CIVIL WAR PENSION EXTRACT

 

NOTE: William Dean was the 1st husband of Lavenia Cott, who later married David Miller, another Civil War veteran, after William's death. Therefore, please be sure to also check David Miller's file/information on this site for additional information which would pertain to Lavenia and possibly to William. ALSO: Since Lavenia not only drew a pension after William's death on behalf of having children under the age of 16, but also later married another Civil War veteran who also predeceased her, all of her information pertaining to her pension as William's widow was combined by the Archives into the file for her pension as David's widow. Thus, William's file was very small, and only contained the basic items pertaining to his enlistment, his being wounded, captured, and his subsequent death--all in all, not much more than a few attendance rolls. Some of the information pertaining to William below was therefore extracted from the file of David Miller.

William Dean

Private, Company H / K,
1st District of Columbia Infantry, also known as 1st U.S. Colored Infantry

Pension # 82307 [William's widow Lavenia's pension number, before she remarried. Lavenia's pension number became 733065 after the death of her 2nd husband]

ITEMS OF INTEREST FROM THE PENSION RECORDS:

Drafted:	24 Sep 1864, Wilmington, DE
Mustered in:	29 Sep 1864, Baltimore, MD
Mustered out:	29 Sep 1865, Roanoke Island, NC (but was deceased by this time)
William Dean:
Date of birth:	ca. 1828 (per age given as 37 on a "Discharge" [due to death] form dated 10 May 1865) OR ca. 1827 (per age given as [37?] on "Memorandum From Prisoner of War Records" form [undated, but indirectly referring to his supposed date of death in January 1865]) at: Kent Co, DE
Place of birth:	not given
Date/Place of death:	27 Oct 1864 (in battle/action) at Fair Oaks, VA, per one notation in the file* 27 Jan 1865 (in hospital) at Richmond, VA, per another notation in the file** [22?] Mar 1865, per another notation in the file 11 [Apr?] 1865 at Wilmington, NC, per another notation in the file*** died in prison at Salisbury, [NC?], per another notation in the file****
Married to:	Lavina [Levinia/Lavenia] Cott
Marriage date:	13 Dec 1849 (per certified extract of marriage record contained in Lavenia's widow's pension file pertaining to her 2nd husband, David Miller)
Marriage place:	Dover, Kent Co, DE
Lavina's date of birth:	ca. 1834 (per Lavenia's widow's pension file pertaining to her 2nd husband, David Miller)
Lavina's place of birth:	Delaware (from her death cert.)
Lavina's date of death:	13 May 1918 (per Lavenia's widow's pension file pertaining to her 2nd husband, David Miller)
Lavina's place of death:	Dover, Kent, Delaware (from her death cert.)
Children of William & Lavina:
Josiah Dean,	born ca. 25 Aug 1850† ††
Ann Elizabeth Dean,	born 14 Aug 1852† ††
Ellen F. Dean,	born 09 Mar 1855 or 1856† ††
Mary M. Dean	born 06 Apr 1858†† †††

William's residences at various times as noted in the pension records: N/A, died during the war.

Among the affiants/witnesses for William and/or widow Lavenia (per Lavenia's widow's pension file pertaining to her 2nd husband, David Miller):

Daniel Coker, of "near Hartly," Kent Co, DE, age 54 (as of 18 Apr 1896).

Daniel Coker, of "near Hartly," Kent Co, DE, age 55 (as of 27 Mar 1897).

Daniel Coker, of Kenton, Kent Co, DE, age 56 (as of 05 Nov 1897).

Walter Coker (no age given) (signed as a witness on Daniel Coker's affidavit of 05 Nov 1897).

George Miller, of Moorton [former name of Cheswold], Kent Co, DE, age not given (as of 10 Mar 1884).

George Miller, of Little Creek Hundred with P.O. of Cheswold, Kent Co, DE, age 52 (as of 04 Jun 1897), who stated that "he was been well acquainted with the said David Miller for at least forty years. That he was well acquainted with said David before the War of the Rebellion and lived in the same neighborhood with him."

Joel Karney, of Moorton [former name of Cheswold], Kent Co, DE, age not given (as of Mar 10 1884).

William F. Davis, of Dover, Kent Co, DE, age 57 (as of 13 Apr 1903).

Cornelius Ridgway, of Kent Co, DE, age 69 (as of 04 Nov 1911).

D. D. Boggs, (no age given) (signed as a witness on Cornelius Ridgway's affidavit of 04 Nov 1911).

Rebecca Ridgway, of Cheswold, Kent Co, DE, age 69 (as of 13 Nov 1911).

George W. Mosley/Mosely [typed in statement as "Mosley," but signature is "Mosely"], of Cheswold, Kent Co, DE, age 68 (as of 04 Nov 1911).

