Nelson M. Austin

2nd great-granduncle of Dorotha Piechocki

Private Co. C 100th Indiana Infantry

Dates of Service: 15 Aug 1862 - 8 Jun 1865

Nelson M. Austin was born Oct. 17th, 1822, in Ontario, Wayne Co., New York, to Noah Howe Austin and Ursula Freeman Austin. His father was a veteran of the War of 1812. When Nelson was about 27, he married 17-year old Jerusha [last name unknown], with whom he had a son George H., born in Williamson, Wayne Co., New York, Aug. 23rd, 1852.

By 1850, Nelson's parents and younger siblings had moved to Lima, LaGrange, Indiana, where they were farming. Nelson's young family soon followed and in 1860, the entire extended family had settled in Lima.

On Aug. 15th, 1862, Nelson enlisted as a private in Co. C, 100th Indiana Infantry at LaGrange, for 3 years. The regiment was organized at Ft. Wayne, mustered in Sep. 10th, and left Nov. 1st for Memphis, being assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, Army of the Tennessee. It moved in the first expedition against Vicksburg, but was forced to turn back by the enemy's capture of Holly Springs, and was assigned railroad guard duty at Collierville. In June, 1863, it joined the army at Vicksburg, took part in the siege and then moved against Jackson, where it was constantly engaged until the evacuation.

"On Sept. 28th, the 100th sailed to Memphis with the 4th division, 15th army corps, thence moved to Stevenson and Bridgeport, Ala., and Trenton, Ga. It was in the movement in which the left flank of Bragg's army was turned and the enemy driven from his position on Lookout mountain. The regiment then marched to Chattanooga in time to participate in the storming of Missionary ridge, its division gaining the crest of the hill and holding the position against repeated assaults. The loss of the regiment was 132 in killed and wounded. After pursuing the enemy as far as Graysville, it was ordered to Knoxville for Burnside's relief and thence proceeded to Scottsboro, Ala., which place was reached Dec. 26. On May 1, 1864, it joined in the Atlanta campaign and was engaged at Dalton, Snake Creek gap, Resaca, Dallas, New Hope Church, Big Shanty, Kennesaw mountain, Nickajack creek, Cedar Bluffs, Chattahoochee river, Decatur, Jonesboro and Lovejoy's Station. After Atlanta's evacuation it was encamped at East Point until it went in pursuit of Hood in October, moving as far as the Tennessee river and then returning to Atlanta. As part of the 2nd brigade, 1st division, 15th corps, it moved upon Savannah and was engaged in a desperate fight at Griswoldville, where repeated assaults by the enemy were repelled. From Savannah it moved by steamer to Beaufort, S. C., thence through the Carolinas, assisting in the capture of Branchville, Columbia, Georgetown and Cheraw, S. C., and fought at Bentonville, N. C. It was at Goldsboro from March 26 until April 10, then moved successively to Raleigh, Richmond and Washington, D. C, where it was mustered out June 9, 1865, and the recruits were transferred to the 48th Ind. The original strength of the regiment was 968; gain by recruits, 86; total 1,054. Loss by death 237; desertion, 31; unaccounted for, 11. Regimental history taken from 'The Union Army' by Federal Publishing Company, 1908 - Volume 3"

Nelson mustered out on Jun. 8th, 1865, in Washington, D.C., and returned to farming in Lima. He and Jerusha were still together in 1870, but they must have separated soon after, as he married Helen McQuillan on Mar. 12th, 1874, in LaGrange. Helen, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, had previously been married to another Indiana veteran, Harvey A. Beal, with whom she had four children. Almost 20 years younger than Nelson, Helen had five more children with him, the last one in 1891.

Nelson was approved for a veterans pension in April 1887; however, records of the 1890 Veterans Census do not exist for Indiana. [GAR records for Indiana are also unavailable.]

Oddly, Harvey Beal's pension index record shows his "widow" Helen Beal applied for his pension in 1892, while she was married to Nelson and he was still very much alive. The notes on Nelson's index card reference the Beal card, and neither card indicates that Helen was issued a certificate. She could have filed for the minor child benefit for the youngest of Nelson's children after his death in 1900, but it doesn't appear that she did. It may be that by filing a claim as Beal's widow [while married to Nelson], her claim was rejected for perjury.

"This is a photograph of civil war veterans at their 6th reunion. They are veterans from the 100th Indiana Volunteer Infantry." Notes by John Martin Smith. Image courtesy of the William H. Willennar Genealogy Center. There is no way of knowing whether Nelson attended the 6th Reunion in 1891 and is in the photo. However, the 100th Indiana was an extremely proud brotherhood. It's fun to imagine that he is among those pictured.

The 100th Indiana was one of three Union regiments referred to as "the Persimmon regiment." The sobriquet was a term used during the Civil War "to describe a regiment that, in its history, stopped marching for a brief while to consume persimmons, a type of fruit popular in the Southern United States….The 73rd Illinois Infantry and the 35thOhio Infantry were the other two….The 100th Indiana Regiment gained the nickname while participating in General Ulysses S. Grant's Vicksburg campaign. On the first day of marching from Memphis, Tennessee to Vicksburg, Mississippi, the regiment disregarded their role as rear guards and, upon finding an orchard of ripe persimmons, took a long time harvesting the fruit, and were arrested as stragglers. After the incident, Confederate forces successfully stopped Grant's forces from having their food resupplied, which caused the 100th Indiana to often have persimmons as their only food. At first the nickname was used "derisively", but after the 100th Indiana Regiment showed much battle courage, the nickname became a source of pride long after the war."

ISA LOYD UPSON, the "Persimmon Girl" of the 100th Indiana Infantry Regiment

Nelson M. Austin died Apr. 7th, 1900, in Bloomfield Township, Lima, Lagrange County, and was buried beside his father Noah and his mother Ursula in Riverside Cemetery, Howe, LaGrange. His comrades read his and the names of eight of his fellows at their 15th annual reunion held in November 1900.

Nelson's widow Helen lived in neighboring counties the next 30 years of her life, with their son Nelson Howe Austin, and various of their other children. She married twice more, and died at the age of 84 in 1925, in Ecorse, Wayne Co., Michigan. Her death certificate records her name as "Helen Glassmire," her last husband's name. She was buried beside her first husband Harvey Beal in Greenwood Cemetery, LaGrange County, Indiana, where her headstone records her as "Helen Grossmire Beal."

OTHER SOURCES: Ancestry dot com; wikipedia; nps.gov; fold3; findagrave; NARA; garrecords.org; familysearch.org; newspapers.com

GRAVESITE: Riverside Cemetery, Howe, LaGrange County, Indiana

Written by Dorotha Piechocki, May 2020