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GREAT GREAT GRANDSON OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR CAPTAIN JOHN GEORGE OVERMIRE
GREAT GRANDSON OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR PRIVATE JOHN GEORGE OVERMIRE, JR.
CIVIL WAR CASUALTY, SECOND SERGEANT, CO. D., 13TH ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
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A BIOGRAPHY OF SGT. JONAS C. OVERMYER, by Laurence Overmire (2C4R), genealogist and family historian, May 2019:
The identity of Jonas Overmyer was unknown to the extended Overmyer family for a very long time, probably for over 100 years. Even his descendants didn't know who his parents were. No records had been found to identify them. Then on Memorial Day, May 27, 2019,...
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GREAT GREAT GRANDSON OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR CAPTAIN JOHN GEORGE OVERMIRE
GREAT GRANDSON OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR PRIVATE JOHN GEORGE OVERMIRE, JR.
CIVIL WAR CASUALTY, SECOND SERGEANT, CO. D., 13TH ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
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A BIOGRAPHY OF SGT. JONAS C. OVERMYER, by Laurence Overmire (2C4R), genealogist and family historian, May 2019:
The identity of Jonas Overmyer was unknown to the extended Overmyer family for a very long time, probably for over 100 years. Even his descendants didn't know who his parents were. No records had been found to identify them. Then on Memorial Day, May 27, 2019, I finally was able to identify his parents thanks to the discovery of Jonas's Last Will and Testament, probated Feb. 23, 1864.
In his will, Jonas stated that he was a second sergeant in Co. D of the 13th Regiment of Illinois Volunteers (other records say he was a corporal). He left his property to his sister Mrs. Martha J. Blackman of Minnesota. That was the key piece of evidence that allowed me to identify Jonas as a son of Daniel Overmyer (1805-1876) and his wife Martha (Moore).
In July 1860, Jonas's wife, Susan (Carpenter) Overmyer and his eldest daughter, Mary L. (b. abt. 1858), were living in Albany, Whiteside County, Illinois, where Susan was working as a domestic, but Jonas and his youngest daughter Emma Luella (b. 1 Dec 1859) were not in the household and haven't yet been found in that census.
Civil War records indicate Jonas was 5'6" tall with dark hair, dark eyes and a dark complexion. A farmer, he resided in Oakley, Henry Co., Illinois, when he enlisted in Dixon, Illinois, aged 23, on May 24, 1861, the same date that the 13th Volunteer Infantry Regiment was mustered into U. S. service by Capt. John Pope. The 13th became the first regiment to cross the Mississippi River into hostile Missouri. The regiment saw action at Wet Glaize, Missouri, in October of 1861, and at Salem in December. In January of 1863, it was involved in the assault and capture of Arkansas Post and a few months later participated in the Vicksburg campaign. It then moved to Chattanooga and fought in the Battle of Lookout Mountain on Nov. 24, and the Battle of Missionary Ridge on Nov. 25, 1863, capturing the flag of the 18th Alabama Infantry.
No doubt Jonas was battle weary after seeing so much action. He was granted a furlough, so he traveled from Black River, Mississippi, to Rock Island, Illinois, probably in January of 1864. We don't know any specifics about what happened to him. He may have been gravely ill. He must have known he was about to die, so he hastily made his will and signed it with his mark (X) on Jan. 20, 1864. He died on that same date.
Jonas left behind his wife, Susan, and their two young daughters, who had to survive somehow. Probably within a year or two of her husband's death, Susan remarried to James Eugene Davis. In Aug. 1866, Mr. Davis was appointed guardian of her children, Mary L. and Emma Luella Overmyer. In October of that same year, James filed for Jonas's Civil War pension on behalf of the children.
On June 12, 1869, James and Susan had a son of their own, John E. Davis (d. Orange County, California, in 1945).
James Eugene Davis must have died sometime before the 1870 census was taken. At that time, Susan and her three children were living on their own in Albany.
On July 20, 1872, in Whiteside County, Susan married for the third time to Charles Eugene Battisfore and had 5 more children: Harriet, Albert, Clara, Clarence Wilbur and Alice Leota. The family moved to Davenport, Scott County, Iowa, about 1889.
Jonas Overmyer's eldest daughter Mary L. disappears from records after 1870. The youngest daughter, Emma Luella, married Lorenzo Dow Flack in 1875 in Albany and had many descendants, who now can finally know their fascinating Overmyer heritage.
For the Overmyer/Overmire family history, see "One Immigrant's Legacy: The Overmyer Family in America, 1751-2009" by Laurence Overmire (Imarkbooks.com)
Sources:
1) Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, 2005
2) American Civil War Soldiers, Ancestry.com
3) 13th Illinois Regiment, Co. D
http://13thillinoisinfantry.netfirms.com/
4) U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934
5) U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865
6) Illinois State Archives, Veterans
http://www.ilsos.gov/isaveterans/civilMusterSearch.do?key=192061
7) Web: Illinois, Databases of Illinois Veterans Index, 1775-1995
8) Illinois, Wills and Probate Records, 1772-1999 (includes guardianship papers)
9) Iowa, Death Records, 1920-1940
10) 1860 census, Albany, Whiteside, Illinois
11) 1870 census, Albany, Whiteside, Illinois
12) 1880 census, Rock Island, Rock Island, Illinois
13) 1900 census, Davenport, Scott, Iowa
14) Illinois, Marriage Index, 1860-1920 |
