Henry Boyer was the oldest son born to George Washington and Elizabeth Lark Boyer. On August 18, 1862, he joined his brothers, George, Peter, John and Oliver in Company D of the 3rd Illinois Cavalry, just in time to participate in the siege of Vicksburg. (Their youngest brother Cerveo joined them in the 3rd Illinois the following year.) Brother Oliver Boyer wrote of his and his brothers ‘service in the Civil War:
"I served three years in the union Army during the rebellion with five brothers of mine in the 3rd Illinois Cavalry, Company E & D. My first battle I was engaged at Vicksburg. General Sherman commanding. That was in 1862.
We fell back from there to Arkansas Post which we took and then returned to Vicksburg. On our away {sic} around to Vicksburg we captured Jackson Miss. My Company was the first to enter the City; from there we returned to Vicksburg. My Company was the first to open communications with the gun boats where we stayed until Vicksburg surrendered.
After that we returned to Jackson where we had to retake it. From there we went to Saline bottom where we engaged the enemy and had to retreat back to Little Rock. From here we went to Memphis, Tenn. to join our Regiment. It was here that General Forrest surprised us at night & captured only 18 men out of my Company. I and my five brothers escaping .... From Memphis we went to Nashville where we were engaged in Conflict with General Hood all winter. Some time after we were sent to St Louis where I was honorably discharged my three years service having expired in defense of my Country." (Research from the collection of James Elmore)
It is believed that Henry was hospitalized at some point during their Mississippi campaign because he returned after the war (and following the death of his first wife) to marry Mrs. Mary J. Dickson of Hinds, Mississippi on February 18, 1869.The story was that she had nursed him when he was ill.
Henry’s niece, Estella Marshall, writes:
From Rosanna Miller of the Kansas Hills,
"Henry Boyer was a farmer and a self-sufficient soul, intellectual, reasonable, easy to get along with...He would rather spend an evening at home reading a good book than to go out with people less interesting. He could not endure discord, quarrels, going to extremes to maintain peace in his life. He was devoted to his wife Martha (Mary?) and two sons, David and Peter (Did son George die young?).
Martha (Mary?) had continued on the farm during the war years caring for herself and the two boys while Henry was in the service. When it was over her health was gone....Martha had tuberculosis and Henry sent for his sister, Rosanna, for physical aid. Rosanna remained with her brother until Martha died, and stayed on to nurse Henry who had contracted pneumonia. Tragically, Henry also died, leaving his two (teenage) sons, Peter and David to be raised by Rosanna."
Except that he didn't die. He left his sons and went off to Mississippi to remarry. Perhaps that is why the family officially declared him to be dead. We don’t know if the family knew he had gone back to Mississippi to marry. Henry’s brother, Oliver, “disappeared” to Oklahoma sometime after the war and Henry’s sister’s husband, Isaiah Miller had disappeared in 1860, never to be heard from again. That’s quite a lot of disappearances in one family.
Bio information and parent links submitted by; Pat Stempski
"I served three years in the union Army during the rebellion with five brothers of mine in the 3rd Illinois Cavalry, Company E & D. My first battle I was engaged at Vicksburg. General Sherman commanding. That was in 1862.
We fell back from there to Arkansas Post which we took and then returned to Vicksburg. On our away {sic} around to Vicksburg we captured Jackson Miss. My Company was the first to enter the City; from there we returned to Vicksburg. My Company was the first to open communications with the gun boats where we stayed until Vicksburg surrendered.
After that we returned to Jackson where we had to retake it. From there we went to Saline bottom where we engaged the enemy and had to retreat back to Little Rock. From here we went to Memphis, Tenn. to join our Regiment. It was here that General Forrest surprised us at night & captured only 18 men out of my Company. I and my five brothers escaping .... From Memphis we went to Nashville where we were engaged in Conflict with General Hood all winter. Some time after we were sent to St Louis where I was honorably discharged my three years service having expired in defense of my Country." (Research from the collection of James Elmore)
It is believed that Henry was hospitalized at some point during their Mississippi campaign because he returned after the war (and following the death of his first wife) to marry Mrs. Mary J. Dickson of Hinds, Mississippi on February 18, 1869.The story was that she had nursed him when he was ill.
Henry’s niece, Estella Marshall, writes:
From Rosanna Miller of the Kansas Hills,
"Henry Boyer was a farmer and a self-sufficient soul, intellectual, reasonable, easy to get along with...He would rather spend an evening at home reading a good book than to go out with people less interesting. He could not endure discord, quarrels, going to extremes to maintain peace in his life. He was devoted to his wife Martha (Mary?) and two sons, David and Peter (Did son George die young?).
Martha (Mary?) had continued on the farm during the war years caring for herself and the two boys while Henry was in the service. When it was over her health was gone....Martha had tuberculosis and Henry sent for his sister, Rosanna, for physical aid. Rosanna remained with her brother until Martha died, and stayed on to nurse Henry who had contracted pneumonia. Tragically, Henry also died, leaving his two (teenage) sons, Peter and David to be raised by Rosanna."
Except that he didn't die. He left his sons and went off to Mississippi to remarry. Perhaps that is why the family officially declared him to be dead. We don’t know if the family knew he had gone back to Mississippi to marry. Henry’s brother, Oliver, “disappeared” to Oklahoma sometime after the war and Henry’s sister’s husband, Isaiah Miller had disappeared in 1860, never to be heard from again. That’s quite a lot of disappearances in one family.
