Help with Civil War military records?

[ELCore]

My mother recently turned 80, and for the occasion I decided to attempt a genealogy. I believe one James Runnels Dowler was my great great great grandfather. (I say "believe" because this genealogy stuff is tricky!)

From fold3.com, I have some records of his service in the Civil War: muster-in, returns, muster-out, and pension applications.

I think the terms and conditions do not allow me to post the images here, but I can attempt a transcription if anybody here has the knowledge and desire to help me to understand them better. Or, perhaps, somebody can refer me to another site.

Thanks.

[BettyO]

EL Core -

Have you tried Ancestry.com? I use that a lot. Was your relative from PA? West VA? I've found a lot under that particular name on Ancestry - it's a great resource, but not free. It's $20.00 a month - and worth every penny....

[Gene C]

Your local library or historical society usually has people or knows someone who can assist you.

[ELCore]

Thanks. I already belong to Ancestry.com. That's how I found these. I will see if anybody on the forums there can help me. There seem to be a lot of Civil War boards.

[Rob Wick]

What is it you're needing help with? I've worked with a number of Civil War records in my research on Everton Conger and also did the same for my great-grandfather, who rode with the Union Third Kentucky Cavalry.

Best
Rob

[ELCore]

Thank you.

I guess it's as much military history, too, as military records.

For instance, he was a Pennsylvanian, but the records say he enlisted, for 3 years, in Co. D, 5th Regiment, W. Va. Calvary, in Wheeling, Virginia, on July 10, 1861 at age 43, and was a wagoner. He mustered out of Co. I, 5th Reg., W. Va. Calvary on July 28, 1864. (There is a note at the bottom of the muster-in roll that Co. D subsequently became Co. I.)

So, I gather that what I'm looking at are summaries of earlier records? For instance, "W. Va." is printed (not written) at the top of the "Company Muster-in Roll" for July 10, 1861, but West Virginia did not exist at that time. And there is a signature at the bottom of each sheet, identified as "Copyist."

This strikes me as a very early enlistment; by which I mean, there had only been a handful of minor skirmishes before that time, right? Also, why would he have enlisted in Wheeling? Were there no Pennsylvania regiments at the time?

Interestingly, a "book mark" at the bottom of the "Co. Muster-out Roll" notes "Charge of desertion removed...." There are words after that, but I cannot make them out. A record of "Returns" for Dec. 1863 says, among other things that I can't make out, "Absent left with detachment at New Creek". I wonder if there was some kind of paperwork snafu, that caused some confusion about desertion.

Thanks.

[Rob Wick]

Give me a couple of days to dig some things out of storage and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Best
Rob

[ELCore]

Give me a couple of days to dig some things out of storage and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Thanks.

[Rob Wick]

I just want you to know I haven't forgotten, but over the weekend my debit card was compromised and Sunday my computer was hacked. I had to reinstall Windows in order to unlock everything, but I soon discovered that the hack also affected my external hard drives, which I had kept plugged into the computer (will never do that again). So the long and the short of it is I have lost everything I had on my computer. Luckily, most of my book was stored on another computer that wasn't affected, but I've got to rebuild everything. I don't know how soon I can get back to this. Sorry.

Best
Rob

[Gene C]

I have a friend that owns a computer business. She said that sometimes they can restore the info that was on the hard drive, but having it checked soon is the key to how much they can restore. But it doesn't always work. It could be worth looking into. It's amazing what they can do.

[BettyO]

A technician who is familiar with DOS (I used to be, but haven't used it in so long a period that I've forgotten most of it) can usually recover some, if not all, of the compromised data.....

[L Verge]

There are times when I really miss DOS...

[ELCore]

I just want you to know I haven't forgotten, but over the weekend my debit card was compromised and Sunday my computer was hacked. I had to reinstall Windows in order to unlock everything, but I soon discovered that the hack also affected my external hard drives, which I had kept plugged into the computer (will never do that again). So the long and the short of it is I have lost everything I had on my computer. Luckily, most of my book was stored on another computer that wasn't affected, but I've got to rebuild everything. I don't know how soon I can get back to this. Sorry.

I am so sorry to hear this. I've experienced debit-card fraud myself, so I sympathize.

I agree with the others who have said to have an expert check into recovering what's recoverable. Don't lose hope yet!

[Rob Wick]

Thanks everyone.

Right now I don't have the money to get the disk looked at, but I plan to keep it so if and when I do, it will be there. My researcher in Washington kept all the scans she did for me and resent them, so that will help considerably.

Best
Rob

[Rob Wick]

El Core,

The first source I would guide you toward is an old book called Loyal West Virginia by Theodore F. Lang, which in addition to having a detailed history of the creation of the state, lists the various regiments that came from there. I have a reprint, but it is available online for free.

https://books.google.com/books?id=Cm4MAA...&q&f=false

As to your question as to why if he was from Pennsylvania he would enlist in what would become a West Virginia regiment, my guess (and this is only a guess) is that Pennsylvania had met its original quota and was not accepting new companies. Everton Conger was from Ohio, but created the Third Virginia Cavalry (later the Third West Virginia Cavalry) because Ohio had far exceeded its quota. He originally started in the 8th Ohio Infantry, but that regiment never even made it into the field after its 90 days of service expired. Conger met future president Rutherford B. Hayes (whose uncle, Sardis Birchard, knew Conger's family in Fremont, Ohio), who suggested he form a company of his own. I suspect that given the fluidity of loyal Virginia, it was easier to form a company there then in already-established states.

My great-grandfather was from southern Illinois but signed up with a Kentucky Union cavalry regiment. Even though I have all his known records, I have absolutely no idea why he traveled to Kentucky to enlist.

As for the poor reading quality of the records, I understand where you're coming from. Part of the problem is the lousy handwriting that many War Department clerks had, and part of it is the crappy job the National Archives did in microfilming the lousy handwriting. Everton's brother, Seymour, got into trouble at the beginning of the war, but the original records on which the microfilm was made is no longer available and whomever microfilmed them made them just out of focus enough to be unreadable.

I would recommend either finding the reprint of Lang's book or scour a local library and find a copy. That would be the best place to start. This site may also provide you with some information after West Virginia became a state.

https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/research/guides/military

Hope this helps.

Best
Rob