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Submitted by
Frank Love Churchill, Jr.
John Churchill
1802-1864
John Churchill was born in Lamoille
County, Stowe, Vermont, on Oct. 2, 1802 to his parents
William Churchill and Eunice Badger. Family history shows
that John’s grandfather was Sgt. Ichabod Churchill who was
born in Middleboro, Mass. He had been a minuteman under
Capt. Amos Wade during the Revolution. Ichabod left his
home in Middleboro in 1776 and relocated to Windsor County,
Woodstock, Vermont. There Ichabod raised a large family of
18 children between two wives. Our John Churchill must have
known him as Ichabod did not die until Aug. 9, 1826, at
Windsor, Vt. Ichabod was descended from the original
settler of Plymouth, Mass. also who was known as John
Churchill (1622-1662). This original settler married Hanna
Pontus (1623-1690). The original John Churchill of Plymouth
we believe came to America to escape the instability of
England and the coming civil war there. We do not believe
he himself was particularly religious but his wife’s family
certainly was. This John Churchill married well and
prospered in the Plymouth Colony and became a freeman. They
were given land in the original distribution and the later
generations went to nearby land grants to Middleboro. These
people survived terrible hardships and the second generation
of settlers let relationships with the Indians go bad
resulting in the King Phillip War. Many of the original
settlers all married each other’s families. This resulted
in our John Churchill being related to at least 13 of the
original passengers on the Mayflower to include Gov. William
Bradford, William Brewster, Myles Standish and John Alden.
Our John Churchill must have had quite an idea of his family
history. I can find no particular wealth build by the
family to this point and it appears they were moving west
farming on small properties.
An 1850 census shows our John Churchill
living in Stephenson Co., Lancaster, Ill. in 1850. It shows
he was 47 years old and that his wife Experience (Hale) was
with him. They show 7 children at that time who were Luther
Bernard (my g grandfather) who served in the 12th Iowa in
company B, James age 16 of which next to nothing is known,
Emily who later married Edward Stone, Safronia who married
George Nye and is believed to have been killed during the
war, John Franklin, who died young in 1856, Abigail Williams
who married Charles Allison, and lastly
Edwin who was
born in 1844. Records reflect that of this family my g
grandfather (Luther Bernard) first joined the Northern Army
in 1861, 12th Iowa- Company B. He probably was at the
battle of Ft. Donaldson, Feb. 12-16, 1862. He was mustered
out on April 4, 1862. We know that Luther had joined a Iowa
regiment but later returned to Stephenson Co., Ill. after
the war. His father’s family was clearly in Waucon, Iowa,
as we find our John Churchill and his youngest son Edwin,
age 19, enlisting in the 27th Iowa-company B on Mar. 11,
1864 at Center, Iowa. He was to be paid a bounty of $300
of which I believe he received $60 up front and an advance
of $12. His enlistment papers described him as gray haired,
5’6 with blue eyes and of good character. He also notes
that he was 42 years old. This was a clear lie as he was
born in 1802. John and his son Edwin train as infantry and
are shipped down river to participate against the
rebellion. Military records reflect that John Churchill
became very ill with chronic diarrhea. He was placed in the
Adams Military Hospital in Memphis. There are three dates
of death shown. The official date was July 4, 1864, but
hospital records show he died either the 24 or 25th of
June. My guess would be that he died the night of the 24th
or early 25th of June. An assistant surgeon signs that he
died on the 25 of June, 1864, although another record shows
the 24th. John is buried in the Memphis National Cemetery
(not Nashville as reflected wrongly in the Ancestry.Com
site). His son Edwin continues to serve to the end on the
war, although he transfers out of the 27th Iowa to his older
brother’s old unit the 12th Iowa. Edwin survives the war
and we believe he became a postmaster in Leavenworth,
Kansas. John’s widow (Olive Experience Hale Churchill)
applies for a pension, number 58833 and certificate number
58503. She dies on Oct. 13, 1878, in Waucon, Iowa. I can
only wonder what she thought about her 61 year old husband
going off to war. Luther Bernard Churchill married Mary
Jane Hawkins on Feb. 15, 1853, at McConnels Grove, Ill.
Luther and Mary Jane have five children who are Herbert
DeForest, William T., Abigail Experience, John Lincoln, and
my grandfather Frank Elmer. Luther and his wife Mary Jane
in late life are living in Arizona. We believe he followed
John Lincoln there and may have lived with a grandchild.
We know for sure that Luther Bernard Churchill was in the
Sawtelle Old Soldiers Home in Los Angeles, Calf. and he died
there around 1910. We know for sure he was buried in the
Masonic Cemetery with his wife Mary Jane in Sonora, Calf.
It is known that John Lincoln married Betty Swaty. They had
children and they became Mormons. My grandfather (Frank
Elmer Churchill) left Ill. at a young age and we are told he
rode into Indian Territory and was a cowboy in early life.
He came to Jacksonville, Texas near the turn of the century
and married my grandmother Maggie Bell Love. This was a
good marriage for him as this brought some farming land. He
later became a druggist and investor and had two sons, my
father Frank Love Churchill and Winston. These two boys
were known to be sons of a rich man. The stock market crash
of the 1930s changed all of that and Frank Elmer soon died,
nearly broke. This pretty much sums up the Yankee side of my
family-indentured servant to rich man, rags to riches to
rags and so forth in how many generations. An interesting
point is that Frank Elmer married Maggie Bell Love, the
daughter of a staunch Texas southerner who served against
the northern army in the Red River Campaign.
Frank Love Churchill, Jr.
June 16, 2007- San Antonio, Texas
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