1863 Civil War Letter from a Member of the PA 149th Bucktails

Francis Crawford DORRINGTON (1838-1925) was a native of Allegheny Co, PA, and distantly related to me through his aunt who married into my GLENN family.

When I was first looking for information on the family after visiting the St. Clair Cemetery and finding DORRINGTONs in the GLENN family plot, I ran across this 1863 letter.

Francis, or Frank, was the son of Joseph DORRINGTON and Eliza LONG of Allegheny Co, PA.

Frank was recruited as a member of Company D, 149th PA Volunteers in August 22, 1862.  Of interest is a note that his cousin James GLENN was elected as Captain and was active in recruiting of the local men.  This has also been mentioned in the 1862 diary of my great great Aunt Hannah which was first published in 2004 by two of my cousins and myself.

Frank mustered in as a 3rd Corporal.  The regiment arrived in Washington, DC in late August 1862 and stayed there until February 15, 1863.

This letter, written on February 11, 1863, details daily life in the camp and mentions several relatives who had moved to DC.  It was submitted some 40 years ago to a historical society in CA, but I have yet to determine how the submitter was related to Frank.

For me, it was a great find.  The salutation has me suspect it was written to his brother, Joseph.

Frank was severely wounded May 8, 1863, at the Battle of Laurel Hill.  His story of survival is fascinating to read and can be found in the regimental history by Nesbit.

Frank married Nancy HEWITT and had a family.  After the war, he was in the Temperanceville area of Allegheny Co, and ran a feed store.  Frank is buried at Chartiers Cemetery in Carnegie, Allegheny, PA.

Source:
General History of Company D
149th Pennsylavania Volunteers
John W Nesbit
1908
http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pitttext&cc=pitttext&idno=00hc08553m&q1=dorrington&frm=frameset&view=image&seq=1


Ahh, genealogy.  Remembering the sacrifices of those who have gone before.

©2011 AS Eldredge

Finding Gold in the Gold Rush Back in Pittsburgh

DORRINGTON, DORRINGTON..

The name just popped off the 1913 newspaper death record in Pittsburgh. 

Hmm... I sorta have some DORRINGTON types in my line and they were early pioneers, living and dying in Carnegie (actually Temperanceville).

This John K DORRINGTON has to tie in someway to my line.  I just know it.  Now, can I prove it?

Pittsburgh Press
February 27, 1913


John K DORRINGTON, age 85, a pioneer coal deal of Pittsburg, died at his residence, Belle Ave and Mountford St, yesterday.  He was born in Carnegie and came to Pittsburg when young, getting his early education in the public schools.  When the gold excitement in California broke out, Mr Dorrington was one of the "Forty-Niners" who went overland from Pittsburg. He returned in 1852 by the Nicaragua route.  Later he went to Minnesota, settling on a fram near St Peter, on the Minnesota River. Mr Dorrington was active in putting down an uprising of the Sioux Indians at Fort Ridgley, Minn. He was one of the first to respond to the call of frontier settlers who were being massacred. He was in the midst of a battle lasting 48 hours when the Indians had surrounded the little frontier town. In 1864 he returned to Pittsburg and entered the coal business in which he continued 32 years. He retired from business in 1896. He is survived by one sister, Miss Margaretta M Dorrington.

The death record itself is inconclusive.  So, on to the death notice....

DORRINGTON- On Wednesday, Feb 26, 1913 at 10:30 am, John K Dorrington, at the residence of Mrs. J B Dorrington. Bell Ave and Mountford St, Northside, Pittsburg.
Funeral services at his late residence, Bell Ave and Mountford St, on Friday afternoon at 2:30 pm. Interment private.

Ah-  Mrs J B DORRINGTON--  now I know who she is--  Agnes J McDONALD who married Joseph B DORRINGTON, son of Thomas DORRINGTON and Nancy. Thomas's  Irish immigrant parents, Thomas DORRINGTON, SR and Jane YOUNG DORRINGTON are buried at (my family) the St Clair Cemetery in Mt Lebanon, Allegheny, PA.

