John Packer was a resident of Coventry on September 9, 1861 when he enlisted as a Private in Co. B of the 10th Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. He was wounded March 14, 1862 at Newbern, North Carolina and discharged for disability November 30, 1862.

He was born of August 25, 1833 in Bozrah, Connecticut to John and _____ Packer. It is possible that his mother was the Eunice Randall that married John Packer in Colchester, Connecticut on March 15, 1829; Colchester is not far from Bozrah. In the 1860 U.S. census in Salem, John Packer is a 25 year old farmer and head of household. John Packer married Mary C. _____ between 1850 and 1860. Children include: Caroline Packer, born about 1857; Edward E. Packer, born February 1, 1859 and Cora Packer, born about 1866. 

John Packer moved to Mansfield before 1870 and was a farmer there until after 1900. In the 1900 U.S. census in Mansfield, he is a widower living in his son, Edward’s household.

On July 26, 1879, he applied for an invalid pension, No. 300,384 that was granted under certificate No. 791,792.

John Packer died on February 27, 1910 at Fitch’s Home for Soldiers in Darien, Connecticut and is buried at the Spring Hill Cemetery in Mansfield.