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Letters from Vicksburg

Posted in genealogy, tagged , , , , , , , , , on March 1, 2026| Leave a Comment »

In which the Wilcox brothers write home while their brother, my G-G-G-Grandfather stayed home and tended the farm.

Vicksburg, March 13, 1863

Most of the regiments have moved up on the levee, and we have drawn our guns up. Half a mile below us the country is flooded.

Camp near Vicksburg, March 28, 1863

We arrived in camp last night after dark. We started on the 20th from here with one section of our battery. Thomas and I went on the YazooRiver about ten miles, then turned into Steele Bayou, on the left side of the river as you go up the bank. We went about 60 miles from the Yazoo. We were landed to guard the bayou, to keep them from felling timber into it. We camped on the first dry ground we came to on the Black Bayou. We enjoyed the time we were in camp very well, sailing in the canoes we found along the bayou.We came back on the gunboat Louisville. About 200 negroes, women and children, came back with us. The whole thing was one complete failure. The infantry had to wade in water up to their knees.

                Willard Wilcox

~

Camp before Vicksburg, March 29, 1863

Willard and I have returned from an expedition up the Yazoo river. It was a failure. The order came about 10:00 at night. Of the 19th, for the two howitzers. We went over 60 miles. Came back on gunboat. We were on a plantation.

                Thos. Wilcox

April 5, 1863

Thomas ill: “I have stayed in camp, and the boys have taken first rate care of me.”

~

Milliken’s Bend, May 3, 1863

Wilber was up in the Chickasaw and fought the battery for three hours without being disabled, but was struck a great many times.

Rear of Vicksburg, May 5, 1863

Have to stay at the guns most all the time. We were called up every night to fire ten or fifteen shots. The squads take turns of two hours each in firing it, or 25 shots at a time. Our men are getting all the heavy guns mounted and rifle pits dug to within 100 yards of the rebel works. Every battery on the line opened up on them one morning about 3:00 o’clock; for hours it seemed like a stream of fire from one end of the line to the other. One thing is certain, they cannot stand it much longer. We keep getting closer every night, and will dig them out. I would like to come home when we take Vicksburg. It seems a long time since I went away. Willard is as strong as ever. The Captain said that he is the only one that stays at the cassion that he can depend on to get anything done when he wants it. I do not like soldiering, no way you can fix it.

                Thomas Wilcox

~

Milliken’s Bend, La. 25 miles from Vicksburg. May 7, 1863

Willard has got over his fever. I am about well. The boys came back from their expedition without firing a gun. They went up the Yazoo River to Haines’ Bluff. The troops have all gone below Vicksburg except our division. We have a nice camp. We left Milliken’s Bend May 6, and went to Grand Gulf, and started for the bridge across the Black River. Water was scarce, and the roads so dusty we could not see two rods, and we were on half rations, but we stoof it first rate. We were in position three times but did not fire; were under fire several times. General Sherman ordered our battery up to the river bank, but after five shots they hoisted the white flag. Squad 2 crossed the pontoon bridge first with six horses.

Near Vicksburg, May 30, 1863

Left Young’s Point day before yesterday to join the company. Went up the Yazoo about 12 miles. We landed, found the battery near the place on the opposite side of the Chickasaw bayou from where we were last fall, near the place where 6th Mo., undertook to cross. Wilber and Thomas are here.

                W. J. Wilcox

~

We have been under fire for six days, within 400 yards of the breastworks. The four gun squads have to stay at the guns night and day.

Rear of Vicksburg, May 30, 1863

Thomas and Wilber are looking well. Our line of battle is on one range of hills, theirs on another, being about 400 yards apart. Where our battery is, we have got our line intrenched, but skirmishers keep firint at one another when they see anyone. Ore battery fires more or less every day. They brought in four 30-pound Parrotts last night. Our boys have one to man. They have to keep it going all the time, so they take turns at it. They fire all over, sometimes clear in to the center of town.

                Willard Wilcox

Near Vicksburg, May 31, 1863

The most trouble is to stand the heat. We are on the side of a high ridge without any shade, and in the middle of the day it is very hot, especially if we shoot. Yesterday we got up a 30-pound Parrott gun and fired 100 shots from it, and at 6:00 A.M. we fired from one end of the line to the other. They have got so that they don’t fire back but very little.

Camp in rear of Vicksburg, June 4, 1863

Our lines have not advanced since I came here excepting in places where they are making approaches which I don’t know much about. Both parties lie behind their works occasionally exchanging shots with small arms. We have fired a great deal with the artillery. You can form some idea of the amount, as the gun that I belong to fired 633 shots. If the Eastern armies could gain a victory, it would be a better feeling.

