A One-Name Study for the BARNUM/BARNHAM Surname
Marcus Hinman Barnum enlisted May 10, 1861 for service with Company "G", 5th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry. Veterans Administration records show him as serving with Companies "C" and "I" of the 5th Regiment. His widow received a pension as an Army Widow.
On 13 Jan 2005, the following message was received from Susann Kennedy-Roessel: I have viewed the military service records for the Barnum family and do not find any mention of military service by Marcus H. Barnum. However, I have his original Certificate of Service issued by the Adjutant General's Office signed on March 10, 1892. Marcus H. Barnum was a Private in Company "G" of the 5th Regiment of Wisconsin Infantry Volunteers, enrolled at Berlin, WI on the 10th day of May, 1861, mustered in the service from Camp Randall in Madison, WI on July 13, 1861 for a term of three years. Marcus was badly wounded (shot in the leg) in the Battle of Peach Tree Orchard and taken by "ambulance" (boat) to Philadelphia for treatment. The family sent their own physician from Wisconsin to also tend to him. Unfortunately, communication being as it was during the Civil War, Marcus was labeled a "deserter" and dropped from the rolls as a deserter on December 3, 1863 because he was missing while on the march from Golden Farms to Harrison's Landing commencing June 28th and ending July 2, 1862. It took Marcus thirty years to have the official records corrected to reflect what actually happened. Therefore, he did not obtain his Certificate of Service from the State of Wisconsin until March 10, 1892. That certificate indicates that he was discharged on a Surgeon's Certificate of Disability of December 2, 1862 at Harrisburg, PA. It is signed by Joseph B. Doe, Adjutant General.
Marcus Barnum summered in Minocqua, Wisconsin for many years.
In March, 2005, Sue Roessel notified me that she was in the process of transcribing the Civil War letters of Marc H. Barnum. She says that they are quite interesting...as was he. He was a trained teacher in New York. He and Phebe then moved to Wisconsin, where he became an attorney in private practice. When the Civil War came he didn't have any income because all of the men were enlisting -- so he also enlisted, with the Berlin Light Guard out of Camp Randall in Madison, WI. He was at the Battles of Richmond and Yorktown, was a member of Hancock's Brigade and served under [General George Barnum] McClellan in the Peninsular Campaign. He kept the books for the company and also fought. He took a large piece of shrapnel in the leg in June 1862 at Peach Orchard in Mechanicsville, Virginia and spent many months recuperating in various hospitals. He was discharged from the hospital in December 1862 and returned home to Wisconsin. He resumed his legal practice and then founded the "Torch of Liberty", a newspaper in Wausau, Wisconsin. He and Phebe had 10 children, 4 of whom died in childhood. He even named his son, born when he was serving in the war, William McClellan Barnum. He had a summer home in Minocqua in the late 1890s and his daughter, Elizabeth "Bessie", helped raise Sue Roessel's mother, Apryle Barnum. He was also a distinguished "platform orator". Sue has the bible he carried in the Civil War, as well as several other Civil War artifacts that once belonged to him. She recently gave to her daughter Marc's law-office desk for her house in Alexandria. Marc Barnum died in 1904.
In a letter dated November 16, 1861 M. H. Barnum wrote to his wife: "You must not be so bitter against [Colonel] Hancock. It is true, he did not use me right but it is a wonder he would give me a furlough for any time at all. But Hancock is a fine looking and brave man. He knows his business perfectly well. He had a military education and has been 18 years in the regular army. He is a very rough man and uses a great deal of profane language but he never makes a mistake on drill and always damns the officer who does. The longer we stay in his brigade, the better he is liked by the boys. Hancock calls the 5th a "damned bully Regt.". I do not like him as a man but I believe he will conduct his brigade with daring energy and military genius on the field of battle and if we win, the victory will compensate us for all that we may have suffered through his sharpness when the war is over. I shall tell him what I think of his furlough business. If I find where we are going in time to write to you I will tell you the news."
In the 1850 US Census for Onondaga, Onondaga, New York Marcus Barnum appears enumerated as follows:
Household #1176; Family #1213
Van Schoick, Isaac; 26; M; Farmer; real estate $4,000; b. New York
Van Schoick, Mary; 25; F; b. England
Barnum, Marcus Jr.; 17; M; Laborer; b. New York; attended school during previous year
Taylor, Henry; 13; M; b. New York; attended school during previous year
Welles, Jane; 15; F; b. New York; attended school during previous year
In the 1860 US Census for the Village of Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin the family of M. H. Barnum was enumerated as follows:
Household #345; Family #78
Barnum, M. H.; 26; M; W; Lawyer; real property $500; personal property $400; b. N. York
Barnum, Phebe E.; 24; F; W; b. N. York
Barnum, Charles H.; 4; M; W; b. Wisconsin
Barnum, Cara E.; 2; F; W; b. Wisconsin
Barnum, Ada; 4/12; F; W; b. Wisconsin
There is a Marcus Barnum, dates unknown, buried in Reeds Corners Bethel Cemetery in Ripon, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
A Research Guide to the Genealogy of the Barnum/Barnam/Barnham Family Worldwide
AncientFaces - Family History Photos
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