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Raymond, Isaac W.
MILITARY SERVICE
Age: 23, credited to Orwell, VT
Unit(s): 5th VT INF
Service: enl 9/2/61, m/i 9/16/61, Pvt, Co. H, 5th VT INF, m/o 12/15/62
See Legend for expansion of abbreviations
VITALS
Birth: 08/17/1838, Orwell, VT
Death: 12/29/1918
Burial: Mountain View Cemetery, Orwell, VT
Marker/Plot: 88
Gravestone researcher/photographer: Alan Lathrop
Findagrave Memorial #: 26313463
MORE INFORMATION
Alias?: None noted
Pension?: Unknown
Portrait?: Unknown
College?: Not Found
Veterans Home?: Not Found
(If there are state digraphs above, this soldier spent some time in a state or national soldiers' home in that state after the war)
Remarks: None
DESCENDANTS
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BURIAL:
Copyright notice
Mountain View Cemetery, Orwell, VT
Check the cemetery for location/directions and other veterans who may be buried there.
Biography
Isaac W. Raymond was Edson M. Raymond's younger brother. Isaac was born eight years after Edson, on August 17, 1838 in Orwell. They shared the same parents and lived on the same farm enjoying the same prosperity as all the other Raymonds did up to the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. That's when their lives began to diverge. Isaac the younger was first to join up in the fall of 1861 after the first three months men came home. In a patriarchal moment, Edson enlisted the next day and the two of them went off to war together in the same uniform, same Company and same Regiment. But Isaac would not enjoy the same luck at war that his older brother, Edson, did.
According to the Regimental Descriptive Book, five feet six and one quarter inch tall Isaac W. Raymond enlisted in Company H of the Fifth Vermont Infantry on September 2, 1861 at the age of twenty-three. He was dark in complexion, had black eyes and black hair. His occupation was that of a farmer who hailed from "Orwall" although he went for Brandon, Vermont. His term of service was originally for three years. [1] As already noted, his older brother, Edson, enlisted in the same unit the next day, September 3, 1861. It wasn't until the sixteenth of September, 1861 that Isaac was actually mustered-in the service of the U.S. at St. Albans. [2] And at that time, he was present but sick. [3] Right from the first day in the army, Isaac suffered from poor health. Apparently he did not have the hardy constitution of his brother who was never sick during his entire tour of duty in the Fifth.
The Fifth was organized in St. Albans, Vermont. Its companies were raised in various towns throughout the State. Company B, for example, was comprised of only men from Middlebury; Company E was from Manchester; Company H, from Brandon; Company F, from Cornwall; and so on. The Regiment was mustered-in on September 16, 1861 at St. Albans. It was immediately sent to Washington, D.C. and joined the other Vermont troops already at Camp Advance (Griffin) near the Chain Bridge in Virginia where it was assigned to the Vermont Brigade with which it served during the rest of the war. Throughout the fall of 1861, and the first few months of 1862, it was on duty in the defenses surrounding Washington.
March 10, 1862 the Fifth moved to Alexandria, Virginia. Two weeks later, the Regiment boarded transport ships for the Virginia Peninsula landing at Fort Monroe. It moved to New Port News on the twenty-third and twenty-fourth of March, 1862. By April 16, 1862, the Regiment was at Lee's Mills with the Vermont Brigade. On June 29, the Fifth brought four hundred men to the action at Savage's Station. In one half hour of fighting, it lost one hundred eighty-eight of them on the field. Company E of Manchester suffered the heaviest losses of any company from Vermont. Company E went into the engagement with fifty-nine muskets. In that one half hour of fierce conflict, it lost forty-four of the fifty-nine; twenty-five were killed and nineteen were wounded. Five Cummings brothers and one cousin from the company were among those killed or wounded. Only one of the six recovered from his wounds. The Regiment as a whole suffered the heaviest loss in killed and wounded at the Battle of Savage's Station, Virginia on June 29, 1862 of any Union regiment in a single action of the entire war. In the following few days, the Fifth along with the rest of the Vermont Brigade, went on to be involved in more fighting at White Oak Swamp and Malvern Hill as the Federals retreated from General Lee towards Harrison's Landing.
On August 16 - 24, 1862, the Regiment returned to Fort Monroe and reached the Bull Run battlefield by August 30, just missing the fighting there. During the Maryland Campaign of 1862, the Fifth took part in Crampton's Gap (South Mountain) and Antietam. It ended 1862 engaged in the Battle of Fredericksburg. In January (23-24) of 1863, it joined Burnside's "Mud March" on its way to Marye's Heights and Salem Church. It celebrated the Fourth of July at Gettysburg. The Fifth took a break August 14 through September 16, 1863 and relaxed in New York during the draft riots there. The Regiment rejoined the Army of the Potomac at Culpeper Court House in Virginia on September 23. It went into winter quarters at Brandy Station where the veterans of the Regiment re-enlisted on December 15, 1863 and was the first Regiment granted a veteran's furlough for a month's duration.