John Hughes, of East Dover Hundred, Kent Co, DE, age 67 (as of 22 Nov 1898).

John Hughes, of Kent Co, DE, age 80 (as of 04 Nov 1911).

Clarence Muntz, of Cheswold, Kent Co, DE, age 18 (as of 05 Aug 1911).

William Carney, of Cheswold, Kent Co, DE, age 60 (as of [21?] Nov 1898).

Zadoc Muntz, of Cheswold, Kent Co, DE, (no age given) (as of 05 Sep1895).

Zeddick Muntz, of Little Creek Hundred, Kent Co, DE, age 63 (as of 04 Jun 1897).

James Miller, of Cheswold, Kent Co, DE, (no age given) (as of 15 Jul 1918).

Caleb Boggs, (no age given) (signed as a witness on David Miller's affidavit of 28 Oct 1898).

John Morgan, of Cheswold, Kent Co, DE, (no age given) (as of 11 Apr 1904).

Robert & Catherine/Catharine Dean, of Kent Co, DE, (no ages given) (as of 30 Sep 1867).

Robert H. Johnson, of near Cheswold, Kent Co, DE, age 33 (as of 27 Nov 1896).

Joseph H. Dean, of Kenton, Kent Co, DE, age 46 (as of 22 Aug 1896).

OTHER ITEMS OF NOTE:

*From "Co. Muster-out Roll" contained in the file: "Died Oct 27, 1864, Killed in action at Fair Oaks, Va."

**From a "War Department / Adjutant General's Office" notation contained in the file:
"Prisoner of war - Died Jan'y 27, 1865 in rebel Hospital at Richmond, Va. of amputation of right leg and chronic diarrhoea."

From a "Memorandum From Prisoner of War Records" sheet contained in the file:

Captured at: Fort Harrison Oct 27, 1864, confined at Richmond, Va.
Admitted to Hospital at: 21 Richmond, Va. Oct 28/64, Diarrhoea Ch.
Where he died: C.S. Mil. [P.?] Hosp. Jan'y 27, 1865 of [V.S.?] Right leg upper third amputated.
[words 'Paroled at' crossed out and replacement word illegible …Burial?]
Before Richmond Oct. 29, 1864. From original roll of deaths for Jan'y 1865 - Negro laborer age [37 - difficult to read…poss. 39]"

From an "Inventory of the Effects / Final Statement" form contained in the file: "This soldier had no effects."

From a "Discharge" form dated 10 May 1865 contained in the file: "Death from wounds received in action Oct 27, 1864. This soldier was reported missing in action but is since known to have been killed Oct 27, 1864."

From a "Casualty Sheet of Wounded" form contained in the file: "Wm Dean, Priv, Company K, 1st Regiment of U.S.C.T. Volunteers at the battle of near Fair Oaks, Va, Oct 27, 1864."

From a "Casualty Sheet" contained in the file:

Cause of Casualty: Chronic Diarrhoea
By whom certified: G. Wm. Semple (Rebel), surgeon in charge
Date of death: January 27, 1865
Place of death: [illeg. (Gen'l?)] Hosp. No. 21 Richmond, Va.
From what source this information was obtained: Rolls [illeg -
Forwarded?] by [illeg] [Lieut?] Col [Jas? Joe?] [M?] Moore [A.G.H.?] [illeg]
Remarks: This record was not received at [A.G.O.? (Adjutant General's Office?)] till May 24, 1867

***From a "Casualty Sheet" contained in the file:

Cause of Casualty: Disease
By whom certified: John [S.? N.?] [illeg. (Holmon?)], Colonel
Date of death: [April?] 11, 1865
Place of death: Wilmington, N.C. [illeg.]
From what source this information was obtained: [illeg.]

From an "Inventory of the Effects" form contained in the file:

"he died in action at Fair Oaks, Va. on the 27th day of October 1864 by reason of gunshot wounds. This soldier was reported missing in action but is known (through returned prisoners) to have been killed."

****From a note written on a slip of paper contained in the file:

"Said soldier died in prison at Salisbury [N.C.?] - also reported dead in [illeg. (Gen'l?)] Hosp. No. 21, Richmond, Va."

From a note written on a slip of paper contained in the file:

Report of death in [Gen?] Hosp. 21 Richmond [illeg] Jan'y 65 by G. W. Semple Surg. in chg. [illeg] copy of above furnished by Col. Moore. Admitted to Hosp. Oct. 28/64 with [VS?] amputation of right leg upper
third."

From a note written on a slip of paper contained in the file:

"Prisoner of War Records show William Dean Negro Pvt Co K 1 USCT or 126 Ohio admitted to Hosp 21 Richmond, Va Oct 28, 64 and died Jan'y 27, 65 of V.S. amptn right leg upper third 'Diarrhoea Ch' capture not given."

