Tuesday, January 9, 2018

James Berry Crail, Jr. - Part II (Sylvester & John)

2.  Sylvester B. Crail918 (James Berry-1) was born on 20 Jan 1835 in Hamilton Co., Ohio.9,19 He died on 17 Jan 1898 at the age of 62 in Indiana State Soldiers' Home, Lafayette, Tippecanoe Co., Indiana.1920 He was buried after 17 Jan 1898 in Indiana State Soldiers' Home [West Central Section Row 10], Lafayette, Tippecanoe Co., Indiana.21 Sylvester was a farmer, expressman.9,11  Sylvester was born to James and Mary [Jones] Crail in 1835 in Hamilton Co., Ohio. Sylvester had, at least, two younger brothers John and Aaron. The family arrived in Indiana about 1847. Sylvester and John were living in Hamilton County in 1860 and Aaron in Marion County. All three brothers were to serve the Union during the Civil War. Sylvester was mustered in as a private with Company B of the 79th Indiana Infantry on 9 August 1862 and transferred to the 94th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Veterans Reserve Corps on 14 January 1864. The VRC [part of the US War Department] was made up of soldiers too badly injured for field duty who were used for clerical work and light manual labor. Sylvester was mustered out 30 June 1865 at Indianapolis as a sergeant.

The Civil War was not kind to the Crail family. Sylvester, John, and Aaron were all struck with illnesses during battle that would eventually leave them nearly incapacitated in their later years, take their lives, or both.

In the company descriptive book Sylvester was listed as aged 27, 5'9' tall, with dark hair, eyes, and complexion, born in Hamilton, Ohio, and listed as a farmer. Sylvester Crail's regiment saw action at the Battle of Stone River, Tennessee in December 1862. During that engagement, Sylvester came down with a severe cold that settled in his back. On the 31st of December he was struck in the breast by a horse [presumably a Confederate cavalry mount], became separated from his company, and was captured by the enemy. Sylvester was a prisoner of war until late July or August of 1863, when he was paroled. He was listed as "sick in hospital at Louisville, Kentucky" in August. He was hospitalized in Chattanooga, Tennessee in September. From October 1863 until January 1864 Pvt. Crail was treated in Indianapolis. On 14 January 1864, Sylvester was transferred to the Veterans Reserve Corps. He served out his enlistment with the 94th Company, 2nd Battalion, of the VRC.  According to an affidavit dated 30 March 1885 by O.C. Greene, who also served in Co. B, 79th Indiana Volunteers, Sylvester notified the company by letter that he had been captured, paroled, and had returned home for medical treatment.

After the war, Sylvester returned to farming briefly, but then became an expressman [probably a hack driver - 1880s version of taxi cabs] in Indianapolis until at least the early 1880s. The cold that had settled in his back in 1862, had resulted in back and kidney ailments that gradually rendered Sylvester unable to perform manual labor. His application for an Invalid Pension was filed on 25 April 1882 and granted on 25 September [Certificate #308202]. Sylvester received $4 per month until 5 December 1888, when the pension was raised to $8.  Various friends, fellow soldiers, and his brother John were among those who supplied affidavits to the pension office. He had been described as a stout and healthy man before entering the service and suffering from back and kidney ailments after returning home.

Over the next 17 years, Sylvester's health continued to worsen. In addition to the back and kidney problems, he suffered from disease of the lungs and eyes, chronic gripe, enlargement of the liver, rheumatism of the hips and lumbar region of the back.

In 1897, he applied for admission to the Indiana State Soldiers' Home in Tippecanoe County for himself and his wife. Sylvester cited "disease of back and general disability" as his reason for applying and his sole means of support as his $8 per month pension. At the time of his application, Sylvester Crail was living near Carmel, Hamilton Co., Indiana. Sylvester Crail died at the Soldiers' Home three days short of his 63rd birthday on 17 January 1898. He was buried in the cemetery on the grounds.

On his ISSH application, Sylvester stated that he was married twice, in 1857 and 1886. According to the Indiana Marriage Records 1845 - 1920 & 1800 - 1941, Sylvester Crail was married three times. First to Amanda Cutsinger in Shelby Co., Indiana in 1854; second to Mary A. Wese or Lewis in 1856 in Johnson Co., Indiana; and third to Emma Miller in Marion Co., Indiana in 1888. His brother stated, in his 28 January 1898 affidavit, that Sylvester's first wife, Mary Wease, died about 29 May 1887 near Nora, Marion Co., Indiana. He further stated that Sylvester married his second wife, Emma Miller on 15 March 1888. No mention was made of Amanda Cutsinger.

The Marion Co., Indiana marriage records show Sylvester or S.B. Crail as the father of John Crail [in 1896 and 1907] with Lewis and Mary Lewis listed as the mother.

