Soliders-127th New York Infantry Civil War

127th New York Infantry

"The Monitors"

David Tuthill Conklin

1839 - 1920

Company H

Born: October 8, 1839 at Southold, Long Island, NY

Died: December 17, 1920 at Southhold, Long Island, NY

Buried At: First Presbyterian Church, Southold, Long Island, NY

Enlisted: August 18, 1862, at Southold, Long Island, NY to serve 3 years

Mustered In: September 8, 1862

Mustered Out: June 30, 1865, at Charleston, SC

Rank: Sergeant, returned to ranks June 24, 1864

Details: Brigade Ambulance Corps April 12, 1863 through June 1863

Quartermaster Department, Beaufort, SC December 1864 through February 1865

Description: 5 feet 7 1/2 inches Tall, Grey Eyes, Light Hair, Fair Complexion

Occupation Pre-War: Farmer

Occupation Post-War: Farmer, Seaman

Known Addresses: 1839/1920: Southold, Long Island, NY

Marriage Date and Place: August 21, 1862 in Southold, NY

Wife: Julia Wells Conklin b. Sept 24, 1844 d. Sept 14, 1934 in Vermont

Burial Location: First Presbyterian Church, Southold, NY

Children:

Eugene b. May 28, 1866 d. March 16, 1942 in Quebec, Canada

Mary Louisa b. Dec 1873 d. 1925

Wife's Father's Name: Captain Henry Halstead Wells

Wife's Mother's Maiden Name: Hannah Stanford

Father's Name: Lewis

Mother's Maiden Name: Polly Maria Tuthill

Pension Application Date: November 19, 1895

Widow Pension Application Date: June 22, 1921

David's descendant Randa Mulford was kind enough to share two personal

letters that David wrote to his wife Julia. One letter is dated September 3, 1862 as

David prepares to move south with the 127th. The second letter is undated but most

likely written a couple of days prior to deployment and he mentions several other

members of the 127th in his correspondence.

I could only imagine the feelings of anticipation, dread, excitement, fear, etc that was going through David's mind. He gave a hint of that when he said he could hardly write he had so much on his mind. He was at Camp Washington, Staten Island when he wrote those letters. That was were the regiment mustered into service on September 8, 1862. By all descriptions it was a good and clean camp with new barracks set up. The men stayed there a couple of weeks drilling, and getting ready for their eventual departure to"Dixie" as David put it. While they were there they made a few trips to various places, including back to Huntington to receive a flag( Company E accepted it) and a few other stops and dress parades. David mentions that too. They left Camp Washington at 6:00pm on September 10, 1862 heading down to Washington DC, where they stayed in defense of Washington till April 15, 1863. From there they went further south, eventually doing most of their duty in South Carolina. David writes on September 3, and I think the other letter is just before they leave as he is very retrospect, and writes with a bit more urgency.

A Victorian practice when writing letters was to not mention specific names, which of course is quite aggravating for historians today since so many clues were of the tantalizing variety, and some can not be totally verified. It drives me a bit crazy when I read diaries, letters, etc and cannot nail down exactly who the writer is speaking about. But having been involved so intimately with the rosters of the 14th Brooklyn, and the 127th I can usually figure out who is being spoken about.

David mentions in his September 3rd letter a Willie B. who I can not readily identify, a bit to vague, and a John Kasson who he says will be signing up with the 127th. He did, he enlisted on September 2, 1862, at Greenport, Long Island. Most of the men enlisted in August sometime, so he made his decision to join a bit later. He did muster in with everyone else on September 8th. I love when I find connections like that. They were basically all friends in the same company, but others closer of course.

In David's undated letter he mentions a couple of fellows, and what was happening with them. Jesse Case was a corporal in Company H. Being a non com he was charged with special duties, one of them picking up soldiers that might be late in coming back from leave. Looks like Thomas Wiggins was one of them. Thomas served with distinction, being wounded at Honey Hill, SC November 30th, 1864, and was still in hospital June 25, 1865 when the regiment was mustered out with service, so it was a serious wound. The B.T. David refers to is Benjamin Terry. There were 3 Terry's in the regiment and 8 Conklins, many of them of course related. This was the case with many regiments, as the men joined in groups, and no one wanted to stay behind. The 127th especially had many family members go together, more so than all the other regiments I have studied or looked over. It says a lot about their commitment.

Sources:

Report of the Adjutant General New York

127th New York Volunteers By Franklin McGrath

Many thanks to David's descendant Randa Mulford for the images and letters.

You can contact Randa directly via email.

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