                Willard Wilcox

~

Camp in rear of Vicksburg. June 16, 1863

Vicksburg is not yet taken, but Grant and Sherman are working as fast as the rough nature of the ground will permit. The amount of work done by the army since we have been here is almost past belief, yet the men work with a good will, confident that we will have Vicksburg in spite of Johnston. There is not a day passes, but more or less men are killed.

                Wilber Wilcox

~

Camp near Vicksburg, June 23, 1863

We have a new battery, five light 12-pounders and one 10-pound Parrott gun. They will carry farther than our old battery; our men are at work making approaches. They are within a few feet of the enemy’s ditch in several spaces, but there has got to be a parallel ditch dug to hold many men before they can storm it. Our pickets are in one ditch while theirs are in another. They used to talk a great deal, but that has been forbidden, so they write on pieces of paper and pass backward and forward. One of our boys threw over a part of a loaf of bread and they threw back a biscuit. You can talk to them quite easy from the guns where Thomas stays, when they are on the breastworks.

                Willard Wilcox

The siege ended on the 4th of July, 1863. The brothers would then march to the sea with Sherman, Eventually, one of them would die and only the two would make it back home (John having already died at Chickamagua).

A “Parrott” gun was a cannon.

If you want to learn more about the Battle of Vicksburg, the following are some links to get you started.

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/maps/vicksburg-campaign-1863

https://www.battlefields.org/visit/virtual-tours/vicksburg-virtual-tour

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A Sketch of Three Generations

Posted in genealogy, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on January 4, 2026| Leave a Comment »

I have some typed family history notes written by Alice Barnard.

Alice gives her relationship in her “Sketch of … Three generations”. She was the daughter of Miranda Wilcox, sister of William Orson Wilcox. Miranda and William Orson were among the seven children of William Wilcox and Sarah Lord.

Captain Thomas Wilcox and Abigail Shipman begin the narrative, although the author (Alice) is unsure is he served in the American Revolution or not I have more digging to do there, but I will sort it out. Eventually. I do know, by Alice’s account, that his heart gave out and Abigail died of consumption, having smoked most of her life. Alice write of how her mother, Miranda, would like Abigail’s pipe in her dotage.  Thomas and Abigail were the parents of William who was the father of Miranda and William Orson.

William emigrated from the East Coast to Illinois by wagon in 1844. His wife, Sarah, was an accomplished weaver. Sadly, William died within the year, leaving Sarah to raise seven children in a new territory with no friends or relatives. She must have done a stellar job because her photograph has been passed down generations and she’s always listed in the family tree as Sarah Lord.

William and Sarah’s children were: John, Jerusha, Thomas, Miranda, William Orson, Willard, Wilbur. And Mary L. Someone like the name “Will”… a lot!

Alice wrote her “sketch” in 1929 at the age of 75, so some of her memories were dim. She did not marry, so I have no cousins along her line, but she had siblings: William Wilcox Barnard, Emma Barnard (m. George Graham), and Mary E. Barnard (m. Edward G. Howe). Alice’s father was William Barnard (1821-1900). Alice’s Aunt Mary Wilcox married Erastus A. Barnard but their only listed descendant, Amy, died at the age of 20 in 1888.

Sarah Lord

Most of Alice’s memories center around Sarah Lord Wilcox. Sarah was one of many children but was apparently raised by her childless aunt, along with a brother, Levy. When her husband died, she lost nearly everything to his brother, Willard. She then took in boarders while her sons hunted for sustenance. They also kept sheep and farmed. Sarah had a stroke at the age of 65 but lived another 20 years.

Alice was my second cousin once removed: my great-grandfather’s first cousin. The paper I have (a copy) was in a letter to my great grandfather, John T. Wilcox, son of William Orson.

Wm Orson Wilcox
John T Wilcox I

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A Short History Transcribed

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on January 11, 2016| Leave a Comment »

6f61bd97-961f-420f-9c8d-36147952a501Thomas Force Palmer 1787-1865

I found a hand-written “history” of the Palmer clan in my file cabinet that I have reserved solely for genealogy. This is where I stuffed everything my father sent me: all my mother’s notes on her side of the family, and anything my dad had on his side of the family. My father was the grandson of John and Irene Wilcox. Joseph Snow Palmer was my great-great-great grandfather.

I have not researched the hand-written history, but I am going to transcribe it below (verbatim). It was written in pencil on faded note-paper, but is still legible. I’d like to capture it before it fades completely.

