Saturday, May 10, 2008

A Civil War Soldier: Sgt. Henry LYTON (a.k.a. George TURK) (1836 - 1874)

How Related: My husband's 2nd-great-grandfather

Born: George TURK, 1836, Ontario, Canada (possibly in Ottawa, Carleton County)

Parents: Samuel TURK (b. 1806) and Lydia GILLETT (b. 1808)

Siblings: George/Henry was the third of eleven children:

  • Reuben, a.k.a. Henry GILLETT (c. 1832 - 1893)
  • John (1835 - 1904)
  • Rice (b. 1837)
  • Jane (1840 - 1910)
  • William Wellington (1842 - 1917)
  • Washington (b. 1843)
  • Cinderella (b. 1845)
  • Avery (b. 1846)
  • Clarissa (b. 1848)
  • Almira (b. 1849)
Married: Mariah Emily DAILEY (1849 - 1935) in August 1868 in Thurman, Fremont Co., Iowa

Children: Charles Sanford (1870 - 1871), Agnes (1872 - 1898), and my husband's great-grandmother, Emma Alice LYTON (1874 - 1959)

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Source: Civil War Pension Index Card of George Turk, a.k.a Henry Lyton. Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900. National Archives and Records Administration. Publication T289. Digital image purchased at Footnote [http://www.footnote.com/].

Enlisted: 9 October 1861 at Marshall, Michigan in Co. A, 1st Michigan Engineers; promoted to Full Corporal on 19 March 1864; promoted to Full Sergeant on 1 November 1864. Distinguished Service.

Side served: Union

Mustered Out: 22 September 1865, Nashville, Tennessee

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Biography or Information of Interest: For many years, Henry LYTON was an enigma. About a year-and-a-half ago, my husband's sister-in-law found information online that uncovered the fact that LYTON was a pseudonym. I have no idea why George TURK changed his name to Henry LYTON; curiously, his older brother Rueben TURK changed his name to Henry GILLETT. The Gillett surname is understandable, given that this was their mother's maiden name. But why LYTON? We may never know, just as I do not know why my step-ancestor Washington Foster JUDD changed his name to Charles F. KING.

George/Henry died just about a month before his youngest daughter Emma was born. His widow Mariah applied for a minor's pension in Emma's name in 1888, even though she had remarried. Since I don't have a copy of the application, I don't know if it was approved or denied. Mysteries, enigmas, puzzles...!

Died: February 1874, Thurman, Fremont Co., Iowa

Buried: probably in the Thurman Cemetery, Thurman, Fremont Co., Iowa

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