Raymond Carmean was born May 3, 1846, in Sardinia, Ross County, Ohio.[1]  His parents were Henry Carmean and Henrietta Adams.  Raymond had a twin sister, Mary, two older siblings, Sarah and Nelson, and a younger brother William.  Mary died sometime before 1860.[2]  Henry was a Methodist Minister, and a farmer.  When the children were not helping on the farm, they attended school.  The family moved to Illinois sometime between 1855 and 1860.[3]  According to family stories they travelled by covered wagon, and first settled in Morgan County, Illinois.

          On April 12, 1861, Confederate forces opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina.  After receiving Lincoln’s Proclamation of April 15, 1861, the governor of Illinois called up the state militia.  They were mustered in for service to the United States for three months, and were outfitted with uniforms, and weapons, all funded by the state of Illinois.  At the time, Lincoln did not have the budget to outfit his quickly growing army.

          Just like every other region of the country,  ‘the war’ was the main topic of conversation in western Illinois.  For a little over a year the Carmean’s and their neighbors read the news and watched as their own young men went off to war.  Then on September 2, 1862, Raymond’s older brother Nelson enlisted as a private in Company F, of the 101st Illinois.[4]  Raymond was concerned about his brother’s safety, but he also may have harbored a little adventure envy, since he was considered too young to enlist himself.  Despite this, a little over a year later, Raymond lied about his age saying he was eighteen and enlisted.  On November 25, 1863, he joined Company F, of the 113th Illinois for three years.  At the time of his enlistment, he was 5’8” tall, with light hair, hazel eyes, and a sandy complexion.[5] 

          Raymond joined Company F in Illinois, sometime in mid-January.  They had been detached from the 113th Infantry, along with Companies C, D, I, and K, to escort and guard 5,500 prisoners captured during the battle of Arkansas Post.  This was the largest Confederate surrender west of the Mississippi until the end of the war.[6]  These prisoners were most likely held at Arsenal Island, in Rock Island County, Illinois.  There was a large POW camp there during the war.  Raymond and Company F stayed in Illinois until October of 1864.  At that time, they were relieved of their prisoners and ordered to rejoin the 113th Infantry in Memphis, Tennessee.  They travelled by boat down the Mississippi all the way to their new posting.  They remained posted to Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee, until late in September or early in October.  They marched overland for about one hundred miles to Clifton, Wayne County, Tennessee on the Tennessee River, and boarded boats to head south to Eastport, Mississippi.  On October 9, the men of the 113th Illinois, 120th Illinois, 61st U.S. Colored Infantry, and Company G of the 1st Missouri Light Artillery boarded three transports, The City of Pekin, the Aurora, and the Kenton.  They were escorted by two steam-driven, tin-clad, gun boats the U.S.S. Undine, and the U.S.S. Key West.  Their mission was to prevent cavalry forces under General Nathan B. Forrest from crossing the Tennessee River and establishing an outpost.  Arriving near Eastport, Tishomingo County, Mississippi, the transports started disembarking their troops.  Suddenly they came under fire from Confederate shore batteries.  The Undine and the Key West tried engaging the batteries but were ineffective.  After a heated exchange, the gun boats neared the shore and evacuated the troops who had landed earlier.  The Key West and the Undine then escorted the three disabled transports through a withering crossfire downstream to Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky.  They finally arrived there around sundown on October 12.[7]  After a time, the 113th made its way back to Memphis.

            Sometime in February 1865, Raymond was sent to Twin Bridges, Morgan County, Tennessee, located about the middle of the state.  While there he came down with dysentery.  Dysentery can result in high fevers, abdominal pain, and severe diarrhea sometimes containing blood and mucous.  He was sent back to Memphis.  His symptoms subsided for a while but continued to return.  Finally on June 1, 1865, he was admitted to Overton Hospital, in Memphis.  On June 20, Raymond’s unit left him behind, because they were to be mustered out.  Raymond had been brought in as a replacement, so he still had time on his enlistment.  At this time, he was transferred to Company F, 120th Illinois.  He remained bed-ridden for about a month, eventually developing bed sores and an eye infection.  Eventually he was well enough to be discharged from the hospital on July 9, 1865.  On July 25, 1865, Raymond was on duty, performing as team guard when he was thrown out of a wagon.  He landed awkwardly and injured his back.  After a few days, and having not fully recovered, he was sent back to Overton Hospital.  Due to his ill health, and continual down-sizing of the military after the end of the war, Raymond was honorably discharged on September 17, 1865.  He had to be carried from the train at Camp Butler, to the pay master’s office.  Raymond was in such bad shape his father went to bring him home.[8]

