SMITH HALSTEAD HILDRETH

A life full of trials

 

 I was "surfing" a genealogy site today that indicated there were new databases to play with. I found a small notice in the Star Gazette (Elmira New York) 1 December 1893, pg 5 about my 2nd Great Grandfather, Smith Halstead Hildreth. He was 66 years old.

 

I had not seen a report of this accident earlier.  I knew he had a small fruit stand and was blind. He was 38 on the 1865 census and listed as "blind."  I wondered why he was blind at so young an age? But, how could I find out?  It isn't that easy, but if you stick with something and don't give up, there may be a way.... 

I followed Smith's history through census records, land records, and newspapers, but I wasn't able to find anything about it.  In 1865, he borrowed money from his father-in-law and others to start a grocery store in Wellsburg, New York.  It didn't appear to exist very long; he was sued by creditors for payment of debts about 1867. Below is his picture at approximately 37 years of age.

I just couldn't let this rest.  I had to find out why he was blind.  I couldn't imagine being a farmer with several children and being blind.  I looked for years. One day, yet again, I decided to simply do a Google search on his name. Since it's an unusual name, there wouldn't be too many listings.  Shockingly, a congressional record showed up listing his name!  Why would my ancestor who farmed tobacco show up in a congressional record?  To get more detail, I had to go to the National Archives in Washington, D.C. or find a professional genealogist to go there to research for me. I found one who lived in Maryland, not far from Washington, D.C. who agreed to look up the record.

After two visits to the archives, she emailed me a note and said, 

"You won't believe what I've found! I know why he was blind!  He wrote a letter outlining everything.  I'm not going to tell you what he said until you see it yourself, but I believe the letter he wrote was written just for you!" The next day I received a packet. She was right. As I read the letter he dictated in 1875, I felt like Smith, indeed, was talking to me.  The hand written letters follow:

Statement of Smith H. Hildreth of Southport Chemung County State of New York as to the loss of his sight while in the employ of the US Government

"I was born in Orange Co State of New York January 20, 1827 and removed with my Father's Family in 1838 to Bradford Co Pa. and from there in 1868 to the Town of Southport in the Village of Wellsburgh Chemung County N.Y. where I resided at the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion.

In 1862 I commenced raising a company of Soldiers for a Volunter Regiment to go into the service of the Govt. and raised thirty men who went in the Service but I was rejected by the Examiner on account of my teeth & was thrown out-greatly to my disappointment. On the 6th day of March A.D. 1863 I went into the employ of Joseph Farren [Farrand] in the Construction Corps-for building Bridges for the Army as a Carpenter and Commenced work at Alexandria Va-loading Rail Road Cars onto Canal Boats to be transported to Acqui Creek from there we took the same Cars to Potomac Creek where we built a Bridge across the Potomac Creek after and we built a Bridge over Bull Run and went from point to point as directed until we reached the Rapahanneck-where we lay some time & from thence we went to Fredericksburg where we were under fire for about 4 days & then were ordered back to Alexandria and after a time were ordered into Pennsylvania with the Army under Mead-in June & July 1863 - and were employed in building Bridges till some time after the Battle of Gettesburgh and then we returned to Alexandria where we were sent out on the Orange and Alexandria Rail Road to ??the ?? and build bridges until we reached Warrenton Jun str?  where we established our tents and while here ran out on the cars & built a bridge across the Rapahannic at Rapahnnoc station and just as the bridge was completed the Rebels came up on the other side & we were ordred to retreat. I was at work fixing ties for a track on the bridge when the order came to unload the timber from the cars & run it back. This timber was 3 inch plank 16 inches wide and about 30 feet long. One of these timbers I am told fell onto me and came near crushing my head & did fracture my skull & pressed my eyes out of my head so that they lay on my cheeks. I was wholly unconsious for over two days and when I came to myself I was in the Hospital at Alexandria. From the Hospital I was sent hom.  This was in August. My eyes were very week compelling me to wear glasses. In the latter part of Sept. I went back with the view of continuing my work-but after 8 or ten days I found my eyes saw bad I was advised to return from the field to the City of Washington Where I had an easier job. But my eyes were still troubling me and on the first of Nov I was sent home. My last work had been building a Mess house out of lumber that had been used in a hospital and the men insisted that I had the smell of small pox and some of them refused to workon that account.

I found myself sick before I reached home-so that it was with great difficulty I reached home--It turned out that I had variolois [variola--small pox] and the result was that all my children six in number were taken down with small pox & suffered with it the natural way., they never having been vaccinated--My eyes in the meantime had gradually grown worse till one of them became totally blind during my sickness and the other eye gradually faded out till I became totally blind about 2 years after quitting the service of the Government and have remained blind until this tim and am advised by professional men that there is no possibility of my eyes regaining my sight

Having lost my sight in the Service of the Government during a Campaign of camping out & hardship equal to that of the solider and even more severe many times and account of exposure in the water and in the storms days together _?__--I feel that the same Government ought to assist me in providing for my family & for myself.

All of which is respectfully submitted"

The packet included several letters from his fellow corp members describing the accident that took his sight.  The letter by Smith was 6 pages long. He says, on this first page, that he could not enlist in the Union troops because of his teeth. Soldiers had to be able to use their front and eye teeth to pull off the covering on the powder and ball that went into their muskets. (I'm not an expert on guns, so forgive the terminology).  Obviously, he did not have enough teeth to do it. He desperately wanted to serve (possibly for the money) so he joined the Construction Corp and spent his time building and rebuilding bridges and railroads that were destroyed by the Confederacy. He had tried several times to obtain a pension for his disability, but they only gave pensions to soldiers.

Below, I included the rest of his letter, so you, too, could know what happened in his life.  There are some surprises in the next few pages.  If you would like a full history of Smith Hildreth, please let me know and I'll send you a copy.