Samuel France (1839-1900) Death Notice, April 19, 1900

Marshall, Illinois, Clark County Herald, Thursday, April 19, 1900.

Samuel France, an old soldier of Darwin, died Thursday at 1 p.m. of heart disease. He had been afflicted for a long time, but on Wednesday he seemed to feel much better and made some arrangements to attend to some business the following day. He seemed to feel pretty well when he went to bed that evening. Thursday morning he could not be waked, and continued unconscious till death came as noted above. The funeral was held at 10 a.m. Saturday. 

[Samuel France (1839-April 12, 1900). The "old soldier" was about sixty years old -- my great great grandfather. In 2016, the population of Darwin Township, Illinois, is about 350. A tornado struck the old village in the late 1800s.]

[Samuel France is buried in Darwin Cemetery on the west bank of the Wabash River. His US government-issued military marker reflects his service as a volunteer private and veteran volunteer corporal, Company E, 31st Indiana (1861-1865); injured at Shiloh and wounded at Stones River (Murfreesboro), mustered out, Victoria, Texas, December 8, 1865. His brother Jeremiah C. France served in Company G, 42nd Indiana, fought at Helena and in later Arkansas campaigns, died of disease in Indianapolis on January 17, 1865, buried Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis (Plot 10, #71), under a misspelled marker that reads "JERE. FRARRER."]  

A Letter To My Parents Who Were About To See The Waterloo Battlefield (1992)

Luckily, my parents, who were about to see the Waterloo battlefield in Belgium during a visit to Europe in 1992, kept this letter that I sent to them from Philadelphia. 

The letter, dated August 30, 1992, includes observations about the Waterloo campaign of June 1815, including a comparison with the Second Battle of Bull Run aka Manassas in 1862. 

Front of the letter, which is really a writing-card. 

Paper artifact from Brussels. 

"Old" Joseph France Circle, Clay County, Indiana and Vicinity: 1871-1880

“Old” Joseph France Circle: Clay County, Indiana and Vicinity, 1871-1880

We’ll Start with the 1880 Census and go from there.

On August 31, 1880, house #185 in Jackson Township, Clay County, Indiana was enumerated:

Joseph France, 67 (more like 72) Day Laborer.

Liza (Eliza Jane Hall Jackson) France, 66 (more like 54) Keeping House.

Christian France, 25 (actually 28) Farm Laborer.

William Jackson, 27 (son of Liza and Luke Jackson) Coal Miner.

Stephen Jackson, 19 (son of Liza and Luke Jackson) Coal Miner.

Minnie Newport (Mary Minnie Newport), 7 (actually 9) (daughter of Sarah  Ann France, who died on January 13, 1876, and Henry Newport III, who in 1880 was now married to Sarah Jane Reese -- since August 5, 1876 -- and living in Larkinsburg, Clay County, Illinois). Granddaughter of “Old” Joe France.

The next house over, #184, same day:

Rebecca Stiner (or Steiner), 40, (closer to 55) Keeping House.

David N. Stiner (or Steiner), 20, Farmer.

Sarah J. Fisher, 23 , Stepdaughter.

Samuel France, 35 (actually 40-41), Boarder, Day Laborer.

Samuel France and Rebecca Stiner had married in Clay County on February 22, 1872, but in 1880 are listed as Single and Widowed or Divorced (she was both) respectively, yet still living together – without his two children from Ruthann Priscilla Wheeler Slack France (1833-1870). He had officially divorced Rebecca for being “cruel to the children.”   

In house #183:

William Hynote, Farmer.

Elizabeth Hynote, 24, Keeping House.

William G. Fisher, 24, Boarder, Day Laborer.

House #182:

Isaac Wheeler, 24, Day Laborer. Isaac Hill Wheeler (December 3, 1849-October 3, 1924) was a cousin, I think, of Ruthann Priscilla Wheeler Slack France.  He was a Civil War veteran, serving in Company D, 149^th Indiana Infantry Regiment. His parents were Jacob W. Wheeler and Helen Cook Fortner. 