Sylvester Crail died at the Indiana State Soldiers' Home on Sunday, 16 January 1898. According to his obituary, Sylvester was popular with his fellow residents. He was buried in the ISSH Cemetery the following Tuesday.

Sylvester stated that he had three children; Ann E. Lyon [30] and Sarah [25] of California, and John S. Crail [23] of Carmel, Indiana. Census records show that he had four children by Mary: Ann, Mary, Sarah, and John. It would be assumed that daughter Mary died before 1887. There is also a William H. listed in the household as age 9 born Ohio in the 1860 census.

William brought some confusion to the identity of members of the Crail family. He was the son of Mary A. Lewis and her first husband Solomon Wease. William used his step-father's surname for part of his life and then reverted to using Wease. Therefore William H. Crail and William H. Wease were one and the same.

William H. Wease [aged 50] submitted an affidavit for John Crail's pension dated 13 January 1902. In that document Wease stated that he had known John for 45 years. This would have coincided with Sylvester's marriage to Mary Wease.

Emma [Miller] Crail continued to reside at the Indiana State Soldier's Home in Lafayette after Sylvester's death. Emma had applied for a widow's pension after her husband's passing. Said pension was issued on 10 August 1898 [Certificate #467572] at $8 per month. Affidavits filed by Daniel Y. Miller [Emma's brother] and John Crail supported Emma's claim that she had no real or personal estate and relied on the pension money for her support the time of Emma's death, her monthly pension allotments had been raised to $40.

On 1 July 1927, Celia D. Nevins of Indianapolis was appointed guardian for Emma Crail, who had been declared a "person of unsound mind." [Celia Nevins was John Crail's granddaughter.] Emma died on 14 February 1936 at the ISSH in Lafayette, Indiana.
Sylvester B. Crail and Amanda Custinger were married on 9 Mar 1854 in Shelby Co., Indiana.2223 Amanda Custinger17,22 died before May 1856 in Indiana.22 She was also known as Amanda Crail.22 Neither Sylvester nor John Crail mention Sylvester's first recorded marriage to Amanda in Sylvester's pension application or Emma Crail's widow's pension file. Whether Amanda died shortly after the marriage or it ended with a sudden annulment or divorce is not yet known.
 
 
Sylvester B. Crail and Mary A. Lewis were married on 13 May 1856 in Johnson Co., Indiana.24 Mary A. Lewis9,25, daughter of Simeon Lewis and E. Babcock, was born about 1830 in Ohio.9 She died on 29 May 1887 at the age of 57 in Clay Twp., Hamilton Co., Indiana.17,26 She was also known as Mary A. Crail. Mary was also known as Mary A. Wease.27
 
Sylvester B. Crail and Mary A. Lewis had the following children:
 
6 i. Ann Eliza "Eliza Ann" Crail, born abt 1857, Marion Co., Indiana; married ________ Lyons.
ii. Mary T. Crail12 was born about 1859 in Marion Co., Indiana.9 She died before 1897 at the age of 38.12 Mary was listed in the 1860 and 1870 censuses. Her father named three children in his Soldiers' Home application, Ann, Sarah and John. Therefore, Mary died sometime before 1898.
7 iii. Sarah J. Crail, born abt 1861, Marion Co., Indiana; married John Goodwiller, 13 Nov 1879, Marion Co., Indiana.
8 iv. John Crail, born 25 Aug 1867, Marion Co., Indiana; married Minnie Wason \ Wasson, 23 Jan 1907, Marion Co., Indiana; died 26 Dec 1925, Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana.
 
Sylvester B. Crail and Emma Miller were married on 15 Mar 1888 in Marion Co., Indiana.10 Emma Miller10 was born on 8 Dec 1844 in Pennsylvania.17,28 She died on 14 Feb 1936 at the age of 91 in Indiana State Soldiers' Home, Lafayette, Tippecanoe Co., Indiana.17 She was also known as Emma Crail.10
 
 
 
 
3.  John V. Crail1,1618,2935 (James Berry-1) was born on 30 May 1837 in Hamilton Co., Ohio.1,18 He died on 23 Nov 1907 at the age of 70 in Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana.1 He was buried on 26 Nov 1907 in Crown Hill Cemetery  [National Cemetery Section], Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana.1,31 John was the son of James Crail and Mary Jones, born in Hamilton Co., Ohio in 1837. John served with Company I of the 124th Indiana Infantry along with his brother Aaron. They enlisted on 21 February 1864 at Indianapolis and mustered in on 17 March. During the Kenesaw Mountain - Atlanta Campaign Aaron fell ill and was mustered out early after several months in military hospitals. John completed his enlistment and was mustered out at Greensboro, North Carolina on 31 August 1865. The company descriptive book showed John as aged 27, 6'0" tall, with light hair, hazel eyes, and light complexion, born in Hamilton, Ohio and a farmer.

