Private William Johnson
b. abt 1805, Claibourne County, Tennessee
d. 20 Nov 1862, Sandusky, Ohio
m. abt 1825 to Elizabeth Grisham Rowe (b. abt 1804, d. 8 Sep 1856)
via FindAGrave.com
Photo by Joyce
While researching my fourth great-grandfather, William Johnson, I continually came across the fact that he died 22 Nov 1862 at Gratiot Street Prison, which served as a prison for Confederate captures during the Civil War. However, none of these sources ever cited a primary source to support this claim.
Additionally, I was not able to find his name on the list of prisoners that died at Gratiot, nor any enlistment records. I started to suspect that this story of his death at a Union prison in St. Louis may have been a cover-up derived by someone in the family to hide the possibility that he abandoned his family. What other explanation was there if I could find no records of his death at the prison nor any service records?
My recent trip to St. Louis urged me to visit this mystery once again in case there was something I missed. After some additional research, the pieces started falling into place.
I knew William Johnson was born in Tennessee and spent most of his life in that state. Despite knowing that his older children relocated to Missouri by 1861, I was still looking at Tennessee service records since the story was that he was a confederate soldier. I assumed that he enlisted in the state of Tennessee. The piece that I missed was that Missouri had a small number of Confederate units despite the larger Union influence.
Once I dug into the Confederate service records from Missouri, I came across POW roll records for a William Johnson that was a member of Company D in Poindexter's Regiment, an independent Confederate unit.
In combing through the prisoner records, I found that this William Johnson was captured 14 Aug 1862, likely during or shortly after the Battle of Compton's Ferry. Most of the regiment was either killed, wounded or captured.
William was received at Gratiot Street Prison in St. Louis, Missouri 31 Aug 1862. However, despite the un-sourced information I found about his death, he did not stay very long. Along with several other prisoners, he was discharged to Alton Prison in Illinois 12 Sep 1862. From Alton, on 17 Nov 1862, he was transferred once again - this time to the Depot of Prisoners of War on Johnson’s Island in Sandusky Bay, Ohio.
William's age compared to most of the other soldiers did not work in his favor. He only survived for three days after arriving at the prison on Johnson's Island. He died a the age of 57 on 20 Nov 1862 and was buried at the onsite cemetery.
The misinformation about when and where William died most likely came from a story passed down within the family. This information then found its way into several family trees. William indeed spent time at the Gratiot Street Prison in St. Louis after being captured, but he was transferred twice before his death, ultimately ending up on Johnson's Island in Ohio.
Additionally, I was not able to find his name on the list of prisoners that died at Gratiot, nor any enlistment records. I started to suspect that this story of his death at a Union prison in St. Louis may have been a cover-up derived by someone in the family to hide the possibility that he abandoned his family. What other explanation was there if I could find no records of his death at the prison nor any service records?
My recent trip to St. Louis urged me to visit this mystery once again in case there was something I missed. After some additional research, the pieces started falling into place.
I knew William Johnson was born in Tennessee and spent most of his life in that state. Despite knowing that his older children relocated to Missouri by 1861, I was still looking at Tennessee service records since the story was that he was a confederate soldier. I assumed that he enlisted in the state of Tennessee. The piece that I missed was that Missouri had a small number of Confederate units despite the larger Union influence.
Once I dug into the Confederate service records from Missouri, I came across POW roll records for a William Johnson that was a member of Company D in Poindexter's Regiment, an independent Confederate unit.
In combing through the prisoner records, I found that this William Johnson was captured 14 Aug 1862, likely during or shortly after the Battle of Compton's Ferry. Most of the regiment was either killed, wounded or captured.
William was received at Gratiot Street Prison in St. Louis, Missouri 31 Aug 1862. However, despite the un-sourced information I found about his death, he did not stay very long. Along with several other prisoners, he was discharged to Alton Prison in Illinois 12 Sep 1862. From Alton, on 17 Nov 1862, he was transferred once again - this time to the Depot of Prisoners of War on Johnson’s Island in Sandusky Bay, Ohio.
William's age compared to most of the other soldiers did not work in his favor. He only survived for three days after arriving at the prison on Johnson's Island. He died a the age of 57 on 20 Nov 1862 and was buried at the onsite cemetery.
The misinformation about when and where William died most likely came from a story passed down within the family. This information then found its way into several family trees. William indeed spent time at the Gratiot Street Prison in St. Louis after being captured, but he was transferred twice before his death, ultimately ending up on Johnson's Island in Ohio.
