39th Massachusetts Infantry

Joined unit in 1862 from the Natick/Famington area when it was formed in 1862. Born in Ireland about 1841. Wounded at Petersburg. Member of the G.A.R. Died Mid-1920's Civilian occupation was farmer and shoe factory worker.

Dont have much on John just a birth date, June 15, 1839. Served in the 39th Mass with his brother, Benjamin Prouty.

No family notes have been added.

I am not his descended, but I have a letter that he had written during the Civil War. Before the war George Burnham was a shoemaker and at the age of 26 he joined Company A, 39th Massachusetts Infantry on August 18th 1862. George was wounded in action on May 8th 1864 at the Battle for Laurel Hill VA. He was mustered out on June 2nd 1865. Several years ago I came across a letter of his at a antique show in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. George Burnham’s letter is dated “Sept. 28th 1864 camp on the Weldon Railroad”.

No family notes have been added.

CPL Jonathan C.L. Dyer was NOT an ancestor of mine; but, rather, he was born in Truro, Cape Cod, Mass.; and, he may have been a cousin of my Civil War ancestor, SGT John L.D. Hopkins, also of Truro, Cape Cod, Mass. 1. JONATHAN COLLINS LEE DYER was born on 01 Aug. 1838 in Truro, Cape Cod, Mass.; he was the son of Thomas Dyer, Jr. and Sarah Jane Dyer, also of Truro. 2. JONATHAN C.[L.] DYER, a 24 year old resident of Somerville, Mass. (to which many Truro people emigrated in the 1850s, 60s, and 70s), enlisted as a Private in Co. E, 39th Mass. Inf. Rgt. on 12 Aug. 1862; he was mustered-in to Federal service on the same date. 3. CPL Jonathan C. [L.] Dyer (date of promotion unknown) was transferred from the US Army to the US Navy on 22 Apr. 1864. 4. CPL Jonathan C. [L.] Dyer enlisted in the US Navy for 1 year, 6 months at Brooklyn, New York as a Seaman on 04 May 1864; he was credited to the quota of Somerville, Mass. 5. SMN Jonathan C.[L.] Dyer served on the US Receiving Ship North Carolina, and on the USS Mendota; he was discharged for disability from the US Navy Hospital at Norfolk, Virginia as a Seaman on 26 Aug. 1864. SOURCES: 1. The Adjutant General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 'Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors and Marines in the Civil War.' Nine volumes. Norwood, Mass.: Norwood Press, 1932 (Vol. IV, p. 73; and, Vol. VII, p. 859); and, 2. 'Truro Vital Records,' (p. 297).

I believe this is my great grandfather who died in 1890 and his Civil War Pension was paid to his widow my great grandmother Mary E. Hanley. My grandfather was Michael Joseph Hanley from Somerville, Middlesex, Mass. who was only 2 years old when his father died. My granfather had a sister Mary Hanley and a brother John T. Hanley from Boston. My father met them when recovering from his WWII injuries in Boston. I would love to see a picture of this E company.

Joseph Whitmore Company E. Captured by Reams Station 24 August with several members of that Somerville Company. They would perish at Andersonville.

My 3rd great grandfather. Wounded at the Battle of Wilderness. He was born 13 Jun 1838 in Taunton, MA and died 15 July 1905 in Brockton, MA and he is buried with his wife in last row of the Old Coweeset Cemetery proudly marked with a soldier's stone. He was the son of George Washington Makepeace & Hannah (Smith) Eddy and the great grandson of Revolutionary War veterans William Makepeace, William Wetherell & Simeon Wilbur & great great grandson of Joseph Presbrey. He married Almira D. Smith on Jan 5, 1859 in Raynham, MA. She was the sister of Edwin H. C. Smith, Co F and James T.F. Smith 35th Mass Inf who was killed at Antietam, MD.

Edwin was the brother-in-law to fellow Co F member Norman G. Makepeace. He was a prisoner of war. He died 7 Apr 1892 in Raynham, MA and is buried in the North Taunton Cemetery, Taunton, MA. His brother Pvt. James Thornton Franklin Smith, 35th Mass Inf Co E. was killed at the Battle of Anteitam on 17 Sept 1862.

No family notes have been added.

Says Elijah Prouty enlisted in company G, 39th Mass. He went with his regiment to the front he died in Washington Dc on Dec 9th, 1863.

No family notes have been added.

surname also listed as Gouggenheimer.

Warren Hazeltine (Haseltine) was killed at the battle of Weldon Railroad in Aug. 1864. A very old note in his own haversack says he was discovered dead on the battle field by a George Wentroth of Warren's own hometown of Haverhill, MA.'He was hit by a 40 rounder,' according to the note. Wentroth was with a group sent out to bury the dead. When he found Warren, he turned him over and recognized him. Warren had been lying on the battlefield long enough that his body was deteriorating, but rather than bury him on site, Wentroth fashioned a huge box and sent the body home to Warren's mother in Haverhill 'and he was buried in the northwest churchyard.' That's all we know, though we have tried to learn more. We feel Warren may not be listed as deceased since Wentroth did something out of the ordinary rules by sending the body home. We very much wish to discover more but have been unsuccessful in that quest. Robert Moore---randrmoore@adelphia.net