Benjamin F. Davidson
by Tim Sisson
Benjamin F. Davidson was born in
Delaware County, Ohio in 1835 to his father, Benjamin Davidson, and his
mother Nancy. His father was born in Connecticut, while his mother was
born in Pennsylvania. Pvt. Davidson’s father was a farmer in Harlem
Township, Ohio in Delaware County, which is just north of the Ohio capital of
Columbus, and according to the 1850 United States Census owned a large
portion of land and was worth $1,500. Benjamin F. Davidson was the youngest
of five children. Benjamin F. had two brothers, John and Daniel, and
two sisters, Amy and Sarah. Benjamin was fifteen years old as the
nation was just eleven years from the devastation of the Civil War.
In
1860 in Westerville, Ohio a twenty-five year old Benjamin F. Davidson was a
student at Otterbein College. Davidson listed his residence as a
Boarding House in Westerville, and his occupation as a “Student”. His
neighbors had professions such as teachers, doctors, carpenters, and there
were other students living near him. At the same time, his parents had
moved to Fayette Township, in Vigo County, Indiana. In 1860 Benjamin
and Nancy Davidson are 70 and 65 years old, respectively, and continue to own
land and have a nice amount of money to their name. Their neighbors in
Indiana are Joseph and Amy Terocher, who is the same age as Pvt. Benjamin Davidson’s
older sister and has a birthplace of Ohio. This might be a coincidence, but
we will see later that Pvt. Davidson resides in Clark County, Illinois which
is adjacent to Vigo County, Indiana.
The 6th Regiment of the Minnesota Infantry was organized at Fort Snelling in
Minneapolis, Minnesota in the fall of 1862. Pvt. Benjamin F. Davidson was in
“C” Company, and he mustered into the 6th  Regiment
on August 4, 1862. Fort Snelling was situated at the conjunction of the
Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers, and among Minnesotans the Fort represented
the “rallying point” for its soldiers to protect the area from the Sioux, and
other Indians, who were in Dakota Territory.
It is not known what Benjamin F. Davidson did immediately following his
discharge from the Union army in August, 1865. What is known is that Davidson
appears in Clark County, Illinois in 1870. The Westfield Township census of
1870 lists a Benjamin Davidson who is thirty-six years old and is a full-time
laborer. Davidson lists his worth as $500 , which could be from his Civil War
pension , or possibly inheriting some from his parents. The 1880 Census of
Rapid Valley Township, in Pennington County, Dakota Territory, lists a
Benjamin Davidson as a farmer. The Rapid Valley census of 1880 lists a large
number of bachelor farmers who were in their mid-twenty’s to their
late-forty’s. Similar to the travels of the Minnesota 6th Regiment, Davidson
went south down the Mississippi to New Orleans, Louisiana. Pvt. Benjamin
Davidson is listed in the 1890 Veterans Schedule Census from Police Ward 7,
Tangipahoa, Louisiana. Of the veterans on the same roll of the Census as
Davidson, his three-plus years of service are the longest of those around
him.
Ten years after appearing in the census records of New Orleans, Louisiana,
Benjamin Davidson went back to the north to Martin County, Minnesota.
Davidson owns a mortgage on his land and home in Manyaska Township. At the
age of sixty-five, Davidson listed his occupation as a “pensioner”, while
having an eighteen year old lodger from Norway who worked as a day
laborer. Davidson settled in Sherburn Village, Minnesota for at least
another ten years. Davidson still appears on the Census of Sherburn Village
in 1910. As of 1910, Davidson is seventy-four years old, and is listed as
“head of household.” Without being able to locate any obituary or death
certificate in Martin County, Minnesota , some genealogical databases list a
Benjamin Davidson dying in 1912 in Sherburn Village, Minnesota. If Davidson
died in 1912, he would have lived seventy-six years and survived over three
years as a Union soldier in the Union army.
Bibliography
“1890 Veterans Schedule: Police Ward 7,
Tangipahoa, Louisiana” 1890 Special Census of Civil War Union Veterans.
http://www.ancestry.com. (Accessed
February 9, 2005)
Clark County, Illinois Message Board.
http://www.ancestry.com.
(Accessed, February 16, 2005)
Civil War Pension Index. “Pvt.
Benjamin F. Davidson, Minnesota 6th Regiment.” http://www.ancestry.com. (Accessed
February 19, 2005).
Connolly, A.P. A Thrilling
Narrative of the Minnesota Massacre and the Sioux War of 1862-1863.
Chicago: A.P. Connolly, Publisher, 1896.
Lochren, William, and the Board of
Commissioners. Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars, 1861-1865,
Second Edition. St. Paul: Pioneer Press Company, 1891.
McPherson, James M. For Cause &
Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1997.
Minnesota Historical Society. “Townships
and Villages: Manyaska Township, Martin County.” http://mnplaces.mnhs.org/upham/City.cfm”
(Accessed February 17, 2005).
National Parks Service Civil War Soldier
Database. http://www.itd.nps.gov.
(Accessed January 25, 2005).
“CWSAC Battle Summaries: Wood Lake.” http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/mn002.htm”
(Accessed February 9, 2005).
“CWSAC Battle Summaries: Spanish Fort.” http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/al005.htm”
(Accessed February 9, 2005).
“CWSAC Battle Summaries: Stony Lake.” http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/nd003.htm”
(Accessed February 9, 2005).
Tangipahoa Parish Convention &
Visitor’s Bureau. http://www.tangi-cvb.org/about.htm.
(Accessed February 17, 2005)
United States Census of 1840. “Harlem
Township of Delaware County, Ohio.” http://www.ancestry.com.
(Accessed February 22, 2005)
United States Census of 1850. “Harlem
Township of Delaware County, Ohio.” http://www.ancestry.com.
(Accessed February 22, 2005)
United States Census of 1860.
“Westerville/Blendon Township of Franklin County, Ohio.” http://www.ancestry.com. (Accessed
February 21, 2005).
United States Census of 1870. “Westfield
Township, in Clark County, Illinois.’ http://www.ancestry.com.
(Accessed February 22, 2005)
United States Census of 1880. “Rapid
Valley Township, in Pennington County, Dakota Territory.” http://www.ancestry.com (Accessed
February 23, 2005)
United States Census of 1900.
“Manyaska Township of Sherburn Village in Martin County, Minnesota.” http://www.ancestry.com (Accessed
February 9, 2005).
United States Census of 1910.
“Sherburn Village of Martin County, Minnesota.” http://www.ancestry.com. (Accessed February
10, 2005).
|