Bookmarked: The Papers of Jefferson Davis, 1861

I don’t know about you, but I’ve collected umpteen bookmarks on my computer. Most involved my favorite pastime genealogy. I always intended to revisit those websites when I had the time.

Today I picked one bookmark to explore. I settled on “The Papers of Jefferson Davis: 1861, Volume 7” part of Google Books’ digitized collection. You’ll recall Mr. Davis’ served as the President of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War.

What drew me to the site was a google search for any Harman’s from Augusta Co., Virginia. As you can see from the snippet below, I located Henry Harman, John Harman, and George Harman all from that locale.

August 26, 1861

Page 309

The Mount Solon, Virginia farmers needed John and George Harman to make barrels for their flour. Henry Harman, J. Marshall McCue, and D. Newton Van Lear appealed to President Davis for the return of the coopers August 26, 1861. I wish I knew if the Harman’s made it home to help their neighbors.

My 3^rd Great Grandfather Henry Harman worked as a cooper in Augusta County. His two sons were named George and John. Are these my relatives in President Davis’ papers? I hesitated to claim Henry, John, and George as I knew there were several ‘Henry’s’ and even more ‘George’s’ and ‘John’s’ among the Harman family.

Perhaps military records would help. I turned to the website “Valley of the Shadow, Two Communities in the American Civil War”.

 

Screen Shot

I found John I. Harman, cooper, enlisted July 16, 1861, in Co. D, 52^nd Virginia Infantry at Staunton. Pvt. John I. Harman measured 6' 4", was of a dark complexion with dark eyes and hair. He was killed in battle at McDowell, Highland Co., Virginia May 8, 1862. Augusta Co., Virginia death registers confirm John was a son of Henry and Eliza Jane Harman. Henry and Eliza Jane are my 3^rd Great Grandparents. That would make John my 2^nd Great Granduncle and brother to my 2^nd Great Grandmother Radie Maria (Harman) McFall.

A few months earlier on May 11, 1861, George W. Harman joined Company I of the 5^th Virginia Infantry at Sangersville. He worked as a cooper before and after the War. Pvt. George William Harman was captured at Manassas in Prince William County August 1862 and returned December 1862. He fought at the Battle of the Wilderness and suffered a leg wound May 5, 1864. He married Sarah Elizabeth Craun November 1865 shortly after the War ended. The Augusta Co., Virginia marriage registers identify George’s parents—my 3^rd Great Grandparents Henry Harman and Eliza Fifer.

You can see a photograph of George at FindAGrave.com here.

Source The Papers of Jefferson Davis:  1861, Volume 7 of The Papers of Jefferson Davis, Editor Lynda Lasswell Crist and Coeditor Mary Seaton Dix, 1992. Limited preview at Google Books. Also found in National Archives Record Group 109, Citizens McKue, J. Marshall.

Source John I. Harman: Augusta County, Virginia, Soldiers Records, Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War, Virginia Center for Digital History, University of Virginia (http://valley.lib.virginia.edu/dossier_record?q=db:dossiers_augusta AND id_num:31109)

Source George W. Harman: Augusta County, Virginia, Soldiers Records, Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War, Virginia Center for Digital History, University of Virginia (http://valley.lib.virginia.edu/dossiers_search_results.html?q=db:dossiers_augusta AND last:harman)