On its return from furlough in Vermont, the Fifth continued as a veteran organization and participated in the bloody month with the Army of the Potomac from the Wilderness to Cold Harbor, and took an active part in the siege of Petersburg. The Regiment began the campaign with five hundred men. In one month, it lost three hundred forty-nine killed, wounded and missing, including thirteen officers. September 15, 1864, the term of service for original members who had not re-enlisted expired. They were mustered-out leaving present for duty one assistant surgeon, a quartermaster, three first lieutenants and three hundred enlisted personnel. After the October 19 Battle of Cedar Creek, the Fifth moved to the Siege of Petersburg again and went into winter camp at Squirrel Level Road in December, 1864.
When Petersburg finally fell in April of 1865, the Fifth Vermont was the first Regiment to plant its colors on the Confederate defensive works. The unit was present at Appomattox Court House for the surrender of Robert E. Lee and his army. June 8, 1865 the Fifth marched in the Corps Review held at Washington, D.C. On June 29, the veterans were mustered-out. At its discharge, there were only twenty-four officers and two hundred eighty-eight men on its rolls - three hundred twelve total out of an original strength of 1,618 . For the last ten months of its service, the highest ranking officer in the Fifth present for duty was a captain; for more than three months of those last ten, the highest ranking officer present for duty was a lieutenant. Every officer present for the Grand Review went out as a private. [4]
Private Raymond had a spell of four months running, from January, 1862 to May, 1862 when he was present and fit for duty. The Company Muster Roll dated May/June, 1862. listed him present but sick. July and August seemed healthy months for Isaac again. [5] But by September/October of 1862, he was in the General Hospital, Harewood U.S.A., at the District of Columbia and had been admitted there around the eighth of September. [6] When the members of the Fifth were given the opportunity to reenlist as Veterans on December 15, 1862, Private Raymond was being handed his discharge papers on order of General Brown. [7] The soldier, who now had a light complexion, hazel eyes and light brown hair, "...had been unfit for duty last 60 days (October-November)...." and "...incapable of performing the duties of a soldier because of - Debility from Pneumonia, and because of Chronic Diarrhea...." The army surgeon had examined him on December 2, 1862 at Newark, New Jersey. He was discharged on Decembers 15, 1862. [8] For Isaac, the war was over before it had barely begun for him. He was in and out of the service in a little over a year.
Isaac returned to Vermont and, presumably, the Orwell farm where he resumed his spot in the family and its business. There was a nearly ten year gap in the records of Isaac's life. He did, though, apply for, and was granted, a government pension in 1863 based on his declared disability from his exposure and sicknesses during his brief enlistment. [9] On January 12, 1871 Isaac married. The bride was twenty-nine year old Jennie A. Drew from Orwell. He was thirty-two. Jennie's father was George Drew, an immigrant from Scotland. Her mother was Samantha Whittemore from Starksboro, Vermont. Jennie had been born in Pittsford, Vermont on September 9, 1841. Her father farmed in Orwell since about 1850. [10] In 1860, Jennie, her sister, Laura, and their mother, Samantha were all living with Joel "Whiemore" (Whitmor) in Orwell. Salome "Whiemore", age seventy-nine, and Rufus "Whiemore", age 82, also lived in the same household. Samantha was Joel's sister and Salome and Rufus were the parents of both of them. Rufus and Salome were also the grandparents of Jennie and her sister, Laura. Rufus had a farm in Orwell which his son, Joel, was in charge of. There was no mention of George, Jennie's father, or of Julia, another sister of Jennie's. There was a hired "man" named Nathan Woodard, aged sixteen, living in the household as well. [11] It wasn't long after they were married that Isaac and his new wife had their first, and only, child, Grace A. She was born November 27, 1871 in Orwell. [12]
Isaac continued to work on Rufus' farm on into the next decade. He worked alongside of Joel, his uncle. Samantha and Jennie's mother, as well as Grace A., Isaac's wife and daughter, rounded out the extended family. In addition to all the blood relations, Joel, who was listed as head of household, had a female boarder by the name of Kelly Sanford, age 8, living with him. He also had a hired man named John Sullivan (18) from Ireland rooming with everyone else. Needless to say, it was a cramped and diverse household. [13]
There is another gap of ten years in Isaac's story due to the 1890 Federal Census being burned in a fire. Isaac did not surface in the 1890 Veteran Schedule either. There is reason to believe that Isaac did not consider himself a veteran even though he had spent over a year in the service. He did, however, enjoy the fruits of a disability pension.