Hannah Wheeler, 26, Keeping House.

Samuel H. Wheeler, 9, Attending School.

William T. [Thomas] Wheeler, 9 months.

House #178:

Joseph A. France (Joseph Absalom France), 12, Boarding with the Gibbons family, Attending School.

House #176:

“Young” Joseph France, 35, Farmer.

Sophia (Sophia Elizabeth Jane Jackson France), 29, Keeping House.
Mary (Mary Susan Ready Jane Molly France, 1872-1958), 8.
Emma E. (1874-1920), 5.

Charles W. (Charles William France, 1878-1957), 1.

Harry H. Newport (Harvey Henry Newport, 1868-1950, son of Sarah Ann France, who died on January 13, 1876, and Henry Newport III, who in 1880 was now married to Sarah Jane Reese -- since August 5, 1876 -- and living in Larkinsburg, Clay County, Illinois), 12, Nephew (Grandson of “Old” Joe France).

The George Washington France (July 4, 1825-August 14, 1890) family circle is over at House #157.  He was another Union veteran, serving in Company F, 30^th Indiana Infantry. He was born in Ohio; there is a George France listed in the 1850 Tuscarawas County, Ohio census that could be him, bolstering the idea that he might be related to “Old” Joseph France and crew.

Observations:

“Old” Joseph France is said to have died around 1880, perhaps in Lyford, Parke County, Indiana. However, I haven’t found any documentation for this, and no trace of a grave yet, either.

Sarah Ann France was said to have died on January 13, 1876, in Clay County, Indiana. However, I haven’t found any specific documentation for this, and no trace of a grave yet. She had five kids, though: four apparently with Henry Newport III and one, perhaps, with David Moore: Uriah Nelson Newport "Port" Moore (1874-1948). Indeed, this six year old child was boarding with David Moore and family over in house #87, Jackson Township, Clay County, Indiana, as Nelson Newport. 

Susanna France (1854-1925), the youngest child of “Old” Joseph France and Fanny Widener (or Weidner) France, married Elias Denman Owens (1853-1930) on December 26, 1876, in Clay County, Indiana. By 1880, they were living in Van Buren Township (just to the north of Jackson Township), Clay County, and had two young children in tow.

Back to a mystery from the 1870 census. “Emma France: born about 1868, who were her parents?  The answer is not immediately obvious.” Maybe she died in the meantime, and Emma E. France (born six years after the first Emma – see above with “Young” Joseph France and Sophia Jackson France) was named in her honor?  It’s safe to guess that the middle initial in Emma E. France's name stood for Eliza, Sophia’s mother’s first name, or Elizabeth in full.  

Final mystery for the 1880 census: where is Frances Priscilla Serintha Jane France (May 1, 1870-December 19, 1954), daughter of Samuel France and Ruthann Priscilla Wheeler Slack France, sister of Joseph Absalom France?  Probably boarding with other relatives – somewhere. Or the enumerators just missed her.

Old Joseph France circle in the wake of the American Civil War

“Old” Joseph France family in the wake of the American Civil War: 1866-1870

Things become ever more complicated at this point. Let’s start from the perspective of “Old” Joseph France.

The first thing we learn directly about him since the 1860 census is that he married Eliza J. Jackson on December 15, 1867,  in Clay County, Indiana, administered by Justice of the Peace C. P. Eppert, who was also an educator. Their approval to marry was given by C. M. Thompson, Clay County Clerk, on December 9.  Record link: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XX5T-4QW

Who was Eliza J. Jackson?

Eliza Jane Hall was born in Clermont County, Ohio, on April 21, 1826. This county is in southern Ohio, on the immediate northern side of the Ohio River.  Her parents remain a mystery for the time being. She married Luke Jackson in Clermont County in or around 1845 when she was about 19 and he 21; they migrated to Clay County, Indiana, probably around 1848. 

Luke Jackson was born in Clermont County, Ohio, on October 20, 1824. He died, apparently in Clay County, Indiana, on March 6, 1863, at age 38.

Luke and Eliza seem to have had at least six kids; some may have died young. 