            Once home, Raymond still suffered from minor bouts of dysentery, recurrent back pain, and weakened eyesight.  He did the best he could to make a living.  Around 1869 Raymond met and married a woman named Mary.[9]  They lived just outside of Quincy, Adams County, Illinois. According to the 1870 census Raymond was farming.[10]  By 1874, they had two daughters, Emma, and Laura.  Sadly, on April 6, 1875, Mary died.[11] 

            On June 5, 1871, Raymond, still enduring lingering health issues incurred during his military service, applied for a military pension.  The government felt it owed a debt to those soldiers who found themselves disabled to a degree from their military service which helped keep our country whole.  It was a lengthy process, and required multiple sworn statements from friends and family, and doctor’s examinations.  This was just his first step in the process.[12]

            Several years later Raymond met Lucinda Jane Galloway, and on August 31, 1878, in Carrollton, Greene County, Illinois, they were married.[13]  Eventually they would have ten children together:  Mary, Delcy, Henrietta, Myrtle, Eunice, Cora, Henry, and Maude.  The family moved around a lot.  They lived in Roodhouse, Greene County, Illinois for a while, then near Jerseyville, Jersey County, Illinois, and eventually Alton, Madison County, Illinois.  Sometime after July 1898 they moved to the St. Louis, Missouri area.[14]           

Raymond did his best to make a living; he worked as a farmer, a brakeman on the railroad, and as a laborer at a glass factory.  As the years passed, he raised his family and continued to press his case for a military pension.  Unfortunately, Lucinda, his wife, died suddenly from a heart attack, on January 10, 1908.  She was buried in Roodhouse, Greene County, Illinois.

          Tragedy struck the Carmean household again only a year and a half later.  Maude, their youngest child, attempted suicide.  A boy named Lasko Dugan broke up with her in May of 1908.  A short time after the breakup, Maude found a job picking berries outside of town, but she couldn’t take it because she was unable to find a place where she could board.  On June 6, 1909, Maude had dinner with her family and seemed in good spirits.  Finishing her dinner, she left the house briefly, entering the same room in which her sister Cora was seated on her return.  A short time later Cora heard glass hitting the floor and turned to see Maud standing there with staining on her lips.  On the floor was an empty two-ounce bottle of carbolic acid.  A doctor was called, and he said that she fought him when he tried to give her something to help.  When he asked why she did it she told him, “I took it because I wanted to.”  Carbolic Acid poisoning can be quite painful, causing burns in the esophagus and stomach.  Maude died several hours later.[15]  She was buried in an unmarked grave in Bethany Cemetery, in Wellston, St. Louis County, Missouri.[16]  

          On May 24, 1912, Raymond was finally awarded a military pension for his back injury.  He started receiving $16.50 a month, but his health remained an issue for the rest of his life.  He even went into the Soldiers Home in Quincy, Illinois, from August 8, 1913, to January 10, 1914.  On March 27, 1915, Raymond was in St. Louis, visiting his children and their families.  While crossing a street he was hit by a truck.  He fractured his skull, which caused a fatal brain hemorrhage.  He died at 11:50pm that night.  Raymond was buried in St. John Cemetery, Mehlville, St. Louis County, Missouri.[17]

 

 

 

[1] Raymond Carmean’s Military Records

[2] 1860 Census

[3] 1860 Census

[4] Nelson Carmean’s Military Records

[5] Raymond Carmean’s Military Records

[6] Encyclopedia of Arkansas

[7] Dictionary of American Naval Ships

[8] Raymond Carmean’s Military Records

[9] 1870 United States Federal Census

[10] 1870 United States Federal Census

[11] Raymond Carmean’s Pension Records

[12] Raymond Carmean’s Pension Records

[13] Marriage License

[14] 1900 United States Federal Census

[15] Newspaper

[16] Findagrave

[17] Death Certificate