William L Houston, 3rd Sgt, Cos D&F, 32nd Missouri Volunteers under Capt CC Bland, died of disease at the Benton Barracks Hospital, St Louis, Missouri.
As he lay dying, he penned a note inside his bible to his young wife, "Sarah, when you receive this, I'll be gone...."
William married Dec 21 1849 Miss Sarah Jane Peeler, daughter of the Rev Joseph Peeler and Sarah Jane Allgood, in Monroe Co TN. In 1857 William and Sarah moved to Salem, Dent Co MO from Monroe Co TN with their three eldest children and with the family of William's sister, Elizabeth Jane (Houston) Rumfelt [#17966195]. William's elder brother James, who lived next door to Sarah Peeler's father in 1850, stayed behind in TN. We don't know yet what happened to their brother Robert who was living with William and Sarah in 1850.
Though a son of the South, William enlisted as a private on Aug 14 1862 with Union forces as did many of his southern brethren, including two of his wife's brothers. He enlisted and served in the same unit with the brother-in-law, Henry Rumfelt, of his sister, Elizabeth Jane. Henry lived 4 doors from William and Sarah in 1860 in Dent County, and Elizabeth lived with her family in nearby Texas County. After his unit saw some action in central Missouri, William was promoted to sergeant on Oct 18 1862.
Two days later, his second and youngest son, James Armstrong Houston, died of burns at the age of two years. Less than a month later, William joined his young son. Henry, still at Benton Barracks, would have received word that his brother William Rumfelt and wife Elizabeth Jane and three of their daughters had also died in November of the cholera that was sweeping the
State. It may have been Henry or their Capt. Bland, or both, who arranged for William's Bible to be delivered to Sarah two days after his death. Henry and his wife raised the surviving Rumfelt orphans just down the road from Sarah and her second husband, Rev. James S. Rice.
William's eldest son, Joseph, had three sons and three daughters. William's eldest daughter, Margaret Jane, married her neighbor and sweetheart, George W Rice, the younger brother of her stepfather, James Rice. One of her grandsons is named for her father. She lovingly kept her father's Bible and passed it down to us.
It's taken more than 45 years by many genealogists, the opportunity Findagrave offers for us cousins to find each other plus the advent of DNA testing to identify and link William to all eight of his siblings, his parents and grandparents back many generations. We owe special thanks to the wife of one of his many grandnephews for her diligence and persistence for the result we have. We have DNA matches among descendants of all 7 of John's and Margaret's 9 who had children. One of William's 3rd great grandsons, William Carl Seyfarth (SMSGT Air Force), was recently buried in 2016 in this same cemetery. Rest easy, Grandfather.
As he lay dying, he penned a note inside his bible to his young wife, "Sarah, when you receive this, I'll be gone...."
William married Dec 21 1849 Miss Sarah Jane Peeler, daughter of the Rev Joseph Peeler and Sarah Jane Allgood, in Monroe Co TN. In 1857 William and Sarah moved to Salem, Dent Co MO from Monroe Co TN with their three eldest children and with the family of William's sister, Elizabeth Jane (Houston) Rumfelt [#17966195]. William's elder brother James, who lived next door to Sarah Peeler's father in 1850, stayed behind in TN. We don't know yet what happened to their brother Robert who was living with William and Sarah in 1850.
Though a son of the South, William enlisted as a private on Aug 14 1862 with Union forces as did many of his southern brethren, including two of his wife's brothers. He enlisted and served in the same unit with the brother-in-law, Henry Rumfelt, of his sister, Elizabeth Jane. Henry lived 4 doors from William and Sarah in 1860 in Dent County, and Elizabeth lived with her family in nearby Texas County. After his unit saw some action in central Missouri, William was promoted to sergeant on Oct 18 1862.
Two days later, his second and youngest son, James Armstrong Houston, died of burns at the age of two years. Less than a month later, William joined his young son. Henry, still at Benton Barracks, would have received word that his brother William Rumfelt and wife Elizabeth Jane and three of their daughters had also died in November of the cholera that was sweeping the
State. It may have been Henry or their Capt. Bland, or both, who arranged for William's Bible to be delivered to Sarah two days after his death. Henry and his wife raised the surviving Rumfelt orphans just down the road from Sarah and her second husband, Rev. James S. Rice.
William's eldest son, Joseph, had three sons and three daughters. William's eldest daughter, Margaret Jane, married her neighbor and sweetheart, George W Rice, the younger brother of her stepfather, James Rice. One of her grandsons is named for her father. She lovingly kept her father's Bible and passed it down to us.
It's taken more than 45 years by many genealogists, the opportunity Findagrave offers for us cousins to find each other plus the advent of DNA testing to identify and link William to all eight of his siblings, his parents and grandparents back many generations. We owe special thanks to the wife of one of his many grandnephews for her diligence and persistence for the result we have. We have DNA matches among descendants of all 7 of John's and Margaret's 9 who had children. One of William's 3rd great grandsons, William Carl Seyfarth (SMSGT Air Force), was recently buried in 2016 in this same cemetery. Rest easy, Grandfather.