Provisionally:

Lydia Jackson (1846-unknown). Born in Ohio.

John S. Jackson (1848-unknown).  Born in Ohio.

Sophia Elizabeth Jane Jackson (January 15, 1851-March 14, 1931).  Born in Clay County, Indiana. (Note: She married “young” Joseph France in 1871).

William T. Jackson (1853-unknown). Born in Clay County, Indiana.

Luke Jackson, Jr. (1855-1923). Born in Clay County, Indiana.

Stephen Jackson (1861-unknown). Born in Clay County, Indiana.

By mid-December 1867, the youngest four Jacksons were folded into the France family via the marriage of “old” Joseph France and Eliza Jane Hall Jackson.

The 1870 census (enumerated on June 20, 1870) shows a large amalgamated household led by “old” Joseph and Eliza, Posey township. Clay County, Indiana; nearest post office, Center Point.

Joseph France, listed as 56 but actually closer to 62. Coal miner. Personal estate $75.

Eliza Jane Hall Jackson France, 44. Keeping house. Cannot write.

Samuel France, 31. Coal miner. Personal estate $100.

“Young” Joseph France, 23. Coal miner.

Sarah Ann France, 22.

Christian France, 18. Works on farm.

Susanna France, 16.

Sophia Elizabeth Jane Jackson, 19. Cannot read or write.

William T. Jackson, 17.  Works at coal shaft. Cannot read or write.

Luke Jackson, Jr., 14. Cannot read or write.

Stephen Jackson, 9.

Emma France, 2.

Joseph Absalom France, 2.

Frances Priscilla Serintha Jane France, 1/12.

Observations:

Not exactly the Brady Bunch, but still . . .

Shift from farming to coal mining, reflecting rapid industrialization.

They were dirt poor.

“Old” Joseph was a widower, Eliza a widow.

In 1866, Samuel France married a Civil War widow, Ruthann (or Ruth Ann) Priscilla Wheeler Slack (whose husband Ira Barnes Slack had been killed in 1864) and together they had two of the kids listed above: Joseph Absalom France and Frances Priscilla Serintha Jane France. Ruthann had just died, on May 7, 1870, so Samuel was now a widower. He had two living stepchildren in the area also: Margie Frances Slack (1856-1906) and William Thomas Slack (1858-1937).

Sarah Ann France had married the wounded soldier Henry Newport III in 1864. In 1870, he was living in Clinton County, Illinois and the Newport name was dropped for purposes of the Indiana census. Why? She was about 26 at the time, with two living children: George Aldress Newport (1866-1950) and Harvey Henry Newport (1868-1950); Richard Nathan Newport was born later in 1870 – so she was pregnant at the time. She is also listed with the rest of the Newport household in the Clinton County, Illinois census (enumerated on June 23, 1870), so counted twice, once in Indiana and once in Illinois.  

“Young” Joseph France and Sophia Elizabeth Jane Jackson were married the following year. 

Finally, Emma France: born about 1868, who were her parents?  The answer is not immediately obvious.

Clay County, Indiana: The France Family Core during the American Civil War

The boys in blue. The older France brothers volunteered for service in the Union army in 1861, Samuel in Company E, 31^st Indiana Infantry Regiment, official date of muster, September 5, 1861, Terre Haute; Jeremiah in Company G, 43rd Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment, official date of muster, September 20, 1861. There are many records pertaining to their war service.

Joseph (the younger, born circa 1845) was of war age, also. There is a marriage record for Joseph France and Catherine Newport signed by D.W. Bridges, Clerk of the Clay Circuit, giving the civil date of March 26, 1863 and the religious marriage date of March 29, as administered by Baptist preacher Athel Staggs (1805-1870), who also served in the Indiana legislature from 1865 to 1867. (Staggs is buried in Clay County).  See: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XX5R-19M

Joseph would have been about 18 and Catherine Newport (1849-1937), about 14. This marriage may have been annulled. In any case, if we assume that this is the same person, Catherine Newport married William Mathias Deeter (1831-1912) on September 20, 1865, when she was 16. For their marriage information, see: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XX5T-SXD

William Mathias Deeter served during the war in Company I, 85^th Indiana Infantry Regiment, with Ira Barnes Slack (1834-1864), who was killed at the Battle of Resaca, Georgia. Slack’s widow, Ruthann Priscilla Wheeler Slack, married Samuel France on June 21, 1866, via Justice of the Peace Israel Krytzer. 

