Military Monday: Solomon J. Ishmael in the Civil War

Document showing
he mustered out
May 31, 1865

It seems that most of my Civil War ancestors fought on the Confederate side. That makes sense since a good portion of my Dad's family came from the Southern states. I do have a some ancestors who fought in the Union Army. Solomon J. Ishmael, one of my paternal 4th great grandfathers, was one of them.

Solomon Ishmael was born November 14, 1817, in Kentucky to Robert and Mary Adams Ishmael. He was married first to America Manning, and they had six children (including my 3rd great grandmother, Serena Jane Ishmael) before she died in 1860. He married Elizabeth Martin in 1861 and they had six children together.

Muster roll showing
illness event

Solomon was a Private in the Missouri 23rd Regiment Infantry Volunteers, Company B, under Captain Nash. He enlisted on July 25, 1862, in Trenton, Missouri, and mustered in at Hudson, Missouri, on August 31, 1862. He was 44 1/2 years old (not a spring chicken in those days). He was mustered out on May 18, 1865, near Washington, D.C.

According to the various muster rolls, Solomon contracted small pox in around February 1864, and was in the hospital in McMinnville, Tennessee, until at least after the muster roll dated January 14, 1865. His regiment was guarding the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad at McMinnville from December 1863 to July 1864, so that fits in the right timeframe. While he was ill, his company saw much action, including the Battle of Peach Tree Creek and the Battle of Atlanta in Georgia. It appears that he was eventually well enough to rejoin his regiment at some point, as he was mustered out near Washington, D.C, at the end of the war.

Muster roll with
personal details

His Civil War documents also give us some personal details about Solomon:

• He was a farmer.
• He was born in Nicholas County, Kentucky (which is corroborated by census documents).
• He had grey eyes and brown hair.
• He was 5'10" tall (or 6' 1/2", depending on which document you look at) and had a medium complexion.
• He was not able to write his own name, and made his "mark" on documents where a signature was required. 
• He was generally healthy when he enlisted: he'd been vaccinated, his organs were all "sound and perfectly formed," he was not a drinker and he'd never had "the horrors."
• He enlisted for a period of three years. 
• Oddly, several of the documents noted his age as 35, 42, 44 or 45 years old. In truth, he was between 44 and 47 years old during his time of service.
• Prior to joining the Union Army, he had been enlisted in the Kings Regiment of the Missouri State Militia.

Another fascinating little tidbit I discovered while researching Solomon's stint in the Union Army: his recruiting officer was his daughter's, Serena Jane Ishmael Rooks, father-in-law: another of my 4th great grandfathers, Samuel E. Rooks. Yes, I'll be researching Samuel's military history next!

Form for Examining a Recruit

Declaration of Recruit

Volunteer Enlistment Form. Also includes signature of
his recruiting officer, Samuel Rooks
(another of my 4th great grandfathers)

Solomon died on December 19, 1894, and was buried in Black Oak Cemetery in Marion Township, Grundy County, Missouri. His tombstone is inscribed:

77y 1m 5d. "Rest soldier, rest. Thy warfare o'er. Sleep the sleep that knows no breaking. Dream of battlefields no more, days of danger, nights of waking." Co B 23 Mo Inf.

Pension record

Here's how I'm descended from Solomon J. Ishmael:

Solomon J. Ishmael/America Manning >

Serena Jane Ishmael/Thomas J. Rooks >

Mary Jane Rooks/Frederick Harmon Brittain >

Andrew Lee Brittain/Jessie Luetta Halstead >

Woodie Leroy Brittain/Edith Vivian Hunt >

William Lee Brittain/Rebecca Elizabeth Bartram >

me!