William L Houston, 3rd Sgt, Cos D&F, 32nd Missouri Volunteers under Capt CC Bland, died of disease at the Benton Barracks Hospital, St Louis, Missouri.
As he lay dying, he penned a note inside his bible to his young wife, "Sarah, when you receive this, I'll be gone...."
William married Dec 21 1849 Miss Sarah Jane Peeler, daughter of the Rev Joseph Peeler and Sarah Jane Allgood, in Monroe Co TN. In 1857 William and Sarah moved to Salem, Dent Co MO from Monroe Co TN with their three eldest children and with the family of William's sister, Elizabeth Jane (Houston) Rumfelt [#17966195]. William's elder brother James, who lived next door to Sarah Peeler's father in 1850, stayed behind in TN. We don't know yet what happened to their brother Robert who was living with William and Sarah in 1850.
Though a son of the South, William enlisted as a private on Aug 14 1862 with Union forces as did many of his southern brethren, including two of his wife's brothers. He enlisted and served in the same unit with the brother-in-law, Henry Rumfelt, of his sister, Elizabeth Jane. Henry lived 4 doors from William and Sarah in 1860 in Dent County, and Elizabeth lived with her family in nearby Texas County. After his unit saw some action in central Missouri, William was promoted to sergeant on Oct 18 1862.
Two days later, his second and youngest son, James Armstrong Houston, died of burns at the age of two years. Less than a month later, William joined his young son. Henry, still at Benton Barracks, would have received word that his brother William Rumfelt and wife Elizabeth Jane and three of their daughters had also died in November of the cholera that was sweeping the
State. It may have been Henry or their Capt. Bland, or both, who arranged for William's Bible to be delivered to Sarah two days after his death. Henry and his wife raised the surviving Rumfelt orphans just down the road from Sarah and her second husband, Rev. James S. Rice.
William's eldest son, Joseph, had three sons and three daughters. William's eldest daughter, Margaret Jane, married her neighbor and sweetheart, George W Rice, the younger brother of her stepfather, James Rice. One of her grandsons is named for her father. She lovingly kept her father's Bible and passed it down to us.
It's taken more than 45 years by many genealogists, the opportunity Findagrave offers for us cousins to find each other plus the advent of DNA testing to identify and link William to all eight of his siblings, his parents and grandparents back many generations. We owe special thanks to the wife of one of his many grandnephews for her diligence and persistence for the result we have. We have DNA matches among descendants of all 7 of John's and Margaret's 9 who had children. One of William's 3rd great grandsons, William Carl Seyfarth (SMSGT Air Force), was recently buried in 2016 in this same cemetery. Rest easy, Grandfather.
As he lay dying, he penned a note inside his bible to his young wife, "Sarah, when you receive this, I'll be gone...."
William married Dec 21 1849 Miss Sarah Jane Peeler, daughter of the Rev Joseph Peeler and Sarah Jane Allgood, in Monroe Co TN. In 1857 William and Sarah moved to Salem, Dent Co MO from Monroe Co TN with their three eldest children and with the family of William's sister, Elizabeth Jane (Houston) Rumfelt [#17966195]. William's elder brother James, who lived next door to Sarah Peeler's father in 1850, stayed behind in TN. We don't know yet what happened to their brother Robert who was living with William and Sarah in 1850.
Though a son of the South, William enlisted as a private on Aug 14 1862 with Union forces as did many of his southern brethren, including two of his wife's brothers. He enlisted and served in the same unit with the brother-in-law, Henry Rumfelt, of his sister, Elizabeth Jane. Henry lived 4 doors from William and Sarah in 1860 in Dent County, and Elizabeth lived with her family in nearby Texas County. After his unit saw some action in central Missouri, William was promoted to sergeant on Oct 18 1862.
Two days later, his second and youngest son, James Armstrong Houston, died of burns at the age of two years. Less than a month later, William joined his young son. Henry, still at Benton Barracks, would have received word that his brother William Rumfelt and wife Elizabeth Jane and three of their daughters had also died in November of the cholera that was sweeping the
State. It may have been Henry or their Capt. Bland, or both, who arranged for William's Bible to be delivered to Sarah two days after his death. Henry and his wife raised the surviving Rumfelt orphans just down the road from Sarah and her second husband, Rev. James S. Rice.
William's eldest son, Joseph, had three sons and three daughters. William's eldest daughter, Margaret Jane, married her neighbor and sweetheart, George W Rice, the younger brother of her stepfather, James Rice. One of her grandsons is named for her father. She lovingly kept her father's Bible and passed it down to us.
It's taken more than 45 years by many genealogists, the opportunity Findagrave offers for us cousins to find each other plus the advent of DNA testing to identify and link William to all eight of his siblings, his parents and grandparents back many generations. We owe special thanks to the wife of one of his many grandnephews for her diligence and persistence for the result we have. We have DNA matches among descendants of all 7 of John's and Margaret's 9 who had children. One of William's 3rd great grandsons, William Carl Seyfarth (SMSGT Air Force), was recently buried in 2016 in this same cemetery. Rest easy, Grandfather.
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