Recall from the previous post that the core France family was living with the core Deeter family in 1860, in Clay County.

Did Joseph France the younger join the boys in blue?  Hard to tell at this point. There are three Joseph France soldiers listed from Indiana:

83^rd Indiana Infantry Regiment (also listed as Joseph Frantz)

142^nd Indiana Infantry Regiment

143^rd Indiana Infantry Regiment

If young Joseph served, it’s less likely he was in the 83^rd, and more likely he would have served in the 142^nd, a one-year regiment organized late in the war at Indianapolis: October 21, 1864; mustered out at Nashville on July 14, 1865. This Joseph, sometimes listed as Joseph S. France (born New Philadelphia, Tuscarawas County, Ohio), died on January 7, 1907, and has a veteran’s marker in Marion, Indiana. (Investigate further details as needed.)

Next up, Sarah Ann France (January 22, 1844-January 13, 1876), apparently the oldest daughter of “old” Joseph France and Fanny Widener/Weidner.  In 1860 (see previous post), she was a domestic (servant) and attending school, living with the core France family and the core Deeter family in Clay County. With her older brothers in the war, she was now the oldest France child still in place.

At the age of 20, she married a wounded Union soldier, Henry Newport III – who happened to be Catherine Newport’s (see above) older brother. He was 23, serving in Company H, 39^th Illinois Infantry Regiment. He had been wounded in Virginia in August 1864. They were married on October 30, 1864, in Clay County, by Israel Krytzer. See: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XX5T-996

The plot thickens in that Henry Newport III had been born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, on September 13, 1841. Did the Newport and France families know each other in Ohio? Or was that a point of reference for them in Indiana? In addition, the core Newport family was living in Wayne County, Illinois, in 1860, near Fairfield; how often did they come back to Clay County?  All mysterious.

In any case, during the course of the Civil War, Jeremiah France lived through terrible battles, especially in Arkansas, only to die of Erysipelas, or “Saint Anthony’s fire,” in the Burnside Barracks, Indianapolis, age 25. He’s buried at Crown Point Cemetery, with the family name botched on his veteran’s marker (it needs to be fixed some day).

Samuel France survived the war, wounded and weakened, age 26 when mustered out of service in Victoria, Texas, on December 8, 1865. He never fully recovered.

Of the remaining core France family, there was “old” Joseph (57 at war’s end), Christian E. (13 at war’s end) and Susanna (11 at war’s end).  Did they remain with the core Deeter family during the war? 

As ever, more will be revealed.

Clay County, Indiana: "Old" Joseph France and Family in 1860

The 1860 census relocates the core France family about 300 miles west-southwest of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, to Clay County, Indiana.

August 2, 1860. Christies Prairie Post Office, Perry Township, Clay County.  Living with Deter/Deeter family, at dwelling-house #1220. 

[Note: Jacob Deter’s son, William Mathias Deeter, will marry Catherine Newport in 1865, after serving in Company I, 85^th Indiana with Ira B. Slack. File this information for later use].

Jacob Deter, 50   Farmer. Real estate $4800. Personal estate $600. 

Elizabeth Deter, 48 Housekeeper.

Emanuel Deter, 21 Farm labourer.

Arthur Deter, 16 Farm labourer.

Joseph France, 51 (born circa 1809). Farmer. Personal estate $200.

Jeremiah, 17 [born 1840], Farm labourer. Attended school within the year.

Sarah A., 16 [born January 22, 1844], domestic. Attended school within the year.

Christian, 9 [born July 1852]. Attended school within the year.

Susanna, 7  [born May 10, 1854]. Attended school within the year.

