Cornelius Merritt, born in Jones county, Iowa, on October 2, 1841, was the last child born to Catherine and John Merritt. He grew up on the Merritt home place and then as a young lad marched off to war. Cornelius returned from the war in 1865, tired of marching all over Dixie. He was undoubtedly happy to settle down in his home county, where on November 2, 1865, he bought forty acres in section 27 of Jackson township across from the John Merritt home place. The following summer on July 22, 1866 he said “I do” to his bride Elizabeth Newell, a lady born in Pennsylvania on October 5, 1840. Cornelius and Elizabeth farmed in Jackson township and had two children, William, born June, 1870, and John C., born September, 1883. My goodness! Thirteen years between births!
By 1879, Cornelius owned forty acres in section 21 and eighty acres in section 28 of Jackson county, but for reasons which will remain buried in history, he deeded these plots to his wife Elizabeth. In February of 1886 Cornelius bought one hundred and nineteen acres in section 29 of Jackson township. So together, Cornelius and Elizabeth, owned sizeable tracts of farm land. (11)
However not all was well with Cornelius. In his later years Cornelius applied for a veterans’ pension, claiming he had contracted “measles” while in the army, and that he suffered a “relapse of said measles” and chronic diarrhea due to exposure from lying outside at night while on the march from Helena, Arkansas, to Coldwater, Mississippi. He also claimed that he incurred rheumatism in his right leg because of exposure to the elements, and that he had suffered a partial sun stroke while on the march from Raleigh, North Carolina, to Washington, D.C. All of these disabilities, he claimed, left him less than fit, or about one half disabled. The authorities agreed and Cornelius obtained a federal pension as a Civil War veteran. (12)
We don’t know if ill health prompted Cornelius and Elizabeth to move from Jones county, but sometime before 1890 they moved to Central City, Marine township, Linn county, Iowa. He remained a resident of Central City for at least ten years and then sometime after 1900, when in his sixties, he and his wife moved to the town of Anamosa in Jones county. He lived in Anamosa until his death on July 5, 1911, at age sixty-nine. The cause of death was cerebral hemorrhage, but maybe widowhood killed Cornelius, for his wife Elizabeth had died just two months earlier on May 7, 1911. Both were buried in the Merritt cemetery overlooking the fields where Cornelius had spent his youth.
Neither of their sons, William and John, married. As far as the author could determine, both sons lived on the family farm in Jones county until their deaths in 1958 and 1948 respectively.
By 1879, Cornelius owned forty acres in section 21 and eighty acres in section 28 of Jackson county, but for reasons which will remain buried in history, he deeded these plots to his wife Elizabeth. In February of 1886 Cornelius bought one hundred and nineteen acres in section 29 of Jackson township. So together, Cornelius and Elizabeth, owned sizeable tracts of farm land. (11)
However not all was well with Cornelius. In his later years Cornelius applied for a veterans’ pension, claiming he had contracted “measles” while in the army, and that he suffered a “relapse of said measles” and chronic diarrhea due to exposure from lying outside at night while on the march from Helena, Arkansas, to Coldwater, Mississippi. He also claimed that he incurred rheumatism in his right leg because of exposure to the elements, and that he had suffered a partial sun stroke while on the march from Raleigh, North Carolina, to Washington, D.C. All of these disabilities, he claimed, left him less than fit, or about one half disabled. The authorities agreed and Cornelius obtained a federal pension as a Civil War veteran. (12)
We don’t know if ill health prompted Cornelius and Elizabeth to move from Jones county, but sometime before 1890 they moved to Central City, Marine township, Linn county, Iowa. He remained a resident of Central City for at least ten years and then sometime after 1900, when in his sixties, he and his wife moved to the town of Anamosa in Jones county. He lived in Anamosa until his death on July 5, 1911, at age sixty-nine. The cause of death was cerebral hemorrhage, but maybe widowhood killed Cornelius, for his wife Elizabeth had died just two months earlier on May 7, 1911. Both were buried in the Merritt cemetery overlooking the fields where Cornelius had spent his youth.
Neither of their sons, William and John, married. As far as the author could determine, both sons lived on the family farm in Jones county until their deaths in 1958 and 1948 respectively.
