Last post of 2024

Post by Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

Image (C) Doris McCraw

So many people don't care. They are caught up in their own world trying to make ends meet or figure out what happened.

This is an age-old story. It happened to our ancestors and to those left behind when their loved ones went off to war.

Over the last year, I've highlighted the stories of those women who were left behind when their husbands went off to serve during the Civil War. Or perhaps they married after the soldiers returned. Regardless, they were dealing with a country trying to heal itself. They were dealing with men who were scarred by what they experienced.

As I've stated before, we need to honor and remember what they dealt with. We have so much we can learn from how they lived their lives.

I will end with a short piece on the second wife of George Washington Castile (Casteel, Casteele). 

Image from Find a Grave

When Euphamia married George she was nineteen. She immediately became a mother to three boys from George's first marriage. The couple went on to have four of their own with two dying in infancy. 

The couple settled in Colorado Springs, where George eventually became a veterinary surgeon.

Euphamia Gillman Castile was born in Iowa in 1861 and died in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1939. She is buried in a separate area from her husband. 

George Washington Castile

What Euphamia and the other women highlighted over this past year experienced, did, and accomplished is something I'm eternally grateful for. Researching and writing about these women gives me a sense of what can be accomplished, and what I and others are capable of when necessary.

So ends the year of looking at the Civil War, the survivors, and their families. Let's see what 2025 may bring.

Until Next Time: Stay safe, Stay happy, and Stay healthy. 

Doris

 

Martha J. Douglass

Post (C) by Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

Chapel at Evergreen Cemetery, Colorado Springs
Image (C) Doris McCraw

Martha J. Hurd married William T. Douglass in Menard, Illinois on December 17, 1867. She was born on October 21, 1837, in Illinois. This was Martha's second marriage.

On June 3, 1857, Martha J. Harrison married John J. Hurd. in Menard, Illinois. Then in August of 1862, John enlisted for service in the Union Army and mustered out in September of that same year. He served in Company F of the 114th Illinois Infantry. On June 17, 1863, he died in Duckport, Louisiana of 'pernicious fever' according to the records. 

Martha's second husband William T. Douglass was also in the 114th Illinois Infantry but served in Company K. There is a good chance the two men knew each other, at least by name having lived in the same area. John, who was born in 1834 would have been seven years older than William, who was born in 1841.

Image of the Douglass headstone
from Find A Grave

According to the 1900 census, Martha had born four children, however, none had survived. In an article in the newspaper, land owned by the couple was sold in 1878. 

By 1879, the couple were living in Colorado Springs where they remained. Willam died in 1909 and Martha died on December 9, 1911.

For more on the Civil War Veterans and Wives:

William T. Douglass - Western Fictioneers

Private John H. Long - Western Fictioneers

Isabella Long - Prairie Rose Publications 

Until Next Time: Stay safe, Stay happy, and Stay healthy. 

Doris

Isabell Long? Who and Where

Post (C) Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

Evergreen Chapel, Evergreen Cemetery
Colorado Springs, CO
Photo (C) Doris McCraw

We know Isabell Long was the wife of a Civil War Veteran. Her headstone stands next to her husband John H Long. From there it gets murky.

Isabell, according to her headstone was born in 1846 and she died in 1836. Marriage records show she married in Tazewell County, Illinois on February 13, 1864. Pekin, founded in the 1820s along the Illinois River, probably was the largest town in that county. Her husband John had mustered out of the service in Sand Prairie, Tazewell County, Illinois in August of 1863.

Using the above information, Isabell was probably living in the vicinity and the couple may have known each other prior to John entering the service in 1862. 

We know Isabell was born in England. Her maiden name was Joyce. While searching through the immigration records, I found an Isabell Joyce who arrived in New York in 1860 with her mother and about seven other siblings. This Isabell was fourteen at the time. However, there is another Isabell Joyce who arrived in New York in 1851. So far, research has not verified which Isabell is the one who married John H. Long.

Image of the possible ship Isabell may have
taken in 1860
From Ancestry.com

The 1910 census stated the couple had been married forty-seven years, and Isabell had born seven children all of who were still alive at that date. Her youngest was eighteen in 1910.

Isabell outlived her husband dying at about the age of ninety. What stories she could have told.

For other stories in this Civil War series, click the links below.

Sgt. James W. Bell - Western Fictioneers

Martha Lynn Bell - Prairie Rose Publications

Captain Richmon Finch- Western Fictioneers

Sarah Jane Durkee Anderson - Prairie Rose Publications

Esther Walker, Part 2 - Western Fictioneers

Esther Walker - Prairie Rose Publications

Alpheus R. Eastman - Western Fictioneers Blog

Helen Rood Dillon - Prairie Rose Publications Blog

Virginia Strickler - Prairie Rose Publications Blog

Henry C. Davis - Western Fictioneers Blog

Chester H. Dillon - Western Fictioneers Blog

Until Next Time: Stay safe, Stay happy, and Stay healthy. 

