that you try to find him on an 1860 census. With the state and county information you can then narrow your search to units, companies, batteries, etc., recruited from that county. This doesn't always work, but it does work a majority of the time.

If you know the post-war residence of this man or his wife, you might consider looking for him in the 1890 Veteran's Census for the county where he or his widow were living. If you know where he lived after the war and his wife's name, you might consider looking at the John Woodses who applied for Union pensions from the state where you think they were living post-war. If you have the name of his wife, the combination of the two names might help you find an Invalid or Widow's pension application file.

You need some additional information to have a reasonable chance of finding a military record for this man, but going back to your initial post, it is more than likely that due to his age he did NOT serve in the Civil War.

Jim Martin

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