Same day and vicinity, at the dwelling-house (#1214) of Israel Price ($1600, $700) and family:

Samuel France, 22. Farm labourer.

In the 1860 census, we are missing “young” Joseph France, born circa 1845.

However, there is an age-appropriate Joseph France in Washington Township. Hocking County, Ohio, living with yet another Joseph France (born Pennsylvania, circa 1807; Farmer; $2500, $1000) and Mary France (born Pennsylvania, circa 1808) and Mary L. France (born Ohio circa 1847).  Will have to check them out further to see if actually related, etc. Also seek other possible locations for younger Joseph in Indiana in 1860, name possibly misspelled.

In 1860, we are also missing from the 1850 census:

Fanny Widener/Weidner France (b. 1816 PA)

Elizabeth France (b. 1844 Ohio)

Franey/Fanny/Franny (b. 1848 Ohio)

Franner (b. 1850 Ohio)

If they died before the migration to Clay County, it is highly probable that they were buried in Dover Township, Tuscarawas County, Ohio. Pursue this line of inquiry.  Elizabeth could have survived and married someone as of 1860.

1861 – The American Civil War begins. By the time this dramatic upheaval is over in 1865, there will be disruptions (death, wounds) and realignments in the works (marriages, new people).

[To be continued]. 

New Berlin and Tuscarawas County, Ohio: Joseph France and Fanny Widener

The first appearance of Joseph France (or Frantz, etc.) and Fanny Widener (or Weidner, etc.) comes with their marriage in New Berlin (renamed North Canton in 1918) on May 3, 1838 by Rev. John Jacob Fast of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.  This suggests they were of German ancestry. From census records, we know they both came from Pennsylvania, and that their parents were born in Pennsylvania. So for more answers, we need to dig around Pennsylvania records from 1838 backwards. New Berlin had only about 200 people around that time. It was originally organized into lots by Samuel Bechtel.

Did they come to Ohio with friends and family?

In the 1840 census, their last name is still rendered France, under Joseph. There are three people in the household: one male 20-30, one female 20-30, one male under five. Residence: Town of Dover (also known as Canal Dover), Dover Township, Tuscarawas County, Ohio (about 30 miles SSW of New Berlin). These would be:  Joseph (born between 1810 and 1820), Fanny (born between 1810 and 1820), and Samuel, who was born about 1839.

The 1850 census lists the growing family under the name Frantz. They were enumerated on October 17, 1850, Dover Township, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, dwelling-house #1393. Others on the page mostly born in Ohio (from 1838), Pennsylvania and Germany. Elizabeth and Sarah are common girl names. Other families on the page: surnames Bippus, Blubaugh, Keplinger, Sink, Harmon.

Joseph age 42 (born circa 1808) carpenter (a “do” or ditto. below James W. Keplinger, the man listed above him). No $ is given for value of the estate (Keplinger’s is given as $400). Place of birth, Pennsylvania. Can read and write.

Fanny age 34 (born circa 1816). Place of birth, Pennsylvania. Can read and write.

Samuel age 12 (born circa late 1838 or early 1839). Place of birth, Ohio. Attended school within the year.

Jeremiah age 10 (born circa 1840). Place of birth, Ohio.

Sarah A. age 8 (born circa 1842). Place of birth, Ohio.

Elizabeth age 6 (born circa 1844). Place of birth, Ohio.

Joseph age 5 (born circa 1845).  Place of birth, Ohio.

Franey (or Fanny or Franny) age 2 (born circa 1848). Place of birth, Ohio.

Franner  age 5/12 (born circa May 1850). Place of birth, Ohio.

New Products! Dover, Ohio, 1839-1840

In 2015, one can probably recognize every single item here listed in an 1839/40 newspaper ad for Samuel Fertig, Grocer, Commission Merchant, & Boot & Shoe Manufacturer, East side of the Canal, except perhaps for Salaratus (baking soda) and Loco Foco Matches (stick matches).  

Imagine the excitement of availability!  Canal Dover, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, The Ohio Democrat (December 25, 1840).  Joseph and Fanny France and their fledgling family lived within the environs of Canal Dover in 1840 (population about 600 at the time). 

