Display for a Civil War Ancestor

Finished product (minus the glass so it can be seen better)

I have always been interested in history and intrigued by family ancestry in particular but it wasn't until my Great Grandmother, Ethel Benjamin, passed along her recollections and family knowledge via a sort of typed notebook that was transcribed by one of my cousins that I really began looking into the subject myself.

My father's side was too difficult to pursue immediately as they were all recent Polish immigrants but my mothers side provided much more promise as they appeared to have been in Michigan for multiple generations.  Once armed with my great grandmother's notes, I was excited about the possibility that one of my ancestors had fought in the Civil War and so it began.

Gravestone of Lyman Benjamin

I didn't originally have much luck as I had to learn how to do genealogical research from trial and error and the resources available today did not exist or were in their infancy.  Still, I had the names and approximate dates/locations of my great grandmothers parents, and her husband's parents, along with some related facts about their siblings, etc. and it was not long before I discovered what no one in my family knew - my great great great grandfather, Lyman Benjamin, fought in the Civil War in the 14th Michigan Volunteer Regiment and was buried less than 60 miles from my home town.  I was hooked at that very moment and genealogy has been my primary passion ever since.

Since that initial "Eureka" moment, I have discovered two more Civil War ancestors and have learned much about them and their experiences through regimental histories and research at the National Archives in Washington, DC (luckily I live in DC and have convenient access).  In fact, among the most helpful genealogical resources I have ever come across is the Civil War pension file.  If one is lucky enough to have a Civil War ancestor who received or even applied for a pension, the documentation required and still stored in Washington is beyond compare in helpfulness for continuing research on that line.

Through this research of pension files, I have examined the actual enlistment papers my ancestor signed in the 1860's and thanks to my enthusiasm for photography, have taken high resolution photographs of them which I have used in the display that is the subject of this post.  An example of one such photograph is below:

You'll notice that the condition is delicate due to the document being over 160 years old and folded up into an envelope.  I doubt anyone other than an archivist has looked at this in a hundred years until I opened it.

Much of the information on this document can be found online or in books published my nearly every state such as the date of enlistment, the hometown of the soldier, his age, etc. but just this single document has information not known anywhere else other than this file in all likelihood.  For instance, from this one document, I know that Lyman Benjamin could not write as he signed his name with a single "x."  I also know that he was a farmer, and that he was 5'9" tall, had brown hair, grey eyes, and a fair complexion.

The difficulty faced by veterans and widows of veterans in applying for a pension (which were granted for injuries or ailments received as a result of their service) is a boon to genealogist even if it was a hardship to the applicant in an age before email.  Research into Lyman Benjamin's pension file, and that of his brother, Ezra, revealed dozens of affidavits by neighbors, relatives, and fellow soldiers, aiming to verify the information contained in the application for the pension.  These affidavits almost always contained a paragraph explaining how that person knew the soldier so as to lend credibility to their statement.  This info is often the most valuable.  For instance, in the case of Lyman's brother Ezra, his sister in law, Mary Elizabeth (Brown) Benjamin, Lyman's wife, state her relationship with Ezra via her marriage to Ezra's brother but added a nugget that was extremely helpful - that she and Ezra (and her husband Lyman) were actually cousins.  Since I knew here maiden name was Brown, it couldn't be that her father and her husband's father were siblings.  And I knew that neither of her parents were named Benjamin, so it could only be that her mother was a sibling of Lyman and Ezra's mother, which was later confirmed as her mother's name was Mary Jane Shelley and Lyman and Ezra's mother's name was Joannah Shelley.

Anyway, back to the subject of this blog, displaying genealogical discoveries.  For a lover of history and genealogy like myself, knowing this document exists, indeed holding this very document in my hands, while wonderful, was not enough.  I wanted to display this somehow.  So below, is an example of my design for a display of one of my civil war ancestors which is in progress.

I have finished a couple of others but I've used this design rather than the finished project so that it is clearer what I've done.  On the left side, is the photograph I've taken of another civil war ancestor's enlist papers - Abraham Ritchey, 10th Ohio Cavalry.  On the right, I've created a biographical display in powerpoint which can be easily printed out on a descent home printer designed for photographic prints using high quality paper (in this case I used matte photo paper).  The top of the bio contains the soldier's name and unit, and lists other biographical information contained in his pension file including his physical description, his occupation, home town, etc.

In the middle section, I've provided a brief summary of the 10th Ohio Cavalry's service in the Civil War which is merely a condensed version of what can be found online or in Dyers Civil War compendium.  I specifically included only the regiment's service from the date of my ancestor's service.  Here, Abraham Ritchey, joined the regiment in early 1864 nearly two years after the regiment was formed so while interesting, the regiment's service prior to his joining has been omitted so that what is summarized pertains to my ancestor's service.  Luckily for me (and perhaps not him), most of the really interesting events and battles in which the 10th Ohio Cav. participated, occurred after his joining.

The lower third of the biographical page lists the major engagements in which his regiment participated and in which he was likely to have participated.  In Abraham's case, he was on the March to the Sea with General Sherman.  For visual appeal, I've added a photograph I happen to have been given by my mother of Abraham Ritchey, and added it to the top, and on the bottom, I've added a picture of the 10th Ohio Cavalry's regimental flag which I found online.  I was lucky to have a photograph in this case but one can substitute other images if a photograph is not available.

For example, in a similar project I did for my brother in law, I photograph of the soldier was not available.  So instead of a photograph, I inserted an image of the most well known battle in which he participated, Missionary Ridge, which was rendered by Kurz and Allison and which I found online:

Another idea is to use a picture of the gravestone of the soldier if available.  Often these stones are half sunk into the ground or illegible to to time and the elements wearing away the original inscriptions but that doesn't mean they can't be displayed in an attractive and inspiring way.  For example, another one of my ancestors's stones is very difficult to read but I will use it anyway because I find the picture moving.  See the picture of Ezra Harmon, 1st Michigan Engineers and Mechanics, below:

Thanks to the volunteers who regularly honor our veterans final resting spots with flags, I happened upon a wonderful image which will be included in display of Ezra Harmon once I get to it.  Of course if one is interested and able to take a similar photograph, bringing a flag of your own is a good idea...I was just lucky.

The detail is difficult to read but not nearly as difficult as it was in person or in the original photograph.  I used the free online photo editing program, Picassa, from Google, to enhance the contrast in the photo rendering the detail on the photograph easier to read.  Now it is possible to barely make out that this gravestone is that of Ezra Harmon, Artificer, of the 1st Michigan Engineers and Mechanics.

The civil war pension or service files may contain other subjects worthy of photographing and using in such a display such as a letter or affidavit from the soldier himself detailing his service or of an injury sustained in a particular battle or perhaps his actual signature or discharge papers.

The final product is a display that is both attractive and that celebrates one's ancestors service to his or her country such as this one that I made for my brother in law.  Here, there were no enlistment papers in his file unfortunately and we didn't have a picture of the soldier or his gravestone.  Still, I was able to include a number of visual images that made the display interesting and informative.  On the right side, I used a photograph of the soldier's account of his service and injury at the Battle of Missionary Ridge which I found in his pension file.  I also added a Kurz & Allison image of that battle as well as a picture of the regiment's national colors and the soldier's signature from is file to make it more personal and visually appealing.

Let me know what you think. - djm