HILLTOWNS MEN IN THE CIVIL WAR

As some of you know, I have recently started a web site for people researching their Albany Hilltowns ancestors from Berne, Knox, Westerlo, and Rensselaerville.

2011 is the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. Perhaps a hundred or more hilltown men served in the Union Army with a casualty rate of maybe 25%. It had an big impact on the Towns and the families.

Researchers from the Albany County hilltowns history and genealogy group on Facebook are planning a series pf books on the history of the Hilltowns and the families that lived. The first in the series will be on the men from the Hilltowns who served in the Civil War. It will tell how the war affected the towns and their families. Where possible, family researchers will be asked to write, or at least contribute information, on their ancestors who served.

Since there are no Civil War monuments in the hilltowns, the book will be a written memorial to the service of our Hilltown men. This will show that those who served are not forgotten.

We want to collect copies of photos, letters written home from the soldiers, death notices, pension requests, military papers, medals, pictures of tombstones, family stories, etc.

Michael Grant Hait Jr. will serve as the editor for the Civil War book. He lives in the Washington DC area and thus has access to the National Archives. He is currently writing a book on Civil War soldiers.
To help us begin, we ask that all of you who have a Hilltown ancestor who served in the Civil War post their biography to Albanyhilltowns.com. Make sure the biography has a section on their service in the Civil War. Then add a link under the Civil War page reached from the bottom of the Main Page.

I have uploaded a file list of Hilltown Men in the Civil War. It can be accessed by following links from the bottom of the home page at AlbanyHilltowns.com. Please look at the list and let me know if one of the men is an ancestor of yours that you can write a biography on. Send me additions and corrections.

It has men with the following surnames:

Allen, Ball, Barber, Barckley, Baxter, Bell, Beller, Bennett, Best, Billings, Blade, Bogardus, Boomhower, Brate, Bronk, Cary, Champenois, Chesbro, Chrysler, Clow, Condon, Cummings, Davis, Dennison, Devoe, Dietz, Ecker, Engle, Filkins, Flansburgh, Flint, Gathan, Gibbs, Haight, Haverly, Hayes, Hinman, Hochstrasser, Hoose, Irons, Jones, Karker, Ketcham, Kilbourn, Lavery, Ludden, Martin, Mattice, McCulloch, McNary, Merrihew, Miller, Newberry, Osterhout, Palmer, Posson, Post, Reinhart, Requa, Resue, Sagendorf, Secor, Shafer, Shay, Shultes, Sinclair, Slade, Smith, Snyder, Stafford, Stalker, Stanton, Steiner, Stonet, Strvell, Stringham, Taylor, Van Vleek, Wagoner, Walden, Warner, West, Westfall, Wilber, Willsey, Wilson, Wnne, Wisegarver, Wood, Wright, and Zeh.