In 1897, Isaac and his wife, Jennie, lost their only child Grace A. She was taken by typhoid fever on May 28. [14] When 1900 rolled around, Isaac was sixty-one and Jennie was fifty-eight. He was the head of his own house by then. It was just himself and Jennie living in the house in Orwell. Isaac had no occupation. He must have lived off of the military pension he had been granted. The 1900 Census was the one in which Jennie declared that she had born only one child and that none had survived into the 1900's. [15]
At the age of seventy-one, Isaac moved his residence to Brandon, Vermont. He and Jennie lived on High Street in town. They had been married for thirty-nine years. The couple owned their home in Brandon free from any mortgage. In this particular Census, the enumerator asked males in the family if they were survivors of the Union or Confederate Army or Navy. Apparently Isaac told the census taker the question was "Not Applicable" to him. [16] The last six months of Isaac's life was spent in the Vermont Soldiers' Home in Bennington, Vermont. He had, apparently, declined in health to the point where Jennie could not care for him. She was, after all, in her late seventies. He did not linger long after becoming a resident of the Home. He passed away there on December 29, 1918 of "pyelitis", an inflammation of the renal pelvis, and an enlarged prostrate. [17] Of course, being eighty years old had nothing to do with his death. His remains were returned to Orwell for burial.
Jennie continued to live in Brandon for two years after Isaac's death. She applied for a widow's pension on February 8, 1919. [18] By 1920, she had moved to 114 Gibson Avenue in Rutland. There she lived with her fifty-nine year old cousin and his wife. Jerry Genne, her cousin, worked as a carpenter at the Scale Works in Rutland. [19] At eighty-one, Jennie died of a cerebral hemorrhage and nephritis and arteriosclerosis in Rutland. [20]
NOTES:
1. Fold3.com, Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Vermont, p. 3, image 311510697. Herein-after referred to as Compiled Service Records.
2. Ibid., Compiled Service Records, p. 4, image 311510702.
3. Ibid., Compiled Service Records, p. 6, image 311510710.
4. Ancestry.com, U.S. American Civil War Regiments, 1861-1866; Vermont in the Civil War.org/Units/1st Brigade/Fifth Vermont Infantry; http://civilwarintheeast.com/us_regiments_batteries_vermont/5th_vermont.
5. Fold3.com, Compiled Service Records, p. 7, image 311510715 and following to p. 12.
6. Ibid., Compiled Service Records, p. 12, image 311510735.
7. Ibid., Compiled Service Records, p. 14, image 311510742.
8. Ibid., Compiled Service Records, p. 20, image 311510770. Certificate of Disability for Private Isaac W. Raymond.
9. Ancestry.com, U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861- 1934 for Isaac W. Raymond.
10. Ibid., Raymond Family Tree for Jennie A. Drew and Isaac W. Raymond; Ibid., Vermont, Vital Records, Marriage, 1720-1908 for Isaac W. Raymond; Ibid., Vermont, Death Records, 1909-2008 for Jennie A. Raymond.
11. Ibid., 1860 U.S. Federal Census for Jennie Drew; www.findagrave.com, Memorial #26313372 for Joel Rufus Whitmore.
12. Ibid., Raymond Family Tree for Grace A. Raymond.
13. Ibid., 1880 U.S. Federal Census for Isaac Raymond.
14. Ibid., Vermont, Vital Records, 1720-1908 for Grace A. Huntley.
15. Ibid., 1900 U.S. Federal Census for Isaac Raymond.
16. Ibid., 1910 U.S. Federal Census for Isaacher W. Raymond.
17. Ibid., Vermont, Death Records, 1909-2008 for Isaac W. Raymond.
18. Ibid., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 for Isaac W. Raymond.
19. Ibid., 1920 U.S. Federal Census for Jennie Raymond; Ibid., U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 for Isaac W. Raymond (1919, 1920 and 1922).
20. Ibid., Vermont, Death Records, 1909-2008 for Jennie A. Raymond.
Courtesy of Bernie Noble.
Obituary
Isaac W. Raymond, a Civil war veteran, and member of Roberts post, G.A.R., died Sunday morning at the Soldiers' home in Bennington where he had lived since July.
Mr. Raymond was born in Orwell August 17, 1838. On January 12, 1871, he married Miss Jennie Drew, who survives him, living at 114 Gibson Avenue. He also leaves a brother, John Raymond of Orwell. Mr. and Mrs. Raymond lived in Orwell until about four years ago when they moved to Rutland. He was a member of Company H, 5th Vermont infantry. The body will be taken to Orwell where the funeral will be held and the burial will take place.Source: Rutland Daily Herald, Dec. 31, 1918
Courtesy of Jennifer Snoots.
