Ellis Stevens 1841-1882 Civil War

Ellis Munroe Stevens was born in Killingworth in 1841. He was baptized in the Second Society September 12, 1841. Ellis was the son of Daniel Stevens and Mercy Griffin (Blog May- August 2012). Ellis would have spent time as a young child in the original Griffin Homestead on Roast Meat Hill now occupied by his grandparents Worden and Rhoda Griffin. I imagine that he heard the stories of his grandfather Samuel Griffin. His oldest brother was named Samuel Griffin Stevens. Ellis is the perfect candidate for a story on the Blog. He like so many of our cousins was a genuine Civil War hero. What makes his story so interesting to tell is that the letters that he wrote home while serving in the Union Army have survived. Across America there was an almost universal sentiment in each community to honor those who served and died in the Civil War. Cemeteries are filled with markers noting Civil War service. Communities commissioned memorials to be written of their young men who went off to serve. In Killingworth someone took steps to conserve the letters written home to Daniel Stevens by his sons Ellis, Emerson and Francis. They are now housed in the archives of the Connecticut State Library under the title “Letters home to Daniel Stevens of Killingworth” In addition to the letters home from the soldiers there also letters written by the rest of the family. These letters give us a first person view of life in Killingworth. The letters paint a picture of a family that was very close to each other. None of the children had made a home in Killingworth instead they had moved to the surrounding communities. From their commentary however they indicated that it was an easy trip to run into Killingworth to see their parents. Almost all of the later letters contain a plea for their by then widowed father to come for a visit. The letters paint a picture of a family that was very involved with each other in various enterprises. There are a number of letters that describe the anticipation of getting together for Thanksgiving. While the letters indicate that their father, Daniel, was a shoemaker there is ample evidence that 1860’s Killingworth was still dominated by agriculture. In one of his letters home Ellis inquires about the state of the hay harvest. There are letters from the girls reminding their father that they had dibs on some of his cranberry crop. There is mention of 2 quarts of chestnuts, picking a hill of beans and planting sweet potatoes. There are pleas to save some of the apples. In a letter from Samuel Griffin Stevens there is a reminder of their upcoming plans to butcher their hogs and plans to get together to make sausage. There is a line in a letter with the wish that Daniel was there to share in the eating of the mince pies. And always there is a rich description of what is happening in the lives of the grandchildren. The letters provide several very interesting insights. The girls of the family were in a constant state of woe for the well being of their brothers. Their sister Sabra is constant in her fears that the boys might not survive the war. There are any number of historical references to the effect that the lists of the dead and wounded published in the newspapers had on the national psyche. Imagine the effect on families as they scanned the papers to see if their kin was among those listed. From a letter written by Ellis’s sister Sabra, “He said that you had not heard from the boys. I see in the list of the wounded Ellis’s name he is wounded in the knee how bad I don’t know. Em (Emerson) I don’t know whither he is dead or alive”. The family was in a state of panic that the boys might reenlist when their initial term was up. But reenlist they did. It is easy to ascertain that their primary reason for reenlisting was for the bonus money that was to be paid. They wanted the bonus money in order to be able to support their aging father. There is almost not a letter written from the battle field that does not mention that they have or will shortly be sending money home to their widowed father. There are pleas for him to hire a house keeper for his comfort. The letters written from Antietam, Fredericksburg and Petersburg are very careful to not to describe the horrors of their surroundings to add to the worries of their father._____________________ Ellis joined the 8th Connecticut Infantry Regiment in September of 1861. The 8th became part of the command of General Burnside. From February to July of that year they were involved in the campaign to capture the forts that protected the major seaport along the coast of the Carolina’s. There are a number of letters written from Roanoke and New Bern. By the fall of that year they had moved back to the Washington DC area. In August Ellis wrote “Father I am very glad to hear from you it seems as though you spoke it to me. I am going to try to come home after Richmond is taken.” In the early days of the war it was a common sentiment on both sides that the war would not last long. There was very little appreciation for the horrors to come. In September Robert E. Lee went on the offensive and brought the Confederate Army north and the war took on a new dimension. The 8th Ct was in the front lines of the resulting campaign. They were engaged at the battle of Turner’s Gap in the lead up to Antietam. We recorded the events of Antietam on the Blog in September 2013. The 8th CT under Colonel Harland faced the full wrath of the Confederate attack in the late stages of the battle. The unit history notes of the 400 men standing in that exposed forward position 190 were killed outright. In the official reports of the attacking Confederate Army we find the following description of the attack on the 8th CT, “The fire soon became general. It was hot and rapid. The enemy returned it with vigor, and showed a determination to hold their position stubbornly.” From a journal entry of one of the survivors “Great battle fought yesterday. At about four PM we engaged the enemy with infantry. The rebels got a cross fire on our Regt. from three ways our fellows fought with undaunted bravery. John E. Tuttle my chum was shot through the bowels we held the enemy in check until reinforcements came up. We were ordered back across the river to get something to eat having nothing for three days but a few biscuits. We drawed up in line of battle across the river and called the roll our Regt. could muster but 130 men our company but 14. This morning we had fresh meat and coffee and hard bread breakfast and feel