John Henry Barton is my third great grandfather on my mother’s side of the family tree. Born in New York state in 1834, he grew up on his family’s farm in the town of Liberty. John Henry married Henrietta Brown on July 27, 1859, and a year later they welcomed their first child, a son whom they named Arthur. Remaining close to the rest of the Barton family, John Henry continued to work on the farm in Liberty. The young Bartons welcomed their first daughter, Clara, on the day after Christmas in 1862; she is my great-great grandmother.
I don’t know what John Henry thought about the war raging mostly to the south of his home. Newspapers would have reported the advances of General Lee and the leadership changes on the Union side. Enlistment numbers continued to fall short, however, prompting Senator Henry Wilson of Massachusetts to introduce the first Conscription Act, which Congress passed in March of 1863. For reasons that remain unknown to me, it was not until December of 1863, several months after the Gettysburg Campaign, that John Henry mustered in as a Private in the United States Army. Some records indicate that he was drafted while others clearly say, “enlisted.” To my knowledge, no photograph has survived of him, but his papers indicate that he stood 5 feet and 6 inches tall, had light hair and blue eyes.
On December 29, 1863, Private John Henry Barton became a part of the 54th NY Infantry Regiment, Company I. The regiment had fought bravely at Gettysburg before being attached to the Department of the South and sent to South Carolina.
By the time Private Barton joined the 54th NY, the soldiers had already been “building fortifications, patrolling, and recon-noitering” on the islands around Charleston. He was promoted to the rank of Corporal in January of 1865, though the reason for such a large promotion has not yet been discovered. Three months later the 54th NY marched into the heavily bombed and evacuated city of Charleston.
Detachments of the 54th NY served at Freedmen’s Bureau sites throughout South Carolina for the next year. While on such a mission near Aiken, SC, Corporal John Henry Barton received a wound to his left leg. Pension papers filed many years later revealed that there was no surgeon present when he was originally wounded, and the healing was so incomplete that it compromised his ability to work when he returned home.
Although the war ended in the spring of 1865, Corporal Barton was one of many soldiers who remained on active duty until April of 1866. The 1870 Census records show that he and Henrietta were still living in Liberty and had a new child, a daughter named Ida. Five years later the family had grown to include another girl, Harriet, and a boy they named Edgar. The 1880 Federal Census indicates that the family had moved to Landis Township, NJ, sometime after 1878, because a son, Jay, had been born in NY and was only a year old at the taking of the census.
On November 23, 1885, John Henry Barton died of Bright’s Disease, a kidney ailment. In 1889 his widow, Henrietta received a pension to help raise their minor children. Henrietta lived until 1922. An article about the 54th NY, written in 1902, reported an active Veteran’s group meeting in NYC. I think it is worth noting that the author made mention of the men striving “to imbue their own children and the rising generation with the patriotic enthusiasm that impelled” them “to offer their all to the cause…” Whether additional facts ever reveal more information about my veteran ancestor, I trust that he knows of my membership in the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War and the honor that I pay to him.
I don’t know what John Henry thought about the war raging mostly to the south of his home. Newspapers would have reported the advances of General Lee and the leadership changes on the Union side. Enlistment numbers continued to fall short, however, prompting Senator Henry Wilson of Massachusetts to introduce the first Conscription Act, which Congress passed in March of 1863. For reasons that remain unknown to me, it was not until December of 1863, several months after the Gettysburg Campaign, that John Henry mustered in as a Private in the United States Army. Some records indicate that he was drafted while others clearly say, “enlisted.” To my knowledge, no photograph has survived of him, but his papers indicate that he stood 5 feet and 6 inches tall, had light hair and blue eyes.
On December 29, 1863, Private John Henry Barton became a part of the 54th NY Infantry Regiment, Company I. The regiment had fought bravely at Gettysburg before being attached to the Department of the South and sent to South Carolina.
By the time Private Barton joined the 54th NY, the soldiers had already been “building fortifications, patrolling, and recon-noitering” on the islands around Charleston. He was promoted to the rank of Corporal in January of 1865, though the reason for such a large promotion has not yet been discovered. Three months later the 54th NY marched into the heavily bombed and evacuated city of Charleston.
Detachments of the 54th NY served at Freedmen’s Bureau sites throughout South Carolina for the next year. While on such a mission near Aiken, SC, Corporal John Henry Barton received a wound to his left leg. Pension papers filed many years later revealed that there was no surgeon present when he was originally wounded, and the healing was so incomplete that it compromised his ability to work when he returned home.
Although the war ended in the spring of 1865, Corporal Barton was one of many soldiers who remained on active duty until April of 1866. The 1870 Census records show that he and Henrietta were still living in Liberty and had a new child, a daughter named Ida. Five years later the family had grown to include another girl, Harriet, and a boy they named Edgar. The 1880 Federal Census indicates that the family had moved to Landis Township, NJ, sometime after 1878, because a son, Jay, had been born in NY and was only a year old at the taking of the census.
On November 23, 1885, John Henry Barton died of Bright’s Disease, a kidney ailment. In 1889 his widow, Henrietta received a pension to help raise their minor children. Henrietta lived until 1922. An article about the 54th NY, written in 1902, reported an active Veteran’s group meeting in NYC. I think it is worth noting that the author made mention of the men striving “to imbue their own children and the rising generation with the patriotic enthusiasm that impelled” them “to offer their all to the cause…” Whether additional facts ever reveal more information about my veteran ancestor, I trust that he knows of my membership in the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War and the honor that I pay to him.