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| Grave site of Charles Wesley Jenkins |
Bill West of West in New England offered a Civil War Challenge the
other day that caught my eye. Basically
the challenge is to research and write about an ancestor that fought in the
Civil War.
The reason this caught my eye is that I have one ancestor,
Charles Wesley Jenkins, who has been a bit of a mystery to me. He fought in the Civil War, but some of the
details that I’ve found about him leave me scratching my head.
Here’s what I have documented about him so far:
He was born 3 November, 1839 to Amos and Rhoda Jenkins.1
Puzzle #1: Was he born in Vermont2 or Indiana3? I have secondary documentation for both
places. If he was born in Indiana, why
was the family (or at least his mother) there?
The rest of the family, both his ancestors and descendants, are in the
Landgrove and Peru areas of Vermont.
On 2 August, 1862, Charles enlisted in Company L of the 33rd
Massachusetts Infantry.4
Puzzle #2: Why did he enlist in Massachusetts instead of Vermont? Again, all of the family that I’ve documented
so far was in Vermont. It also appears
that his brother and father may have enlisted in Vermont.5
On 4 May, 1865 he married Laura Ann Derby.6
In September of that same year, he was discharged from the
military.7
Puzzle #3: Where did he travel while in the military? What battles was he in? This isn’t so much as a puzzle as it is an
opportunity for more research. I know
that he was transferred from the Infantry to the Veteran Reserve Corps (also
known as the Invalid Corps). I’m not
sure what he did while there though. This
needs more research.
He died 17 April, 1883, and was buried in Landgrove, Vermont
in the New Cemetery.10
My mission, which I’ve chosen to accept, is to look into the
life of Charles Jenkins some more, and to write a blog post about him after
April 30th. If I’m
successful, a link to that post and others will be placed on the West in New
England blog on May 6th.
1 The Weston Historical Society, Genealogies of
The Early Settlers of Weston, Vermont, Second Edition (Weston, VT:
The Weston Historical Society, 2006), 224.
2 Minnie Laura Davis, Death Record Londonderry, VT (1918), Ancestry.com
3 Charles W. Jenkins household, 1870 U.S. census, Bennington County, Vermont, population schedule, town of Peru, sheet 10, dwelling 79, family 69 ; digital image, Ancestry.com (accessed 24 Dec 2012).
4 Laura A. Jenkins, 1890 U.S. census, Windham County, Vermont, veterans schedule, town of Londonderry, enumeration district [ED] 233 (penned), supervisor's district [SD] Vt. (penned), sheet 3 (penned), dwelling 137, family 143 line 33; digital image, Ancestry.com (accessed 25 Dec 2012).
5 I have some information that mentions both Charles’s father and brother enlisting. I have not analyzed and documented this information at this time. This will be part of my research over the next few weeks.
6 Charles Jenkins household, 1880 U.S. census, Bennington County, Vermont, population schedule, town of Peru, enumeration district [ED] 31 (penned), supervisor's district [SD] "of Vt" (penned), sheet 2 (penned), dwelling 15, family 16 ; digital image, Ancestry.com (accessed 30 Mar 2012).
7 Laura A. Jenkins, 1890 U.S. census, Windham County, Vermont, veterans schedule, town of Londonderry, enumeration district [ED] 233 (penned), supervisor's district [SD] Vt. (penned), sheet 3 (penned), dwelling 137, family 143 line 33; digital image, Ancestry.com (accessed 25 Dec 2012).
8 Charles Jenkins household, 1880 U.S. census, Bennington County, Vermont, population schedule, town of Peru, enumeration district [ED] 31 (penned), supervisor's district [SD] "of Vt" (penned), sheet 2 (penned), dwelling 15, family 16 ; digital image, Ancestry.com (accessed 30 Mar 2012).
9 Minnie Laura Davis, Death Record Londonderry, VT (1918), Ancestry.com
10 The Weston Historical Society, Genealogies of The Early Settlers of Weston, Vermont, Second Edition (Weston, VT: The Weston Historical Society, 2006), 224.
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