Thoma, Jr and Nancy had several children, including a Margaretta who was born in 1843 according to the 1850 census.  She turns up again living with the widow Agnes J DORRINGTON in 1920. 

Bingo.  Some hints were in the death notice and death record.  Lucky me.  More hints and supporting documentation came from the marriage record of Joseph B DORRINGTON and Agnes McDONALD.  Still more supporting evidence came from the 1920 census.

I had missed John K earlier (from the 1850 census) and now I know why.  The obit tells us he had already gone out searching for gold.  

Yes, John K is connected to me.  Although he and I share no direct blood.  His aunt, Jane DORRINGTON, married my uncle, Walter GLENN. 

Ahh, genealogy.  How much fun it is to connect more dots and find those golden nuggets.

©2010 AS Eldredge

Weaving the Pieces of the Puzzle Together

I recently received an email from a DORRINGTON descendent who is trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together for Thomas DORRINGTON and James GLENN.

.....I am researching my Dorrington ancestors and I read your blog and info on James Glenn.  I am new at this and I can’t find the link between James Glenn and Thomas and Jane Young Dorrington.  I see a Jane Dorrington who married Walter Glenn b. 1777, but didn’t find James in that tree......

Yes, it was a mystery at first to me as well.  But time and research has paid off in making the connections in the right places.  It's a tough mystery as the good Irish grandpas made sure to name everyone "James."

Of course, it didn't hurt that I happen to have a copy of family papers from another cousin that he had put together in the early 1900s. 

I first found Irish immigrant Thomas DORRINGTON and his wife, Jane YOUNG, on a trip to my family cemetery that everyone else calls St Clair Cemetery in Mt Lebanon, Allegheny Co, PA in 2004.

Thomas and wife, Jane, are buried smack dab right next to two of their grandsons, Thomas DORRINGTON, Jr and James GLENN (1824-1901). Thomas and Jane's headstones conveniently list them as "grandfather" and "grandmother" in the younger James GLENN's plot.

How?  His parents were Walter GLENN (1777-1843) and Jane DORRINGTON (d.1843).  This young James never married, yet he was the James GLENN of the Civil War Fame.  Click here to read more of his bravery at Gettysburg.

This James GLENN (1824-1901) is the grandson of my 4g grandparents, James GLENN (1750-1813) and Janet BUCHANAN (1752-1807).

I first visited the cemetery as a child with my dad and my great aunt.  She told me my roots in Pittsburgh were deep and that there were something like seven generations of my blood buried there. (I've only documented six of them at this point.) Since that early trip, I have made several trips to the cemetery and have thrown new headstone dedication parties there.  You can read more about the cemetery online and read many of my early research contributions to the St Clair Cemetery at http://www.stclaircemetery.com/view.php/page/History_cemetery

Ahh, genealogy.  What fun it is to fill in the missing pieces!  Just be sure to document your sources so the errors some have made won't be repeated again.  And if you plan to use others' research, please remember to give them the credit.



Sources:
Allegheny Co, PA, Will Bk 5 No. 424
Marriage Notices 1786-1910 Film P356 Roll #1: Carnegie Library
Wall, Elizabeth J. "Extracts from Cramers's Pittsburgh Almanack" WPGSQ 3 no. 4 (May 1977): 137.
1822,  4/4     Walter Glenn to Jane Darrington, all of St. Clair Twp., Alleg. Co.
Record of death:  RD Docket, Vol 14, pg 470
Will:  WB Dkt, Vol 67, pg 228
obit from Carnegie Signal 28 Aug 1901:
Colonel James Glenn
Colonel James Glenn, one of the best known residents of this vicinity, died at the home of his sister, Mrs. Chesterfield Robb at Glenndale, last Friday, August 23, 1901, in his 78th year.  He had been ill for many weeks and his death was expected.


©2010 AS Eldredge