†From an affidavit by Lavenia Dean, dated 20 Oct 1865, contained in her widow's pension file pertaining to her 2nd husband, David Miller:

"On this twentieth day of October AD 1865 personally appeared before me the Clerk of the Ophrans' Court the same being a court of record in and for the County and State aforesaid Lavenia Dean: aged thirty seven years who being duly sworn makes the following affidavit in order to obtain the Pension promised by the Act of Congress approved July 4, 1864.

"That she is the widow of William Dean: who was a private in Company 'K' commanded by Captain _____ Rice of the First Regiment United States Colored Troops: in the war of 1861: that her maiden name was Lavenia Cott and that she was married to said William Dean on or about the thirteenth day of December AD 1849 at Dover in the said County and State by Rev. G. D. Carrow and that she knows of no record evidence of said marriage except that of which she annexed is a true copy.

"She further declares that said William Dean her husband died in the service of the United States as aforesaid at Richmond in the state of Virginia on or about the fifteenth day of December AD 1864 by reason of wounds received in battle near that place on or about the twenty eighth day of November 1864: he having been severely wounded in said battle and captured by the enemy and dying whilst a prisoner at the time aforesaid: and place aforesaid. And that the following is a correct list of the names ages and residence of all the children of her deceased husband now living under the age of sixteen years: to wit

"Josiah Dean aged fifteen years one month and twenty six days
"Ann E. Dean aged thirteen years two months and six days
"Ellen F. Dean aged ten years seven months and eleven days
"Mary M. Dean aged eight years six months and fourteen days: and "they all reside with her their mother.

"She also declares that she has remained a widow ever since the death of said William Dean: and that she has not in any manner been engaged in or aided or abetted the rebellion in the United States and she hereby appoints Henry W. Draper of Dover in the said County and State as her lawful attorney and authorizes him to receive or present and prosecute the claim and receive and receipt for the certificated that may be issued in satisfaction there for: claimants."

††From an affidavit by Lavenia Dean and Robert & Catharine Dean, dated 30 Sep 1867, contained in her widow's pension file pertaining to her 2nd husband, David Miller:

"Lavenia Dean of Moreton in the county and state aforesaid aged thirty-five years, who being first duly sworn according to law doth on her oath make the following declaration in order to so obtain the benefits of the provision made by the 2d section of the Act of Congress increasing the pensions of widows and orphans approved July 25, 1866-

"That she is the widow of William Dean who was a private in Company 'K' commanded by Capt. ______ in the First Regiment United States Colored Troops in the War of 1861, and that by reason of his death in the service aforesaid she has been granted a pension of eight dollars per month in accordance with a certificate numbered 82307 and bearing date the thirty-first day of August AD 1866. She further swears that she has the following named children of her deceased husband and herself under sixteen years of age who are now living the dates of whose births were as given below, to wit- Josiah Dean, Ann Elizabeth Dean born August 14, 1852; Ellen F. Dean born March 9, 1856, Mary M. Dean born April 6, 1858, and that no physician attended her in her confinement with any of the above named children, and the midwife who attended her with two of them is very old and infirm and has no recollection of the events and the midwife who attended her with the other has gone to parts unknown to her and there is no record of the baptism of said children and the accompanying evidence is the best she can [produce? procure?] of their ages.

"She further swears that she has not remarried since the death of her said husband nor has she abandoned the support of any one of the children above named nor permitted any of the same to be adopted by any other person or persons as his or her or their child and she hereby appoints Henry W. Draper of Dover Delaware as her lawful attorney and authorizes him to present and prosecute this claim and to receive and receipt for any [illeg.] or certificates that may be issued in satisfaction there for claimant. Post office address is Moreton Kent County Delaware.

"Also personally appeared before me Robert Dean and Catherine Dean, residents of Kent County aforesaid, whom I certify to be respectable persons and entitled to credit who being by me duly sworn declare that they were present and saw said Lavenia Dean make her mark to the foregoing declaration and they further swear that they have every reason to believe from the appearance of the applicant and their acquaintance with her that she is the identical person she represents herself to be. They further swear that for the last seventeen years they have lived in the same immediate neighborhood with William Dean and Lavenia his wife up to the time the said William joined the army, that they were present within a day or two after the birth of each one of the children abovenamed and saw them within that time and that the said Ann Elizabeth Dean was born August 14, 1852, the said Ellen F. Dean was born March 9, 1856- and the said Mary M. Dean was born April 6, 1858.

"And they further swear that they have no interest whatever in the claim of the said Lavenia Dean for increased pension by reason of said children."

