Christopher H. Johnstone - Our Scottish Born, New York Ancestor Who Fought in the Civil War

Today I'd like to introduce you to Christopher H. Johnstone, my third great grandfather and my Nana's great grandfather.

For the longest time, I was not able to find my way beyond George B. Johnstone, my great, great grandfather.  The name Johnstone was often interchanged with Johnston and Johnson in records and, as you can imagine, this made the search even more difficult since these names were very common in New York City in the 1800s.  I decided to send away for my great grandfather's death certificate and was thrilled to find his parent's names listed.  I was also excited to see my great grandfather Andrew's signature.  It's the little things that keep me happy:

(you may click on images for better viewing)

Once I knew Christopher and Jane were my 3rd great grandparents, I was easily able to locate the family.  So let's talk about Christopher.  As I noted before, he can be found under the name Johnson, Johnston and Johnstone. 

Christopher was born around 1832 in Scotland.  I suspect he arrived in New York in the early 1850s.  There are several Christophers who arrived during that timeframe with variations of the Johnstone name.  

Mary Jane Brown, Christopher's wife was born around 1836 in New York.  Her mother Jane Brown is living with them in Flushing, New York according to the 1880 census.  Both of Mary Jane's parents were born in Scotland although, intriguingly enough, while Jane was born in Scotland, the census shows that her father was also Scottish born but her mother was born in New York.  There is a story there and one I hope to solve one day.  I believe Mary Jane and Christopher married about 1856 or so.  Their first son, my second great grandfather, George B. was born in 1858, New York City.

Generally records list Christopher as a farmer, gardener and one even indicates he may have been a florist.  

On 28 August 1862, Christopher voluntarily enlisted for the 133rd New York Infantry. You can read a bit more about his service in these records:

 (Rosters of the New York Infantry Regiments during the Civil War) 

I searched through rosters of the 133rd and was able to conclude that whether the last name is Johnson, Johnston or Johnstone on the records, there was only one Christopher with this last name.  I am confident these records all belong to our ancestor.  

 (New York Civil War Muster Roll Extracts)

Fortunately, there are some great sites for figuring out just what your ancestors were up to during the Civil War.  Taken from The Civil War in the East, here is a timeline for the 133rd:

1862
	Organized at New York City by the New York Metropolitan Police
September 24	Mustered in on Staten Island under Colonel Leonard Currie, Lieutenant Colonel James Hopkins and Major Abraham Relay
October 8	Left State for Washington, D.C. for duty in the Defenses of Washington, D. C. Attached to Abercrombie's Division, Defenses of Washington, D.C.
November	Moved to New Orleans, La. Attached to Grover's Brigade, Banks' New Orleans Expedition
December 17	Occupation of Baton Rouge, La. Attached to Grover's Division, Dept. of the Gulf
1863
January	Attached to 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 19th Army Corps, Dept. of the Gulf
January 23	Major Relay discharged and Captain John Allcot of Company B promoted to major
February 12-28	Operations on Bayou Plaquemine
March 7-27	Operations against Port Hudson, La.
April 3	Moved to Algiers
April 8	To Brashear City
April 9-May 14	Operations in Western Louisiana
April 11-20	Teche Campaign
April 12-13	Fort Bisland, near Centreville Lieutenant George De Valen and 7 enlisted men were killed or mortally wounded and 17 enlisted men wounded

and on April 13, 1863, Christopher is wounded.

A bit more on that day, taken from AmericanCivilWar.com:

     "About 9:00 am on the 13th, the Union forces again advanced on Fort Bisland. Combat did not begin until after 11:00 am and continued until dusk. In addition to Rebel forces in the earthworks, the gunboat Diana, now in Confederate hands, shelled the Yankees. U.S. gunboats joined the fray in late afternoon. The fighting ceased after this.

      Later that night, Taylor learned that the Yankee division that went up the Atchafalaya and landed in his rear was now in a position to cut off a Confederate retreat. Taylor began evacuating supplies, men, and weapons, leaving a small force to retard any enemy movement. The next morning, the Yankees found the fort abandoned."

                                           (Congressional Serial Set - List of Pensioners)

In 1864, Christopher was given a pension of $6 a month for an injury sustained to his right hip.

 (1890 Veterans Schedule)

By 1890, we see that Christopher is now paralyzed and that he had actually been wounded three times.

On  December 11th of 1890, Christopher's obituary appears in the NewTown Register:

Mrs. James R. Hiland is Christopher's daughter and George B.'s sister Minnie May.

We also learn that Christopher was involved in the G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) - an organization for veterans of the Union.  I hope to find even more records of his time in the Robert J. Marks Post, No. 560 and will share when I do.

and, last but not least, Christopher H. Johnstone (Johnson) is buried in the Mt. Olivet cemetery in Maspeth, New York with other Civil War veterans.

One afterthought - now that I've been able to conclusively trace Christopher's Scottish roots, I can now conclude that my Nana, Helen Lydia Johnstone was half Scottish and half Finnish.  Interesting because, before a couple years ago, I had no clue we had any Scottish ancestry.

(Helen Lydia Johnstone Whelan)