| Wakeman
S. Mathews was born on 25 Jan 1844. There is some confusion as to
where exactly, he was born. Family records indicate he was born in
Oswego, NY, however census records indicate he was born in OH and still
others believe he was born in IL. This researcher fully believes
he was born in OH.
Wakeman was a
member of the Union Army, 14th
Regiment, Company D, New York Heavy Artillery. They were Organized
at Rochester, N. Y., and mustered in by Companies as follows: Companies
"A" and "B" August 29, Company "C"
September 11, Company "D" September 12, Company "E"
October 18, Company "F" October 20, Companies "G"
and "H" December 7, Companies "I" and "K"
December 21, 1863; Company "L" January 8, and Company
"M" at Elmira, N. Y., January 17, 1864. Companies
"A," "B," "C," "D,"
"E" and "F" ordered to New York October 13, 1863,
and assigned to garrison duty in New York Harbor till April 23, 1864.
Companies "G" and "H" ordered to Fort Hamilton, New
York Harbor, December 8, 1863. Companies "I" and "K"
to Fort Richmond, New York Harbor, December 24, 1863. Companies
"L" and "M" to Fort Richmond January, 1864, and duty
at these points till April 23, 1864. Ordered to join Army of the Potomac
in the field April 23, 1864. Attached to Provisional Brigade, 1st
Division, 9th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to June, 1864. 3rd
Brigade, 1st Division, 9th Army Corps, to June 1, 1864. 2nd Brigade, 1st
Division, 9th Army Corps, to September, 1864. 3rd Brigade, 1st Division,
9th Army Corps, to June, 1865. 1st Brigade, Hardin's Division, 22nd Army
Corps, Dept. of Washington, D. C., to August, 1865.
His company was
involved in the following Campaigns: Rapidan
Campaign May-June, 1864. Battles of the Wilderness May 5-7.
Spottsylvania May 8-12. Spottsylvania Court House May 12-21. North
Anna River May 23-26. Line of the Pamunkey May 26-28. Totopotomoy
May 28-31. Cold Harbor June 1-12. Bethesda Church June 1-3. Before
Petersburg June 16-18. Siege of Petersburg June 16, 1864, to April 2,
1865. Mine Explosion, Petersburg, July 30, 1864. Weldon
Railroad August 18-21. Poplar Springs Church September 29-October 2.
Reconnoissance on Vaughan and Squirrel Level Roads October 8.
Boydton Plank Road, Hatcher's Run, October 27-28. Fort Stedman
March 25, 1865. Appomattox Campaign March 28-April 9.
Assault on and fall of Petersburg April 2. Occupation of
Petersburg April 3. Moved to South Side Railroad and duty at
Ford's Station till April 20. Moved to Washington, D. C., April
20-27, and duty there till August. Grand Review May 23. Mustered out
August 26, 1865. The regiment lost 6 Officers, 220 Enlisted
men killed or mortally wounded, and 2 Officers and 299 Enlisted men to
disease. Total 527 during these campaigns.
A history of the
regiment reads:
Regimental History
New York
FOURTEENTH REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY (HEAVY).
Colonel Elisha G. Marshall received, May 29, 1863,
authority to recruit this regiment for a service of three
years. It was organized at Rochester, and contained many men
who had served in two years' organizations. January 13 and 22,
1864, the men enlisted by Milton R. Pierce and Jesse B. Lamb
for this regiment were transferred to the 6th and 13th N. Y.
Volunteer Artillery, respectively, and April 8 and 15, 1864,
the surplus men recruited for the regiment were ordered to be
assigned to the 6th N. Y. Volunteer Artillery. The companies
were mustered in the service of the United States at Rochester,
A and B August 29; C and D September 11 and 12, respectively; E
and F October 18 and 20, respectively; G and H December 7; I
and K December 21, 1863; L January 8, 1864; and at Elmira
Company M January 17, 1864.
