Paul Hamilton Varney- Civil War

Samuel Griffin was the father of eleven children. Those children all had large families. The timing of the generations placed his grandchildren at the perfect age to be caught up in the events of the Civil War. We find stores like that of Joel Griffin Jr. taking a leading role in the abolitionist movement in upstate New York before it became popular to do so. We find stories of Lois Griffin Kelsey’s grandchildren transplanting to Kansas as part of the Beecher Bible and Rifle Society recruited for the direct purpose of fighting for the abolitionist cause. They later took part in the Under Ground Railroad their actions now memorialized by a state monument. We recently published the story of Sidney Wolcott the son of Electa Griffin who survived a harrowing career in the Vermont Cavalry, which included a saber blow to the head at the battle of Winchester. We have published the story of Sylvester Griffin who lied about his advance age joining in his 60s. He was shot at the Battle of Shiloh. We have published the 1865 census in Fillmore Co. Minnesota that registers Minerva Griffin and her mother-in-law Mary Griffin alone on the Minnesota Prairie along with a her children and nieces and nephews. Two women left alone when her husband, David Brainerd Griffin, was shot dead in the opening moments of the Battle of Chickamauga.---------- The same can be said for the families that married into the Griffins. Paul Hamilton Varney was the brother-in law of Albert Bailey Griffin. The Varneys and Griffins made the move together from Vermont to Ohio. Uncle Hamilton is reference in the Griffin family letters. The 1850 census take in Chardon, Geauga County, Ohio registers the family of P. H. Varney. Included are his two sons. Horace A and Homer L.---------- By the time they were of military age the family was living in Michigan. The military records note the enlistment of the two brothers in Kalamazoo. Horace’s name is found in the US, Andersonville and Fort McHenry Civil War Prisoner Index, 1861-1865. The horrors of Andersonville prisoner of war camp are part of American folklore. He is buried in the Andersonville National Cemetery, which records his death on September 29, 1864. ------------- Homer died October 21, 1862 at Nashville, Tenn. the victim of Typhoid. He is buried in the Nashville National Cemetery. Homer’s death is recorded on October 21, 1862. His final internment but not occur until September 19, 1862. His initial burial must have been in a rough soldier’s grave.----------------------------------- Note; For a long time the exact circumstances surrounding the death of Paul Hamilton Varney was a family unknown. His last know residence was Michigan where his boys joined the Army. In 1880 he was living in Arcadia, Wisconsin. He died November 28 1880 in Elgin, Kane County, Ill. His two daughters, Loretta Avery and Mary Eakin, were both living in Elgin.