Group Portrait: Mystery Photo, Early 20th Century

These images are derived from a copy of a long 44-45" by 7-8" group portrait somehow connected to the France family. I received a printed copy - a long roll -- from a direct descendant of Clifford Harold France (1899-1902), son of Joseph Absalom France (1868-1924). 

Images look to be around the Great War period (1914-1918) roughly speaking. The cars and fashions and ribbons should help narrow the time frame. 

Place could be a town or city in Missouri, Illinois or Indiana -- most likely. 

Inner right section.

Please contact Erik Donald France at efrance23@gmail.com or leave a comment if you'd like. Many thanks!

Joe Johnston: Letter to "My Darling" Lydia McLane Johnston, May 20, 1864

On this date 150 years ago, General Joseph E. Johnston wrote a letter to Lydia McLane Johnston, his wife of nineteen years, from "Near Etowah bridge," in which he briefly explained the situation of the ongoing military campaign in Georgia. The original is archived in "Lydia McLane Johnston: Incoming Correspondence, 1845-1869," McLane-Fisher Family Papers, ca. 1800-1905 (MS 2403), Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore. (Thanks again to Addy Von DenToten for her field research on my behalf.) 

I cannot post a verbatim transcript without express permission, nor reproduce scanned copies of the letter here for the same reason. Instead, here's a brief overview.

Joe Johnston had pulled his army back to the Etowah River and prepared to meet again the forces of General William T. Sherman, who was coming at him with everything he had. In the letter, which shows evidence (by way of Johnston's handwriting) of having been written quickly, Johnston takes partial responsibility for the situation, and partly blames it on the tardiness of the release (by the high command) of reinforcements. This timing, he implies, prevented him from ordering an initial spoiling attack against Sherman. Also in the letter, he assures Lydia that he will not go out of his way to expose himself directly to enemy fire; that is, he is not deliberately trying to get himself killed. (He'd already been wounded in 1862 at Seven Pines, as well as during the US-Mexican War and Seminole Wars.)  He notes the peculiar nature of the campaign, involving networks of entrenchments, heavy skirmishing and careful maneuver. (The forces of U.S. Grant and R. E. Lee were fighting it out in Virginia at the same time, with more extended frontal assaults and heavier casualties).

Johnston's letter (May 20, 1864) was written five days after the Battle of Resaca, the one in which Ira B. Slack of the 85th Indiana was mortally wounded (previous post).  One of Sherman's charges from General Grant, his superior officer, and US President Abraham Lincoln was to "break up" (destroy) Johnston's army, and conversely, one of Johnston's main personal objectives was not to let that happen. Many of the veteran soldiers understood this dynamic. As J. E. Brant notes in History of the 85th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, Its Organization, Campaigns and Battles (Bloomington, 1902, page 55), from the Union perspective: 'At that time we were assured that the enemy had only one "hole" to get out, and that we were stopping that "hole." But Joe Johns[t]on always found the "hole" out.'

Sketch from Library of Congress Geography and Map Division, Washington, D.C. "View of fortifications near the ruins of the Western and Atlantic Railroad bridge across the Etowah River in Georgia," (1864). 
 
    

American Civil War 150: Battle of Resaca, Georgia

The Atlanta Campaign opens with a bang -- William Tecumseh Sherman's offensive collides with Joseph Eggleston Johnston's defenses -- on this date, 150 years ago. Intense fighting results in casualties ranging from about 5,000 to 7,500 -- all of them American.

I acquired a copy of this "casualty notice" from the US National Archives recently. Ira Barnes Slack, Company I, 85th Indiana Infantry Regiment, was the first husband of Ruthann Priscilla Wheeler, my great great grandmother (her second husband was another Union soldier, Samuel France, Company E, 31st Indiana).

Field Hospital, 2nd Division, 20th Army Corps, Near Resaca, Georgia:

"I have to inform you that Private Ira B. Slack . . . died in this Hospital on 16th inst[ant -- i.e., 16th May 1864]. . . Wounds rec'd in battle of 15th May."

