James Redman Wisner, the son of Moses Carpenter Wisner and Elizabeth Ann Bunce, was born in Wayne County, New York, September 29, 1826. He married Siphronia Wilkinson, daughter of Aaron Wilkinson and Polly Wilkes, September 27, 1849, in Wayne County.
J.R., as he was often called, volunteered for service early in the war but was sent home, being deemed too old. He was finally accepted for duty on August 25, 1864, at Auburn, New York. He was a month shy of his 38th birthday when he enlisted and served as a private in the New York 15th Engineers, Company C. He was stationed at Petersburg for the majority of remainder of the war. The New York 15th was also at Appomattox Court House April 9, 1865 for the surrender of Confederate Robert E. Lee and his army to the Union, and the expedition to reinforce General Sherman, April 23-29.
J.R. mustered out of the service on June 13, 1865, at Fort Berry, Virginia. His service record says he was 5 foot 7 inches tall with grey eyes, brown hair, and a light complexion. He received a pension of $9 a month for an injury to his knee that he sustained in a fall at Petersburg.
J.R. and Siphronia had three children: Augusta, my great grandmother (born August 24, 1850), James Carpenter (born January 7th, 1858), and Erissa (born August 9, 1864), who was only a few weeks old when J.R. went off to war.
In early 1867 the family moved from New York to LaSalle County, Illinois where Augusta met my great grandfather, Allen Griffith. They wed on April 9, 1868, at the home of her parents in Ottawa, Illinois. Allen and August had seven children. Augusta died April 17, 1896, from a fall from a runaway buggy while coming home from Easter church services in Ransom, Illinois. The fall left her paralyzed. She passed away two days later on April 17, 1896 at the Griffith farm in Ransom.
In February 1880, J.R. and Siphronia, along with their son James, daughter Erissa, and son-in-law Thomas Varah, moved to Hastings, Adams County, Nebraska where they bought farmland and lived out the rest of their days surrounded by a large family. Many descendants still live in the Hastings area. Siphronia died May 1, 1917 and J.R. died February 8, 1918. They are buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Doniphan, Nebraska. They were married 68 years and five months...a long and happy life together.
J.R., as he was often called, volunteered for service early in the war but was sent home, being deemed too old. He was finally accepted for duty on August 25, 1864, at Auburn, New York. He was a month shy of his 38th birthday when he enlisted and served as a private in the New York 15th Engineers, Company C. He was stationed at Petersburg for the majority of remainder of the war. The New York 15th was also at Appomattox Court House April 9, 1865 for the surrender of Confederate Robert E. Lee and his army to the Union, and the expedition to reinforce General Sherman, April 23-29.
J.R. mustered out of the service on June 13, 1865, at Fort Berry, Virginia. His service record says he was 5 foot 7 inches tall with grey eyes, brown hair, and a light complexion. He received a pension of $9 a month for an injury to his knee that he sustained in a fall at Petersburg.
J.R. and Siphronia had three children: Augusta, my great grandmother (born August 24, 1850), James Carpenter (born January 7th, 1858), and Erissa (born August 9, 1864), who was only a few weeks old when J.R. went off to war.
In early 1867 the family moved from New York to LaSalle County, Illinois where Augusta met my great grandfather, Allen Griffith. They wed on April 9, 1868, at the home of her parents in Ottawa, Illinois. Allen and August had seven children. Augusta died April 17, 1896, from a fall from a runaway buggy while coming home from Easter church services in Ransom, Illinois. The fall left her paralyzed. She passed away two days later on April 17, 1896 at the Griffith farm in Ransom.
In February 1880, J.R. and Siphronia, along with their son James, daughter Erissa, and son-in-law Thomas Varah, moved to Hastings, Adams County, Nebraska where they bought farmland and lived out the rest of their days surrounded by a large family. Many descendants still live in the Hastings area. Siphronia died May 1, 1917 and J.R. died February 8, 1918. They are buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Doniphan, Nebraska. They were married 68 years and five months...a long and happy life together.