Elijah Stout - Part 2

In 1834, Elijah Stout applied for a pension for his service in the Revolutionary War. The application had to be submitted through an appearance in court, where his testimony was then sent in by an officer of the court. The government required evidence that he actually served in this war if he was to be eligible for a pension. These papers are stored at the National Archives (Pension File #8751). In the previous post, it is shown why we know that this is our Elijah Stout.

Here is some of what he said in his application:

"..he entered the army of the United States the day after the battle of Princeton, as a private, and was in service this time one month and was a resident at that time of Hunterdon Co, New Jersey... He entered the service again after the above service as a volunteer in a company the officers of which he has forgotten. The major of his company was Cornelious Stout, the Colonel was Chambers, the company's rendezvous was at Ringgold's Tavern in Hunterdon and marched from there to Old Raritan River some 17 miles from Brunswick as near as he can now remember. He was on service this time one month and 4 days. He was in no battle. He again entered the service of the United States in perhaps the summer afterwards, volunteering as a private in a company raised in the same county...the company marched to Golders Creek at the houses of William and Rogers Larison in Hopewell he thinks. He was on service this time one month..."

The testimony goes on to list a total of 7 or 8 periods of service, specifically mentioning Hunterdon, Elizabethtown, Springfield, Monmouth, Peterson's Mountain, Steel's Gap, Scotch Plains, and Trenton. He was once a substitute in place of Roger Grant. You can see from this account what may be already known, the Revolutionary War army was not terribly organized. Soldiers commonly came and went on their own timetable, and companies of soldiers were organized and disbanded on many occasions.

The application says that he was born in Hunterdon County New Jersey in March 1761. He moved to Fayette Co, Kentucky "about the time of St. Clairs Defeat" [1791] and has lived there ever since, except a short time in Woodford Co. He lived in the same neighborhood as Col. H. Beard, Joseph Beard, and William Atchison.

The papers also include statements from George G. Boone and Samuel Taul. These men said that they knew Elijah and believed him to be a soldier of the Revolution.

On August 13, 1838, Anna re-applied for her pension as Elijah's widow. She was 72 years old, and said that her and Elijah were married in Amwell Co, New Jersey on November 19, 1783 (there is no Amwell County, but there is an East Amwell Township, in Hunterdon County, N.J.). These papers say that Elijah died on May 27, 1838.

A special "Thank You" to Carrie Hoffman for the sketch of a typical soldier of the Revolution!

Elijah Stout - Revolutionary War Soldier, Part 1

Elijah Stout was the Great Great Grandfather of our Grandpa Stout (James A. Stout). Elijah's wife, my G-G-G-G-Grandmother was Anna Stout. We know all of this because of a specific date: August 14 1819.

This is the date listed in the records of our Grandpa Stout as the birthday of his grandfather, John L. Stout. It is also the birthday of Eljah Stout's grandson John Stout, recorded in the family Bible from the 1830s. These must be the same person. The picture is of the 'Marriage' page from this Bible. The Bible pages were submitted by Anna in order to get her portion of Elijah's pension after he died in 1838.

There are several other records that show these connections, but even if we didn't have any other records, the birthdate alone is proof beyond any reasonable doubt!

We do not know how Grandpa Stout knew his grandfather's birthday but we know that he knew it before anyone in our family made the link to Elijah. The copy of his records (which I have) were copied in 1952. The link to Elijah was found in 1964 by our Uncle Riley (George Riley Stout). Through the help of a distant cousin, Riley learned about the Revolutionary War Application of Elijah Stout and his wife Anna There we find the birth, marriage, and death records of several members of the Stout family. I will list these here:

-- Elijah Stout was married to Anna Stout November 19, 1783
-- Judiah Stout was married July 16, 1817
-- Harrison Lock was married to Rebecca Mosby(?) on February 14, 1828

-- Judiah Stout, oldest son of Elijah Stout was born January 19, 1799
-- Benjamin Proll(?) Stout was born July 25, 1801
-- Rebecca Hanes(?) granddaughter of Elijah Stout was born on Feb 14, 1807
-- John Stout son of Judiah Stout was born on August 14, 1819
-- Elijah Stout second son of Judiah Stout was born on Dec 28, 1822
-- Marion Stout 1st daughter of Judiah Stout was born Sept 5, 1824
-- Judiah Stout 4th son of Judiah and Delilah Stout was born Aug 4, 1828
-- Rebecca Stout was born June 23, 1830
-- Elise Pain(?) was born November 6, 1831

-- Rebecca Stout died December 1830 [must be the 6 month old daughter]
-- Judiah Stout died April 1835 [must be the 6 year old son, born 1828]
-- Benjamin P Stout died May 22, 1803 [must be the toddler born 1801]

These entries are hand written on Bible pages, which were submitted to the government in order to verify that Anna really was the widow of Elijah, so that she would continue to get her share of his pension after he died.

