Blood, Aretus B.

MILITARY SERVICE Age: 32, credited to West Windsor, VT Unit(s): 12th VT INF Service: enl 8/19/62, m/i 10/4/62, Pvt, Co. A, 12th VT INF, disch 1/31/63 See Legend for expansion of abbreviations VITALS Birth: 07/06/1830, Windsor, VT Death: 02/11/1892 Burial: Sheddsville Cemetery, West Windsor, VT Marker/Plot: Not recorded Gravestone researcher/photographer: Joie Finley Morris Findagrave Memorial #: 0 (There may be a Findagrave Memorial, but we have not recorded it) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Alias?: None noted Pension?: Yes Portrait?: Unknown College?: Not Found Veterans Home?: Not Found (State digraphs will show that this soldier spent some time in a state or national soldier's home) Remarks: See Benedict's Army Life in Virginia DESCENDANTS (Are you a descendant, but not listed? Register today)

BURIAL: Copyright notice Sheddsville Cemetery, West Windsor, VT Check the cemetery for location/directions and other veterans who may be buried there.

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Biography

Aretas Bailey Blood (8), {Sylvester (7), John (6), Caleb (5), John (4) James (3), Richard (2), James (1)}, was born on Blood Hill in West Windsor, Vermont, 6 July, 1830. He m. in Hartland, Vt., 15 Sept., 1851, Nancy Delight Oakes (b. W. Windsor, 1 Jan., 1835, dau. of James William & Ann Louisa (Hall) Oakes).

Aretas lived on the homestead farm of his grandfather, known as "Blood Hill." At the taking of the 1870 census of Windsor, his farm was valued at $4,000, and he had additional personal property valued at $1,200. Ellen (age 17), Howard (age 9), Lester (age 7), Mary (age 4), Herman (age 3), and Eugene (age 2), were living in the household with George Grow (age 56), the hired hand, and Edgar Sawin (age 16), a farm laborer. Delight McNelly (age 68), was living with the family as well.

In a directory of the town in 1884, Aretas was farming 173 acres of land, breeding Merino sheep. He had a sugar orchard of 600 trees. In the same year it was mentioned that an elm tree standing near the house had a circumference of 18 feet, 2 inches. This elm was planted by a brother of Aretas' grandfather, John Blood when he moved to the area. Many of these ancient and beautiful Vermont elm trees were destroyed by disease, but one can only imagine how beautiful they were, gracing the by-ways of the old dirt roads through the towns and villages of Vermont before the turn of the century.

Aretas was a Civil War soldier, serving in Co. "A", 12th Reg't Vt. Vols. He enlisted 19 Aug., 1862. He was mustered in on 4 Oct., 1862 and discharged 31 Jan., 1863. Family records say that he was discharged because he suffered with severe migraine headaches. His wife Nancy probably never weighed over one hundred pounds in her life, only when she was carrying her children, according to her granddaughter, yet she lugged all her own water for household chores from a well 'across the yard from the house.' Aretas and Nancy had 13 children. Certainly this side of the Blood family produced many descendants.

Aretas d. on the farm of heart disease, 11 Feb. 1892 (age 62).

Nancy d. at Walpole, Massachusetts, 15 Nov., 1899. They were both buried in the Sheddsville cemetery in West Windsor, Vt.

Contributed by Linda M. Welch.

Obituary

West Windsor--- Aretus B. Blood, a life long resident died suddenly last Thursday from heart failure as a complication of the grip, aged 61 years. He was buried Sunday at Sheddville. Rev. C. F. Partidge officiating.

Bellows Falls Times, Feb. 18, 1892

Courtesy of Deanna French