In between enlistment and the return home, John Crail met with illness that would impact the rest of his life. According to George Spees, who was a 2nd Lieutenant in John's company, during April of 1864 at Decatur, Georgia, Private Crail contracted a severe cold that affected his lungs and throat .John also suffered rheumatism. John also suffered from chronic diarrhea and piles [enlarged and engorged blood vessels around the lower back passage]. Spees described him as a man "of good habits, truthful and honest and was a good and faithful soldier. John spent most of October through December in Atlanta General Hospital. Crail was fit for duty by 1 March 1865 and returned to his regiment for the duration of the war.

John returned home to wife Melissa and two children and a life as a farmer. He purchased a tract of land from Samuel Shank
for $300 on 16 October 1865 [The west half of the northwest quarter of Section 10, township 15, north of range 4 east, which lies north of the Central Railroad, containing 3½ acres]. (Marion Co. Deeds, Book NN 1865-66, p. 364, film IND 1-049A26, ISL) John and Melissa sold that piece of land to William Johnson on 10 April 1866 for $500. (MCD: Book PP, p. 48, IND 1-049A27, ISL) During the mid-1870s, the family moved within the Indianapolis city limits and John worked as a carpenter.[1876/7 Swartz and Tedrowe City Directory, p. 132, FHL #1376926]

John Crail's health continued to declined after the war. He applied for an invalid pension on 20 May 1888. Various medical and personal affidavits testify to his inability to continue his carpentry work. Among those who submitted affidavits was his brother-in-law, Isaac T. Richardson. The chronic diarrhea was compounded with bouts of constipation. He still suffered from piles, rheumatism [especially in his left limbs], and heart and lung trouble. By 1904, John had lost the sight in his left eye and all of his teeth. About three weeks before his death, paralysis set in on his tongue, limbs, and bowels. John died in November of 1907. He had been receiving $24 a month from his pension since 1904.

John had been the caretaker of the family. His widowed mother lived with the family the majority of the time from at least 1875 until her death in 1887. His sister-in-law, Catherine [Aaron's widow] during the 1890s and early 1900s. [Although Catherine may have moved in to help Melissa care for John.] John was buried in the Veterans' National Cemetery section of Crown Hill.

Funeral Notice: Crail: John V. Crail, the husband of Melissa J. Crail, died November 23, 1907 at 5 P.M. at his residence, 2816 Adams St. Age 70 years, five months, twenty-three days. Funeral Tuesday, November 26, at United Brethren Church, corner St. Clair and Park ave., at 3 P.M. Friends invited. Burial at Crown Hill.

Melissa Crail applied for a widow's pension after John's death. She was paid $12 per month as of 2 May 1908.She had no income, other than John's pension money. Melissa was receiving $30 per month at the time of her death in 1925.

John's granddaughter, Celia Nevins was appointed guardian of Emma Crail [Sylvester's widow] in 1927.
John V. Crail and Melissa Jane Richardson were married on 29 Aug 1859 in Marion Co., Indiana.36 Melissa Jane Richardson9,3739, daughter of James D. Richardson and Mary Hart, was born on 25 Dec 1840 in Urbana, Champagne Co., Ohio.35,40 She died on 27 Jun 1925 at the age of 84 in Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana.40 She was buried on 29 Jun 1925 in Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana.40 Melissa was also known as Melissa Jane Crail.36 On the 1860 census for John and Melissa Crail there are two boarders: Jeremiah Richardson [aged 53 or 63, born England] and Isaac T. Richardson [aged 15, born Indiana]. Jeremiah would have been born about 1806/7 or 1796/7. It was originally thought that he was Melissa's father, but the 1850 census showed J.D. [James D.] as her father. Isaac was proven to be Melissa's brother.
 
John V. Crail and Melissa Jane Richardson had the following children:
 
9 i. Albert R. Crail, born 18 Nov 1861, probably Hamilton Co., Indiana; married Mary Jerrell, 19 Jun 1882, Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana; died abt 13 Nov 1911, Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana.
10 ii. Mary E. Crail, born 15 Sep 1864, Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana; married John H. Gall, 22 Jul 1883, Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana.
iii. Theresa Crail was born about 1866 in Indiana.29 She died before 4 Jun 1880 at the age of 14 in Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana.41
11 iv. Cora B. Crail, born 29 May 1870, Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana; married John C. Jackson, 24 Sep 1891, Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana; died abt 26 Jun 1958, Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana.
v. Bertha Crail was born about 1872 in Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana.42 She died on 22 Nov 1887 at the age of 15 in Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana.43 She was buried on 24 Nov 1887 in Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana.44

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