I believe that Anthony Sr could have joined the Union Army in the Civil War. Can't find any records. He was married to a Virginia DuC___
There is one Anthony S Woods from New York. Not sure where in New York he was from.
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2Can you explain for us why you believe that Anthony Woods Sr. either served in the Civil War or that he died during that war? References for your information would be helpful. Thanks.– GeneJCommented Nov 3, 2012 at 5:07
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He was in New York 1857. His youngest son George was born Aug 1857 Oswego. The first time that I see Virginia and his 2 sons Anthony and George was in the 1870 Census, Bay County, Michigan. Virginia had remarried and had a child with her second husband, Frank Phoenix who was about age 2. I am not sure if Anthony was in the Union Army or not. But because of the dates I have been wondering if he was and could have possibly died while in service.– Bonné C Woods-WattsCommented Nov 26, 2012 at 17:10
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Woods is a reasonably common name at that time (see Fortiter's answer). Many errors are made when not enough information is available to triangulate the identity of two personalities who might not be the same person. I've seen this called "conflating" (ala, two persons have been conflated into one).– GeneJCommented Nov 26, 2012 at 17:17
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2 Answers
The National Parks Service Civil War site lists Captain Anthony S Wood serving two periods with the 8th New York (called the State Militia in 1862 and the National Guard in 1863). There are two other Anthony Woods serving with the Ohio Infantry.
The Brooklyn Genealogy Information Page includes a history of the New York Tenth Infantry that makes references to an officer (called Anthony S Woods in one place and Anthony L Woods in another) serving as follows: Major from April 20, 1864 - June 4, 1865 and Lieutenant-Colonel from June 4, 1865 - June 30 1865
On the NPS site, this man is apparently indexed as Anthony S Wood (without the "s").
Could these be the same man? Did Captain Woods leave the 8th to secure a more senior role with the 10th? The time periods would certainly allow for that.
If so, we can say with some confidence that he was mustered out, when the Regiment stood down at the end of June 1865, very much alive.
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I have a feeling that my Anthony if he was in the Union Army could have been on of the ones that was killed and never identified. What surprises me is that I have not seen where he could have enlisted. I'm not sure if he had a middle name or initial or not. Commented Nov 26, 2012 at 17:13
I don't personally know the statistics, but at least believe there was better accounting about the married men with small children who set off as soldiers in the Civil War. There would be some motivation on the part of a wife with young-ins to inquire about the man's whereabouts. If it was suspected that the husband had been lost, there was motivation to pursue a claim for benefits.
Fortiter has provided some documentation/references about men, Anthony Woods, of New York who served in the Civil War.
The city Oswego is a port town (on Lake Ontario)--so many families migrating west (and presumably also to Canada) were of Oswego at one time. It was also a major railroad transportation hub. While the information may be general, here is the link to the Oswego Wikipedia entry: Oswego. According to the Wikipedia entry, a U.S. military base was present at Oswego throughout the 19th Century.
But I digress, because it is possible the "Oswego" location (1857) comes from a later record about George Woods. That might mean (or as far as I can tell) that we don't yet know where three year old George or his father, said Anthony Woods, etc., resided at the time of the 1860 U.S. census. ... And, we don't know where dear Anthony, etc., were living when the Civil War broke out. Working back in time, it is not obvious that we know where George's parents married (or if they did).
If we can learn where Anthony was at the time the Civil War broke out, it might lead us to some understanding of whether or not he fought and was lost in the war.
Some additional thoughts:
We talk a lot about working from the know to the unknown--but what does that really mean? After all, any one bit of information can be in error. So, what we "know" can be reasonably personal, a question we answer having digested the research matter.
For many, it starts as a census entry--the information may contain many errors, but it does represent a fixed fixed place and time ... so that we can begin to talk with libraries and societies, search news articles, court, land and probate records.
The census also gives us a certain perspective from which we can start to form specific questions we want to answer--when and where did Frank Phoenix and Virginia marry? What does that location and the marriage record itself tell us about them?
You may have the answers to many of these questions already.
I've written before about my desire to plant a flag at a time and place, then working to learn what I can from the relevant resource in order to "inch" my way forward or back in time.