†††From a notarized letter from Lavenia Dean, dated 08 Mar 1868, contained in her widow's pension file pertaining to her 2nd husband, David Miller:

"Lavenia Dean of the said county and state and being duly sworn declares that she is the widow of William Dean late of Company __ of the __ Regiment United States Colored Troops and that the true age of her youngest child Mary M is as follows, to wit she was born on the sixth day of April D 1858, and that the statement in her original declaration that the said child was eight years six months and fourteen days old Oct 20, 1865, which would have made her birth April 6, 1857, was in consequence of an error in calculation of dates, as the true date of birth to wit April 6, 1858 was given at the time said original declaration was drawn up."

A copy of a certified transcript of the marriage record of William Dean and Lavina Cott was included in the pension file pertaining to Lavenia's 2nd husband, David Miller):

William is described as: ("Age 37") (no date given) 5' 7" tall, yellow complexion, black eyes, black hair.

 

OTHER ITEMS PERTAINING TO WILLIAM (OR LAVENIA) DEAN, NOT FROM THE PENSION RECORDS:

From the Cott Family Bible: "Levina Cott, The daughter of John D. Cott & Sarah A. Cott was borned 13th March 1833"

Lavenia's death certificate, however, gives her birth date as 08 Jul 1834:

From an email from Betty & Ray Terry dated 05 Jun 2000:

Lorraine Johnson-Gregg, e-mail 2/98: Claims that Wm Dean is the son of Jesse and Hester Carney Dean. The census records and the Orphans' Court record of Jesse Dean support this claim. Jesse Dean died in
1868 and William had predeceased him. The 1870 census shows that William is no longer living with his family

1850 M432, Roll 52 Little Creek Hundred
Dean, William 22 wagoner m 1 yr b DE
Lavinis 16 (sic) b DE

1860 M653, Roll 95, p. 53 Dover Hundred
Dean, William 31 Laborer
Lavinia 27 wife
Jessie 10
Annie 8
Ellen 7
Mary 3

1870 Little Creek Hundred
Dean, Lavinia 37 head keeping house b DE
Jessie 19 b DE
Ellen 14 b DE
Mary 12 b DE
Sarah 1 b DE
Miller, David 27 farm laborer b DE

On the African American Civil War Memorial in Washington DC, William's name is displayed on Plaque A-3.

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Regimental history:

To go to the official National Park Service's "Soldiers and Sailors" website, use the following link:

http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/soldiers.cfm

and in the boxes do the following:

under Last Name enter DEAN
under First Name enter WILLIAM
under Union or Confederate select "Union,"
under State (or Origin) select "US Colored Troops" from the alphabetical list of States
under Unit Number enter "1"
under Function select "Infantry"
On the resultant page click on the regiment's name to see a history of their service.
(William is presumably both of the William Deans listed there, as he was at times noted as being in Company H and sometimes in Company K) (which may have been from a possible combining of the units).

QUERY ITEMS:

1. Does anyone have any photos of William or Lavenia?

2. Does anyone have any further information on the children of William and Lavenia? In other words, who were the spouses of Josiah, Ann, Ellen, and Mary? (The only one for whom I have any possible data is Mary, who might have been the same Mary Dean who married Joseph Carney [16 Apr 1854 - 14 Jan 1935], who was the [out of wedlock?] son of ______ and Sarah Carney [maiden name] [daughter of Robert Carney Jr and Phebe ______]).

3. Can anyone explain the discrepancy of Lavenia's birth date being 13 Mar 1833 per the family Bible, but being 08 Jul 1834 per her death certificate? (Clearly there are other errors and/or omissions on the certificate: Her mother's name is given as "Annie Coots" instead of Sarah A. Cott, her father's name was listed as "Don't now" [sic], and Dover and West Dover Hundred were each spelled as "Dove").

4. Who is the Walter Coker who witnessed Daniel Coker's signing of an affidavit on 05 Nov 1897? The only Walter Coker I have in my file is a grandson of Daniel's (son of Alonzo Coker), but he could not yet have been born, since Alonzo was only born in 1890.

5. Do any of the census entries for Lavenia give her birth month & year? Perhaps this might help with the discrepancy of the Cott Family Bible record when compared to the birth date listed on her death certificate.

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For those who may be new to the list, I have posted a few of these Civil War pension extractions previously, as has Paul Johnson and Joseph Romeo. To view some of the others, as well as an explanatory note, please see the following page of the Mitsawokett site:

http://www.mitsawokett.com/MilitaryService/DelmarvaAreaCivilWarPensions.htm

(Once on the page, scroll down below the Index to see the Overview).

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Please let me know if anyone has any questions: John C. Carter

 

 

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MITSAWOKETT "The History and Genealogy of the Native American Isolate Communities of Kent County, Delaware, and Surrounding Areas on the Delmarva Peninsula and Southern New Jersey"

 

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