Williams Family History, 2nd Generation

Civil War Service

Joseph M. Williams served as a private in Company K of the Indiana 20th Regiment Infantry, “The Fighting 300,” during the Civil War. He enlisted at the age of 35 (or perhaps more accurately 37*) for 3 years on July 15, 1861 in Monticello, Indiana, south of Pulaski, and received a $25 advance on his $100 enlistment bounty. The following week, the 20th Indiana mustered in at Lafayette, Indiana on July 22, 1861.

During the was Joseph's wife and six children moved in with his father-in-law, Travis Silvey near Indianapolis (presumably in Marion County).

Later that year, Joseph was recorded as sick in his quarters around the November-December timeframe.

The following year, Major General George B. McClellan launched the first large-scale Union offensive against Virginia known as the “Peninsula Campaign” (March to July 1862). Union forces landed at Fort Monroe (March 17) at the tip of the Virginia Peninsula, the narrow stretch between the York and James rivers that leads to Richmond. The Union slowly advanced up the peninsula, fighting battles at Hampton Roads (March), which featured the first battle between ironclad ships (a draw); Yorktown (April to May); and Williamsburg (May 5). Cautious generals on both sides slowed McClellan's advance and permitted General Lee to fortify Richmond and launch bold counterattacks of limited success, known as the Seven Days Battle (June 25 to July 1), that resulted in President Lincoln's withdrawing the Union forces in favor of bolstering forces in Northern Virginia.

At the conclusion of the Peninsula Campaign, Joseph was detailed as a driver for the brigade's ambulance corps on July 10, 1862. From there the unit redeployed to Northern Virginia and fought at the Second Battle of Bull Run, Virginia (August 1862). It was in August that Joseph's eldest son Ira³ enlisted at perhaps the age of 15 and headed off to battle in Kentucky, Tennessee, and eventually on to Georgia in Sherman's Atlanta Campaign.

In the November-December timeframe Joseph was still detached to the brigade's ambulance corps and noted as being in charge of it as an “extra duty.”

The following year the 20th Indiana was at Alexandria, Virginia where Joseph had been absent because of illness for a time between May and July, up to and perhaps during the time that the 20th Indiana fought at the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylavania (July 1-3).

At the end of the year, Joseph was granted a furlough home on December 18, 1863. After the new year he was again noted as sick and hospitalized at the U.S. General Hospital in Indianapolis. In March he was temporarily transferred to the “86NYSVV” (86th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, also known as “Steuben Rangers”) and transported from Indianapolis to Washington, DC. He was charged $15.26 for transportation—apparently this had been a discretional assignment.

The 20th Indiana next fought at the Battle of Spotsylvania (May 8-12), then the Battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia (May 31 to June 12), and the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia (June 1864 to March 1865). During this time Joseph's son Ira³ was wounded in the face on the approach to Atlanta, Georgia (June 15).

Pvt. Joseph Williams' term of 3 year's service concluded in June and he was discharged on July 19, 1864 back home at Indianapolis, and received the balance of his $100 enlistment bounty (less the $15.26 transportation charges). He was annotated as being 38 years of age (probably more accurately 40* years old).

Post War

After the Civil War, the Williams returned home to Pulaski County until they removed southeast between 1865 and 1867 to a farm near Logansport, Clinton Township, Cass County, Indiana.^{[Cen 1870]}

West to Kansas

In 1871, Joseph, son Ira³, and brother-in-law William Silvey decided to move west to Kansas where land could be homesteaded. They set out at 3 P.M. on May 1, 1871, in four covered wagons. Joseph, Martha, and seven children occupied two wagons; son Ira, his wife, and 6-month old daughter Carrie drove a third; and William Silvey and his three daughters drove a fourth. They drove a few miles to a rendezvous point along the Wabash River to await the rest of the party. In the morning they set out and cross the Wabash on a covered bridge but were told that they were on the wrong road and had to go back to a ferry crossing. During the crossing the family hound dog ran off to the sorrow of daughter Emily. The wagon train rolled on through Springfield, Illinois, where they lost one of their best horses and endured incessant rain.^[Slaven]

The Williams arrived six weeks after setting out in Glen Elder, Mitchell County, on June 20, 1871. At the time, Glen Elder is said to have had only one house, a store with a dirt roof, and a hotel. They camped a few days at the Dr. Everson farm and then crossed the Solomon River to Tom Nelson's farm. Joseph bought land about two and a half miles west of town from a man named King and moved into his vacated dugout.^[Slaven]

In 1874 a plague of grasshoppers devastated Mitchell County and most of the Williams family retreated east or continued west to California. Joseph, Martha, Elizabeth, Ira³, Garrett, William, and Guy, all moved to Woodland, Yolo County, California, and the remaining children, Emily, Amos, and Arthur, either rode out the plague or retreated east.

Joseph, Martha, and Guy returned to Glen Elder, Kansas, in 1877, perhaps in conjunction with daughter Elizabeth's death and the return of her body to Glen Elder for burial. There they rejoined Emily, Amos, and Arthur. Ira and William remained in California.^{[Cen 1880]}

Joseph M. Williams died on Monday, likely July 30, 1883, in Glen Elder, Mitchell County, Kansas, after suffering from “dropsy of the heart” (edema and congestive heart failure). Joseph was 59 years old. He was buried at Valley Cemetery and later moved to Glenwood Cemetery east of Glen Elder.

After Joseph's death, Martha and sons Garrett and Guy returned to Woodland, Yolo County, California, where they stayed until 1892. She then returned to Kansas but lived for a little over a year in Nickerson, Reno County, about 100 miles south of Glen Elder, before returning again to live with Garrett and Guy in Woodland, California.^{[Cen 1900]} In 1900 she moved back west one last time to live with her daughter Emily in Glen Elder, Kansas.

Martha Ann (Silvey) Williams, died on May 14, 1902, of tuberculosis. She was also buried at Valley Cemetery (also referred to as “the Friends' cemetery, at Grelett” [sic] in another obituary) with John and later they were both moved to Glenwood Cemetery.