Here goes:

Coat of Arms was granted to Ralph Palmer in 14 century and brought (?) to the coming of the clan to America.

Ralph Palmer was of great note in the South of England and resided at Sussex. Sir Edward who was a descendant in the 8th generation was our ancestor. he (sic) married a daughter of Sir Richard Clement. She had three sons (think of it3) (sic) triplets and they were born on three successive Sundays, the first one on Palm Sunday*. Some Record (see coat of arms)**

The first of Palmers of our line in America: William. He came from Sommersetshire, England in 1621 on the good ship Fortune. He had a son, William. The second Wm. was a lieutenant under Capt. Miles Standish and has been designated as Lieutenant William Palmer. he was a man of large affairs and held many positions of trust. He married Judith Feake and had five sons & one daughter. One of his sons Ephraim married Sarah Messenger & they had seven children. One of whom was John, who married Sarah Close and had five children, one being Justus who married Amy Lockwood and had six children, all sons & the third of these was Ephraim our Revolutionary ancestor.

He was born in 1760, married Margaret Force in 1786 and had 11 children, seven sons and four daughters. The eldest of these was Thomas Force Palmer born in 1787. Married Rebecca Snow 1813 and then had six children, four girls & 2 boys.

Joseph Snow Palmer, b. 1819

*I’m trying to verify that story. Sounds like a tall tale: giving birth to triplets, but each one a week apart, beginning on Palm Sunday?? I can verify the boys were triplets, but not the story. That link also hints at the tragic death of my ancestor, Sir Thomas Palmer. (Cause of death: beheaded after the Lady Jane Grey conspiracy.) That bears a lot more research!

** Coat of ArmsPALMER-FAMILY-CREST--COAT-OF-ARMS_art

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Ancestry-dot-com

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on April 7, 2010| 2 Comments »

I just started playing with what will soon be my next addiction: Ancestry.com.

I’ve put it off for years, with the shoebox of geneaology that my mother amassed before the computer age. I feel guilty about it, too. My mom’s dream was to trace her family back as far as she could (she got hung up in Scotland. I think she was back into the 1500’s, maybe earlier). I inherited all her notes because I was deemed the one child most likely to follow up on the research.

My mom died in 1996 and the shoebox has languished under my bed for almost as long. I did buy some acid-free folders to put the info in, but I never transferred anything. I have several old letters my mom collected, land deeds, news clips, a scrap book and her stenographer’s pad with notes (all dated with date & military time each time she made a discovery).

No one has attempted to do the work on my dad’s family, to my knowledge. I know the basics: the English side and the Irish side, and that we are related to some guy who surveyed most of Wyoming. I also know that we go back to the American Revolution and the Mayflower on his side. I remember writing about that in a paper I did in the 6th or 7th grade on my family name and where it originated.

We go back to the American revolution on my mom’s side, too. And I’m somehow related to the anarchist, John Brown, of Harper’s Ferry fame. Not directly.

I know that on my mom’s side we helped run the Underground Railroad.

My dad’s side was not quite so generous & I have the postcards to prove it. (Some of them are really racist!)

My husband has been into the whole geneaology thing all along, slowly and deliberately putting together the Presley family history. Because of his research, we have a membership on Ancestry.com. Have had, for several years.

About a week ago, I finally went in and started a family tree on my dad’s side. (You’d think I would dig out the shoebox and go to town on my mom’s research!) But, no – I decided to start with the unresearched side.

Last night I sat and clicked on “hints” for two hours, delving into my father’s mother’s side of the family. I’m back to 1600’s and they are still in America. Well, except for the ones who emigrated to Canada & I can’t follow those hints because we need an upgrade to our membership to go International.  I’ll hold off on the upgrade for when I enter my mom’s research because I know she traced it back to Scotland.

I haven’t found any racy relatives (yet), but I did come across an amusing misspelling of my great-great grandmother Irene’s name: Green. GREEN? Was the census taker deef? How did “Irene” become “Green”?? Too funny. I’ve had to correct countless records on the spelling of Kimmey: they keep spelling it Kinney. Interestingly, there are TEN public accounts that are somehow related to me through the Kimmeys. Hmmm…

Wilcox hasn’t pulled one single hint. Not one. It’s a far more common name than Cusick or Kimmey, but I suspect because my great-grandfather was an only child who sired an only child, that I am the one who gets to do that research. But now I am addicted. It’s like finding pieces of a puzzle.

A very Anglo-Saxon puzzle at the moment, although someone in one of the related public profiles has a Chinese surname.

Stay tuned. I’m sure I’ll find some skeletons.

Still Life With Apples – Photo # 253/365

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