What Became of John M. Gose?

What Became of John M. Gose?

Just for the record, this John M. Gose is not the same as John Martin Gose, born in 1826 in the Christopher Gose family line; nor is he the same as John Mason Gose, born in 1878 and who was a nephew of the subject John M. Gose. Nor is he the same as John Milt Gose, a cousin and father of 10 children, born in 1825, and who was killed on his land by Guerrilla ambushers during the Civil War. The two Kentucky Johns were undoubtedly named in honor of their father/grandfather named John Gose, the 10th born child and 5th born son of the immigrant Stephan Goß and his first wife Catherine. Our immigrant's son John and his wife Catherine "Caty" (Henry) Gose moved to eastern Kentucky in 1810, and it is from this emigration that most of the Gose family found in Kentucky through the 1800's may be traced.

As seen from the interesting accounts of Civil War action involving the subject John M. Gose, he was a very aggressive individual and obviously made a lot of enemies during the "War Between The States". One of these enemies was William Osborn, known as "Bad Bill". Bill was a son of John Osborn, who was killed during the war, as related in the letters. This man swore to avenge the death of his father and spent much of his adult life obsessed with this purpose. He eventually was able to determine the names of some of the men who were present when his father was killed and thus began the work of attempting to eliminate them. It is said that he kept continuously after them and that after a few years he had succeeded in killing three or four, and others felt compelled to leave the area. Among those who left the state of Kentucky and stayed away were Marion Vaughn and John M. Gose. Arch Childers remained away after the war and made his home in Harrison County, Kentucky. Bad Bill made many plans and attempts to kill Henry Hurst, but never succeeded. It is believed that Bill never heard that Sam Taulbee was a part the crowd.

Evidently, John M. made his way to Indiana, for we find record of him filing a pension claim there in 1891. In the claim filed with the State of Indiana on the 26th of February, 1891, John M. Gose is documented as being 53 years old and a resident of "near Kingman" in Fountain County, Indiana. Additionally, according to the information documented in the pension application records, John had originally enlisted for a period of one year, in the United States Army, Company A, of the 24th Regiment of the Kentucky infantry. However, after about three months, a General (Nelson?) came to them while they were in camp at Olympian, Kentucky and declared that the one-year regiment was being disbanded. Instead, the men were presented the option to continue participation in the war effort by re-enlisting for a period of three years as Home Guards in the U.S. Army. About half of them re-enlisted as such and John was one of those that apparently did.

John reportedly remained in the Home Guard service "for a period of about one year during which nearly all were killed or captured". At that time (which is identified as being the Fall of 1862) John stated that he was engaged as a Scout for the U.S. Army and was issued equipment, clothing and rations accordingly. From that point until the end of the war in 1865 he thus reportedly served as a Scout for the U.S. Army in his home region of Kentucky - which seems to be somewhat substantiated by the letters written by the Hursts.

Pursuant to John's pension claim, his medical condition was evaluated by examination on March 18, 1891. At such time, he reported that he suffered from heart disease to such an extent that it "prevents him from the performance of manual labor". He also reported that he "has suffered from a disease of the brain which caused him to be sent to the Insane Asylum at Indianapolis".

John's medical examination revealed his pulse rate to be 72, respiration 18, and temperature 98 some degrees Fahrenheit. His height was reported to be 5 feet 6 1/2 inches and his weight was 150 lbs.

They were unable to observe any indications that John did in fact suffer from heart disease except for a "prolonged or muffled sound". However, John also complained of "spells of depression in which his left side becomes cold". He also reported that there were times when he had an "indescribable feeling in his head and left side of (his) thorax, particularly in (the) region of (the) chest". He further stated that he suffered from "piles" at times, but the examination did not reveal any present issues with this. The examiner noted in the report that John was "very forgetful".

As a result of the examination, it was opined that John was entitled to an "8/18 rating for the disability caused by Disease of (the) Nervous System".

A U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Pensions document issued from Washington, D.C. on January 8, 1892, stated that pursuant to John M. Gose's pension claim "further action can not be taken by this Bureau until claimant's proper service shall have been furnished". This standard form type of document went on to state: "The records on file in the War Department fail to show his name in connection with the service named in the application. If possible, his discharge certificate should be furnished; if not, the correct letter of the company, number of the regiment, names of all vessels, or designation of the organization in which service was rendered, should be given, together with the names of commanding officers and dates of enlistment and discharge; also the nature of the duties performed and the correct name under which he enlisted and served."

So far as we can tell, John M. Gose's Civil War Pension was never established and he may have lived out his last days in an Indiana State Institution. It appears that he never married and may not have lived very many more years.

What caused John to choose Indiana as his place of refuge? We can only speculate. Certainly Indiana had plenty of land that was reasonably obtainable to those moving into the area around that time. It was part of the "newer frontier" of The West. Might there have been some other family or friends of John's who were heading that direction as well or who perhaps were already living there?

Some of John M. Gose's cousins descending from Stephen, the second born son of the 1752 immigrant, moved to Indiana in 1831. However they settled in Boone County which is just north of Indianapolis, and the Kingman area of Fountain County is almost due west of Indianapolis near the western state line. One of those descendants whom you can read about elsewhere in this website (Family Stories) was Stephen Yancy Gose who by this time had moved on to Iowa. We do not know if any of the Gose descendents had spread to the western area of Indiana by this time, but it is possible that they had and John M. knew of it.

As for Bad Bill... his reputation as a desperate man was well known and he ended up being killed around 1918 in Anniston, Alabama by a butcher who split his head with a cleaver.

If any of you have any more information about John M. Gose that will help bring more closure to the story, we would really like to hear from you!