The companies were recruited principally: A at Ogdensburg,
Watertown, Antwerp, Oswegatchie, Camden and Potsdam; B at
Rochester, Niagara, Ridgeway, Barre, Buffalo, Waddington,
Oswegatchie, Palmyra and Lyons; C at Utica, Malone, Rochester,
Watertown, Ogdensburg, Buffalo, Albany, Oswegatchie and Rome; D
at Rochester, Dansville, Corning, Horseheads, Veteran, Dix,
Bath, Catharine, Odessa, Watertown and Mt. Morris; E at
Ogdensburg, Watertown, Rochester, Barre, Canton, Norfolk,
Potsdam, Utica, Buffalo, Camden and Russell; F at Manlius,
Rochester, Lockport, Lowville, Ogdensburg, Prattsburg,
Suspension Bridge, Watkins, Martinsburgh, Dansville, Corning
and New Bremen; G at Rochester, Utica, Cold Spring, Dunkirk,
Dansville, Great Valley, Canton, Boonville, Havana, Ogdensburg,
West Turin, Buffalo, Otto and Lyons; H at Penn Yan, Lowville,
Canton, Russell, Watertown, Geneseo, Gouverneur, Colton,
Hermon, Stockholm, Boonville, Ogdensburg, Potsdam, Buffalo,
Greig and Martinsburgh; I at LeRay, DePeyster, DeKalb, Orleans,
Ogdensburg, Hermon, Clayton, Rossie, Rochester, Potsdam,
Geneseo, Norfolk, Philadelphia, Turin, Oswegatchie, Macomb,
Canton, Watertown and Milo; K at Albion, Antwerp, Theresa,
Williamstown, Rossie, Richland, Boonville, Diana, Amboy,
Alexandria, Denmark, Gouverneur, Macomb, Leyden, Wilna,
Lowville and Philadelphia; L at Rochester, Milo, Rossie,
Newstead, Geneseo, LeRay, Mannheim, Watertown, Hermon, DeKalb,
Penn Yan, Burkfield, Groveland, Denmark, Livonia, Watson,
Jerusalem and Leicester; and M at Rochester, Watertown,
Chemung, Potsdam, Adams, Utica, Pamelia, Kirkland, Fairfield,
Paris, Madrid, Lewiston, Johnstown, Trenton, Camden, Deerfield,
Utica, Floyd, Stockholm, Mexico, Rodman, Clayton and
Ellisburgh.
Companies A, B, C, D, E and F were, October 13, 1863,
ordered to duty in New York harbor; G and H were ordered to
Fort Hamilton, New York harbor, December 8, 1863; Companies I
and K were ordered to Fort Richmond, New York harbor, December
24, 1863, where Companies L and M joined them in January, 1864.
The regiment, serving as heavy artillery and infantry, remained
in New York harbor, Department of the East, until April, 1864;
served in the Provisional Brigade, 9th Corps, from April 23,
1864; in the Provisional Brigade, 1st Division, 9th Corps, from
May 12, 1864; in the 3d Brigade, 1st Division, 9th Corps, Army
of Potomac, from June 11, 1864; in the 2d Brigade, same
division and corps, from June 18, 1864; in the 3d Brigade, 1st
Division, 9th Corps, Army of Potomac, from September, 1864; and
in the 1st Brigade, Hardin's Division, 22d Corps, from June,
1865.
Commanded by Colonel Marshall, the regiment was honorably
discharged and mustered out August 26, 1865, at Washington, D.
C.
Source: The Union Army, vol. 2
Wakeman
applied for a military pension and the following results were found;
Civil War Pension Index
Wakeman Mathews
D 14 N.Y. Heavy Art.
Jan 29, 1897 Invalid
Indiana
The
battles Wakeman's regiment participated in were:
Fought at Second Bull Run.
Fought on 21 December 1863.
Fought on 01 May 1864.
Fought on 04, 06 and 07 May 1864 at Wilderness, VA.
Fought on 08 May 1864 at Wilderness, VA.
Fought on 12, 13 and 14 May 1864 at Spotsylvania Court House, VA.
Fought on 17 May 1864.
Fought on 26 May 1864 at North Anna River, VA.
Fought on 01 June 1864 at Cold Harbor, VA.
Fought on 01 June 1864 at Shady Grove, VA.
Fought on 02 June 1864 at Bethesda Church, VA.
Fought on 02 June 1864 at Cold Harbor, VA.
Fought on 02 June 1864 at Shady Grove, VA.
Fought on 03, 06 and 07 June 1864 at Cold Harbor, VA.
Fought on 11, 13, and 15 June 1864.
Fought on 15, 16, 17 and 20 June 1864 at Petersburg, VA.
Fought on 20 June 1864 at Shady Grove, VA.
Fought on 22 June 1864.
Fought on 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, and 29 June 1864 at Petersburg, VA.
Fought on 30 June 1864.
Fought on 03, 04, 05, and 08 July 1864 at Petersburg, VA.
Fought on 09 July 1864.
Fought on 10, 11, 13, and 14 July 1864 at Petersburg, VA.
Fought on 15, 16, and 18 July 1864.
Fought on 20, 25, and 26 July 1864 at Petersburg, VA.
Fought on 29 July 1864.
Fought on 30 July 1864 at Petersburg, VA.
Fought on 01 and 05 August 1864 at Petersburg, VA.
Fought on 08, 10, 11, and 15 August 1864.
Fought on 19 August 1864 at Blicks Station, VA.
Fought on 19 August 1864 at Petersburg, VA.
Fought on 19 August 1864 at Weldon Railroad, VA.
