Jerome B. Baldwin was a resident of Mansfield on August 11, 1862 when he enlisted as a Corporal in Co. D of the 21st Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. He was wounded June 15, 1864 at Petersburg, Virginia, promoted to Sergeant on November 26, 1864 and mustered out on June 16, 1865.
The descriptive muster roll for the 21st Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry lists his age as 18 and his occupation as farmer. He is described as 5’8” tall with a fair complexion and brown hair and grey eyes. His marital status is single.
He was born September 14, 1843 in Mansfield to Raymond and Amanda (Lull) Baldwin. In the 1860 U.S. census in Mansfield, he is a 16 year old farmer in a household headed by Raymond Baldwin. Jerome moved to Willimantic by 1870 and married Ella Adams between 1870 and 1880. He was an insurance agent.
On December 28, 1871, he applied for an invalid pension, No. 171,232 that was granted under certificate No. 118,013. According to the list of pensioners on the roll in 1883, he was receiving $4 per month for a wounded left eye. Jerome Baldwin was listed as a member of the Francis S. Long Post, No. 30 G.A.R (Grand Army of the Republic) in Willimantic in June 1889. His widow applied for a pension on April 18, 1918.
Jerome B. Baldwin died in Willimantic on January 19, 1918 and is buried at the Old Cemetery in Willimantic, Connecticut.
The Baldwin Letters
MHS is in possession of numerous letters from the collection of Baldwin. The compilation of letters, written to Baldwin instead of being from Baldwin, allows for an inside look into the day-to-day life of a soldier rather than battlefield correspondences. These letters detail numerous topics including disease in the camp, life back home, and military placements.
Alfred P. Hanks was a resident of Mansfield on August 13, 1862 when he enlisted as a Private in Co. D of the 21st Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry; he was severely wounded in the side, June 3, 1864 at Cold Harbor, Virginia.
Following his wounding at Cold Harbor, Alfred Hanks was hospitalized until July 12th when he was granted a furlough. After a grueling journey home, he arrived in Mansfield on the 18th. He recuperated there until he was called back to service on August 13th. Reluctantly, he returned to his regiment, but he was still weak and needed more time to recuperate from his wound. Rather than returning to the line, he was assigned to assist Julian Parker, the Hospital Steward (also from Mansfield). He was discharged for disability May 16, 1865.
The descriptive muster roll of the 21st Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry lists his age as 18 and his occupation as clerk. He is described as 5’ 5” tall with a fair complexion and black hair and dark eyes. His marital status is single.
He was born April 14, 1844 in Mansfield to Frederick F. and Abigail (Page) Hanks. In the 1860 U.S. census in Marlborough, he is a 16 year old clerk in the household of Edwin P. Hanks. He was a clerk in a hotel in East Lyme in 1870 and living in his mother’s household in Marlborough by the 1880 U.S. census. Alfred Hanks was living in Fitch’s Home for Soldiers by 1900, he was a clerk in 1900 and listed as an inmate in 1910 who was Sergeant Major in the institution office; he never married. The Mansfield Historical Society has his diary for 1864 which contains information regarding the regiment’s activities and many stories of his fellow soldiers.
On March 5, 1866, he applied for an invalid pension, No.1041,078 that was granted under certificate No. 183,264. According to the list of pensioners on the roll in 1883, he was receiving a monthly pension amount unstated for a gunshot wound in the right side.
Alfred P. Hanks died on December 8, 1916 at the Fitch Soldiers Home in Darien and is buried in Saint Peter’s Cemetery in Hebron, Connecticut.
The Diary of Alfred P. Hank
The following excerpts are from an 1864 diary written by Alfred P. Hanks while he was in service in the Union Army. He re-copied the original diary and enhanced the entries in 1909, while he was residing in the Soldiers’ Home in Noroton Heights, Connecticut. Although this diary covers the year 1864 only, he was in service from August 1862 to May 1865, a period of 2 years, 9 months and 3 days. His diaries for the other years were stolen.
Alfred P. Hanks wrote the following on the first page of this copy of his 1864 diary:
“While looking over the diary pretending to record the events of 1864 while in the army I find that as little time was spent in keeping it as possible. That many events are not given so that anyone else now reading it, would have little or no idea of what it recalls to me as clearly as though but yesterday. So [as I] am doing nothing this winter thought I would rewrite it and record some of the events that may be of interest to others and that are now clear to my mind as then. A diary of the other years while in the army was stolen from a trunk while left in care of a family in 1883.
“Humphrey of our Co. was hit in the knee and later the leg was amputated and [he] died I think. While lying down in line looking towards the enemy, T.F. Bennett who lay by side of his brother was hit by a ball… This was our first day in the Battle of Cold Harbor Va.”
John A. Parker was a resident of Mansfield on August 11, 1862 when he enlisted as a Private in Co. D of the 21st Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry; he died December 17, 1864. In a December 21, 1864 letter written at the U.S. General Hospital in Hampton, Virginia, Samuel L. Morey informs Jerome B. Baldwin that John A. Parker entered the hospital, sick last month and died the previous Saturday. He further stated that Julian came to the hospital and sent his body home by express. Julian was Julian Parker, brother of John A. Parker. All four soldiers had served in Co. D of the 21st Regiment C.V.I. and were from Mansfield. The Mansfield death record stated that he died from chronic diarrhea at Fort Monroe in Virginia.
The descriptive muster roll of the 21st Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry lists his age as 21 and his occupation as farmer. He is described as 5’ 7” tall with a fair complexion and brown eyes and brown hair. His marital status is single.
He was born in 1841 to Charles and Ann/Anna (Utley) Parker. In the 1860 U.S. census in Mansfield, he is a 19 year old farm laborer in the household of Charles Parker. One brother in the household, Julian N. Parker, enlisted in Co. D of the 21st Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry on the same day as John A. Parker.
Anna Parker applied for a dependent mother’s pension on March 18, 1870, No. 185,218 that was granted under certificate No. 152,804.
John A. Parker died on December 17, 1864 at Hampton, Virginia and is buried at the Gurleyville Cemetery in Mansfield.
Julian N. Parker was a resident of Mansfield on August 11, 1862 when he enlisted as a Sergeant in Co. D of the 21st Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. He was appointed Hospital Steward on June 30, 1863 and he was mustered out June 16, 1865.
The descriptive muster roll of the 21st Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry lists his age as 23 and his occupation as student. He is described as 5’ 10” tall with a fair complexion and blue eyes and dark hair. His marital status is single.
He was born July 3, 1839 in Mansfield to Charles and Ann/Anna (Utley) Parker. In the 1860 U.S. census in Mansfield, he is a 21 year old teacher in the household of Charles Parker. One brother in the household, John A. Parker, enlisted in Co. D of the 21st Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry on the same day as Julian N. Parker.
After the Civil War, he studied medicine with Dr. Norman Brigham in Mansfield and then continued his studies at Yale Medical School, graduating as a physician in 1867.
He married Caroline Shepard of New Haven in 1868; they had no children.
After practicing medicine in Mansfield for two years, he moved to South Manchester, where he had a medical practice for more than thirty years. Julian Parker was a surgeon with the First Regiment of the Connecticut National Guard and went with them to the 1876 Centennial celebration in Philadelphia. He was a member of the Drake Post of the G.A.R (Grand Army of the Republic) in South Manchester and served as their surgeon for many years.
On July 26, 1890, he applied for an invalid pension, No. 844,420 that was granted under certificate No. 857,429. His widow applied for a pension on April 30, 1908.
Julian N. Parker died on February 7, 1901 in Manchester and is buried at the East Cemetery in Manchester, Connecticut.