much better. This morning my heart is full of thanks to God that I am still alive.” Ellis wrote home to his father “ I am very well except a slight wound on the knee. We have had two very hard fights with the rebels and whipped them. We lost a good many men and the rebels lost a good many also. You can get the particulars of the fight in the papers better that I can write them. Emerson did not come with us as he had no shoes.” The irony of Emerson was that their father was a shoemaker. Ellis’s letters consistently understate the dangers he faced. It is hard to imagine a lead ball striking you anywhere and leaving but a “slight wound”. In a number of subsequent letters Ellis reminds the family of the fate of some of the young men from the community. But after Antietam he does not burden his father with his anguish for friends shot down in the battle. After Antietam Lee withdraws the Confederate Army south behind the river barriers in northern Maryland. In December the Federal Army attacked him in the famous battle at Fredericksburg. The battle lasted 3 days. On the first day the Federal Army forced a river crossing and captured the town of Fredericksburg. On the morning of the second day of battle he writes home to his father, “We had a pretty hard artillery fight yesterday. We have taken Fredericksburg.” During the remainder of that day the Federal Army and the 8th Ct would be on the losing end of one of the signature battles of the Civil War. The Federal’s attacked a smaller Confederate force with disastrous results. The culmination of the battle was the attack on Marye’s Heights where the Confederates, standing behind a rock wall, inflicted terrible casualties on the Federals. The 8th Ct was deployed to draw troops away from the main attack on Marye’s Heights. The Federal Army was forced to withdraw, having suffered over 12, 000 casualties, killed, missing and wounded. Ellis and Emerson were both listed among those wounded. In a letter home that January Ellis describes their “New Years supper” “I had some baked meat baked in an old Dutch Oven some turnips and potatoes smashed, some fried onions and some butter some condensed milk and coffee.” Soon after Fredericksburg Ellis joined the Quartermasters Corps as a Sergeant. The transfer may have been a reaction to his having been wounded. The move to the Quartermasters Corps took him out of the front line fighting. He reported to his father that one of his roles was as the unit postmaster. It appears in the letters that he took advantage of his role as postmaster to keep tabs on his brothers Emerson and Francis as well as all of the solders from Killingworth. He ended the war serving with the units in front of Richmond and Petersburg. His marriage to Sarah M. Burr age 20 of Haddam is found in the Haddam town records dated January 24, 1864. Ellis M. Stevens is listed as age 23 from Killingworth. His occupation is listed as soldier. The war would come to an end in April of 1865. _________________________Ellis and Sarah made their first home in Haddam where their first three children were born. They eventually ended up in North Branford where they began farming. There is a description of Ellis’s farm in an 1880 agricultural census. The census listed 30 acres tilled, 30 acres permanent meadow, 25 acres mowed and 12 acres of hay along with two horses. Looking at the census Ellis’s farm was somewhat larger than most of his neighbors. In North Branford two more children were born. Ellis died at the young age of 41. The detailed death record dated April 22nd 1882 included the following information; Ellis M. Stevens, age 41 years 6 months, married, born Killingworth CT., died North Branford, father Daniel Stevens. His cause of death is listed as “Cardiac Rheumatism.” Modern rheumatic heart conditions are more often than not the result of a bout with infection. It is my guess that Ellis died a young man from the lingering effects of his battlefield wounds. Ellis is buried in the Bear Plain Cemetery in North Branford. His headstone reads, Ellis M. Stevens, Q. M. Sergt. 8 Regt., Conn. Vols, Died, April 22, 1882._______________________ The 1880 census taken in North Branford shows Ellis and his family; Ellis age 39, Sarah M. age 37, Elbert W. age 13, Flora B. age 10 and Willie E. age 2 months. Although the 1880 shows but three children there were actually five children born to Ellis and Sarah. In the town records for Haddam we find a birth record dated October 27, 1866. It notes the birth of a male child born to Ellis M. Stevens age 26, of Killingworth and Sarah M. Burr age 22, of Haddam. The 1880 census identifies the child as Elbert W.. When Elbert was baptized into the Congregation Society in Middletown as an adult the baptismal record identifies him as Elbert Wilmer Stevens son of Ellis M. & Sarah, born in Haddam Oct. 27, 1866. Elbert is buried in the Old Farm Cemetery in Middletown. His death is recorded as April 30, 1940. ________________ The 2nd child born in Haddam was a “F” born January 3rd 1868. Under the heading of, name, the clerk wrote “maiden name”. History seems to indicate a daughter who did not survive very long probably name Sarah after her mother. _____________ Also in Haddam is the record of another female child born March 12, 1869. This is the Flora B. found in the 1880 Census. The town record also denoted that she was the “3RD” child born into the family of Ellis M. Stevens and Sarah M. Burr. Flora’s headstone is also found in the Old Farm Cemetery in Middletown. There is no date given. She is present in town records as late as 1931. Her headstone records her name as Florence B. Fowler Stevens. Flora had married Nathan Fowler. ____________________ The birth of the next child in the family is found in North Branford. Dated July 22, 1874, Adelmer, born to Ellis M. Stevens age 34 and Sarah M. Burr age 31. The clerk noted he was their 4th child. Adelmer’s death is recorded as October 8, 1874 at the age of 2 months. ______________ The 5th child, according to the Clerk’s record, was also born in North Branford. Willie Elmore was born March 29, 1880. In the 1900 census he is part of his sisters Flora’s household. The census taker listed his name as William E. Stevens age 20. __________________________ After Ellis’s early death Sarah remarried. Sarah is buried in the Burr Cemetery in Haddam next to her parents Nelson and Rebecca Burr. Her headstone reads, Clark, Sarah Burr Stevens, wife of Charles A. Clark, died 1903.________________Ellis / Mercy Griffin / Worden / Samuel / Samuel Griffin of Killingworth