Fought on 20 August 1864 at Blicks Station, VA.
Fought on 20 August 1864 at Weldon Railroad, VA.
Fought on 21 August 1864 at Blicks Station, VA.
Fought on 21 August 1864 at Weldon Railroad, VA.
Fought on 01 September 1864.
Fought on 30 September 1864 at Pegram's Farm, VA.
Fought on 30 September 1864 at Poplar Grove Church, VA.
Fought on 01 December 1864.
Fought on 27 December 1864 at Fort Stedman, VA.
Fought on 09 January 1865.
Fought on 01, 05, 15, 16, 22, and 28 February 1865.
Fought on 01, 02, 09, and 10 March 1865.
Fought on 12 March 1865 at Petersburg, VA.
Fought on 15 March 1865.
Fought on 22 and 25 March 1865 at Fort Haskell, VA.
Fought on 25, 27, and 31 March 1865 at Fort Stedman, VA.
Fought on 01 and 02 April 1865 at Petersburg, VA.
After
departing military service, he married on 14 Oct 1877, to
Delilah (Delila) Ann Hall, born 24 Oct 1848 in Ohio, the daughter of
George Hall and Catherine Carroll. Sometime between 1880 and 1886,
Wakeman and Delilah moved to Indiana and settled. They had the
following children:
Edward Elsworth Mathews b. 24 Sep
1878 in OH, d. Apr 1972 in Bedford,
IN
Alice Bell Mathews b. 19 Dec 1880 in OH, d. Sep 1977 in Clarksville, Clark
Co., IN
Nealy S.
Mathews b. Dec 1882, d.
Unknown
Leolia Mathews b. 2 May 1885, d.
Unknown
John E. Mathews b. 27 Nov 1886 in IN, d. Feb 1965 in
IN
Mary Day Mathews b. 18 Jan 1890 in Wells Co., IN, d. 7 May 1969 in Clark
Co., IN
Wakeman Mathews b.
28 Dec 1891, d. Mar 1964 in
CA
Val Speed Mathews b. 8 Sep 1895, d. Mar 1973 in Clark Co., IN
There
aren't many records on Wakeman, however a story written by his daughter, Mary
Day Mathews Daily, indicates that at least 2 of his children, Nealy S.
and Leolia, died at a very young age.
On 1 Aug
1897, Delilah died in childbirth. It was devastating for the entire
family. Wakeman, being somewhat of a wanderer, couldn't provide for
the children Delilah left behind, so he sent his two youngest sons,
Wakeman C. and Val Speed, to live in the Soldiers and Sailors Orphans Home
in Rush County, Indiana, as records indicate. The older children
were of an age to care for themselves, or so Wakeman thought. No
records can be found for John E. Mathews, who would have been 11 at the
time of his mothers death. The only child left to deal with was Mary
Day Mathews, and she was sent to live with a Baptist Ministers wife in
Thomasville, Georgia.
Wakeman
moved on after the death of his wife and the dispersion of the youngest
three children. He moved to Huntington Co., Indiana and married
Almeda Boyer on 23 Nov 1898, just a little over a year after the death of
Delilah. He either fell ill, or succumbed to injuries he received
during his military enlistment, as records indicate he was living in Grant
County, Indiana, in the Marion Branch Military House. It's not clear
whether he actually lived there or was being treated as an out patient and
lived with Almeda, but records have been found to indicate
both.
On 1 Aug
1912, Wakeman died in the Marion Branch Military House in Marion, Grant
County, Indiana.
National
Military Home campus is bounded by the Mississinewa River, railroad
tracks, 38th Street and Lincoln Boulevard, Marion. In 1888 our
federal government launched an effort to look after aging Civil War
veterans. The National Military Home in Marion was a result. Opened in
1890 and built for self-sufficiency, the 151-acre, tree-shaded complex
included a working farm, barracks, administration and ward buildings,
dairy, hospital, chapel, cemetery, theatre, greenhouse, canteen, and more.
The National Home’s handsome red brick buildings, many constructed in
the Romanesque Revival style, served veterans of the Civil War and every
conflict thereafter. After its creation in 1930, the Veterans
Administration (VA) took over the National Home.
The threat: The VA intends to demolish eighteen historic buildings, most
of them built between 1890 and 1897; ten face imminent demolition,
including the original hospital buildings, and eight others are targeted
for destruction in the coming years. Landmarks at closed military bases
across the nation have found new uses, but authorities have deemed useless
the beautiful historic buildings of the National Home.
He is
buried in the Marion Branch Military National Cemetery.
Local contacts for media use:
Cathy Compton, Field Representative, Historic Landmarks’ North Central
Field Office, Wabash 260-928-2300, calumet@historiclandmarks.org
Dick Simons, Grant Co. Historian, 765-664-2150
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