Cornelius Merritt, born in Jones county, Iowa, on October 2, 1841, was the last child born to Catherine and John Merritt. He grew up on the Merritt home place and then as a young lad marched off to war. Cornelius returned from the war in 1865, tired of marching all over Dixie. He was undoubtedly happy to settle down in his home county, where on November 2, 1865, he bought forty acres in section 27 of Jackson township across from the John Merritt home place. The following summer on July 22, 1866 he said “I do” to his bride Elizabeth Newell, a lady born in Pennsylvania on October 5, 1840. Cornelius and Elizabeth farmed in Jackson township and had two children, William, born June, 1870, and John C., born September, 1883. My goodness! Thirteen years between births!
By 1879, Cornelius owned forty acres in section 21 and eighty acres in section 28 of Jackson county, but for reasons which will remain buried in history, he deeded these plots to his wife Elizabeth. In February of 1886 Cornelius bought one hundred and nineteen acres in section 29 of Jackson township. So together, Cornelius and Elizabeth, owned sizeable tracts of farm land. (11)
However not all was well with Cornelius. In his later years Cornelius applied for a veterans’ pension, claiming he had contracted “measles” while in the army, and that he suffered a “relapse of said measles” and chronic diarrhea due to exposure from lying outside at night while on the march from Helena, Arkansas, to Coldwater, Mississippi. He also claimed that he incurred rheumatism in his right leg because of exposure to the elements, and that he had suffered a partial sun stroke while on the march from Raleigh, North Carolina, to Washington, D.C. All of these disabilities, he claimed, left him less than fit, or about one half disabled. The authorities agreed and Cornelius obtained a federal pension as a Civil War veteran. (12)
We don’t know if ill health prompted Cornelius and Elizabeth to move from Jones county, but sometime before 1890 they moved to Central City, Marine township, Linn county, Iowa. He remained a resident of Central City for at least ten years and then sometime after 1900, when in his sixties, he and his wife moved to the town of Anamosa in Jones county. He lived in Anamosa until his death on July 5, 1911, at age sixty-nine. The cause of death was cerebral hemorrhage, but maybe widowhood killed Cornelius, for his wife Elizabeth had died just two months earlier on May 7, 1911. Both were buried in the Merritt cemetery overlooking the fields where Cornelius had spent his youth.
Neither of their sons, William and John, married. As far as the author could determine, both sons lived on the family farm in Jones county until their deaths in 1958 and 1948 respectively.
By 1879, Cornelius owned forty acres in section 21 and eighty acres in section 28 of Jackson county, but for reasons which will remain buried in history, he deeded these plots to his wife Elizabeth. In February of 1886 Cornelius bought one hundred and nineteen acres in section 29 of Jackson township. So together, Cornelius and Elizabeth, owned sizeable tracts of farm land. (11)
However not all was well with Cornelius. In his later years Cornelius applied for a veterans’ pension, claiming he had contracted “measles” while in the army, and that he suffered a “relapse of said measles” and chronic diarrhea due to exposure from lying outside at night while on the march from Helena, Arkansas, to Coldwater, Mississippi. He also claimed that he incurred rheumatism in his right leg because of exposure to the elements, and that he had suffered a partial sun stroke while on the march from Raleigh, North Carolina, to Washington, D.C. All of these disabilities, he claimed, left him less than fit, or about one half disabled. The authorities agreed and Cornelius obtained a federal pension as a Civil War veteran. (12)
We don’t know if ill health prompted Cornelius and Elizabeth to move from Jones county, but sometime before 1890 they moved to Central City, Marine township, Linn county, Iowa. He remained a resident of Central City for at least ten years and then sometime after 1900, when in his sixties, he and his wife moved to the town of Anamosa in Jones county. He lived in Anamosa until his death on July 5, 1911, at age sixty-nine. The cause of death was cerebral hemorrhage, but maybe widowhood killed Cornelius, for his wife Elizabeth had died just two months earlier on May 7, 1911. Both were buried in the Merritt cemetery overlooking the fields where Cornelius had spent his youth.
Neither of their sons, William and John, married. As far as the author could determine, both sons lived on the family farm in Jones county until their deaths in 1958 and 1948 respectively.
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Co E, 31st Reg Ia Inf. Civil War
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