Doris

Sarah Jane Durkee Anderson

Post (C) Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

Photo (C) Doris McCraw
Chapel @ Evergreen Cemetery, Colorado Springs, CO.

Sarah Jane Durkee Anderson was born to St. Louis, Missouri banker Dwight Durkee, and Sarah Jane Davis Durkee in March of 1856. This made her, according to the 1972 book, " Five Hundred First Families of America", by Alexander Du Bin, a person of some importance, in terms of her heritage. 

So far, there is not much to be found about Sarah's early life. She was one of probably four children. She married Dr. Boswell P. Andersonm born around 1845, on January 2, 1879, at the Church of Holy Communion (?), in St. Louis. Her parents were in attendance, and according to the records, helped serve as witnesses. The couple settled in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Dr. Anderson was an early doctor in the region and was instrumental in much of the growth of the medical mecca of the area, including a term as the President of the Colorado Medical Society. He served in the CSA as one of Mosby's raiders in the Civil War and carried a bullet for the rest of his life from that conflict.

As the wife of such a prominent person, Sarah took part in charity events, traveled, and raising three of the couple's surviving six children. She was part of a circle of prominent people in the region.

The below article from the March 30, 1912 issue of the Rocky Mountain News illustrates this point.

Her husband passed on August 29, 1919. Sarah lived another twenty-one years, passing on July 10, 1940, at age eighty-six.

Given her background, she was probably comfortable in the circle of people she associated with. However, one does wonder how she fared with such a prominent husband who, according to stories, drank and partied fairly heavily. We can only infer, for no records of writings exist or have been found so far. As a historian, I can only hope.

One thing is certain, Sarah and her husband worked together along with others in the community leaving the conflict that was the Civil War out of their part in the growing community. The history wasn't hidden, it simply was not the most important part of their community involvement.

For links to past writing on Civil War Veterans and Civil War Wives: 

Esther Walker, Part 2 - Western Fictioneers

Esther Walker - Prairie Rose Publications

Alpheus R. Eastman - Western Fictioneers Blog

Helen Rood Dillon - Prairie Rose Publications Blog

Virginia Strickler - Prairie Rose Publications Blog

Henry C. Davis - Western Fictioneers Blog

Chester H. Dillon - Western Fictioneers Blog

For anyone interested, I have a monthly substack newsletter: Thoughts and Tips on History

Until Next Time: Stay safe, Stay happy, and Stay healthy. 

Doris

  

Virginia Strickler- Wife of Civil War Veteran Wm. Strickler

Post by Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

Evergreen Chapel, Evergreen Cemetery,
Colorado Springs, CO.
Photo(C) Doris McCraw

The start of this series on the wives of Civil War Veterans buried in the local cemeteries in Colorado Springs is the wife of Dr. William M Strickler, a Confederate soldier who made his mark on the region as a doctor, rancher, farmer, and politician. Her name was Virginia and this is her story, at least as much as I have been able to find so far.

Born Virginia Lipscomb in Prince William County, Virginia. Her birth year has been listed as 1828, 1833, and 1836. Her headstone lists it as 1829.

Not much is known about her early life. According to census records, her grandfather, Philip Lipscomb was a slave owner, so the probability is her family had money before the war although Philip died in 1821. Her parents, Robert and Ann died in 1858 and 1857 respectively.

At the time of their deaths, their son William would have been twenty-four. Ann, Mary, Betty, and Virginia were all older, so the running of any property would have probably fallen to all of them. In fact, her brother, William, served in Company H of the 15^th Virginia Calvary, having enlisted as a private in the Confederate army in 1861. He finished as a lieutenant and in 1864, according to Civil War records, he was a POW.

Virginia met Dr. William Strickler at the second battle of Manassas (Bull Run) in 1862 while he was treating the wounded on the battlefield. He enlisted as a surgeon's assistant in 1861 and served in Companies F & S of the 52^nd Virginia Infantry throughout the war.

Photo by Ron West from Find a Grave

Virginia married William in 1865 and by 1868 the couple had moved to Colorado City where William served as a doctor. By 1874 the couple moved to the new city of Colorado Springs. There the couple remained until 1906 when they moved to Denver. William died in 1908. Virginia remained in Denver where she passed away in 1915. Her death registry states her cause of death as senility.

Both she and William are buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs. So far no images of her have been found.

Amazon

Until Next Time: Stay safe, Stay happy, and Stay healthy. 

Doris