With just a little analysis, it is clear that Elijah and Anna's oldest son Judiah (and his wife Delilah) had as their oldest son John Stout, born August 14, 1819. It has since been learned that his full name was John Lewis Stout. Several other relationships are evident from the Bible pages, but some are unclear. I am confident that many of these relationships can be clarified with a little more research.

In the next post, we will share some of what Elijah said about his Revolutionary War service in his original pension application.

Archie Stout - Hero

James Archie Stout was the son of James and Nora Bell Stout, born in Greer County on July 8, 1903 (some records say 1904?). He was the oldest son, taking his father's first name, but then being known as 'Archie' his whole life. He was the brother of our 'Nanny', Versie (Stout) Hoffman. The picture is of Archie when he was about 10 years old.

His 'little brothers' seem to have been more well known, probably due to their wrestling achievements. Because of this I was particularly excited to find this story about Archie. It is another example of the character of this family!

EASTVIEW SCHOOL BOY IS HERO

From: Haskell Pruett, Supt., Brinkman Oklahoma 1921
To: The State Dept of Education.

I want to tell you the story of a brave hero I have in my school. I think he should have a medal from some Hero fund. If you can help me get it for him I would certainly appreciate it.

At the opening of school, November 14 [1921], the school board hired a janitor who knew very little about operating our steam heating plant. On the second morning of school our three story building was so filed with smoke that I marched the three hundred pupils outside. The janitor had left the furnace room. We were all on the outside expecting to see the flames burst forth at any minute. Being in the open country, we had no chance of saving our building. The furnace and fuel rooms are underneath the stage in the auditorium which is in the basement. There is no outside entrance and only a small stairway beside the stage leading to the furnace room. The room is very small and the coal is close to the furnace.

While we were thus standing outside, one of my eighteen year old boys, Archie Stout, went into the building without my knowing it. He waded through the terrible smoke and heat into the furnace room, and found, by feeling, that the janitor had built up a fire with the damper cut off. He turned on the damper and the draft caused the school grounds to be covered with soot. When Archie rushed out of the building his face was blistered and his eye lashes were burned off. He told what he had done. Some of the other boys then went into the furnace room and found that he had acted just in time to save the building. The coal and wooden walls were heated almost to a flame by the flames coming back from the open door of the furnace which the janitor had left when he ran out. No one doubts that we would now be without a school building were it not for the bravery of Archie Stout.

This letter was published in the 1922 'Oklahoma Teacher'. Other than the main point of Archie's actions, it has a couple of other noteworthy details. School did not start in Greer County until mid-November. This was because of the cotton harvest, which was underway each year during the month of October. The farmers needed all of their children to pick cotton full time during those weeks, so the schools had to adjust. The other amazing thing is that Eastview had 300 students in 1921. When the 'dust bowl' hit in the 1930s, the schools of Greer County began losing students. Eastview closed in 1949 due to lack of students, with the farm kids being sent to Mangum or Brinkman.

My firefighter wife, Ruth Ann, wants me to be sure to say how dangerous Archie's actions were. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.

Wounded Warrier

We have no photograph of John J. Lemaster (the father of our Grandma Stout - the lady in the white blouse in the center of the back row). This picture is the adult children of Sarah Jane Barker and John J. Lemaster, taken in 1907. Quite a good looking group, I think!

But we do have a fairly good 'picture' of what John went through while fighting in the Civil War. John was a Private in the 5th Kentucky Mounted Infantry, fighting for the Confederate States. He enlisted at Licking Station, Kentucky for a period of 3 years, on Sept 30, 1862. He is found on several muster role cards, then is listed as "Absent, wounded at Dallas [Georgia], May 28, has not returned from the hospital".

He did return to this unit, but found it impossible to continue and requested to be discharged. This is the letter he wrote to his commanding officer on March 10, 1865, from Graniteville, South Carolina:

Col George Wm Brent, A.A.G.
Col, I respectfully ask to be ordered before a medical examining board for retirement for the following reasons. I received two gunshot wounds in the engagement near Dallas, GA on the 28th May 1864 - One shot entering the left breast, passing through the left lung, and out below the left shoulder blade. The other entering just below the left shoulder blade, passing around and lodging in the left side. Said wounds are yet painful and hinder me unable to perform the duties of a soldier. I wish to avail myself of an opportunity of going to school that is now afforded me if I were retired. I have the honor to respectfully subscribe myself:
Your Servant
John J Lemaster
Co D 5th Ky regt
Mnted Infty

The 'Certificate of Disability' was issued on March 28, 1865. This was 12 days before Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia - the end of the Civil War.

John J. Lemaster went on to live 21 more years, but died at the relatively young age of 43. Family lore says that he died of pneumonia that was caused by the wounds. He and his wife, Sarah Jane Barker had the large family pictured above, but both died in the mid 1880s, before all of the children were grown.