Bio information and parent links submitted by; Pat Stempski
Henry Boyer was the oldest son born to George Washington and Elizabeth Lark Boyer. On August 18, 1862, he joined his brothers, George, Peter, John and Oliver in Company D of the 3rd Illinois Cavalry, just in time to participate in the siege of Vicksburg. (Their youngest brother Cerveo joined them in the 3rd Illinois the following year.) Brother Oliver Boyer wrote of his and his brothers ‘service in the Civil War:
"I served three years in the union Army during the rebellion with five brothers of mine in the 3rd Illinois Cavalry, Company E & D. My first battle I was engaged at Vicksburg. General Sherman commanding. That was in 1862.
We fell back from there to Arkansas Post which we took and then returned to Vicksburg. On our away {sic} around to Vicksburg we captured Jackson Miss. My Company was the first to enter the City; from there we returned to Vicksburg. My Company was the first to open communications with the gun boats where we stayed until Vicksburg surrendered.
After that we returned to Jackson where we had to retake it. From there we went to Saline bottom where we engaged the enemy and had to retreat back to Little Rock. From here we went to Memphis, Tenn. to join our Regiment. It was here that General Forrest surprised us at night & captured only 18 men out of my Company. I and my five brothers escaping .... From Memphis we went to Nashville where we were engaged in Conflict with General Hood all winter. Some time after we were sent to St Louis where I was honorably discharged my three years service having expired in defense of my Country." (Research from the collection of James Elmore)
It is believed that Henry was hospitalized at some point during their Mississippi campaign because he returned after the war (and following the death of his first wife) to marry Mrs. Mary J. Dickson of Hinds, Mississippi on February 18, 1869.The story was that she had nursed him when he was ill.
Henry’s niece, Estella Marshall, writes:
From Rosanna Miller of the Kansas Hills,
"Henry Boyer was a farmer and a self-sufficient soul, intellectual, reasonable, easy to get along with...He would rather spend an evening at home reading a good book than to go out with people less interesting. He could not endure discord, quarrels, going to extremes to maintain peace in his life. He was devoted to his wife Martha (Mary?) and two sons, David and Peter (Did son George die young?).
Martha (Mary?) had continued on the farm during the war years caring for herself and the two boys while Henry was in the service. When it was over her health was gone....Martha had tuberculosis and Henry sent for his sister, Rosanna, for physical aid. Rosanna remained with her brother until Martha died, and stayed on to nurse Henry who had contracted pneumonia. Tragically, Henry also died, leaving his two (teenage) sons, Peter and David to be raised by Rosanna."
Except that he didn't die. He left his sons and went off to Mississippi to remarry. Perhaps that is why the family officially declared him to be dead. We don’t know if the family knew he had gone back to Mississippi to marry. Henry’s brother, Oliver, “disappeared” to Oklahoma sometime after the war and Henry’s sister’s husband, Isaiah Miller had disappeared in 1860, never to be heard from again. That’s quite a lot of disappearances in one family.
Bio information and parent links submitted by; Pat Stempski
"I served three years in the union Army during the rebellion with five brothers of mine in the 3rd Illinois Cavalry, Company E & D. My first battle I was engaged at Vicksburg. General Sherman commanding. That was in 1862.
We fell back from there to Arkansas Post which we took and then returned to Vicksburg. On our away {sic} around to Vicksburg we captured Jackson Miss. My Company was the first to enter the City; from there we returned to Vicksburg. My Company was the first to open communications with the gun boats where we stayed until Vicksburg surrendered.
After that we returned to Jackson where we had to retake it. From there we went to Saline bottom where we engaged the enemy and had to retreat back to Little Rock. From here we went to Memphis, Tenn. to join our Regiment. It was here that General Forrest surprised us at night & captured only 18 men out of my Company. I and my five brothers escaping .... From Memphis we went to Nashville where we were engaged in Conflict with General Hood all winter. Some time after we were sent to St Louis where I was honorably discharged my three years service having expired in defense of my Country." (Research from the collection of James Elmore)
It is believed that Henry was hospitalized at some point during their Mississippi campaign because he returned after the war (and following the death of his first wife) to marry Mrs. Mary J. Dickson of Hinds, Mississippi on February 18, 1869.The story was that she had nursed him when he was ill.
Henry’s niece, Estella Marshall, writes:
From Rosanna Miller of the Kansas Hills,
"Henry Boyer was a farmer and a self-sufficient soul, intellectual, reasonable, easy to get along with...He would rather spend an evening at home reading a good book than to go out with people less interesting. He could not endure discord, quarrels, going to extremes to maintain peace in his life. He was devoted to his wife Martha (Mary?) and two sons, David and Peter (Did son George die young?).
Martha (Mary?) had continued on the farm during the war years caring for herself and the two boys while Henry was in the service. When it was over her health was gone....Martha had tuberculosis and Henry sent for his sister, Rosanna, for physical aid. Rosanna remained with her brother until Martha died, and stayed on to nurse Henry who had contracted pneumonia. Tragically, Henry also died, leaving his two (teenage) sons, Peter and David to be raised by Rosanna."
Except that he didn't die. He left his sons and went off to Mississippi to remarry. Perhaps that is why the family officially declared him to be dead. We don’t know if the family knew he had gone back to Mississippi to marry. Henry’s brother, Oliver, “disappeared” to Oklahoma sometime after the war and Henry’s sister’s husband, Isaiah Miller had disappeared in 1860, never to be heard from again. That’s quite a lot of disappearances in one family.
Bio information and parent links submitted by; Pat Stempski