To add insult to death, the assistant surgeon reports: "No effects." 

Meaning, either his body was so mangled that nothing of material worth was retrievable, or anything retrievable was stripped from his person rather than sent to his family in Indiana. 

To boot, any record of his burial site is apparently gone -- his remains either never made the transfer from the battlefield field hospital to a national cemetery, or his body was later misidentified in the process. I'll keep looking.

Ira B. Slack was thirty years old when he died, leaving behind his thirty year old wife and two living children, both younger than ten.  

If you have any additional information as to the possible whereabouts of the remains of Ira B. Slack, please leave a comment or email me at efrance23@gmail.com  

Thirty-first Indiana Regiment at Shiloh

31st Indiana Infantry monument along the Sunken Road and Hornet's Nest, where the men of the regiment held the line with the rest of Lauman's Brigade for several hours on April 6, 1862.

At Shiloh, Lauman's Brigade fielded some 1,717 troops in four regiments. Given that the 44th Indiana reportedly had 478 men, I'd estimate that the 31st Indiana fielded about 450 or so. The 31st reported 138 casualties -- 30% losses. The woods caught fire in this sector and many wounded on both sides perished.

If even 100 men of the 31st Indiana managed to fire 100 rounds, they would have gotten off 10,000 rounds of small arms fire -- a ghastly thought in terms of havoc and human mayhem for the attacking Confederates.

See: John W. Coons, Indiana at Shiloh, Shiloh National Park Commission, 1904. Here, the Hornet's Nest is perhaps more properly designated the Hornets' Nest.

Camp of 31st Indiana Infantry.  First position in line of battle April 6, 1862, was 5/8 mile s.w. 200 yards n.w. of Peach Orchard. This photo taken on April 12, 2014 -- same as the other two.

31st Indiana Infantry Regiment marker in context, from behind the line facing Confederate attacks coming through the woods on the other side of the monument.

A Shiloh diary entry by a private in Company G includes annotations about some of the battle's casualties: "James Fulbright, Rolla Franklin (both shot in the head). Wounded . . . Joseph Gaither, Wesley Polly (Both of these men were severely wounded. It was thought mortally. Both recovered to find themselves discharged from the service and disabled for life.) . . ." 

See: Henry E. Wahl, Pvt. Henry Dillman, Co. G, 31st Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Bloomington, Indiana: Monroe County Historical Society, 1962, p. 2.

My great great grandfather Samuel France, in Company E, survived Shiloh but suffered some kind of rupture here. He continued to serve until the end of the war, but died at 60 years old in 1900, at least partly because of war disabilities. Good times.

Donald Delbert France: Business Cards, 1980s-1990s

Qualex, Inc.
Corporate Headquarters
3000 Croasdaile Drive
Durham, NC  27705

Donald D. France
Senior Vice President
Sales & Marketing, Retail Trade

The Fuller Brush Company 

DONALD D FRANCE
NATIONAL ACCOUNT SALES

PHOTO MARKET MAKERS
Donald D. France, President

Durham, North Carolina  27705
group 23

PHOTO MARKET MAKERS
(In Japanese). 

Donald Delbert France Business Cards: 1970s-1980s

DONALD D. FRANCE

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

[COLORCRAFT CORPORATION: A FUQUA COMPANY]

3000 CROASDAILE DRIVE

DURHAM, N.C. 27705

TELEPHONE 919/383-8535

Territorial Vice President

DON FRANCE

Colorcraft Corporation . . .

PHOTO MARKETING ASSOCIATION
PMA

International Headquarters

603 Lansing Avenue

Jackson, Michigan  49202

(517) 783-2807

Donald Delbert France: Business Cards, 1950s-1960s

D. France
ASS'T DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING SERVICES

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT

National Metal Trades Association

Jenkintown, Penna.  19046

DONALD D. FRANCE
TECHNICAL REPRESENTATIVE

HEICO, INC.

QUALITY THROUGH RESEARCH

STROUDSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA